A message of hope

All Scripture is given by God. And all Scripture is useful for teaching and for showing people what is wrong in their lives. It is useful for correcting faults and teaching the right way to live. Using the Scriptures, those who serve God will be prepared and will have everything they need to do every good work. (2 Timothy 3:15-17)

There have been times when I have used scripture to beat someone over the head - oh, not physically, but metaphorically. I have picked the most inopportune times, used the harshest scripture I could find that applied to the issue, and whammo! Yes, I am guilty of causing a 'scripture hit and run'! I was young, not really aware of how God could intervene without 'all my help', and kind of stubborn myself at times. I have mellowed a lot since then and have even been the 'victim' of a few 'scripture hit and runs' from others. Perhaps those helped me to realize the folly of spewing scripture 'at' someone. Scripture is all powerful, but it is a tool best used in conjunction with the leading of the Holy Spirit.

When the Holy Spirit prepares his Word for a particular situation, it rings true in the heart of the one hearing it. When the heart is ready, the Words might just bring conviction, but they also bring great hope and comfort in response to that conviction. We can use words to 'condemn', but we will never be able to use words to bring 'conviction'. God's plan was always to use his people to help one another walk in the light of his truth, but to do it with grace and understanding. There is no room in his church for 'hit and run' preachers! All scripture is useful - in the hands of the Holy Spirit. Yes, the Holy Spirit can move through us to bring a word to one in need of understanding, but we must be sure it is his leading and not our own.

The difference in timing, delivery, and outcome is made when he is behind the words because he has prepared the heart to receive them. If all scripture did was point out what was wrong in our lives, we'd dread ever discovering the truth within its pages. Scripture might bring conviction, pointing out some area where our lives require some adjustment, but it always shows us a certain aspect of light and life as it does. This is where grace bring hope into our lives. Truth uttered by our lips and empowered by the Holy Spirit will always bring hope - even in the midst of conviction. Just sayin!

Milk for babes

For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God... So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness. (I Peter 1:23; 2:1-3)

I have often said when we see the 'therefore' in scripture we need to ask God what it is 'there for'. The same is true when we see the 'so' - asking what condition or behavior is described that must change as a result of what has just been described. We have been given new life - there has been an exchange we are to embrace and live within. Our actions are to change because our attitude changed. When I speak of attitude, I refer to the orientation of our minds and hearts. They are focused differently - renewed by the Word of God and made alive by the Spirit of God within. SO... get rid of the old behavior and embrace the new.

Be done with it. Maybe this seems like a harsh statement because we can feel that old way of seeing things and doing these things hanging on. God's directive is clear - make a clean break from them. Don't return to them, don't allow them to pull you in again and don't crave them more than you desire the 'spiritual milk' that will nourish you in this new life. Crave God's Word - his presence, peace, and provision made available to you through the living, breathing Word of God. What helps us grow in Christ? Getting a wee taste of the goodness of his grace. As a newborn craves its mother's milk, we come to crave the infilling of our lives with all he declares good for us.

The mother draws the newborn to the breast, but the babe must suckle at the breast in order to be nourished. The milk doesn't magically just get into the baby's stomach! It works for it! Yes, it is provided, but it must work to receive it. Why do we think life would be much different for us as believers? We need the 'milk' of the Word, and we must put forth a bit of effort to get it into our lives. The good things we discover as we allow the Word of God to get into our lives will bring things like deliverance from bad habits, the ability to love others who have not been as kind to us as they should have been, and the strength to stand in the midst of hard circumstances when nothing makes sense.

We have tasted that God's grace is good. Now we must take in a steady supply of all he provides - not just grace. Sometimes the 'meal' we take in will bring conviction because what we have 'taken in' apart from Christ's provision left things that we no longer want to affect our attitude any longer. Just as a baby needs to be 'burped' after taking in the mother's milk, sometimes we need to 'get out' what isn't wholesome or 'holy' in our lives. We need to respond to the intake of his Word that brought that conviction and repent of our sin. Then we settle into his arms and just rest in the perfect peace of being right where we should be. Just sayin!

Toward the Sunrise

This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is. (John 3:20-21)

A crisis is a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, especially for better or for worse, is determined - some call this a turning point. It can represent a condition of instability or danger, leading to a decisive change - not always for the best. Equally so, it can represent one of those events where there is a lot of dramatic emotional or circumstantial upheaval in a person's life - leaving one to sort out the pieces when all is said and done. When a person is not interested in pleasing God, their entire life may seem like one crisis right after another - barely bailing out of one and stepping into another. Darkness is like that - you stumble around a lot, not sure of where you are going, and doing a pretty poor job of avoiding all the obstacles in your path.

We can observe all manner of folk around us who are 'addicted to denial and illusion' - believing whatever the 'fad of the day' is at the moment. Their illusions are fed by the media - their denial is spurred on by all manner of imaginary belief formed on nothing more than opinion. They could be what some refer to as 'naysayers' - never having a good word to say about anything. It is quite possible they are well enough educated, just 'dumb' where it comes to the things we call 'spiritual'. They need to understand, or they will not believe, but spiritual things are not always easily understood. What a way to go through life! I don't want to see the dark side of things, much less experience them! I want the light to show me how to live, where my thoughts aren't quite right, and what choices I should make. I don't want to live from one crisis to another - how about you?

When you reject light, you are left 'running for the darkness'. I do just the opposite - I run for the light, fleeing the darkness whenever I can. I like to walk early in the morning as the sun is coming up, but as the fall and winter season is upon us, the sunrise comes a wee bit later each new day. That means I may start my walk in a bit of darkness, but I head toward the sunrise so the light will be upon me, leading my steps as I go. It is like that when we say 'yes' to Jesus - we leave darkness behind and begin to walk into the light. We begin to see our path illuminated by that 'spiritual light' and as we take each step, it is more certain, solid, and taken with conviction. If I ever take a step that is without conviction, I usually know it is away from the light, not toward it! Just sayin!

What is restorative justice?

Embarrassed may be translated "ashamed", "flustered", "disconcerted", or even "bewildered" or "confounded".  Lots of ways to say the same thing, but each with just a tiny hint of a different meaning.  If I said I am not ashamed of the gospel I might just be trying to tell you it doesn't make me hesitant to share it, or take action on what it says.  If I were to tell you I am not flustered by it, you might get the idea I am not "put off" or "put down" by what I read there.  If I were to tell you I don't find myself disconcerted by the gospel message, then you might just get the impression I am not "mixed up" when I read its words, but in fact find a kind of power to put at peace what is already so mixed up within me.  You see, we all have a slightly different approach to the gospel each time we take it in - the most important thing to remember is that we are not to shy away from it!  No matter how we are "experiencing" it at the moment, it is and always will be God's power to save every person who believes!

For I am not the least bit embarrassed about the gospel. I won’t shy away from it, because it is God’s power to save every person who believes: first the Jew, and then the non-Jew.  You see, in the good news, God’s restorative justice is revealed. And as we will see, it begins with and ends in faith. As the Scripture declares, “By faith the just will obtain life.”  (Romans 1:16-17 VOICE)

As I was listening to my favorite radio station on the way to work yesterday, a woman called who was on the verge of tears. She shared the "encouraging story of the day" - something the radio station does each morning during my commute.  Most of the time, I get pretty jazzed to hear what is going on in people's lives, but this time the conversation made me think about the "image" of what the host of the show was actually asking the individual who called. She shared how she had been "away from Jesus" for a good many years, just doing her own thing, even though she "knew better".  She had recently experienced a tugging at her heart strings to "get her life back together" and as she put it, she was "trying to get things right with God" again.  As the host asked the question, I heard her pause and she answered in a way I hear so many people answer.  The question?  "If you were standing at the door of heaven right now, and God asked you why he should let you into his kingdom, what would you say?"  The answer from the woman caller:  "Well, I'd tell him I have been trying to get things together in my life..."

