Sermon Illustrations on Self-Examination

First, Look in the Mirror

God challenges us to examine ourselves before judging others.

A man prayed complainingly to Almighty God about a neighbor, saying, "O Lord, take away this wicked person." And God said, "Which?"

The Lapwing

Critics often hide their own faults by loudly exposing others' sins and errors.

"Usually complainers do least. The crafty lapwing will go up and down fluttering and crying, to draw the fowler from her own nest. We have some secret nest of our own, and we are loath it should be rifled and exposed to public view, and therefore we raise an alarm about other matters. This we may be doing without being aware of it, for self-deceit is easy: We may be amusing ourselves with zeal for political reforms when in truth our own personal habits need reforming, or we may be exclaiming against the errors of the church while our own private life far more needs our attention. It is a pity to be cheating our own selves. Our author, however, is very shrewd in his judgment of complainers. Our own experience leads us to the conclusion that critics of others, and noisy talkers of all kinds, have usually some design of their own, and are working to their own hand. If we were to press them home we should probably discover that they are no better than they should be. Their pretence of being wounded and hurt by the sins of others is a crafty scheme for drawing away observation from their own failings. Lapwings are plentiful enough all around us, and not a few are still deceived by their practices. O Lord, save me from all deceit, and, above all, prevent my deceiving myself."

Passing Ships At Sea

We often see others aging but fail to recognize our own approaching mortality and need for wisdom.

"When we are on board ship, if another vessel passes us at sea, we think that it is sailing more swiftly than we are. Though both ships are passing along at the same rate, we do not so clearly discern our own motion. In like manner we see that others are mortal, but we do not number our own days." This is an ordinary observation concerning that which is really an extraordinary piece of folly. What can it matter to us how other men's lives are going? Our main concern is our own conduct, and the spending of our own days. Come, friend, you too are getting old; snowflakes here and there upon those once raven locks are prophetic of coming winter. Those spectacles, too! "First sight," you say. Just so; but you were not once dependent on them. Why, you will never see fifty again! Half a century have you lived, and more: surely it is time to be wise, Friend Brown is getting quite the old man. No doubt; but you are moving onward, too. Brown does not get a year older in less time than you do. We are all sailing at the same rate. Is it not time that we took observations, and found out our longitude and latitude? At any rate, it were well to know what port we are bound for. Some have not even so much knowledge as this implies.

Comparison, Influence of

Noble people compare themselves to higher ideals, while mean people compare downward, fostering ambition.

A noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea which is higher than himself, and a mean man by one which is lower than himself. The one produces aspiration; the other, ambition. Ambition is the way in which a vulgar man aspires.

Curiosity, Objects of

People ignore their own faults but eagerly notice others' imperfections.

As old Lamia, who had eyes like spectacles, which she could take out and put in at pleasure, so soon as she came home, used to lock them up in her coffer, and sat down to her spinning as blind as a beetle, and never saw what she did in her own house, but no sooner went abroad than she put them in her head again to behold what other men did: in like manner we never look at our own imperfections, although they be as clear as the sun, and as big as a mill-stone; but we can quickly desery other men's vices, though it be at midnight, and they not so large as a pebble-stone. Caudray.

Dreams, Interpretation of

Dreams reflect a person's inner thoughts and character, revealing spiritual condition.

Many people find out more mysteries in their sleep than they can well expound waking. If they dream of a green garden, they shall hear of a dead corpse; if they dream they shake a dead man by the hand, then there is no way but death. It is superstition, folly, to repose any such confidence in dreams; but, if any man desire to profit by them, let him consider in what direction these usually carry him, so by his thoughts in the night, he shall learn to know himself by day. Be his dreams lustful, he may ask if his heart runs after concupiscence; are they turbulent, they may indicate a contentious disposition; are they revengeful, they point out malice; run they upon gold and silver, they argue covetousness. Generally, men answer to such waking, as their thoughts do sleeping. Spencer.

Examination, Daily

Daily self-examination cleanses the soul and promotes spiritual growth.

Seneca tells of a Roman that kept his soul as clean as the best housewife keeps her house; every night sweeping out the dust, and washing all the vessels, examining his own soul: "What infirmity hast thou healed? What fault hast thou done, and not repented? In what degree art thou bettered?" Then he would lie down, exclaiming, "With how welcome sleep, and how quiet rest, do I entertain the night!" It were to be wished that all men would do the like,—keep a daybook of all their actions and transactions with the world; commune with their own hearts; sum up the words and works of the day passed with an Omnia bene! as churchwardens were wont to do when they gave up their presentments: then would their night's rest be quiet, and they lie down in safety; for God himself would keep them. Spencer.

Life, Forced Review of

Reflecting on one's past life is like reviewing it from a new perspective.

A crazy man was found at a grindstone sharpening a large butcher-knife, and every now and then examining the edge to see if it was keen. "What are you doing here?"—"Don't you see? Sharpening this big knife."—"Yes; but what are you going to do with it when sharpened?"—"Cut old Ben. Brown's head off, to be sure."—"What! you won't kill him, will you?"—"Oh, no! I'll only cut his head off, and stick it right on again hind-side before, just to let the old fellow look back upon his past life. It would take him all the rest of his life to review."

Passions, Conquest of the

Daily examine and root out dominant passions with courage as a spiritual discipline.

Consider daily the passions which are bred in your heart, as a fisherman beholds the fishes swimming in the water, on purpose to catch them. Look on that which is most predominant within you, from what root it springeth, when it began, what progress it hath made, what rule it usurpeth ordinarily over your soul, what effects it produceth, whether it be more spiritual or temporal, what things you use to foment it; provide counsels and means to root it out; proceed to this with courage and fervor, as to the requisition of an incomparable good.

— N. Caussin

Reform, Partial

Partial reform ignores deeply held sins and fails true repentance.

Some men, when they attempt to reform their lives, reform those things for which they do not much care. They take the torch of God's word, and enter some indifferent chamber, and the light blazes in, and they see that they are very sinful there; and then they look into another room, where they do not often stay, and are willing to admit that they are very sinful there; but they leave unexplored some cupboards and secret apartments where their life really is, and where they have stored up the things which are dearest to them, and which they will neither part from nor suffer rebuke for. Beecher.

Self-Examination, Daily

Daily self-examination helps identify and amend faults for spiritual growth.

It is reported of Sextus, that, every night before he slept, he asked of his own heart, "What evil hast thou this day amended? what vice hast thou shunned? what good hast thou done? in what part art thou bettered?" Such review is always profitable.

Self-Examination, True

True self-examination measures how closely we reproduce Christ's character in life.

Around the chef-d'oeuvres in the galleries of Europe, artists are always congregated. You may see them standing before Raphael's Transfiguration, copying with the nicest care every line and tint of that matchless work; glancing constantly from their canvas to the picture, that, even in the minutest parts, they may reproduce the original. But if, at one side, you saw an artist who only looked up occasionally from his work, and drew a line, but filled in here a tree or a waterfall, and there a deer or a cottage, just as his fancy suggested, what kind of a copyist would you call him? Now, true self-examination lies in ascertaining how nearly we are reproducing Christ. He is painted for us in no gallery; but his life glows fourfold in the Gospels, and our hearts are the canvas upon which we are to copy it. Let us not take occasional glimpses, and work, meanwhile, upon earthly designs; but let us look long and earnestly till our lives reflect the whole divine image. Beecher.

Self-Examination, Urged

Self-examination is urgent because death reveals our true spiritual condition for judgment.

Remember that the time you have for self-examination is, after all, very short. Soon thou wilt know the great secret. I perhaps may not say words rough enough to rend off the mask which thou hast now upon thee; but there is one called Death who will stand no compliment. You may masquerade it out to-day in the dress of the saint; but Death will soon strip you, and you must stand before the judgment-seat after Death has discovered you in all your nakedness, be that naked innocence or naked guilt. Spurgeon.

Self-Knowledge, Importance of

Knowing oneself is a vital, ancient wisdom essential for moral and spiritual growth.

Know thyself is one of the most useful and comprehensive precepts in the whole moral system; and it is well known in how great a veneration this maxim was held by the ancients, and in how high esteem the duty of self-examination necessary to it. Thales the Milesian, the prince of the philosophers, who flourished about A.M. 3330, and was contemporary with Josiah, King of Judah, is said to be the first author of it, who used to say, that "for a man to know himself is the hardest thing in the world." It was afterwards adopted by Chyton the Lacademonian; and is one of those three precepts which Pliny affirms to have been consecrated at Delphos in golden letters. It was afterwards greatly admired and frequently adopted by others, till at length it acquired the authority of a divine oracle, and was supposed to have been given originally by Apollo himself; of which general opinion, Chetrogiros as this reason, "Because it hath such a weight of senso and wisdom in it as appears too great to be attributed to any man." And this opinion of its coming originally from Apollo himself perhaps was the reason that it was written in golden capitals over the door of his temple at Delphos.

— J. Mason

Watchfulness, Personal

Watching others requires first watching oneself to avoid hypocrisy and failure.

"When I was a boy," said an old man, "we had a schoolmaster who had odd ways of catching the boys. One day, he called to us, 'Boys, I must have closer attention to your books. The first one of you that sees another boy idle, I want you to inform me, and I will attend to the case.' — 'Ah!' thought I to myself, 'there is Joe Simmonds, that I don't like. I'll watch him; and, if I see him look off his book, I'll tell.' It was not long before I saw Joe look off his book; and immediately I informed the master. 'Indeed!' said he. 'How did you know he was?' — 'I saw him,' said I. 'You did! And were your eyes on your book when you saw him?' I was caught; and I never watched for idle boys again."

Youth, Portrait of

A symbolic portrait shows youth's blindness to folly and gradual awakening to error.

The ancients painted a young man stark naked, his eyes veiled, his right hand bound behind him, and his left hand left at liberty, and Time following him close at the heels, and ever and anon pulling a thread out of the veil. He was drawn naked to show with what little secrecy he had used his delights and pleasures; with his right hand behind him, to show that he did not do any thing right; his left hand free, to show that he did all things awkwardly. He was portrayed blind, because he does not see his own follies; but Time, behind him, opens his eyes little by little, and so brings him to a knowledge of his errors. Spencer

Sextus’ Daily Examination

Daily self-examination helps believers grow by assessing their spiritual progress.

It is said that Sextus, every night before going to sleep, would ask his heart, “What evil hast thou amended? what vice hast thou shunned? what good hast thou done? in what part art thou bettered?”

Like Travelers And Tradesmen

Fear of self-examination reveals hidden spiritual problems and lack of self-condemnation.

The reason why there is so little self-condemnation is because there is so little self-examination. For want of it many are like travelers skilled in other countries, but ignorant of their own. As it is an evidence that those tradesmen are embarrassed in their business who are afraid to have their books examined, so it is plain that there is something wrong within, among all those who are afraid to look within.

A Roman’S Custom

Regular self-examination leads to spiritual growth and peaceful rest.

Seneca tells of a Roman that kept his soul as clean as the best housewife keeps her house, every night examining his own soul: “What infirmity hast thou healed? What fault hast thou done, and not repented? In what degree art thou bettered?” Then he would lie down, exclaiming, “With how welcome sleep, and how quiet rest do I entertain the night!”

SELF—EXAMINATION—its Eight Office

Self-examination is useful but must not replace true spiritual nourishment.

A Highlander who purchased a barometer under a mistaken idea of its purpose, complained that he could not see that it had made any improvement in the weather; and those who use signs and evidences for an intent which they will never answer, will be sure to complain that their faith is not increased, though they are always practising self-examination. Yet a barometer has its uses, and so have evidences of grace. To feel the pulse is an admirable thing; the mistake is to put this in the place of strengthening food or tonic medicine.

Self-examination

Recognizing danger prompts course correction and vigilance in the Christian life.

The mariner has been gaily sailing on a smooth sea, and he has given no heed to his bearings; on a sudden he sees a rock ahead; from this he ought to have been far away; at that sight he shortens sail, looks about him, and in consequence of what he sees changes his course, sets a better watch and is restless until once more he reaches the old familiar channel. Fellow voyager on the sea of life, may not this be your case?

Self-Estimate

We often overestimate our own abilities; true insight comes from others' perspectives.

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That we should try to see ourselves as others see us is a rule well illustrated by R. H. Haweis in what he says on learning to play the violin:

I had found means to make the flimsiest strings yield up sounds which I need not here characterize, and to such purpose that it became a question of some interest how long such sounds could be endured by the human ear. I do not mean my own. All violinists, including infants on the eighteen-penny ones, admit that to their own ear the sounds produced are nothing but delightful; it is only those who do not make them who complain.

Self-Inspection

John Wesley's detailed self-examination promotes sincere, fervent prayer and spiritual growth.

John Wesley drew up at Oxford for himself and his companions a scheme of self-examination which Southey declares, with some truth, might well be appended to the spiritual exercises of Ignatius Loyola. Here are samples: “Have I been simple and recollected everything I did?” And under this head is a swarm of microscopic tests of “sincerity” which the soul was to apply to itself. “Have I prayed with fervor?” Then follows a list of the times in each day at which prayer must be offered, and a series of tests for ascertaining the exact degree of fervor in each prayer--tests which irresistibly suggest a spiritual thermometer, with a graduated scale to register the rise of the mercury. Wesley adopted the practise his mother urged of asking, “Have I, in private prayer, frequently stopt short and observed what fervor in devotion?” That is, the anxious soul was to keep one eye directed to the object of prayer, and the other vigilantly fixt upon itself, so as to observe its own behavior.--W. H. FITCHETT, “Wesley and His Century.”

Self-Inspection

Seeing oneself clearly leads to repentance and positive personal transformation.

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A traveler, reaching a mining camp unexpectedly, found the miners very rough in manners and appearance owing to their long absence from conventional life. On leaving the camp for a farther journey, the traveler handed one of the leaders a looking-glass. A glance at it amazed the man, and soon all the other miners were crowding round him for a sight of themselves. Then the traveler departed, promising to return in a month. On his return he found an extraordinary change had taken place. The men, having realized by the mirror what uncouth, unshaven fellows they had become, had reformed as regards their appearance and were now as smart and clean as ordinary civilized beings. It was a sight of themselves which had worked the change.

Careful Self-examination

John 8:11

Scandal of others should startle us all into careful self-examination.

1. I stand accused.

2. My very nature is sinful.

3. Jesus' example exposes my sin.

4. My sin caused Jesus' death.

5. God's forgiveness matches the depth of my sin.

6. God has forgotten my sin.

7. Faith is the channel of forgiveness.

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Portion used in sermon:

Paul Thigpen, a writer for Discipleship Journal magazine, points out that sins are not isolated events. In truth, sin is much more than an act or an accumulation of acts.

Individual sins are actually the outward culmination of an inward human reality called sin. The Bible describes this universal condition in various ways:

• as a bondage or imprisonment of the will (Romans 6:17);

• as the direction of the heart turned away from God (Deut. 30:17);

• as a spiritual infection that has claimed the whole world (Romans 5:12).

Refreshing Repentance

Romans 1:28

Several Bible passages give lists of sins for Christians to use in examining themselves. (Used at Hillside Lutheran Church of Succasunna, New Jersey, for discipleship training.)

In the verses below, specific sins are listed. Which sins do I need to confess, repent of, and be cleansed by the Lord?

