CONFIDENCE VERSUS CONVICTION

by Pam Clark

Elkanah and his two wives, Hannah and Peninnah, were all going to Jerusalem to worship the Lord. However Peninnah persecuted Hannah because she didn't have it "all together." At the outset of this story, it would seem that the favor rested on Peninnah. Even Hannah's loving husband told her to be content with what she had.

1 Sam 1:4 And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters.
1 Sam 1:5 But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the Lord had closed her womb.
1 Sam 1:6 And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb.
1 Sam 1:7 So it was, year by year...

But inside of Hannah, she knew there was something more. While all the tables turned against her in the natural and she was still unashamed to cry out to God for mercy and change.

1 Sam 1:10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish.
1 Sam 1:11 Then she made a vow and said, "O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head."
1 Sam 1:12 And it happened, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli watched her mouth.
1 Sam 1:13 Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk.
1 Sam 1:14 So Eli said to her, "How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!"
1 Sam 1:15 And Hannah answered and said, "No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord..."

Even the Church did not recognize Hannah's sincerety before God. You would think that a prophet would, but even he did not. I know the feeling, do you? There is a prophet in the Church out there who frequently tells me I am wrong and don't know what I am doing, that I am outside of the will of the Lord. But that prophet is wrong! Thank God there are many others who do not confirm that but rather the opposite.

What do you do when the priests tell you that you missed it, that you are not hearing from God? Outside circumstances would appear indeed that something is missing. Many others tell you to be content with what you have. And you try to, but that unction rises up over and over and bears witness within, and you cannot help but press on to what you hear in Him. What is God trying to do?

I am here to say that God is asking for the extreme commitment from you, just as He was of Hannah. These are perilous times and it's on the increase. Our nation is wholesale turning away from God. Without a word from the Most High from a faithful prophet, we will miss the opportunity for repentance on a national scale.

Many sound the cry of "Judgment is coming!" but how many are calling for practical righteousness like John the Baptist? John did not just declare that the people were sinners going to hell, but that greatest of prophets named the sins and then told the people what to do about it.

Luke 3:3 And he [John] went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,
Luke 3:4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.
Luke 3:5 Every valley shall be filled And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth;
Luke 3:6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"
Luke 3:7 Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Luke 3:8 "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Luke 3:9 "And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.
Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
Luke 3:10 So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"
Luke 3:11 He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."
Luke 3:12 Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"
Luke 3:13 And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you."
Luke 3:14 Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?" So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."
Luke 3:15 Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not,
Luke 3:16 John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Luke 3:17 "His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."
Luke 3:18 And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.

John prepared the way for the Messiah Jesus. He prepared the way for the Lord. Even if this was not the last of the last days, we are still in need of practical repentance. Witchcraft, idol worship, perversions of every type are the designer package for strong judgment. Today our deviations are high class with great embellishments of pride.

Some would say that our religion or our faith is wrong because God does not want us to have anything and so the sinners should just do what they will. How wrong that is!!! Many preach that we should be the tail and not the head, and mainline church has compromised to such a degree of reaching "the poor sinner" that they are indeed very rich from the world's goods.

But is that the Way??? I say not. Because you can't preach righteousness on unGodly mammon. If it comes in as a spoil, that is one thing, but that money is not available for the first seed of righteous conviction. No, the money spoils today are become the seeds for Babylon and the false religion of material gain as God.

God is looking at our heart, and where our treasure is, our hearts will be also. Lip service does not justify to a Holy God who sees hearts and who weighs their motives. The One who has to be pleased is not our brother, but our Maker.

We have been in such a season of rallies that we think God is moving, but how quickly the rallies fade. We even get a few miracles for the sincere in faith, but it is not a sustained move of change for society.

Why not? Because the hearts are not changed, the words are not convicting as the Holy Spirit's are of sin, righteousness and judgment. We are not convicted! We are confident.

I won't even call that confidence pride or sin. For some, it's the reality of their heart to believe that all is well. But we are warned, when they say peace and safety, sudden destruction comes. I am saying that there is an alarm in the land that all is not well. There is an alarm in the land that the established hierachy has missed.

Our job is not to just point the fingers at those at ease in Zion but to stir up the sleeping Church. Sudden change is about to come upon us. I wonder how prepared we are for the reality of people crying out for sudden truth.

We have been warned of biological warfare and seen it come to pass. We have been warned of terrorisms and seen that come to pass. We have been warned of much more that we have not seen come to pass, but is it because the rallies have soothed us?

What will we do when the king dies as happened to Isaiah? What will we do when the peg comes out of the wall that is holding up our props and decor? What will we do when the ax is laid at the root of the flourishing tree where we find shade and shelter? Will we keep thinking that a program will save us?

No, like Isaiah, we will cry "Oh Lord, I am willing to go, but my lips are unclean and I live among a rebellious house." When the tent peg pulls out and the tent covering is down, the people will be angry until the covering is up again. But if that peg cannot be grounded in righteousness, the tent cover will not hold.

When a fire is sent among the people, as it was in Moses' time, will we be able to hold up a fiery serpent on a pole to stay the plague?

Num 21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread."
Num 21:6 So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.
Num 21:7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
Num 21:8 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live."
Num 21:9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

We are so comfortable today. Some judgments are coming to declare the righteous ones. Some judgments are coming so that God can defend His Name. If we are not in the perfect will of God, we may not be in the most advantageous of positions. We may think we need to live next to Aunt Sally and in Uncle Joe's rent house and work for a certain company because today's benefits promise tomorrows future, but what if those things fail?

Our wisdom must come from God. Man's resources will never be enough to sustain us. Our lives must have His daily presence so we can hear that Voice giving us the directions that we need. We need His Honor! Even the status quo Christians and prophets can fail you. I am not guaranteeing anything but the Voice and Word of God. I can fail, even you.

These failures may happen by the hand of God so you will make that extreme decision to live Life. He would that you would bear fruit that remains.