Twenty-Two Questions

It has been said that there were 22 questions members of John Wesley’s Holy Club asked THEMSELVES EACH DAY in their private devotions over 200 years ago.

  1. Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I really am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?
  2. Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?
  3. Do I confidentially pass on to another what was told to me in confidence?
  4. Can I be trusted?
  5. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work, or habits?
  6. Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self justifying?
  7. Did the Bible live in me today?
  8. Do I give it time to speak to me everyday?
  9. Am I enjoying prayer?
  10. When did I last speak to someone else about my faith?
  11. Do I pray about the money I spend?
  12. Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?
  13. Do I disobey God in anything?
  14. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
  15. Am I defeated in any part of my life?
  16. Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy, or distrustful?
  17. How do I spend my spare time?
  18. Am I proud?
  19. Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican?
  20. Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so, what I am doing about it?
  21. Do I grumble or complain constantly?
  22. Is Christ real to me?
Penny Lives

The little girl’s father had just given her a silver dollar to put into her bank. She excitedly ran off to her room to “deposit” the coin.
However, in a few minutes she returned and handed the silver coin back to her father.

“Daddy,” she said sadly, “here’s your dollar back. I can’t get it into my bank.”

“Why not?” her concerned father asked.

“It’s too full,” she said, obviously disappointed.

Her father accompanied her back to her room and, sure enough, her bank was too full to accept even one more coin. It was filled with pennies!

It is so easy to fill our lives with “Pennies” and leave out the “first” things and big things of life.

Visiting Day

He was looking forward to this moment all day long, after 6 days of labor and it finally arrived – Visiting Day!! The man with the keys arrived to swing open the large, heavy doors. The cold gray hall springs to life in the warm glow of light. He could hardly control his emotions.

The families began to arrive. He peers from the corner of the room longing for the first glimpse of his loved one. He lives for the
weekends. He dearly loves these visits. As the cars arrive, he watches intently. Then, finally, she arrives, his bride, for whom he would do anything. They embrace, eat a light lunch and reminisce how things used to be. At one point, they break into singing, with interruptions of laughter and applause.

But all to soon it is over. A tear comes to his eyes as his bride departs. Then the man with the keys closes the heavy doors. He hears the key turn in the lock marking the end of a special day. There he stands, alone again. He knows that most of his visitors will not contact him again till next week. As the last car pulls away from the parking lot, Jesus retreats into loneliness as He waits until next Sunday – Visiting Day.