Monday, August 22, 2011

Who is to Judge?

Something that has been cropping up often is this constant rebuke from Christians and non-Christians not to Judge others.

Let us look at this verse in the Bible and dig deep into what this means and what God has to say on this issue.
I truly believe that we are to get a clue. Read the Bible yes, read it everyday but we are to read it in context and discover who wrote it, to whom it was written to and what the purpose was of the message.

We will also read a few verses before and after a verse that has been quoted to discover the really meat of the issue. When you dig for Gold or go to a stream to sift through stones and debris in the water you dig deep and you look carefully and toss out the dirt and go for Gold. we need to glean the true meaning of scripture in order to catch the heart of God and the meaning of the author. Then we can apply it to our own lives and thus learn from what is being said. Any reading of the Bible not followed by careful study and complete understanding is just opinion.

It is just far to easy to just read the Bible as if you were reading a novel but it should be a seeking and knocking and asking of God. What does this mean? Why is it even in the Bible? How does it apply to that particular time in History and the receiver and author's stance.

So let us read the verse that is most quoted. Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. Most often this verse is quoted without the 'that you may not be judged'
What does this mean then. Are we not to Judge at all? Is pointing out to someone their sin wrong? Is it wrong to to even mention another person's sin? Do we just allow them to carry on in their sin?
This is what we will come up with if we stop at this verse but if we will read on we may read a little more about what Jesus was saying here.
Let us read the whole verse and then we will get into who Jesus was speaking to and what life was like at that time.
Matthew 7:1-6
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.
2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?
5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

Here we read that we are not to judge others, to look at the huge issue we have with ourselves first before we are to go to our brother or sister and point out their smaller issue. Jesus goes on to call these people Hypocrites for not dealing with themselves first and always pointing the finger and pointing out other's sins and wrong doings but fail to sort out their own sins and wrong doings. It does not mean we are not to point out to others that what they are doing is wrong. We need to speak in truth.

My husband and I don't drink and the reason why we do not drink is because we would like to be an example to others. We have a few friends and family members who drink and some are alcoholics. And although there is nothing wrong with drinking a wine or a beer with mates there is something really wrong with over indulging and getting drunk and making alcohol your god. We both decided that we could really not tell others not to drink if we were doing it ourselves. we had to set and example whereby we can show others that you can have a good time without alcohol. That there are other things to talk about that how many you had to drink.
Swearing too, using foul language and being course. If you do these things and then go to someone else and say, gee you have a filthy mouth and you quote scripture on why it is bad and then you go home and cuss and blaspheme more than the person you just pointed a finger at. That is just plain hypocritical and this is what Jesus warns us against and not once either. He warns us again in the gospels to beware of hypocrisy.

Luke 11:37-12:2
Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and lawyers of the time who were so high and mighty and had holier than though attitudes and expected for everyone to be clean yet were so filthy and horrid inside that they were hypocritical. Hypo-critical. We are to beware we are not criticizing others and poking at their wounds when we are in fact rotten with the very same wound.

Matthew 7:1-5 is telling us not that we should not judge but rather how we should judge. We are not to judge as the Pharisees of that time judged others. We are not to judge by appearance. The Pharisees judged Jesus because He hadn't washed. They didn't even look to see how amazing Jesus is. All they said was 'He didn't even wash, He is so dirty He must be this that and the next thing'
We also read the story about the Good Samaritan. If he had judged the dying, bleeding man as the others had before him that man would've died. But he set aside his feelings. He showed compassion and concern for the dying man.
We are living is a world where people are dying. The do not know God. They are filling their lives up with alcohol, pre-marital sex, adultery, drugs, pornography. Their god is the god of I. How does this make me feel? How does it benefit me? It is my right to do whatever I want. Live it up. Drink so much because it feels 'good' and then get into a car and show no concern for others on the road.
These people will die not knowing the freedom and fulfillment that only God has for those who would come to Him, repent of their sins and just press into Him.

I really hope that my conduct will be judged! I do not want to lead anyone astray by my example. If I am sinning in a way that causes others to fall short of God's glory then I am more wrong than the worst murderer.

For those of us who are Christian. We should be judging what others say about the bible and what it means to them. We must be so careful that we don't believe just everything blindly.

When I was a child I would believe whatever those older than me would say about God and everything else. I would just follow their lead blindly. It was only after I got married when my husband I started talking about what each of us believes did we end up with totally different answers. And I was like 'Hang on is Christianity all about what others say it is or is it about what God says. Do I read my Bible and then go away saying well that was a nice story or do I dig deep to dig out the gold and very meaning.

We end up believing untruths. We end up in bondage over things.

As Christians we must Stand. Stand for something or you will Fall for anything. We need to speak truth but speak it with love, hope and kindness.

