People Spots
Online
Produced by James W.
Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants
Provided as a service by New Life Ministries
Personal Renewal
by James W. Moss, Sr.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me (Psalm 51:10:12).
I was working on a sermon and found these words of David to be intriguing, challenging, and comforting. David had sinned. He went to his God and found help. In the process he wrote these magnificent words to challenge us for personal renewal.
Create in me a pure heart, O God. This can be our plea on a regular basis. God is the creator. What was David seeking? It was a pure heart. Why the need? Because, he had sinned and fallen short of God’s desire for him. He felt dirty. He remembered what a pure heart meant to him. So he pleaded with the God of creation to once again give him a pure heart. God answered his plea as he does ours.
Renew a steadfast spirit within me. David’s plea was for the restoration of a steadfast spirit inside of him. He understood that the problem was not external. He also understood that he couldn’t fix the blame on anyone else. It was David standing in the need of prayer. And his prayer was for a steadfast spirit. Once you grasp the hands of the plow, don’t look back or the furrow will be crooked. Fix your eyes on him.
Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. These words frame a most frightening thought. That thought is to be absent from the presence of the Holy Spirit. I feel this plea of David must have been absolutely horrifying. Is it possible that for a period of time he simply could not feel God’s presence in the same way he had felt the Holy Spirit in earlier days. He was aware of the absence and scared that condition might be permanent. What comfort it is to be in the renewing presence of the Holy Spirit.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Joy is a deep sense of contentment that comes to one in the presence of the Holy Spirit. It is not to be sought. It is a gift of God to those who are right with him. There is so little joy in the American Church. It is remarkably absent. David pleads for the restoration of this precious gift. Joy is rooted in our hope. Systems fail, technology fail, governments fail, churches fail, and people fail. Our hope must be in that which will never fail. His name is Jesus. Joy then becomes a byproduct of our hope.
Grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. David was pleading for a spirit that was willing to be obedient to God. To have that he had to subjugate his spirit to God’s fantastic will and longing. He had to set aside his own longings, desires, goals, and strategies in order that he might be subject to God’s will.
David was pleading for a total restoration. Years ago, I read a touching story of two brothers. John was the older one who cared for Thomas who was younger and mentally challenged. John worked on clocks. Thomas had frequently watched his sibling put new insides in a clock to make it run. They were delivering a clock by horse and wagon. John had a heart attack and died. Thomas knew there was trouble. But had some difficulty comprehending what was happening. When someone came to help. Thomas simply said, “He needs new insides.”
David needed a new inside. God responded to his earnest plea. As he will for us too. Personal renewal always lies at the core of church renewal. There can be no corporate spiritual renewal without individual spiritual renewal. They go hand in hand.
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Also see:
 | Understanding Renewal |
| Understanding Renewal in the Church |
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Read about Jim's seminars and books.
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May 20, 2004. Volume 7, Issue 9. People Spots Online is prepared by James W. Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants. It is provided as a service by New Life Ministries, www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org. Articles may be duplicated and reproduced in any way with proper credit. A new article is produced about every two weeks. To be added to a list to receive these messages directly by e-mail, send a request to churchconsultants@yahoo.com.