Here Comes 'Da Judge!

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."  

(Matthew 7:  1-2, NIV)

If we all took these verses to heart, would we really be judging anyone?  Would we want God to judge us in the same manner as we judge others?  Oh, you may think you're not really "judging" others---you're just stating the negative facts about them!  It's easy to take our standards and have others try and measure up to them.  And, when they don't, we will criticize, or rather, judge them.  Who made us judge and jury?  Not God. 

Growing up in a legalistic, religious environment caused me to have strict, set standards in which to go by as a young person.  Instead of looking at others through the eyes of mercy and grace, we were taught the "do's and don't's" of a church denomination.  As I became more independent, I broke away from a "religion" and began a relationship with Jesus Christ.  As a result, I came to realize the judgmental spirit of which I had been exposed, and started to look at others the way Christ would have---through His eyes of love. 

God has set the standards, according to his Word.  There are commandments we must go by as being a follower of Jesus Christ.  We can't just be free to do whatever we please.  On matters where we don't have a clear answer, it is best just to say, "That's between you and God.  Only He can be your judge." 

Dear God, help me not to judge others.  Give me the eyes to see  through your love and grace.  Allow me to have a merciful heart.  Amen! 

YOU ARE BLESSED

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  Matthew 5:15 NIV

If you are “poor in spirit”, if you “mourn”, if you are “meek”, if you “hunger and thirst for righteousness”, if you are “merciful”, if you are “pure in heart”, if you are a “peacemaker”, and if you “are persecuted because of righteousness” then you are “blessed”. 

If you have received Jesus as your Savior, then your lamp has been lighted.  Don’t put it under a bowl for no one to see.  You have become the Righteousness of God through Christ Jesus.  Don’t dim the Light that is in you by complaining and grumbling about the economy, your neighbor, your boss, your employees, your children, your parents, your school, your church, your car, your health, your age, your looks, your house, the heat, the cold, the rain, the drought, and on and on and on and on. 

Yours is “the kingdom of heaven”, you are “comforted”, you have “inherited the earth”, you are “filled”, you have been “shown mercy”, you have “seen God”, you are a child of God”, and – yes again - yours “is the kingdom of heaven”.  You are “blessed”. 

If you have received Jesus as your Savior, then your lamp has been lighted.  You are “now” a new creation.  The eternal Life, and Love and Light of our resurrected Savior have lighted your lamp. 

Be thankful by remembering how blessed you are!  You were dead in your trespasses, but now you are alive for evermore through Christ Jesus.  You are blessed. 

Father God, Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, help us to be thankful rather than complaining and grumbling about things that might just be a little uncomfortable.  Bless our words and deeds to Your Glory forever and ever in the name of Jesus we ask it.  Amen and so be it.

Get Up And Walk

'..... He said to the paralytic, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home."He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God saying, "We have never seen anything like this!" (Mark 2:10-12 NIV)

As Jesus enters back into Capernaum, the place where he normally lived, many begin to gather. Men began bringing him a paralytic, but they couldn't get him to Jesus, so they made an opening in the roof and lowered the man on the mat. I can just envision how excited these people were that Jesus, the healer they had heard about, had come back to town. The ones knowing that someone needed healing wouldn't take no for an answer.  They were going to do whatever it took to get the sick to Jesus, even if that meant taking extreme measures!

When's the last time we've done something extreme just to get to Jesus? We have trouble actually believing that somebody could be healed, but these guys it talks about here in Mark 2 knew that, if they could ever make it to Jesus, the paralytic would be healed! Once they got him to Jesus, He said "Get up, take your mat and go home!" Did Jesus heal the paralytic just because he could? No, Jesus says in verse 5 that he saw their faith!! Faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains, or better yet, it can heal many who are sick!

Mark 2:13-17 is one of my favorite descriptions of how just our Jesus is! Jesus is seen in this scripture eating with tax collectors and 'sinners', and when questioned of his motives, Jesus simply replies, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Living in a small town, which most of us around here do, I just know by the time we would have gotten back home that everybody would already be calling or texting asking you why you were with them. Many of us, who admit it or not, have our standards for how people should look or talk and that can have an effect on how we react to those around us.

If somebody fits our standard, then we are more likely to approach them and strike up a conversation than with someone who looks out of our standards. I believe one of our calls of being a Christian is to associate with those that don't always fit the standard or those that aren't always accepted by everyone else. When we do these things that aren't the normal, it can strike up a conversation and will allow us to explain that Jesus has no standards by which to judge! Use things that aren't of the normal to strike up a conversation about God, and who knows---you may lead someone to Christ!

Thirst Quencher

"The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." (John 4: 15, NIV)

Jesus is in Samaria with the woman at the well.  "Wells were almost always located outside the city along the main road.  Twice each day, morning and evening, women came to draw water.  This woman came at noon, however, probably to avoid meeting people who knew her reputation.  Jesus gave this woman an extraordinary message about fresh and pure water that would quench her spiritual thirst forever.

The woman mistakenly believed that if she received the water Jesus offered, she would not have to return to the well each day.  She was interested in Jesus' message because she thought it could make her life easier.  But, if that were always the case, people would accept Christ's message for the wrong reasons.  Christ did not come to take away challenges, but to change us on the inside and to empower us to deal with problems from God's perspective."  (footnotes, Life Application Bible) 

Physically, our bodies need food and water.  If we don't eat or drink daily, we will become hungry and thirsty.  In turn, our souls need spiritual food and water.  We will often deprive our souls before we do our bodies.  Our souls are everlasting---these bodies will eventually fade away.  Psalm 42: 2, "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God."  Drink from the cup that never runs dry---He'll quench your thirsty soul. 

Follow Him

¹⁶As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." ¹⁸At once they left their nets and followed him.

¹⁹When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. ²⁰Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Mark 1: 16-19

Simon, Andrew, James, and John were ordinary men doing their ordinary jobs when Jesus showed up. They were fishing. This is how they made their living and how they spent most of their days. Suddenly, Jesus shows up and asks them to leave their nets and follow Him. And, they did just that.

Jesus told the men that they would now be "fishers of men." Jesus asked them to lay aside their earthly status, their form of making money, their way of life and to instead invest what time they had into heavenly things. He asked them to start fishing for the hearts of men and leading them to Him.

When I think about the lives of the disciples, a few important things come to my mind. First, the life He led them to was much more exciting and important than the one He took them away from, although I am sure they didn't know that at the time they made the decision. Second, going on this journey changed them more than the people whom they were going to help. At some point, people began to recognize the disciples simply because they had "been with Jesus." Finally, everything they saw, did, and accomplished was only done through Jesus and by Jesus through them. They allowed Him to use them, and by simply being willing, God's will was accomplished in the Earth for that period of time.

Speaking of God's will, keep in mind that the disciples also did not understand why they did everything they did. They didn't always know what Jesus was "up to" at times, but they obeyed, and I am sure Jesus smiled when they finally said, "Oh, I see."

What is God asking you to do? Simply follow Him and obey. That is all He asks. He will take care of the rest.