Don't Judge Me Man!

 

 

I hear the phrase “Don’t judge” so often in our world and often out of the mouths of Christians.   I am concerned that the enemy has confused this phrase and used it to silence many from speaking truth and has kept many from hearing truth, because the enemy knows truth will set us free. 

 

I am so thankful for people in my life that saw sin in my life and loved me enough to point it out.  In fact, I will go as far to say that the people who have said, “I love you but you are wrong” are the people who love me most and want the best for me.   They want nothing to stand in the way of my relationship with God.  

 

I guess they could have been worried that I would tell them to, “Stop judging me”,  but I am so thankful that they knew the difference between judging to condemn (which a Christian is not to do) and a discerning judgment of fruit (which a Christian is to do).   The father of all lies is skilled in taking the very words of God out of context.   We have to recognize how often he does this today and has done so since the beginning of time as he questioned Eve in the garden, “Did God really say?”  This is why it is so important for Christians to know God’s Word and to read it in context.   Yes, God does say in Matthew 7 “Judge not that you be not judged”.   Yet, He goes on to say in the very same chapter that we can “know them by their fruits” and that “every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit” (v. 15-17).   In this same chapter, God tells us we can judge a tree by its fruit.  John McArthur (The Truth War) says “Scripture does clearly and consistently teach the primacy of right belief as the foundation of right behavior.  In other words, righteous living is properly seen as a fruit of authentic faith and never the other way around”.   McArthur emphatically pleads with Christians to know and speak truth and ignore the enemy who says you are “judging” when you do so.  

 

God tells us to encourage one another to be followers of Christ and to mimic His behavior in every facet of our lives.   God’s Word tells us how to live, and that we can know right and wrong in our lives and in the lives of others.  McArthur says, “The idea that the Christian message should be kept pliable and ambiguous seems especially attractive to young people who are in tune with the culture and in love with the spirit of the age and can’t stand to have biblical truth applied with precision as a corrective to worldly lifestyles, unholy minds, and ungodly behavior.   And the poison of this perspective is being increasingly injected into the evangelical church body.”   Now more than ever we are to know truth and encourage others to know it as well (Titus 2).   

 

But what if they call you a hypocrite?  What if they point out sins they have seen you commit in the past?   Get ready for it, but don’t let this fear stop you!   When they call you a hypocrite, agree with them that you have indeed messed up.   “Yes, I’ve sinned, but I always knew God was in my life because I felt guilty over my sin.  But the times I have chosen to follow Jesus and not sin are the times I have felt such freedom.  I just want that for you too.  I want God’s best for you because I love you.”

 

We have to help others know what God says about how we are to live, “Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to their debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting’ (Roman 1:28).   McArthur says to, “Abandon a biblical definition of truth, and unrighteousness is the inescapable result.  We see it happening before our eyes in every corner of society.   In fact, the widespread acceptance of homosexuality, rebellion, and all forms of iniquity that we see in our society today is the verbatim fulfillment of what Romans 1 says always happens when a society denies and suppresses the essential connection between God and truth.”

 

This is hard stuff.   This is “cling to Jesus with all you have stuff” but the consequences are huge.  People we love are in bondage to misery-making sin.  People we love do not know our Lord.   The consequences are huge.  Pray.  Stay connected to God and trust Him to give you the words.  Love them.   Speak truth to them.  Keep loving them when they call you a hypocrite.   Keep speaking truth even in this hard world….because this world needs Jesus and eternity without Him is Hell. 

 

 

Questions to Ask Yourself When Trouble Comes

Questions to ask yourself when trouble comes…

 

1. Is God still on the throne? (yes)

And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb” Rev 7:10

2. Does God hear my prayers? (yes)

You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;
 you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, Psalm 10:17

3. Is God still capable of miracles? (yes)

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matt 19:26

4. Does God have the ability to use this hard thing for my good and His glory?(yes)

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Rom 8:28

5. As I seek God through His Word and prayer will He strengthen me through this storm? (yes)

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Rom 15:13

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:6-7

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isa 41:10

6. Can the faith of others grow as they see me cling to Jesus through this? (yes)

Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings

 I Pet 5:9

Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31-32

7. Will I be free from this problem, difficulty, trial or tragedy in Heaven? (yes)

Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death  or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Rev 21:4-5

     8.  Will it help me to keep my eyes on Jesus and take one day at a time? (yes)

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matt 6:33-34

 

 

 

The Day after The Cross

The Day after the Cross

 

Devastated, despairing…confused.  Even though Jesus had told His disciples what He had come to do, the Cross certainly didn’t look or feel like victory.

