Today I want to share a message that many of us have heard Kenneth E. Hagin share many, many times! From today's "Faith Food" devotional!
A Tender Conscience
"Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience
seared with a hot iron" (1 Timothy 4:2).
Keep a tender conscience - don't violate it - because it is your conscience, the voice of your spirit, that relates to your mind what the Spirit of God is saying to you down inside. If you don't keep a tender conscience, spiritual things will not be clear to you.
During the mid-30s, I pastored a country church and usually spent Sunday nights in the home of a dear old gentleman who was about eighty-nine years old. He and I didn't get up as early as the rest of his family on this farm, so we had breakfast together about 8 o'clock.
He'd have one of those old-fashioned coffee pots sitting on the woodstove with the coffee just boiling in it. I've seen him pour that boiling coffee into a mug, hold it up to his mouth, and drink the whole cup of boiling coffee in one gulp. The first time I saw him do it, I felt like I was burning all the way down!
How could he do that? I certainly couldn't do it. My mouth and throat are so tender, one teaspoon of boiling coffee would have burned me. He couldn't do it either, to begin with. But through the years, drinking boiling coffee had seared this man's lips, mouth, and throat, until it was easy for him to drink the whole cup of boiling coffee in one gulp.
The same thing can happen spiritually. Keep a tender conscience. Stop the minute you miss it and your conscience condemns you. Say, "Lord, forgive me. I missed it." Or if you need to, tell someone you have wronged, "I did wrong. Please forgive me."
Confession: I keep my conscience tender.
AMEN! He is speaking here of being continually aware of ourselves and our mistakes so that we can continually receive the forgiveness and the cleansing from all unrighteousness that results by being DOERS of 1 John 1:9:Keep a tender conscience - don't violate it - because it is your conscience, the voice of your spirit, that relates to your mind what the Spirit of God is saying to you down inside. If you don't keep a tender conscience, spiritual things will not be clear to you.
During the mid-30s, I pastored a country church and usually spent Sunday nights in the home of a dear old gentleman who was about eighty-nine years old. He and I didn't get up as early as the rest of his family on this farm, so we had breakfast together about 8 o'clock.
He'd have one of those old-fashioned coffee pots sitting on the woodstove with the coffee just boiling in it. I've seen him pour that boiling coffee into a mug, hold it up to his mouth, and drink the whole cup of boiling coffee in one gulp. The first time I saw him do it, I felt like I was burning all the way down!
How could he do that? I certainly couldn't do it. My mouth and throat are so tender, one teaspoon of boiling coffee would have burned me. He couldn't do it either, to begin with. But through the years, drinking boiling coffee had seared this man's lips, mouth, and throat, until it was easy for him to drink the whole cup of boiling coffee in one gulp.
The same thing can happen spiritually. Keep a tender conscience. Stop the minute you miss it and your conscience condemns you. Say, "Lord, forgive me. I missed it." Or if you need to, tell someone you have wronged, "I did wrong. Please forgive me."
Confession: I keep my conscience tender.
9 If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action].
This is vitally important so that we can stay in intimate fellowship with HIM and not lose our boldness in entering into His Presence! But I want to also look at the other side of this 'mountain'! Not only should we keep a clear and free conscience by confessing sin, we should also keep our intimacy and boldness strong in HIM by being instantly obedient when He give us something to do or to say! If we continually hesitate, make excuses or simply ignore when Holy Spirit gives us instructions, then we will begin to lose clarity in hearing Him and lose confidence that we do! The bottom line here is to stay in intimate fellowship with Holy Spirit at all times! We do this BOTH by keeping a clear conscience and by heeding His voice IMMEDIATELY when we hear! Let's make it our goal to get closer and closer in fellowship with HIM every day as we run full steam ahead into His appearing for us and the Rapture of the Church! Let's GO! No time to waste! AMEN! Here is Hillsong with "No Reason To Hide":
Shalom in Him!
