The Clear Conscience & a Divine Plumb Line Seminar was a 6-day conference, which started 2-8 November 23, 2017 in Shekinah Hall, KAOG@Metro. The speakers were Ritchie & Cheryl Kleinman from Calcutta, India.
It was a special seminar which introduced Ritchie as a seasoned speaker on the area of discipleship, but at a much deeper level.
The speaker taught those who were there about two very important things, which was 1) a Clear Conscience whereby he explained how unsolved issues in the past that we have let slip by unnoticed will disrupt our daily walk with God.
From here, Ritchie explained how God began to reveal issues such as unforgiveness & bitterness, we see His mighty power restoring families, and people finally able to receive healing both emotionally and physically.
He defines a clear conscience as an inner freedom of spirit towards God and others that comes from a state of knowing that God’s holiness is not offended by our thoughts and actions, as well as finding no one who has any offence against us, such as pointing a finger at us and saying that we offended them and need their forgiveness.
The scope of a clear conscience begins with God, then family, to relatives. From there it goes to employers, teachers, former friends, and finally others.
The opposite of a clear conscience is one that is marred by guilt and bitterness. These two themselves are the effect of wrong attitudes that have stemmed from a family background that has many issues.
Both guilt and bitterness come from offences that have happen in the family. Guilt is from the offenses that we did to others, and bitterness the ones they did to us. As such one of the first steps in overcoming is in asking for forgiveness.
If we do not do so, Satan will use his principalities and powers to have a stronghold in our lives. From bitterness, comes jealousy, envy, rejection, fear, which leads to unbelief and the occult.
We also end up having an armour of bitterness around us, which begins with unforgiveness. These then blooms into resentment, which finally leads to retaliation, anger, hatred, and finally violence and murder.
1 John 3:15
Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
This armour is also the entry point where the devil enters.
On top of that bitterness leads to physical consequences which are chemical imbalance, toxic goiter, high blood pressure, deformation in facial features, and bone health.
The spiritual consequences are even worst with an inability to love God, doubting whether our relationship with Him is true, and a major hindrance in spiritual development.
The emotional consequences are depression.
On the other side, having a clear conscience will give us the boldness to witness, freedom to resolve conflict, alertness to make wise decisions, power to overcome temptation, and ability to build genuine friendships.
The power we can find in a clear conscience, is that it is the mark of a mature Christian. A clear conscience is also an essential weapon in the Christian faith. It is essential in order to be a good witness, for even health and physical appearance are affected by a lack of a clear conscience.
How do we gain a clear conscience? It is by listing those you have offended. List them by the order of importance. We then carefully choose the right wording. Then facing those we have wronged whether it be a phone call or a personal visit. But we have to expect rejection on the first request. But remember once you ask for forgiveness, there can be no blame to be justified by the offender and therefore the offender’s guilt is intensified.
Another important factor was the Divine Plumb Line. In this teaching the “Plumb line” helps us to discover how there are unhealthy patterns which will affect and transform our personalities. This development, breakdown, and restoration of personality are viewed through the lenses of the Bible. Here Ritchie reveals powerful keys in overcoming a self-built man-made prisons of fear, depression and anger. He gives practical keys for healing, release and developing maturity are presented.
A plumb line is a string that has a weight tied to the bottom, which allows a builder to make sure the walls are vertically straight.
Amos 7:8
The LORD said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people.”
In Amos, God set a spiritual plumb line among his people.
Ritchie explained that if a spiritual “plumb line” was set up in our lives, how well would if live up?
He explained that our own spiritual lives can be “out of plumb”, or corrupted. Among the reasons is because there might be a “wall of rejection.”
It is like a wall made of bricks that isolates us from God and others. The bricks can be made up of things such as sadness, self-pity, inferiority, insecurity, and discouragement.
All these are held in place by unbelief. With unbelief it leads us to have no faith in Christ’s power to heal our rejection.
The other part of the plumb line which is out of place is known as the “wall of rebellion.”
It is made up of the bricks of hostility, conceit, superiority, competitiveness, stubbornness, resentment, and bitterness. Pride is the cement that holds them into place.
All these bricks are not of God, and are corrupted for it is impossible to build a straight spiritual wall within them.
The tools that are needed to straighten up the plumb line, is repentance at the cross. Only the Lord Jesus can twist the bricks out of our lies, and allows us to realign our lives with the bricks of righteousness.
Proverbs 18:10
The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
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Chris Quah
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