So many times we think an "open door" to God's presence is about what we "do" to get there, especially when we have turned our back on God for a period of time and are out there doing whatever it is we felt like doing for that period of time.  It isn't about what we do or have done - but ALL about what Jesus has done ALREADY for us.  His actions on our behalf HAVE been done, are CONTINUALLY enough to cover ALL our sin, even when we wander away for a while or "take a vacation" from living as we "know we should".  When we are living in a way which is kind of self-centered and focused on the "wrong stuff", we don't want to get into the Word - because the Word might just bring a little conviction and that makes us uncomfortable.  There is a difference between feeling discomfort over our actions and being ashamed of the gospel, though!  Just because it makes us feel like we need to do something differently in our lives doesn't mean the message "flusters" us, or "confounds" us. It simply means the message is doing what it was intended to do - lovingly show us we need a Savior.

If we need a Savior, then it is because we haven't been able to do enough to save ourselves! Ponder that one for a bit and you might just recognize how even the convicting power of the Word is God's way of showing himself powerful ON OUR BEHALF, not against us!  We need to stop considering conviction as a means of being "punished", or of a means to "punish" ourselves.  Conviction is a part of God's love expressed toward us - he cares so deeply for our needs he lovingly wants to bring correction into our lives, helping us refocus, and then drawing us closer to his heart until we don't want to leave his presence ever again!  We ALL slip up - we ALL feel conviction - we ALL fall into traps of sinful experiences on occasion. Some of us choose to "live in them" a little longer than others, but the same means "OUT" of where we find ourselves exists - the blood of Jesus.  

I think this is what our writer had in mind in this passage - conviction is a means to reveal God's "restorative justice".  In essence, he is saying our sin has been wrong - we need to confess it as such.  Then we need to trust fully in the powerful work of Christ on our behalf to be ALL we need to be restored to the place where God sees nothing of our sin, but only the right-ness of Christ's action on our behalf.  You see, in God's eyes sin cannot just be dismissed - there must be a "payment" for the sin.  The truth is that we cannot ever "repay" the debt sin created in our lives.  No matter how much we try to dig our way out of that hole, we will still find ourselves in the hole until we allow Jesus to lift us out!  His sacrifice on the cross, death, burial, and resurrection - these are the ONLY "payment" which actually fulfilled the debt fully.  As we stand at heaven's door knocking, we aren't "allowed in" because of our merit or ability to make payment - but because our "admittance" into the kingdom of God has already been secured through his living and dying!

God's love is best understood not in the absence of conviction, but in the fact conviction exists.  It is evidence of his restorative justice - beckoning us to turn away from what we have been pursuing and to embrace what awaits us in his presence.  Just sayin!

More than a little water, please

I have watched my grandsons grow older, smarter, and bigger.  They are now 6 and 11, great students in school, engaged in creative activities which occupy their minds and time, and loving as all get out when it comes to caring for others.  I have seen them wrestle with each other, kind of taunting one another one minute to see if they could get under each other's skin, while they are embracing and telling each other how much they love the other one the next. One thing I have noted is just how much they are like fresh sponges - absorbing not only what they hear, but what they see modeled.  It is not uncommon to see one or both of the boys jump up to help their great-grandmother locate her walking stick she has absently left somewhere, or to open a door for her on her journey out to the car.  It is also not uncommon for them to bring handwritten notes and handcrafted cards to each of us just telling us how much they love and appreciate us in their lives.  Early in their wee lives, they became insanely interested in what we were doing and then they paid close attention to it.  Some of the habits they now reveal are simply that - habit.  Some of the actions they reveal are more than habit - they are purposeful expressions of how God has created them to respond to the love of another and to show their love to another.  We all have a certain amount of "sponge capacity" in each of us - able to take in things around us and then hold onto them.  If you have ever been around a saturated sponge that never gets used you will know it soon develops a pretty sour smell.  Why?  The sponge was meant to not only soak in the water it was put into, but to disperse that water elsewhere as it moves across the surfaces it touches.  The same is true in our lives - it isn't all about us being absorbed in what we are doing - but us being instruments of God doing with us what we were created to do!

