So, now we know that there are two kinds of convictions. Maybe we've realized that sometimes we have the wrong convictions. The ones that lead us to despair and sorrow. Or maybe the ones that lead us to pride.
So how do we distinguish them?
....both Satan and the Holy Spirit will point our your sin. But they do so in entirely different ways and for entirely different purposes. I've heard it said like this:
Satan starts with what you did, and tears down who you are. The Holy Spirit starts with what Christ has declared over you, and helps you rebuild what you did.
Satan beats us down with our failures. Jesus calls us up into our identity. Jesus starts with the perfect state He has purchased for us by His death and usesd the power of His ressurrection to bring us into conformity with it.
I know I've been convicted by Satan. Because I have been sorrowful over my failures. What happened right after that? I went to pity myself and despair. I mean what could I do? I'm this dirty rotten filth who every time they are cleaned goes and lays in the mud again. I was focusing on that part. Not the part that I was being continually cleaned and I could learn to become cleaner. Maybe that's what your feeling today. So overwhelmed with your sin and the sin around you, that you despair. But I encourage you, to hope in Christ. Pray in Christ. Live in Christ. You will find peace that will lift every burden no matter how heavy they are. It's a promise to us, if we live in him.
Another point I wanted to iron out, that really encouraged me, was when he started talking about the differences in speech that we should hear. For example, Satan says, "Look at you. Look at the conditions of your circumstances. Look at how poorly you're living." Ever heard that voice? I have. After the 'poor living' part, I proceed to mentally name all the bad things I did in the past week. How can God love me? The greatest mystery of all.
And then there was what God said, "You are My beloved child. I am well pleased in you. Now live that way." I cried at that part actually. You know why? Because I have never, in conviction, looked in the mirror and seen God's beloved child. It was so sweet and new to me, just out of this world. Then he says 'I am well pleased with you' ?? I just...I never thought that in my sins and living, God could be pleased with me. I always thought I had to prove something. Like, I'm sinning but look at me, I'm trying. But those words...'I am well pleased with you, my child.' I mean...wow. The God of the universe is pleased with me and my imperfections, and He's still willing to be my Father.
We should be shaking at the Grace we have received, because its undeserved but it's the one of the most beautiful senses we have. Knowing His Grace.
In Christ, there is nothing I can do that would make you love me more, and nothing I have done that makes you love me less. -JD Greear
~Hannah
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