Take the plank out of your eye!
Luke 6:41, 42 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 42How can you say to your brother, ’Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
I understood one thing in Ministry, first I need to be searched and cleansed thoroughly before I start preaching to others. I read an awesome book on Katherene Kullman, a world renowned Healing Evangelist. Before stepping on the stage, she would spend hours on her knees crying out to God to purify her and empty her before being filled with the Power of God. Before we start speaking to an unbeliever, we need to pray, often in secret without saying a word to the person we are praying for in our prayer closet. We love to point out fingers and find holes about others but God wants us to search our hearts first before we intercede for others. May be sin in our life is blocking the blessing for our loved one! We need not be thieves or murderers but our sinful attitudes are poisonous enough to ruin our prayers. Watch out !
We need to set a right example to make sure we are not a stumbling block to anyone, so that they can be helped and not hindered in making the choice to follow Jesus. We should never give them a chance to turn around and say, ”live out what you are preaching to me”. How disgraceful that would be! Are we fasting and praying enough? I think this is the most wanted message. Let us search our hearts with God given binoculars. Don’t justify your pride, arrogance, anger, envy, short temper, sharp tongue, smugness and rudeness. We have been too often inside the church with no God in our life. We have been in church committees, church festivals, youth meetings but still with big planks in our eyes. We fight with our brothers and sisters and still sit inside the church, we are mean and cunning and yet not convicted. Lord, give us eye sight to see our sins!
When Billy Graham’s wife Ruth, was desperately praying for one of her sons who was a prodigal at that time she felt led to make a list of things she needed to pay attention to and get right herself. We only so often see the faults of the person we are praying for – God often begins to show us ours! The only way to be convicted of our petty sins is to always be filled with the Holy Spirit. Being filled in the Holy Spirit is to be in His Presence even at home and pray in tongues, read the Bible and be at His feet and allow God to fill you.
John 16:8 says And when He(Holy Spirit) is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”
Spiritual sight does not come from your efforts but rather from God’s grace in our lives. The closer we get to God the better our sight becomes.
