2020-11-26
Psalm 25:15 NIV
Hannah Whitall Smith writes: ‘It is no use for us to examine self, and tinker with it in hope of improving it. The thing the Lord wants us to do is to get rid of it.’
In the process of examining ourselves and feeling miserable when we don’t measure up to God’s standards, we’re inclined to think that we’re being humble, honest, and spiritual. But the only spiritual and safe way to handle our fleshly nature is to ignore it, and anchor our attention and expectations exclusively on God.
David understood how this principle worked: ‘My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare.’ Looking at our own ‘snare’ (our old nature) that we’re tangled in won’t free us from the trap. We’ll just end up getting even more entangled. Only God, together with our cooperation, can release us from the trap of our fleshly nature. This old nature is determined to hold our attention and keep us caught, so we need to constantly remind ourselves to look to God and the freedom He brings. Keeping our ‘eyes…ever on the LORD’ is His way of giving us the victory.
Here’s something else that David said on the subject: ‘I keep my eyes always on the LORD…I will not be shaken…You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand’ (Psalm 16:8-11 NIV).
Our job is easy to explain and understand, but not necessarily easy to do. It’s to ignore our fleshly cravings and stay focused on Jesus. His job is to transform us by His mighty power.
2 Chr 25-28; John 13:31-38; Ps 118:1-9; Prov 27:23-27
2020-11-25
Ephesians 4:22 NLT
God expects us to work on growth and self-improvement, but just as examining ourselves too much is unproductive, so is trying to change if it keeps us self-focused and defeated. The Bible’s path to change is to turn away from self and focus on Christ. Paul wrote: ‘We all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit’ (2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV).
God wants to transform our characters. All the self-improvement strategies we could try by ourselves can’t transform our old natures. Only God, ‘by the Spirit’, can change our characters and make us more Christlike. As we ‘contemplate the Lord’s glory’ by spending time with Him and reading His Word, we become ‘transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory’ – in other words, little by little, we become more like Him.
It doesn’t matter how determined we are to change our nature, if we haven’t involved God, it won’t happen. We need His grace for lasting change. Paul wrote: ‘Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.’ No altering, adjusting, or patching-up – we must ‘throw it off’ completely, and accept the new nature and new way of living that God has for us. As we focus on Christ and draw closer to Him, we’re released from the hold of our old nature and grow into your new one. We’re transformed – from the inside out.
2 Chr 22-24; John 13:18-30; Ps 114; Prov 27:20-22
2020-11-24
Luke 12:37 NKJV
When dealing with self-focus, we might ask, ‘What about Scriptures that tell us to stay alert? Aren’t they reminding us to keep an eye on ourselves?’ That’s a good question, so let’s take a look at some of those passages that tell us to watch and stay alert.
In Mark 13:34-37 we read: ‘A man going to a far country…left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming – in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning – lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!’ (NKJV). What Jesus was teaching here is the opposite of self-focus. The doorkeeper wasn’t to watch himself, but to watch for his returning master.
Jesus expects us to forget ourselves, work conscientiously for His kingdom, and be watching and prepared for His return. He said, ‘They will be blessed when their master comes home, because he sees that they were watching. I tell you the truth, the master will dress himself to serve and tell the servants to sit at the table, and he will serve them.’
Far from obsessive self-introspection that leaves us exhausted, discouraged, and disappointed with ourselves, Jesus wants us to be excited and involved in His work here on earth, to actively watch for the coming again of your Lord and King. ‘Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other’ (Isaiah 45:22 NLT). So let’s lift our eyes from ourselves, and instead look to God.
2 Chr 19-21; John 13:1-17; Ps 95; Prov 27:17-19
2020-11-23
2 Corinthians 13:5 NIV
Self-focus isn’t necessarily bad if it helps our spiritual growth. 2 Corinthians 13:5 tells us: ‘Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves’ (NIV). We might ask ourselves questions like ‘Do I measure up to God’s standards? Have I truly repented? Do I pray enough? Is God pleased with me?’ The truth is, turning the focus on ourselves can leave us feeling discouraged and defeated. So what’s the right way to examine ourselves? How does God want us to do it? There are only two mentions of self-examination in Scripture, and neither teaches us to indulge in too much self-focus.
First, Paul challenged the Corinthians about tolerating sin in their church. A man was having an affair with his stepmother and no one seemed bothered by it. And because they had ‘not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they…indulged’ (2 Corinthians 12:21 NIV), Paul wrote, ‘Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith.’ This isn’t an invitation to self-focus, but a spiritual check-up to see if our faith is genuine and we’re living God’s way.
Second, Paul corrected the Corinthians’ behaviour during the Lord’s Supper. Because some were getting drunk on communion wine, he said, ‘Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup’ (1 Corinthians 11:28 NIV). Paul’s not suggesting we should become fixated on our flaws, but on the liberating truth that Jesus paid the price for all our sin – past, present, and future. The Bible says: ‘Let us look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect’ (Hebrews 12:2 NCV). We’ll find growth, joy, and victory when we abandon unhealthy self-focus and stay Christ-focused.
2 Chr 16-18; John 12:37-50; Ps 102:18-28; Prov 27:13-16
2020-11-22
Psalm 34:8 NCV
The psalmist said, ‘Examine and see how good the LORD is.’ Let’s think about what it means to be ‘good’. Among other things, it means to be virtuous, righteous, honourable, to live according to certain morals and standards, and to have integrity.
A good God can’t break His promise, abandon His children, or fail to love and bless them. Because of God’s goodness, we can be sure that in every circumstance, He’ll treat us in the best possible way. Because of God’s goodness, we can experience security, peace, confidence, and joy greater than any we’ve known before.
When life seems to be falling apart, it can be difficult to see God’s goodness or feel that things will get better. That’s when we must use the faith God has already given us, and make the choice to trust Him (see Romans 12:3). When a plant starts growing, it has to break through the hard seed encasing it, and then push its way through the soil to break through to the surface. Without undergoing these stages, when its world literally breaks apart, a tiny seedling could never grow into a strong, healthy plant. So when we’re facing trials, let’s embrace God’s will, because it’s ‘good and acceptable and perfect’ (Romans 12:2 ESV), even if it’s uncomfortable for a while, and work towards our breakthrough moment. Ultimately, we’ll ‘see how good the Lord is. Happy is the person who trusts in him’.
The things we believe about God are revealed in the way we live our lives, so let’s trust Him, love Him, and believe that He’s good all the time, and allow His goodness and love to shine through us every day.
Gen 24:1-51; 2 Cor 6:14-7:1
2020-11-21
Mark 5:19 NKJV
Have you ever been having such a great time somewhere, or with someone, that you never wanted to leave? That’s how the man in Mark chapter 5 felt after Jesus healed him from a life of torment. He wanted to travel with Jesus, listen to His teachings, witness His miracles, and enjoy His company. But Jesus told him to go home and tell His family what God had done for him.
God doesn’t want us to live separate from the rest of the world or keep things to ourselves. After we’ve received a blessing or miracle from God, we need to take what we’ve received and share it with others. The man in Mark 5 had spent years living in a graveyard. He had been ‘crying out and cutting himself with stones’ (v.5 NKJV). Now the crowd saw him ‘sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind’ (Luke 8:35 NKJV). And that’s how it works for us when we cry out to Him for help.
First Jesus clothes us in His righteousness, then He calls us. Paul wrote, ‘Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun’ (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT). ‘Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life’ (1 Corinthians 15:22 NLT). And when we’ve received our new life, we need to tell others about God’s goodness, so they can also make the choice to cry out to God and receive salvation and new life.
2 Chr 12-15; John 12:20-36; Ps 102:12-17; Prov 27:10-12
