Examine

Lets Examine: Luke 14

• Before Building:

 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— 29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? 31 Or 

• Before Waging War:

what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

• Tasteless Salt Is Worthless

34 “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? 35 It is neither fit for the land nor for the [g]dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Lets Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to teach us: 

• Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭23‬-‭24‬

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

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• Psalms‬ ‭51‬:‭10‬, ‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭

Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.

There is a form of Christianity that is counterfeit. There are false teachers and fake Christians who "have a form of godliness, but deny its power." as mentioned in 2 Timothy 3. While they seem genuine, they fall short of Biblical Christianity. Peter describes those who aren't growing and maturing as "Short-sighted and blind" They might look sound and even think they are faithful Christians, when they're not 

2Peter:1:810

8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither [a]barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;

2 Timothy 3:

Perilous Times and Perilous Men

3 But know this, that in the last days [a]perilous times will come: 2 For men will be 

1. lovers of themselves, 

2. lovers of money, 

3. boasters, 

4. proud, 

5. blasphemers, 

6. disobedient to parents, 

7. unthankful, 

8. unholy, 

9. 3 unloving, 

10. [b]unforgiving, 

11. slanderers, 

12. without self-control, 

13. brutal, 

14. despisers of good,

15.  4 traitors, 

16. headstrong, 

17. haughty, 

18. lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

19.  5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 

6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; 9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.

Click  to examine Am I Spiritually Blind? 

How do you know you are a Disciple of Christ?

By 2 ways we can know we are the Disciple of Christ.

• Love One Another: John 15:34

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” 

•  Fellowship with Him and One Another: I John 1:

5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 

    Walk in Light/Practice the Truth:

6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

    Walk in Repentance:

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

Click  to examine Who Am I in Christ? 

Unity Through Humility Philippians: 2:1-11

2 Therefore 

• if there is any [a]consolation in Christ, 

• if any comfort of love, 

• if any fellowship of the Spirit, 

• if any affection and mercy, 

2 fulfill my joy by 

• being like-minded, 

• having the same love, 

• being of one accord, of one mind.

 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

The Humbled and Exalted Christ

5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,

•  6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it [b]robbery to be equal with God,

• 7 but [c]made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, 

• He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 

9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Click  to examine Am I Humble & Broken in Spirit? 

Condition to Enter the Kingdom of Heaven: Mathew 5:20

20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. 

A Warning Against Hypocrisy

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Click to examine Am I a following Christ or Moses?