homesick
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
John Wesley's self-examination questions
Caren passed these on to me earlier this year, and I forgot how good they were until I saw the bookmark today. Hope these help you in your battle against sin and fight to know, love, and savor Him above all else.
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. Do I confidentially pass on to others what has been said to me in confidence?
3. Can I be trusted?
4. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work or habits?
5. Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?
6. Did the Bible live in me today?
7. Do I give the Bible time to speak to me every day?
8. Am I enjoying prayer?
9. When did I last speak to someone else of my faith?
10. Do I pray about the money I spend?
11. Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?
12. Do I disobey God in anything?
13. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
14. Am I defeated in any part of my life?
15. Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful?
16. How do I spend my spare time?
17. Am I proud?
18. Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican?
19. Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I doing about it?
20. Do I grumble or complain constantly?
21. Is Christ real to me?
"Encourage one another daily . . . so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." -- Hebrews 3:13
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. Do I confidentially pass on to others what has been said to me in confidence?
3. Can I be trusted?
4. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work or habits?
5. Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?
6. Did the Bible live in me today?
7. Do I give the Bible time to speak to me every day?
8. Am I enjoying prayer?
9. When did I last speak to someone else of my faith?
10. Do I pray about the money I spend?
11. Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?
12. Do I disobey God in anything?
13. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
14. Am I defeated in any part of my life?
15. Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful?
16. How do I spend my spare time?
17. Am I proud?
18. Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican?
19. Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I doing about it?
20. Do I grumble or complain constantly?
21. Is Christ real to me?
"Encourage one another daily . . . so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." -- Hebrews 3:13
Thursday, March 3, 2011
when Peter realized how much he loved Jesus
from today's Utmost:
Peter now realizes that he does love Him, due to the revelation that came with the Lord’s piercing question. The Lord’s next point is— “Pour yourself out. Don’t testify about how much you love Me and don’t talk about the wonderful revelation you have had, just ’Feed My sheep.’ ”
Yesterday's Utmost was about Peter's profound realization of his love for Jesus through Jesus' deeply piercing questions. I don't fully understand this (and probably won't until it happens to me), but I'm hoping that eventually Jesus will make me as sure of my love for Him as Peter was, and there will be no need for proof, only a passion to feed His sheep. I'm hoping too that God will help me, so prone to both haste and laziness, to discern the difference between loving with His love and loving with my own. I am probably going to fail at this many, many times. :P In the mean time though, I'll do my best.
Peter now realizes that he does love Him, due to the revelation that came with the Lord’s piercing question. The Lord’s next point is— “Pour yourself out. Don’t testify about how much you love Me and don’t talk about the wonderful revelation you have had, just ’Feed My sheep.’ ”
Yesterday's Utmost was about Peter's profound realization of his love for Jesus through Jesus' deeply piercing questions. I don't fully understand this (and probably won't until it happens to me), but I'm hoping that eventually Jesus will make me as sure of my love for Him as Peter was, and there will be no need for proof, only a passion to feed His sheep. I'm hoping too that God will help me, so prone to both haste and laziness, to discern the difference between loving with His love and loving with my own. I am probably going to fail at this many, many times. :P In the mean time though, I'll do my best.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
knowledge is essential but not sufficient
teach me to love.
teach me to love truth, love people, and to never see those as two separate things, but rather the same thing.
because if I loved people so little before, can I really say that I ever loved truth?
teach me to love truth, love people, and to never see those as two separate things, but rather the same thing.
because if I loved people so little before, can I really say that I ever loved truth?
Let the Spirit lead
How easy it is to jump to conclusions about what God wants, what He willed/wills, where we are in our walks with Him. How easy it is, like Brother Stearns shared, to be deceived by our own heart (Jer. 17:9) into thinking that a sacrifice that appears noble is true obedience to Him. And how easy it is, with the impatience of Saul, to take the reins when it feels like the Spirit won't be showing up any time soon.
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no human mind has conceived. So we cleave to You in Your perfect mercy (not getting what we deserve) and grace (getting what we do not deserve).
“If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here."
And,
"Lord, if it's you, [...]* tell me to come to you on the water."
It's another laying it all down on the altar, minute by minute, hour by hour. And it starts with sometimes choosing silence over music, resisting the snooze button, resisting Facebook, saying hi, holding back on the snarky comment, making that phone call, finishing this paper, keeping my word even if it doesn't seem to matter much (I AM SO BAD AT THIS). The small, mundane, unseen (by men) things.
You are worthy of every last little scrap.
-------------
*I learned to use this, like, just one or two hours ago. Are there always supposed to be brackets around the three dots? Have they been teaching me the wrong thing all throughout high school? Whaaat :P
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no human mind has conceived. So we cleave to You in Your perfect mercy (not getting what we deserve) and grace (getting what we do not deserve).
“If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here."
And,
"Lord, if it's you, [...]* tell me to come to you on the water."
It's another laying it all down on the altar, minute by minute, hour by hour. And it starts with sometimes choosing silence over music, resisting the snooze button, resisting Facebook, saying hi, holding back on the snarky comment, making that phone call, finishing this paper, keeping my word even if it doesn't seem to matter much (I AM SO BAD AT THIS). The small, mundane, unseen (by men) things.
You are worthy of every last little scrap.
-------------
*I learned to use this, like, just one or two hours ago. Are there always supposed to be brackets around the three dots? Have they been teaching me the wrong thing all throughout high school? Whaaat :P
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