There was an old song in the Salvation Army song book:
I want, dear Lord, a heart that's pure and clean;
A sun-lit heart, with not a cloud between;
A heart like Thine, a heart divine, a heart as white as snow;
On me, dear Lord, a heart like this bestow.
The Dutch sometimes refer to the Holy Spirit as the 'Zaligmaker', which my friend told me implied that the Holy Spirit is the 'Holy-maker'. I really like that, because so much truth is in that title.
For those of us who are honest enough to say that we struggle with sin and wish we could live on a higher level, this is a great encouragement to ask God for the Holy Spirit to have full reign in our lives.
'Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me' (Psalm 51:10), is indeed a call of the heart for God to send the Holy Spirit to do what we cannot do with all our struggling. We cannot conquer sin in our own strength. We cannot live a godly life without the Holy Spirit.
When I surrender to God: when I am prepared to be honest in his sight: then the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses me from all sin; and where the heart is clean, the Holy Spirit will reside.
But watch out for an empty heart...
Having an empty heart is a dreadfully dangerous position for any of us to be in.
The message that Jesus gave of the dangers of an empty heart is really on point here. (Matthew 12:43-45)
He spoke about a man who had an unclean spirit. When that foul spirit has gone from such a person, it wanders through the dry desert looking for another victim and a place to rest. It comes back to the man and finds that his heart is cleaned up and polished, but nobody is home. The place is empty. So he calls seven more of his demon mates, and they all come to live there.
This unclean spirit seeks for rest. The proper meaning of the word 'rest' is 'recreation'. They hunt for a soul to mess with and create misery and mockery in one of God's creations.
Although Jesus referred this to a nation and generation, nonetheless, it also applies to an empty heart. A great mistake is often made when coming to Christ for forgiveness and seeking a fresh new start. Grace makes us better and clears out the devils, but unless our heart is filled with God by his Holy Spirit, then we leave ourselves in grave danger.
It is a common mistake and an overlooked situation. We suddenly feel good, walk tall, and believe that we can now make it ourselves through our own determination and strength. Sadly, for many, that old unclean spirit comes back to haunt us, and seeks an entrance into our lives. Anyone know what I am talking about?
I am not making a doctrinal statement here, but simply drawing the same picture that Christ drew for the attention of his hearers. Let them who have ears to hear, take note and hear.
That dirty spirit needs a host to conduct its wickedness through, a place to reside and enjoy its leisure; and so it looks for an empty vessel. Wandering through the invisible spirit world, it hunts for the precious life. (Proverbs 6:26)
Oh, how we need to guard our hearts! If we only understood the fierce and bloody battle being waged all around us in the spiritual dimension, we might take a lot more care as to what we do and how we live; to what we watch and what we listen to; to what we fill our minds with and what we occupy our time with.
An empty heart is a legitimate target for the enemy of our souls. David may not have understood spiritual warfare completely, but he said, 'Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and Your honour all day long'. (Psalm 71:8) No room there for any evil to enter in!
An empty heart is a flashing beacon, attracting the cunning of the enemy. It is like a 'To Let' sign outside the door to our minds and heart.
The devil will flirt with the empty heart.
An empty heart and an unguarded mind is like a soldier with no armour and no weapons of defence.
Paul says, 'Be filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.' (Ephesians 5:18-20,)
The 'be filled' actually means, 'be being filled'. In other words, live the life of constant renewing of the Holy Spirit, as being a conduit for those rivers of life-giving waters that Jesus spoke of in John 7:38-39.
'Be transformed by the renewing of your mind' (Romans 12:2)
'Resist the devil, and he will flee from you' (James 4:7)
'Whatever things are pure, whatever things are good....think on these things' (Philippians 4:8)
'Don't be overcome by evil. but overcome the evil with good' (Romans 12:21)
'Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and give no opportunity for the flesh to do the sinful things that it really wants to do, or speak words that bring shame upon your witness, or behave badly and let the side down. ' (Romans 13:14)
JGM 2022
