Conviction—this act by the Holy Spirit cleanses our heart of the attitudes and perceptions that are not of God. It is God’s way of creating a clean heart. It is refreshing to gain a proper perspective. A burden is lifted.
The author of Hebrews wrote we are to lay aside every weight that hampers our endurance along the racecourse set before us (Hebrews 12:1) When the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to sin that trips us up and weights us down we are set free from this entanglement.
This morning I looked at a small brown couch in a way I had never seen it before. It is something I did not choose or purchase, a cast off. This morning it brought warmth to the room. It seemed to be a perfect fit as if it had been personally selected at a furniture showroom.
“You are ungrateful,” the Holy Spirit revealed. The things God has given you have not accepted with a grateful heart but a critical spirit. There is always something wrong that prevents whole-hearted thankfulness. The cupboards in the kitchen immediately come to mind. Once they can be replaced praises will automatically flow from my mouth for the house God has given me.
Immediately an attitude of gratefulness floods my heart for this revelation. How much time is wasted in research on kitchen design or contemplating décor without the funds to implement such changes. Snares that pull me from the race set before me.
There is freedom in this gratitude. What God has provided, ordained or directed is perfect. I accept it with a grateful heart and continue the course rather than stopping to correct, fix or change what has been given. Such distractions are a work of the enemy. In the Garden of Eden, Satan asked Eve: “Did God say?” and doubt ensnared. When the thought that the provisions of God are not enough enters our mind, doubt ensnares us, and we stumble.
The other night, during Bible study Koinonia, a sister in Christ asked if anyone had created a “grateful list.” Such a list charts and pinpoints God’s provision and changes our perspective from what is not, to what is.
I am grateful for the conviction of the Holy Spirit who has lifted the burden of dissatisfaction from my shoulders, a weight that has hampered my race. In my newly found satisfaction, I am able to run with endurance. A grateful heart, molded and shaped by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, fuels my race.
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