Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the East Gate of the Lord’s house, which faces eastward; and there at the door of the gate were twenty-five men, among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. And He said to me: “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and give wicked counsel in this city, who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses; this city is the caldron, and we are the meat.’ Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man!” Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said to me, “Speak! ‘Thus says the Lord: ‘Thus you have said, O house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind.’”
-Ezekiel 11:1-5 NKJV
“Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’ And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.”
-Ezekiel 11:17-20 NKJV
“But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God. So the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was high above them. And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city. Then the Spirit took me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to those in captivity. And the vision that I had seen went up from me. So I spoke to those in captivity of all the things the Lord had shown me.
-Ezekiel 11:21-25 NKJV
This is a wild story. For some, maybe too much to even believe. Yet, so many movies have imagery similar and we jump all over it. For the sake of cinematography, we love it, but for the sake of spirit manifestations, we can’t grasp it. As for me, I am going to side with the idea that this story was true.
Back to movies. Have you ever watched something, and as the movie develops, your heart gets more invested and even aches and becomes tender to the human emotions and storyline being played out? Well, this passage is talking about that very transformation. If you could see what God sees when He looks at you, there would be a tenderness for yourself from having His understanding of yourself. Hearts get hard from life and how we experience it. Some people seem to fair with the hardships of life while others not so much.
“Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh.”
I love when passages talk about healing hearts. The exchange happened at the cross. Jesus yielded His heart so we could one day yield ours. The surrendered heart doesn’t feel safe. Doesn’t feel comfortable to yield either. Nonetheless, it’s necessary. I started this post by saying that it’s time to prophecy. I believe this gift is in many of us within the body of Christ and beyond the four walls of the church. The scripture says,
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”
-Romans 12:1-8 NKJV
Heart work is at the core of the gospel. I know what a hard heart feels like, and then Jesus came and tenderized my heart through the process of trauma. I am
writing to you hoping to catch you before a traumatic experience is what brings you to a sudden heart posture of repentance. Sometimes, you have to say out loud the things your heart needs to hear before you can see it manifest in the earth.
There is a song I love called Prophecy the Promise: https://youtu.be/v6y5RwGGNMY
If this is something you desire or are curious about, please comment below. It’s time to wake up our spiritual gifts lying dormant inside.
Until next time,
Stay Tender
Connect to the Mender
Be a Sender