The Lord is teaching me so much these last few weeks…
- holiness and purity and grace and humility
- obeying instantly and the concept of godly submission
- responding to conviction and repenting instantly… and asking the Lord continually, “Does this please You?”
- deeper intimacy
- the prophetic
I really do feel like a clay on the potter’s wheel, being molded and shaped…
Yesterday I had a powerful encounter with the Lord. I attended a pastor’s meeting and luncheon at New Day. I ended up sitting next to a guy that I recognized, almost…sort of… hmmm maybe I’ve met him before…who is this guy?… know the feeling?
The night before, God had given me a prophetic word. I thought it was a corporate word to share with the church, but when I went to get up and go to the front, I felt constrained. So I kept my mouth shut. Then during the pre-meal meeting and prayer, I thought of this word again. “Lord, is that for now?” …. “No, but it’s for today.”
Over the course of the meal, I mentioned to this man that we’d pastored a church in our house in Level Cross. His jaw dropped. He said he had planted and built a church in the area years ago. I knew right away who he was, and blurted out, “You’re ______________!”
He talked pretty extensively about his successes and failures in that church. I knew some of the story – mostly the bad parts. I’d formed some pretty strong opinions about him… not even knowing him. The Holy Spirit began to show me how I had viewed this man – HIS man – and how I had absolutely no right to judge him. I knew that my judgment of this pastor had grieved the Holy Spirit, and I had to make it right.
I finally turned to him and confessed that I had sinned against him and asked him to forgive me (and I also repented to the Lord). We both had tears in our eyes. This pastor had endured some very heavy judgment from his flock and the community, even though the things he did, he felt were right at the time. I felt something snap in the atmosphere around us – something that had been stretched too tightly had been released. In him? In me? Both? Perhaps.
Holy conviction is a good thing. It’s a healing thing. A lot of people hate the concept of conviction, but it’s necessary as a rudder in our lives to steer us from wrong into right. Conviction about something wrong in your life leads you straight into the cleansing, forgiving arms of the Lord. (As opposed to condemnation from the enemy, which leads you straight into a garbage heap of self-hatred and rebellion). Conviction is when you know that you did something that hurt the One you love (as opposed to condemnation, wherein you violated a rule you should have followed).
When the Holy Spirit points out something wrong… don’t waste any time running to the arms of the Lord. He loves to set you free.
Commentation