Looking Inward
Looking Inward To See Ourselves – Time To Take Out The Garbage
None of us wants to look inward at ourselves and see the bad fruits we have stored up. We like to believe that we are good people. We convince ourselves that because we do not commit criminal acts that we are good people. We also say things like, ” I’m not perfect, I make mistakes”. What’s wrong with us? We convince ourselves that we are good, yet on the other hand we are bad too.
So have we convinced ourselves that we are blameless for our actions? Do we figure we are not bad because we’re not in jail? We like to think that since we are not perfect that it’s ok to continue living the way we do. We all know that the flesh is corrupt. All the flesh thinks about is itself. It doesn’t want anything to do with the soul or the spirit (our intellect). The carnal mind is going to keep on telling us lies as long as it can get what it wants. And as long as the flesh is dominate over our spiritual side, we will keep on deceiving ourselves.
The flesh is mans downfall, it wants what the world has to offer, not what God has to offer. As long as we obey the flesh we will be bent towards the world, not walking upright like God created us. To receive what God has to offer one needs to start by denying ones self and that is like death to the flesh. So in a carnal, fleshly way we pursue sensual pleasures, or things that gratify our appetites. Problem is that something is missing: “God”. You could go to church all week, volunteer, study your bible, etc., etc., but as long as your flesh is dominate you have no life in Christ. Mark 8: 34 – 37.
Who do you worship, God or the world and the things that belong to it? You can’t have both. Although many people think they can. One of the problems is, is that as long as we can’t see any wrong in what we are doing than it must be ok, right? Wrong. We are completely blind to these things because we are still carnal. We have not awakened the soul and spirit yet. The only way to awaken our spiritual side is by denying ourselves and following Jesus to the tomb (this is not the baptism of water).
The water baptism is a baptism that is a pledge made to God from a good conscience. After we die in Christ we then can be reborn to our true spiritual selves. This is the spiritual revolution that begins to take place. The flesh doesn’t understand what’s going on. The light of faith is darkness to the flesh. The flesh no longer has control of its normal faculties. This is where the battle begins.
In order to help reach this point we need to look inward. We need to acknowledge our sins. 1John 1: 8, 9 ‘If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity’. In order to acknowledge our sins we need to turn to Jesus for His help. Remember, we need to first deny ourselves, which means we need to want to give up our old ways of living, all of it,a nd pick up our cross. We will need it to nail the flesh upon it.
Jesus is the way, follow Him. This is what He meant when He said,’ The road is long and narrow and few find it’. It’s not a matter of finding it, it’s right in front of you. You need to be willing to get on this road at all costs, no matter what tests and trials come up. It’s not a road for the lazy ones or the ones of the world. It’s for people who want to be known as a child of God.
If you can turn your eyes inward and with all sincerity and honesty and willingness to clean yourself up, Jesus will be there to help you. He will even bring forth the sins you forgot. It is a deep and serious cleansing. The sins we remember and the ones shown to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we need to write them down. You can put them in categories like: greed, lusts, sloth, impatience, anger, resentments, envy, gluttony and jealousy. It’s going to take some time to do this, so don’t rush it. It’s a wonderful learning experience as well.
After you have written all this down, you need to take it someone who is experienced in this type of confession. So that you two can talk about what you have written and pray together for your forgiveness. In James 5: 16 it says, ‘ So confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another and this will cure you’. No denying this scripture. I’ve been in alot of different churches and I don’t know why they don’t teach this. Could be because we’re lacking in spiritual teachers and preachers. Too many taught by man and not by the Lord. Also this is not a subject that would tickle people’s ears.
I’m going to give you a testimony if I may of my experience of this type of confession. I’m only telling this to show you truth in the scriptures of the importance of a true, all out confession and to glorify God bless His heart and soul. When I learned of this type of confession and decided to do it because I was willing to do anything and everything in my walk with Jesus to grow spiritually and learn to do what’s right in the eyes of God.
When I took all my papers that I had written all my sins on to a minister that was familiar with this type of confession, we talked about everything and he even asked questions about things he didn’t see on the papers. Then we prayed. After we were done, I felt so renewed and pure inside I cannot even begin to explain how beautiful it was.
