The Death of Progress - Greg Laurie Daily Devotion - September 11
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
The Death of Progress
But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way. (
It has been said that self-satisfaction is the death of progress. Any Christian who really knows what it is to follow Jesus always will realize there is a long way to go. We want to keep moving forward spiritually. We have to keep growing and learning.
And if we want to see a revival, then we need to humble ourselves and pray. In 2 Chronicles 7:14 God says, “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land” (NLT).
Of the twelve Hebrew words employed in the Scriptures to express the verb pray—the one used here in 2 Chronicles 7:14—means “to judge self habitually.” We are so quick to judge and criticize others habitually when the Bible says we actually should be judging ourselves.
Simply put, to judge ourselves means that we recognize we have a long way to go. Are you satisfied with where you are spiritually? After years of walking with the Lord, the apostle Paul said this:
I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. (Philippians 3:12–14 NLT)
If we were to spend less time criticizing others and spend more time examining ourselves, then maybe we would experience a revival.
Social summary sentence: Do I judge myself habitually?
Tags: revival, prayer, self-examination
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Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
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