Who's Child Are You?

So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God. This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. So don't be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don't have eternal life within them. We know what real love is because Jesus gave up His life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God's love be in that person? Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. (1 John 3:10-19 NLT)

Ultimately, this entire discussion about clearing our consciences is a discussion about identification.  With whom do you identify yourself...God or the devil?  Who is your mentor?  Whose pattern do you follow?  Who do you want to be like when you grow up?  Who would you identify as your "father"?

All too often we approach our spirituality as though we get to define what is good or right.  We lose sight of the fact that there is only one who gets to define what is right and wrong.  There are models we can follow for each camp (right or wrong).  All we get to do is decide which model we will follow.

So...which one will you follow?  Who's student are you?  Who's child are you?

Maintaining Peace

Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and He will bless you for it. For the Scriptures say, "If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and His ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns His face against those who do evil."  (1Peter 3:8-12 NLT)

Make no mistake about it.  God has a design for your life.

Often times, though, people with think that this is some ambiguous, unknowable thing - like God is somehow playing games with us by withholding information.  On the contrary, it's very clear.

At some point in clearing your conscience you may find that you have an experience similar to mine.  I would ask God for clear direction in my life.  I would pray for God to magically change events to match what I wanted to happen.  (When I felt guilty about asking for things for myself, I would ask for those things for my friends instead.)  Then, I figured, everything would work out alright.

Notice what this passage says, though.  Things like "enjoying life" and "happy days" are directly connected to my obedience of His instructions.  When I align my will to match His Will, I experience peace.  We are instructed to "search for peace and work to maintain it."  This daily process of clearing my conscience keeps me on this right path.  When I do, it says the Lord will watch over me and listen to my prayers.  All the pieces start to fit together.

Do you want the Lord to watch over you?  Do you want Him to listen to your prayers?  Isn't it time you start doing it His way then?

Search this passage for "good boxes" and "bad boxes".  Add them to your lists.  Align your mind with His.  It really is worth it. 

God's Will...

For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. God's will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor—not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and His ways. Never harm or cheat a Christian brother in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before. God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives.  (1Thessalonians 4:2-7 NLT)

The whole point of this section of blog posts is to help you and I develop a clear conscience.  This only happens when our Will matches God's will.  Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica that "God's will is for you to be holy..."  Our conscience will only be clear when our minds are holy, set apart for God.  That means we need to hold on to the thoughts that come from Him.  That also means we need to throw away the thoughts that are not from Him.  This is a moment by moment, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, lifetime process.  Thoughts come into our minds all the time.  We must actively, purposefully manage the thoughts that come into our minds all the time.

I start my day, each day, kick-starting my mind in the right direction.  I begin by first listening to Him through reading His Word (The Bible).  I continue by talking with Him in prayer.  Then I move on with the rest of my day.  I hardly ever complete my task list for the day.  I often times fall short of other's expectations.  Sometimes I don't even get a blog post written, but I started my day searching for God's will and working to align mine with His.  

How about you?  Are you ready to search for God's Will?  Look for the "good boxes" and "bad boxes in the Scripture Passage above and add those items to your lists.  Keep His Will first and you will become more and more holy, set apart for Him.

Day 4

Doing anything for one day takes focus.  Try working all day on one project.
Doing something for two days means it's important. There are two days in a weekend.
Doing something for three days takes dedication.  Jesus was in the ground for 3 days.
This is day four.  You're a die-hard. ;-)

To equally challenge and reward you this fourth day, I'm providing you two passages of Scripture to read.  Some of the terminology may not be in your daily vocabulary.  You may need to look something up in a dictionary to see what it means.  But you can do it.  You're a die-hard. ;-)

Add the items to your good & bad box lists.  Review the entire list.  Work through some more of your boxes.  Throw away the bad.  Hold on to the good.  The process is good.

Don't understand the process?  Read some of my previous blog posts.
Clear your conscience today and enjoy walking better with God.
You're doing great!

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. (Ephesians 5:8-12 NIV)

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:18-21 NIV)

Take The Time (Part 3)

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.  (Ephesians 5:1-4 NIV)

Now it's your turn.  Take a look at this passage above and identify the good boxes (thoughts) and bad boxes (thoughts) that are listed here.  Add them to your lists.  Look for duplicates.

