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It is the heart of God, that none should perish. He who did not spare His own Son, has together with Him given all that you will ever need in life, dire and foreboding though the circumstances may be right now. It is also the good news that the world around you needs to hear, for it is saturated with news that is causing a pandemic of fear, and the phrase, ‘level of oxygen saturation in the blood’ has become common terminology! You, on the other hand, as you dwell in the shelter of the Most High, have a God who watches over you, to counsel you and lead you forward in the path of restoration of your soul, and transformation of your life, according to His glorious purpose that can never be thwarted.
You are never without a future and a hope, for, in Christ, you have been born again into a Living Hope. And may He minister to you, through His word, and His Spirit, to take you forward, as you meditate upon the prayer of David that says, Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; May Your good Holy Spirit lead me on level ground. [Psalm 143:10] The Eternal God, by His Eternal Spirit, leads you through the Eternal Word. He is the Living Savior who through His one perfect sacrifice has accomplished it all on the Cross, that you may appropriate the wondrous fruit of it in your life by His resurrection.
Who then, can condemn you?
Sin condemns you, to prevent your progress in God’s ordained path for you. But Lord Jesus died to sin on the Cross, and rose up on the third day, overcoming triumphantly the one who had power over death, the evil one. And, redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb, you can proclaim, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. [Romans 8:34]
a. Sin therefore can no longer condemn you or stop you from moving forward, for it has been dealt with on the Cross of Calvary.
b. The devil or the accuser of the brethren, though defeated and made a public spectacle on the Cross, by Christ, can still try to accuse you with his lies and deception. But, in the knowledge and application of God’s truth, you can resist his spurious attempts to deceive you.
c. And, your own heart, or your conscience can sometimes condemn you with feelings of guilt and recrimination, for the conscience can be a strict task master. But knowing that God is greater than the feelings of your heart, can protect you from falling prey to it. As it is written in the word of God, For, if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. [1 John 3:20]
He is also the compassionate Lord, who does not merely sympathize, but goes a step further, to rectify what is troubling you. He cleanses your conscience , that your heart may no longer condemn, but rather commend you. It was by the sacrifice of the Son of God, who shed His Blood on the Cross, as an atonement for the sins of the whole world. For, as the writer to the Hebrews points out, How much more shall the Blood of Christ, who offered Himself through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished and without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works, to serve the Living God. [Hebrews 9:14]
A perfect cleansing has been made possible; and by the one perfect sacrifice, of the sinless Lamb of God on the Cross, who is now the Risen Savior of the world. The effect of it, is a confidence in approaching God in prayer, as the apostle John has put forth in his epistle, Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God, And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. [1 John 3:21,22]
A heart that thus is commending, and not condemning, gives
1. Confidence in your heart,
2. Clarity in your conduct, and,
3. Conviction in your prayer, for, it will no longer be a hit or miss scenario.
Faith and a good conscience :
You were born into this world, because God has a plan, a purpose for your life. Accomplishing it is what will bring fulfillment in you, and it becomes possible only with a good conscience, as it is your conscience that reveals His prophetic word to you, in your spirit. It is the counsel that Paul gives to his spiritual son, Timothy, saying – This charge I commit to you, my son, Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, Having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected concerning the faith, have suffered shipwreck. [1 Timothy 1:18,19]
God has a plan; it is to prosper you, and not harm you. But it is also a fight, a warfare, for there is an adversary, the devil, who by deception and lies, is always trying to veer you off the track, the good path that God has already prepared for you. The problem that the enemy brings in your good path may be intense, and, at all levels, even as it is now, when a health crisis of epic proportions is the order of the day, and shows no sign of abating. Through it all though, God’s purpose for your life is unchanging.
And, all you need to do, is to turn your eyes to be upon the Living God, whose eyes are always upon you. It is what king Jehoshaphat did, when enemy forces together, that were superior at all levels came against him. He acknowledged the truth, instead of denying it, and not knowing what to do, in faith, and he prayed for counsel, from the One who knows it all. [2 Chronicles 20:12] And, even in your life, as it was in Jehoshaphat’s, it is a good fight. It is good, because you win the fight, with the resource that God has given you, your shield of faith with which you can gain victory in Christ. Faith comes in you by hearing the word of God that is forever good. And God speaks His good word to you, primarily through your conscience.
