Dear Readers;

May God, in the multitude of His mercies, and in His love and patience, bless you in abundance, giving you knowledge and discretion concerning His Son Jesus, the One He has appointed to be the mediator between Him and us, that we may have a hope which shall be made evident after this life.

The knowledge of Jesus that God gives, is not a knowledge “about” Jesus”, but the knowledge of Jesus Himself. It is not knowing about Jesus that transforms us, but instead it is knowing Jesus Himself that transforms us. One may know about Jesus and yet be as evil as evil a man can be. But cannot know Jesus and not be progressively changed into the image of Christ Himself.

Yet in the fast-paced, self-help, and self-centered world in which we live, we longer spend time to examine ourselves.

2 Corinthians 13:5 – Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

But, as we see from the verse above, it is through self-examination that one may discover in which camp he falls regarding the faith. Do we know Jesus and are being transformed, or do we know about Jesus and are being deceived, hardly experiencing the transformative change that knowing Him personally affords?

Ephesians 5:15-17 – Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

The verse above from Ephesians echoes the one in Corinthians, that we have to examine ourselves. And its words have never been truer than they are now…that the days are evil!

All forms of social media, self-help books and seminars, platforms of all kinds where everyone is given center stage to proclaim their wisdom, these are harming us. For God has appointed 24 hours in a day, and more won’t be given.

It is as if we have made camp at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, eating of it and corrupting our minds further in the process. We earnestly seek to learn how the world works so we can thrive in it…and those who have figured out the “secret” of the successful life are held as heroes, being showcased to everyone’s admiration and envy. Yet God said…

James 4:4 – You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Such wisdom, dear friend – the one that seeks to understand how the world works so one can thrive in life – is not the wisdom of God, but the wisdom of the world. It is sensual and devilish.

We ought to pause and examine ourselves.

Where am I in my faith? How is my relationship with Jesus? What does God want from me? As a son, am I doing what I am supposed to be doing to honor my Father? Am I behaving in ways that demonstrates that I am my Father’s son? What does Jesus tell me? Where He is encouraging me? Where is He rebuking me? Am I listening? How often am I talking to Him? And what am I telling Him?

I counsel you in the name of the Lord Jesus, to slow down and examine yourselves; not as the world counsels you to do the same, but as God counsels. That you examine yourselves to see whether you are “in” the faith, knowing Jesus.   

May the Lord be with you and protect you. In Jesus name.

AMEN