Daily Devotional for Friday January 28, 2005

A New Heart . . . New Desires

(2 Corinthians 5:17)

Wednesday was an interesting day for me in many ways. First of all, my profound thanks to all who prayed for me during my trip to Las Vegas. It was a very long and grueling day physically, but God?s strength was there thanks to your prayers. I finished the Liveprayer t.v. program at 2 a..m. Wednesday morning, went home, did some work, and caught a 5:30 a.m. flight to Las Vegas for meetings with many secular television people at their annual convention. I arrived in Las Vegas at 9 a.m. Vegas time, checked into my room at the Mandalay Bay where the convention was, showered, changed clothes, checked on my email, talked to the office, and then spent the next 5 hours touring the NAPTE convention and meeting with several people about the Liveprayer television program as we look at various syndication options when we are ready to take the program national.

It is important to note that during the ?80s when I was running from God?s calling on my life, I would visit Las Vegas 5-6 times a year. This was my first time being back in Vegas since those days. I want you to hear something very clear today. When you have fully surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, He not only gives you a new heart, but He gives you new desires. I really had not even thought about that aspect of going to Las Vegas since I was so focused on what I was there to do, but as the plane was making its final approach, as the Vegas strip came into view, there was a moment when all of those previous trips to Vegas in the past came flashing back.

I immediately closed my eyes and thanked God that He had delivered me from that life. I was not there for the decadence, the gorgeous women, the free flowing alcohol, to gamble, but for a higher purpose. The fact was, I no longer had a desire for those things. When you are living a committed life for Christ, you have new desires. Your desire is no longer to throw a hard 6 on the craps table for a temporary reward, but to see a lost soul won to Christ for an eternal reward. You quit desiring the temporary things of this world, and desire the eternal things of God. Your desire is no longer to simply please yourself, but to please God!

One thing about my trip to Vegas on Wednesday was that it motivated me more than ever to press forward in the work of Liveprayer. It literally made me cry looking at billions and billions of dollars that were spent on grand palaces to attract people to a place where they could squander what God has entrusted to them in every way imaginable. Squander their resources on sex, gambling, alcohol, unGodly shows, and buying anything you could ever imagine from the unlimited amount of upscale stores. The billions that flow through the Vegas casinos alone on a daily basis is staggering. THE FACT IS, IF THE WORLD CAN FIND A SEEMINGLY UNLIMITED AMOUNT OF RESOURCES TO ?ENTERTAIN? PEOPLE AND FEED THEIR CARNAL LUSTS, THAT MEANS THE MONEY IS OUT THERE FOR THE WORK OF GOD, WE SIMPLY HAVE TO GO GET IT!!! My plane was scheduled to leave Las Vegas at 5 p.m. Vegas time to get me back to Tampa at midnight, just in enough time to drive to the t.v. studio to do the Liveprayer program at 1 a.m. However, they have had an incredible amount of rain in Vegas for this time of year. All of the planes in and out were backed up and my flight was delayed by almost 2 hours. For the first time in the nearly two years of the Liveprayer t.v. program, I would not be there. Fortunately, we had a back-up plan just in case this happened and had a previous program to air. I finally got to my home around 2:30 a.m., tired, but having accomplished all I had set out to for the day. As I was praying before I fell asleep, I remember thanking God not just for a new heart, but for NEW DESIRES.

I love you and care about you so much. As you commit your life to Christ, as you fully and completely surrender to Him, He will not only give you a new heart, but new desires. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, ?Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.? That means a new heart, and that also means new desires. God will take away what you used to crave for and hunger, the things of the flesh and of this world, and give you something new to crave for and hunger, the things of righteousness and of God.

I will be praying for you today. Praying that you will go to God and ask Him to give you a new heart and new desires. Ask Him to take away the desires you have for the temporary things of this life, but give you a passion for the eternal things of God. MY FRIEND, GOD LOVES YOU SO MUCH. IF YOU WILL ASK HIM, HE WILL GIVE YOU A NEW HEART AND NEW DESIRES!!!