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ROMANS 1:28-32 - "Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to

retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do

what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of

wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder,

strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanders, God-haters,

insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they

disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things

deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also

approve of those who practice them." (NIV)

GREED (MATERIALISM) -- Do I always desire more? Have I put my pursuit of

things, my job, before Christ?

DEPRAVITY -- Literally -- To lead into bad habits. Am I leading others into

sin?

ENVY -- Have I fallen into an attitude of envy toward someone else?

STRIFE -- Do I tend to cause strife, conflict, competition among other

people or in groups?

DECEIT -- Have I lied even in subtle ways such as exaggeration or

withholding truth?

MALICE -- Do I have an active desire to do someone else harm?

GOSSIP -- Have I shared a negative report with those who are neither part of

the problem nor part of the solution?

SLANDER -- -- Have I hurt another person's reputation by what I said?

GOD HATERS -- Have I given too much time or attention to the things that

compete with my love for God?

INSOLENT -- Have I been boldly disrespectful in speech or behavior?

ARROGANT -- Am I full of pride and self-importance?

BOASTFUL -- Do I talk often about myself and my accomplishments?

CREATIVELY EVIL -- Have I tried to creatively explain away in my mind what I

know in my heart is wrong?

DISOBEDIENT TO PARENTS -- Not subject or loyal to authority. Am I subject

to the governing authorities?

SENSELESS -- Have I not thought about the consequences of some of my

actions?

FAITHLESS -- Do I truly believe God's promises? All of them?

HEARTLESS -- Do I have a heartfelt concern for unbelievers?

RUTHLESS -- Have I been cruel to others?

APPROVED SIN IN OTHERS -- Have I watched violence and immorality and cruelty

and other sins in people I knew - and yet, said nothing?

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1 CORINTHIANS 6:9-10 - "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the

kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor

idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor

thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanders nor swindlers will

inherit the kingdom of God." (NIV)

SEXUAL IMMORALITY -- Have I repented of any sexual relations outside of the

bonds of marriage?

IDOLATRY -- Have I put anything before my relationship with God?

ADULTERY -- Have I been completely faithful to my marriage partner in

thoughts, in words and in actions?

PERVERSION -- Have I repented of any unnatural sexual activity? Is there

any pornography in my life?

HOMOSEXUALITY -- Have I repented of any and all homosexual relationships?

STEALING -- Have I allowed any form of stealing to enter my life?

DRUNKEN - Do I drink too much? Have I repented of the use of mind-altering

drugs?

SWINDLING (CHEATING) -- Have I cheated anyone in any way?

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GALATIANS 5:12-21 "The acts of the sinful, nature are obvious: sexual

immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred,

discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissension, factions and

envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that

those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." (NIV)

IMPURITY -- How pure are my thoughts and actions? Do I always select

movies, music, reading material, or television programs that

are pure?

INDULGENCE -– Literally, excessive indulgence in one's appetites. Have I

overindulged in any way?

WITCHCRAFT -- Have I used materials which used to be called "witchcraft",

but which are now being called "New Age" (i.e. -- new age

books, Ouija boards, tarot cards, palm reading, crystals,

dungeons and dragons)?

HATRED -- Have I held onto hatred, bitterness, or unforgiveness toward

someone?

DISCORD -- Have I caused disunity or disharmony or conflict among the Body

of Christ?

JEALOUSY -- Am I suspicious or resentful of others when they have a lot or

when they succeed?

FITS OF ANGER -- Do I have frequent outbursts of anger or temper?

SELFISH AMBITION -- Have I desired to advance myself above others by putting

them down?

DISSENSION -- Have I been overly forceful in my disagreements with others?

FACTIONS -- Do I tend to cause splits among people or groups?

ORGIES -- Are the parties I go to the kind that Christ would not go with me

or be happy with?

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2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5 - "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last

days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful,

proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without

love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of

the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than

lovers of God-having a form of godliness buy denying its power. Have

nothing to do with them." (NIV)

LOVERS OF SELF -- Do I think about myself and my rights first, rather than

my responsibilities?

LOVERS OF MONEY -- Do I find it hard to part with my money when need arises?

PROUD -- Do I think more of my physical appearance than the state of my

soul?

ABUSIVE -- Have I been coarse or insulting in my speech or actions? Do I

curse from the same mouth in which I pray?

UNGRATEFUL -- Have I received rich blessings from God -- and yet spend more

time talking about what I don't have, or what may have been

taken away?

UNHOLY -- Have I neglected an honest pursuit of a more holy life?

UNFORGIVING -- Are there relationships in the body of Christ in which I need

to forgive and work toward reconciliation?

WITHOUT SELF CONTROL -- Am I undisciplined in certain aspects of my life?

BRUTAL -- Have I been cruel and unfeeling?

HATERS OF GOOD -- Do I desire something that is not good?

TREACHEROUS -- Have I betrayed trust, faith, or allegiance? Have I been

disloyal to others?

RECKLESS -- Have I been hasty or incautious in action or speech?

CONCEITED -- Do I have an exaggerated opinion of myself?

LOVERS OF PLEASURE RATHER THAN LOVERS OF GOD -- Do I ask, "Will this help me

love God more?", -- or do I ask, "Is it fun, is it

pleasurable?" -- in all things?

HAVING THE FORM OF GODLINESS, BUT DENYING ITS POWER -- Am I concerned about

form rather than substance in my spiritual/worship life?

==============================================================================

MY COVENANT

Knowing that God supplies both the desire and the power to do His will

(Philippians 2:13), I commit to the following:

--To hate all sin, as God hates it and to strive with all my heart, to turn

from any sins which God reveals in my life;

--To make it my first priority to seek God every day (Matthew 6:33) and to

practice my disciplines which cause me to grow in Him (such as Bible

reading, prayer, fellowship, etc.);

--To love all the brothers and sisters in the faith with all my heart, to

seek their best interests, to speak well of them and continually to live

in a relationship of reconciliation and love with them (Matthew 5:23-24).

Signed ______________________________________________________ Date

The Six Marks of Maturity

There is a fine devotional book which has been assembled from the writings of Dr. J. I. Packer. In it he quotes a psychologist on the six marks of maturity. Americans love to take self-examinations, so here is one for you on what it means to be grown up, to be whole, balanced, sane and able to cope with life:

1. The first mark of maturity is the ability to deal constructively

with reality, to face facts, to not cover up reality or call it

something else, but to deal with it as it is. Mature people do

not kid themselves.

2. The second mark is, adapting quickly to change. We all experience

change, whether it be physical, at work, in the family, or

whatever. I am amazed at how much some of you have changed

through the years while I remain exactly the same! Immature

people resist change. It makes them nervous. But the mark of

maturity is to adapt to change because change is inevitable.

3. The third mark is freedom from the symptoms of tension and

anxiety. The worried look, the frown, the ulcers, the palpi-

tations of the heart -- all come because you are upset, anxious

and worried. Maturing means you have begun to see that God is in

control of this world. He is working out purposes that you do

not always understand, but you accept it. He will take you

through the deep water, not drown you in it. Maturity means you

are learning to trust.

4. Fourth, it means to be satisfied more with giving than receiving.

Some of you have recently learned that the joy of Christmas is

not getting presents but giving them. To see the joy in someone

else's face when they get something they either need or want.

That is a sign you are growing up. You are discovering the true

values of life.

5. The fifth mark is, to relate to others with consistency, help-

fulness and mutual satisfaction. Maturity is learning to get

along with other people, to be a help, not a hindrance, to

contribute to the solution and not to be always a part of the

problem.

6. Finally, maturity is sublimating and redirecting anger to

constructive ends. Maturity is the ability to use the adrenaline

that anger creates, not to lose your temper and add to the

problem, but to correct a situation or to contribute to changing

the nature of the difficulty.

