When I come into the very presence of God, I do not realize that I am a sinner in an indefinite sense, but I suddenly realize and the focus of my attention is directed toward the concentration of sin in a particular area of my life. A person will easily say, “Oh yes, I know I am a sinner,” but when he comes into the presence of God he cannot get away with such a broad and indefinite statement. Our conviction is focused on our specific sin, and we realize, as Isaiah did, what we really are. This is always the sign that a person is in the presence of God. There is never any vague sense of sin, but a focusing on the concentration of sin in some specific, personal area of life. God begins by convicting us of the very thing to which His Spirit has directed our mind’s attention. If we will surrender, submitting to His conviction of that particular sin, He will lead us down to where He can reveal the vast underlying nature of sin. That is the way God always deals with us when we are consciously aware of His presence.This experience of our attention being directed to our concentration of personal sin is true in everyone’s life, from the greatest of saints to the worst of sinners. When a person first begins climbing the ladder of experience, he might say, “I don’t know where I’ve gone wrong,” but the Spirit of God will point out some definite and specific thing to him. The effect of Isaiah’s vision of the holiness of the Lord was the directing of his attention to the fact that he was “a man of unclean lips.” “He touched my mouth with it, and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged’ ” (Isaiah 6:7). The cleansing fire had to be applied where the sin had been concentrated.

_____________________________________________________________

July 3, 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, perhaps I missed the point here in this devotional.  Over the past 2 to 3 years You have been teaching us to forget about “sin management”. In fact we have learned to not spend any time at all working on our faults; that if we surrender and stay connected to You, the Holy Spirit will transform us in areas of our lives over time. And that has been our experience. You have pointed out areas that need attention, convicted us, and then told us to not give those areas any power by worrying or fretting about them….that You will deal with them. Here Oswald Chambers spends a lot of time talking about how we must manage our behavior. One of our readers sent this note to us this week; Many Christians are “saved by grace” and then enter into a “sanctification by works” mentality.  It’s grace all the way!  But never lacking consequences for the bad choices we make.  I’ve come to believe these consequences are the purifying fire He walks through with us… to bring us to what He wants us to be.

And God says…”There is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. As Paul points out in Romans 7, Christ has already dealt with your sins…all of them; past present and future. Listen to what Paul is saying; “Who will save me from this awful condition? It has already been done by Christ Jesus. “

“You are often pulled into a state, where you believe you are responsible for changing your own life because you want to trust something you can see, touch and feel. You want to “see” the change in yourself, you want to take charge of your life and turn it around in certain areas. Or you think you need to think and act differently, as a believer. But true surrender means that you let go of all of it; the sin, the cause and effect, and your own inability to start and sustain a lasting change. Trust in the Lord with all our heart and do not rely on your own ability to manage your life and behavior, and I will make your paths straight. Seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I will provide everything else you need, including your transformation. And when there are gaps in your behavior, as I told Paul, My grace is sufficient.”