Conviction, Guilt, Condemnation

The good the bad and the ugly are fighting to have control today. I am so upset because something I gave into is like a pebble being tossed into a pond. Ripples are visible and I cannot take back what I started. I am repentant, but I have already affected other lives. I am paying a price for not being obedient. There is no condemnation for those who are redeemed, but, man, it feels real bad. The conviction took a while, but the guilt took seconds.

I needed a biblical word and this is where I was led. Thank you Holy Spirit.

Psalm 51:1-17
1HAVE MERCY upon me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to the multitude of Your tender mercy and loving-kindness blot out my transgressions.

2Wash me thoroughly [and repeatedly] from my iniquity and guilt and cleanse me and make me wholly pure from my sin!

3For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me.

4Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless in Your judgment.(A)

5Behold, I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful].(B)

6Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart.

7Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean [ceremonially]; wash me, and I shall [in reality] be whiter than snow.

8Make me to hear joy and gladness and be satisfied; let the bones which You have broken rejoice.

9Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my guilt and iniquities.

10Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me.

11Cast me not away from Your presence and take not Your Holy Spirit from me.

12Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.

13Then will I teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted and return to You.

14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness and death, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness (Your rightness and Your justice).

15O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise.

16For You delight not in sacrifice, or else would I give it; You find no pleasure in burnt offering.(C)

17My sacrifice [the sacrifice acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.

His love is so great, He is so good, He is so constant and faithful that in the times of David and in this millennium, all we need to do is confess, repent, and praise Him to obtain forgiveness.

Off to be obedient. Again it is all about love. Thank you Father.

Judge not... lest ye be judged

I've found that many of my friends, people who love me, don't really accept me and my christian principles. If I do not do things perfectly, the question is "and you call yourself a Christian?" Yup, I call myself a Christian because I am born again and I am in a daily struggle to let God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit transform my mind, spirit, and soul.

What I do and accomplish does not make me a Christian, it is what God does in me, what Jesus died for that makes me a Christian. I have no righteousness to boast of... God sees me through the righteousness of Jesus, the Lamb who was slain for my sins. I am but a sinner. Forgiven and redeemed. I ask for His guidance, confess my sins, ask His forgiveness, thank Him for His grace and mercy, hope that I am a light to some, sing His praises, and worship Him to the best of my limited ability. Only He knows how much I believe in Him, how much I love Him, and how much I depend on Him. No one else knows.

I heard Joyce Meyers say that only someone who knows all the facts is qualified to make a judgment. The only one who knows every thought and every action we ever made, and all the good things and bad things that happened to us throughout our lifetime is God. Only He is qualified to judge us. These, of course, are not her exact words, but you get the idea.

Many of our actions, decisions, and reactions are based on things that happened to us as children, as teens, and as adults. My children think they know me, my mother thought she knew me, my husband does too. But no one really knows everything that has influenced me in my lifetime. I probably don't remember a lot of it myself. In all truthfulness, I cannot explain why I have many of my faults and annoying qualities. Why am I sometimes loving, caring, compassionate and kind and other times sarcastic, suspicious, or unkind in thought, word, or deed.

I guess I can't expect others to understand what I do not always understand. I can, however, hope that they not judge my imperfect actions and thoughts and find me lacking as a christian, a disciple of Christ, a child of God. I can hope they love me with a forgiving and Christ-like love.

I pray that I always be led to follow:

Matthew 7 (amp)
1DO NOT judge and criticize and condemn others, so that you may not be judged and criticized and condemned yourselves.

It always comes back to love.