conviction vs condemnation

is there a difference?

i didnt used to think so. i used to be very self condemning. i grew up catholic, in a home where shame was used as the prime motivator. but before you get up in arms, this isnt anti catholicism. its just my experience of growing up in a household of a catholic grandmother and a catholic mother. and me.

my mom loved me. of that i have no doubt. but she used guilt to correct me rather than swatting my behind when she wanted to modify my behavior. i guess she thought she was protecting my psyche by not physically striking me. instead, she undermined my self confidence by striking my ego with suggestions that i was not fit as a person if i was capable of doing this or saying that. there was no real standard, and i was never given clear rules. rather, i learned how to navigate through life based on her reactions. it was her subtle expressions of distain and disapproval that got the message to me. she could show disappointment in a way that would strike my heart. only thing is, i usually felt like it was me she was disappointed in, not what i did or said. it makes remembering a clear example really difficult, because it was more a lifestyle – an environment that i lived in – than good honest discipline. it must have effected me in very profound ways, because i was always among the most unpopular kids at school, to the point that i hated school with everything in me. i was stressed most of the time, because i felt so inferior. and let me tell you, catholic rich kids can pick up on that and they will goad you till you die inside because of it. when i complained to my mother about the ridicule at school, she always quickly solved the mystery of why by telling me it was because i was too bossy. it didnt help that she was chased home by kids who threw rocks at her and called her ‘cat licker’, from the public school she went to. likely why she came up with the money to send me to catholic school.

this mind set followed me through my teens, into my rebellious era, and into my commitment to God when i gave my life to Jesus. now the Lord gave me much joy in my heart, and i could see from His word that His love was unconditional. i also started going to a very good church, where the Word was taught rather than religious concepts. also i have always been adventurous, and keen to know why things need to be this way or that way. in spite of my mothers ‘floating eyebrows’ of disapproval, she was always good at explaining to me why, when it didnt involve my discipline. so i began to have a good foundation built into my heart of Gods way, and His Word.

if only i could get rid of this shadow of constant inferiority. but it had been instilled in me that this was how good people thought, and that to have confidence was the same as being vain and conceited. and so … although i knew God loved me without condition, i never knew if He was pleased with me. i have never been a people pleaser in the usual sense of the term. yet still, who want to feel like their ultimately going to be a disappointment? thats corrosion in the soul.

well, one day i was sitting in my room, feeling actually quite terrified that i was going to lose all my reward in heaven, and maybe even be cut off from God, because i wasnt living up to His expectations, or my potential, or whatever. i was honestly close to having a panic attack over it. it wasnt called that back then – but it felt just as frightening. it all centered around the passage in the gospels about the branch bearing fruit or being cut off. i felt my life was very fruitless.

here is where the difference between the letter of the law and the Spirit of the Word comes into focus. and the difference between conviction and condemnation was made clear to me in a way i will never forget.

the Holy Spirit broke into my thoughts as i was reeling under the fear, and He said ‘the fruit of the Spirit …’. thats all he said. thats all i needed to hear. i realized at that moment it was His fruit, not mine. He would bring it forth as i yielded to Him. it was not a matter of me doing to please Him, it was a matter of me realizing my new identity in Him, and walking in it. like an apple tree makes no effort to produce apples … it is a by product of being an apple tree. as long as it is watered and cared for, it will produce apples.

not long after this i began to see that condemnation was a religious idea, not a scriptural one. condemnation is general, vague, and points the finger at the individual. therefore, there can be no solution, because there is no clear problem. you feel as though you are the problem, but have no idea how to fix it. so you are left with always trying harder, and never feeling secure that you have ever done enough. fear is the motivating factor behind it, and it keeps your focus locked on yourself. the exact opposite of what God desires for us.

conviction, on the other hand, is extremely clear and specific. it points to an action, an intent, or a purpose. something you did or are about to do. its clear about what is wrong with it, and what to do to fix it. either repent or refrain. and then the matter is done. it does not linger, or haunt you. it motivating factor is love, because when the Holy Spirit brings conviction to your soul, you may for a moment feel sorrow, but the sorrow is brief because you know its because He loves you, not so He will love you. because you know He loves you, you want to fix it. there is no nagging uncertainty that you havent done enough, or done the right thing. there is no guess work involved at all.

