"RECEIVE WHAT GOD HAS FOR YOU"

Good Evening to All!

Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
(Psalm 139:23-24)

Often, when we are convicted of sin, we become very mood and grouchy because is dealing with us. Conviction is not an easy pill to swallow if you do not have the right mindset. If you are like I used to be, I would take offense to everything everyone said, whether they said it in a mean way or not. I felt condemned. Of course, back then I didn't know the difference between condemnation and conviction. Now, I look forward to being "convicted by the Lord", because that means He still finds me worth working on and molding into the kind of person He wants in heaven with Him. When I'm feeling convicted, I now feel like it's a good thing, because I WANT to be ready when He comes, and that won't happen without His help.

Conviction is the Holy Spirit's process in dealing with one's own conscience, alerting and sensitizing us to God's Word and demands. The idea of conviction is a major theme of Scripture, though the word is rarely used (Psalm 32:51; Acts 2:37; Romans 7:7-25). The "agent or deliverer of conviction is the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-11). His means of convicting is either through the Word of God (Acts 2:37) or by God's general revelations of His demands through nature and man's moral consciousness which he was "born" with of right and wrong (Romans1:18-20; 2:15).

The purpose of conviction is to lead a person to repent of his sins (Acts 2:37-38; Romans 2:14) and to turn to God for salvation and eternal life. Even beyond one's new birth, (baptism of water and of Spirit) the Spirit of God still will deal with or convict us as our senses and sensibilities are refined through the Holy Spirit's sanctifying process in our lives.

I do want to say something in reference to the picture on the right. I have often heard the phrase "let your conscience be your guide". The problem with that is if you let the wrong thoughts into your conscience and let something other than the Holy Ghost guide your conscience, then that is not the right advice to go by. ALWAYS allow the Holy Spirit guide you or if you do not have the Holy Spirit, then do what God put in your conscience to begin with . Do the "RIGHT " thing.

As I have said many times, Salvation is a life long journey. Yes, we take steps toward it by Repenting, being baptized in Jesus' name and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost according to God's Plan of Salvation in Acts 2:38, but the full story doesn't stop there. We must then start Living for God. For this we definitely need the Holy Spirit's guidance and in put. It is not hard to live for God, especially with the Holy Ghost within us, but we will ALWAYS need guidance. I don't care if we've only been a Christian for one day, or 80 years. we will always need the Holy Ghost's help to show us what God wants. It is the Holy Ghost that points a scripture out to you when you are reading and brings a deeper meaning to it for whatever we are going through that day. It is the Holy Ghost within us that keeps us or nudges us to keep our mouths quiet when we would love to tell someone off because they wronged us. It is the Holy Ghost that reminds us that gossip is not cool. Would we want people talking about us behind our backs? This Holy Spirit has kept me from digging a hole with my words that I could not have gotten out of, many times.

So, THREE CHEERS FOR CONVICTION AND THE HOLY GHOST!

Good Night to All and May God Bless!

Happiness is Being Convicted

Good Evening Everyone!

The Answers to the Bible Challenge "Riches" are as follows:

1. d) all of the above (Genesis 41:42)
2. c) silver, gold, and cloth (Exodus 12:35-36)
3. b) ivory (Amos 6:4)
4. c) 666 (I Kings 10:14)
5. rubies (Proverbs 8:11)
6. "a good name" (Proverbs 22:1)
7. c) thieves (Matthew 6:19)
8. hearts (Matthew 6:21)
9. d) pearls (Matthew7:6)
10. they were used to buy a graveyard for strangers (Matthew 27:3-7)

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And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: (9) of sin , because they do not believe in Me; (10) of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; (11) of judgment , because the ruler of this world is judged.
(John 16:8-11)

Reference: Holy Bible- New King James Version (8) Convict means to convince or reprove. The Holy Spirit would demonstrate the truth of Christ beyond the fear of contradiction. Hie convicts unbelievers through the believers who witness about Christ (15:26,27). Believers are the mouthpiece for God's voice. (9) of sin; Note the singular sin, not sins. Our witness should not focus on many sins but on the one FULL action and payment that Christ made for All of our sins. (10) righteousness: After Christ's departure, the Holy Spirit would convict the world of the nature and need for righteousness. (11) of judgment: Satan, the ruler of this world, rules in the hearts of unregenerate people and blinds their minds (see 1 Cor. 2:6-8) Satan was judged at the Cross, and the Holy Spirit would convince people of the judgment to come. Satan has been judged, so all who side with him will be judged with him. There is no room for neutrality. A person is either a child of God or a child of the devil.

The Holy Spirit's whole purpose is to guide us into all truths and teach us how to live for God.

He uses conviction to do this. To convict is to convince or reprove. He convicts us of sin which is intended to convince us to repent or turn away from sin and go in the right direction toward God rather than away from Him.

Many people don't know the difference between conviction and condemnation. Conviction is meant to help us move up higher in God's will and plan for our lives, by helping us through our trials and tribulations or delivering us from whatever is hindering our walk with God.
Condemnation on the other hand brings us down and puts us on a guilt trip which is hard to return from without God's help.

It's normal to feel a "little" ashamed when we are initially convicted, after all, God is bringing to light our short-comings. We all have them so we mustn't hang on to the shame. We should use that to lift ourselves up and get on the right track with God. Conviction is a good thing. It shows us what we need to work on so that God can use us in His kingdom, not to mention getting us ready for our eternal home. In my mind, conviction from the Holy Spirit is right up there with being "chastised from God". God says He chastises those He loves, much as a human parent would discipline their child for doing something wrong. He does it to teach us. The same with conviction. This is how the Holy Spirit teaches us. What we must be careful NOT to do is to hold on to the shame once we have repented. It is not healthy to do so, nor is it God's will. The Bible tells us that when we ask forgiveness and repent, that God tosses our sin into the "sea of forgetfulness" to be remembered no more. Well, that's all well and good unless we hold on to the shame and continue to dwell and bring it up to God. How can He forget it if we continue to dredge it up by feeling guilty? Don't forget he knows what's in our hearts and minds. Here is my train of thought on this point. According to His Word, God cannot forgive those who cannot forgive others. It says this in black and white (or red and white). I personally think He includes forgiving ourselves in this point also. I say this because if He being God of the Universe is willing to be merciful enough to forgive us, what gives us the right to "wallow" in self-pity and shame and not forgive ourselves?

Since God does not condemn us, we can fearlessly pray: "Lord, show me my sin. Convict me of anything I am doing that breaks your law of loving others or that keeps me from doing Your will. Keep my conscience tender to Your voice. Give me power to be free from sin. In Jesus' Name, I pray, Amen. Living this way will increase our sensitivity to the voice of God in our lives. We will become more and more in-tune with listening for His still, small, voice.

JUST REMEMBER: Satan condemns (and will use other people to do it as well); the Holy Spirit convicts.

Good Night to All and May God Bless!