All those people who didn’t seem interested in what God was doing actually embraced what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And Israel, who seemed so interested in reading and talking about what God was doing, missed it. How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their “God projects” that they didn’t notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road. And so they stumbled into him and went sprawling. Isaiah (again!) gives us the metaphor for pulling this together:  Careful! I’ve put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion, a stone you can’t get around.  But the stone is me! If you’re looking for me, you’ll find me on the way, not in the way.  (Romans 9:30-33 MSG)

It is important to note this concept of being interested in what God is doing - for this is the beginning point at which we actually embrace what he is doing and allow his actions within us to straighten out our lives.  We might soak up all kinds of truth in our years on this earth, but truth soaked in will stagnate and leave nothing but a sour smell to all who are around us if it is not used to actually change us and the environment we create around us!  We can read about God and all his actions, then spend time pontificating and talking it through with others, but until the truth begins to be "used up" within us, we don't have capacity for any additional truth.  This is the purpose of truth - to be taken in, but used in ways which actually begin to affect not only us, but those around us.

We will miss what God is doing if all we do is sit as passive sponges and never put to use what God puts into us.  We will miss out on what he is doing, as well. How many times have we put the cart ahead of the horse in our lives, thinking we "had this one" and then plunging ahead without really being fully equipped to handle whatever it was that was ahead of us?  Why does that happen?  I think it may be associated with our tendency to soak in what God gives us, thinking we are ready for what lays ahead, then us thinking all we needed was a little water in our sponge!  If you have ever tried to clean up a greasy stove top with nothing more than a sponge and water, you know the futility of that effort. All you do is spread around the grease!  What you needed was a little bit of some enzymatic cleaner added to the water in order to cut the grease.  By jumping ahead, you missed this important "additive"!

Most of us need some form of "enzyme" in our lives - not just the truth.  We need the truth to begin to become something which "works up" and "works out". This is the purpose of the chemical added to the water put into the sponge - to work up a lather and work out the stain!  The truth is good, but the powerful punch the Spirit of God gives when he brings truth to life within us, this is more than good - it is great!  We stumble around, just making a bigger mess of life when we try to do things on our own - going off half-ready for what life sends our way.  No wonder we stumble and fall so often!  We don't have all the "ingredients" for living as we should.  We have been "sponges" of God's grace and goodness, but missed out on the "powerful enzyme" afforded when his Spirit begins to bring conviction which leads to confession and consecration.

Truth isn't found in our lives when we trip over it.  It is found when we pay close attention to finding AND embracing it.  The sponge with water is good, but when the enzymatic cleaner is added, it accomplishes great things in his hands!  Just sayin!

Worship is What?

 A Psalm of Thanksgiving

^1-2 On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter, 
      sing yourselves into his presence.  ³ Know this: God is God, and God, God. 
      He made us; we didn't make him. We're his people, his well-tended sheep. 
 ⁴ Enter with the password: "Thank you!" Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him.  ⁵ For God is sheer beauty, all-generous in love, loyal always and ever.

(Psalm 100 The Message)

We are beginning the month of November, beginning to look ahead to the holiday we call Thanksgiving in the United States.  As  was reading this morning, I started in the 99th Psalm and continued to this passage above.  As I began to consider all the ways we "worship" God in our lives, one of the most important ways that spoke to me was actually in a verse from the 99th chapter of Psalms.  The passage spoke to the fact that Moses, Aaron, and Samuel were great men in the sight of Israel, used mightily by God.  Yet, they took time to pray to God.  Prayer was part of their "worship" of God.  They lived lives of prayer.

The passage explained that they "prayed to God" and "he answered them".  Two things I want us to realize.  First, they shared their heart with God.  They brought TO God their every need.  There is no better source of strength, no more assured place of comfort, and no more gracious forgiveness than at his feet.  In bringing TO God the needs of our heart, mind, and emotions, we place ourselves "in line" for the second part of this "process" we sometimes call "prayer" - today, I'd like us to consider it as "worship".  Worship is really all we do with our lives.  As such, prayer is a way of taking time to recognize the importance of keeping the relationship "fresh" with the one we serve.

Second, HE answered them.  That means that in their yielding of their lives to his direction, he answered them.  He honored their "worship" with the very presence of his "cloud" and "pillar of fire" that was continually with Israel in the wilderness.  The most awesome part of this passage is that the very next words recorded:  They DID what he SAID!!  Speaks of obedience being a part of our "worship".  No sense in bringing ourselves to the feet of Jesus if we have no intention of listening to what he says!

