Pastor Stephen Dedman

Tag: Jesus Christ

A Good Conscience

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.

I Am With You

Encouragement, Trust

I Am With You

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭41:10‬

His Presence Is Everything

This is a verse we all should memorize and keep close to our hearts.  Whenever you feel that God may not be listening, remember this promise.  Or when you feel you just can’t make it another day, know that God is still there.  When you just cannot do it, He will.  He holds everything together in the palm of His hand.

The truth of this great verse is found in the promise of His presence. We never know what we may encounter from day to day, but we can count on God being right here with us.  If we have fear, His presence is all we need.  If we are without understanding, His wisdom surrounds us.  When we are lacking, He fills us with His love.  The power of His presence is overwhelming when we realize how close He is.  God is not far away.  As a Christian, He is living inside of you.  He wants to be part of your life.

We should seek and desire His presence everyday.  Moses said to God in Exodus 33:15, “If Your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.”  Moses didn’t want to make a move until he knew God was going with them.  Moses was so use to seeking His presence that He would be lost without it. That should be our same attitude and desire.  God’s presence is the most important thing we know.  The Holy Spirit is God’s presence.

Prayer

Praise Him out loud by saying or singing, “You are my strength, You are my help, You are my God!”

The Prayer Of Faith

Encouragement, Faith, Trust

The Prayer Of Faith

And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
James 5:15

The Cure For Spiritual Weakness

There are times in our life when we can become spiritually sick.  Just as our physical bodies get sick with a virus or an infection our faith can also become weak and feeble.  We can take an antibiotic for our bodies to help fight infections but what do we do when we are spiritually sick?  Is there a prescription for spiritual weakness?

We must understand that there are seasons in life when we are faithful and strong and then there are times when our faith is weak.  It’s during these times of weak faith when we are most vulnerable.  This is when we quit reading and studying our Bible and we don’t pray as much as we did before.  This is what James is referring to in James 5:13-18.  He is writing to Believers who have been persecuted and are at their point of giving up and giving in.  It takes a lot of strength to stay spiritually strong in our walk with the Lord.  Jesus never promised us that it would be easy. However, James gives great advice for us to get spiritually healed.

The first step of spiritual healing is to recognize that you are sick and weak.  Until you recognize your spiritual condition, nothing will change.  The second step is to surround yourself with strong, spiritual people.  These are the ones whose faith is so strong that it rubs off on others. Everyone needs a strong faithful person in their life.  Third, you need to rely on the Holy Spirit to nourish your mind and soul through the Word of God.  God wants to restore you to be the person He has called you to be.  Stay strong and be encouraged.

Prayer

If you are spiritually weak pray for God to send you someone who can lift you up in faith and encouragement.  If you are spiritually strong, pray for God to help you find someone who is weak and help them get back to where they need to be.