I watched a good sermon today by Francis Chan about false images in the church. Basically how churches build an image of themselves and may think they are walking the right path and have convinced themselves they are, while God might have a different opinion.
He went on about how they need to be honest with themselves and make sure they are within the context of God's will and not just worrying about reputation. He used a couple of the letters to the churches in Revelation to base his sermon off of. Sardis and Leodicia I think it was. How they had an image, but were lacking behind that image.
It got me thinking about something. We as individuals, at least I could, can put this to use in our personal walk. I realized that maybe we sometimes get this image of ourselves that seems in line with God's will or we might have doubts that we are afraid to confront.
I know I have some fears that I am afraid to confront, so it prevents me from going to God during prayer about these things because I put on a front and essentially lie to myself. If I'm lying to myself, I'm not being honest with God.
This is a major problem, because it prevents me from allowing God to improve these things about me. I think we should be vigilant about self-deception and confront ourselves, even if it's scary to do so, and go to God with these fears, or these false-images we build of ourselves, so that we can receive God's help.
I think maybe lying to ourselves is a more powerful deception than anything the devil and his minions can throw at us. Let's make sure we are being truthful so we can pray what needs to be said in order to improve. Don't fake it to deceive yourself into a false-sense of security.
Just something to think about.
He went on about how they need to be honest with themselves and make sure they are within the context of God's will and not just worrying about reputation. He used a couple of the letters to the churches in Revelation to base his sermon off of. Sardis and Leodicia I think it was. How they had an image, but were lacking behind that image.
It got me thinking about something. We as individuals, at least I could, can put this to use in our personal walk. I realized that maybe we sometimes get this image of ourselves that seems in line with God's will or we might have doubts that we are afraid to confront.
I know I have some fears that I am afraid to confront, so it prevents me from going to God during prayer about these things because I put on a front and essentially lie to myself. If I'm lying to myself, I'm not being honest with God.
This is a major problem, because it prevents me from allowing God to improve these things about me. I think we should be vigilant about self-deception and confront ourselves, even if it's scary to do so, and go to God with these fears, or these false-images we build of ourselves, so that we can receive God's help.
I think maybe lying to ourselves is a more powerful deception than anything the devil and his minions can throw at us. Let's make sure we are being truthful so we can pray what needs to be said in order to improve. Don't fake it to deceive yourself into a false-sense of security.
Just something to think about.
