Inside Out: A 40 Day Journey to Transforming Your Heartنموونە

God’s Spirit in My Heart

This is our last devotional together, but the journey of transforming our hearts is just beginning. We are now convinced that our hearts are deceitful and depraved. We understand that we cannot change our hearts just by trying harder. We can only see heart transformation if we continually invite God to convict us and empower us. God has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit in our hearts to do this. Galatians 4:6 says, “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” The Holy Spirit lives inside us to transform the darkness in our hearts into the image of Christ. We cannot expect heart change without Him.

God has given us the Spirit to help us know what we should do and empower us to be able to do it. John 14:26 says, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” The Holy Spirit will remind us what we have learned and show us how to live it out.

When we invite the Spirit to empower us daily, we will see consistent growth in our lives. We will always have our sin-filled hearts with us until we are wholly sanctified in Heaven, but God has given us the Holy Spirit so that we can live victoriously over our flesh today. Galatians 5:16-18 says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

We may not fully know how to ask the Spirit to empower us toward change, and that’s okay because the Spirit prays for us on our behalf. Romans 8:26-27 says, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” We may not know what to pray so that our hearts become more like Christ, but the Spirit does. When we invite Him to help us in our weaknesses, He will be faithful to do so.

God’s will for us is to be Spirit-filled, not sin-filled. If we don’t grasp that God’s will for us is to be empowered by the Spirit, we will live foolish, deceived, disempowered lives that have no hope of truly transforming from the inside out. Ephesians 5:17-18 says, “Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.” Just as someone who is drunk needs to keep drinking to stay drunk, we continually invite the Spirit to empower us to remain empowered. His faithful empowerment enables us to have the heart of God toward anyone in any circumstances. His power helps us say “no” to our flesh and “yes” to pursuing holiness and right living.

Zechariah 4:6 says, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, say the Lord of hosts.” We cannot change our hearts in our own wisdom and might. It is only through the Spirit’s power that we can become like Christ. May we continue to have our hearts transformed from the inside out by inviting the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom to know what is right and the power to live it out. He will surely do it!

Take a Moment:

• How can you intentionally invite the Spirit to empower you daily so that you stay on this journey of transformation?

• How much have you grown in the past 40 days when it comes to knowing your heart and actively working at transforming it? Who else might want to grow from the inside out that you can come alongside and go through this devotional together?

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I need the Holy Spirit to empower me so that I can continue to have my heart transformed to be more like Christ’s. Thank You for not expecting me to change on my own but giving me Your power to live life in a way that is honoring You. Remind me daily to invite the Spirit to empower me to be in Your will when it comes to what I think, feel, and do. You are the great Surgeon. Thank You for operating on my heart and making me more like You. Amen.

For further resources on how you can live in God’s will, check out Holly A. Melton’s plan, “Live in God’s Will,” on The Bible App. Or go to her website: mattandhollymelton.org/store for more resources.