22 Spiritual Reflection Questions

Happy New Year Friends! I thought it would be nice to share a possible New Year’s Resolution that you could use for your Spiritual Life. Below are John Wesley’s 22 questions that he and his small group would reflect on often to shape and form their walk with Jesus. They have been a tremendous help in my spiritual formation. I would encourage you to think, pray and journal through one question a day, for the next 22 days.

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. Did I give the Bible 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 am I doing about it?

21. Do I grumble or complain constantly?

22. Is Christ real to me?

-Pastor Evan

Down and Up

My brother and I used to have access to a mechanic’s pit for servicing vehicles when I was young.  We loved to climb down into that mysterious, dark, oil-stained concrete cavern.  Being small, it was much larger than it would probably look today.  One thing I noticed about our deep dives into the dark pit:  Every time we were in it, we were always looking up.

Joseph was thrown into a dry cistern by his brothers (Genesis 37).  His brothers were tired of him making such a splash with his bold dreams and bright-colored coat.  One thing we see throughout Joseph's journey, in all of his moments of heartbreak, Joseph continued to look up.  In the deep pit it would have been easy for Joseph to have been consumed by despair, yet Joseph kept his composure because He knew where to look for help:  Up.

God was working in Joseph's life in wonderful ways.  There were Messianic hints everywhere to be found!  The Hebrew term for Joseph's coat of many colors was "ketonet passim" which literally translates to "a coat of stripes."  Isaiah 53:3-5 prophesies about Jesus, “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.  And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.  Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”

In 2025 we will experience ups and downs.  Planet earth is a pit of brokenness in need of a remodel from its Creator Jesus Christ!  Jesus knew what it was like to be in our place, in our pit.  He was despised and rejected yet by His stripes we are healed.  Every time we face a pit, hopefully we know where to naturally look.  Look up!  Jesus understands.  Jesus is there for us.  Jesus is coming soon to make everything new.  Jesus is always there when we’re down and He’s always willing to lift us up.

 - Pastor Michael

One Last Story

The room was dusty and cramped, as music stores often are, but orderly. Off to the right I heard the feeble attempts of a new violin learner to bring steady notes out of their new half sized violin. Cello had been my instrument for several years now and it was time, my teacher and parents decided, for me to have my own cello. I had been renting the cello I used. Yet I wasn’t so sure about it.

For several years I had played in different orchestras. They all had very good cellists in them and in comparing myself to them I didn’t feel like I played very well at all. I was uncertain if I should even continue the instrument or spend that much of my own money on it, as cellos can be several thousand dollars. Yet I consented to go cello shopping.

The assistant led us into the cello room. Cellos were lined up in little stands all around the room like soldiers at attention. Every cello was uniquely different. Some were bright red and shiny, others were dark maroon, some were orange and others had strips like a tiger. One cello was really heavy, another significantly lighter. Some were nicked with centuries of use. Others were shiny and spotless as if they were made yesterday. Each sounded different. One sounded like strings had been stretched across a cookie tin rather than a carved wooden box, another was soft and mellow, but had no projection.

After an hour or so one cello stood out among the rest. It was a new cello, made the summer before and had a slight orange tint to the wood grain. It had a great bass tone that makes cellos so distinctive and a treble that projected well. Still apprehensive about paying so much for it, I did like it very much.

We took the cello up to the desk to pay for it. When the associate looked up from the computer, I recognized her. “Hi, you are one of the cellist from the youth orchestra, right?” she greeted me. The past year I had been in an orchestra that did chamber groups, groups of 3-5 musicians who would meet with a coach each week and learn a chamber piece. I had liked her better than most of the other coaches. “Are you paying for this cello yourself?” she asked me. “Yes,” I told her. She then went into the other room. When she returned she said, “You were such a dedicated musician when I coached your group and I always enjoyed coaching for you. I talked with the owner and he told me to give you $200 off the price of the cello, to help you on your musical career.”

I couldn’t quite believe what she said. I didn’t think my playing had been noticed at all. And yet she called me a musician and thought I was worth enough to talk to the owner about me. Suddenly I felt that maybe I could be a musician. And at that moment I purposed to live up to the gift with all of the music I played. 

If you think back you can probably think of moments in your life when you were noticed and when someone believed in you more than you did. This past Sabbath we talked about the least of these. Sometimes people need food or clothes. And sometimes people need an encouraging word or a simple act that shows faith in who they are and what they can become.

 - Pastor Kristen

Fullness

How full are you feeling from Christmas? Whether we’re working still to digest that

scrumptious holiday feast or our souls are still overflowing from the love we felt from God and family, Christmas is all about a variety of fullness. There are lots of presents, lots of conversations, lots of activities, lots of meals, lots of blessings to be shared. We owe all of this fullness to our awesome God for sending us the gift of Jesus.

Colossians 2:9-10 says, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.” Jesus brought the fullness of God into this world for the purpose of us to experience this fullness. Christmas is for the purpose of filling our hearts with the fullness of the blessings which God intended for the world through Jesus Christ.

There are those, however, who haven’t had the chance to experience that fullness this Christmas.  The loss of a loved one, financial hardships, broken relationships, dividing distances of all kinds creep into the equation each year and often impede folks’ soul-tank from achieving full capacity.

Jesus entered the world for the purpose of experiencing life with us. He saw and experienced each hardship and trial. He saw, He suffered, He sacrificed, and through it all He still saved. He promises He is with us always. He sends us out on His mission to fill the earth with His message of fullness despite and to fight the emptiness still out there.

Fullness does not have to be just a feeling that fades. Fullness is a Friend named Jesus. He is here to stay. He is here to eliminate emptiness. He is here for the purpose of fullness forevermore.

 - Pastor Michael

Open Your Eyes

For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.
In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

– Psalm 91:11-12

Janelle’s miracle stories got me thinking of some of my adventures on the Navajo Reservation:

“Tessa, why don’t we take the afternoon off and go for a drive? Things are not quite so busy this week and maybe we can find the lake that the pastor was telling us about.” I addressed my roommate and mission partner, who was sitting on the couch in the single wide trailer we shared on the mission compound. We had spent several months on the Navajo reservation working with the children of families with addiction and because of the amount of work and covid restrictions, we hadn’t been out to explore the area much. “That sounds like fun!” she replied. “We can pack a lunch too!”

So it was a few hours later that we found ourselves driving up the curvy highway to the Chuska mountains, a range with a high point just over 8k ft and less than an hour drive from where we lived. As we climbed in elevation, we were surprised to see several inches of snow on the side of the road. Despite living very much in the desert, it got quite cold in the winter and sometimes snowed. But the pavement was dry so we were not too concerned about the road conditions. I was soon to learn not to underestimate Arizona mud.

In the car we chattered about our most recent visit to the Keesie kids. Living in a cluster of small plastered buildings, they didn’t have a place to meet inside so we played in the dirt yard. Recently strong winds had made it impossible to meet with them because of the blowing sand. While we didn’t always get to the bible story, we noticed a change in the kids. When we would arrive they would trickle out of the house, bleary eyed from the video games they had been playing. They squabbled with each other and fought. But about halfway through their eyes would brighten, they would start sharing and singing the songs we had taught them last week. Love was working a miracle in their little lives and we got to be apart of it.

We were soon to where we thought the lake was although we couldn’t see it yet. So we pulled over to the side of the road to check the maps. The ditch was wide and covered in snow and I pulled off of the dry pavement on a slight uphill. After a few minutes we decided our route and I let out the brake to move forward and up the hill. But we didn’t move forward. We started sliding sideways deeper into the ditch. Then I shifted into reverse and tried to back out, but only slid further. I imagined what could happen to us. We were two young girls stuck in a ditch in a remote area of a reservation and any random person could stop by. Stories I had heard of young teachers who had been murdered and hidden in the canyons flashed through my mind. It was not a good situation.

I prayed in my heart as I gunned it once again. The car slithered backwards and for a moment I thought we were going deeper into the ditch. Then suddenly we were back on the road again. It happened so fast we almost didn’t know what happened. Did the car get out on its own, or did it get an extra push from an angel?

We stopped a few miles down the road where it was wider and looked at my car. It was completely plastered with mud and no longer red, but otherwise fine. I have no idea what would have happened if we had not been able to get out of the ditch, but God was definitely looking out for us. And not only that, He was working other kinds of miracles in the hearts of the people we were working with. When you are on God’s payroll, you never know what kind of adventures are ahead, but move ahead because you may never know when you feel and angel push!

 - Pastor Kristen

Getting Excited Over the Sure Word of God

When athletes announce where they will attend college people get excited. Musicians announce their touring schedule and sell out concert halls almost instantly. Hollywood announces the latest sequel in a movie series and the audience can’t wait. And marketing teams do their best to time all of it to get the most sensation and response out of their announcements. Isn’t it interesting the things we humans place our hope in without certainty

it will come to pass? Athletes often change their mind, the band may cancel for any number of reasons, and the movie may be a disappointing dud.

The Holy scriptures tell us of a significant difference between man and God when it comes to announcements. God’s are certain to come to pass. The most wonderful announcement occurs with regularity from the fall of Adam and Eve on through the scriptures. That is, the promise of Messiah, Who would deliver mankind from sin, healing the damage caused by our rebellion. And it is just like our loving God to give us details in advance so that when it occurs our faith in Him is strengthened. In Amos 3:7 we find these words, “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.”

One of those announcements is when God sends angel Gabriel to announce to childless Zacharias and Elizabeth that they would have a son, and he would usher in the Messiah. It comes to pass, and with certainty they and those who witnessed the reality knew it to be true. This made the promise of Gabriel to Mary and Joseph all that more believable, and when Jesus was born to them 6 months later, all the pieces of the promise of Messiah began to fit.

Today, you and I can know with the same hopeful certainty that when God announces something, it will come to pass. Since Jesus fulfilled His word, and came and did as He promised the first time, His second and soon coming aren’t empty words, but trustworthy and true. Therefore, be excited! Be jubilant! Be joyful! And together let us praise our God Who’s word never fails.

 - Pastor Jim

Our Two Greatest Needs

In Luke 6:18, we read about a large crowd “who had come to hear him and to be healed…” These simple words hold profound meaning. Why did people travel such great distances to see Jesus? Why did they take time out of their day to seek Him? They came for two reasons: to hear from Jesus and to be healed by Him.

Isn’t this why we seek Jesus too? These are our two greatest needs.

First, we long to hear God’s voice: a voice that affirms, corrects, and guides us. We need His words of affirmation, reminding us of His love and acceptance right where we are. At times, we need His correcting voice to gently call us back when we’ve strayed, leading us to repentance and realignment with His way of love. And when faced with life’s big decisions, we yearn for His guidance, to help us discern the path forward.

This is one reason we come to Jesus: to hear Him speak to us.

Second, we come to Jesus for healing. Some of us need physical healing, while others carry emotional wounds. Many of us have relationships that need restoration; whether with a friend, a spouse, a child, or a neighbor. We all long for God to mend the brokenness in our lives.

This is why we run to Jesus, why we carve out time in our busy days to be with Him. It’s why we go to church, spend time in prayer and Scripture, and gather with others to talk about God. Deep down, we all desire to hear from Jesus and be healed by Him.

Reflection Questions

1. What word do you need to hear from God today—affirmation, correction, or guidance?

2.   In what area of your life do you need healing—physical, emotional, or relational?

 - Pastor Evan