This morning when I was in prayer about my entry, I saw this
interesting vision. I could clearly see my surroundings and then a face popped
up and looked right at me. She stared at me as though she was trying to
memorize my face. It was an in depth study. The woman staring at me was me. When I sat down to write, all I heard was “Show
me me”.
I kind of took a deep breath. One of my prayers has always been that I would be
able to see myself and not think so highly of myself that I can’t recognize
when I have gotten off track or done something wrong. I’m not talking about
having low self-esteem but rather self-examination. It’s so easy to get caught up in what other
people are doing wrong that we don’t take the time to self-examine. Over time,
I’ve begun to recognize it as God wanting me to be my best. How about you?
I love the writings of Paul! Some of it comes from my mama,
who would regularly preach from his writings when I was growing up. But mostly
it comes from the fact that he was real! He wanted everyone to live their best
life and he wasn’t afraid to tell you the truth. Today I was led to 2
Corinthians 13 where Paul is talking to the Corinthians yet again about living
with holiness and the consequences of constant sin. As I
was reading the chapter, things started becoming clearer. Verse 5 says “Test yourselves to make sure you are solid
in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves
regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay that Jesus
Christ is in you.“(MSG) Have you had a checkup lately? Are you living off
of a deliverance from 2 years ago and not moving forward? Have you gone
backwards in your commitment to reading your Bible and praying? Every now and
then, we have to look at self and see what might be lacking and ask God to
strengthen us in those areas.
Anyone that has read
this blog for any length of time knows how much I hate the devil and all his
busy work. I’m notorious for saying “the devil”. However, I recognize that it’s
not always the devil, sometimes it’s us! Can you recognize when your choices
and words have caused something to happen in your life? That’s one of the
greatest benefits of God showing you yourself. You can repent for things before
the devil is allowed to take them to the next level. Proverbs 18:21, one of my
favorite bible verses, says “Death and
life are in the power of the tongue and they that love it will eat the fruit
thereof.”(KJV) We have to look at the things that are coming out of our
mouths. If I always say that my husband will never be saved, that death talk
doesn’t encourage him to come to church and get saved. If I constantly say that
I am broke, wealth is not inspired to come my way. I have to take some time and
look at my life and see what I might be doing or saying that is keeping me from
moving where I want to go and then ask God to fix it.
It’s so easy to blame someone else or point out other people’s
issues. We can all witness to that! The hard part is looking at you and seeing
the fault or the issue. It can hurt to recognize that some of your problems lie
with you. But once you get in the habit of looking at yourself, others don’t
hold that power over you. God wants us all to be whole and that takes honesty…honesty
with self and with God! I often find
myself in my prayer closet, asking God to show me myself and it isn’t always
pretty but in the end, I am grateful. I don’t want to walk around oblivious to
something I am doing or have done. I’m not giving the devil any openings. I’m
not going to give him the pleasure of staying blinded to things that can be
changed or fixed. It’s time to take the power back. Remember what Jesus said in his prayer to God
about His disciples shortly before He was crucified. He said, “Sanctify them by
your truth. Your word is truth.” (John 17:17 NKJV)He wants that for all of us. That we walk in
truth and awareness…
At the end of the 2 Corinthians 13, Paul encourages the
Corinthians as I want to encourage you! Take the challenge of a little self-examination
and see if you don’t feel lighter and ready to move forward in victory! “And that's about it, friends. Be cheerful.
Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be
agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure…The
amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the
intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.” (2 Cor. 13:
11, 14 MSG)
AMEN
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