Tag: Religion

What Do You Think About Yourself?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn PracticalLeave a comment

This last week I had an opportunity to take a class on the Reformation. During the class, we studied Calvin’s thought. One area that struck me was his idea on the Knowledge of God.

Calvin’s Two-fold Thesis

(1) Without knowledge of ourselves there can be no knowledge of God
(2) Without knowledge of God there can be no knowledge of Self.

What does he mean?

Calvin believes we must first know ourselves before we can know God. As we look at ourselves, we should realize two things. First, what we have is from God and not from ourselves. Second, we must realize our own ignorance, vanity, poverty, infirmity, and depravity. In short, we will not turn to God until we realize our own depravity. Calvin says,

“Accordingly, the knowledge of ourselves not only arouses us to seek God, but also, as it were, leads us by the hand to find him.”

Only as we realize who we are, namely, sinfully depraved men who only have what we have and are who we are because of God, will we determine to find out who God is and begin to seek Him. Of course, it is only by God’s sovereign grace working in our lives that we will realize these things about ourselves and begin to seek after God, but nonetheless, we must seek Him.

As we turn to God, we realize just how sinful we are and how much we need Him. Our own depravity and unrighteousness comes into full view when we stare a righteous and holy God in the face. For the first time in our lives we begin to realize how deceived we were about ourselves. You see man by nature is inclined to a deluded self-admiration. It is our knowledge of God that sheds light on our delusion. Upon this discovery we must revise our knowledge of self to include the full depravity and wickedness of man.

Conclusion

It is only after we gain a knowledge of self, which leads us to a knowledge of God, can we say we truly understand who we are. Once we understand who we are, we understand why we need His Son. Thankfully, we do not have to despair. The Lord has provides us with a Savior, His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

We can enjoy His salvation through faith alone. We only need to believe we need a Savior and that Jesus Christ is our Savior. His death, burial, and resurrection serves to restore our relationship with the Father. Those who believe in Christ no longer have to face the wrath of God because Christ faced that for us. What a joyous thought.

X-Ray Questions: What are your plans designed to accomplish?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Practical, X-Ray QuestionsLeave a comment

This week we continue our X-Ray Questions series, as we look at what your plans are designed to accomplish. You can read the other posts in this series by clicking here.

X-Ray Question:

(8) What are your plans, agendas, strategies, and intentions designed to accomplish?

This is another way to size up what you are after. The egocentricity lurking within even the most noble-sounding plans can be appalling. No one ever asserts,” The expansion of our church into a mega-church will get me fame, wealth, and power,” but such motives are garden-variety human nature. Their presence, even covertly, will pervert and stain one’s actions.

Understand

We should realize that by asking ourselves what our plans, agendas, strategies, and intentions are designed to accomplish will allow us to search out our true motivations for our actions. Our plan may be to do something noble, such as expanding our church. But we may be expanding our church for the wrong reasons. We need to check our motivations by asking ourselves what are we hoping to accomplish. Our human nature is geared toward self promotion and pride, so we must proceed with caution in all of our actions.

Another example may drive the point home better. Helping out at the local homeless shelter is a noble way to spend our time, but if we serve at the shelter with the intention of promoting ourselves to our community as a kind and charitable person, so we will be recognized or praised, even if the recognition or praise we are seeking is subtle, we have allowed our sinful nature to creep in and affect our intentions.

Repent

We must repent by meditating on the gospel. The gospel message teaches us that Christ humbled Himself to the point of death. He faced the cross for our sins. On the cross He atoned for our unrighteousness. Jesus could have followed His own agenda, worked off of His own plan, but He did not. Rather, He followed His Father’s plan. A plan that was designed to bring glory to God.

Christ’s death frees us from the bondage of sin. When we place our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are given the power to resist sin, giving us the ability to glorify God through our actions. Since we have been freed from the bondage of sin, we should seek to be like His Son and glorify God, rather than ourselves.

Since Christ has given us the power to cast down our fleshly desires and passions, we should desire to be obedient to God (1 Peter 1:13-21). This obedience includes exalting God over ourselves.

Next time we make plans, we should ask ourselves if our ultimate end is to glorify ourselves or the Lord.

Scripture

Here are a few passages from God’s word to meditate on this week, as you consider what your plans are designed to accomplish: Matt. 6:32-33; 2 Tim. 2:22.

All X-Ray questions taken from David Powlison’s book Seeing with New Eyes.

Image: africa / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

X-Ray Questions: What do you think you need?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Practical, X-Ray QuestionsLeave a comment

This week we continue our X-Ray Questions series, as we look at what you think you need. You can read the other posts in this series by clicking here.

X-Ray Question:

(7) What do you think you need? What are your felt needs?

Questions 2 and 3 exposed your aims in terms of activity and pursuit. This question exposes your aims in terms of what you hope to receive, get, and keep. Felt needs are frequently taken as self-evident necessities to be acquired, not as deceptive slave-masters. Our culture of need reinforces the flesh’s instincts and habits. In most cases, a person’s felt needs are slang for idolatrous demands for love, understanding, a sense of being in control, affirmation, and achievement.

Understand

First, understand that your needs are already known by (Matt. 6:8-15) and taken care of by the Lord (Matt. 6:24-32).

Second, understand that our culture drives/reinforces these felt needs through both electronic (t.v., internet, and radio) and print (magazines, books, and photography) media.

Third, by reflecting on the things we think we need, we can gain a good understanding of the ways we are seeking love and affirmation from others. It also shows us what we think we need to control and/or achieve, in order to gain affirmation.

For instance, we may believe we need a new car, new clothing, a certain degree, job, apartment, etc, so we will be accepted and loved by others. Instead of finding our acceptance and love in our relationship with Christ, we are seeking acceptance and love from others through certain possessions that tell the world we are successful.

When we truly reflect on the reasons we desire the things mentioned above, we learn what we hope to, receive, get, and keep from buying a new car, new clothing, acquiring a certain degree, job, or apartment.

On the one hand, we may be seeking these things as a status symbol. On the other hand, we may be seeking these things for our own comfort and protection. When we seek these things for comfort or protection, we are seeking to control the universe, rather than subjecting ourselves to God’s rule. We forget God is in control that He alone is the Sovereign Ruler of the universe.

Repent

We should repent by realizing we do not need to manufacture a certain status that gains us acceptance, love, or affirmation from the world. As Christians, our status before God should be enough because through it we gain genuine and everlasting acceptance, love, and affirmation from God.

Through our belief in Christ, we are made sons of God. Our relationship with God is repaired, and we enjoy the love, mercy, grace, and acceptance of God through Christ. As a result, we should not desire, nor do we need, the acceptance of the world.

Scripture

Here are a few passages from God’s word to meditate on this week, as you consider your felt needs: Matt. 6:8-15; 6:25-32; 1 Kings 3:5-14; all the prayers in the Bible express reoriented felt needs.

All X-Ray questions taken from David Powlison’s book Seeing with New Eyes.

Image: scottchan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

X-Ray Questions: What do you feel like doing?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Practical, X-Ray QuestionsLeave a comment

This week we continue our X-Ray Questions series, as we look at what do you feel like doing. You can read the other posts in this series by clicking here.

X-Ray Question:

(5) What do you feel like doing? 

This is slang for question 2, what do you desire? To be “feeling-oriented” means to make your wants your guide: “I feel like cursing you. I don’t feel like doing my chores.”

Understand

When we do what we feel like doing, we are allowing our wants to be our guide, rather than Scripture. We must recognize when we are allowing our desires to override what Scripture commands we do. We can check ourselves by asking: Do my actions or thoughts align with Scripture? Is this something I feel like doing, or is it something God would have me do?

When we are leading ourselves, God is not leading us. Which is opposed to the examples put forth in Scripture. Consistently the Psalmist calls God his refuge and his protection, the One who leads and guides him with His wise counsel (Pss.13:23-28). God’s wisdom far outweighs our wisdom, His counsel is better than the wisest man. As a result, we need to seek God and His leading, rather than allow our feelings to lead us.

If we are Christians, when we are led by our feelings, we are allowing our unregenerate nature to lead us. The same nature that is contrary to the Lord. As a result, when we allow our feelings to lead us, we will almost always seek to gratify the desires of the flesh and glorify ourselves, rather than God.

Repent

Repent by realizing that by allowing our feelings to lead us, we are reverting back to the leading of our sinful nature, and we are not being guided and led by the wisdom of God.

