Day 29

My Sunday prayer today is one of gratefulness to God.  Seeing God at work this Sunday in the lives of individuals who just respond to God's leading.  There is something powerful about conviction.  Watching someone wrestle with it, accept it, and then accept the grace that comes along with it.  It's beautiful.  That progression usually takes place in prayer.  Today I want to share some thoughts on those moments in my life.  Didn't necessarily happen for me on this Sunday, but seeing it in someone else reminds me of where I have come from and what grace has done in my life.

Sin.  None of us like talking about it with many other people, but I am sure you have had a few conversations with God about it.  Don't we all usually start by saying, "forgive me?" 

When my prayer life is flowing well and I am in a good rhythm there are times where the reality of conviction becomes very clear.  How can it not?  The more I engage with the Creator of the Universe, the pure and holy God, my sinfulness is brought to the surface because in those moments my will doesn't look like the Jesus I love.  So when I would pray  about sin and failure, I would always start by asking for forgiveness.  Don't know that I always believe it in those moments.  In my humanness, I still doubt.  Why would God forgive me?  I am afraid I will do the same sin again.  Is my heart genuine or am I just going through the religious motions that I learned or invented over the years? I would beat myself up pretty good. 

But then I began to really understand grace.  That grace is now woven into my times of prayer.  When I come to God confessing sin, I still seek forgiveness, but I already know I am forgiven.  But, my heart is contrite and I need to verbalize to God and to my own soul, that I repent.  Repent meaning I turn my back on that sin and desire to not do it again.  I want to be obedient in the grace that I now have because I love Jesus.  So in my devotion to Him, I want to stand back up , dust off, and start walking again, desiring that the sin doesn't make me stumble again.  I have had to learn to live in grace and walk in God's love and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

I also believe  that the more I pray the more I am in tune with the spirit and then in the midst of temptation, the power of the spirit is there and not so quiet.

Conviction.  Not a bad thing to me.  I used to fear it and dread it, now I welcome it.  God loves me and is changing who I am.  He is at work helping me die out to self and leave sin behind.  Conviction is grace in action. 

How do you respond to conviction?

Keith