Compare the lists to the way you think.  Do you agree with God's definition of good?  Do you agree with His definition of bad?  Change your mind to match His.

This is the difficult part.  Don't skip past the list now.  Begin thinking about your actual life over the past days, weeks, and months.  How well have you "thrown away the bad" and "held on to the good?"  Have your words consistently expressed thanksgiving to God, or have you found yourself expressing some of the "bad box" items on this list.  Have your actions consistently reflected what is proper for "God's holy people," or have you found yourself giving even more than a "hint" of the bad box items?  

When we fall short of His standard, that's the perfect time to turn back to God.  That's called repentance.  Agree with Him.  Turn back to Him.  Receive forgiveness from Him.  Then...you will experience the peace of a clear conscience.

Take The Time (Part 2)

OK, so I've encouraged you to start taking the time to clear your conscience with God each day.  Once you start spending a little time each day doing this, the process is as easy as this:

1. Read His Word to keep identifying good "boxes" (thoughts) and bad "boxes".  Add them to your list.
2. Change the places where your Will does not match His picture.
3. Pray through thoughts you are still working through in your mind to identify and act upon them with God.

Now you're ready for another comparison/contrast Scripture for your daily process.  Identify the good boxes and the bad boxes in this passage and add them to your respective lists.

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Eph 4:22-32 NIV)

Remember, "old self" in this passage identifies bad boxes.  "New self" will identify items that are good boxes.  (I've highlighted bad boxes and good boxes this round to help you out.)

Do any of the items on this list overlap with the other list you began?  That will happen a lot as you go through this process.  If you are writing your list on index cards, consider simply adding this scripture reference to the card you already created from a previous passage.  That way you don't end up with a duplicate card and the card reflects all the passages where you came across that particular good box or bad box.

Take the time today.  Read, change, and pray.  Your mind will become less conflicted and His Peace will begin to guard your mind.  Enjoy!

Take The Time (Part 1)

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.  (Romans 12:2 NIV)

It's actually not that difficult to understand HOW to clear your conscience.  It's simply a matter of aligning your Will to match God's will...and it takes some time.  It looks something like this in a typical day:

1. A "Box" (Thought) comes into your mind.
2. Your will identifies it as a good "box" or a bad "box.
3. You throw away a bad box, hold on to the good.

This simple process will keep your conscience clear.

As we discussed in earlier posts, sometime we don't know what to do with a "box" (thought), so we throw it into the "still thinking" pile.  We hold on to it, but only in a temporary, short-term, manner.  This means some "bad boxes" will bother us until we sort through the pile and clear them out.  It also means our consciences will bother us until we identify the good boxes and store them away and/or act upon them.  The best way to keep this pile to a minimum and keep your conscience clear is to spend some time each day dedicated to clearing out this pile and training Will to identify good and bad boxes better on the fly.

1. Put a time on your schedule each day to begin this habit of clearing your conscience.  (The amount of time is totally between you and God.  The benefit does not correlate to the amount of time you spend, but the amount of mental work that gets done.)
2. Start a list of good boxes and bad boxes as identified in Scripture.  Keep a notebook, note cards, or a computer list that you can easily add to and refer to each day as a part of your process.  I currently have two notebooks.  One with a green cover (go) for good boxes and one with a red cover (stop) for bad boxes.
3. Read Scripture and identify things God tells us to put on the "good box" and "bad box" list.  Write them on your appropriate lists.
4. Change Will - Read through each list.  Identify places where you have disagreed with God before.  Pray for wisdom and strength.  Then change "Will's mind" to match God's mind.
5. Clear the "Still Thinking" Pile -  Go through any "still thinking" pile thoughts (decisions you are trying to make, areas where you are struggling with what to believe or do) and compare them to your new list of good and bad boxes.  Throw away any bad.  Hold on to and/or act upon the good.

These last three steps, then, get repeated every day during your designated time for clearing your conscience.  In this way, you will begin "renewing your mind" and begin learning to "test and approve what God's will is" in your life.  It's worth the time.  Are you ready to take it?

