Guilt or Conviction? (pt.2 Hearing the Word)

I told you yesterday that I want to add to Steve's encouragement to mothers of young children as they seek to hear God's voice. Before I do that I am going to spend a couple of days with you discussing some of the things that trip us up in our pursuit of God. Though the application for these posts is directed to moms, I don't think anyone will find it difficult to relate to these hindrances and helps and bring application in their season of life.

The first stumbling block is a guilty conscience. Recently Tim and I were enjoying fellowship with another couple. In our conversation it was mentioned how some people do not read God's Word because of guilt and shame. This grieved all of our hearts. If what people mean by this is that they have known, willful, and unconfessed sin in their lives for which they feel very hypocritical trying to read God's Word, then they have reason to hesitate. How can they hear God when they've got known and unresolved sin going on? They need to confess that sin to God and to others affected by it so that the way is clear to hear God again and afresh.

But as Tim and I sat with this couple and talked about people's struggles, it made us wonder how many live in that spiritually deadening place of condemnation. Today I'd like to share with you some thoughts that I hope and pray will be used by God to move you from a place of condemnation to the place of richly enjoying God's grace.

Steve very pointedly addressed this problem yesterday. Steve told us that when we feel conviction it is our loving heavenly Father speaking to us through the Holy Spirit. When we feel conviction from our sin it is the voice of the Holy Spirit!! This conviction is not meant to drive us away from God, but rather toward our God. This conviction is meant to be a "sign-post" directing us to the cross where we can find forgiveness and restored fellowship with our God.

It is our accuser - Satan- who is speaking condemnation. Satan says, "You are not worthy," or "You hypocrite, how can you say you are a Christian when you do..." or "Don't bother reading your Bible, there is nothing there that can help you with this..." or "Don't read the Bible, you'll only feel worse if you do." On and on he goes. Sadly, as a result, we too often allow ourselves to stay just where Satan wants us: far from God and the sound of His voice.

But God says:

"Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." (1 John 4 15-18)

Elsewhere in this book, John tell us that if we have sin, God is "faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Also in this book we learn about how this is possible: through the propitiating work of Jesus on the cross (1 John 2:1, 2). When Jesus died on the cross, His body was bearing the punishment for the sins of His people. He took my place. He bore my sin. He experienced God's wrath so that I do not experience God's wrath in eternal damnation and in daily guilt over sin. The conviction the believer feels from sin is not the wrath of God. It is the love of God showing us a better way.

So, if we are in Christ, we can approach God with confidence, boldness, and without fear because of what Christ has done for us. Always, always, keep that in mind. Always, always, begin there when you begin to read God's word or listen to God's word in preaching.

Steve also showed us that when we do not listen to God's voice of conviction for the sins committed, when we choose to ignore the Holy Spirit, when we put our fingers in our ears and make believe we can't hear, we are in danger of hardening our hearts, grieving the Holy Spirit, and as a result, not being able to hear from God (Hebrews 3:7-15; 4:11-16). The writer of Hebrews presents the problem - the hardening of hearts due to the deceitfulness of sin. The writer of Hebrews also gives us the answer to the problem - "the Word of God that is sharper than a two-edged sword... discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." The Word of God is the instrument God uses to bring us back to Jesus our Great High Priest.

When guilt comes and tells us we cannot approach God that is from Satan.
When conviction comes from the reading and hearing of God's word, that is the Holy Spirit given to us to bring us once again to our Great High Priest where we can find mercy and grace to help in time of need.

When guilt comes it paralyzes us into non-action.
When conviction comes it moves us toward action. We confess our sins to God. When we have sinned against others we move toward those individuals and confess our sins against them.

When guilt comes we hide (as did Adam and Eve).
When conviction comes we confidently run to the cross with our sin fully exposed.

When guilt comes relationship with God seems broken.
When conviction comes relationship with God can be deepened.

When guilt comes relationships with others is broken.
When conviction comes relationships with others is pursued.

