To Examine Yourself

2 Corinthians 13:5 
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

So, I have always known that this verse is EXTREMELY important, but I never understood what it meant. How do I examine myself? What do I look for? What shouldn't I find? For me, that would be like a doctor telling me, "Check your arm and see if it's broken."....  0.o  Uuuumm, so..... how do I, who am not a doctor, tell if my arm is broken? 
I would spend quite a bit of time pondering as to how to go about examining myself. Plus, I am such a chicken that I didn't have the guts to ask anyone what I should look for in examining myself. 
Well, at long last, the pastor at my church gave step by step (not really, but for me, that's what it was) instructions as to how to know if you have assurance of salvation.  I heard the bells, and I finally found where they were coming from!!! (My Ukrainian friends should get that joke) 
I know that I'm not the only person who struggles with the assurance of salvation exam, so I'm going to post some of my notes from church.

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Hebrews 5:8-14 Salvation does not occur in a moment. (Say whaat?? 0.o) When you focus on one moment to determine your salvation, you are focusing on the past, feelings (which are always misleading), a single experience, and performance. *True salvation is a lasting change. There should be a progression in spiritual maturity*. Salvation is more than just forgiveness of sins. (Say what?) It is eventually deliverance from sins, becoming perfect as our Heavenly Father is (Matthew 5:48). Of course, we cannot become perfect while on earth, but we should still strive to be an example of Jesus. 
Hebrews 6:1-12
The people being talked about in verses 4-6, 'those who have once 
been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,  who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age  and who have fallen away', they never had a true revelation of Jesus. They merely dabbled. *Some people just make their choice not to change, but they played the part of a Christian for any number of reasons, but they fell away, because there was nothing holding them in*. 
When you are connected, and truly saved, you cannot help but to persevere. Is His name being made bigger? The present is better than a past moment in determining salvation.

Show Some Respect

Brace yourself for some politics;

Ok, so I've been trying to stay out of the political talk lately, but a lot of people have been hitting a sore spot with me. Regardless of how you feel about President Obama, he is our president.
Whether you like him or not, whether you think he's a liar, alien, cheater, or idiot, he is our president. He was elected by the American people, so he deserves the respect you give a president. His name is Barrack Obama, and his title is President Obama. Not president hussein or osama-obama. That is name calling, and don't pretend like it's ok. When you start name calling, you prove that you are no better than the liberal media. The moment you resort to name calling, you are admitting that you have lost the debate, and your argument is then invalid. As conservatives and christians, can we not show some maturity? When you start name calling, you not only make yourself look like an a total idiot, you are fueling the fire of the liberals in attacking the conservatives as a whole.
And don't pretend like Romney is Mr. Christian Hero in this election. Yes, he may be able to piece our economy together, and have some guts when it comes to standing up for our country, but that's as high as my hopes are for him. He is not pro-life as he claims, and he serves a different god that is not the God of the bible.
In conclusion, I beg of my fellow conservatives to PLEASE, stop lying to yourselves, and stop making yourselves look like fools.
No matter who wins the election, "God sets kings in place, and dethrones them."