Today's Utmost for His Highest

The Concentration of Personal Sin by Oswald Chambers Text Size: Zoom In

July 03, 2011

Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips . . . —Isaiah 6:5



When I come into the very presence of God, I do not realize that I am a sinner in an indefinite sense, but I suddenly realize and the focus of my attention is directed toward the concentration of sin in a particular area of my life. A person will easily say, “Oh yes, I know I am a sinner,” but when he comes into the presence of God he cannot get away with such a broad and indefinite statement. Our conviction is focused on our specific sin, and we realize, as Isaiah did, what we really are. This is always the sign that a person is in the presence of God. There is never any vague sense of sin, but a focusing on the concentration of sin in some specific, personal area of life. God begins by convicting us of the very thing to which His Spirit has directed our mind’s attention. If we will surrender, submitting to His conviction of that particular sin, He will lead us down to where He can reveal the vast underlying nature of sin. That is the way God always deals with us when we are consciously aware of His presence.

This experience of our attention being directed to our concentration of personal sin is true in everyone’s life, from the greatest of saints to the worst of sinners. When a person first begins climbing the ladder of experience, he might say, “I don’t know where I’ve gone wrong,” but the Spirit of God will point out some definite and specific thing to him. The effect of Isaiah’s vision of the holiness of the Lord was the directing of his attention to the fact that he was “a man of unclean lips.” “He touched my mouth with it, and said: ’Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged’ ” (Isaiah 6:7). The cleansing fire had to be applied where the sin had been concentrated.



My two cents;

Francis Thompson wrote a poem talking about God being the hound of heaven who follows the fleeing soul by His divine grace. He uses the Holy Spirit as the means to accomplish this. Jesus put it this way: John 16:7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. 12 "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

God will not leave His sheep alone. He will pursue you in order to bring you back home.

In Christ,

Dan

Discipleship

My two cents;

We hear a lot about discipleship today and there are many ways of doing it. The best example is to follow the example of Christ.

1Co 11:1 Paul teaches us to “Follow my example, just as I follow the example of Christ.”

Christ deeply invested in a few lives, loved them unconditionally while teaching, correcting and rebuking when needed. So how do we duplicate that? First we need to personally apply God’s word and live it out. Second spend time with those the Lord sends to do things together (coffee, mechanics, yard work, watching or playing sports…). Show them how you react to life (good or bad while being willing to open up about your faults and challenges) and spend time hovering around different things in God’s word. Be real without losing your witness and ask forgiveness as needed. Many age groups spell love as t-i-m-e. We have seen real life change on the soccer field and basketball court while taking our breaks to break open God’s word and reveal spiritual truths. We didn’t have cups one day so we showed them how to drink out of the cooler without touching their mouth to the spigot. That’s all part of the process. What you do, they will start doing because this is God’s way and His way is always best. When you invest in someone’s life, they remember it forever and so does their families. You will be surprised at the abundance love returned!

How does God want you to do this? Spend a little time with the Lord today asking how and who He wants you to invest in. He will answer and when you respond you will then be partnering with Him in real life-change God’s way.



Thanks for all you do.

In Christ,

Dan