Tender and Responsive

Ezekiel 11
Verse 19-20 "And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God."

A tender and responsive heart is what God has given us through the new birth and isn't that what the Spirit filled life is all about. Being led by the Spirit comes down to us being tender and responsive to the Holy Spirits promptings in our life. Christianity is not so much about us directing our lives as it is us surrendering our lives to the Spirits leading. Your responsiveness to to the Holy Spirit determines whether or not you walk in the will of God for your life. God's word and God's Spirit keep us in alignment with God's will for our lives. When we resist his Word or his Spirit, we resist the will of God for our lives.

Please recognize that we don't have to fall away into horrible sin to miss God, all we have to do is be unresponsive. Just ignore the spirits promptings and you will miss Gods best for your life. And isn't it easy sometimes to just act like we did not hear what he was saying, like our children we play dumb with God. But God knows our hearts and every time we ignore him, his heart breaks. Not because he is offended but because he realizes that we are about to miss his best for our lives. Every-time we ignore his leading we settle for less than his best and we allow our pride or greed or what ever it is that we are holding onto to steal God's best from us.

So I ask you, how tender and responsive is your heart to the Spirit's leading. Below are three ways to stay tender and responsive to the Spirit. Number one, obey quickly; don't even give yourself an easy out. When you feel the spirits leading and you know it is God, just do it. Number two, repent immediately; when you miss it ask God for forgiveness and see if the window of opportunity is still open and if it is jump through it. Number three, sit at the feet of Jesus everyday. Cultivating your relationship with God through prayer and the word keeps your ears open and your heart tender and responsive to his leading in your life