But, I am not finished with what I gleaned from this 99th chapter.  In fact, it spoke the loudest to me about what it is that I have to be thankful for this holiday season!  You may think it strange, but here it is:  "But you were never soft on their sins."  Yep, that is what I am most grateful for this Thanksgiving season.  The fact that God is NEVER soft on our sins is really something we should be thanking him for!

If we served a God that could look away when we sinned, never really acknowledging our sins, we'd serve a pretty "fickle" God.  His holiness is the basis of his "hardness" toward our sin.  His love is the basis of his "grace" that covers that sin!  There is much more to obedience than just doing the right stuff at the right time.  There is the attitude of heart behind that action.  Then there is the desire to do it because it is the "right thing" to do, not just to gain God's (or man's) approval.  Add to that the fact that it "honors" God when we are obedient and we understand that God cannot (and will not) be soft on our sin!

That said, I am grateful this Thanksgiving season that God is NEVER soft on my sin.  That brings us to our passage for the day - Psalm 100.  We are his people and as such, we are well-tended sheep.  It is his being who he is, us being exactly who we are, that makes his grace all that much more powerful in our lives.  The next time you lift your voice to God, take some time to thank him for never being "light" on your sin!  When you do this with a genuine thankfulness for his grace, you may just find that you will begin to develop a new appreciation for the conviction of the Spirit in your lives!  Come and worship him with the knowledge that worship even involves his "conviction"!

Count it all joy!

 ^7-8"Listen now, you who know right from wrong, you who hold my teaching inside you:  Pay no attention to insults, and when mocked don't let it get you down.  Those insults and mockeries are moth-eaten, from brains that are termite-ridden, but my setting-things-right lasts, my salvation goes on and on and on."

(Isaiah 51:7-8 The Message)

There are times when we just feel like the world is against us - like all we live for and stand for is just ridiculed and considered to be silliness in the eyes of those around us.  These are the times when we need to re-read these words and take heart.  The unbeliever has no revelation of God beyond our testimony of a life "squared up" by living the principles God teaches.  It is the testimony of one that can affect the lives of millions!

Do you realize that mockery is really the highest form of honor we can receive?  Think about it - someone sees our the testimony of Jesus in us and finds it so convicting that the only thing they can do is to attempt to counterfeit it!  That is a true definition of mockery - to attempt to imitate or counterfeit!  This has been the pattern with humankind from the beginning of time - if we cannot have the real thing, we just try to get as close to it as possible!  Why else do you think we have "generic" everything on the store shelves?  Not only is it an imitation of the real thing, but it costs less!

I was once told that people make fun of what they don't really understand.  That is indeed true, but I think they also find what they don't understand a little "threatening" to them!  Their attacks are attempts to ridicule or deride the testimony of Christ within our lives that are often undertaken because there is a "threat" in the reality of Jesus they see in us!  As long as they are only presented with an "imitation" or the "generic Jesus", there is no threat to their way of life.  When there is any evidence of the reality of Christ in a person's life, it affects those around them.  The natural outcome of living by the teachings of Christ, allowing them to affect our conduct, is that others will sense the reality of Christ in us and be convicted by the evidence they see.  

I recall hearing my pastor years ago ask the question, "If you run into a total stranger this week, what characteristic of Christ will be the first thing they recognize in your life?"  Now, being wired the way I am, I wanted to raise my hand and begin firing off answers!  You know, the "pat" answers that we all know - the answers like:  "The unconditional love of Jesus", "The grace of God", or "The sweetness of Jesus' willingness to accept the sinner".  You probably could make your own list.  The fact is, when I really began to think that one through later on, I found that the "pat answers" really weren't all that "pat"!

