Living from Conscience (Part I)

Beloved, how goes your conversations with God? Not your external and public displays of God talk, but your private and never to be made public acknowledgments and confessions with God as the only audience. If you were to be questioned by the world on “these” conversations, would you be found empty? If you were to be questioned by God regarding “these” conversations, would you also be found empty? If you were to question yourself, would you agree that you “should” be found empty? Christian reader, there will come a moment where the reality of your relation to God will be manifest to you for your agreement as to what your life before the God who loves you and redeemed you has been.

What say you to this? Why delay the day, the moment? The world need not question you with proper intent, for it cannot understand grace nor a godly passion. But you, dear reader, if you be of Christ, you can question your self continually and thus erase the delay whereby you will acknowledge before God who He has been to you, and your doing so will move you deeper into His presence and love. How does your conscience witness to you regarding this? What is your inner witness saying to you today about this issue just now?

Living from conscience seems remote to the Christian’s manner of life in our age, at least in my experience, yet (primarily) the apostle Paul, and Peter in addition, speak as if living from one’s conscience is an anticipated dynamic for your Christian life. How goes this with you? Can you identify one godly example in your life of someone you know who lives from a clear conscience before God, self and others? If not, why not? And you, dear reader, are you such a one?

Spend time with God and His word and you will see the range of relations associated with living from your conscience as this pertains to your self, others, and God. Subsequent blog writings will present these to you for your edification and encouragement. Until such time, petition God to move your heart and mind in such a way that you become curious before Him about who you are to Him, about your method of living, and about what He would desire that to become. You may begin with a simple faith prayer of “Lord, grant me a desire to live with a clear conscience before You and all others this day. Where my conscience is not clear, not clean, where it informs me that I have sinned against You or any other [or even my self], lead me to awareness, confession and reconciliation.”

Beloved of God, what thoughts and images come to you as you consider the whole of Christ’s Body, His Bride, the Church, living from a godly conscience? Do you see a different Body, a difference that inflames godly desires and passions? What stands as the chief hindrance to this for Christ’s Body, for you? That, we must all in honesty discern unto ourselves. Yet, the root most likely abides with self-love.

What follows is a hymn recorded in Carl H. von Bogatzky’s unique and prized devotional A Golden Treasury (12th ed.) from the October 4th reading. Bogatzky chose to not cite authors of the poems and hymns used in his devotional, thus we know not whom to credit. Still, the work is worth reflecting through. I can only imagine singing such a work aloud with others during a meeting of the Saints.

May you pursue God wholeheartedly. He has pursued you wholeheartedly. May you realize His goodness and presence.


Thy progress is so slow! Dost thou inquire
Where lies the fault? In thine own lofty mind.
At what is great and grand thou dost aspire;
To meekness’ tis too hard to be resign’d.

On towering heights too oft art speculating,
In thine own reason’s ways too prone to go,
On fruitless plans and schemes still calculating,
No wonder that thy progress is so slow.

It yet remains for God to send confusion
On plans by which thou hast deluded been:
Then shalt thou rise, when saved from thy delusion,
When meekness in thy heart, and love, are seen.