Chapter 14 Shape Your Conscience

Freedom from Captivity

Chapter 14

Shape Your Conscience

As each one of us strive to live a life free from every form of enslavement to all kinds of sinful habits, one of the best gift’s the Lord has bestowed on us, to help us experience true freedom from every form of bondage, is our conscience.

In Romans 2:15 we read, “They know what is right and wrong, for their conscience validates this “law” in their heart.” (TPT)

The conscience that God has instilled in man is not only in believers but in every human being, so that every person is fully aware of what is right and wrong, irrespective of who they are. Conscience that God placed inside of us, is that voice that cautions us before we decide to do wrong, convicts us while we do wrong and constantly bothers us after we have done wrong. 

Like most companies have internal and external audits our conscience is the internal audit that the Lord has placed inside of us to keep our lives in check and in order, as each one of us will one day have to stand before the judgement seat of Christ to face what we may call the external audit. As the judgement of the Lord is an assured reality, where each of us will have to give an account for every sinful thought, word and deed, it is necessary for us to keep our consciences alert and sensitive to the voice of God, so we need have no fear to stand before the Lord on that day.

Many people today, are faced with perpetual conflict as to what is right and what is wrong.  What was considered inappropriate in days gone by, is now treated as acceptable and the norm. The world sets certain standards which society also attests to, but sadly these standards are flimsy and constantly subject to change. For example, a decade ago if boys wore torn jeans which isl today branded as ‘beggar jeans’ they would be pitied, but today it is considered fashionable and trendy.

As the standards of this world keeps altering continually every day, we as believers are called to exercise caution, to not get into the trap of getting ourselves entangled by the world and its ideologies.  In order to be strong and live by God’s standards, we must realize that our conscience is that voice of God that we must constantly give heed to. If we start to compromise on various issues, we will find that we gradually begin to blend in with the world, weaken the voice of our conscience and will certainly come to a place where we no longer feel any form of remorse over things that are not really pleasing to the Lord. Without our even realizing it, our conscience is daily being shaped by the standards that we adhere to. 

It is good to remind ourselves that God’s standards will never change, but will always remain constant. Talking about the law of the Lord, David says in Psalm 19:11, “They are a warning to your servant, a great reward to for those who obey them.” (NLT)

The word of God not only warns us, but also promises great reward to those who live in obedience to the same. The word of God therefore is our only standard to follow and live by, for we believe and worship a God who is the same yesterday, today and forever.

In 1 Timothy 2:9, Paul says, “I also want the women to be modest and sensible about their clothes and to dress properly;” (GNB)

Paul in the above mentioned verse admonishes women to dress modestly.  This standard that God has set in His word does not change with time. Our modernity should never compromise the modesty that the Lord expects for us to have. This is true for and applies to every other area of our lives. In an age where we are being forced to compromise and fit in with the crowd, it’s a good reminder that the Lord has set certain standards for us, and we will be blessed if we comply with His guidelines. Let us not lower our standards to the standards of this world, as the standards of this world are always in conflict with God’s holy standards.

For example the world dictates that if one were to lie to escape a complicated situation it is acceptable. The world has also categorized lies conveniently as white lies and black lies.  There’s a story told of four young boys who bunked classes and missed their exams to go for a fun trip. When they got back the next day, all four of them gave letters saying that they couldn’t make it to the exam as the tyre of the car they were travelling in got punctured. The teacher who was a shrewd man, made the four young men sit in different rooms and told them that he would give them a re-exam. The boys were shocked when they found only one question on their paper and the question was ‘which tyre got punctured?’ and all of them got stumped. The story may sound hilarious, but often we put ourselves in a situation of deceit and compromise thereby landing ourselves in deep trouble.

It is becoming more and more difficult for us to live in obedience to the Lord, as society dictates that everything should be accommodated, so that many things considered wrong earlier are no longer frowned upon. It is only when our conscience is shaped and molded by the word of God, can we live differently and comply to Gods divine standards.

A little boy was taking his report card to his Dad and even before his father could look at the marks, he informed his father that 20 boys in his class got zero in the same subject. The father opened the report card eagerly to see what his son has scored, only to find that he had just obtained four marks.  Though he along with the 20 other boys had failed, the boy appeased himself with the thought that he secured 4 marks instead of zero like his classmates did.

Many of us are like that little boy, content to compare ourselves with others and satisfied with the thought that we are far better than most of them. Our standard for living should never be other people, but only the word of God. A good name cannot be obtained overnight, as we grow in our faith and choose to walk in obedience to the word of God we will be faced with conflicts. However, as we overcome these contentions and choose to live by God’s standard every time and shun the standards of this world, we will get to the place that the Lord desires us to be.

The difference between the ‘word’ and the ‘world’ is just in the letter ‘l’ but in reality it makes a huge difference for one to be a follower of the word and not of the world.

One of the reasons the Pharisees hated Jesus was because their standards were always in conflict with those of Jesus. We will face situations where we are in a dilemma whether to live by God’s standards or the worldly standards, but if we choose to follow the voice of our conscience and live as the Lord desires and make no compromise, we are assured of a place in the Kingdom of God. The reason Jesus had to go to the cross was because He chose to not accommodate Himself to the standards of this world, but rather chose to live His life in obedience to the will of His father in heaven.

The parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector

In Luke 18:11-12 we read, “The Pharisee stood up and prayed, 'God, I thank you that I'm not like other people! I'm not a robber or a dishonest person. I haven't committed adultery. I'm not even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my entire income.”

Jesus told this parable of two men who came to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a Tax Collector.  We see how the Pharisee was constantly comparing himself with the Tax Collector and in doing so, he not only justified himself but also felt far more righteous than the Tax Collector. The boasting of the Pharisee was based entirely on his regularity in fasting and in his tithing. However as the Lord looked at both of them, He was most indignant with the Pharisee as the Lord saw through his hypocrisy and legalism which surely did not justify him before God. On the other hand the Lord found the Tax Collector’s prayer more acceptable, as it came from a sincere and repentant heart.

Many believers are of wrong notion that if they pray, fast and give their tithes regularly the Lord is pleased.  This is a faulty understanding of who God is, and what He expects from us. Ever so often Jesus was angry with the so called religious leaders of His time rather than with the gentiles who did not really know who He was.

In Matthew 23:27-28, Jesus said,"How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but are full of bones and decaying corpses on the inside. In the same way, on the outside you appear good to everybody, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and sins.”(GNB)

We see how Jesus was indignant with the teachers of the law and the Pharisees for one reason and that was their hypocrisy.  Outwardly they looked like whitewashed tombs, beautifully white and polished on the outside, but if one were to dig a little deeper they were full of decay and stench.

This is the double standard of living that the Lord does not approve. Only when our conscience is shaped according to the word of God and not conformed to the standards of this world, can we as believers lead a consistent life. By compromising with the standards of the world to suit our circumstances, we have lost our credibility and are unable to be the witnesses that the Lord expects us to be. We are called to be truthful and constant in every single area of our lives and in whatever place we may be; at home, at church, at work, at school or college and wherever else we may be. It is only when we are upright in everything, will we receive the Lord’s blessings in all we do. 

The world is satisfied if one looks good on the outside, but the Lord does not look and judge as man does.  God does not look at the outside but searches deep into our hearts, and expects purity and holiness from within.

Let this be our prayer to be the same without and within.  Let us keep our conscience sensitive and not allow it to become hardened. Once we give room for the world to start shaping our conscience, we will become weak and inconsistent in our walk with the Lord. On the other hand if the word of God shapes our conscience, we will have consistency in our walk, in our life and our future will be glorious and blessed, and everyone will recognize that we are sons and daughters of the Most High God. Only as we live consistent Christian lives others will come flocking into the Kingdom of God.

Jesus was the supreme example of one who lived His entire life here on earth, in total submission to the Father’s standards. If we follow the standards of this world, we will do everything right on the outside, but our inner motives will all be erroneous.  So also, if we chose to follow and live by the standard of the word of God, sometimes our actions may seem wrong but the inmost motives of our hearts will be in sync with what God expects of us. May the Lord enable us to shape our conscience purely in accordance with His word.

A prayer :


Lord of grace and mercy, thank you for Your Word.  We live in times when even believers have taken the standard of the world and are living compromised lives without knowing that it is against Your will.  I decide to shape my conscience by Your Word and not the Word of this world.  I will be victorious in the mighty name of my Lord Jesus Christ. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

Br. A.Dixon

www.goodnewsfriends.net

Transcribed by : Ms. Esther Collins

Email : goodnewsfriends.net@gmail.com

Chapter 13 Train Your Conscience

Freedom from Captivity

Chapter 13

Train Your Conscience

In Romans 2:15 we read, “They know what is right and wrong, for their conscience validates this “law” in their heart” (TPT)

Conscience is that inner voice that God has placed within each one of us, for internal judgement. Our conscience is what cautions us, even before we do something wrong, it bothers us when we are doing the wrong thing, and convicts us even after the deed is done.

Those who work in an office set up will understand the whole process of internal and external auditsthat are conducted once or twice a year. The purpose of the internal audits is to assessif the income and expense of the department was spent right, so that there will be no issues raised when it’s time for the external audit. The Bible also talks about a day of reckoning, when all of us will have to stand before God, who will judge us.  That final judgement day can be equated to the external audit and our conscience to the internal audit. If we develop a healthy conscience by obeying the voice of God daily, we can stand without fear before God, on that final judgement day.

How David’s conscience got weakened

We looked at 2 incidents from David’s life in the previous chapter.

In 1 Samuel 24:5, we read, “But then David's conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul's robe.” (NLT)

We read in 2 Samuel 24:10, “But after he had taken the census, David's conscience began to bother him. And he said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt, LORD, for doing this foolish thing." (NLT)

The first incident is one where David cut off a part of King Saul’s robe, and immediately he was filled with deep sense of grief and remorse for doing so, because his conscience started to bother him.  The second event was when David decided to take a census to count the number of people in his kingdom, which again greatly troubled David’s conscience because instead of trusting in the Lord who had been his strength, gradually David started to depend of the number of people under his rule and the strength of his armies. 

Here is an important lesson for us to learn from the life of David, that regardless of how much we may rise in our position or status, our trust and dependence must be on God alone. Our trust and confidence must never move to our abilities, talents, wealth or position, because God alone is our security and our sure foundation.

David defeats the Syrians

In 2 Samuel 10:18 we read, “And the Israelites drove the Syrian army back. David and his men killed seven hundred Syrian chariot drivers and forty thousand cavalry, and they wounded Shobach, the enemy commander, who died on the battlefield.” (GNB)

When David, the man of war, went to war with the Syrians, he had with him a great army, the most efficient commanders and he went with them personally to war.  God granted the Israelites an astounding victory over the Syrians.

When David’s feet strayed away from God

In the very next chapter we read, 2 Samuel 11:1, “The following spring, at the time of the year when kings usually go to war, David sent out Joab with his officers and the Israelite army; they defeated the Ammonites and besieged the city of Rabbah. But David himself stayed in Jerusalem.”(GNB)

The next year however, when the army of Israel went to war, in a season when David as King of Israel should have gone to war, he abdicated his responsibilities to his commander Joab and decided to stay back in his palace in Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 11:2, “One day, late in the afternoon, David got up from his nap and went to the palace roof. As he walked around up there, he saw a woman taking a bath in her house. She was very beautiful.” (GNB)

It started off when David who should have been fighting along with his army, took a casual walk on his terrace, after a nap. In his moment of idleness, David’s eyes moved away from the Lord who bestowed on him his throne and all that he possessed. He looked on with lust at a woman who was bathing, saw that she was beautiful and desiring to have her, called for her to be brought to his palace and committed adultery with her. The beautiful woman was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, an ardent soldier in David’s army.

Not only did David commit adultery, but once he knew that Bathsheba got pregnant he quickly conspired to cover his tracks. He called her husband Uriah back from battle, and forced him to go to Bathsheba, so it would appear that the child was not his but Uriah’s. When Uriah being an upright man and a faithful soldier refused to do so, David intoxicated him with drink and sent him back to Bathsheba.  Nothing could deter Uriah from his resolve to stay patriotic to King David and the men who were fighting on Israel’s behalf. Though Uriah was only a subject of King David, he knew exactly where he ought to be and nothing could avert him from his firm position. While David’s feet strayed from the right path, Uriah’s was firmly set and in the rightful place.

David as King of Israel, was under the influence of other contemporary Kings of his time.  Many of them had no qualms to misuse their positions of authority, and took for themselves whichever woman they desired or lusted after. When things got out of hand, David realized that he could not hide and cover his adultery. Hetherefore schemed with the commander of his army, got Uriah to stand in the front of the battle lines and got him killed.

David who was earlier bothered by the small act of cutting off a piece of robe of King Saul, had so silenced the voice of his conscience that none of what he did with Bathsheba or to Uriah bothered him anymore.

It was only when the word of God came directly through the prophet Nathan to David, who confronted him of his sin and wickedness, did David’s conscience awaken that he accepted his faults and repented most sincerely before the Lord. Psalm 51 is the repentant outcry of David as he earnestly desired the Lord’s pardon and deliverance from his sinful ways.  God had mercy on David, pardoned him and restored him back to Himself.

