In what ways should we challenge ourselves in the The Lord?

Not by testing to see if he'll bless your sin.

You'll have questions, we always do- even if we've been hurt or we 'don't really want to know', and we find new ways of shaming ourselves into believing that we can't be helped. Someone's been lying to you.

Ways to challenge yourself in the Lord (which basically means how to use God to reflect yourself to yourself, because tbh you want to challenge God- it's written in your sin nature DNA manual):

1. Tell the Lord of His character.
Read the Word. Get to know who God is. Then tell Him what you. Say, "God- You said You would do this: _____ (keep Your covenant to never again destroy the Earth with water)", "God, you say you are ____ (great, mighty, a strong tower)".

What if you say you don't see His character outside of the Word. Well, that's a lie, but say you say it anyway: Ask Him to how you can see/get privy/hip- that way, you're always your own accountability partner- even if you have a few = success in showing self to self. (Which, isn't that what we want anyway? To see ourselves?)

2. Learn who He sees you as (a tree, for example).

After telling God who He says He is, and asking Him to let you see when you don't see,

"I want to see myself as You see me, Lord. Show me how you see me."

we need to tell God what we want to see.

SPECIFICS ARE IMPORTANT! (We typically get avoidingy here.)

"God, where am I flawed? Where do I fall short? Where can I do better?" Learn to see how He sees you: for all have fallen short of the will of God.

But remember, my question was not, how do we challenge the Lord alone. The question was, how do we challenge ourselves in the Lord. We shouldn't only tell God what we want to see in ourselves for revelations-sake. This exercise is also to inspire action. You will find that as you begin to find out who God is, what He said He would do, and what He's done, when you tell Him what you want to see and He begins to show you- something will change in you.

So
3. Practice.

God loves us, but glory only happens when we're doing His will, which takes practice because it literally goes against our human natures. I shared with a friend last night that I'm not only learning​ how to right, but I'm also learning that doing right is more pleasing than doing my own will. But did I ever learn that from the world? Definitely not. It takes doing the will of God over and over again, and then repeating these same steps, to stay in communication with the Lord.

At every step, God is waiting to reveal to us our truest nature- how we are in constant need of Him.

I submit to you that this won't happen just by waiting to see- in fact, I don't think we're that patient. So challenge the Lord, and see what He shows you. I promise He can help, and beyond that, He'll save you from sin (that I don't think you really want, do you?). This is about how we go to the Lord and demand understanding of salvation, grace, those things that save us. So seek the Lord while He may be found, and bring to Him His Living Word, that it might be fulfilled in time, which in my heart of hearts, I'm know I'm looking forward to far more to that than the next time I'll sin.

Humility is key here: "Lord, I feel helpless." "Father, I cannot do this on my own."
If I lie to myself that I like sin or that it's good for me, I'll think I don't need God, and never humble myself enough to approach the Lord. Understanding my true nature should have been first on the list. Don't test God that He should bless your sin- He won't. But He can definitely bless any part of your life you hand over to Him.

That only happens with trust, and trust only happens if you know His character. Woop- back to #1.

Rinse (repent), and repeat.

Elizabeth