After I had left, I ran into some people I knew and they asked me what was going on. I said,” What do you mean?”. They said that I had this glow about me. I told them what I had just done. I could see in their faces that they were just in awe by seeing this radiance of light glowing from my body. From my head to my toes I was in such a wonderful state of overwhelming… I’m sorry but I just can’t find the words to describe it. I don’t think there are any.
This is what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is about, I know that for sure. After your confession there is one more thing for you to do. Make amends to the people you have resentments towards and people you have hurt and done wrong to. If you would like a suggestion on how to find out who would be a good person to do a confession with please e-mail me at: thetruth@itrustgodonly.com. May God Bless You Dearly.
Humility and Pride
Humility Is The Opposite Of Pride
Luke 2:7 And she gave birth to a son, her first-born. She wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them at the inn. This is a true act of humility. God could have provided all the comforts of home for Joseph, Mary and Jesus, but He didn’t. Reason: God had to show the world that He loves us just as much as He loves His son. Also, Jesus wouldn’t be able to preach and teach about humility, if God didn’t practice it Himself. By this act, God showed us that He didn’t place His son above all of us.
We see what it looks like for a person to exalt themselves above others. We don’t seem to like them very much do we? Practicing humility is a difficult thing to do. It means shutting down our pride. Being humble doesn’t make one a wimp. It actually makes one stronger, because they can handle anything that comes at them. We have to place ourselves lower than everyone else. We are not better than the next guy or even holier, no matter how spiritual we become.
It’s not a good idea to interfere with the affairs of others in such a way that you become overbearing. To think one knows what’s best for someone is like you wanting to control their life at that time. We can’t think that we know what’s best for others. We could hurt them or even steer them in the wrong direction. We have to humble ouselves and depend on the Holy Trinity to show us what to do to become righteous people. If we don’t even know what’s best for us, how could we even know what’s good for others? We need to lower ourselves enough to give up our will and let God’s will take over. You may not see these things now, but if you keep practicing humility, you will.
One of the things that really hurts our pride is being accused of doing something wrong that we know we didn’t do. We are quick to get upset, possibly even to the point of rage. We need to be calm and patient. We know that we didn’t do what we were accused of. There’s no sense in stirring ourself up inside. We will become like a stormy ocean. It disrupts that inner peace we had. It can cause resentment towards the accuser. We will carry this accusation and resentment around with us until it is resolved.
Don’t let these things bother you, it’s one of satan’s handy works. He wants you to be disrupted and without peace, it clouds your mind, so you can’t dwell on God. We don’t need to worry about what people are saying about us or what they’re trying to do to us. It’s always a good thing to be persecuted in the name of the Lord. It brings glory to God when you show people what a good and strong soldier you are of His. God will set things right, have faith.
Don’t ever think that because you work harder than everybody else or you’ve been somewhere (chuch,work,etc.,) longer, or your position is higher that you have special rights. Be humble and don’t cause a fuss. You might think that whatever the situation is, is that you deserve recognition more then anyone or that you have special rights. Remember that you gave your will over to God, (or maybe you took it back) and He is in charge of your life, so maybe He just doesn’t want you in that position. It very well could prove to be disastrous for you. God probably has other plans for you. Did you stop and think that God might be putting the other person there for a reason? We have to stop looking at things with our own carnal eyes and start or even try to see them through God’s eyes. If we really trust God, then let’s TRUST HIM!!!
We need to drop the I, the me, the mine, it’s not about us. We have to keep a low profile, almost like we’re non-existent. Don’t push our interests on others, be a good listener. You might find that by listening to others they might open the door for you to be able to talk about God with them. Also, by listening to others, they might say something that might help you. Chit-chat has no value to it at all. It’s a waste of time, time that we need to use to pray, to be with God or to work on ourselves. So don’t talk unless you are asked to or unless you have to. You can judge for yourself the difference between talk with value and idle chit-chat. Same with excessive laughter. Restrain yourself from laughter, it’s foolish merriment.