Fix It Before the Final

1 Corinthians 11:31

Comedian Jerry Lewis actually made a little cinema history years ago when he filmed his movie, "The Bellboy." Now, it would be no big deal today, but back then it was a first. Jerry Lewis had each scene of the movie videotaped - so he could look at it and see if it had come out as he wanted it. If he didn't like it, they went right back and got it right. It's a smart idea.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Fix It Before the Final."

It's definitely a good idea to stand back, see what's wrong, and then fix it before it goes to the final print. Especially if the audience for the final print is God Himself; as He looks at how you've been living and passes judgment on it. In a sense, He has given us some ways to look at how we're doing, to see what you're doing wrong - and to fix it before it goes to the final print.

Our word for today from the Word of God comes in the context of some early believers who were trivializing sacred things and were, according to the Bible, "weak and sick" as a result. Some had even died as a result. Then, in 1 Corinthians 11:31, Paul says, "But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment." Take care of it yourself - so God doesn't have to take care of it! God's response to the sin we've neglected may come in discipline that He administers to us ... or at the Judgment Seat of Christ where eternal rewards will either be given or withheld based on how we have lived. But in either case, it is far better for you to deal with it now than for God to deal with it then.

You may be living in that window right now - where God is saying, "I'm giving you time to deal with this yourself. But if you don't, I will." It may be the lies the you're telling, the people you're hurting, the compromises you're making, the sin you're playing with. Maybe God is trying to get you to do something about your pride, your hypocrisy, your anger, that secret sin.

And He has given you "videos" that show what you're really doing. God will speak to you through His words in the Bible, sometimes making them feel like an arrow right to the heart of your sin. Or God may be trying to speak to you through some of the people in your life. It may be people who love you. It may be people who are just critical of you. But God put them there to be mirrors for you, showing you what needs to be changed. Now maybe you're stoning the messenger, but that doesn't change the truth of what they see in you, and what God is trying to get you to see.

It isn't smart to flirt with the discipline or the judgment of Almighty God. He just loves you too much to let you keep doing what will damage your life, and probably other lives. And maybe right now He's giving you time to deal with it yourself; to confess it to the One who died for that sin. He's giving you time to repent and turn your back on it, to restore what you need to restore, to take whatever steps you need to take to get it out of your life.

Believe me, no matter how hard it may be for you to judge that sin yourself, it is always easier than forcing God to judge it because you wouldn't. He's giving you a chance to fix it now - before it goes to final print.

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Questions For Self-examination

These are 22 questions the members of John Wesley’s Holy Club asked themselves EACH DAY in their private devotions over 200 years ago.

1. Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I really am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?

2. Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?

3. Do I confidentially pass on to another what was told to me in confidence?

4. Can I be trusted?

5. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work, or habits?

6. Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?

7. Did the Bible live in me today?

8. Do I give it time to speak to me everyday?

9. Am I enjoying prayer?

10. When did I last speak to someone else about my faith?

11. Do I pray about the money I spend?

12. Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?

13. Do I disobey God in anything?

14. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?

15. Am I defeated in any part of my life?

16. Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy, or distrustful?

17. How do I spend my spare time?

18. Am I proud?

19. Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican?

20. Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so, what I am doing about it?

21. Do I grumble or complain constantly?

22. Is Christ real to me?

No Reflection on you

Last month, the University of Rochester, N.Y., held a Day Without Mirrors and encouraged faculty and staff to go for 24 hours without looking at themselves. A sophomore covered as many mirrors as she could with a poster that proclaimed: "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, true beauty's not found here at all," reports The Chronicle of Higher Education. The organizers sought to encourage people to resist finding external flaws in themselves or in others, and to raise awareness about eating disorders and the pressures that people, especially women, face with body image, said the university's Linda Dudman.

The Bible tells us that self-examination means you look at the inner self, not the outer self.

Lord Is It I?

Mark 14:19

Someone in Evansburg, a village west of Edmonton, took the liberty of adding to the sign on the outskirts of the town. The sign now reads: "Welcome to Evansburg, the thriving village with clean air, fresh water, and friendly people. Population -- 600 -- 29 dogs -- 41 cats -- 1 grouch." Comments the newspaper editor: "Although all 600 may feel incriminated, it is likely the person who added to the sign is the only one who knows the grouch's identity."

Unfortunately, in most companies of people, there is one grouch -- one person who complains constantly, one person who always sees the dark side of things. In churches, too, there seems to be always one grouch around. Perhaps we all should ask the question, "Lord, is it I?"

Humility - the Way of Rescue

Luke 1:48

G.K. Chesterton once remarked that to disbelieve in God would be like waking up in the morning, looking into the mirror, and seeing nothing. There would be nothing to reveal your appearance.

That is what the Bible contends is the effect of sin; it robs us of our true nature and denies us the vision of who we really are. So much of this vital Christian concept is misunderstood or misrepresented. Jesus talked about the great gain that each of us realizes when we recognize our own spiritual poverty and turn to God for deliverance from ourselves. He began his Sermon on the Mount with the words, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

But does being "poor in spirit" mean being humiliated? No, humbling and humiliation are not the same thing. Only God humbles us without humiliating us and elevates us without flattering us.

This point of recognition awakened the slumbering spirit of journalist Terry Anderson who had been held captive by terrorists in Lebanon. Anderson said that during his captivity he saw much in his captors that he hated and despised. The more he saw them and talked to them, the more he was repelled by them. "Yet," he said, "in a strange way there was nothing in them that I had not now also seen in myself."

Former automotive tycoon John DeLorean tells us in his book how he found himself in a court of law as a paid informer bore false testimony against him. Watching the selfishness with which this lying witness trampled on decency, DeLorean said he suddenly saw that it was no different to the blind ambition that had driven him earlier in his own life; for in his pursuit he too had trampled on what he had once treasured. This inward look, he said, paved the way for a dramatic transformation in his life as he sought forgiveness before a merciful God.

Friend, until we come to that point of recognizing our own spiritual impoverishment, our enslavement is greater than if we were physically shackled. If we, in our world, are to be rescued from the hell that can be unleashed in our own hearts, we need to see its cause and cure. That human condition is corrected only by a humbling ourselves before God and by allowing Him to re-fashion us to reflect His work of grace by a transformed life.

_________________________

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Seneca On Self-Examination

"We should every night call ourselves to an account: What infirmity have I mastered today? What passions opposed? What temptation resisted? What virtue acquired?"

Marcus Annaeus Seneca

(c. 55 BC - AD 41)

Roman rhetorician, Stoic, tutor of Nero, born at Córdoba, Spain

Taking Stock of Your Life

Psalms 26:2

Sermon in Spiritual Recovery series. Psalm 26:2-7

TAKING STOCK OF YOUR LIFE

=========================

Step #4: Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

I. Spiritual bar codes.

II. Christians need to take inventory.

A. It is a very powerful tool for personal change and recovery.

B. Inventory needs to be done correctly.

III. Moral inventory.

A. Reflect on the choices you make in life.

B. Analyze your bad choices.

C. Acknowledge the positive - what you have done correctly.

IV. Relationship inventory.

A. List objects of anger or resentment.

B. Do your relationships honor God?

C. Make your relationships better.

V. Spiritual inventory.

A. Psalmist makes strong spiritual claims for himself.

B. Take a spiritual inventory.

C. Measure your life against the Bible.

VI. Your plan of action.

Making Space In A Crowded Life

1 Timothy 4:11

My wife and I were traveling with our daughter and son-in-law and our two dynamite little grandsons. We were in adjoining motel rooms for a couple of days - and that's what occasioned our son-in-law's amusing comparison of our rooms. See, our rooms were basically identical - when we each moved in. We moved our stuff into our room, and they moved in themselves, their children, their children's world, and some "office on the road" stuff. Well, on our second day, our son-in-law plopped down in a chair in our room and he made this bemused observation - "You know, your room is three times bigger than our room!" Not true. See, our room was the same size. It was just one-third as crowded!

