Explanation of Previous Post

I have had a gnawing feeling over the past couple of weeks about a previous post concerning salvation. When I went back and read it, I understood why. Though no one has said anything or asked about it and two people actually mentioned how they found it convicting, I think the Holy Spirit has been tugging at my heart about my approach on the subject. As I went back and read my wording on the post about "small gifts" I realized it sounded like I was minimizing what Christ did for us and His free gift. All I could do was pray that the Lord would not have others perceive it that way. I prayed about what to do and I felt it bast to just come back and clarify.

When God calls us to Himself, we respond. The point is, it's God's doing. There's nothing we can do ourselves. It's a free gift(that was the intent of my post). He sacrificed all for us. We can't or won't do anything that repays that debt. It was covered in full by His shed blood--- period. You can't work your way to heaven. No amount of service will make up for our sin nature. It's why He made the sacrifice in the first place!

Now, the point in my previous post was this: over the years, I've heard several people confess that they were in youth group situations or group situations where lots of people were going forward and making public professions of faith. They made the choice to go forward because it seemed like the thing to do at the time even though they didn't feel called. Then years later they would sit in church and get a conviction to go forward in faith but faced confusion because of the the previous experience. As a matter of fact, I remember a friend's brother saying he had many "white knuckle moments". He said he'd sit in the pew Sunday after Sunday. His dad was a deacon, his mom sang in choir, they were very active members. Yet he sat each Sunday full of confusion. He'd never really felt close to God. He'd never felt led to do much in the church. He said he felt like it was all for show. He said he felt like he was going through the motions. He felt this stirring in his spirit that he couldn't shake and didn't know what to do with it. Then, he finally realized that the Lord was prompting him to surrender. He knew that it wasn't out of peer pressure but because the Lord was calling him and he had to reply. He came to a point where he didn't care if others saw it as weird that he hadn't done it sooner. It was what God was calling him to do. So he surrendered. After that point, he knew it was the real deal.

So my original point was, there may be some having the same struggle. You may be grown and having gone through the motions before and you now find yourself in a place of confusion. You may have never really felt the Holy Spirit stirriing your soul but you feel it now and you don't know what to do with it. You sit in the pew each Sunday wondering what others would think. You sit wondering why you've never really had a relationship with God and why you've never felt conviction to live for Him. It's time to let go of your fears. That step of faith, that surrender of trusting Him with your life is it. He'll guide you the rest of the way. The rest will come as you grow in Him. He'll draw you to HIimself. That stirring in your spirit is there because He placed it there. That's what conviction is. So, release your grip and respond realizing that it's nothing you're doing but rather a surrender to His will. He just wants you to come to Him. Let go.

Now the other part to that is, if you're saved and you feel conviction in different areas of your life whether it's breaking a bad habit, coming out of your comfort zone to do something for Him, missions, forgiveness, etc... and you've been ignoring that call, stop. Trust and obey. I know, personally, I've lived many moments of my life in a spirit of fear. I ignored the Holy Spirit's calling out of fear. I then realized what fear was-- the opposite of faith! While it's okay to feel afraid, it's not okay to allow fear to keep us in bondage. I'm finding that when I do trust and let go of the fear I receive a bigger blessing than anyone. Unfortunately, for me, it's an ongoing struggle. Satan has seen that area of weakness and likes to attack there. So I'm finding it's something that I have to continually lay at the feet of my Lord.

Like the old hymn says, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey."

Lord, thank you for conviction. Thank you for the stirrings in my spirit. Father, the last thing I want to be to anyone is a stumbling block. May my words always come straight from You. Lessen me that You may be magnified. Father, if there are any hesitating with giving their lives to you, please convict them to the point that they cannot turn away from You. Pull them to You. Erase all doubt. And Father, may none of us ever look lightly on Your incredible sacrifice for us. What an amazing love You have for us. Though I'll never fully comprehend Your sacrifice and why You would give Your Son for sinners such as us, I'm so thankful, Father. Thank You for Your free gift. Thank You for paying the debt. I love you, Father. In the name of Your precious Son, Jesus. Amen.