What a Wonderful Change
/Greetings friends! This post is simply a reflection on a song that I found myself humming this evening:
“What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought,
since Jesus came into my heart…”
Oh what revelation is in these simple lines! So many people are hungry and longing for a change in life, and have no idea how to find it. They try self help and retreats and drugs and therapy, and they may find some results from the multitudinous options at their avail, but no real, lasting change can come unless they meet Jesus. I love the use of the word “wrought,” which indicates a crafting, a handiwork, a job done, which is an apt description of what happens when a cleansed soul encounters the Holy Spirit as it moves in to take up residence; a mighty work is done indeed! (Aptly called, I may say, the second WORK of grace).
The next few lines,
“I have light in my soul for which long I had sought,
since Jesus came into my heart.”
This echoes the words of the apostle Paul, recorded in Acts 26:18, “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” When we are in sin we are in darkness, and only in receiving the eternal spirit of Jesus into our hearts can we be light.
Another verse of this song says,
“I have ceased from my wand’ring and going astray,
since Jesus came into my heart,
And my sins which were many are all washed away,
since Jesus came into my heart!”
One of the marks of a sanctified man or woman is that their life has changed from the inside out. They no longer do the sinful things they used to do, because their desires have been changed by the Holy Spirit. Just like this verse says, Jesus has taken care of our past sins, by forgiving them and washing them away by His blood as the scriptures say, and He has also given us what we need to handle the future through the inward power of the Holy Spirit. It’s not that we’ve been forgiven for our future sins as some traditions teach, but it’s that we no longer have to sin again, because we have had a changed heart, and we have the help ( I should probably bold and capitalize that, “THE HELP”) of the Holy Spirit.
Have you experienced this? Has Jesus come into your heart to stay? Do you have the daily assistance of the Holy Spirit? If so, I’d love to hear from you! Please contact me or comment below. If not, I encourage you to reach out to Jesus in prayer today and ask Him to gift you the Holy Spirit to help you.
Now, I hear this song in my head as it is sung in my church, accapella, with the whole group singing together, but I’ve stumbled across a few recordings that I also like. Here are a few for your enjoyment: