Failure can produce any of the following: the devil’s accusations, my heart’s condemnation or the Holy Spirit’s conviction. It is vital to recognise the difference, and the source of each, to avoid confusion and get back on the right track with the Lord.
The devil is the “accuser of the brethren”, (Revelation 12: 9-10) and will always seek to accuse us in failure. Our heart will condemn us for our failure but condemnation is not from God. His word declares, “If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things”, 1 John 3:20. Finally, we come to conviction. The source of conviction is the Holy Spirit, our divine Guide. He convicts to lead us to repentance and forgiveness in Christ, in order to restore us on our upward journey and learn the lesson He teaches us from our failures. If we listen to Him and walk in humility, our failures can become our stepping stones, instead of continual stumbling blocks.
We all make mistakes but we can keep short accounts with God by dealing with them quickly when the Holy Spirit convicts. Refuse the devil’s accusations and the pity party you throw for his attendance, refuse the condemnation from your heart and the disgust of your self nature, but embrace the conviction of the Holy Spirit who will lead you into all truth and the path of repentance and restoration.
When stuck in a rut, the only way to move forward to higher ground is to embrace the truth the Holy Spirit enlightens to me. I may have to back track with His guidance to put something right, before I can continue forward.
The hymn “I’m pressing on the upward way” (Reference “Higher Ground” by Johnson Oatman and Ada Habershon), includes the following line for pondering: “I dare not climb without my Guide”. Indeed! How easy it is to run ahead of God with my seemingly good ideas, only to discover they were not part of God’s plan!
In the record of 1 Chronicles 29:22, we find that Solomon was anointed as king a second time. How many of us have missed the Lord in situations but God, in His mercy, has given us a second opportunity to crown Him as Lord of our lives again.
Time is getting short. How much longer is the long-suffering of God to be extended to this wicked world? It is vital that we keep short accounts with God. None of us wants to be whisked into eternity and stand before the judgement seat with “arrears” in our life and have to answer for unforgiveness, bitterness, judgement of others…..the list is long!
Proverbs 23:23 “Buy the truth and sell it not….” How do I buy truth? The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and He guides me into all truth, (John 16:13). Humility is the coin of this realm. As I embrace the truth He shows me, I buy truth by humbling before God and man…..this is the price tag of truth.
There is one thing more costly than buying truth, and that is rejecting it. Don’t be in arrears with God. The price is too costly and results in losing God’s peace and joy in your life. When I reject truth I incur a debit on “my account”. The Holy Spirit is the divine “Auditor”. He will give me opportunity to repent and as I respond to His guidance, humble myself and walk in obedience, He will clear and erase the out-standing debt I incurred. When Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice on Calvary, He made it possible for us all to walk in His resurrection life. Every day I have the opportunities to walk in the birthright He purchased there for me. Every day I have opportunity to choose to operate in His life……or mine.
The following is a verse from the song “Autumn Years” by Roy Turner
“But soon will come the Autumn years when life is done and Christ appears,
Too late to change the path we trod, when standing face to face with God”.
God has a clock. It never breaks down and when time is done for you and me on this earth, there will no longer be opportunity to change the past. “Today if you will hear His voice, do not harden your heart”, (Hebrews 3:15). Keep short accounts with God…..and enjoy the freedom and liberty of your birthright in Christ Jesus, for it was for freedom that Christ has made us free, no longer to be subject with that yoke of slavery to bondage.
Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty that Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage”.
When I walk in the light, in truth, I am free indeed! “If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed”, John 8:36.
Enjoy your birthright in Jesus!