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Making Space In A Crowded Life."

Some of us have lives like our kids' motel room - so crowded that we are running out of space! Actually, we all have the same amount of "space" in our life - the same seven days, the same 186 hours in a week. But some of us have packed so much into our lives - maybe too much. There's no room left for an emergency, a crisis, a breakdown, an illness - or even to give God and the people we love the time they should have.

God has a thought-provoking challenge for us over-busy folks in 1 Timothy 4:11-12. It's our word for today from the Word of God. Here's the challenge: "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands ... so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders." God is calling us to a life that is characterized by simplicity ... by clear priorities that act as a filtering system for what we say yes to and what we say no to ... by peace and focus.

And all of us need to take a giant step back and see if we've stuffed our life so full that it's actually shrunk our life rather than expanded it. This would be a great time to reprioritize - to set some boundaries -to make some space in our overcrowded life. I liken a lot of our lives to a glass that is full to the brim - it only takes a drop to make it spill. We need to be emptying out our glass a little so we've got room for all those unexpected things, those emergencies, those surprises that life constantly throws at us.

Now, there are some practical steps you can take to get more control of your life. One is to sort out your over-commitments - to begin to limit yourself to the things that only you can do. No, you don't just start bailing out of commitments that you've made, but you start making new commitments - and renewing old commitments with new priorities. Another step is to control intrusions - to return your calls at a scheduled time, to protect your time with God and with your family - non-negotiables. It also helps to deliberate commitments before you make them - take time to pray over them, to seek the counsel of the important people in your life. Also, build in some "Murphy" time - you know, time for things to go wrong! Don't schedule wall-to-wall. And remember to put your timeouts and your family times in your calendar like you do all your other important commitments.

Opening up room in your life won't just happen. It takes some candid evaluation, some corrective action, and some courageous discipline. But it's worth it. And you don't have to keep tripping over things in that room called Your Life - there will finally be room to move around and enjoy it!

________________

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Questions For A New Year

John 15:5

Once, when the people of God had become careless in their relationship with Him, the Lord rebuked them through the prophet Haggai. “Consider your ways!” (Haggai 1:5) he declared, urging them to reflect on some of the things happening to them and to evaluate their slipshod spirituality in light of what God had told them.

Even those most faithful to God occasionally need to pause and think about the direction of their lives. It's so easy to bump along from one busy week to another without ever stopping to ponder where we're going and where we should be going.

The beginning of a new year is an ideal time to stop, look up and get our bearings. For starters, here are 10 questions to ask prayerfully in the presence of God:

1. What's one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

2. What's the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

3. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?

4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?

6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

8. What's the most important way you will, by God's grace, try to make this year different from last year?

9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in 10 years? In eternity?

In addition to these questions, here are 21 more to help you “Consider your ways.” Think on the entire list at one sitting, or answer one question each day for a month.

11. What's the most important decision you need to make this year?

12. What area of your life most needs simplifying, and what's one way you could simplify in that area?

13. What's the most important need you feel burdened to meet this year?

14. What habit would you most like to establish this year?

15. Who do you most want to encourage this year?

16. What is your most important financial goal this year, and what is the most important step you can take toward achieving it?

17. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your work life this year?

18. What's one new way you could be a blessing to your pastor (or to another who ministers to you) this year?

19. What's one thing you could do this year to enrich the spiritual legacy you will leave to your children and grandchildren?

20. What book, in addition to the Bible, do you most want to read this year?

21. What one thing do you most regret about last year, and what will you do about it this year?

22. What single blessing from God do you want to seek most earnestly this year?

23. In what area of your life do you most need growth, and what will you do about it this year?

24. What's the most important trip you want to take this year?

25. What skill do you most want to learn or improve this year?

26. To what need or ministry will you try to give an unprecedented amount this year?

27. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your commute this year?

28. What one biblical doctrine do you most want to understand better this year, and what will you do about it?

29. If those who know you best gave you one piece of advice, what would they say? Would they be right? What will you do about it?

30. What's the most important new item you want to buy this year?

31. In what area of your life do you most need change, and what will you do about it this year?

The value of many of these questions is not in their profundity, but in the simple fact that they bring an issue or commitment into focus. For example, just by articulating which person you most want to encourage this year, you will be more likely to remember to encourage that person than if you hadn't considered the question.

If you've found these questions helpful, you might want to put them someplace -- in a day planner, PDA, calendar, bulletin board, etc. -- where you can review them more frequently than once a year.

So let's evaluate our lives, make plans and goals, and live this new year with biblical diligence, remembering that, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage” (Proverbs 21:5). But in all things let's also remember our dependence on our King who said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

__________

Don Whitney is associate professor of spiritual formation at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

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Think, Man, Think

Psalms 73:22

The second thing the psalmist learned about himself as he paused in self-examination was this: “I saw myself so stupid and so ignorant” (Psa. 73:22, TLB). There were things he knew which he had foolishly chosen to forget. He forgot that God was in control. He forgot the temporary nature of success and prosperity. He forgot the whole purpose of godly living. He forgot that God always has the last word. If you and I react as the psalmist did to trials, then there is only one thing that can be said about us — we are stupid and ignorant.

The third thing the psalmist learned about himself was that he had reacted like an animal — instinctively: “I was a brute beast before you” (Psa. 73:22b). What is the difference between a beast and a human being? A beast lacks the faculty of reason. It is unable to stand outside itself to consider itself and its actions. An animal responds to any stimulus instinctively without any interval for thought. The psalmist had been doing that — he had failed to put an interval of thought between the stimulus and the response. Once he did stop to think, and put the situation in a different context, his negative feelings immediately dissolved.

Is not this the value of the Scriptures? As we read them they reason with us. They tell us not to react instinctively to things, but to think them through. They give us a new framework for our understanding, a new context in which to reason. The more we draw our understanding from the Scriptures and learn to think God’s thoughts after Him, the more secure and the more effective our lives become.

PRAYER:

Father, I am grateful that You have made me with the ability to think. My thoughts can lead me astray or they can lead me to You. Help me to draw my thought patterns not from the world but from Your Word. In Jesus’ Name I ask it. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY: – Psa. 105:5; Deut. 6:12; Psa. 50:22

1. What is a basic human tendency?

2. What does the psalmist exhort us to do?

Another Year Is Dawning

In his opening of A TALE OF TWO CITIES, Charles Dickens has perhaps given the world one of the greatest precursory statements of all time. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair...” No doubt these famous words mark some of the best-known lines of literature, words that skillfully reflect the novel's central tension between opposing pairs.

In this season of the new year we, too, are inclined to reflect, to look back and look forward with thoughts and words that help us sift through the tale unfolding before us. Significant dates and holidays, birthdays and anniversaries, naturally lend themselves to times of reflection, the new year being perhaps the most confronting date calling us to reflect (and certainly the best marketed). That we have before us the month that marks another beginning of another year is unavoidable, even if merely seen as time to buy a new calendar or join another health club.

Armed with resolutions and lofty goals, and perhaps a self-help book or two, we stare into the 364 days ahead of us with hope and expectation, sometimes with fear, sometimes with determination, sometimes with excitement. And we look at the days behind us with a careful eye for what is past, at times with nostalgia for all that has gone by, at times with heaviness for that which we longed to see turn out differently, but hopefully gleaning wisdom to carry into days to come. What were the year's successes and failures? What will I accomplish this year? Where have I been? How far have I come along?

But the new year is also a time to ask perhaps with a greater sense of existential angst, “Where am I going?” And, “From whence did I come?” In the pages of one major newspaper on New Year's Day were articles discussing several up and coming self-improvement, self-discovery books for the new year. In between advice for learning to embrace our lives as art, and tips for rehabilitating your sense of style, the author herself noted the inconsistency of the well-marketed, self-help world of reflecting. “If all these books are out there,” she asked, the question remains, “why aren't we well?”

