On a recent prayer time away from my office, I carried John Wesley’s 21 accountability questions with me. I have gone through these numerous times and really enjoy doing so. I thought that if you were not familiar with them, you just might like to consider a look as well. On that note, here they are:
- Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I really am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?
- Do I confidentially pass on to others what has been said to me in confidence?
- Can I be trusted?
- Am I a slave to dress, friends, work or habits?
- Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?
- Did the Bible live in me today?
- Do I give the Bible time to speak to me every day?
- Am I enjoying prayer?
- When did I last speak to someone else of my faith?
- Do I pray about the money I spend?
- Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?
- Do I disobey God in anything?
- Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
- Am I defeated in any part of my life?
- Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful?
- How do I spend my spare time?
- Am I proud?
- Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican?
- Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I doing about it?
- Do I grumble or complain constantly?
- Is Christ real to me?
And, one more we might add to these: Have I told myself the truth as I answered these questions?
In 2018 I was able to enjoy several children’s dedication services. One was my grandson. That was special.
Benjamin’s faith followed him in all he set out to accomplish. Perhaps it was his father’s dedicating him to the service of the Lord that helped to hold him to that relationship. With the many trials and tribulations, losses and shattered dreams he encountered, late in the book he wrote, “I at present think that whoever attempts this aright, and is well qualified, can not fail of pleasing God, and of meeting with success.”
I was speaking with a friend recently about a specific governmental department that I obviously did not have a good word for. Later in a text message, I apologized for my negative expressions. And here’s the reason for my apology: Holy Spirit.
Three wise men traveled quite a distance to see the Christ child. There is a bit of debate about the distance they traveled, as well as the time it took to travel those miles. Some Bible scholars say He was a toddler and some say He was still an infant when they arrived in Bethlehem.
Before we said, “I do” we diligently worked at not having or experiencing differences with one another, at least not out loud. We wanted to be argument free and not allow anything to inhibit our communication. But not long after saying “I do,” for many of us that changed. We trusted our marriage vows to hold us together while experiencing differences, even when they became heated. What changed?
“People die from this infection; this is serious; do not take it lightly,” said the ER doctor to us before discharge. My wife of 43 years was sick and in pain – bent over pain. Showing up at the ER just after midnight on a Saturday (Sunday morning really) is a busy, if not overwhelming place to be. I was so concerned for the woman in my arms who could barely stand up from the excruciating pain she was experiencing in her abdomen.
Meanwhile I began observing the many people around us, none smiling, all needing immediate attention. I found myself not only praying for my wife, but those in the ER rooms we passed. Sitting with Mary and holding her hand, I heard screams repeatedly. Then I heard a police officer reading someone his Miranda rights. After that a police officer telling someone they were under arrest for DUI and refusing a blood test.
There it was, 15 feet up, stuck on a tree limb. My grandson’s favorite stuffed animal hanging and lodged by a single leg now out of his hands and his control. In his five-year-old mind it seemed permanent, so he cried and cried. He imagined it gone from his life forever and thus the emotion. We held him to console him and then said, “There’s no need to cry. Let’s work on a solution to the problem.” When asking him what we could do about the problem he shrugged his shoulders and whimpered, “I don’t know.” We asked him if crying could be part of the solution and he managed to shake his head no.
My wife and I have been practicing debt-free living for years now.* I say practicing because it takes discipline to reach and discipline to maintain. So here are eight encouragements or benefits that we have discovered when it comes to debt-free living.
This is the week that America sets aside as a time of giving thanks. Why is that? Two past presidents of the United States made very specific declarations.
How much energy do you spend thinking about or trying to correct dead relationships? Perhaps you have a failed relationship from the past, a really bad break-up or even a divorce. In so many of these cases there is simply not a way to relieve the guilt or the false guilt one may feel. We can find ourselves playing mental gymnastics in order to somehow convince ourselves it will possibly one day work out.
Begin by praying about how you can better care for your friend. Put energy and thought into how to better love the person you are married to. Try daydreaming and fantasizing about your wife or your husband. To allow past, dead relationships your precious time just might be robbing, stealing in fact, from your present friendship or marriage relationship. And that might be considered cheating.
Steve Prokopchak 