July 28, 2010 Tests 3

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in faith; test yourselves.

Praise the Lord it is Salvation Wednesday... I am so sorry I am late today, I had a funeral to pastor this morning early and when I got home we had two families that needed food, so we packed that out for them. Well, how are you folks today? Someday you need to just send me a note and tell me.

Today is the day, Salvation Wednesday, that we pray for the lost and ask God to use us to help bring them in. I do pray that you are not lost today.

Tests 3: 2 Corinthians 13:5 - Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you----unless, of course, you fail the test?

While Paul was writing this to the Corinthians, it fits us well today. Test yourselves, Paul said, to see if Christ really is within you, and He is unless you failed the test. Gosh, back when I was in school I wish I would have had teachers say to me, test yourself, Danny, or better yet, along the same order, grade your own test. How long has it been since you looked deep into your heart, real deep, and see what God sees? Do we say, hey I am doing great, I love the Lord and I know He loves me, and yet while you believe that there are folks in your life you can't stand and your hate for them stands out so plain to others, and that would also include God. We really do need to take a deep look into our hearts and minds, and maybe we should sit down and go over God's commands and also His commandments. Example might be, do we love our neighbors, all of them, or is there one that really tests us? How about some other commands of God or commandments, there is a difference. Like we have the ten commandments, and the two great commandments, and we have those commands or orders, like go into the fields of harvest and tell the good news. I am going to be brief today (ok, who said praise the Lord) for today I want you to test yourself, give yourself a deep deep look in the mirror. You say that you fully love the Lord, and that you live daily without sin. Look deeper, my brothers and sisters. How bad is it, how long since you opened your Bible, how long since you went to church, how long since you really took time to talk to God? Did you pass the test, if you did was the score just 70? Back in school I would pass by the skin on my teeth, today I would really like to get a good mark on my test. A self-exam might be very hard to do, we might be too hard on ourselves or maybe too soft. Maybe we forget things. We might say, hey, Lord, look at me, I am really trying hard to be right up there, but the next day as we leave work we think, I need some computer paper, some paper clips and a roll or two of tape and into the purse they go. We forget that the commandments are strict, they are black and white with no gray areas. You know how on some jobs and even in laws, there are gray areas. A person is speeding, same type car, same police officer, same speed amount over the speed limit, and one gets a fine and the other a warning. The commandments are to the point and we need to listen to them. And when we are judged on them we all will be judged the same way. We need to test ourselves as God looks at us, if we broke one of the commandments or commands we need to ask God to forgive us, then we need to forgive ourselves and get on with doing better. Some might think they do nothing wrong or little wrong, when in fact they need to look deeper. Today, take that good deep look into your heart, and say, am I living the best I can for Jesus and do I pass the test? I pray you do, and folks, I am going to take the same test today. Am I doing it right for Jesus? Some days I think I could do a whole lot better.

Dear Lord, today I want to take a self test to find out if I am doing right for You. But Lord, when I took those self tests in school or those tests where we could correct our own paper, Lord I cheated on them, and today I do not want to cheat on You. I have done that before in my life, and it was wrong then. Even teachers said if we cheated on them we would pay later and they were correct. Lord, from now on in my life I want to get it right for You and I need your help doing it. I know, Lord, this prayer is more about me, but Lord, I think You wanted it to be that way. Lord, I pray others might find themselves today, others might test themselves today. In the name of Jesus, I ask that You put me to work helping to bring in the lost, and Lord, I pray that I am not at all lost, that my love for You is real as I feel it is. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Folks, is my message messed up today? If so, I am sorry, I am tired and as I am typing I am also trying to look deep into my own heart, giving myself that test I am talking about, that self test.
Go forth now in peace, and may the God of peace go with you and may you share those blessings that He gives you along the way. Love ya, Pastor Dan.