Other examples of those who walked away from God’s path

God chose Moses to be a leader of Israel, but for many years Moses walked away and was content looking after his father-in-law’s sheep. He forgot God’s calling for his life until God met him in the wilderness and reminded him to go back to Egypt to be the deliverer for the people of Israel who were in bondage to Pharaoh.

God called Jonah to go and preach to Nineveh, but he ran away and went towards Tarshish. By his disobedience, he put the entire crew who were on the ship in deep distress. It is a word of admonition to us that even when one member of the family does wrong and chooses the wrong path, the entire family has to endure the consequences of it.

Samson was called and anointed by God. He was a strong man, a warrior, called by God to deliver the people of Israel, but he made many wrong choices and finally ended up on Delilah’s lap.  By being in the wrong place, unsurmountable trouble and hardships came right to his doorstep.

Elijah was a mighty prophet of God, but he was found hiding in a cave. Instead of being bold and challenging Ahab and Jezebel, he ran away and hid himself.

All of the above mentioned people, are mentioned to remind us that no one is exempt from the temptation to walk away from the will of God. It is imperative that we seek God the way we should, and do everything according to His will alone, and only then will our feet be firmly set in God’s ways. We must always learn to introspect and appropriate God’s word to ourselves first, and not direct it towards others. We should not put ourselves in a place of idolatry, witchcraft, astrology or anything that does not please God. When we stand in a place where we are not supposed to be in, we will certainly forfeit all of God’s blessings in our lives.

Lessons we must learn

We live in times when it’s becoming more and more difficult to live in obedience to God and His word.  Every single day our newspapers and media are filled with the somber news of murders, rape, scams, scandals etc., and as we read and listen to these regularly our minds get so tuned to the world that like David, we too begin to accept as a norm, all those things that God rejects, thereby dulling our conscience and the voice of God inside of us.

For instance, there was a time when homosexual relationships were looked at with disgust but grievously in today’s society not only has it become an acceptable practice, but the tragedy is that even some churches approve of these relationships and are even willing to conduct same sex marriages.  The word of God has been replaced by worldly ideologies, and so the world is now dictating to people what is right and what is not.

As parents if we don’t teach the word of God to our children, we can be sure that they will never learn to choose between right and wrong and will stay confused. Only as we stand firm on the word of God, can we take a stand, and make the right decisions when faced with contradictory choices. If our conscience needs to be healthy and sensitive, we must read the word of God daily and obey the voice of God.  The word of God alone can teach and guide us to live the righteous life, make godly decisions and keep our feet from choosing the wrong and destructive paths.

All of us must pray and seek God’s strength in our daily lives. We must guard our eyes for if we don’t, like David, our feet too will end up in the wrong place. As no one is exempt from falling prey to the lust of the flesh, our eyes must be holy and our hearts turned to the word of God to stay and live aright.  We must be zealous to live godly and holy lives every single day.

Many of the problems we encounter are because our feet don’t stay where they are supposed to. If we are not in the right place where the Lord wants us to be, we will be in big trouble. We must decide to stay firm in the place where the Lord wants us to be. The path that God takes us through may be difficult, may have struggles but the Lord will stand with us and fight our battles for us and give us victory. However, if we are in the wrong place, we will most assuredly face defeat.

If we desire to have a healthy conscience there is only way. We must decide to spend much time with the word of God and do it daily. It’s only when our conscience is sensitized by the word of God and the Holy Spirit of God that we will be constantly guarded from making wrong and sinful decisions.  If for some reason we do make mistakes and fail, only a healthy conscience that is rooted in God’s word will bring us back into fellowship and restore our relationship with God.

We read in Psalm 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”(KJV)

It is only the word of God that can light up our life and illumine the path in which we should go. It is God and His Word alone that can keep our lives free from sin, keep our conscience alert and sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and help us live uncompromised and victorious lives.

A prayer :

Our heavenly Father, I understand that I need to have a healthy conscience, a conscience that is active.  For that to happen the only way is to meditate on Your Word more and more.  Then I will be safe as I will not be distracted by the wrong things of this world which are surrounding our every day lives.  Thank you Lord for teaching me Your Word. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

Br. A.Dixon

www.goodnewsfriends.net

Transcribed by : Ms. Esther Collins

Email : goodnewsfriends.net@gmail.com

Chapter 12 - Conscience

Freedom from Captivity

Chapter 12

Conscience

Let us look again at Genesis 3:9, “But the LORD God called out to the man, "Where are you?" (GNB)

Our God is omniscient, the one who is all knowing, which implies that He knows everything about the past, present and future. God is also the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end who originates and culminates everything. Why then would an all knowing God come seeking after Adam and ask him, “Where are you?”

