Tuesday, January 2nd | Know Thyself

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A healthier, happier you is just a click away. That said, let's start the show. Well, today is Tuesday, January the 2nd. My name is John Galantis, and you're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abaddon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com, or if you have a question, anything that you want to write into Dr. Shah, I suggest we talk about here on the show. You can do so at 252-582-5028. That's our phone number right here for the studio. You can text in on that number. You can call us at that number. You can email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com, and you can help us keep the conversation going by supporting the show. You can share it online with your friends and your family. Leave us a good review on iTunes, Spotify, anywhere you get your podcasting content from.

We're going to leave a link in the description of this podcast so you can do just that. And today's verse of the day is coming to us from Psalm 104, starting right at the very beginning. I almost want to read this whole psalm because of how beautiful and majestic it is. But Psalm 104, it says, Oh my goodness! If I am ever one hundredth of the writer that King David is, I would consider myself the most brilliant writer on the face of the earth, because this guy understands the majesty of God and putting it into our language so beautifully and so succinctly. I mean, it gets me hype. Seriously, I really mean this. If you have not taken time to sit down somewhere quiet and read through the psalms, I really want to encourage you to do that, because every time I do that, I get hype on the Lord.

And that's what they're for, right? That's what worship is supposed to do, not just hype us up, but help us to come to that realization of just who God is. With our limited understanding that we have as human beings, we can still understand that he is so far above us. It said he walks on the wind. What does it say? He makes the clouds his chariot. He walks on the wings of the wind.

It even goes on, it says, I could go on and on and on. But there's just a majesty to the truth of who God is. And part of what we like doing here on The Clearview Today Show is bringing you to that place. It's not that we're getting your emotions to be somewhere that they're not. It's helping you to understand that we serve a God who is awesome.

He elicits awe in his people. And I know that goes for me, that goes for Ryan. Ryan, again, is not here this afternoon.

It's just me and Dr. Shah holding down the studio. But again, the heart is here. Ryan is with us in spirit, as they say. I'll be praying for him as he's traveling back from his holiday travels. I believe he'll be with us tomorrow.

But lots of exciting things happening on The Clearview Today Show. I was actually able to share this with our men's prayer group last week. Not only the majesty and the reality of who God is, but then the juxtaposition of what he did for us. Like, imagine for a second just being the maker of heaven and earth, and then making a conscious choice to lower yourself to the point of death. Not even death, but a slave's death. A dishonorable death. Philippians chapter two, verse eight, I think it says, He humbled himself and was obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. That is not a glorified death. We think of it now like the cross is this big, majestic, glorious image of Christianity and of royalty. But that's not what crucifixion was at all.

It was a commoner's death. And so you've got the maker of everything, being able to just speak, and galaxies are born. That's how much authority you have. That's how much authority Jesus had. Where just at the sound of his voice, nature itself obeyed him out of no choice of its own. And then lowering yourself for the sake of human beings who have spent the majority of their time on earth, either willfully ignoring you, cursing you, or just straight up rebelling against you. And it brings us to this realization that it could only have been love that would cause him to do that. And live among us for 33 long years. It's only his love.

It wasn't a sense of duty or obligation or honor or dignity like we would typically feel. He says in John chapter six and 51, he says, I'm the living bread that came down from heaven. And if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. And so it brings me to a point where I'm grateful. Because I've been afforded eternal life simply because Jesus loves me.

That's the reason. That's why he did what he did. It's because he loves me. And we've been granted this unending and boundless communion with the Father because of Christ. He made a way for us where we just couldn't do it.

And it cost him. Isaiah says that. It says he's borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. It says that he was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.

But it's by his wounds that we are healed. And that's an encouraging thought for today. That's an encouraging thought for the new year.

And my challenge to you guys as we're starting the show today is take that into your 2024. Understanding Christmas, we've got Christmas behind us right now. We're New Year's focused. But take that spirit of Christmas with you.

It's not just that he was born. It's not just a time of celebration. Dr. Shah actually said this in one of his sermons last week, or it might have been the week before last.

But he said, Christmas is not just a time of celebration. It's a time of sacrifice. And that spirit of sacrifice we want to take with us, at least here at Clearview Church, we want to take that with us into our 2024. And we're going to talk about how to do that today.

We're going to cut to a quick commercial break. But when we come back, Dr. Shah is going to talk to us about how to get a game plan in place. How to make sure that our 2024 is impactful. And it's not going to come just because we want it. It's not going to come just because we will it to happen, or we are just sending lofty prayers up. The Holy Spirit is moving through our preparation and through our hard work. And so that's an encouragement as well, because it gives us some agency.

It gives us room to move around and say, God, let's try this. Will you be with me in this? Will you be with me in this one? And ultimately, the encouragement is that he's with us in everything. As long as it's his will, he's going to be with us. We're going to grab Dr. Shah in just a moment, but like we said, if you have any questions or topics that you want us to talk about here on the show, send us a text, 252-582-5028. Love to hear from you guys. You can always email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com.

We'll be right back after this. including Dr. Shah's sermons, original music, a full online store, weekly prayer gatherings, and so much more. Not to mention the number one best-selling Christian talk show of all time. I don't know if that's accurate. Well, maybe not yet, but that's why we want people to download the app. If you're listening from the Triangle area, we encourage you to check out Clearview Church in person. But if not, you can still follow all of our content on the Clearview app.

It's 100% free on the Apple Store and Google Play Store. And best of all, all of our content is right there in one convenient spot. Make sure you download the Clearview app today, and let's get back to the show. Welcome back to Clearview Today with Dr. Abbadan Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can find us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com, or if you have a question for Dr. Shah, anything you'd like to write in, suggest we talk about here on the show, send us a text, 252-582-5028.

You can also email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com. We are here once again in the Clearview Today studio with Dr. Abbadan Shah, who is a PhD in New Testament Textual Criticism professor, Carolina University author, full-time pastor, and host of today's show. Dr. Shah, it's good to see you again. It's good to see you as well. Starting off 2024 on the right foot.

That's right. Starting off strong. Nice Tuesday afternoon. I was sitting around.

I was thinking, what can we do to bless the people's life? I said, I'll tell you what. Let's get Dr. Shah in here.

Let's record an episode of Clearview Today. And I'm glad you did. Amen. How are you doing today? I'm doing very well. Hope you are.

Well, I was, but I just kind of popped my laptop on the table. We were talking a lot last week, and we talked a little bit yesterday. Starting off the new year on the right foot, everybody's talking about setting goals. Everybody's talking about tracking the things that I want to do in 2024. Hopefully God will help me out a little bit, but these are my goals.

These are my dreams. These are my ambitions and my vision. So one of the things that we've been talking about is letting God not only guide you, but really letting God lead you. And I think that starts, and we can talk about this a little bit today, with knowing who you are. You know what I mean?

How do I know what I want, or how do I know even better what God wants for me if I don't really know who I am? Yeah, it's very interesting that you said that. But in 2017, and actually also in 2023 this year when Nicole and I went to Greece, one of my favorite sites to visit is the Temple of Apollo. So this is in Delphi, and according to Pausanias, who was a Greek geographer, traveler, that there were three maxims, and one of the three maxims said, know thyself. You know, that's a powerful statement.

Yeah, it is. That even so long ago in the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, you're probably going back to maybe 25, 2600 years. And it's something that's hard to do, and it's weird because I feel like I know myself, and I feel like every single person will say, I know myself. I've lived in my own skin. I'm in my body. I'm in my mind. I know myself.

But then you find parts of yourself that I didn't expect to find. You know what I mean? Yeah, and it's not just Temple of Apollo having this statement out on the forecourt, but also people like Benjamin Franklin in his Poor Richard's Almanac, which is a very interesting work to read. He wrote, there are three things extremely hard, steel, a diamond, and to know one's self. He's right. He's right.

I guess that's why he wrote that book because, man, knowing yourself, how do you do it? I feel like it's just self-evident, but it's not. It is not.

It is not. And just when you think you know yourself, you do things or you say things that are so contrary to what you want to be that you're like, no, that couldn't be me. That's me because of this external influence. This situation, this circumstance made me act like this. Yeah, if this stimulus or stimuli hadn't happened, I wouldn't have done that.

So that's not me. And it's a hard truth to confront that you don't really know yourself because not only do I seek to know myself, I want to know everybody else. I want to be so good at reading people and getting this situation under control, and I know exactly what you're going to say, and I know exactly what you're thinking about me. But not only do I not know it about them, I don't even have my own self knowledge.

Yeah, I mean, just stop, listeners, viewers, just stop and think. Do you really truly know yourself? Who are you?

