Tracey ArmstrongLast night I heard an awesome message presented by Tracey Armstrong pictured here.

I know I will barely scratch the surface of what he taught, but perhaps it will be enough to make you research this for yourself.

1 Timothy 1:18-19

Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight,holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.

We are to HOLD ON TO FAITH AND A GOOD CONSCIENCE.  When we don’t hold on to a good conscience, we can SHIPWRECK our faith!  Without a clean conscience you cannot operate in faith.  They go hand in hand.

Tracey talked about a SIN conscience and here are some examples:  Unworthy thoughts about yourself.  Condemnation.  Comparison to others and feeling less than.  When God blesses a sin conscience person, they might say, “Oh, I don’t deserve it.  I can’t receive this.”  Whereas a good conscience person would receive a blessing with great excitement and say thank you.

A sin conscience is not a spiritual issue, but a soul issue.   Soul issues that haven’t been healed (such as disappointments) can hold us back spiritually and block us from receiving what God has for us.   It can stop you from feeling righteous.

Because we are RIGHTEOUS in Christ, we should not operate in a sin conscience!

http://uwcmi.org/files/2010/03/righteousness.jpg

What is righteousness?  Tracey said that righteousness is having faith that justice will take place.

Romans 4:3

What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Abraham was old and childless, but God told him his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky.  Abraham believed God.   He had faith that his JUST and HOLY God would do what He said He would do.

Romans 8:9-10

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.  But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.

The Spirit gives life inside of us BECAUSE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.   This isn’t because we are righteous by our own actions, but because of Christ.   I always think of righteousness as right standing.

Tracey reminded us that the God of the universe who can use the earth as a footstool decided to live inside of us.   He was encouraging us to realize how BIG we are inside.  There is a Kingdom inside of us!   Big enough that in Mark 5:8-20 there were so many demons living in ONE man (called themselves LEGION) that it took 2000 pigs to house them!   That is how big we are inside.  Have you ever thought of it that way?  I haven’t.

Here we are, righteous because of Christ.  We are huge inside and the Spirit of the Living God lives within us.  SO WHY DO WE OFTEN BELIEVE WHAT SATAN SAYS MORE THAN WE BELIEVE WE ARE RIGHTEOUS?

We will know we are operating under a sin conscience when we COMPARE ourselves to others.  Examples:  Oh, I could never speak like she does.   I could never write like him.   I could never sing like her.   Tracey gave a cute example of a room full of people jumping.  A good conscience person would just enjoy jumping up and down and think, “Wow, we are all jumping.”  The sin conscience person would begin to compare, “He is jumping higher than me!”  Comparison … condemnation … less than mentality — not from God.   Comparison is the devil’s plan.

Tracey shared this with us to make a great point …

Acts 28:1-6

Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”  But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.  The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

Here was Paul on an island.  The islanders didn’t know him, but when Paul was bitten by a snake they immediately said he was a murderer.  Well yes, Paul WAS a murderer when he was Saul.  He murdered Christians as a matter of fact.  But did God tell the islanders this?  NO.  Of course satan was quick to accuse Paul again.   He is always there to accuse us with “facts” about what we have done in our lives.

The devil tells you the FACTS about your life, but he doesn’t tell you THE TRUTH!

Facts brought condemnation, but the TRUTH was — Paul was righteous in Christ!  Don’t you love how Paul just shook off the snake?  The accusations from the people didn’t stop him or slow him down.

We ARE God’s righteousness in Christ Jesus!

Are you walking in a good conscience or sin conscience?   IF you see traces of a sin-ridden conscience, lay it down and start believing who God says you are in Christ.

 

Photo credit: Tracey, Righteousness

Linking with:

The Not-So-Secret Confessions of a First Time Mom