LET MY WORDS BE FEW

Hebrews 10:22
Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

I love puzzles! I am especially fond of finding and fitting together all the corners and borders. Living this Christian Life is a puzzle. One of the best pieces of the puzzle is the freedom to choose. We are free in Christ; indeed, He whom the Son sets free is free indeed.

One thing I discovered early in my Christian life was the annoying fact that not many people in Christ share the same convictions. One says, “You are free to eat or drink or fast or wear pants, makeup, etc.”; another says, “You must not eat or drink or fast or wear pants, makeup, etc.” You know who you are.
Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don't impose it on others. You're fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you're not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe—some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them—then you know that you're out of line. If the way you live isn't consistent with what you believe, then it's wrong. Romans 14:22-23 (The Message)
As we progress in our Christianity, if we are not careful to pay attention, we may end up in worse condition than when we first began, as far as being bound up in rules and laws. Equally as bad, we can easily become self-righteous, judgmental Pharisees. I came from my own land of slavery called “Egypt”, so I know what law feels like.

This year is the year of freedom in Christ. Free to live life according to my own convictions, based on the Holy Spirit Counselor who lives and moves within me. In the past 28 years, I have swung from one end of the spectrum to the other. In so doing, I have learned something about myself (and maybe, just maybe, this is true of you too); I have tended to bow to the judgments and convictions of other Christians sooner than to the convictions of the Holy Spirit at work within me. I have also (this grieves me) judged others. If Christ said I was free in an area, and Christian Joe said, “Oh, no”; I have tended to stay bound to Christian Joe’s convictions. That lifestyle was idolatrous—I was making humans my standard instead of Christ Jesus who died for me. Thank God for His grace! He is more than able to speak to me His words of life and truth. Any other contradicting voice is an idol.

Long ago I came to believe and apply the conviction “When in doubt, don’t”. It was easy to apply such a principle to things like, “Should I or shouldn’t I buy that new couch today?” and other such non-spiritual ponderings. But it was much harder to apply it to the harder, spiritual questions of life. Why? Because I was pre-programmed by Christian Joe in his laws and convictions and didn’t know how to be loosed to tap into what the Holy Spirit was doing in me. I was an unsuspecting chameleon—blending and changing to fit what Mrs. Christian Ignorance or Mr. Word Weak believed.

GOD says, in Romans chapter 14—every man must be persuaded in his own mind that what he is doing is right. Happy is the man who is not condemned in his own heart in that thing he is allowing himself to do. “Condemned” means “judged guilty of breaking the law of God”. If you are convinced in your own heart and not condemned in your own mind for doing that thing, then if you refuse to do it based on another’s conviction, isn’t that being double-minded? Isn’t that idolatry? What does James chapter one say about the double-minded? 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. 8[For being as he is] a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides].
But the man who has doubts (misgivings, an uneasy conscience) about eating, and then eats [perhaps because of you], stands condemned [before God], because he is not true to his convictions and he does not act from faith. For whatever does not originate and proceed from faith is sin [whatever is done without a conviction of its approval by God is sinful]. Romans 14:23

I left the Land of Slavery and the Hard Taskmaster, Law, 28 years ago. I thought I would never return to him. But Mr. and Mrs. Legal Religion cracked their whips of fear and unbelief at me, telling me I must do The Journey "Their Way or No Way". They are bound up in lies and tied up in knots. Many people are tangled up with them. As for me, I choose to be free. I am fully convinced in my own mind, according to the Holy Spirit who is at work within me (Romans 14:5). I will be free to live like this: WHEN IN DOUBT, DON’T. And, if I doubt and do it anyway, that is sin.

What about you?

Romans 14:23 (The Message)
22-23Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don't impose it on others. You're fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you're not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe—some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them—then you know that you're out of line. If the way you live isn't consistent with what you believe, then it's wrong. (It was worth repeating).