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they knew at that very moment that they had lost the right and privilege to stand before a holy and Almighty God.  They realized this, because of the voice of conscience that God had placed inside of them, which spoke loud and clear, convicting them of disobedience and sin against God.

Whenever we are tempted to do wrong or have done wrong, we too can hear this voice inside of us, telling us that we are going amiss or have erred and are therefore going down a wrong path. That distinct voice inside each of us, is our conscience.  Our conscience is a God given gift, which is like an arbiter who is constantly evaluating all that we do, and instructing us as to what is right and what is wrong. Our conscience can also be compared to an umpire in a game of cricket, who is watching intently and makes a judgement when the batsman or bowler make a mistake.

For instance when we gossip about someone, our conscience prompts us to stop, but sometimes we choose to override that voice, and after we have gossiped our conscience becomes even more active, reminding us that we have defamed someone else. Sometimes, others may even justify what we have said and done, but our conscience will always let us know when we have done wrong. Our conscience is a good indicator God has given us, which resides within us all the time. Often times when our conscience is bothering us about something, we will find ourselves looking to others for support, so we could try to justify what we said or did.

An example from David’s encounter with King Saul

In 1 Samuel 24:2, we read, “Saul took three thousand of the best soldiers in Israel and went looking for David and his men east of Wild Goat Rocks.” (GNB)

Saul is insecure and fearful that David would soon take his place as King of Israel. So, he goes hunting for David with three thousand of his best soldiers. David had done nothing amiss to King Saul. It was obvious to everyone that God was with David and hence they began to follow David. This made King Saul furious and jealous, that he sought desperately to kill David. To escape King Saul and his soldiers who were stalking them, David and his men hid themselves in a cave. It so happened, that King Saul and his men came into the same cave, where David and his men were hiding.

When David’s men saw this, here’s what they said to him, In 1 Samuel 24:4, "This is your chance! The LORD has told you that he would put your enemy in your power and you could do to him whatever you wanted to." (GNB)

For many people, if they got a chance to get even with someone who hurt them or wronged them, they would never let an opportunity slip by without taking revenge. We could rightly call them opportunists.

David’s men were inciting him to make the best use of this favorable chance to take revenge on King Saul. Not only were they instigating him to finish off King Saul, but they were using the Lord’s word and His name to reinforce their point to David. They were indeed right in explaining one part of the above mentioned verse that the Lord did tell David that he would subdue his enemies under him, but they forgot the other part that the Lord gave David the freedom to do to his enemies whatever he thought was fitting.

It is important that God’s word should be divided correctly and understood rightly or else we too could be easily misled. We must always read and appropriate the word of God accurately, as it was meant to be understood.  It is a dangerous thing to take the word of God and apply it out of context or without its entirety.

This was a test from God to see what David would do in a situation that seemed favorable to him.  The Lord tested David in three areas to check if David would heed the voice of God through his conscience or give in to the pressure of the men who accompanied him.

1.      Will David be grateful?

Firstly, David had the men and the power to put to death King Saul, but I am sure that David recalled that it was King Saul who believed in David, and gave him permission to fight and defeat Goliath. It was only because King Saul gave David the opportunity to represent all of Israel, that the Lord enabled David to win a mighty victory, which made David so famous among the people of Israel. David was a grateful young man, who decided that he could not kill the King who trusted him, and was willing to take the risk to let him fight a mighty giant.

Each one of us must often look back and recount the numerous blessings God has bestowed on us.  As children, instead of questioning our parents, we must with thankfulness realize how much they sacrificed to raise us up, and bring us to where we are right now. It is often good to remember all those people who in some way contributed to our life and helped us along the way.

2.      Will David trust God to take revenge?

Secondly, when faced with the option to take revenge and get even with King Saul, David chose to wait on the Lord and let Him do the needful, instead of taking the situation into his hands, and getting even with King Saul.

Often we are waiting for the appropriate time to even the score with those who have harmed us or hurt us, but the Lord clearly says, “I will take revenge, I will pay back says the Lord” Romans 12:19 (GNB). We must be willing to submit all the evil that has been done to us by others into God’s hands, and wait patiently, for only then will He accord justice at the right time.

3.      Will David respect God’s anointing on King Saul?

Thirdly, it was a test to see if David would respect God’s anointing on King Saul. It was God and not David who anointed Saul as King.  David realized that King Saul was God’s choice, and honored this greatly. He therefore resolved that he would absolutely do no harm to King Saul.

It is indeed unfortunate that people have meme’s of even those who are in ministry serving the Lord. It is good to keep in mind that it is the Lord who calls someone into ministry, He anoints and uses that person.  By mocking these anointed men and women of God, we must realize that we are slighting God who called them and anointed them in the first place.

When the men continued to prod David, he went near King Saul and in 1 Samuel 24:4, we read ........”David crept over and cut off a piece of Saul's robe without Saul's knowing it.” (GNB)

After David had done this we read in, 1 Samuel 24:5, “But then David's conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul's robe.” (NLT)

When the men who were with David pressured him to go, he slipped in and cut off a piece of Saul’s robe and we see what happened to David. The moment he did that, David’s conscience started bothering him. His conscience that remained silent until he did wrong, now began to bother him a great deal. When David obeyed God and his conscience and apart from cutting off a piece of his robe did no harm to King Saul, when it was in his hands to do so, we see that God was greatly pleased with David.

Let’s read the wonderful testimony of God about David as recorded in the book of Acts. We read in Acts 13:22, “But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, 'I have found David son of Jesse, a man after My own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.” (NLT)

Both King Saul and David had a conscience, but Saul invalidated his conscience when he went after David seeking to kill him. David on the other hand was very conscious of God’s voice and the conscience that God had placed inside of him and refrained from harming King Saul in any way. God honored David for his faithfulness and not only replaced David as King in Saul’s place, but also testified of David that ‘he was a man after God’s own heart’.

When David took a census in Israel

In 2 Samuel 24:10 we read, “But after he had taken the census, David's conscience began to bother him. And he said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt, LORD, for doing this foolish thing."(NLT)

When King David decided to take a census of all the tribes of Israel, took pride in the number of people in the land and the strength that was in his hands, after the count was completed, he knew that he had done wrong, and sinned against God.    David had himself mentioned in Psalms 118:8, “It is better to trust in the LORD than to depend on people.” (GNB) David’s conscience was pricked when he sinned, which prompted him to turn to the Lord. He earnestly longed for God’s forgiveness and restoration. Here again we see how David was so sensitive to the voice of his conscience that God had placed inside of him, that he repented and confessed his sin to the Lord, and sought His pardon.

When we too are tested in various ways, it is essential that we be sensitive and tune in to the voice of God, through our conscience. We may recall times when we deliberately disobeyed the voice of our conscience and did things that totally displeased God. The secret to a healthy conscience is to turn to the Lord immediately, whenever our conscience convicts us of sin or any kind of wrong doing.

We read in 1 John 1:9 that, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”(NKJV)

We also read in Proverbs 28:13, “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” (NIV)

Instead of falling into sin and getting trapped by Satan, let us choose to heed the voice of our conscience, turn to the Lord and confess our sins to Him. The Lord alone can rid us of a guilty conscience and help us to be at peace with our conscience. Let us evaluate ourselves to check if we have a healthy conscience. Our conscience is given by God for internal judgement, we can even it call it our internal audit. Let’s ask God to grant us a pure conscience, so we are in right relationship and fellowship with Him.

A prayer :

Our heavenly Father, I understand that You have given me a conscience and I confess that several times I have ignored the voice of my conscience.  As a result I have faced difficult situations in my life.  I pray that Lord, You will make my conscience healthy as I decide now to heed to the voice of the conscience and not ignore the prompting. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

Br. A. Dixon

www.goodnewsfriends.net

Transcribed by : Ms. Esther Collins

Email : goodnewsfriends.net@gmail.com

Chapter 11 - Are you trying to Hide or Run?

Freedom from captivity

Chapter 11 – Are you trying to Hide or Run?

We read in 2 Corinthians 5:18, “All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also.” (GNT)

Have we considered all the marvelous things God has done for us through Jesus Christ, and His work on the cross? While we were in sin, living in opposition and enmity with God, Jesus changed our status to become friends with God. God accomplished this by taking the first step in seeking after fallen man, and redeeming us through the precious blood of His only begotten Son, Jesus. All this was completed by God Himself, only because of His immense love for each one of us.

We might have noticed that when two people are at enmity with each other, there will always be a contention between them, as to who will take the first step to give up their ego and make peace with the other. This is something very common in families too, especially between spouses.  Even when there is a small misunderstanding between husband and wife, each one waits for the other to take the first step to set things right.  Sometimes when both wait for too long the distance and animosity grows, and a simple disagreement which could have been easily sorted out and settled, sometimes becomes the cause for a permanent separation.

So also when man sinned, he became an enemy of God. When we readGenesis 3:9 which goes like this, “But the LORD God called out to the man, “Where are you?” (GNB), we will realize that it was God who came searching after man, when man sinned against Him.  It was God who took the first step towards reconciliation and peace, because He is a God of love and grace.

How did this enmity begin?

In Genesis 2:15-17, we read, “Then the LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and guard it.  He told him, "You may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day." (GNB)

God gave man the freedom to eat from every fruit that was there in the spectacular Garden of Eden.  It must have been a really vast and delightful garden that Adam and Eve were placed in, because the nature of God is such that He is always bountiful and abounding in all He does. The only prohibition God set for them, was not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Isn’t it a sad thought that when Adam and Eve had a really huge garden full of fruits to enjoy, that they chose to desire the only fruit that was forbidden them in the entire garden.

Many have this thought that God could have chosen not to place the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden, and thereby denied  Adam and Eve the access and choice of eating the fruit of that tree.

Here’s the reason why God kept the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden, and gave man the instruction not to eat from it.  Of all the things God created, man was the crown of God’s creation because He was made in the image and likeness of God. God has a free will, and he bequeathed this gift of a free will to man, since man was made in His image. If God told man he could eat all that was there in the Garden of Eden, and left him with no other option, man would not have had a chance to exercise the free will that God had bestowed on him. By forbidding man to eat fruit from the one tree in the garden, God placed into man’s hands the freedom to analyze and choose what was good and right for him. That is what makes man different man from all other animals. Animals function entirely on the basis of their instinct, but man has the capacity to think, reason and then make an appropriate choice.  For this to materialize, God had to give man the freedom to choose to eat or not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Have you noticed how human beings are delighted when given an option to choose something? Children like it when they have multiple choice questions, men and women go through great lengths in choosing their life partners, and huge malls are preferred over smaller ones only because there is a wider variety of brands to choose from.

We read in Genesis 3:6, “The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it.” (GNB)

Eve saw things that God did not intend or plan for her so see, and the result was that she ate the forbidden fruit and also gave it to her husband. Often we get ourselves into problems when we disobey God, and desire those things that he has prohibited us to have, which are for our own good. The most sorrowful event in the history of mankind, was that man instead of enjoying all that was freely given to him, chose to go after the one thing that was forbidden him.

God has given us so much good to choose from, and the somber fact is that man’s nature is such that he goes after what is detrimental to him, rather than what is helpful to him.

What happened as a result of their disobedience?

In Genesis 3:8 we read, “That evening they heard the LORD God walking in the garden, and they hid from Him among the trees.” (GNB)

Adam and Eve did two things when they disobeyed God.  Firstly, they avoided the presence of God because of guilt, and the secondly they hid themselves from the presence of God.

Who taught Adam and Eve to hide?

When God created man, he also placed in him a conscience that distinguished man from all other created beings.  The conscience of man speaks to him when he sins against God.  We say our conscience was pricked, when we feel that sense of guilt because God has placed it within each one of us. Even without being taught, a person is able to discern good and bad only because of the conscience that God has placed within us. It was Adam and Eve’s guilty conscience that prompted them to hide from God and His presence.

Many people are unable to come and enjoy the presence of God because they have sinned and are living with a guilty conscience.

God cannot tolerate sin, and so the sin that Adam and Eve committed created an enmity between the holy God and sinful man. When the only available option for them was to hide, but in Genesis 3:9, we read, “But the LORD God called out to the man, “Where are you?” (GNB).  As Adam and Eve hid from God, it was God who came searching after them. When God asked them, ‘Where are you?’ it was not that He did not know where they were hiding, but God was asking them, ‘Where are you in your relationship with Me?’ because when Adam and Eve sinned, they fell out of friendship and the intimate relationship that they enjoyed with God.

When all that man could do was hide because of sin, God in his love, mercy and grace came searching after man. We can never play hide and seek with God. God will always win, so all we need to get back to Him and seek to have our friendship and fellowship restored with God. Many of us may have had a close and deep relationship with God, but over time we may have fallen out on this relationship and now our lamps are burning dimly. God is still calling out to us and waiting with open arms, and if we come back to Him, He will surely trim our lamps and make them burn brighter than before.

When Elijah hid from God

In 1 Kings 19:9, we read, “There he went into a cave to spend the night. Suddenly the LORD spoke to him, "Elijah, what are you doing here?" (GNB)

Elijah was in a place that God did not intend for him to be and that is when God asked him, ‘What are you doing here?’

Let’s do a quick study on the background to this incident.  Israel was filled with Idolatry. Jezebel who was the Queen, had raised up many prophets for the god Baal and the land was completely defiled.  Elijah, the prophet of God, challenged the 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel to offer a sacrifice which their god Baal was to attest by fire.  The whole day they cried out to Baal, and nothing happened.  At the end of the day Elijah the only representative for the Lord, placed his sacrifice before the Lord, which the Lord God consumed the sacrifice entirely by raining down fire from heaven. When God gave Elijah the great victory, Elijah put to death all the prophets of Baal.  When the news of the slaughter of the prophets of Baal reached Jezebel, she was enraged and decided to put Elijah to death. When Elijah heard this threat, he was so terrified that he ran and decided to hide from Jezebel.

In 1 Kings 19:5-8, we read, “Then he lay down and slept under the broom plant. An angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." When he looked, he saw near his head some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water. So he ate, drank, and went to sleep again. The angel of the LORD came back and woke him up again. The angel said, "Get up and eat, or your journey will be too much for you." He got up, ate, and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled for 40 days and nights until he came to Horeb, the mountain of God.” (GW)

The first place of rest for Elijah was under a broom tree.  God sent an angel who woke him up and placed some bread and water to refresh Elijah. The prophet was so discouraged, he didn’t even recognize the angel. He went back to sleep and the second time the Angel of God woke him up again and encouraged him to eat and told him that he had a long journey ahead of him.  Elijah ate the food and travelled for forty days before he reached Horeb, the Mountain of God. God was so loving and gracious, that instead of stopping the prophet from running, he strengthened him with food so he could continue to run.

Some of us may also be running away from God, but God is still gracious and ready to meet us right where we are, and provide for all our needs. The question is ‘are we running with faith or running in despair?’  When faced with a challenge, let us decide to run towards God and not away from Him. The comforting thought for all of us is that, in whatever circumstance we are in, God is an amazing God who is ready to intervene, strengthen us and win us over to His side. 

It was at Horeb that the Lord encounters the prophet Elijah who was hiding in a cave and asked him, ‘What are you doing here?’ He was encouraging the prophet to get out of his hiding place and to get to the place that God has planned for him to be in.

We can never hide or run from God

The Psalmist says in Psalms 139:7, “Where could I go to escape from you? Where could I get away from your presence?” (GNB)

In Psalms 139: 8-10, “If I go up to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, you are there. If I climb upward on the rays of the morning sun or land on the most distant shore of the sea where the sun sets, even there your hand would guide me and your right hand would hold on to me.” (GW)

We can never outrun God or hide from His presence.  No matter where we go be it to the highest heavens, or the depths of hell or as far away as we can imagine, the Psalmist declared that His hand is able to hold and guide us. God knows everything about us; He knows when we lie down, wake up, every word, thought, all the difficult situations we face.

We may have made wrong decisions and chosen to walk away from being in fellowship with God.  However, if we are willing to come back, He is able to change and transform everything. God yearns for us to return to Him and make Him our first love. We must make a decision to come back and be reconciled to God. It is only when we are at peace with God, can we be at peace with others and this will permeate into all other relationships. That’s why Jesus said blessed are the peace makers. Even if you have gone astray, you can decide to get back and be reconciled to the Lord, for He alone has broken the wall of enmity and can renew our friendship and fellowship with God. May we never try to hide or run away from the Lord, but instead always run into His presence, which is the only place of perfect peace and safety.

A prayer :

Our heavenly Father, many times when I have made wrong choices and as a result of it suffered shame, I have tried to run away from you.  I have tried to find safety in some things or habits that actually turned to be unsafe for me.  I confess, Lord that I have been avoiding coming to you openly with my condition.  Today, I understand that You are a loving God and you are want me to be restored.  I submit to Your will, O God. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

Br. A.Dixon

www.goodnewsfriends.net

Transcribed by : Ms. Esther Collins

Email : goodnewsfriends.net@gmail.com