Let us not miss this occasion for reflection. But let us also not miss the certain reality that amidst our many answers to the questions before us this new year, God's presence was and is always with us.

As the beloved hymnist Frances Havergal composed this hymn as a New Year's greeting card, may it also be our greeting for the year ahead of us.

Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be

In working or in waiting, another year with Thee.

Another year of progress, another year of praise,

Another year of proving Thy presence all the days.

Another year of mercies, of faithfulness and grace,

Another year of gladness in the shining of Thy face;

Another year of leaning upon Thy loving breast;

Another year of trusting, of quiet, happy rest.

Another year of service, of witness for Thy love,

Another year of training for holier work above.

Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be

On earth, or else in heaven, another year for Thee.

Looking back and looking forward, may yours be a new year lived in the presence of God and the fellowship of Christ.

________

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Far Too Healthy Spiritually

Daniel 2:19

We said yesterday that the task of honestly facing ourselves in self-examination is often the hardest thing for us to do. We are all very prone to pass quickly over this point. We are quite happy to hear how God has set the ungodly in slippery places but we are not happy to be invited to take a look at ourselves and uncover the things within us that cause us to go astray.

It must be said, however, that two dangers arise whenever the question of self-examination is considered. One is over-emphasis and the other is under-emphasis. Some engage in it too much and become unhealthily introspective, while others fail to look at themselves at all and thus live on the surface.

The important thing to remember is this — self-examination should always be carried out in the presence of God. If this is not adhered to, then the exercise can become harmful and counter-productive. I meet many Christians who strongly oppose the idea of self- examination. They say: “the moment you see that you have sinned and then put your sin ‘under the blood’ you are all right. To stop and think about it is an indication that you are not spiritually healthy and that you lack faith.”

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said: “The trouble with most of us is that we are far too ‘healthy’ spiritually.” He meant by that that we are much too glib and much too superficial. Nothing is more characteristic of a true Christian than a willingness to examine himself; not too much, not too little, but in an appropriate and balanced way.

PRAYER:

O Father, the reason I am afraid to examine myself is because I might find something I do not like. However, help me be honest no matter what the cost – honest with You and honest with myself. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY: – Dan. 2:19-23; Amos 9:3; Psa. 139:7-8

1. What did Daniel receive from the Lord?

2. How did David feel about God’s presence?

Thinking Aloud

Matthew 15:9

Isaiah (29:13) speaks of a people that draw near to God with their lips, but not with their hearts, and whose knowledge of God is through the words of men — a people who have never known God for themselves by divine revelation…

In this our 20th century church, to contrast divine revelation with men’s teaching, seems almost blasphemy… but revelation was the way that Moses, Samuel, and Paul learned of God.

Matthew quotes this prophecy, and then gives God’s summing up of this situation in the next verse (Mt. 15:9), “In vain do they worship Me.” Ezekiel (33:31) puts it in a slightly different light, “With their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after covetousness:” In other words with their mouths they are GIVING with their hearts they are intent on GETTING. [cf. Wisdom of Sirach 4:31]

Isn’t so much of our Christianity preoccupied with our getting rather than giving? Even our giving in “praise and worship” is contaminated with the expectation of getting feelings of peace, joy etc. We have set ourselves up for deception. We want for ourselves whatever it is that God is giving out! This is what we have been taught. The important thing seems to be not our relationship with God, but our ability to plunge headlong into the “move,” to “surf the wave,” and then repeat the process over and over.

We have leaned too much on man’s teaching, exhortation and “encouragement” and sought too little for the Presence of God behind the words. Paul (2 Cor 13:5) exhorts “examine yourselves… prove your own selves… “ The faith which is the product of man’s instigation will soon fade when real shaking comes, but the faith built on God alone will endure and bring forth the fruit of life.

Seeing Spots

Luke 6:41

There are two ways to look at a mirror. This fairly unoriginal thought crossed my mind as I stood before my bathroom mirror focused on the spots I was wiping away, when my gaze suddenly shifted to a dark smudge under my eye. With one hand still cleaning the spots on the mirror, I tried to remove the spot under my eye with the other. It didn't work, or at least, as I attempted to do both, I didn't do either job well. You can't look in a mirror and at a mirror at the same time.

Because the Bible is compared (among other striking images) to a mirror, the illustration seemed to be one worth contemplating. But instead of being stirred with thoughts and theology, I was caught off guard by the stirring of my own conscience.

Earlier that day, as I was reading a passage in Scripture I can't remember now, I thought self-assuredly: “If only [so-and-so] were reading these verses, they would see their situation more clearly, and the bad attitude they're overlooking.” It is little wonder why I can't remember the verses; I wasn't looking in the mirror. My eyes had shifted elsewhere.

Jesus once asked, “How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?” His question at once uncovers a familiar behavior, exposing our tendency to focus on the faults of others while remaining blind to our own, isolating the motive we disguise as concern like a sword dividing bone and marrow. It obviously made an impression on the ones who heard him say it; all four gospel writers make note of Jesus' words.

In an essay titled “The Trouble With 'X'“, C.S. Lewis writes candidly of this all too common human trait: the ability to see clearly “X” and “X's” flaws while having a harder time with our own. “X” is whomever we find in our lives with characteristics that annoy or even grieve us. Each of us can readily name people with traits that keep them in the miserable state they're in, even as they claim they want out. Lewis's rejoinder to our ability to state clearly the trouble with the “X's” in our lives is similar to Christ's: Realize that there are similar flaws in you — something that gives others the same feeling of despair that their flaws give you. Writes Lewis, “You see clearly enough that nothing [...] can make 'X' really happy as long as 'X' remains envious, self-centred, and spiteful.” Be sure, he warns, there is something also inside of you that unless given to God to be altered, will remain similarly unscathed and unmoved.

Scripture shows us our reflection, exposing sin we were blind to, piercing our hearts with truth only a mirror can reveal. But like a mirror, it can also be looked at in more than one way. As I read that morning, my intentions were good, or nearly good, I thought. The verses made me think of someone important to me; a common occurrence, I suspect, amongst us all. Nonetheless, it was a moment like my experience at the bathroom mirror. I had shifted my gaze. I was looking to see something other than me. Reading Scripture for someone else is like looking at a mirror and seeing in all the spots a reflection other than your own.

To approach God's Word with eyes searching and ears listening for anyone other than ourselves is to cease to hear and see as He intended. “Anyone who listens to the word,” writes James, “but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like” (1:23-24). The choice before us is crucial. Let us put ourselves, and our spots, in his able hands.

________

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Now Give Thought

Centuries before there was ice cream, Hollywood, or extreme sports to distract oneself from thinking, Socrates taught that the unexamined life was not worth living. His words speak into the tragedy of going through life having not pursued its meaning, remaining indifferent to truth, giving little thought to self-examination. Living the unexamined life, Socrates said facing the end of his own, is something less than living. Yet in our day, between nihilist and materialist outlooks, we seem to reflect more the attitude that life is not worth examining. Or else, we move from self-help book to self-help book, reflecting the attitude that examining life is a pastime or project.

Like Socrates, the Scriptures teach it is a way of life. Five times throughout the short book of Haggai, God implores the people of Israel to “give careful thought” to themselves, their behavior, their hearts and minds. The prophet instructs them to take stock of their lives and see the inconsistencies they were living with: “Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it'“ (1:5-6). It is far too easy to be blind to the incoherent philosophies and inconsistent ways we live with. It is far too easy to think of the examined life as something we will find time to embrace later.

The prophet Haggai wrote during a time W.H. Auden might have called, “The Time Being.” In a poem Auden writes,

To those who have seen

The Child, however dimly, however incredulously,

The Time Being is, in a sense, the most trying time of all.

