“FOR IF OUR HEART CONDEMNS US”

As saints, we all struggle with besetting sin... the sin we hate to love. To deny this is to deny God’s word, knowingly or in ignorance. What distinguishes the spiritually mature is how quickly they come boldly to God’s throne of Grace.  Heartfelt repentance will usher in God’s supernatural peace... The Peace of God, if we allow the Holy Spirit to do His work. When our conscience condemns us after repentance it is our old nature that keeps us diving into God’s Sea of Forgetfulness to retrieve our sins, wanting us to wallow in shame and remorse... wanting us to do penitence... wanting us to earn our own forgiveness. The writer of Hebrews spoke to this when He stated “How much more shall the blood of Christ ... cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” Now the context is comparing Grace to the Law, but as an application the repentant saint’s sorrow and remorse are just “Dead Works.” The Apostle John, in his dissertation on the outworking of Love, also speaks of the condemning heart... the condemning conscience: “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.” The greatness of God’s grace and compassion are displayed here. When our conscience condemns us we quiet it with the knowledge we are in the hands of a God who is greater than our heart... greater in love... greater in compassion... greater in understanding, and it is He who has forgiven us. The very worse that is in us is known to God, and still he loves us... cares for us... desires us. He sees our shallow failures... our stumbling as we miss His mark. He sees the deep hungering in the depth of our soul for more righteousness... to be a delight to Him. And, He sees our sin, hears our repentance and says to our conscience “I Am Greater”! “And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.”

GOD IS GREATER THAN OUR HEART

WORRY... ANXIETY... FEAR... DEPRESSION...

When we worry we torment ourselves with thoughts of uncertainty and concern, interfering with God’s peace of mind, causing anxiety, fearful distress and uneasiness. Worry and anxiety are the greatest tools of the powers of darkness for they are birthed in a lack of trust... a lack of faith... unbelief, and invariably lead to depression. Much of our worry stems from misplaced love... coveting the things of this world. Worry and anxiety express the belief that we really are responsible for the provisions of life, for our work, for our ministry, and express the unbelief that God will really provide for our needs. Notice that God only promises to provide for our needs... food... shelter... clothes, not our wants: People with broken “wanters” will have a problem with God’s provisioning. “Godliness with contentment is great gain”... the gain is joy. "Do not worry", “Let not your heart be troubled”, “Fret not”, “Be anxious for nothing”: When we ignore these commands of our Lord we disengage from His control switching back to Self-Control, we grieve the Holy Spirit and quench the flow of “Living Water”, and we invite depression. We put on the “Spirit of Heaviness” replacing our “Garment of Praise.” Depression is a spirit and must be resisted with praise and worship, for “The joy of the Lord is our strength.” The issue is not to strive for stronger faith, but rather to rest in The Faithful One... and practice the virtue of contentment...

PUT ON THE GARMENT OF PRAISE

FOR THE SPIRIT OF HEAVINESS

“LOOKING UNTO JESUS”

“Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us”: The verb of which besetting is the participle form means to surround with hostile intent, to set upon, attack, assault on all sides, to constantly assault with persistence. In the expression besetting sin, the word “besetting” carries the added meaning of chief, principal or primary, a sin to which a particular individual is particularly susceptible. In the life of every saint there is a “besetting sin”, one to which, on account of our constitution and life circumstance, we are peculiarly susceptible and most easily and most frequently fall. Besetting sin ensnares... traps, and can tower like a mountain between a child of God and their Daddy.

There are many besetting sins: Slothfulness is spiritual or emotional apathy, neglecting what God has spoken... spiritual laziness. Worry is habitual refusal to trust God... unbelief by another name. Coveting is to allow one’s desires for the things of this life to override our passion for Godliness... idolatry in its purest form. Pride is an inflated sense of one's personal status or accomplishments, inordinate Self-esteem and Self-reliance breeding dependence on Self rather than God.  Gluttony is over-indulgence... over-consumption, a limitless voracious appetite for something... a loss of Self-control, walking according to the flesh. And the list goes on. We all have besetting sin(s), it’s the sin we hate to love; to think otherwise is to be in Self-denial.

Saints, we all have a death to die, a race to run -- a race requiring patient endurance and steadfast persistence -- and a crown to receive. Therefore let us lay aside... discard, our besetting sins relying in total trust upon Jesus who is the author... originator and dispenser, and finisher... perfecter, of our faith. Jesus is the creator and sustainer and consummator of faith in the hearts of believers, the supreme model of the faith way of life. By His unerring life of faith Jesus made a way to God for those that follow Him, “The firstborn among many brethren.” As “Prince of life” and “The beginning of the creation of God”, Jesus is “The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep”, “The firstborn from among the dead”... the originator of the resurrection. “All things were created through Him and for Him ... and in Him all things consist.” Our trust releases the power out flowing from His resurrection, bringing our faith to maturity with enabling power to overcome our besetting sins. And in this we should rejoice...

“IF WE SAY THAT WE HAVE NO SIN,

WE DECEIVE OURSELVES...”

(Heb. 12:1-2; Acts 3:15; Rev. 3:14; 1 Cor. 15:20; Rom. 8:29; Col. 1:16-18; Phil. 3:10; 1 Jn. 1:8)