follow your convictions

Feel like a failure?  Ashamed to follow Christ?

The accuser is Satan - he is the one who not only tempts us but he accusers us night and day.

Praise God for the Holy Spirit - the advocate who is like the defender of a court case who takes the defence for us.

The Prosecutor Satan keeps bringing up your shame and drags it in front of you constantly accusing you and letting you know just how deep is your sin.

When we first come to Christ we realise through the working of the amazing Holy Spirit that we are indeed sinners in need of repentance and when we come acknowledging our sin, then He washes us clean through His sacrifice on Calvary.

That is our GUILT is washed away - God sees us a righteous because when He looks at us He sees what Jesus did to make us that way.

But SHAME is entirely different. SHAME is reliving our past - going back to it time and time again and if we keep doing this then we can pull apart our very faith that brought us to Jesus in the first place.

Many people have forgone the delight in Jesus to live a life of burdens and shame, unable to forgive themselves and thinking that they are 'just too bad' to be saved  at all. It's such a tragedy and so so wrong. God's amazing gift of salvation is free and holy and Satan wants to drag our faces in the dirt and mud of this world. He would do and does anything to distract us from the truth that God loves us with an all-consuming love.

Satan loves to do this, He loves to get our mind off the sin itself, which is freely forgiven if we repent, and keep our minds dwelling on ourselves and the shame. The longer we allow ourselves to wallow in our (forgiven) sin then the quicker we are to turn that (forgiven) sin into shame. And shame is what drives a wedge between us and God - jeopardising and endangering our faith.

If we dwell constantly on our shame we will eventually believe Satan's lie that we are failures and have travelled the sin path far too long to be saved. This is completely the exact opposite of what God intended for us when we accepted His free gift of salvation and repented of our sin in the first place.

God on the other hand will convict you of your sin. If you let Him deal with it then He will forgive you - if you let your sin shame you then your faith will suffer and you will wander away from the very one who gave His life to save you.

Conviction is the greatest gift that God can give you - its the time when he singles you out and sets your thoughts, aims and eventually your will.

Conviction is when God speaks to you. It's that very special time when you and God are in close contact. Satan has a very good reason to make us 'drop the ball' of our faith. He wants us to lose our confidence in coming to God in prayer and trust.

Jesus died so that we can do just that - He died so that we can boldly come to God - so that we can confidently know that God loves us regardless of what we have done or where we have been in our past lives.

If we trust God He will guide us through His Spirit on how to overcome our struggles. How?  By ceasing to focus on our pasts because what has been forgiven by God has been forgotten. We have been spun a HUGE lie by Satan that our past is still attached to us. Focus instead on the wondrous and incredible solution to the our sin crisis. JESUS!

Discover the strength that God can give us. Don't let Satan  try to convince us that we are defined by what we did or when we fell in our past which is actually shame - Guilt doesn't make us what we are but shame can make us believe that what we did is what we are,

You are not defined by your struggles - its in your struggles that God speaks to us. We can grow through struggles - God can make us free and when He frees us we are free indeed. Take heart and let's build on our past not wallow in it.

It's all in the Game

Facing opposition? Facing temptations right at this moment?  Feeling frustrated because you have fallen yet again? Aggravated with yourself because you have once again let God down?

You know Jesus has been there before you - He has struggled with opposition and He faced temptations just like you and me - Only difference is that He never gave into His temptations. We do and we do it ad nauseum over and over again.

Jesus understands where we are coming from - only He understands our frustration and aggravation when we fall. When we face opposition and everything seems to build up and overflow in our lives well guess what? The outcome is assured! It doesn't matter who or what is opposing us because we already know the outcome.

When we are in the middle of some acute attack on us it is so hard to realise that the end has already been written - again the outcome is assured if you have given your life to Christ.

When we are struggling with problems a lot of the time our very struggles are brought on by our insecurities and a lot of our insecurities are brought on by our desire to be 'liked' by the world. Our internal insecurities!

Through our life there are going to be tears. We are never promised an easy ride through life - we are going to be let down by others often by the people we love the most  - we are going to come up against huge opposition - BUT the outcome of it all is already written.

Paul writes in Philippians 1:28-30 says
"Without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved - and that by God. For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me."

So if you are struggling with whatever in your life please be assured that this is a good sign that God isn't finished with you yet. Struggling is all part of the life we have been given here - it's all in the game of life - a game that will give us joy and certainly pain.

So why do we have to go through so much pain and fall so many times in temptation knowing it is wrong and so hurtful to God? Well because it gives ground to relate to others so well. An empathy that can bring others to Christ.

Remember you aren't the only one in this 'game of life' who struggles with all sorts of sin and strife - Jesus struggled, Paul struggled and and through the examples of their struggles we can relate to our own. Jesus said "when the world hates you - well they hate me too." We can share in His struggles because He has shown us how.

Following Jesus makes us stronger - we may not think so because we still seem to fall for the same things over and over again - our vulnerability to sin always seems to be here with us. yet we are getting stronger in Jesus. How about this for a thought; that God allows us to struggle with opposition, struggle with continuing sin, struggle with our motivations and insecurities our doubts and depressions because all the while He is making us stronger in Him.

Is the game of life getting you down - grinding you into the ground - are you facing huge obstacles in the game? Are you just about to give up and hand it back?  Do your struggles seem insurmountable? Are you feeling defeated and alone? God has promised we are not alone - none of us. He has strength for the weary and deep down peace and joy for the faithful.

We ALL struggle with varying things - be it doubt, temper, insecurities etc etc. The great news is God's strength is available to all BUT you have to receive it. If you haven't done it already, ask him into your life right now, ask Him to take control and surrender all to Him.

His strength can you see you through the saddest and darkest of times. Jesus Himself went through probably THE most darkest of times when He took your sins and mine and dragged then up that dark hill and died horribly on the terrible/wonderful day at Calvary. So He knows what you are going through. He knows our struggles and our doubts.

Give them to Jesus; claim His promise and His strength to get you through.