It was my joy to spend time with the ladies of Wenona Baptist Church, Cordele, Georgia, at a retreat on Friday night, February 4, 2005. I give special thanks to them for allowing me to share because that’s when HeartChange was born.

Well-known recording artist and Praise/Worship leader Babbie Mason wrote a song with Turner Lawton entitled Change Me Now. It goes like this…

You were denied, then crucified
Yet You prayed to Your father to forgive us.
We caused you pain, time and again
Still you laid down Your life because You loved us.
I was guilty then. Here I am again.
Against You only have I sinned.
The seeds I’ve sown, the deeds I’ve done
By the power of Your blood, please remove them.
Restore my joy. I need You, Lord.
I need more of Your love so You can use me.
Will You search my heart with Your holy light?
Take every wrong and make it right?
Lord, hear my cry.
Please change me now. Never let this heart grow cold.
Change me somehow. Purify this needy soul.
Look into my heart. Tell me what You see.
Cleanse me when you find any wicked way in me.
With your healing touch, Lord, I need You so much
To change me now.
This very hour, fill me with Your power.
I want to be close to You, Jesus.
Let nothing come between us.
With your healing touch, Lord, I need You so much
To change me now.

This song has ministered to my heart many times over many years. This song was especially important to me during those cold early months of 2005. Thus, HeartChange became the theme for our time together at Wenona and the foundation of all Bible study we share at CheckerBerrí. David cries out to the Lord in Psalm 51:10, saying “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” There are people in my life who study God’s Word every day simply because they love to spend time with Him. For me, however, I must go to God’s Word daily to teach me how to live.

As we look back over our lives from Paul’s perspective of doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness found in II Timothy 3:16, we begin to see specific scriptures that have caused heart change in our lives. We begin to see where God’s Word was a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our pathway. We see his faithfulness in protecting us, providing for us, preserving us, strengthening us, reproving us, growing us in His likeness, and giving us hope. We become more aware of Him and more able to recognize Him at work in our lives in the past, present and future.

What is your story? Each of us has one.

I welcome the opportunity to share times of heart change in my life with you and the women in your life from HeartChange I – My Story. Each participant will be provided a HeartChange I – My Story booklet and the opportunity to write her own story as I share my story through events, scripture, and song. Together we will see past and present times of heart change, and we will also learn how to better respond to future times of heart change. As we write our stories, we must choose what we will base our lives upon from this day forward. We will be encouraged to read God’s Word, evaluate our lives according to God’s Word, choose to adjust our lives to God’s Word, and begin right now to apply God’s Word to our lives.

May God change your heart as you read His Word.

Cheri
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