 

Those who had seen Him feed the five thousand, calm the storm, raise the dead, and fulfill countless prophecies could not bring themselves to imagine anything good coming from the Cross.

 

They reasoned, “It was over.  Finished.”  Doubt flooded their minds.  Was He really who He said He was?

 

How like us today.

 

We’ve read His promises.   We’ve seen Him act in our lives.   We’ve heard His voice whisper things just for us.  But, then, He does something unexpected.   Something we don’t like.   Our circumstances don’t turn out the way we had hoped.   We can’t see Him at work or imagine that He is. 

 

What then?

 

Do we shirk away- devastated, despairing and confused?

 

Or do we hold on?   Remembering, like that day after the Cross, even when things look horribly wrong—Jesus is always at work keeping His promises.   Always.

 

Hell has been defeated.   Victory is already won.   Jesus said He is coming again to make all things new.  And He is.  

 

He said His plans for you are exceedingly abundantly more than you can ask or imagine (Eph 3:20)… (let alone see or figure out).  

 

Just because you don’t understand what He is doing doesn’t mean Jesus isn’t defeating Hell for you.  

 

Hold on.  Hold on to Him.   Believe Him.  Follow Him. 

 

Hope is found in His promises, in His blood, in His righteousness. Especially when you don’t’ understand.

 

Hold on.   Sunday is coming. 

 

Blessed are those who believe in Him even when they can’t see Him.  (John 20:29)

Ilogical Easter

It doesn’t make logical sense.  Eternal life for those destined to die – freely offered to all who will receive through the blood of God’s sinless Son. Surely, there must be more required.  So many of us hear about it but can’t receive it.  A few feel above it all, saying they do not need the forgiveness of some higher authority only to one day answer to the “Higher Authority.”   Others spend years trying to find peace and hope in other things only to ultimately come up empty after each new acquisition. 

 

However, most of us know the perpetual emptiness found in things on this earth and are also keenly aware of our own sin-- knowing we need forgiveness.   But still, for many, the thought of such a simple solution:  a magnificent trade--Jesus’ blood for my sins (past, present and future) seems, well, wrong.  Not enough.  Shouldn’t there be more required?   Can it possibly be that easy?  We may not say it aloud, but we resolve in our minds and hang on to the belief that we have to keep on striving.  So many of us decide we must add to it.  We reason, “Jesus’ blood PLUS my good works, my moral behavior, my ‘try harder’… that then, could equal forgiveness.”   

 

Yet, is this belief not the most selfish and conceited affront to the love offered by our Savior?   Aren’t we putting ourselves on a pedestal higher than the Savior and selfishly saying by our focus on our works, “We deserve it and we can earn it…what Jesus did isn’t enough”?  Jonathan Edwards, in The Nature of True Beauty, explained it this way:

 

“If you don’t believe the gospel of grace (is enough), if you believe you are saved by your works, then you have never done anything for the love of others or for the sheer beauty of it; you’ve done it for yourself.  You haven’t helped the proverbial little old lady across the street just for her sake –or for God’s sake.  You’ve done it because then you can look at yourself in the mirror and know that you’re the kind of person who helps little old ladies across the street and you expect to go to heaven someday because of it.  It’s all selfish; it will become drudgery, yet you’ll believe yourself superior to others”

 

There is only one way to come to the Cross and receive it in truth.  We have to come to the Cross helpless -helpless, at the end of ourselves, asking God to help us fathom this great gift.   Jesus is our substitutionary sacrifice and has done for us what we cannot do for ourselves, what we cannot find for ourselves, what we cannot earn for ourselves.   He has paid for our sins once and for all.  It is finished means: it really is finished.   Tim Keller puts it this way, “He (Jesus) has proved to our insecure, skittish little hearts that we are worth everything to him--we have everything we need in him.”  This changes everything.  Oh friend, can you fathom this illogical, wonderful truth?   Can you believe it and receive it?   God will help you….even help you believe it just as he helped the father who said “I believe help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). 