When we put our faith in Christ, trusting that His sacrifice on the cross paid the price for our sins, our relationship with God is restored, and we are released from the bondage of sin, making us free to follow and serve Him.

Scripture

Here are a few passages from God’s word to meditate on this week, as you consider what is leading you: Pss. 17:14-15; 73:23-28; Prov. 10:3; 10:28; 11:6-7; Gal. 5:16-25; Eph. 2:3; 4:22; 2 Tim. 2:22; Titus 3:3; 1 Peter 1:14; 2:11; 4:2; 2 Peter 1:4; 2:10; James 1:14-15; 4:1-3.

All X-Ray questions taken from David Powlison’s book Seeing with New Eyes.

X-Ray Questions: What are your fears?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Practical, X-Ray QuestionsLeave a comment

This week we continue our X-Ray Questions series, as we look at our fears. You can read the other posts in this series by clicking here.

X-Ray Question:

(5) What do you fear? What do you not want? What do you tend to worry about?

Sinful fears are inverted cravings. If I want to avoid something at all costs – loss of reputation, loss of control, poverty, ill health, rejection, etc. – I am ruled by a lustful fear.

Understand

When we want to avoid something (loss of reputation, loss of control, poverty, ill health, rejection) at all costs, and when we worry about those things we want to avoid, we reveal what rules us. We must realize that when we allow something other than God to rule us, we are submitting ourselves to idols.

“When we submit ourselves to idols, we will do anything to please them.”

For instance, caring about our own reputation more than God’s, will lead us to either compromise our morals, or the truth, in order to maintain our reputation in the community. When this occurs, we are allowing the cares of the world to rule us.

Repent

As Americans, I believe this weeks X-Ray question hits us hard because the culture in which we live cares a great deal about reputation, control, riches, and health. However, as Christians, we need to quiet the cares of the world in our hearts and repent of our idols, which we can do by realizing God is the only one who has the right to rule us because He is our Creator and Savior. Since God is our Creator and Savior, we should allow Him to be the King of our lives.

Thankfully, in the Gospel – the saving and redeeming work of Jesus Christ – we are given the power to submit to God as our ruler and remove all idols that rule over us. As a result, we must preach the Gospel to ourselves when we notice fear creeping into our lives. We must also take it a step further, asking God to reveal our fears, so we can remove the idols ruling over us.

Scripture

Here are a few passages from God’s word to meditate on this week, as you consider your fears: Matt. 6:25-32; 13:22

All X-Ray questions taken from David Powlison’s book Seeing with New Eyes.

X-Ray Questions: Where do you bank your hopes?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Practical, X-Ray QuestionsLeave a comment

This week we continue our X-Ray Questions series, as we look at where we bank our hopes. You can read the other posts in this series by clicking here.

X-Ray Question:

(4) Where do you bank your hopes? 

The future dimension is prominent in God’s interpretation of human motives. People energetically sacrifice to attain what they hope for. What is it? People in despair have had hopes dashed. What were those shattered hopes?

Understand

When we bank our hopes in something or someone other than Jesus Christ, we will always be disappointed. When we place our hope in something other than Jesus we are really placing our hope in an idol. Idols will never satisfy us, in fact, they will always disappoint us.

If we place our hope in our husbands and wives, finding ultimate meaning in the way they treat us, then we will always be disappointed. Man is sinful, and at some point that sin will cause us to treat others unkindly.

Alternatively, if we place our hope in a raise, promotion, or new job, we can almost always be guaranteed to be disappointed. Oh, we may get the raise, promotion, or new job, but when we do, we will find it did not provide us with the satisfaction or significance that we were hoping it would.

Riches will not satisfy us either. 1 Timothy exhorts us not to place our hope in the riches of our current age because riches are uncertain. One minute they are here, and the next minute they are gone. The bursting of the real estate bubble and subsequent recession a few years back, of which we are still feeling the effects, attests to the uncertainty of riches.

Repent

We should repent by realizing that our only hope lies in Christ. He is the only one who will never disappoint us. His value will never diminish, and we will always be satisfied in Christ. Where people, jobs, and riches fail us, Christ will not.

Scripture

Here are a few passages from God’s word to meditate on this week, as you consider where you place your hope: 1 Peter 1:13; 1 Tim. 6:17

All X-Ray questions taken from David Powlison’s book Seeing with New Eyes.