Examine Yourself
Are you ready for an examination? This examination will not hurt you, and you can make a passing grade of an “A” every time because your teacher is the Holy Spirit.
We are to allow the Lord to examine our hearts and tell us what adjustments we need to make so that we have clean hearts and right attitudes. It is so important to keep our hearts clean. We bathe our bodies every day; we wash our clothes; we wash our dishes after using them; we wash our vehicles; we clean up our yards. I find it rather interesting that we make sure that all of our earthly possessions are clean, yet sometimes we neglect to keep our hearts clean.
What do I mean by a clean heart? Obviously, we are not talking about our physical blood pump, but we are speaking of that inner man where our spirit is housed. There are a tremendous number of scriptures on the heart. Let’s explore several of them to see what we can uncover. Psalm 51:10“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 19:14: “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”
If we examine ourselves with Colossians 3, we see what is contained in the clean heart of a child of God. We set our affections or our minds on things which are above and not things on this earth. We deprive the sins of fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil unholy desires and covetousness from our bodies, for that is idolatry. We put away from ourselves anger, rage, bad feelings toward others, blasphemy, filthy communication, and lying. We put on mercy, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, being kind and forgiving to one another (even if we have a complaint against someone). Above everything, we put on love and let the peace of God rule in our hearts. We let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom and teach one another in spiritual hymns and songs with grace in our hearts. We do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.
What I very quickly want to point out here is that we sometimes must do these things by faith, because, as God’s children, we have been made pure by the blood of Jesus. The place we experience difficulty is in our soul (minds, wills, emotions). The soul is that part of us which needs continual monitoring by the Word of God. Our minds have to be renewed with the Word of God daily. Our emotions have to be held in rein by the fruit of the spirit. Our wills have to be conformed to God’s will every day. Here is the area of challenge for all of us. As long as we live in these physical bodies on this earth, we must allow the power of the Holy Spirit and His Word to keep us. It is a daily process.
2 Cor. 13:5, Amplified Bible
Examine and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your faith and showing the proper fruits of it….
It’s a daily examination. The Holy Spirit is our teacher and guide and it’s an open-book exam. Open the book (Bible) and read and answer the questions. They are not difficult. You will make an “A” every time.
We are to allow the Lord to examine our hearts and tell us what adjustments we need to make so that we have clean hearts and right attitudes. It is so important to keep our hearts clean. We bathe our bodies every day; we wash our clothes; we wash our dishes after using them; we wash our vehicles; we clean up our yards. I find it rather interesting that we make sure that all of our earthly possessions are clean, yet sometimes we neglect to keep our hearts clean.
What do I mean by a clean heart? Obviously, we are not talking about our physical blood pump, but we are speaking of that inner man where our spirit is housed. There are a tremendous number of scriptures on the heart. Let’s explore several of them to see what we can uncover. Psalm 51:10“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 19:14: “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”
If we examine ourselves with Colossians 3, we see what is contained in the clean heart of a child of God. We set our affections or our minds on things which are above and not things on this earth. We deprive the sins of fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil unholy desires and covetousness from our bodies, for that is idolatry. We put away from ourselves anger, rage, bad feelings toward others, blasphemy, filthy communication, and lying. We put on mercy, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, being kind and forgiving to one another (even if we have a complaint against someone). Above everything, we put on love and let the peace of God rule in our hearts. We let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom and teach one another in spiritual hymns and songs with grace in our hearts. We do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.
What I very quickly want to point out here is that we sometimes must do these things by faith, because, as God’s children, we have been made pure by the blood of Jesus. The place we experience difficulty is in our soul (minds, wills, emotions). The soul is that part of us which needs continual monitoring by the Word of God. Our minds have to be renewed with the Word of God daily. Our emotions have to be held in rein by the fruit of the spirit. Our wills have to be conformed to God’s will every day. Here is the area of challenge for all of us. As long as we live in these physical bodies on this earth, we must allow the power of the Holy Spirit and His Word to keep us. It is a daily process.
2 Cor. 13:5, Amplified Bible
Examine and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your faith and showing the proper fruits of it….
It’s a daily examination. The Holy Spirit is our teacher and guide and it’s an open-book exam. Open the book (Bible) and read and answer the questions. They are not difficult. You will make an “A” every time.
posted by Rev. Kialeen Potterton @ 1:10 PM
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