Start today with the list from my previous blog post.  (Here's a link to it.) 
Pick a translation or translations that help you understand the terms the best.  
Begin your lists of good boxes and bad boxes.  
Pray through the changes to your Will and the things in your "still thinking" pile.  
Celebrate with God that you are experiencing His peace a little more today than you did yesterday. 

Congratulations! You have begun clearing your conscience.

Translations Can Help

There are many passages of Scripture that can help us identify good "boxes" (thoughts) and bad "boxes" (thoughts) that come into our minds.  It's difficult, however, to identify the box as being good or bad when you don't even understand what the word means.  This is when a different translation of the Bible can help.  Sometimes looking at the same passage in multiple translations can help make sense of the original language.  Let's look at the example from a few posts ago.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.  (Galatians 5:19-21 KJV)
Now, maybe you are familiar with terms like “lasciviousness”, “emulations”, and “revellings”, but I would find myself reaching for a dictionary to try to understand each of them.  I know from the comparison/contrast language that this is a list of “bad boxes” so I want to avoid them.  I just don’t know what it is I am trying to avoid.  So, I begin by turning to additional translations.  I looked up the terms in the New American Standard Bible (NASB), New International Version (NIV), and the New Living Translation (NLT).  Here’s what I found.
 

KJV	NASB	NIV	NLT
Adultery
fornication	immorality	sexual immorality	sexual immorality
uncleanness	impurity	impurity	impurity
lasciviousness	sensuality	debauchery	lustful pleasures
Idolatry	idolatry	idolatry	idolatry
witchcraft	sorcery	witchcraft	sorcery
hatred	enmities	hatred	hostility
variance	strife	discord	quarreling
emulations	jealousy	jealousy	jealousy
wrath	outbursts of anger	fits of rage	outbursts of anger
strife	disputes	selfish ambition	selfish ambition
seditions	dissensions	dissensions	dissension
heresies	factions	factions	division
Envyings	envying	envy	envy
murders
drunkenness	drunkenness	drunkenness	drunkenness
revellings	carousing	orgies	wild parties

Suddenly, the terms I was going to look up became more clear.  I understand immediately what “lustful pleasures”, “jealousy”, and “wild parties/orgies” are.  Now I know what to avoid.

Now you give it a try.  Here is the “good box” list from the King James Version.  These are things we want to hold on to in order to keep our consciences clear.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23 KJV)

Look up the terms in other translations.  Use a dictionary if you like.  Make sure you understand these terms.  Then, when a “box” comes into your mind that matches this list, “hold on to the good.”

Hold on to the Good

Put everything to the test. Hold on to what is good.  (1 Thessalonians 5:21 NIrV)

Once you've identified a "box" (thought) as being good or bad by God's definition, removing the bad box is only half the job.  We won't have a clear conscience unless we hold on to the good ones.

Have you ever felt like you were arguing with "yourself" over something you should do?  Perhaps you noticed a homeless person you passed by on the street.  He didn't even ask you for anything, but you could just tell he was hungry.  Maybe you have a friend who needed someone to talk to, you had the time, but you ignored her anyway.  Someone came to mind and you felt this need to pray for him or her on the spot.  You didn't know what to pray for, so you didn't try at all.

You see, God is one of the sources of "boxes" (thoughts) that comes into our minds.  Even when He doesn't speak directly to us through His Spirit, good boxes still can get in our minds through angels, other people, and even the world.  Each of those good boxes originated with God.  They are as important as if God had come down on a mountain and carved them in stone.  The impact of obedience to these thoughts will never be known to us completely in this life.  But God knows the impact.  He wouldn't have given us these good "boxes" without a reason.  He expects us to hold on to them.  In fact He expects us to act on them.  As long as you try to throw away or ignore these good boxes, you will struggle inside and won't have peace.  "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." (James 4:17 NIV84)

Go ahead...say the words He want's you to say.

Do the actions He wants you to do.

When you do, your conscience will be clear. 

