Day 10/2 – Developing Convictions

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Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter A Henrichsen (“Walt”)
Developing Convictions
Day Two Hundred Seventy-five

“The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God; happy is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves. But he who has doubts is condemned, if he eats, because he does not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” Romans 14:22-23

Your preferences are without number. You would have a hard time listing how you prefer each kind offood cooked, the clothes you wear, the places you would like to visit, etc. By way of contrast, the commandments of God are few. If you listed them, they would scarcely fill a page. Between your preferences and God’s commandments rest your convictions regarding your behavior. You develop these convictions to keep your preferences from violating God’s commands.

Because we all want to conform to cultural norms, we tend to shape our convictions by what culture and circumstances dictate. For example, people tend to determine the length of their hair by circumstances (people who swim a great deal tend to like short hair) and culture, instead of letting Scripture make this determination.356 The natural flow will always be in the direction of preferences, culture and circumstances shaping your convictions rather than the Bible.

The purpose of behavioral convictions, however, is to keep you well within the parameters of God’s commandments. For example, you know God doesn’t want you to be immoral, and therefore you develop convictions regarding the movies you watch, the books you read, and how you relate to the opposite sex. When you allow culture rather than God to form your convictions, you will find yourself believing that His commands are cultural and therefore a matter of personal preference. This, of course, is but a short step from sin.

356 cf. 1 Corinthians 11:1-16

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Isaiah 14-16 Ephesians 5:1-16 (New King James Version)