Conscience – that is good :
It is one that is well informed concerning what is right. A good conscience can be compared to a drinking glass that is washed and clean. And it is what it contains, what it is filled with that determines it’s effectiveness. Therefore, your conscience that has been cleansed by the Blood of Christ, needs to be filled with the word of God, and also on a continual basis, for it to be effective in His plan coming to pass in your life. And no matter how challenging and terrifying your present environment is, you can be like a tree planted by the waters, with your peace and strength coming from within you. But, the word of God, not dwelling in and filling your conscience, in the power of the Spirit can have an effect that is very detrimental, and influence your conduct negatively.
1. Conscience – that is weakened :
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. [1 Corinthians 8:6] It is a powerful truth that Paul declares, setting forth the divine connection that man, who has been created in the very image of God, is privileged to enjoy here on earth. You and I exist for Him, and exist through Him. It is why, Paul, in another place has said, ‘I no longer live; He lives in me’. And not knowing this truth in your heart and in your spirit, can make your conscience weak, and lead to it being defiled, losing it’s sensitivity and effectiveness. It is knowing Him that is eternal life. And ‘we know’ it is written in the scriptures, that God causes all things to work together for good, in the lives of those who love Him, and are called according to His purpose. [Romans 8:28]
But, not everybody can profess to having this experiential knowledge. And, a conscience that is weakened because of it, will tend to look more at the problem, than the overriding promises of God. It would be like your mobile phone not working properly owing to the signal being weak, or a light bulb that shines very dimly because the voltage of the incoming power is low. Focusing on the news all the time, in this present season of dangerous pestilence, instead of upon the good news of God’s word, can weaken your conscience. ‘Less screen and more scripture’ can indeed strengthen your immune system! Faith that comes by the scriptures, and a good conscience can make you weather the storms of life, and not be tossed about to be eventually ship wrecked.
2. Conscience – that is corrupted :
To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. [Titus 1:15] And what needs to be avoided, so that your conscience may not be defiled, becomes clear in the verse prior to it. Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. [vs 14] It is not stories but scripture, that can make your conscience, strong and good. It is by not paying heed to what is not in the word of God, to myths and speculations, that seems to easily attract the attention of people. Testimonies too can be edifying, but ones that are personal experiences of the supernatural realm can be subjective, while the truth of God’s word is objective. All things combined, the world around you, may be in confusion, especially now, when no one seems to know what tomorrow holds, but God’s word, even now, will give you clarity.
It is what Christ has already done, and is continuing to do for you, that needs to occupy the storage space of your conscience, and certainly not on what the anti Christ is doing, and when the world is going to end, though it seems to be what is trending now! Your conscience, is an immeasurably higher version of something that you and I are very familiar with in this age of information technology, which is the the computer file. And it needs anti virus protection, the incorruptible word of God, to keep it from being corrupted, and hence weakened. Therefore, stick to the word.
3. Conscience – that is seared :
Speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared as with a hot iron. [1 Timothy 4:2] A tongue that repeatedly tastes a cup of coffee that is scalding hot, can over a period of time lose it’s sensitivity, towards both what is cold and hot. It illustrates what a conscience that is seared is. And, how it can happen is also very clearly given – Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. [vs 1]
It is by listening to doctrines of demons, when a conscience is seared, and is not sensitive, and hence the person continues to do what is wrong, for he has got used to it. His conscience does not trouble him any more. A deceiving spirit is what led Eve astray, for the path that the devil was suggesting to her, to be like the God who had created her, the God who was so very good, and bountiful, could have run parallel, appeared very similar to the kind of person that she herself desired to be. But in listening to the deceptive voice, her conscience became seared, losing sensitivity to what God ha said, what God was saying, and what God will say in the future. Thus, a seared conscience is what can be the result of listening to demonic illusions, put forward by professional liars. But you and I, by sticking to the word of God can have a conscience that is sensitive to His own heart, to fulfill His glorious purposes in life.
4. Conscience – that is one of sin consciousness :
Strange as it may sound, it is a religious problem! For it can be said about the worshipers to whom, the animal sacrifices that they offered year after after, was merely a reminder of their sins in their conscience, and not the assurance of a conscience that has been cleansed of it’s sin, by the blood of the Lamb. [Hebrews 10:1-3] For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of things, can never with these same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year make those who approach perfect. [vs 1] And it was to remove the sins of the whole world, that the Savior was born, who by one sacrifice has perfected forever all those who draw near to Him in faith. [Hebrews 10:14]
But a conscience that is not filled with a revelation of this glorious truth, and chooses instead to hold on still, to a ritualistic observance of the Christian calendar year after year, having no relationship with the Living God, that comes through the Holy Spirit, can in no way enjoy the cleansing that comes by the Blood of the Lamb. And the conscience will keep reminding you of the problem instead of revealing to you, the solution to it. It is why, it needs to move from a place of sin consciousness, to God consciousness, in knowing that you were once a sinner, but now you are righteous in Christ, having enjoyed a perfect, present cleansing in His Blood. And cleansed from dead works, or fruitless rituals, your conscience is one that is good, when it is filled with a supremely vital ingredient, the word of God.
5. Conscience – where God’s word dwells richly :
It is a good conscience, for the entrance of God’s word brings the light of revelation truth in it. Light that is the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ, the treasure that we contain in jars of clay, our mortal earthly bodies, as Paul expresses it. [2 Corinthians 4:6,7] The word of God, in the power of the blessed Holy Spirit, works in your conscience to bring about the godly change that is needed. It happens within you as you esteem His word, to consider all His precepts to be right; or in other words, it is having the perspective in you that all that He has said regarding anything is perfectly right. And when it is the fundamental premise upon which you build your life, it brings about a restoration.
6. Conscience – restored to it’s goodness :
For the law of the Lord is perfect; and it restores your soul, or your conscience. [Psalm 19:7] It is brought back to it’s original intended purpose, created as it was in God’s own image. For, your conscience is like the sensor of an aircraft, that needs to send the right signal to the pilot. When you read the news, it is your conscience that is the sensor. And a seared or corrupted conscience, only when it is restored by the word of God, can send the right signal. It can then show you, that in these troubled times, it is on the promises of God that you need to focus, and not on the problem. And it would be the leading of your good conscience that has been restored by God’s word.
A beautiful building, was how God the Creator and Designer of all things bright and beautiful pictured your life to be. And owing to sin’s destructive work that corroded and corrupted your conscience, it could now appear to be in ruins. But it is not the end of the story, for your Redeemer lives! And His BLOOD cleanses your conscience, of everything that is vile, leading to the wondrous promise of the New Covenant, that fills you with His WORD.
HE writes! – on the tablet of your heart :
It is His stupendous promise to you and I, and every child of God, of how He fills us with His word, indelibly, to give us a good conscience. And when God writes, can anyone erase it?! He reminds you therefore, or brings to your remembrance, what He has already placed within you, when the need arises. The Holy Spirit, is always your ‘Parakletos’, or Helper. This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord, ‘I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them’. Then He adds, ’Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more’. Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. [Hebrews 10:16-18]
And, you can run forward….! :
And binding His word as a treasure continually around your heart, in the strength and power of a good conscience, even in this season of uncertainty, loss and pain, you need not run away, but you can run towards the challenges that come. For, when you walk, they will guide you; When you sleep, they will watch over you; When you awake, they will talk to you. [Proverbs 6:21,22] God will speak to you, through your conscience, cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb, to lead, guide, guard and protect you, to take you from where you are, to where you need to be. Yes, there are problems all around, but there is the power of God within you, to overcome it all.
And having known the Father’s care in your life, having experienced His goodness , as you ask of Him for faith and a good conscience, cleansed by the Blood of His Only Begotten Son, and filled with His unfailing word, may you know that, greater is He who is in you, than he that is in the world, even as the sensitivity of your conscience is restored. ‘Less screen, more scripture’, is scriptural commonsense, especially for such a time as this! Therefore, may the word of God dwell in you richly. And, may the blessing of God that keeps you from all harm, be your portion, your provision and protection in the coming days. In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
