Breaking of Proud Hearts
Basilea Schlink teaches that God’s greatest miracle is breaking proud hearts through repentance, leading to renewed love and living relationship with Him.
In this devotional sermon, Basilea Schlink shares a powerful testimony of how God uses life’s challenges to break proud hearts and lead His children into repentance and renewed love. Through the experience of broken machinery and threatened harvest, she illustrates how God’s judgment is a loving call to transformation. Listeners are encouraged to open their hearts to the Holy Spirit’s work and embrace the miracle of heart change that brings restoration and blessing.
Full Transcript
God lives and works today. He enjoys helping his children and answering their prayers. However, sometimes he can't intervene immediately.
Why? We will be hearing in today's meditation from someone who has experienced an answer to this question. As newcomers on Canaan, we brothers had read of how the sisters had experienced, year after year, the reality of God's wonder-working power in their lives on Canaan. However, we hadn't really experienced this ourselves until one summer as the hay was ready to be brought in.
All at once the machines began to break down. First the tractor had three flat tires within a very short space of time. Then the machine for turning the hay broke down.
Then on top of that, our only lawnmower broke down so that all the lawns were becoming overgrown. We began to ask ourselves what the matter was until finally it dawned on us that through all of this, God was trying to tell us something. He was waiting for broken hearts and reconciliation among us, for a fresh love for him.
But in spite of all this, it didn't really sink in. To top it off, it began to rain on the freshly cut hay. It began to pour so that the hay was sure to be ruined.
Then it finally sank in. The Holy Spirit began to break our proud hearts. We began to see how much we'd been hurting God's heart, how much we'd been letting him down by being so hard-hearted and so insensitive to him.
But it was God's judgment that began to change that. Through repentance, God brought us into a new and more living relationship with him and with one another. And then not only did the hay miraculously turn out all right for the winter, but the machines didn't break down for the rest of the summer.
Yes, God is really a God who does miracles, and his greatest miracle is that he can change our hearts. You have been listening to a program written by Basilea Schlink of The Little Land of Canaan. To learn more about how God lives and works today, visit us at our website, www.canaan.org. That's K-A-N-A-A-N.org. If you contact us, we would be happy to send you a free inspirational booklet.
If you do not have access to the web, please write to God Lives and Works Today, 9849 North Fortieth Street, Phoenix, Arizona, 85028-4099, USA. God bless you.
Sermon Outline
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I. The Reality of God's Present Work
- God lives and works today among His children
- He answers prayers though sometimes with delay
- God’s interventions have a purpose beyond immediate relief
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II. The Experience of Broken Machinery
- Machines breaking down symbolized a spiritual message
- Hardships led to reflection on the state of hearts
- Physical setbacks pointed to deeper relational issues with God
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III. The Breaking of Proud Hearts
- Recognition of hurting God through hardness of heart
- God’s judgment leads to repentance and reconciliation
- The Holy Spirit transforms hearts for renewed love
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IV. The Miracle of Heart Transformation
- Repentance brings restoration and blessing
- God’s greatest miracle is changing hearts
- Faithfulness results in peace and provision
Key Quotes
“God is really a God who does miracles, and his greatest miracle is that he can change our hearts.” — Basilea Schlink
“The Holy Spirit began to break our proud hearts, making us see how much we'd been hurting God's heart.” — Basilea Schlink
“Through repentance, God brought us into a new and more living relationship with him and with one another.” — Basilea Schlink
Application Points
- Examine your heart regularly to identify areas of pride and hardness before God.
- Respond to life’s difficulties as opportunities for spiritual growth and repentance.
- Seek the Holy Spirit’s help to cultivate a humble and loving relationship with God and others.