Why do you do what you do? And I'm thinking now, like, what's the self-help book? Just give me the Amazon link. What's that one book online that I can get to start knowing myself, you know? Yeah. But there is an answer. Yeah. There is a secret to self-knowledge.

I'm ready. And it's found in Paul's letter to the Romans, Romans chapter 12 and verse 3, Paul says, For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. You know, Paul being a Pharisee, I'm sure he was very used to dealing with people who thought too highly of themselves. Right. Being, well, he even calls himself, didn't you say he's the Pharisee of Pharisees? Yeah. Maybe he was even that way at one point, you know, where he's so used to dealing with religious, were they scholars, the Pharisees? Or were they just leaders?

No, scholars, they were like teachers. Okay. Yeah. Okay.

Yeah. And they didn't see themselves as important. And so that's great advice. Or better than others.

Better than others. And that's great advice to think of yourself, to not think of yourself more highly than you ought to. Yeah. And I love the way he puts it because he's not saying think less of yourself. Right. Put yourself down. Right. He's saying no, like kind of like we're saying, know yourself.

Give yourself a fair assessment. Yeah. I mean, when seeking to know yourself, Paul is saying, be humble and acknowledge that your authority comes only by God's grace. Amen. Amen. I forget that way too often.

Through the grace given to me means God is the one giving him the grace to even begin this question, even ask this question. That's true. And secondly, recognize that it's not a sin to think of yourself. Man, I don't like to think of myself. It's not about me. People say that. It's a cliche now. It's not about me. I don't know why Christians go to either extreme.

We really flock to the extremes. And what Paul is saying is don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. That's true.

Which is different. Yeah. You have to approach it with the right assessment. And I love that because it's something that I feel like I'm pretty weak at. I feel like I'm pretty weak at, number one, acknowledging God's grace because the things that I do right, I want the credit for. The things that I do wrong, I want someone else to take the blame for. I want someone else to be like, kind of like you said, oh, yeah, this kind of went wrong. I didn't plan this properly. But it's not that I didn't plan it properly because I'm a weak planner. It's because someone threw me off my game.

It's because someone else didn't do what they were supposed to be doing. And so now I'm going to justify it. And this is kind of what Paul is saying, like, know who you are. Self-assess in a way that is fair and that is humble. What you just said a few moments ago about how you think of yourself and how you think of other people, the old adage is still true. We judge ourselves on our motives and we judge others by their actions. That's right.

Can I believe he did that? That's a good point. How about you? Well, let me tell you this. What I was trying to communicate or what I was trying to do, well, you're judging yourself by your motives. The other person, you're not checking their motives.

You're not asking the question, what is their motive behind what they did? No, you immediately took the action and made a value judgment. And that's that. That person is done. I did that.

I did that just not even a week or so ago where I did something. About David? Oh, yeah, it was David.

No, I'm just kidding. What do you think, David? What's your take on all of this? In hearing all of that, just hearing y'all talk about it, it's actually kind of funny because the more I've been sitting over here thinking about it, you know, you want to better yourself and you want to, you know, learn to grow and learn to be more of a leader or be more in your business, like, you know, whatever you're trying to do with your life. But if you aren't honest with yourself about where you are, you'll never be able to actually have a starting point or a place to jump off from. And, yeah, I think Jon was talking about me, whatever this thing was. Yeah, I was talking about you, but that wasn't something that I regret. I would do that again in a heartbeat. Oh, God.

I'm just joking. I was planning something and I left someone out and they got their feelings hurt. And when I found out, at first I was in defensive mode, I was like, well, but this is why. This is why this happened. Remember? Don't you remember we did this? And I wanted to talk to that person and be like, hey, here's all the reasons that I'm right.

And even if some of them were valid reasons. And I talked to you. I talked to Dr. Shah and it was like, hey, just, you know, don't take about it. And we talked and we talked through it. And then I started thinking through and I actually prayed about it.

I was in the mall shopping. I prayed about it. And I was like, you know what? All of my reasons are valid. All of this person's reasons are pretty valid, too. Let's make this right. Let's talk it through. And it was one of those things where it wasn't because I knew myself, because if I left my own devices, I'd have probably handled it my way.

I've done that many times. But I'm thankful that we had that conversation because now I feel that my relationship with this person is actually much stronger. And things are in a good place. But you cannot always do that with every person. And, you know, you may have family and friends and people like that who may not allow you to help them and kind of meet in the middle or have a balance, be fair. All they want is disruption and division and hatred and just on and out chaos. That's what they want. It's a reflection of their heart. So not everybody's going to go along with that. But the people who are, yeah, you can work with them.

Yeah. And it was good advice. And just like everything else that you teach, it was a good, delicate balance. Because I knew that both parties had valid points. But at the end of the day, a person who has hurt feelings doesn't want to hear valid points.

They want to feel validated and loved and heard. And that was the good advice that you gave me. And it worked a great deal. But knowing myself, I guess getting back to what we're talking about, I know that if we hadn't had that conversation, I would have laid out all the reasons why I was correct and that situation would have deteriorated. That's right. And that was a good self-assessment that I admittedly needed a little help on.

But knowing that helped a great deal. Yeah. Also, I want to clarify, when it comes to thinking of yourself, only thinking negatively or having a negative self-talk is not… That's humble, man. No, it's not. Oh, oh. It's not.

Honest biblical assessment is wonderful. Yeah. All this negative, man, I'm a nobody. Man, I'm just a… I'm going to eat worms. Yeah.

I'm going to just eat dirt. No, what you're looking for is self-pity. That's right. And even if you're saying you're not looking for self-pity, you're licking a wound and you want somebody in the process to feel bad or whatever.

I don't know what it is. But that does not help anybody. Yeah. And it's not going to help you either because you don't thrive off of other people's pity.

Yeah. You know, when people pity you, it doesn't build you up. And it doesn't build them up. No. Nothing good comes out of it.

No, no. Because when people end up pitying you, they themselves start to… their behavior starts to change. Their thoughts towards you and towards God starts to change. Put it in the context of food habits. Okay? So I'm working on that. I'm making sure I'm eating right and all that. Now, I can have a false understanding of self, my health, and say, oh, no, I'm healthy. I'm doing great.

I'm in the best shape of my life. But if my blood work, if my health assessment comes back as not true, buddy, then I have to make some changes. True. And for that, I have to be honest. I cannot lie about it. I cannot lower the numbers. I have to let the numbers speak for what they are.

Yeah. Because now I can help myself. If not, I'm just fooling myself.

I'm just giving myself a little dopamine, my own personal little shot, feeling good. But it's a lie. So also, when it comes to self-assessment, negative self-focus is wrong. But also, make sure that you are being honest. It's kind of like cheating at Solitaire.

You don't hurt anybody else, just yourself. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So sober assessment is the key. Yeah. And I like that word because when I think of a drunk assessment, if you've ever been around people who are intoxicated, they will either, like you said, just have a complete meltdown, pity parties, crying in the corner, or they're bragging about everything and boasting of every success.

Yeah, exactly. It's not a sober assessment at all. Neither.

Neither extremes are sober assessments. I can't help but think of F.B. Meyer, one of my favorite preachers. And you know F.B. Meyer now. Oh, yes. He warned, he said, don't flatter yourself when it comes to face or lace or place or even grace. F.B.

Meyer, 2024. Face, how you look, lace, what you're wearing, place, where you come from, and even grace, your spiritual walk. Amen. Don't flatter yourself. That's right. You may not be as great as you think.

Yeah. And that's a tough pill for us to swallow because as Christians, we like to pretend that we don't flatter ourselves. It's like, oh, yeah, well, that's, and I don't know what it is, but we trick ourselves into thinking we don't do it, so that advice is not from me. I'm not even going to think on it because, of course, I don't flatter myself. We all flatter ourselves, every single one of us, in some ways.

And Christians are really good at hiding it. I am. I'm really good at hiding it because I'm the most humble person I know.

Sure. I'm the most humble person on this show. But it's just one of those silly things that we just take for granted. And I don't know why it is we do that.

I guess it's because we don't know ourselves the way we think we do. Yeah. Our true measure is neither physical or mental strength, but our faith. Amen. Yeah. And I love that at the start of every year, what we do here at Clearview is we really assess our spiritual walls.

That's right. And we say, okay, listen, all of us, are we praying the way we should? Are we doing our devotions the way we should? We're going to start doing devotions at lunch. We're going to start talking about these things together. And, of course, you'll drift and things will become busy.

Sure. But I love that at the new year, we always come back to that. That's right. That's right. Henry Ward Beecher, again, a great pastor, preacher, he wisely said, he said, you must measure not where you touch the ground, but where you touch the sky. Ooh.

You must measure not the root, but the blossom, not the leaf, but the fruit. So it's the size of your faith in God that determines whether or not you reach your goal. I love that. You know, that's good, isn't it?

Yeah, I want to get that on a poster and blow it up and put it up here in the studio. Henry Beecher Stowe, you said? Oh, Henry Ward Beecher. No, Henry Beecher Stowe is... I don't know who that is. Is that a person? You're talking about Harriet.

Harriet Beecher Stowe. I goofed up a little bit. But that's, if I'm not wrong, that's his daughter. Oh, is it? Okay.

Well, that was a lucky break for me. Yeah, he was a preacher and then I think she's the one who wrote, what is it, Uncle Tom's Cabin? Yeah, I think so. I think so. Yeah. Harry, that sounds right. Yeah.

That sounds right. You know, talking about just setting goals and succeeding in life, a lot of us feel like it's wrong to want to succeed in life. A lot of us feel like we should just be servants of the gospel and nothing more. But I love, one thing I've always admired and loved about you is that success done God's way is really, really sweet. It's sweet fruit. Of course. It is. It's very beneficial.

It is. When you submit yourself in God's hand, he knows you, man. I mean, he knows us. He knows our frame, right?

Isn't that how the Bible says? He knows our frame. So, when you truly rest in God's hand and allow him to expose whatever needs to be exposed, again, like the old adage says, if you cover things up, he will uncover it. But if you uncover it, he will cover it. Amen. So, let God know.

Let God see. And then, let him work in those areas. And I'm talking about myself. Those areas of my life that I'm weak.

There are plenty of areas in my life that I'm weak. And say, God, work here. Work here.

I'll let you work here as well. And then, see what God will do. And this is true self-knowledge. Amen.

Amen. And I think that's something that we can all take into account is that God knows us. So, at the end of the day, I might fool the people around me. I might fool the people in this room. I might fool the people on the radio. But I'm never going to fool God.

That's right. And so, if I'm truly asking for self-improvement in 2024, asking him to reveal those things that are holding me back, I think, is something that he's kind of underlining for me right now. And as we work together as a team, even, because if you listen to this and you're on a ministry team, who you are—and this is something that you taught me years and years ago—who you are is a much bigger asset to a team than what you do or what you can do, your talents.

Oh, 100 percent. You know, you told me, like, I want to work with a person, not a musician or not a set of skills. I want to work with a person.

That's right. A person of integrity. I wasn't a father at the time, but a father of integrity, a husband of integrity. Those are the people that I want to take with me on this journey. Yeah, I love that.

You know, I want to close with Psalm 139, verses 23-24, it says, Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me and know my anxieties, and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Amen. Isn't that beautiful? David was David for a reason.

Yeah, that's right. He got really right. That's one of my goals in 2024, learn how to write as good as David. I doubt I'll get there, but maybe God's grace will, I don't know, maybe come close.

You are phenomenal. I mean, John is such a great writer, such a great musician, leader. Of course, you know, you look to David as well, our David, not the King David who messed with Bathsheba. Our David is a good David right there. Go ahead and put the camera on you, David. There you go. There you go. Hey, that's a David. Very cool. Can I read one more passage?

Please. Ephesians 13 5. Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you?

Unless indeed you are disqualified. Talk about self-assessment. Test yourselves to make sure you're in the faith.

Oh my goodness. And I think it's more a word of assurance than a word of condemnation. But still, what great advice.

And that's advice I don't even think about. Christ is in me. He's in me.

That's right. So I want to let him shine through rather than the old me. Amen. So important for us to remember, especially as we're going forward in 2024. We're going to keep talking to you guys about some leadership tips, how to stay on track with your spiritual discipline, stay on track with God all throughout 2024. You can find us online at ClearViewTodayShow.com.

Or if you have any questions for Dr. Shaw, anything you want to write in, suggest we talk about here on the show, send a text, 252-582-5028. You can always email us at contact at ClearViewTodayShow.com. Don't forget you can support us financially on that same website. Every single time that you do so, every time you donate, every time that you give to the Clear View Today Show, just take comfort in knowing that you are helping us to spread God's message through the airwaves as far as we possibly can. So thank you for your support. Thank you to Mighty Muscadine for supporting this episode. Make sure you also visit MightyMuscadine.com, use that promo code TODAY, get 10% off at checkout, and make sure you know that it supports us as well here at the Clear View Today Show. So every decision you make, and far that goes, supports the message of Jesus Christ. We love you guys, and we'll see you tomorrow on Clear View Today. God bless you.