Throw Away the Bad

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.  (James 1:21 NIV)

Sometimes the difficult job in clearing your conscience is in identifying whether a box (thought) is good or bad.  Cultural norms change, sometimes dramatically within a relatively short period of time.  Something that was "taboo" yesterday may seem perfectly acceptable today (and vice versa).  God's norms, however, have been defined for us for thousands of years now.  We can easily learn to distinguish between whether a "box" is good or bad now.  It takes some time to read and understand His Word, but once we learn it we can hold on to it.  "Will" now knows how to decide.

Often times, however, the problem does not occur in the recognition step.  A thought comes in our mind and we know it's a "bad box."  It brings about anger, fear, lust, envy, greed, or one of the other "bad box" items that we know do not come from God.  The next step, then is easy...or is it.

THROW IT AWAY!!!

I know what you're thinking.  "That's easier said than done."  Actually, God makes is just as easy as it sounds.  With Will free to do whatever he wants to do with any thought (by God's design) and His Spirit right there ready to back you up (and God want's us to through away bad boxes), we have all the power we need to get rid of that junk.  Throw it away.  Get rid of the anger, fear, lust, envy, greed, etc. by getting rid of the though that produces those emotions and desires.

He really ticks me off! BECOMES I wonder why he's acting like that.  I need to pray for him.

I'm scared! BECOMES God, I know you're with me.  I trust you.  Let's get through this.

Would you look at her/his... BECOMES That's my sister/brother in Christ.

Dude, I wish I had one of those. BECOMES That's cool.  I'm glad you're enjoying it!

You don't need to replace the thought with another thought like in the examples above.  You can always just throw away the bad box with a simple "That's not true!"  That will get rid of it, too.

Once you identify a "bad box" coming down the conveyor belt of your mind, you're conscience will only be clear when you throw it away.

Contrast

I've used computer projectors to make presentations many times over the years.  Back when the technology was just getting started, it seemed to be all about the brightness of the bulb inside.  The more lumens you had, the brighter the image was on the screen and the easier it was for your audience to see what you were talking about. Over time, however, another factor became equally important: contrast.  Projector manufacturers started to learn that you could increase the brightness of the image through lumens, but you could increase the readability and vibrancy of the colors with greater contrast.

Scripture writers understood the importance of contrast in their language.  Comparison-contrast language is found all over the place throughout the pages written by Peter, John, and especially Paul.  They would speak of good in contrast with evil, wise vs. unwise, pure holiness vs. contaminated, holy vs. impure, things above vs. earthly things, new self vs. old self, righteousness vs. evil, children of God vs. children of the devil, light vs. darkness, and spirit vs. flesh.  When they used this kind of contrasting language, they weren't saying that the earth, darkness, or our skin and bones (flesh) are actually bad or evil.  They were simply using a language tool to tell us that the thing they were about to list were bad.  In the terminology I've been using throughout my blog, they were defining "good boxes" and "bad boxes" for us.  Look at this example.

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  (Galatians 5:19-23 NASB)

"The fruit of the Spirit" is giving a us a list of "good boxes" (or thoughts) that may come into our minds or out of our hearts.  When we experience thoughts that produce love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control, these are good thoughts sent from God.  "Deeds of the flesh" introduces a list of items that are "bad boxes", or thoughts that are not sent from God.  Immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these all try to pull us away from God and His Design for our lives.

When you come across a comparison-contrast list like this in the pages of Scripture, it's worth taking the time to stop an look at the list more closely.  Make a list of "good boxes" and "bad boxes" for yourself.  You might be surprised to see what God is trying to tell you and what is trying to pull you away from His Love and the direction of His Spirit.  The picture becomes brighter, clearer...more vibrant with contrast.

Good or Bad?

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!" Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns."  (Matthew 16:21-23 NIV)

When you have a thought that comes into your mind, is it good or bad?  How do you know?  What is your definition of a good or bad "box"?  Does your definition match God's?  This is a critical concept that took time to sink in before I started to grasp just what a difference it makes in clearing our consciences.  Here's the way good and bad "boxes" are distinguished in Scripture.

Good Boxes = Truth.  The ultimate source of these boxes is God.

Bad Boxes = Lies.  The ultimate source of these boxes is the father of lies.

This goes against the definition most people have in their minds of "good" and "bad" thoughts.  Let's look at the passage above for a moment to see how this all plays out.

Jesus explained to his disciples that he must suffer and be killed.  Most people consider death to be something bad - something to be avoided.  We would consider these kinds of thoughts to be "bad."  Peter thought these kinds of thoughts were bad as well.  He told Jesus, "This shall never happen to you!"

Keeping Jesus alive?  We would think that's something good.  We would be in agreement with Peter.

Here's the problem.  Jesus needed to suffer and die.  In doing so, he would take the punishment for the sins of the world.  He would need to die in order to prove his claims about himself by fulfilling the sign "of Jonah" - rising on the third day.

Jesus would suffer.  Jesus would die.  Jesus would rise on the third day.  These statements were true.  They came from God as a part of God's plan.  They were good boxes.

Peter would not keep Jesus from suffering.  Peter would not protect Jesus from death.  Peter would not stop God's plan.  Peter's thoughts were bad boxes.  We would have probably had those same bad boxes, too.

The first step in clearing our conscience is recognizing that our thoughts need to be compared to God's thoughts.  When they match His thoughts, they are good.  When they go against His thoughts, they are bad.  No exceptions.

Are you ready to define Good and Bad the way He does?  If so, you are ready to take the next step toward clearing your conscience.

Take Some Time

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for those who enter God's rest also rest from their own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:9-13 TNIV)

Time management is a modern-day phenomenon that seems to have exploded since the invention of the watch.  There's a time to wake up.  There's a time to exercise.  There's a time to go to school or work.  There's a time for each meal of the day.  There's a time for shopping or traveling.  There's time for my special someone.  There's time for my children.  There's a time for my favorite television program.  There's a time to go to sleep.  (Early on, our parents even worked to get us to sleep at the "right time" of the day.)  From the moment we are born, everything in our lives seems to be driven by the existence of time.

How do you spend the time that has been given to you?

God has always called out to us to take time with Him.  "Stop living the details of life and spend some time with Me," seems to be what He's tells us.  God modeled this by stopping His work of creation on the seventh day to simply enjoy the results of the work He has done.  By the time His Law was being written, a Sabbath Rest made it onto the "top 10" list.  Taking time with God is vitally important to our walk with Him.

The Hebrews-writer uses the physical Sabbath Rest, that takes place every seven days, to speak of another kind of rest that we all can enter.  This rest comes when we hear the good news (gospel message) preached to us and we believe what we have heard (Hebrews 4:2), following it with obedience to the gospel (Hebrews 4:6).  If you have reconciled with God through the work of Christ Jesus, you have entered a Sabbath Rest with God.  Now you can rest from the "work" of getting right with Him.

The thing is, we know that our minds and hearts are filled with thoughts that are not pleasing to God.  We recognize that we say words and do things that He has commanded us not to do.  How, then, can we "rest" with God when we are still struggling against Him like this in our lives?  Well, it starts with time again.

I've already show you earlier how to enter that Sabbath Rest with God and receive the gift of His Spirit.  In reality, we don't need to follow anyone's direction other than His Spirit.  Unfortunately, you and I have been processing "boxes" (thoughts) from so many sources over the years that we have a difficult time recognizing when it is His Spirit putting a "box" in our minds and when it is another source.  We have a tough time distinguishing between "good boxes" and "bad boxes" as our minds actively process from day to day.  That's where Scripture comes into play.

God has already spoken in the past, showing us what is right and wrong - explaining to us how we are designed and how to live according to His good plans for our lives.  He showed through His interactions with people in the past.  He showed us through his direct commands, explanations, teachings, and even His model.  He captured all this information in the form of a book and has preserved it from generation to generation for thousands of years.

He has given us His words.

Now we need to take the time to read them.

When we take the time, His "living and active" Word will begin to work in our minds and hearts to show us where His Spirit is trying to encourage, correct, and guide us.  His "penetrating" and "dividing" Word will show us when a thought is from Him and when it is against Him and His Design for our lives.  His all-seeing Word will seek out every thought in our minds and hearts, leaving no box unopened.  We need to spend time in His Word.

Take some time.

Spend it in His Word.

It's an essential step toward clearing your conscience.