Change The Heart

A few months ago, the LORD said to me, "Change the head, and you change everything they touch." Head, meaning of a company, an organization, a political body, or a nation. In other words, if the person in charge changes (think Hallmark movie, one minute they are horrible and making wrong decisions, the next they have this revelation and a complete change of heart), then the entire way they conduct business alters as well and the lives of everyone they affect.

We don't think this way. We're revenge-oriented. Our human mind says, "Remove the head. Replace the head." We don't care what happens to the guy or gal who’s causing the problem. We don’t think in terms of mercy. We say, "Look at what he did, pull him down, and stick someone else in there.”

Now, let me pause here and say I am not defending the current administration nor thumping for any particular people to take their place. I know already what God has said He will do, and that is where I have placed my faith. The majority of those talking right now (Christian and not) have it all wrong. Mark my words, this will be SUDDEN and SPECTACULAR.

But I heard a man talk about saving the Taliban last night, SAVING THEM, as in “putting Jesus in their heart,” and it all came back to me again. WE HAVE TO START THINKING MERCY BECAUSE THAT IS THE FATHER'S HEART.

Jesus came to SAVE THE LOST, which included the men who sent Him to His death. (Lk 19:10) He knew that when speaking to them, when calling them hypocrites, when referring to them as thieves. That is who He meant in John 10 with all that talk about Him as the One who enters through the gate and the robber entering another way. He called out their deception, all the while planning to die for their sins.

"I do my Father's will," He said many, many times. These words are particularly poignant in the Message Bible.

"I’ll not be talking with you much more like this because the chief of this godless world is about to attack. But don’t worry—he has nothing on me, no claim on me. But so the world might know how thoroughly I love the Father, I am carrying out my Father’s instructions right down to the last detail." (John 14:29 MSG)

The Father's heart, the Spirit's heart, Jesus' heart is ALWAYS to save. They never change from that. Yes, there comes a moment when salvation is not happening because that person refuses to repent. Therefore, judgment must come. But know this—THEY HATE PASSING JUDGMENT. The very idea someone has been judged should be horrible to us. We should mourn it as they do.

We should TRULY LOVE OUR ENEMIES. (Mt 5:44)

Do you get that? Not tolerate them. Not say a quick prayer, simply to ease our conscience. WE SHOULD LOVE THEM. (Lk 6:27, 35)

I read the story of a military officer who served in Afghanistan and was trained to listen in on the Taliban's conversations. His bottom line struck me hard. He did several tours there and said that much of the work was repetitive. Nothing really changed on either side, ours or theirs. We still dropped bombs meant for buildings on 10 men in a farmer's field. They still came after "the Americans" brandishing 30-year-old weapons. No matter how many of them died, they still believed in jihad and the lie that is their religion.

Don't you see it yet? Change their heart and the nation of Afghanistan alters forever. Is that really possible? I don't know. Nor do I pretend to like who they are or what they are doing. But how dare we condemn a man Jesus died to save.

And that is my point. That is God's point because He had me write this. As horrible as they are, as awful as what they believe may be, they are as deceived by the devil as those who pretend to run this nation. One deception is not bigger than the other. Both will send men and women to hell.

GOD LOVES EVERYONE COMPLETELY.

We’ve done it all wrong. Money cannot fix this problem. Nor military might. Nor counterintelligence. Nor diplomacy. Nor Donald Trump. Only Jesus changing the heart will ever cause the total turn-around the world needs, and that is what He came to do. Change each person, one at a time.

We are all that one lost sheep He went out seeking. (Lk 15:4) It isn't that Fred was the lost sheep but the rest of us are just one-of-the-crowd. No. He sees us all individually right where we are, in whatever culture we grew up in, with whatever wrong beliefs we hold, and those make no difference to Him. He loves the woke celebrity in the United States, the tribesman in the heart of Africa, and the radical Muslim who has been taught to kill as many infidels as possible.

We are all sinners that grace can save, and that grace when manifested in us makes a complete difference, a total turnaround. (Eph 2:8)

Change HOW you pray. We aren’t praying OUR WILL over this or that situation. We pray the FATHER’S WILL. It’s not, “Thy kingdom come, OUR WILL be done on earth as it is in heaven.” It’s, “THY WILL BE DONE.” (Mt 6:10) And His will is salvation for every man and woman from the moment of their conception. Long before we were ever born, while we were still in our mother’s womb, He planned for our salvation. (Ps 139:15-16)

That salvation, that change of heart in us, will then change everyone and everything we touch. Suddenly, all the lies we’ve defended, all the mistruths we thought we knew, crumble into dust.

Our God is that loving, that merciful, that forgiving, and His love is for anyone living anywhere in the world. Afghanistan or the United States.


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.feelgoodromance.com
www.suzannedwilliams.com