A Good Conscience

November 20, 2019 Pastor Stephen Dedman Encouragement, Faith

A Good Conscience

Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.”
Acts 23:1

A Clean Slate

If you remember the life of Saul before the Lord changed his name to Paul, you will remember how he was persecuting the church and killing Christians. He was not considered a good person in our perspective. But here in this verse Paul says to the Sanhedrin council, “I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.” How could he say such a profound statement?

Paul knew his past was not good. But he also knew that he had received God’s forgiveness and grace. Even though he had previously acted out violent persecutions against Christians, he was a new person in Christ. He always used his testimony to show people how Jesus changed his life. So Paul could honestly stand before the council and declare that he had a good and clear conscience before God. His slate was clean and he was cleared from all unrighteousness.

That is a great way to live. We should all seek to live before God with a good conscience. The only way you can effectively do so is to confess your sins and turn from all evil. A problem occurs when we confess our sin but keep doing the same sinful things. We are to confess, repent, and turn away from repeating the same sins. The only way to receive a good conscience before God is to be clean and free from sin. Paul was able to let the past stay in the past and live in the present for the Lord. Is there any sin in your life that is troubling your soul and keeping you from having peace with God? Confess and repent today.

Prayer

Pray and ask God to reveal any unconfessed sin and repent from it today.

Fervent In Spirit

November 19, 2019 Pastor Stephen Dedman Encouragement, Faith, Trust

Fervent In Spirit

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
‭‭Romans‬ ‭12:11‬

Passion And Enthusiasm

The word fervent means to have passion for something or towards something. There are many things that we show passion for. But most importantly, we are to be passionate about serving the Lord. That really means that we show enthusiasm when it comes to our spiritual behavior. In other words, we are to be excited about the things of God.

What do you have a passion for? Are you enthusiastic when it comes to serving Christ and serving others? We live in a very selfish world that tends to make everything revolve around self. We must constantly and consistently be searching for opportunities to glorify God.

Today it is rare to see someone excited about their job. But when you do it is noticeable. They have a smile on their face and enthusiasm in their soul. They enjoy what they are doing. That is the kind of passion we should have when it comes to serving the Lord. People around us should witness the joy we have and the passion for serving Christ. It is not about money, power, and prestige. It’s about having a fervent spirit. You are not going to naturally wake up in the morning ready to go to work for Jesus. The natural tendency is to be lazy about the work of serving others. Paul essentially instructs us to get our priorities straight. If we have passionate desires for worldly things, something is wrong spiritually. Our focus needs to turn to being enthusiastic about what makes God happy.

Prayer

Lord, renew my mind and fill my heart with joy. I want to serve You today and be enthusiastic about Your work that You have called me to do.

A Bag With Holes

November 16, 2019 Pastor Stephen Dedman Encouragement, Trust

A Bag With Holes

You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.
‭‭Haggai‬ ‭1:6‬ ‭

Priorities

In some point in our life we’ve all had to learn some valuable lessons the hard way. Sometimes God will allow us to go our own way so that we finally realize that we are wrong. It may take a little while but eventually we come to our senses. The best biblical example is with the Prodigal Son. After going his separate way, he finally came to his senses and came back to his father. It is the same with our Heavenly Father. He is waiting for us to turn back to Him.

In the Book of Haggai the prophet was sent by God to instruct the people of God to get their priorities straight. The people knew the importance of serving God but had drifted away and started living with an intellectual belief system. They were busy bodies but for the wrong things. They were living for pleasure and not for pleasing the God who had blessed them so much.

We are going to face times when it seems like our life is falling apart. There will be times when our work does not seem productive, our money that we earn is never enough, our clothes seem to grow old, and our food never satisfies. If we don’t trust God for all things we tend to try to make it on our own only to no avail. Remember to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew‬ ‭6:33‬)

Prayer

Lord, I turn to You for my joy and strength. You are all that I need.