If you are reading this and are not a Christian I will not expect you to live a life as a Christian. It is impossible for us to even begin dealing with the power of sin over our lives without Christ. It is wrong for us Christians to expect you to be fully right with God BEFORE you come to Christ. We aren't even fully right with God and when we became Christians God took us in when we were still sinners. We read in Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

I am a rotten sinner. But Christ died for me. He loves me that much. Now sin might mean something totally different to everyone. To me I have come to a realisation of what sin is. Sin defiles me, it is not pretty, it is not good, it is not pleasant, it is sad. As a Christian if I willingly sin I am wounding God. The power of sin is death. If it were not for the Grace of my Lord and Saviour I shudder to thing where or what I would be doing right now.

I urge you all my fellow brothers and sisters to strive not for perfection where you are measuring yourself up against others but rather setting a standard based on what God has to say to us so that we may spur others on to greatness. If a fellow Christian is wallowing in their sin be there to help them and pull them out of the mud. If they do not want to get out of the mud it is a very sad thing indeed and it hurts them but it also hurts the Church and those around them.

Love the unbelieving sinner more than they love their sin. Be an example but do not judge them unfairly. They do not know that they are doing wrong and can't possibly fully change without Christ.

To clarify what I am trying to say here please read this link "Can Or Should Christians Judge One Another?"

It may make it clearer. I tend to speak from the heart with a bit of mind thrown in and my husband is like wikipedia and commentaries all on his own. I just cannot retain facts but when God reveals something to my heart I will read what others have to say and take away some fact but mostly the just of what is meant. Big words throw me off and although I do try and understand them it does not come easy to me.

We need to have such a heart for the lost that we look at their souls more than we look at their sin. They need to know that they are sinners but to sit and point at their sin in a way that is not loving of the person is wrong. We do not condone what they are doing but we model something better and need to explain that we are all sinners. To lead someone to Christ without this information is totally misleading. You cannot come to Christ with out acknowledging first that you are a sinner and that Christ died on the cross for your sins and then rose again from the dead. Sin entered the world and God and separated us from Him. He had to make a way for us to come to Him again. That is what make our Salvation such an important part of our lives. It is the very reason why we can have a relationship with God and be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Beware how you judge and who you judge and most of all why you judge. Judge because you are looking out for the lives others but do not judge because you feel you are better than them.



Tuesday, August 16, 2011

From the Heart

I have been thinking about a few things in the last week.
God has been speaking to me about so much in the last month and some days I feel I have something to blog about but really I just have to wait for more of the puzzle.

So today I am going write what is on my heart and how I have been feeling about my town that I live in and the people in my church.

Some evenings I look out over my town and I have mentioned this before in a previous blog but I must say again how stirred I am to pray. I just want to cry when I think of those lost people who do not know Christ as their Lord and Saviour. The world is looking for a Hero. The world is looking and searching for Jesus. Every individual is looking for Jesus. But they do not know it yet.

I look out over the Youth and the young children in our church and I see such potential. Girls and boys who are going to do great things for God right at the age that they are at.
Now when I see a young teen boy I see God giving them a steel rod running down behind their backs something to do with standing up straight for the things of God and not bending and swaying in the wind of false doctrines and the opinions of those who do not speak the truth. Teen Girls I see as buds in our church. When you look at a rose bush you will see that their is a main bloom and buds on the sides under the rose. We older women are to be sturdy rose bushes gathering our buds close and teaching them how to love, nurture and speak truth to others that cross their paths. Just as aphids and rain will come and try to attack the delicate buds we are to impart our wisdom to our girls so that they will not fall prey to aphids or be damaged by heavy rain.
The young boys and girls from the very little are like our butterflies and bees. They are the beauty of our church. So refreshing and delightful. They flit from flower to flower, always alert and soaking in all the nectar and pollen. They will make something out of what they gather and will take it and give to others. What they have learnt, will stay with them and will 'rub off' on to others who do not know Jesus.

On Sunday each of the teens in our church were given a prophesy. We had Ps. Don Lake and his wife come speak at our church and it brought me to tears hearing and seeing what God had in store for the Youth. I feel there is a deep passion for Christ that is going to bubble out of them and it will not be able to be contained. No lid or ceiling will be able to keep it under control.
Jesus is doing a new thing. He is bringing generations together in unity, different backgrounds and people of every race. We are brothers and sisters, daughters and sons, mothers and fathers to each other.

Romans 8 talks about there being no condemnation for those in Christ. It also says that if God is for us then who can be against us. It is a very good chapter and a must read for those lacking encouragement or for a new revelation of what it means to be a Christian.

If God is for us and we are not condemned the who, who can stand against us?

God is bigger than we will ever imagine and He has a million promises.
I am with you says the Lord, I will never leave you or forsake you, you are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus.

I pray that we will all have peace with this and take hold of these promises. Dream again and speak forth truth with the love and heart of Christ.

My passion is to see everyone ushering in God's presence in their own lives and into the lives of others. I cannot wait to hear testimonies of what God is doing in our lives and in those of others.

