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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

The Duty of Our Conscience

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord: and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found; surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. I will instruct the and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with thine eye. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. Psalm 32 KJV

I thank God for giving me a conscience. I have learned a lot from my conscience because my conscience alerts me something is wrong and what I must do to make it right. It won't stop until I do what I can to make right regardless of what I have done wrong or have neglected to do. Sometimes that includes seeking forgiveness with a contrite heart from either someone that I have wronged in some way or from God, or both.
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As much as I would like to say I am perfect and I have not ever sinned, I would be lying if I did. Unfortunately, I have sinned many times. No human being can say that he or she is without sin. I thank God, my conscience does not rest until I have made right my wrongs and sought forgiveness from God.

Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Matthew 5:23, 23 KJV

I am so thankful that I  can go to somebody and go to God and ask for forgiveness and receive forgiveness from God. God gave us a conscience to make us aware of the things that we have said or done wrong. And he has given us a  way to be free from sin.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9, 10 KJV

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. Romans 8:1-5 KJV

How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Hebrews 9:14 KJV

We are not to hold on to the memory of sin and allow our mistakes to come between us and what God wants us to have. Through the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we are made to stand righteous before God without any sin conscience.  Think of an earthly father and how he has pity on his child and loves him/her regardless of the mistakes he makes. How much greater is God's love for us? If our salvation depended on how good or perfect we can be it would no long be a gift but a requirement.  Grace, God's unconditional love and forgiveness of our sins and iniquities is a gift. No person can boast that he was good enough to be forgiven and made righteous by his own actions or else the death and resurrection of Jesus would be made void. 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have ever lasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saves. John 3:16, 17

You might ask, 'How do I walk after the spirit and not after flesh?' We have to take one day at a time and live in each moment. We have to keep our mind on God and his word as much as we can. We can stay focused on God and walk in the spirit by praying and singing praises to God, meditating on scripture, and allowing ourselves time for quiet moments to be in God's presence in mind, spirit, and our heart. Even in the worst situations sing praises to God and remember his promises to bring light to those situations.  The more you stay in the spirit in this way the less time you will have to follow after the flesh. And when you do make a mistake, acknowledge that you made a mistake, ask God to forgive you, and forgive yourself. Every time you think about a mistake that you have made, forgive yourself again and accept God's love and forgiveness. How can we train ourselves to walk after the spirit and not after the flesh? One way is to acknowledge what kinds of situations or environments we allow ourselves to be in. Think about this, let's say that you are around someone who says, 'I know right' a lot. Eventually, you will be saying, 'I know right' because you have exposed yourself to someone who says that a lot. It is true of other things also. Just realizing this fact can help you be aware of who and what you allow yourself to be around. We have to constantly keep ourselves in check and remind ourselves to renew our mind according to the word of God.

If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceiful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore put away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:21-32 KJV

We are not to remain as we were before we got saved. And we are not to condemn ourselves for not being who we think we should be. We have to train ourselves as a soldier trains for battle. Day by day we grow, learn, and get stronger in the holy spirit. When you get saved you are filled with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit never leaves you. You are made new, born again of God's seed and made to stand righteous before God as His child. 

Written by Lisa Clewis 11-09-14