Monday, July 21, 2008

Looking Inside - July 21, 2008

Good Monday morning, it's time for another week of wonderful work in Jesus! Today I am thinking of some healthy introspection. Examining one's thinking is something we do often in our Christian life. I wondered today what Jesus might say to me in the same manner as he sent messages to the seven churches in the Revelation. The part that stung the most was the part that starts out with, "but I have this against you...". The churches receiving messages of that type probably felt the sting as well. However, we are reminded strongly that we are reproved because God loves us and wants the best for us. A healthy self-examination is not a license to abuse yourself or take pot shots at your own mind. Remember first that God loves you so much that He sent His Son to die in your place. Each of us is a pearl of great price, not a charred lump of clay to be cast aside. Think of what you would do with a valuable object found in a mud puddle. You would carefully take it and do your best to clean it up. Then you would try to restore the valuable object to its rightful owner. In this same way, Jesus found us in the mud, is in the process of cleansing us, and will soon restore us to our rightful owner, the Lord God himself. The process may be painful at times; the sting of self-examination may not be comfortable, but it is necessary to our Christian health. Remember always that God loves you and that He loved you even before any cleansing began in your life. What we find in our self-examination may not be pretty, but identifying the problem is the first step in turning it over to the Holy Spirit!

God loves you and so do I!

Bucky

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