Bible League: Living His Word Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.— 2 Corinthians 13:5 NKJV Some people go to church and they've simply taken it for granted that they're a Christian. Indeed, they would be offended if anyone questioned whether they're a Christian or not. They know the lingo. They know the doctrines. They know what's expected of them morally. They've passed their Christian education classes. They've done better than most. Why would anyone, including themselves, have a question about the genuineness of their faith? Why would anyone, including themselves, want to go through an examination to see if they're in the faith or not? Maybe you feel like that. On the other hand, maybe it's not such a bad idea. After all, the world is full of phonies. The world is full of people who claim to be one thing but are actually something quite different. Some are deceptive schemers who have an ulterior agenda that's not fit for public consumption. Consequently, they have to cloak it with a masquerade. Many, however, are self-deceived. They are people who simply do not know themselves. They went along with the traditions of their parents or peers without realizing that they never made them truly their own. Maybe you're one of them. Maybe you've claimed to be a Christian, but Jesus doesn't live in you. It couldn't hurt to find out. You know what the stakes are from the Christian point of view. The stakes are very high. Heaven and hell lay in the balance. It couldn't hurt to take a hard look at your true motives and desires to see if they line up with what you've been saying about yourself all along. It couldn't hurt to deeply examine your inner life in order to find out what truly motivates you. In fact, do more than examine yourself. Test yourself. Look back to when times were tough to see if your confession held up. What happened back then? What would happen now? When the moral test comes, or when persecution comes, what would happen? If you examine and test yourself and discover that Jesus doesn't live in you, then now is the time. If you want, you know how to ask Him to come into your heart. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingJeremiah 25, 26 Jeremiah 25 -- Jeremiah Prophesies Seventy Years of Captivity and Judgment on Babylon NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Jeremiah 26 -- Jeremiah Threatened and Spared NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading 2 Timothy 3 2 Timothy 3 -- Godless Times Will Come NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God's message without fear.Insight When we speak fearlessly for Christ, or live faithfully for him during difficult situations, we encourage others to do the same. Challenge Be an encouragement by the way that you live. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Luke 24:16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.The disciples ought to have known Jesus, they had heard his voice so often, and gazed upon that marred face so frequently, that it is wonderful they did not discover him. Yet is it not so with you also? You have not seen Jesus lately. You have been to his table, and you have not met him there. You are in a dark trouble this evening, and though he plainly says, "It is I, be not afraid," yet you cannot discern him. Alas! our eyes are holden. We know his voice; we have looked into his face; we have leaned our head upon his bosom, and yet, though Christ is very near us, we are saying "O that I knew where I might find him!" We should know Jesus, for we have the Scriptures to reflect his image, and yet how possible it is for us to open that precious book and have no glimpse of the Wellbeloved! Dear child of God, are you in that state? Jesus feedeth among the lilies of the word, and you walk among those lilies, and yet you behold him not. He is accustomed to walk through the glades of Scripture, and to commune with his people, as the Father did with Adam in the cool of the day, and yet you are in the garden of Scripture, but cannot see him, though he is always there. And why do we not see him? It must be ascribed in our case, as in the disciples', to unbelief. They evidently did not expect to see Jesus, and therefore they did not know him. To a great extent in spiritual things we get what we expect of the Lord. Faith alone can bring us to see Jesus. Make it your prayer, "Lord, open thou mine eyes, that I may see my Saviour present with me." It is a blessed thing to want to see him; but oh! it is better far to gaze upon him. To those who seek him he is kind; but to those who find him, beyond expression is he dear! Daily Light on the Daily Path 1 Samuel 30:6 Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.John 6:68 Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. 2 Timothy 1:12 For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. Psalm 18:6,18,19 In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears. • They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the LORD was my stay. • He brought me forth also into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me. Psalm 34:1-4,8 A Psalm of David when he feigned madness before Abimelech, who drove him away and he departed. I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. • My soul will make its boast in the LORD; The humble will hear it and rejoice. • O magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together. • I sought the LORD, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears. • O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. 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