Pastor Stephen Dedman

Tag: conviction

Are You Aware Of Your Sin?

Salvation, Trust

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!”
Psalm 51:1-2

Psalm 51 gives us a glimpse of how David saw his sin. To fully understand this Psalm we must realize that God caused David to see his sin from His point of view.

God made him aware of his sin and gave him the understanding of it. Psalm 51 is ultimately David’s response to God once he gained the knowledge of how greatly he had sinned against God.

David committed adultery with Bathsheba and then one sin led to another. Bathsheba sent word that she was pregnant so David developed a scheme to minimize the seriousness of what he had done. David sent Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, into a war zone to be certain that he would be killed and then David would take Bathsheba as his wife and everything would be alright. Not exactly.

God sent Nathan as a prophet to bring conviction to David’s heart. Sin spiritually blinded him and God had to intervene or else David would think he got away with it. David needed to be convicted of his sin and only God can do that. Once convicted, David realized the tragedy of his sin and needed God’s mercy.

How do you view your sin? Do you take it as serious as God does? God says the penalty of sin is death. That is serious business. God does not look lightly upon our sin and neither should we. If only we could see our sin as God sees it. We should never minimize the seriousness of our sin.

One of the works of the Holy Spirit is to convict the Believer of his or her wrongdoings. It’s not to shame you or embarrass you but to bring you to an understanding of what you did. You despised the truth of God. It is a great tragedy for a Christian to sin and not be brought to an understanding that we broke God’s commandment. It is up to us as to how we respond to the awareness and knowledge of our sin. Trust me, our sin is ever before us in our remembrance.

Will we continue in our sin or will we have an attitude of repentance? There are great consequences to those who do not repent.

Pray

Lord, will you bring me to the understanding and knowledge of my sin. Let me be aware of how I have sinned against You. Have mercy on me Lord, forgive me, and make me clean again.

Are You A Leader?

Trust

“Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.””
Exodus‬ ‭5:22-23‬

If you are in any type of leadership you know the weight and responsibilities that come with the position. People under your leadership need to know that you are mindful and cautious in every decision you make.

As a leader you are responsible no matter what happens. People rely on leaders, but people don’t always respect their decisions. Part of being in leadership is knowing that you must make the decision and live with what happens next.

Good leaders aren’t always the most popular people. They lead the best they know how and do what they think is right. But most importantly, every leader must lead with courage. 

Moses knew the burdensome of leadership when God appointed him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and out of slavery. Moses did as God instructed but Pharaoh resisted and punished the people even more severely. Moses was distraught. He didn’t understand why God was not following through with His part.

At first Moses was the bad guy in the eyes of the Israelites. However, Moses stood courageous and confident in the Lord’s power. Good leaders exercise courage.  

The definition of courage is: the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery. Moses didn’t think he could be a good leader but God wanted to use his weaknesses to display His power. Moses led according to God’s Word. And that my friend takes courage. 

It takes courage to stand for what is right, to face your enemy, to rise above evil, and to call out wickedness. God will never ask you to do something He will not equip you to do. He will use you to display His power and glory. God just wants you to be a courageous leader!

What are some of the decisions you have made or having to make that are not very popular with other people? Do your decisions point people to Jesus? Does your leadership reflect the character of God?

Be strong and courageous!

Pray

Lord, I know you will give me the power and wisdom to do what you’ve called me to do. I trust you to use me any way I can be used. Give me courage and boldness.