4-13-20 Lord, Convict My Heart

4-13-20 Lord, Convict My Heart Lk 5:8 & Ro 8:1

Hi Friends,

     There is a huge difference between conviction and condemnation. One is the only right response when we find ourselves in the Presence of God and the other should no longer be in our lives once we surrender to Jesus as Savior and Lord. Let’s look at these two verses and talk about it, shall we?

“When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’” Lk 5:8 NIV

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Ro 8:1 NIV 

     Conviction. When we first encounter the immaculate holiness of Jesus, we ought to do exactly what Peter does here. After a full night of fishing and catching nothing, Jesus asks Peter to trust Him and put out to sea again. He obeys and, this time, they catch a net filled to the max with fish! Peter quickly realizes that this Jesus is no ordinary man. He sees the supernatural authority of Jesus over nature and knows He must truly be the Messiah they have been waiting for. (Jn 1:41) In the presence of His perfect power, he sees his own wickedness and depravity and quickly falls to his knees, bowing his head, knowing that he was not worthy to even be near Jesus. I think we forget this too often. We hear about how Jesus is a friend of sinners, and THANK GOD He is, but we fail to remember He is the Holy, Holy, Holy God Who created all that is seen and unseen. The Old Testament reminds us just how unapproachable our God is in the face of common, unclean people and our foolish actions, but some how, we rather talk only about His Grace than His Purity and utter Divinity. This is why too many people say they “don’t like the God of the Old Testament, but love the God of the New Testament.” Here’s the Truth: God is One. He has always been the same and will never change. He doesn’t have to because He is Perfect. And when we, the imperfect, come into the presence of Him, the Perfect One, we should be convicted to the core of something.

     Condemnation. Once we do come into His presence and surrender our lives to Jesus as Savior and Lord, our identity changes. In the eyes of God, we are no longer that sinful, arrogant person we once were. Now when He looks at us, He sees our hearts and His Son who now lives within us. We no longer need to feel like we are not worthy. We no longer need to feel guilty of our past sins. We no longer need to make excuses, run and hide, cover up our wrongdoing. We have been justified in the Blood of Jesus. Since He sacrificed Himself, took our sin nature upon Himself, then killed it in death and rose again to prove “It is finished,” we have been set free from the eternal consequences of our sin. Washed clean, we now don’t ever need to feel condemned….but we do need to feel conviction!

     Conviction. After we are born again, we are still not perfect in our soul (our thoughts, emotions, and desires) or body (actions), and we are still growing in our spirit. This is why the Bible calls us “children of God,” because we are still growing into this New Identity God has given us. Because of this immaturity, we still sin even though that is no longer WHO we are in Christ. When we sin, there should be some conflict within us. As a matter of fact, the major difference between who we used to be and who we now are in Christ is that we stop making excuses for our bad behavior. We see it for what it is, sin. This is that unsettled feeling we get deep within us. This is that sense that something is not lining up right inside. This is that notion that we have done something wrong and we need to make it right. This is the Holy Spirit convicting us that we have stepped out of our New Creation Self and fallen back into that old, selfish, sinful nature. This is what should be happening to us as we grow spiritually. We want to become more and more like our Perfect Jesus, and so, we need to continue to transform from our old fallen nature to our New Identity character. Conviction is what helps us know when we are operating in default sinner mode vs acting according to our New Saint reality.

     Condemnation. Condemnation talks about a person’s identity. It says the person him/herself is not righteous, has no good in them and is completely and absolutely selfish, self-centered and self-absorbed. Condemnation is the result of being an enemy of God, trying to live life on our own apart from our Creator. This goes to the very heart of who that person is, and because that is who they are, that is also what they will eventually end up doing. A condemned person has only ONE ultimate end, death. Condemnation is meant to move us to a point where we seek God. It is meant to prepare our hearts to surrender to Jesus as the only Way to rid ourselves of these identity markers that say we are not worthy, never good enough, all alone, no one understands or cares…fill in the blank with your own set of fallen views about yourself. This is who we used to be apart from Christ.

     Conviction. Conviction talks about a person’s soul and body, that is thoughts, emotions, desires and actions. It does not point to that person’s identity. IF we are sincerely born again, it says we may not always act maturely, but because of Jesus within us, we have been given the ability to become the righteousness of God. (2Co 5:21) We now have The Good Shepherd living in union with our spirit. We are transforming into His likeness so we are becoming less selfish, self-centered and self-absorbed…or at least that’s the way we should be living. This is why we NEED conviction. When the Holy Spirit convicts our hearts, He is not saying we are horrible sinners. He is lovingly reminding us we are now God’s children and must act like Him more and more. If we heed His kind warnings, we work with Him to change and become more like Jesus. If we CHOOSE not to listen, then we end up reaping what we have been sowing…and I shouldn’t have to tell you, that never goes well for us! But another major difference between who we used to be and who we now are in Christ, is that, the moment we become aware of our sinfulness, we can turn to God and confess and He wipes us clean and we begin to move forward again in this amazing, restored relationship. We begin, once again, to actually ACT like the children of God instead of that old, lost sinner we used to be.

     No longer condemnation. It is now a lie to believe we are under condemnation once we have confessed Jesus as our Lord and Savior because we are no longer that old condemned person who had only ONE ultimate outcome. We now have the gift of Life Everlasting! Conviction is good for us. It helps us grow in God’s Grace. The lie of condemnation keeps us from growing because it keeps us living in that past sinner identity. It causes us to make excuses, run and hide, cover up our wrongdoing. These make us run away from God. Conviction should draw us to God so we may unburden ourselves, learn the proper way to act and implement these new, god-like behaviors as we mature spiritually. Again, I say, conviction is good for us so pray with me: Lord, convict my heart. We should pray this powerful prayer on a regular basis…IF you really want more and more of the Abundant Life God desires to give us. The more we are convicted, the more we will leave that old selfish personality behind and the more refined our character will become. Becoming more and more like our Perfect Jesus? This is what I want! How about you? Then won’t you join me?

     Until we meet again, keep lifting your eyes to God, He’s closers than you think.

<>< Peace, Diane