Yet, it is, in a sense, the most significant time of all, particularly when it comes to living aware of self and awake to the presence of God. For the people of Israel, the time being had become the stagnant crossroad between remembering God in the past and wanting to find Him in the future. Coming out of a painful time of exile, the people immediately set up an altar remembering the Lord. Compelled by a longing to exalt the God they came to see through blinding trouble, within a year, they had laid the foundations to rebuild the temple. But when they were ordered by the Persian court to stop building, understandably, they yielded to the command. And yet, long after the opposition had subsided, they continued in their hesitation. They had become indifferent to the task they had once started with enthusiasm. They had no will, courage, or interest to set their minds to build again. Whether out of complacency, fear, or comfort, at the time being, they found themselves not ready. They wanted to finish the temple; they wanted to experience God and find Him in his sanctuary, but not yet.

Such are the ways I would rather not examine in myself. It often seems easier to avoid taking stock than to face the shelves of bankrupt longings, irrationalities, and empty motions. Yet, “we must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard,” cautions the writer of Hebrews, “so that we do not drift away” (2:1).

Whether it is the unrecognized hope in material things, the looming certainties of fear, or the undiagnosed putting off of certain questions, each is a sight barring our eyes from the present, with towering mountains of the future. “What if I fail at that job?” “Once I have this, I will be happy.” “I'll deal with that later.” Through the prophet Haggai, God stirs us back to the urgency of the present, and the call to examine our hearts before the one with whom there is no hiding. “Now give careful thought to this from this day on,” declares the LORD Almighty (2:15).

Now is when God calls. Now is when Christ carries our sorrows, or fears, or disappointment. Now is when we must respond with careful thought to our ways, and careful attention to what we have heard. For God is here. Our stories may seem bound by daily pressures, fears, and longings, but our lives are woven together with the one who promises again and again: “Return to me, and I will return to you.”

________

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Be Honest With Yourself

Psalms 51:6

“Surely you desire truth in the inner parts “ (Psalm 51:6)

Even the most casual reader of Psalm 73 cannot help but be struck by the openness and honesty of the psalmist. He says: “My feet had almost slipped ‘ for I envied the arrogant” (vv. 2-3). This again is one of the great values of the book of Psalms – it brings home to us the importance of acknowledging what is going on in our hearts when we are caught up in the midst of conflict. I cannot stress enough how spiritually damaging it is to ignore or deny our true feelings. There is a form of teaching going around in some Christian circles today which holds that one should never admit or acknowledge a negative thought or feeling – not even for a single second. Life must be lived positively, it is said, and that means refusing to consider or even glance at anything negative. What nonsense! The people who advocate this approach to life can never have read the book of Psalms. I am all for a positive approach to life, but positivism first involves facing things realistically no matter how negative they may be. How can you know what you need to be positive about until you have clearly seen what is troubling you? Once an issue is faced, and faced realistically, then the matter can and must be dealt with in a positive way. But to try and be positive without bringing into clear focus what is wrong is like building a house on sand. No matter how much cement is poured into the foundations, and no matter how well the walls are reinforced, when a storm comes it will sink without trace.

PRAYER: Father, drive this truth deeply into my spirit, for I see that it is not enough to be honest with You and others, I must also be honest with myself. Help me get there and stay there. In Jesus’ Name I ask it Amen.

FURTHER STUDY:

Proverbs 12:15-22; Leviticus 19:11; Malachi 2:6

1. What word does the Bible use for denial?

2. What delights the Lord?

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #19267]

Where Does the Fault Lie?

Isaiah 24:16

From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! — Isaiah 24:16.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. — Hag. 1:7.

We are responsible in no small degree for our sterility and barrenness. We permit the oxygen to be extracted from the atmosphere of our spiritual living, and then wonder that we should convulsively gasp for breath. We drink of the poisoned springs of unbelief, and then express surprise that the energies of our moral manhood should collapse. We permit ourselves to be despoiled of the fine gold of spiritual principles, and then flaunt our poverty before the world as a condition for which we are not responsible. We “stand in the way of sinners and sit in the seat of the scornful,” and then complain that we are not “as trees planted by the rivers of waters.” We violate every condition of spiritual growth and prosperity, and then ask with supercilious imbecility. “Has the Lord forgotten to be gracious?”

Father, I know for the grace I am seeking,

Nothing of mine can I offer to Thee;

Thou, to my sinful and sad spirit speaking,

Giving forgiveness — giv’st all things to me.

Days of Devotion

Matthew 6:16

September is a very important month for Jews and Muslims. For Jews, September contains two of their most high, holy days: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. In the original language, ROSH HASHANAH means “new year” and YOM KIPPUR means “day of atonement.” What do these days entail for Jews? This is a time for serious introspection, a time to consider the sins of the previous year and repent before Yom Kippur. The ten days starting with Rosh Hashanah and ending with Yom Kippur are commonly known as the Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim) or the Days of Repentance.(1)

These “Days of Awe” are filled with wonder and worship, days of reflection, fasting and prayer, days of solemnity and solace. These are days meant to set the tone for the rest of the year even as they remind Jews to reflect on what has gone before. Among the customs of this time, it is common to seek reconciliation with people you may have wronged during the course of the year. The Talmud maintains that Yom Kippur atones only for sins between man and God. As such, sins against persons require reconciliation with that person, righting the wrongs committed against them if possible.

Muslims similarly find September a month set apart, as it marks the month-long fast of Ramadan. Ramadan calls Muslims to concentrate on their faith and spend less time on the concerns of their everyday lives. It is meant to be a time of worship and contemplation, reflection and devotion.(2)

Reflecting upon these holidays of faiths outside my own, I realized that September is not a particularly “holy” month for Christians. We are more caught up in the beginning of the new school year, the buying of school clothes and supplies, the beginning of fall, the inevitable cooling of the air, and the changing color of the leaves -- all the seasonal reminders of the days and months of fall. Spiritual holidays for Christians don’t begin until Reformation Day or All Saints Day on November 1. Perhaps we could change this.

Examining the practices of our Jewish and Muslim neighbors, we are reminded that every day can be a day of awe and devotion for the Christian. Indeed, Jesus gave strong instruction to his listeners during the Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew’s gospel. Jesus expected that his followers would engage in on-going acts of devotion like fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. In giving instruction about HOW his disciples would fast he says, “and WHENEVER you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance in order to be seen fasting by men” (Matt. 6:16). In this same series of instructions, Jesus also assumes his followers will pray and give offerings for the poor (Matt. 6:2,5). The issue is not IF we will do these devotional acts, but WHEN we do them.

While we may have very different reasons, beliefs, and expectations than our Jewish and Muslim neighbors, there is something to learn from their special seasons of devotion to enrich and even challenge our own Christian practice. So often we neglect or altogether forget that our own acts of devotion should arise out of a loving response to what God has done on our behalf in Jesus. It is not insignificant that Jesus warned those listening to him: “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees (the religious leaders of his day), you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). Jesus demanded not just ritualistic acts of devotion, but that the intention of our hearts would be drawn to such devotion and that out of this devotion gracious acts of love and mercy would flow each and every day of the year.

While September is not filled with Christian holy days, shouldn’t we see September as an opportunity for days of devotion and awe? And not just September, but every day and month of the year? Do not miss the opportunity for your own “days of awe” choosing instead to settle for ordinary time.

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1. www.jewfaq.org

2. www.holidays.net/ramadan/story.htm

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Recovery From Ruin

Nehemiah 2:9

Sermon in Nehemiah series. Nehemiah 2:9-20

RECOVERY FROM RUIN

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I. With power and a plan.

A. Rumsfield vs. Nehemiah.

B. With power and a plan, we can turn our own lives around.

II. He inspected the damage.

A. Nehemiah wanted to know exactly what he was facing.

B. We also need to do honest self-examination.

III. He gathered support.

A. Nehemiah stated the obvious. 2:17

B. Nehemiah motivates them with disgrace. 2:17

C. The people respond.

IV. He prepared for opposition.

A. Sanballat and Tobiah mock them. 2:19

B. Opposition serves a purpose.

V. Now is the time to act.

A. Recovery is not something that should be put off.

B. "Now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor 6:2

What Do You Want?

