Daily Devotional For Saturday, September 6, 2025
Good morning Southside! The weekend is here and hopefully you can get some needed rest and relaxation. I have a question for us today – have you ever been caught with your hand in the cookie jar, metaphorically? I know the answer is yes. We all have done things that were wrong and sinful. And when we do, God has given us a conscience to let us know this. That feeling of guilt, the Bible calls conviction. It is our heart trying to warn us that what we have done is wrong and we need to confess it to God, repent from it and accept the consequences from it.
The spiritual danger is, if we ignore the conviction and guilt from God in our heart, we harden our heart to eventually not hear the Holy Spirit convicting us. The Bible says this in Proverbs 19:20, “Listen to counsel and accept discipline, That you may be wise the rest of your days” (NASB). In the Hebrew text, the last part literally reads “ . . . in the latter part of your days.” There are examples in Scripture where people so hardened their hearts they could no longer hear the voice of God until it was too late: Pharaoh, Judas, Adam and Eve, Cain, the sons of Eli, Annas & Sapphira. We all know how it ended for these folks.
When Isaiah walked into the Temple one day to do his duties as he had done every day before, he experienced something that he had not expected – God showed up and immediately he was aware of how sinful he was in the presence of a holy God. He said this in Isaiah 6:5, “Then I said, ‘It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies’” (NLT).
Conviction is God’s way to get our attention that something is spiritually wrong between God and us. Yielding to a holy God means we must intentionally swallow our pride, confess the sin, repent from it rather than ignoring it or think what I am feeling is last night’s dinner. You can get convicted by the Holy Spirit in a sermon but only try to convince yourself you are being too sensitive, as well as think the sermon must be bad. You can read God’s word and get convicted by the Holy Spirit and think, “Wrong passage” and flip to another one.
The problem is when God convicts us we have two options: first, we can discredit the conviction or we can heed the conviction. The first one brings pain and the second one brings blessings. There are many reasons God’s Holy Spirit convicts us but here to me are the two most important reasons:
- First, because God loves us. He is not trying to make us miserable, but help us experience the abundant life He promised us (Hebrews 12:6).
- Second, to set us free. Jesus said that once we know the truth, that truth will set us free (John 8:32).
When God’s Holy Spirit convicts you, do not discard it. Do not make excuses such as, “Well, that is the way I am or my family is.” Don’t blame because when you blame, you have chosen to “B . . . Lame.” Cooperate with the Holy Spirit and experience the blessings that will come when you do.
Assignment: Read a passage from God’s Word and ask yourself, “What is God trying to get my attention about from this passage?” Ask the Holy Spirit, your family and closest friends to help you see your blind spots and your sins. Go to God’s word for the answers and the way to bring your life under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Scripture To Meditate On: Luke 5:8, “When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, ‘Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man’” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Heavenly Father thank You that You love me so much that Your Holy Spirit convicts me of sin. Please forgive me when I discard it or ignore it. Give me a heart that listens to You and changes to resemble Your Son. I want to submit all my thoughts, attitudes, actions, and words to You for scrutiny so that I bring honor and glory to You. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly