A devotion

[missmuffet]

Splinter Removal

Dr. Charles Stanley

"Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's 

eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?"

                                     Matthew 7:3

Conviction can be a spiritual battleground. In it, God does battle

to set you free by speaking to your heart about the strongholds of

your life. Immediately, however, the enemy will retaliate, whispering,

that rebuke is not for you-it's for someone else. This is so you

never admit bondage God wants you to be free of.

  Then the enemy takes the next step and gives you another target

for the censure. You can probably recall reading a devotion,

hearing a message, or finding a poignant passage of Scripture and

thinking to yourself, He needs to read this-then he would certainly 

change. In other words, the enemy tempts you wrongfully 

assume the role of the Holy Spirit in another person's life. So then,

not only has he stopped you from being free, but he also tempts you

to the deeper, more treacherous sin of taking God's place.

  Don't fall for it! Whenever you read something convicting,

apply it to your own heart. Let God take the plank our of your eye;

then, in love, you can minister to and encourage others. 

Jesus, please forgive me for playing the Holy Spirit in other's 

lives. Convict me, Lord, so I can walk in Your will. Amen 

 

[debrakay]

Thank you!  I needed to hear this today! 

[JustClay]

Thanks, @missmuffet.... “Splinter removal” can be painful, but I so often need the tweezers!  I love the following passage from the Psalms.  It’s a prayer I’ve said many times....

Psalm 139:23-24

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
    Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting!