Living in the 3rd Person (part 1) Self-Examination, Pastor Calvin Bergsma (www.GCFchurch.net) скачать в хорошем качестве

Living in the 3rd Person (part 1) Self-Examination, Pastor Calvin Bergsma (www.GCFchurch.net)

LIVING IN THE 3RD PERSON (part 1) 'Self-Examination' is a call to objectively view ourselves and our interpersonal relations - to see ourselves as others see us. 2 Corinthians 13:5 tells us to "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith." • Do you know what you look like? Romans 12:3 "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you." Psalm 139:23-24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way." • Self-examination should be a lifestyle, not a one-time exercise. • Our human nature avoids self-examination; it prefers to view life in the 1st person. We tend to trust our perspective above all others. Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is more deceitful than all else, and is desperately wicked; Who can know it?” The Human heart secretly craves a mirror like the wicked queen in the fairy tale Snow White that flatters her, saying, "You are the fairest of them all." Rather than obeying the Scriptures that tell us to Examine yourselves using the mirror of God’s Word. The Mirror of God's Word mixes love and truth, not only pointing out what needs to be changed or adjusted, but also giving us the answers and the power to change. The Scriptures give us the encouragement and faith to NOT ONLY succeed BUT truly shine. Philippians 2:13-15 “For it is God who is working in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and arguing: so you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” What I see in my bathroom mirror… can still scare me. We all need work. • But what I see in the reflection of God's Word tells me that’s OK. • There is still much more that He will show me, more things that need to be done, “in the extreme makeover of the inner me.” But I am confident that God will finish what He started. Though He loves me just the way I am, He loves you and me too much to leave us that way. Philippians 1:6 “I’m confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”