I've been studying Scripture with friends, and I am attempting to apply these lessons to my daily life as a believer. Based on the first lesson on sharing the Gospel, I ask myself 1) Do I truly have compassion for the lost? 2) Am I sharing the Gospel and the good things God has done? 3.) Since the enemy is not very creative and since he blinds the minds of the lost, in what way may he be trying to blind my mind to new things God has for me? For lesson two, about repentance,my self-examining questions are 1.) Do I truly ABHOR sin? 2.) Am I quick to turn to God and ask Him for help, or do I make excuses for my bad attitudes, justify my wrong thoughts, and hang on to my pet sins-thereby refusing what God has to offer? I've asked the questions, and I've encountered some situations that have given me the chance to answer them.
Because I have been mulling over the Bible study verses, I reacted more positively than I would have prior to the Bible study. In one instance, I stood more firmly in sharing the Gospel. By nature, I don't like conflict, so if I think talking about Jesus is going to give someone a soap box to stand on, I remain quiet. But, with sweaty palms, I have determined to take a more vocal stand. This time, it involves some things I have written, and I don't have the results of my boldness yet, but I'm glad to have given voice to the Good News, even if it is not well-received. In another instance, I turned to God in quick repentance. Here's how that looked. I- the girl with the thickest, leathery-est skin ever- got my feelings hurt..At first, I wanted to justify how I felt. I wanted to point my finger and blame. But when I remembered how I'd been reading about repentance, I had to examine MY thoughts. There was a 10 minute war where I told God, "She's the one who was ugly. I didn't do anything wrong." But my halo slid to the side when I was honest with myself. I had let some nasty verbal ammunition come to mind. I didn't plan on SAYING any of the spicy phrases, but they were hovering in my thoughts. When the questions, "Do I really abhor sin? Am I turning to God in this, or am I justifying myself?" came to mind, I saw how wrong I was. I asked God to help me. Really help me love and want the best for this person. The spunky comebacks that wandered through my thoughts were silenced, and I was filled instead with compassion for the person who'd wronged me. It's amazing how letting God's Word do its work in my life felt so freeing and put things in perspective...not at all like the sin it could have become, sin that would have blinded my mind to the truth. I'm glad God's Word is powerful and potent enough to take care of the head issues that can become dangers to my heart.
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