In fact, I found that I pretty much had "conditions" on my love, "grace" was sometimes the furthest from my inclinations toward another, and "accepting" a sinner was almost impossible because they just didn't "fit" in my life!  Ouch!  Ummm....can you say, "Conviction"?  As I began to be honest about my own short-comings, God began to work with that honesty.  I am far from being able to love without "strings" attached (conditions), but I am getting better at it.  I have a lot to learn about grace, but I find that the more of it I am recipient of, the easier it is to understand how much another needs that same "slack" in their lives.  Accepting sinners for who and what they are is much easier when I get the first two pretty much in alignment with God's expectations.

So, the next time you are mocked for your faith, I would encourage you to not feel affronted by that counterfeiting of your faith, or the criticism of it.  In fact, you might just want to turn to God and thank him for the evidence of his life that is obviously "making it to the surface" in yours!  It is that evidence that is bringing conviction into another's and that is what brings God's grace into the lives of those most desperate to receive it!

Salvation 101 - Part VII - Unpardonable or Not?

 ³⁰"This is war, and there is no neutral ground. If you're not on my side, you're the enemy; if you're not helping, you're making things worse.  ^31-32"There's nothing done or said that can't be forgiven. But if you deliberately persist in your slanders against God's Spirit, you are repudiating the very One who forgives. If you reject the Son of Man out of some misunderstanding, the Holy Spirit can forgive you, but when you reject the Holy Spirit, you're sawing off the branch on which you're sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives.

(Matthew 12:30-32)

I remember long debates after class while I was in Bible College.  One of the most stimulating was always on the question what exactly was the "unpardonable sin".  If you have not already heard me say this, every passage of scripture has to be taken in context if it is to be true to its meaning.  Holding out one passage and not considering who the words were addressing, what was happening when the words were spoken/penned, etc., gives us a really skewed interpretation of the intended meaning of those words!

Jesus was speaking to the group of gathered Pharisees (the religious leaders) about their accusations against him.  That defines the audience for us.  They had accused him of not being of the lineage of David.  That was important, because the Messiah was prophesied to come from that line.  So, they were calling into account his "questionable heritage" - that gives us the context of what is being addressed.  If that was not enough, they actually accused him of being in cahoots with Satan himself!  Now, we have a backdrop against which we may consider his answer to them.

Depending on your translation of the Bible you are reading, this passage might refer to the "blasphemy against the Spirit of God", "slander against God's Spirit", or even "speaking  word against the Spirit of God".  Here's the crux of it:  Blasphemy is really any form of defiant irreverence against God!  This could be cursing God because we don't like something he did/did not do.  We could be putting down the holiness of God by engaging in all kinds of evil in the name of Jesus (like when someone blows up an abortion clinic in the name of Christianity).  The fact is that Jesus was answering the Pharisee's accusation that he was doing the healing of the sick, releasing of people from demonic activity in their lives, etc., by the power of Satan!  Jesus says, "Not so!  And to say that I am doing it by Satan's power is to attribute what I am doing under the power of the Holy Spirit of God to the unholy spirit of Satan!"

Okay, so what is the "unpardonable sin"?  Whenever scripture refers to unpardonable, it is referring to the condition of heart that dies in unbelief - they are NOT saved.  When sin has become the pattern that one follows time and time again, ignoring the convicting power of the Holy Spirit until that conviction no longer pierces their hearts, they are in a place of danger!  This individual really has no desire for God, or the things of God.  That makes is very plain to me that if you are asking yourself today if you might have committed the unpardonable sin, then you are in a good place!  You would not be asking yourself that if you had!!!!

The one who has committed the unpardonable sin has absolutely NO desire for the things of God!  Plain and simple!  There is no conviction of spirit or conscience that causes them to examine their behavior in light of falling short of the holiness of God.  Guess what?  This type of individual engages in sin so long, so frequently, that they are seared in their conscience!  This is not a one time occurrence - like when we get really bad news, cry out to God in our anger and question his goodness toward us, then mope in our anger toward God for a while!  Eventually, we are convicted for our anger.  If we respond to that conviction, we move into his grace and are restored.  The one who commits the unpardonable sin commits willful, active defiant actions repeatedly.  There is a continual rejection of the grace of God, his truth, and restorative power.

What I am referring to here is the state of being an unbeliever.  Jesus said that nothing done is beyond forgiveness.  That should give us hope!  We may sin (sometimes many times more than we'd like to admit!), but as long as we are not willfully defiant when grace is offered, we are restored.  We ARE accountable for how we spend our time, our talents, and our resources - that is why we have been given so many warnings in scripture to be aware of these things.  

Our "works" are really our "actions".  They speak the loudest and will be rewarded when they reviewed at the Great White Throne Judgment.  The goal is that we don't drift into religious pursuit instead of relationship.  The protection that provides keeps us from staying in a place of "sinful action" permanently.  Eventually, the repeated conviction we receive for engaging in what we know to be wrong will cause us to reach out for the grace we need to overcome the "desire" to commit that sin in the first place!  No one who has committed the unpardonable sin cares about overcoming the desire to willfully sin in the first place!

What is of importance here is that we allow the Holy Spirit to mature us!  As we allow growth to occur, we are brought closer and closer to the heart of God.  As that process occurs, we are drawn farther and farther away from the sin that entices us so easily today.  Here's one thing I have learned in my walk:  Guilt about sin acts as a two-edged sword.  On one side, it drives me to God, cutting quickly to the exact response God wants - repentance.  On the other side, it robs me of my assurance that God loves me, wants me close to him, and is willing to forgive me.  This is the "blunt" side of the sword!  Anytime doubt is produced, there will be fear that our security in Christ is "altered".  The thing that keeps us moving forward with God is to have our "altered" security made secure again at the "altar" of his grace!

We have to choose what we will believe - whenever we reach out to Christ in faith, he welcomes us.  When we respond to his Spirit, we are brought into seasons of growth.  When we drift away from that position, we grow stale - growth stops (we are dormant).  The best place to keep ourselves is in God's "hot-house"!  There we will be assured of growth and protection.  When we brave it on our own, we usually fail.  The joy we can embrace is that even in our failure, God is a merciful God!  Respond quickly to his conviction and be restored!  As long as you are hearing the voice of God in the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the nudges of your conscience, you are NOT in an unpardonable state!

Sermon Lessons: Conviction

¹⁰"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.  ^11-12"Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable."

(Matthew 5:10-12)

You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.

(James 2:18)

It is our action, not so much our words, that reveal the real conviction of our heart.  We always hear that we "cannot judge a book by its cover" and this is very true.  What is hidden in the heart is what is manifest in the actions.  We have a huge opportunity to affect how the world sees Jesus based on what actions we reveal to the world.  James put it this way - you cannot separate "faith" from "works" because our faith is revealed in our works.

Conviction is defined in several ways.  Personally, conviction is being fully convinced by the evidence so as to be stand firmly on the facts presented.  We become a dynamic evidence of God's grace when we model that grace to others.  We are "evidence" that helps to convince others of the unmerited favor of a holy God.  Conviction is also the state of standing "confident".  There is nothing that conveys living a really "solid" life than being able to speak and act with assurance - knowing what we believe and in whom our trust is fully placed.

Conviction also carries the idea of being convinced.  This word comes from a Latin word "convictus" - meaning to convince.  When we are "convinced" of something, we move from a place of just being acquainted with the evidence at hand into a place of belief, agreement, and consent.  The evidence results in a transition - we have a solid footing upon which to stand.  

Jesus challenged the disciples with the idea of persecution - telling them that it would actually cause them to be drawn closer to the Kingdom of God.  What he is implying here is that it drives us closer to the heart of God.  The outcome of that closeness to God's heart is that we have a testimony that presents the evidence of God's grace, justice, and love.  This kind of "evidence" makes people who don't know God in the same way do just a little uncomfortable - it affects the status quo.

Jesus was not giving his disciples (and us) the marching order to "mess with people's minds" or become "rabble-rousers" in society.  He simply is telling us to live in such a way that we are totally convinced of what it is we believe and allow that "firmness of faith" to become that which brings the conviction to the hearts of others.  We are simply presenting the evidence - the conviction is delivered by the evidence!

We cannot judge a book by its cover, but we can learn much about the "author" by exploring the pages.  Our depth of conviction is revealed in what the "author" of our lives has written on the pages of our heart.  The best thing we can do is live our lives as open books!