{"id":17505,"date":"2018-03-02T11:13:10","date_gmt":"2018-03-02T15:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=17505"},"modified":"2018-04-06T10:49:49","modified_gmt":"2018-04-06T14:49:49","slug":"john-wesleys-flash-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=17505","title":{"rendered":"John Wesley’s Flash Cards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many of us can remember those elementary school days of learning multiplication tables.\u00a0 Remember flash cards?\u00a0 Your teacher or parent would hold up a card in front of you that said something like:\u00a0 <\/span><\/em>
\n “<\/span><\/em>6 x 8 = ?<\/strong><\/span>“, and after you answered “<\/span><\/em>52<\/span><\/span><\/strong>” they’d flip the card over to show you that you weren’t quite as smart as you thought you were.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Where are you in your spiritual walk?\u00a0 Former PUMC Pastor Rev. Lanie Price would frequently open meetings by asking everyone, “How is it with our soul?”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It can be painful sometimes, but we need to keep evaluating our walk; our paths may not be as straight as we think.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the March 2 article for the 2018 Lenten Devotional<\/a><\/span>, Linda Sizemore wrote about a “Test for Self-Evaluation” which was a series of 22\u00a0questions<\/a> <\/span>developed by John Welsey in 1733.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wesley urged his followers to take this “self-evaluation” daily.\u00a0 Various versions of these questions were published, one of which appeared in the 2018 Lenten Devotional.\u00a0 The devotional listed 16 of the questions, and these are presented in the “slider” below.\u00a0 Ponder each one and see how you measure up.\u00a0 How is it with your soul today?<\/p>\n

Note: You can hover your mouse over the text to pause the slider<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tAm I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression<\/p>\n

that I\u2019m a better person than I really am?\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tDo I laugh at the mistakes of others, reveling in their errors and misfortunes?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tDo I insist on having my own way?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tIs there a tendency for me to put others down so that I\u2019ll be thought of more highly?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tDo I pass on to others what is told to me in confidence?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tAm I thoughtful in expressing thanks to people for what they\u2019ve done for me,<\/p>\n

no matter how insignificant it seems?\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tAm I a slave to dress, friends, work, or habits?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tAm I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tDid the Bible live in me yesterday?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tDid I disobey God in anything yesterday?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tDid I insist on doing something about which my conscience was uneasy?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tDid I handle discouragement well or did I have to be coddled?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tAm I enjoying prayer?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tWhen did I last speak to someone about Christ?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tIs there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, or hold resentment toward?<\/p>\n

If so, what am I doing about it?\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tIs Christ real in me?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\u00a0\u00a0 \"\"<\/p>\n

John Wesley<\/span><\/a>, a preacher in England in the 1700’s, founded the\u00a0 “holiness groups” which eventually became the Methodist Church.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Is Christ Real in Me?<\/span><\/h3>\n

How do you measure up against these questions?!?\u00a0 If you’re honest with yourself, there are probably several (or many) “Flash cards” that you didn’t do so well with.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the good news is that you don’t have to follow a series of rules to get right with God.\u00a0 If you want, God has already made you good with Him.\u00a0 Here are some verses that tell us about God’s “Grace”- the way He accepts us even if we don’t deserve it…<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t
1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.\u00a0 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil\u2014the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.\u00a0 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.<\/span><\/p>\n

4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much,\u00a0 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!<\/span>)\u00a0 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.\u00a0 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.<\/span><\/p>\n

8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.\u00a0 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it<\/span>.\u00a0 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ephesians 2:1-10, New Living Translation<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

\n 10 This is real love\u2014not that we loved God, but that he loved us<\/span> and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.<\/span><\/p>\n

11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.\u00a0 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.<\/span><\/p>\n

1 John 4:10-12, New Living Translation<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

If God has done this for you, you’ll want to love Him back.\u00a0 Most of us are familiar with Romans 8:28, but notice the next two verses…<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t

28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. <\/span><\/p>\n

29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son<\/span>, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. <\/span><\/p>\n

30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself<\/span>. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.<\/span><\/p>\n

Romans 8:28-30, New Living Translation<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

God wants us to be like His Son!\u00a0 Not to earn salvation, but to become complete in His love.<\/p>\n

God’s at work!\u00a0 His grace also helps us become holy.\u00a0 He’s helping us answer the “Flash Cards,” but we need to keep practicing.\u00a0 And, we need to let Him help us.<\/p>\n

How is it with your soul today?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

+\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For more devotionals, sermons, and “Godprint” posts, click this button:\u00a0 Godprints<\/span><\/a> \u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1733 ,John Wesley published a series of questions about our relationship to God, and he encouraged his followers to ponder them every day. Kind of like those flash cards that you may have used to learn multiplication tables. How’s your “math” today?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[92,95],"class_list":["post-17505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-godprints","tag-grace","tag-obey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17505"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17527,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17505\/revisions\/17527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}