Authority is one of the things we don’t like. Reason: because they can controll us and or we have to do as they say whether we like it or not. The Lord controlls all authority. Don’t resent any kind of authority, they’re there for a reason. Do as Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2:1-3 ‘My advice is that, first of all, there should be prayers offered to everyone – petitions, intercessions and thanksgiving – and especially for kings and others in authority, so that we may be able to live religious and reverent lives in peace and quiet. To do this is right and will please God our Saviour.’ To be in conflict with another, is not a happy experience. It makes one miserable and unpleasent. So let it go don’t add fuel to the fire. Keep silent and the Lord will fight for you.
Prayer is the answer. Let the Lord do what He needs to do and don’t butt into His business, we have enough business of our own to tend to. It seems like when we do our will (which is our way of thinking) it’s just full of the things God despises. If we want to clean ourselves up we need to do a confession (please read “Confession”) so that we can learn about ourselves and see the things we are doing that offends God. Once we learn about sin and see its ugliness, we will be able to work on ourselves, to overcome our will and take on God’s will. It’s not a verbal thing, it has to come from your heart. Jesus will show you your sins if you are willing. You can see them now or later. It would be better that you clean yourself up now. It’ll be too late later.
Once we have made a confession, we will need to keep an eye on ourselves constantly, so that we don’t fall backwards. Be really careful not to get to comfortable with where you are spiritually. Your soul will be like a place without a watchman, robbers and thieves will steal you blind. Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself for us in order to set us free from all wickedness and to purify a people so that it could be His very own and would have no ambition except to do good.
The only one we need to be concerned about pleasing is God. He is our Father and our Creator. He can give us life or He can give us death. He would much rather give us life or He wouldn’t have sent us His blessed son Jesus Christ. So let us ask the Lord to help us remove our pride and clothe us with humility. Be Humble. It’s not what others can do for you, it’s what can you do to help others.
Acknowledge Your Sins
Pray For Forgiveness
1John 1:8,9 – If we say we have no sin in us, we are deceiving ourselves and refusing to admit the truth; but if we acknowledge our sins, then God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and purify us from everything that is wrong.
How come many churches don’t teach confession? Could it be because they don’t know how? Could it be because they are afraid of losing people in their congregation? Could it be because they are afraid to lay themselves open to another human being? If you want to walk with Jesus along that long and narrow path with your cross, then you are going to have to do it His way.
In Mark 1:5 and Matthew 3:6, People that came to be baptized, also confessed their sins. They didn’t do it behind closed doors and in silence or even ‘ Please God forgive me of my sins.’ They confessed their sins, not one sin, but all their sins, openly to another human being. By confessing your sins to another person honestly and sincerely, we are confirming to God and to ourselves that we are being honest. It’s a deep cleansing that we need to do.
In James 5:16 he tells us to confess our sins one to another. You can try to avoid it all you want, but by not doing this, how do you ever expect to grow spiritually? When you walk with the Lord, you don’t get to pick and choose what you want to do. Either you are going to walk with Him and do it His way or you can travel the highway with the others. It’s all about being submissive.
Pride and fear are basically the two strongholds that keep people from doing this type of confession. Looking inward at oneself and admitting to another their darkest, most inner secrets is not an easy task, but we need to do it. Believe me that when it’s over you will not regret what you did. The blessing you will receive is unspeakable. The load of carrying all that darkness around will be lifted. You need to unload this darkness, it hinders your spiritual growth.
I’ve tried telling people about confession and it seems like nobody wants to hear it. How can anybody who says they have accepted Jesus Christ in their hearts and yet, don’t want to do one of things that He came here to teach us about that would save our souls? Was Jesus’ death on the cross in vain for you? Because He was the sacrifice, and not animals like in the past, we don’t have to do that any more. If we would just confess our sins, we can be forgiven of them, not in the past where the blood of the animals just covered over the sins. You don’t want to die with all that darkness that still lies hidden in you.
On judgment day it will be to late, your past will be laid out in the open and you will be judged by it. 1 John 1:8,9 If we say we have no sin in us, we are deceiving ourselves and refusing to admit the truth; but if we acknowledge our sins, then God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and purify us from everything that is wrong. Bless His heart and soul. “Confess” : acknowledge. “Acknowledge” : recognize: accept as truth. Show that one has noticed. Please read – “Confession”
May God Bless You
Visitors
Front Page- The World
Reccommended Books