Isaiah 14-16
Mercy on Jacob
14 For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob. 2 Then people will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them for servants and maids in the land of the Lord; they will take them captive whose captives they were, and rule over their oppressors.
Fall of the King of Babylon
3 It shall come to pass in the day the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, 4 that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say:
“How the oppressor has ceased,
The golden[a] city ceased!
5
The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of the rulers;
6
He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke,
He who ruled the nations in anger,
Is persecuted and no one hinders.
7
The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
They break forth into singing.
8
Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you,
And the cedars of Lebanon,
Saying, ‘Since you [b]were cut down,
No woodsman has come up against us.’
9
“Hell[c] from beneath is excited about you,
To meet you at your coming;
It stirs up the dead for you,
All the chief ones of the earth;
It has raised up from their thrones
All the kings of the nations.
10
They all shall speak and say to you:
‘Have you also become as weak as we?
Have you become like us?
11
Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
And the sound of your stringed instruments;
The maggot is spread under you,
And worms cover you.’
The Fall of Lucifer
12
“How you are fallen from heaven,
O [d]Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13
For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
15
Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the [e]lowest depths of the Pit.
16
“Those who see you will gaze at you,
And consider you, saying:
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
17
Who made the world as a wilderness
And destroyed its cities,
Who [f]did not open the house of his prisoners?’
18
“All the kings of the nations,
All of them, sleep in glory,
Everyone in his own house;
19
But you are cast out of your grave
Like an [g]abominable branch,
Like the garment of those who are slain,
[h]Thrust through with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit,
Like a corpse trodden underfoot.
20
You will not be joined with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land
And slain your people.
The brood of evildoers shall never be named.
21
Prepare slaughter for his children
Because of the iniquity of their fathers,
Lest they rise up and possess the land,
And fill the face of the world with cities.”
Babylon Destroyed
22
“For I will rise up against them,” says the Lord of hosts,
“And cut off from Babylon the name and remnant,
And offspring and posterity,” says the Lord.
23
“I will also make it a possession for the porcupine,
And marshes of muddy water;
I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says the Lord of hosts.
Assyria Destroyed
24
The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying,
“Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass,
And as I have purposed, so it shall stand:
25
That I will break the Assyrian in My land,
And on My mountains tread him underfoot.
Then his yoke shall be removed from them,
And his burden removed from their shoulders.
26
This is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth,
And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
27
For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
And who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
And who will turn it back?”
Philistia Destroyed
28 This is the [i]burden which came in the year that King Ahaz died.
29
“Do not rejoice, all you of Philistia,
Because the rod that struck you is broken;
For out of the serpent’s roots will come forth a viper,
And its offspring will be a fiery flying serpent.
30
The firstborn of the poor will feed,
And the needy will lie down in safety;
I will kill your roots with famine,
And it will slay your remnant.
31
Wail, O gate! Cry, O city!
All you of Philistia are dissolved;
For smoke will come from the north,
And no one will be alone in his [j]appointed times.”
32
What will they answer the messengers of the nation?
That the Lord has founded Zion,
And the poor of His people shall take refuge in it.
Proclamation Against Moab
15 The burden[k] against Moab.
Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste
And destroyed,
Because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste
And destroyed,
2
He has gone up to the [l]temple and Dibon,
To the high places to weep.
Moab will wail over Nebo and over Medeba;
On all their heads will be baldness,
And every beard cut off.
3
In their streets they will clothe themselves with sackcloth;
On the tops of their houses
And in their streets
Everyone will wail, weeping bitterly.
4
Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out,
Their voice shall be heard as far as Jahaz;
Therefore the [m]armed soldiers of Moab will cry out;
His life will be burdensome to him.
5
“My heart will cry out for Moab;
His fugitives shall flee to Zoar,
Like [n]a three-year-old heifer.
For by the Ascent of Luhith
They will go up with weeping;
For in the way of Horonaim
They will raise up a cry of destruction,
6
For the waters of Nimrim will be desolate,
For the green grass has withered away;
The grass fails, there is nothing green.
7
Therefore the abundance they have gained,
And what they have laid up,
They will carry away to the Brook of the Willows.
8
For the cry has gone all around the borders of Moab,
Its wailing to Eglaim
And its wailing to Beer Elim.
9
For the waters of [o]Dimon will be full of blood;
Because I will bring more upon Dimon,
Lions upon him who escapes from Moab,
And on the remnant of the land.”
Moab Destroyed
16
Send the lamb to the ruler of the land,
From [p]Sela to the wilderness,
To the mount of the daughter of Zion.
2
For it shall be as a wandering bird thrown out of the nest;
So shall be the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.
3
“Take counsel, execute judgment;
Make your shadow like the night in the middle of the day;
Hide the outcasts,
Do not betray him who escapes.
4
Let My outcasts dwell with you, O Moab;
Be a shelter to them from the face of the [q]spoiler.
For the extortioner is at an end,
Devastation ceases,
The oppressors are consumed out of the land.
5
In mercy the throne will be established;
And One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David,
Judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness.”
6
We have heard of the pride of Moab—
He is very proud—
Of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath;
But his [r]lies shall not be so.
7
Therefore Moab shall wail for Moab;
Everyone shall wail.
For the foundations of Kir Hareseth you shall mourn;
Surely they are stricken.
8
For the fields of Heshbon languish,
And the vine of Sibmah;
The lords of the nations have broken down its choice plants,
Which have reached to Jazer
And wandered through the wilderness.
Her branches are stretched out,
They are gone over the sea.
9
Therefore I will bewail the vine of Sibmah,
With the weeping of Jazer;
I will drench you with my tears,
O Heshbon and Elealeh;
For [s]battle cries have fallen
Over your summer fruits and your harvest.
10
Gladness is taken away,
And joy from the plentiful field;
In the vineyards there will be no singing,
Nor will there be shouting;
No treaders will tread out wine in the presses;
I have made their shouting cease.
11
Therefore my [t]heart shall resound like a harp for Moab,
And my inner being for [u]Kir Heres.
12
And it shall come to pass,
When it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place,
That he will come to his sanctuary to pray;
But he will not prevail.
13 This is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning Moab since that time. 14 But now the Lord has spoken, saying, “Within three years, as the years of a hired man, the glory of Moab will be despised with all that great multitude, and the remnant will be very small and feeble.”
Footnotes:
• Isaiah 14:4 Or insolent
• Isaiah 14:8 have lain down
• Isaiah 14:9 Or Sheol
• Isaiah 14:12 Lit. Day Star
• Isaiah 14:15 Lit. recesses
• Isaiah 14:17 Would not release
• Isaiah 14:19 despised
• Isaiah 14:19 Pierced
• Isaiah 14:28 oracle, prophecy
• Isaiah 14:31 Or ranks
• Isaiah 15:1 oracle, prophecy
• Isaiah 15:2 Heb. bayith, lit. house
• Isaiah 15:4 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX, Syr. loins
• Isaiah 15:5 Or The Third Eglath, an unknown city, Jer. 48:34
• Isaiah 15:9 So with MT, Tg.; DSS, Vg. Dibon; LXX Rimon
• Isaiah 16:1 Lit. Rock
• Isaiah 16:4 devastator
• Isaiah 16:6 Lit. vain talk
• Isaiah 16:9 Or shouting has
• Isaiah 16:11 Lit. belly
• Isaiah 16:11 Kir Hareseth, v. 7

Ephesians 5:1-16
Walk in Love
5 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 For [a]this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them.
Walk in Light
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the [b]Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather [c]expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things that are [d]exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14 Therefore He says:
“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.”
Walk in Wisdom
15 See then that you walk [e]circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Footnotes:
• Ephesians 5:5 NU know this
• Ephesians 5:9 NU light
• Ephesians 5:11 reprove
• Ephesians 5:13 reproved
• Ephesians 5:15 carefully