it makes all the difference in the world.

google Tags: condemnation,conviction,regligion,Gods Word

pondering …

i have often pondered what it is that Jesus actually accomplished for me. what His blood purchased. consider the word ‘saved’ – sozo (greek)

1) to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction

     a) one (from injury or peril)

1) to save a suffering one (from perishing), i.e. one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health

1) to preserve one who is in danger of destruction, to save or rescue

       b) to save in the technical biblical sense

1) negatively

       a) to deliver from the penalties of the Messianic judgment

       b) to save from the evils which obstruct the reception of the Messianic deliverance

used in the new testament: 

AV — save 93, make whole 9, heal 3, be whole 2, misc 3

and the word ‘peace’ – shalom (hebrew)

1) completeness, soundness, welfare, peace

       a) completeness (in number)

       b) safety, soundness (in body)

       c) welfare, health, prosperity

       d) peace, quiet, tranquility, contentment

       e) peace, friendship

1) of human relationships

2) with God especially in covenant relationship

       f) peace (from war)

       g) peace (as adjective)

used in the old testament

AV — peace 175, well 14, peaceably 9, welfare 5, salute + 07592 4, prosperity 4, did 3, safe 3, health 2, peaceable 2, misc 15

the basic meaning is ‘nothing broken, nothing missing’. that reaches so far … it covers everything now and later.

we watched a wonderful movie last night. ‘ink’. here is an excerpt. i highly recommend this little flick! i finally have a favorite movie  :D

 

google Tags: Jesus,salvation,ink

30 years walking with God

what does it mean to be in covenant with someone? in this western culture, the idea of a covenant is vague. a blood covenant isnt really even part of western thought. but a covenant is a binding tie that unites two parties in a matter, with serious consequences for breaking it. if the covenant is cut in blood, its all the more binding. usually for life.

remember the 'blood brothers' or 'blood sisters' pacts we made as children? we would each prick a finger to get blood, and then press our fingers together to mingle that blood, and make pledges and promises that were intended at the time to last forever. or at least until the need for the pact no longer existed. they were very solemn and deep things, these pacts we made in this way. ever wonder where the idea came from?

consider most marriage ceremonies. there may not be blood in these modern days, but there is a meal, wine and cake, and the joining of names. families become joined, not just the two individuals. there are the pledges and promises, and the rings symbolising joining and eternity. where does the element of the meal come from?

in ancient days, God made covenant with man. He made a blood covenant with abram, with large animals cut in half, and all their blood poured out onto a path between their severed parts. blood covenants back then were made like this between two tribes - one skilled in warfare, the other strong in farming or agriculture or building. two representatives of both tribes were selected to walk the path of blood, and sware to each other an oath of faithfulness to the other, and pledge all their strengths, possesions, and resources to the other. there was a meal shared by both tribes, and often a joining of names. there was also a penalty, usually of death, to whoever broke the covenant. this whole concept was given to man by God, with Whom man walked early on, before we so conveniently drifted away. so it was that man understood the nature of a covenant. and when God brought abram out of chaldea, and promised him a son, and promied to make him the father of many nations, that He sealed the deal with a blood covenant.

there was one difference with the making of this covenant however. God put abram into a sleep, after he had gotten the animals, and cut them in half from head to tail (no small job that!), poured out their blood along the path between the parts, and sat waiting to see what God would do. then God walked the path between the parts, as a smoking furnace and a burning lamp. these two things passed between the parts, and God swore an oath to abram. this sealed the deal. abram had already believed the promise God had made that he would have an heir. but God sealed it with a blood oath, promising his son would come from his own loins, even though he was now 99 years old, and sarah was 90.

the promises that God made to abram that night concerned not only the child he would have, but the seed that would come from that line, who would be the Son of Man. the Word made Flesh. and the salvation that would become available to us through His death and resurrection - the new covenant in His blood. that salvation comes with way more than just deliverence from sin and entrance to heaven. it comes with protection from danger and enemies, healing, prosperity, and authority. in short, all of Gods resources were made available to whosoever would accept the gift of salvation and enter into covenant with Him. and its been sealed in blood.

i will testify that it is real. i have walked with God, through Jesus, for over thirty years now. i have never seen His word fail, or His promise break, in all that time. never.

thats whay i am, and always will be, a covenant woman.