Mark 11:27

“Wait a minute; what do I really want?” a friend asked himself in my presence as if speaking the language of epiphany. He found himself initiating new interests in things, filling his time with pastimes -- pining after that new thing that would change everything -- when suddenly he realized that there was a search behind all of his searching. Why am I doing all of these things? What am I really looking for? The questions were something of an awakening.

Someone once told me that all behavior is goal-oriented. It is a simple, but incredibly rich thought. Indeed, walking through my week with the idea in mind was as striking as it was enlightening. Looking at my words, my actions, even my prayers in light of my goal, inquiring as to the motive, I realized how easy it is to be unaware of my own heart. “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus replied to the sons of Zebedee. Sometimes we just don’t see.

As singer/songwriter Rich Mullins writes, “Everybody I know says they need just one thing/And what they really mean is that they need just one thing more.” Like my friend who found himself reacting behaviorally before examining the motivation, quite often we are unaware of what we really want, and outright startled by the invitation to see more. “What do you want?” Jesus asked the blind man calling out for him.

How do we know what we really mean, what we really want? How do we learn to see the search behind our searching? And is it always as simple as seeing? Can we always get past the layers of self to unveil our motives?

Lent, it seems, is a good time to try, even as it serves as a reminder that we sometimes cannot discern our motives, and often our own hearts deceive us. Writes C.S. Lewis, “Humans are very seldom either totally sincere or totally hypocritical. Their moods change, their motives are mixed, and they are often themselves quite mistaken as to what their motives are.”

While Jesus was walking one day in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they demanded. “And who gave you authority to do this?” (Mark 11:27-33).

Jesus replied with a question. “I will ask you one thing. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. Was John’s baptism from heaven or from men?”

The leaders discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men’ the people will react for they believe that John really was a prophet.

So they answered, ‘We don’t know.’ And Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

The exchange is a telling look at the heart of humanity. Did they see their own motives as clearly as Jesus presented them? They certainly had the capacity to reason with a goal in mind. Did they think they had out maneuvered the one before them? Or did they concede in their minds as they did in their words that Jesus was at least one step ahead of them? John reports of the one ahead of us: “Many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man” (2:23-25).

During the weeks of Lent, we are invited to prepare our hearts and minds, to examine the hidden clutter of our souls, and to see the grime and cobwebs that have accumulated. And in seeing this, we see not our need to try harder, but our dire need for the one who sees. For though there are days when I cannot even see my own motives, I can entrust myself to the one who sees me, knowing that by his grace God grants his children ears to hear and eyes to see.

Rediscovering the Wonder of God

"We need re-expression of the Christian gospel; but, maybe even more than that, we need re-realisation of the Christian gospel.

"The re-expression is not an end in itself; it is only the means towards an end, and the end is the awakened realisation of what this gospel means.

"It is when we face ourselves and face Christ, that we are lost in wonder, love and praise. We need to rediscover the almost lost discipline of self-examination; and then a re-awakened sense of sin will beget a re-awakened sense of wonder."

"Perhaps then God will no longer have to say, 'Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?'"

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Andrew Murray in "Daily Celebration"

Judging Versus Judgmentalism

John 7:53

Throughout my ministry, I have heard few verses quoted from the Bible as regularly as Matthew 7:1, which says, “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.” Even when I speak to those who know very little of the Bible’s content or redemptive story, they are able to recite this verse.

In fact, I’ve noticed that many use this verse to prevent anyone from critiquing their actions. Like Captain America’s shield or Wonder Woman’s bracelets, this verse is used to block any incoming critique.

Matthew 7:1, however, is often misunderstood and misapplied. Jesus does not mean that we should never judge someone’s behavior. He called out the Pharisees for being hypocrites (Matthew 6:2,5,16). He called some people dogs and pigs for mistreating things that are holy (Matthew 7:6). And He labels others as false teachers (Matthew 7:15). It is clear that Jesus judged others. However, He always judged righteously and correctly. He was never judgmental.

Jesus is speaking in Matthew 7 against an attitude of arrogant and self-righteous judgmentalism. He says it’s foolish to criticize the splinter in your brother’s eye when you have a beam of wood sticking out of your own eye (Matthew 7:3-5). We are using a standard against another that we do not meet nor want others to apply to us. We are being judgmental when we become, as Scottish theologian Sinclair Ferguson says, more sensitive to the sin in others than the sin in our own hearts.

How then can those of us who have been redeemed from all of our sins by the precious blood of Christ Jesus make righteous and correct judgments without wrongly being judgmental? Here are 10 practical principles we can draw from Scripture.

First, check your motives. Ask yourself, why am I thinking this thought? Have I checked my heart knowing that ultimately only God knows the motives and intentions of the heart (Proverbs 16:2; 1 Corinthians 4:3-5)?

Second, examine your own walk with the Lord. Ask, am I walking in the Spirit, characterized by a gentle spirit that is careful to monitor my own sin (Galatians 6:1-2)? Am I sensitive to the sin of others but desensitized to my own sin?

Third, before acting, seek the wisdom of God’s Word and godly counsel. God has given us His Word and His spirit-filled people to give us discernment (Proverbs 10:13, 10:14, 11:14, 15:22). However, be careful that you don’t let the search for godly counsel become an excuse to gossip.

Fourth, practice the Golden Rule. Think about how you would want to be treated if you were on the receiving end of correction (Matthew 7:12). Think about how you would want someone to pray for, love and be merciful to you.

Fifth, be careful not to make a snap decision or quick judgment. Take the time to get the facts and listen before taking action (Proverbs 18:13).

Sixth, pray for the one who appears to be caught in sin before correcting them. Prayer is a necessary starting point (James 5:15-16). We are not the Holy Spirit. Only God’s Spirit has the power to change someone.

Seventh, don’t forget the example of Jesus and how He ministered to sinners. Jesus was condemned and ridiculed for the way He cared for and loved sinners, tax collectors, pagans and the woman caught in adultery (John 7:53-8:11). This does not mean we don’t call sin “sin,” but we should always be quick to love and care for all people because this is what God, in Jesus, has done for us.

Eighth, speak the truth, but do it in love. There is a time when we need to speak against false teaching (Matthew 7:15-20) and exercise discipline for sin (Matthew 18:15-20). As Charles Spurgeon says, “After we are ourselves sanctified, we are bound to be eyes to the blind, and correctors of unholy living; but not till then.” When time comes that we need to speak, our goal should be to do so with Christ-exalting love (Ephesians 4:15), not with self-exalting pride.

Ninth, keep in mind that some things are right and wrong, but some things are just different. Be careful not to confuse what is moral with what is simply a cultural or a personality difference (Romans 14:1-6, 13-23).

Tenth, never forget that ultimately everyone must give an account to the Lord, not to us. God sees all our actions. Only He is the judge. We would be careful to not put ourselves in the place of God (Romans 14:7-12; 2 Corinthians 5:10).

All of this can be summarized by simply remembering what God, the only righteous judge, has done for you and me in the Gospel. When Christ should have given you and me what we deserve for our sin, He loved us, paying the penalty for our sins at the cross. Instead of looking down His nose at you and me, He had compassion on us because we were sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:26).

Ferguson says it perfectly, “The heart that has tasted the Lord’s grace and forgiveness will always be restrained in its judgment of others. It has seen itself deserving judgment and condemnation before the Lord and yet, instead of experiencing his burning anger, has tasted his infinite mercy.” If you and I can remember the mercy we have received from our Lord Jesus, then we will be far from judgmentalism.

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Danny Akin is president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.