I pray that you will all see how much love He has for you and how much others need to feel that love. I am not talking about the kind of love we have for things but the type of passionate love that will break our hearts when we hear of one person who has gone from this world not accepting Christ as their Saviour, the same love that will feel like our hearts will burst when we hear of miracles, new things that God has and a new brother or sister coming to know Jesus as Lord.
Get on your knees and cry out for your town, city, country, world. Cry out to God. Intercede for your family, friends, strangers. Look passed their sin and ask Jesus to show you what he sees. You will never be the same again when you look at others in this way. Never! You will not be able to be in a crowd of strangers and not be overwhelmed with love and thoughts of them. Praying for them as you go and wondering who knows the Good News and how you can impact your world.




Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Bungy!!!

Bungy jumping can be a freeing and terrifying experience. I was thinking about it today and I think it really ties in to what I wanted to say about my experience over the last weekend when I went to EquipHer.

It was such an awesome experience. I went up on my own. Without my children or my husband. I went as myself expectant. I wanted to leave there equipped with a new understanding of who God is and what He has planned for my life. I wanted to leave there ready to step out. Ready to take hold of all that God wants to do in my life and in the lives of others through me.

What happened is that on the Friday night, the very first session, negative words that were spoken over my life, feelings of rejection, hurt, were broken. Saturday evening it was like a cloud had lifted off from over my head. I parted the heavens with my hands and there was and open heaven. The clouds of judgement and of expectations that I have not met, words spoken over me about not being good enough, GONE!

When I woke up on Sunday morning they were still gone. There was no ceiling of clouds left. Monday morning I woke up and they were still gone and the presence of God that I felt on the Friday night was still there.

Let me tell you I had to just about shake off these negative thoughts and stinking thinking and the heavy clouds placed on my head.

What does this have to do with Bungy Jumping? Well I feel that Bungy Jumping is a bit like what I am needing to do in my spiritual life. Just take that leap of faith and jump. Forget about who said what about you and who told you you can't do this or that. God said and that is that. Let Him be your bungy cord, your life saver, the only One you count on and just take that step.

We are all scared. I know I am. So very scared of what God has for me. But why? Why do we fear the future? We would rather sit doing the same groundhog day stuff than face ourselves and mirror and say 'There is more to life than this!' God has more for me, He called me before the world began, before I was knitted in my mother's womb. He knows me. He knows the me I was, He knows the me I am today and He knows the me I am going to become.

The core message over the weekend was to stop thinking in the natural realm but to think in the Spiritual Supernatural Realm. We are not of this world we are of Heaven. Our Spirits have been awakened and now we must function not in the flesh but in the Spirit.
The Woman at the well was so focused on the water in the well and the type of thirst that only this kind of water will quench and Jesus was speaking to her about Living Water (spiritual water) that if we thirst for it, Jesus gives it freely and we will not thirst again. The disciples then said to Jesus 'Come and lets eat' and Jesus said 'I have food to eat of which you do not know.

Imagine that. Jesus has the food and the water for us that is not like a sandwich and a cup of tea, okay? I will get hungry again and will get hungry again and thirsty again.
But the Living water and the Word of God will not leave us hungry or thirsty. Which come to the persuit of 'Happiness' Happiness like food and water is a temporary filling feeling. It serves it's purpose but it is not lasting. When we have no food to eat, no clean water and we are unhappy what is left? Rejoice in the Lord? Always! and Again I say rejoice. How can we do this? Through the Joy of the Lord. If we possess Joy we possess Strength!

Right so now that we have looked at ourselves we need to look at others. What Living Water and Words and Nuture are we sending out to others. There are so many poor in Spirit, yes poor in food and water but poor in Spirit too. What are we doing for others?

Which brings me back to Bungy Jumping. Are you and I going to put aside our fears, doubts and levels of temporary happiness and possess the Joy of the Lord and take that step. Jump and shake off these things holding you back.

I tell you now Satan wants to keep you on that ledge in fear and not taking hold of your future so he can push you off later into the deep end without anything to save you. He does not want you to rise up and awaken to the things God has for you because that will mean he is one step closer to his demise. He wants to make you feel safe and comfortable and fast asleep.

Sometimes as Christians we die to the old and put on the new and rise from the dead but we end up going back to the grave we were in. We are new creations still sleeping in our graves. It is time to get out of the grave, wake up and step into what God has for us.

Bungy! Do it literally or do it in Spirit but do it. Free yourself from everything that is you back.

You see when we step out in Faith God will not leave us wanting. He will come through for us. He is faithful. It is time we realize that much is expected of us and we will be used greatly. He will not leave us or reject us like others in our lives have done.

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

Our spirits are eternal and will never die. We are not natural we are spiritual.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Christians in NZ website

Just a quick note to say that the website in my post last year has come to a halt because ning has decided to charge for this service. If anyone is keen to still be apart of a similar website let me know and I can see if I can start another one up.

Hopefully I will get a new post in tonight.

God Bless to you all
Tamryn