A Word for Our Arbor Family
Pastor Corrie’s message from the February 25th newsletter really stuck with me. She wrote about learning to hear God’s voice. I began to consider two main things.
The first was one of Pastor Corrie’s points: Does the voice I’m hearing sound like me? She wrote, “You’ve lived your whole life with your own thoughts. As God calls you to Salvation, a new set of thoughts begin to occur. These lead and guide and encourage you into obedience to God and His Word. They should feel new to you and different from the thoughts you’ve had your whole life.” For me, that was simple yet mind-blowing.
The other thing I began to consider was discerning Conviction from Condemnation. As I began to study, I locked in on a few key elements:
As we pray, meditate on His word and share with other believers, we will hear Him speak to specific things in our lives. And when we submit to Him and obey in those specific areas, He “makes us more and more like Him.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
In short, CONVICTION is CORRECTION with DIRECTION! Have a great week!
The first was one of Pastor Corrie’s points: Does the voice I’m hearing sound like me? She wrote, “You’ve lived your whole life with your own thoughts. As God calls you to Salvation, a new set of thoughts begin to occur. These lead and guide and encourage you into obedience to God and His Word. They should feel new to you and different from the thoughts you’ve had your whole life.” For me, that was simple yet mind-blowing.
The other thing I began to consider was discerning Conviction from Condemnation. As I began to study, I locked in on a few key elements:
- Condemnation is general. Conviction is specific. “And when he [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.” (John 16:8)
- Condemnation leads only to sadness and hopelessness. Conviction leads to repentance and restoration. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” (2 Timothy 3:16)
- Condemnation attacks my whole identity. Conviction attacks the issue. My identity is not directly tied to my last mistake. “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you[b] from the power of sin that leads to death.” (Romans 7:25-8:2)
As we pray, meditate on His word and share with other believers, we will hear Him speak to specific things in our lives. And when we submit to Him and obey in those specific areas, He “makes us more and more like Him.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
In short, CONVICTION is CORRECTION with DIRECTION! Have a great week!