Title: A Broken And A Contrite Heart
Song: Change Me - Tamela Mann

Key verses:
For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.
Psalm 51:16-17

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
Matthew 5:3-4

Prayer:
Lord, we pray that you have your way in our hearts.
Open our eyes of understanding. Give us Light and Understanding as Your Word enters our hearts. Holy Spirit have Your way in us and through us in Jesus name we pray.
Amen.

The Message:
One of my greatest burdens in my heart is to see more people, if possible all, have salvation, experience spiritual and material growth and discover who they are in Christ. To see more people cheerfully following Christ and pursuing His purpose.
To understand how this works is a Grace I keep praying for.

God in His infinite Mercy, who gives unto all who asks, Who is willing to give us the desires of our hearts as we delight in His presence, Who never fails, never lies, never disappoints all Who hope in Him, gave me a deeper revelation concerning this.

I have come to realise why evangelism seldom works. Why people would rather continue with their lives than pay more attention to God.
Nobody likes to change what they have believed for a long time. Nobody likes to change the way they are. Nobody likes to chanhe the way they have been used to doing things. Nobody really likes change.
Yet everyone, even politicians know that what need is Change. What we need is Transformation.
We asked for change from government but we ourselves do not want to change.
The things we expect from government, we ourselves fo not practise. We have become "comfortable" accepting things the way they are.

This is why people want to continue in sin and do not want to hear any mention of Godliness.
It is the reason people listen to sermons, enjoy the message but still do not want to change. It is simply a matter of their heart.
We do not have a broken spirit and a contrite heart.
What is a broken spirit and a contrite heart?
Let us read Psalm 51 in other versions for more unveiling.

Going through the motions doesn’t please you,
    a flawless performance is nothing to you.
I learned God-worship
    when my pride was shattered.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love
    don’t for a moment escape God’s notice. (MSG)

The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
    You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. (NASB)

My [only] sacrifice [acceptable] to God is a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart [broken with sorrow for sin, thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise. (AMP)

A broken spirit and a contrite heart is a heart that is no longer hardened. A heart that has become softened and permeable. A heart that is no longer strong-willed. A heart that is ready to change. A heart that is open to new things.

A heart that has come to understand regret, shame and accept it's True Reality. A heart that has come to see that it is hopeless if it continues in its own way.
A heart that has come to realise only God's way is the Truth and Life.
That Righteousness is more profitable than sin.
That God's  Wisdom is more profitable than human intelligence.
That the spiritual matters more than the physica/materiall.
That is the heart God can penetrate. That is the heart that can turn to God for help in every situation and God will know that we are truly dependent on Him. That is the heart that can Repent. To Repent simply means tTo Change.
We do not repent only once to gain salvation. We repent daily, momentarily, periodically to change our old beliefs and accept, trust and obey what the Word of God says.
It is not easy because the flesh is so used to what it is used to. But we have to pray, we have to repent, we have to be intentional to know that we have to kill our flesh by bringing it under the control of our Renewed Spirit and Soul/Mind.
God help us all.

I have a personal testimony.
Recently, I thought I had bern broken. I thought I had a broken spirit and a contrite heart but God revealed to me that I was still hard-hearted on some things.
And the moment I softened my heart, I received the unveiling of a life time.
I hope to share more as I receive more understanding.
Let us never think we know anything. Even what we were taught and we know in the scriptures, let us always be open to newer and deeper understandings. It is a sign of growth and maturity.

If our Lord Jesus Christ Himself could change his mind and "repent", who are we?
I apologise if it seems I just blasphemed.
But truly, He was always open to change His mind. At the inception of His ministry, at the wedding. Christ resisted His mother when she asked Him to perform a miracle. But when He changed His mind, He realised it was time for Him to launch His ministry.
Also the story of the Canaanite woman teaches us this. He outrightly told her His ministry is only for the Jews and not the Gentiles and for this she wasn't qualified for healing.
But when he saw her faith and humility, He had mercy on her and healed her daughter.

Like wise Peter, who was saddled with the responsibility of preserving the Church according to all He learnt from His Master and Teacher, Jesus Christ by concentrating only on the Jews and keeping the gospel from the Gentiles, who the Jews considered to be so unclean.
God had to reveal Himself to Peter in a trance to change his understanding. And because He changed His mind, the gospel was extended and exposed to the Gentiles, Cornelius and his household received the Holy Spirit, spoke in tonges a d even prophesied. Gentiles became disciples.
This single act set the stage for Paul's Ministry to the Gentiles.
It made it possible for You and I (who were deemed Gentiles) to be saved today.

We should never assume we know anything before God. We must see Him genuinely as our Father, if truly we are His Children. And be ready for new and fresh instruction always.
But He will not ever contradict His Word and His nature.

But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 19:14

Peace, Mercy and Grace, Wisdom, Knowledge and Understanding to us all in Jesus name.
Amen.

Whenever a person is about to be destroyed in the scriptures some thing noteworthy is always mentioned- The person hardens their heart.
Unfortunately we have a lot of hardened hearts in our generation.
More unfortunately our generation celebrates hardened hearts. We call it "Being tough". Real men don't show emotions, Big girls don't cry. Crying is a sign of weakness, etc.
Let us pray as we become intentional in softening our hearts.
That's what it means to be Gracefully Broken.
Only a broken person can show their weakness.
Only a broken person can become humble before God.
Only a broken spirit is penetrable by the Spirit of God. Only a broken heart is usable by God.
Only a broken person can see the kingdom of heaven.
God help us all.

A Broken and a Contrite heart simply means an Emotional, softened and compassionate heart that is moved for others and open to change/bend.
A heart that is not hardened to its own will but open to bend and even change for others.