The Convicting Power of the Word (5/12/2019)
Acts 2:37: “Now when they heard [this], they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men [and] brethren, what shall we do?”(KJV)
Apostle Peter was speaking under a heavy anointing of the Holy Spirit to worshippers gathered in Jerusalem from different parts of the world. When they marveled how these Jews spoke their own languages by the Spirit, Peter stood and explained what was happening, in the process, preaching God’s word to them as guided by the Holy Spirit. The word pricked their hearts, and they asked what to do.
Many of us could agree that when we heard the word of God at some point, it created a heavy conviction. It touched so deeply, sometimes eliciting deep emotions. Some get tempted to even think the (genuine) preacher knew about their secrets and talked about them publicly. This as well happens as we meditatively read the Bible individually. The word of God is alive and active. It’s God Himself speaking through it. That’s why it searches upto the hidden intentions and reveals secrets in people’s hearts that no one knows. When this happens, please respond positively. God means well for you.
The Holy Spirit uses God’s word to enable us see ourselves as God sees us. When what He tells us is contrary to what we thought we are, we feel convicted. The purpose of conviction is to make us see the need to repent and turn to God. He does not convict to condemn, but to turn us, in love, to His ways. The preacher, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, is a great instrument in God’s hand to deliver soul searching messages that draw men’s hearts to God as Peter did. When this anointing is lost, and other interests take precedence, preachers become more of ‘good’ public speakers, entertainers or even comedians (which have their place) and the word appears less effective. Yet it isn’t.
Heb 4:12 “For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Jer 17:9-10 “The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, [I] try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, [and] according to the fruit of his doings.”
Shalom children of God.