I hope and pray this helps you so that when you see your Bible on your table you will not walk past it with a guilty heart, but rather you will walk towards it, open it, and expect your loving Father to bring His loving conviction that leads to deeper joy and appreciation for Jesus our Savior. And may I suggest you begin today? Why not spend the next several days reading and meditating in the book of 1 John? I'll also suggest when you get to 1 John 1:9 you stop and consider what sins you've kept hidden from God and from others. Is there an offense against your husband, child, brother or sister in Christ that has been left unresolved? Write them down. Then humbly go to God and find forgiveness, and humbly go to others to find their forgiveness. And when you get to 1 John 2:1, 2, stop and worship!! Glory in your Redeemer!! And enjoy hearing from God again!!

A good shepherd

I experienced the kindness and goodness of THE Good Shepherd and a good shepherd today. The Good Shepherd took me to green pastures for food, rest and comfort. The Good Shepherd led me to still waters for a soul quenching.

This morning my Good Shepherd took me to the house of God where I received His care. That care was extended to me through my pastor, a good shepherd who faithfully called me to the Word of God. Thank you Steve.

We are sheep. We wander. We think we know where we are going but somehow when we stray from the shepherd we always end up in some barren wilderness, or dangerously close to falling into a deep chasm. It was so kind of God (and Steve) to redirect us to the only place where we will find safety, shelter and nourishment for our souls. The Word of God

Did you, like me, hear Steve's shepherding heart? Did you feel his care and concern for your soul? Did you hear him remind us that we have the privilege to hear from the Living God? Did you hear his shepherd love to caution us to not only hear the word but to be hearing rightly the word and thereby "doing" the word? We heard our shepherd give us Christ's warnings to professing believers as written in Matthew 7:21-27; Luke 6:46; and James 1:22

Steve taught us that before we can be doers of the word we must be hearing the word. Here Steve gave us a word picture that all of us could "connect" to. Remember the dot-to-dot illustration: We have to connect the first two dots in order to make sense of the picture of life. The first dot is God, the second dot is our heart. The connection is His Word. God has to speak to us before we can go on to any of the duties of our lives. We have to hear from God through His Word before we can attend to marriage, family, church, work or else it will all be a scrambled mess.

The last expression of shepherd love that Steve extended to us was a word to mothers of young children. How kind of Steve, how kind of God. For here is a part of the flock that struggles to find the time/make the time to spend in the Word. Steve was careful not to heap guilt and shame upon these tender souls. Tomorrow I'd like to add to Steve's encouragement by posting about how to hear the word of God when in this season of life. I hope you will meet me here again. And I'd love to hear your thoughts. Oh, and one more thing: if you felt cared for by your shepherd today, why not email him with a word of thanks?

There but for the grace of God go I

Do you know where that quote originated? I didn’t until today. I’ve been reading Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. This book tells the stories of many of the tens of thousands who have died for Christ from the days of the apostles into the 21st century. Interestingly enough, as David and I are reading about the 16th century in history, my reading in Foxe’s this week is about the martyrs of that same time period.

John Bradford is the one who spoke this famous line. Usually we speak this line when we see physical suffering brought about by disease, poverty and sin (and well we should). But John Bradford spoke it as he watched a column of prisoners being led to their execution for their faith.

Sadly, though, these words were prophetic for John. Three years later it was his turn. Had God’s grace left him? Did he question God’s grace while in a dank prison cell for two years? Not so!

Though imprisoned, he was not bitter or vengeful. He spent his time preaching and writing and “his word was so trusted that guards would release him occasionally at night, fully confident that he would return before daybreak. He always did".

Queen Mary (Bloody Mary – known for the execution of more than 300 believers) offered John Bradford mercy. His reply: “I shall be glad of the queen’s favor on terms that correspond with my duty to Him whose favor is life, but whose displeasure is worse than any death mortals can inflict.” Then as he was tied to a stake and the flames were rising around him he said to another prisoner, “Brother, be of good comfort, for we shall have a merry supper with the Lord this night, where all our pains will end in peace, and our warfare in songs of joy.”

Sisters, there may come a time when we have to face such a dramatic choice. How will we do at that moment? None of us can know for sure. But may we begin each day fully protected with the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20), to protect us against the attacks of the evil one and the attacks from our flesh, so that we might make the right little choices. And as we are faithful in the little skirmishes, we are strengthened in faith to lay hold of more of God’s grace for the bigger ones. May our hearts agree with John Bradford and say, “There with the grace of God I go”.

Debunking Headship #1

You may remember from a previous post that I brought up the hot-button issue of leadership and followership in the context of marriage and offered to debunk it sometime. This is the first of what I hope will be five-part series based on Wayne Grudem's teaching Biblical Manhood and Womanhood in Creation and Marriage, given at Sovereign Grace Ministries 2004 leadership conference. So here goes.

Key Issue #1: men and women are equal in dignity and value (Gen. 1:27).

Created in the image of God. I don't know about you, but I find that to be pretty amazing. (Pastor Tim preached about the majesty of man a few Christmases ago--it's not currently on the website so you should ask about it at the HFH window.) Being made in the image of God is a privilege given to no other thing in God's creation. And according to the verse, both men and women share in this privilege: "male and female he created them" (emphasis added). He made both male and female in the image of God, with neither one bearing less of His image than the other.

I'm sure we can all figure out why this is point number one. There is this idea out there that the Bible teaches headship in such a way that it affirms the inferiority of women to men. But this is not the case! As Dr. Grudem says, "Page 1 of the Bible corrects the errors of male dominance and male superiority that have come as a result of sin and have been seen in all cultures throughout the history of the world." Page 1 of the Bible! Do you think maybe God knew this would be an important issue?

Furthermore, if we're equal in our status of being made in the image of God, then God must also count us as equal in value. And if God counts us as equal in value then that settles the question of worth for all time! Dr. Grudem continues with this exhortation to all women: "do not receive the lie that comes from one part of every culture in every society that says 'as a woman you are inferior to men, you are less important.' God says you are equal in dignity, value, importance, and personhood. Do you receive that?"

Now, don't get me wrong. There are certainly differences between men and women. We have many differences in preferences and in the way we decide things and express things. But we have to start with understanding that just because we are different as women doesn't mean our worth and value is different. Rather, our equality before God means that men and women need to respect and honor one another in spite of those differences. When we value those differences, we are actually affirming the equality in honor and value that we have before God!

Are you receiving your standing before God as one created in His image and justified by the blood of His Son?

PEGI and her sister Grace

This morning we were introduced to PEGI. She can be a bit intimidating. She calls us to 4 basic commitments; basic but demanding.

What is your response to PEGI? I am sure, because you have a heart to serve Christ and to see His Kingdom advance in Ocean County and beyond, you were inspired. I am also pretty sure, if you are like me, these commitments can make your heart tremble. Why? Because though my desire is to serve Christ in the way PEGI prescribes, I know how often I've failed.

How often have I lacked initiative and been content to just let things happen, or just let someone else do it? How often have I settled for mediocrity and held back my resources of time, gifting, and money out of selfishness, or laziness? My conscience condemns me as I think of the many times I have neglected to properly express appreciation for those who have served me or served alongside me. How often has my pride kept me from humbly seeking out the input of others? Or how many times have I lacked honest transparency rather than admitting my own failures and sin?

This is an honest admission of my own heart. If it were not for PEGI's sister GRACE I would be paralyzed by guilt and shame, fear and unbelief, and unable to serve Christ another day. This is just where Satan wants me. And for a long time in many ways I was controlled by those things. I had a difficult time seeing how God could use me. I found it much safer to "bury my 'talents'" (Matthew 25:14-16, 21).

At times I still have a fearful unbelieving heart, but God is bringing about a change in me. Dave Harvey once told me, "What God has called you to, He will give both the gifts and the grace to fulfill that calling" (that may not be an exact quote but hopefully you get the idea). This truth had a transforming affect upon me.

What has God called me to? I am called to be Tim's wife. I am a mother, a homeschooling mom, a mother-in-law, a grandmother, a daughter, a sister, a neighbor, the wife of the senior pastor, wife of a caregroup leader, leader of women's ministry, a mentor.

I could easily shrink back in fear when I think of applying the PEGI principles to all of this. But I need not fear, for it is the power of Christ that enables me to fulfill my callings. Because He died to save me, and because He rose again, and because He gave me the Holy Spirit to dwell within me, and because He has given me spiritual gifts, I know that HE is going to give me all that I need to fulfill these callings. Not only that but when I sin, which I'm afraid I am so prone to do, HE is faithful and just to forgive me and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

With these truths, I can boldly step into ministry knowing that He who began a good work in me will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). HE is still at work in me!! He is still at work in ME!!! By His GRACE I will draw upon this GRACE and His gifts to pursue PEGI in my various callings. Amazing GRACE.