 

And once we believe, we helplessly accept - we find soul rest, no longer working, no longer trying harder for our salvation.  Our lives and our perspectives are forever changed.  Keller goes on to say, “Now you do not need to help people, but you want to help them to resemble the One who did so much for you to bring Him delight.  Whether you think they are worthy of your service doesn’t come into it. Only the gospel gives you the benefit of unselfish living that doesn’t rob you of the benefits of unselfishness even as you act on it.”   In other words, I want to live in such a way that others will see Jesus in me and will want to give Him glory… not because I think I can earn His forgiveness because of what I do.  Truly, it is not about what we’ve done but what has been done for us.   Grace is more amazing than we can ever fathom.   

 

Jesus paid it all.   All to Him I owe.   We have so much to celebrate because of The Cross….Happy Easter!   Amazing illogical Easter!

 

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:22-24

 

I'm not enough for my kids

I’m not enough for my kids

 

 

Almost twenty-one years ago a squirmy, wet, beautiful, little creature was laid upon my belly, crying, filling his lungs with earth air.  My heart exploded with emotion because everything in me knew I had never loved another human being as much as I instantly loved this tiny angel.   My love for this person has only grown deeper by the day as it has for his brother and sister as well.  Yet, my love, nor any human love, will ever be the greatest love my children could ever know.  

 

As the days have gone by, I have tried to anticipate every possible danger or discouragement coming their way; as well as seek out every opportunity for their good.  From strapping fighting toddlers in cars seats, to baking cookies for kindergarten birthday parties, to going over thousands of spelling lists, to washing dirty football uniforms over and over, to sitting on hard bleachers for hours, to driving to hundreds of piano lessons, to filling out college applications – I have tried to be there for my kids.  Yet, I know I will not always be able to be there for them, and one day they will walk this earth without me.

 

I have held their faces in my hands time and time again and told each of my children how proud I am of them.  I have complimented and celebrated them for the things I have seen them do well.   Yet, my words of encouragement and affirmation will never be enough to be their lasting security and confidence. 

 

I have relentlessly corrected and disciplined them over and over again.   Often repeating the same things to eye rolls and groans, I have hoped my words of caution would spare them from pain.   Yet, I know I cannot always be there to whisper truth to them in moments of decision.  

 

I have told them of a God who loves them even more than I do.   I have pointed them to His Word and encouraged them that it is there they will find strength, direction, comfort and hope.   Yet, they see my faith fail; and my human words fall incredibly short of the words the Holy Spirit has for each of them when they seek Him on their own, or the words He will whisper to them in their deepest dark.

 

I know, as they grow, my ability to shelter my kids from mistakes and pain is dwindling.   As they grow up and their time apart from me increases--so do the temptations around every corner.   For not only do my kids have a Mom who cannot protect them from everything, they also have an enemy--a real enemy.  His plans are to rob, kill, and destroy.    When they were small he seemed to take little notice of them; but now that they are older, I more clearly see that he is waging a very real war against them.   Yet, I cannot predict his next move or completely protect them no more than I can see the wars waging in the heavenlies over my kids.

 

Since they were born, my every thought has included, if not been consumed by my three children.  When I say, I would die for my kids, I mean it.  I don’t’ think I would even hesitate.  Yet, if I died for them, it wouldn’t be enough to save them for eternity.    

 

I am not enough for my kids. 

 

Yet, there is One who loves my children more than I do, and against Him the enemy has no power.  He is always with them no matter where life takes them.  He can always speak to them, and His Words are perfect and true.    He is lasting hope, peace, and strength.   He is real security in an insecure, evil world.  His plans for them are exceedingly better than they (or their momma) could ask or imagine.    While I have failed my children, God has not and never will.  

 

And even if my love for them and my actions towards my kids had been perfect – it would not be enough.  It would never be enough.   For just like me, although my babies were born gasping for earth air, they were also born with souls longing to be satisfied by the Living, Most High God.  

 

And for this reason… my greatest of prayers for the people I love so much that I hurt when they hurt and rejoice when they rejoice is that they will know (really know) the One who loves them more than me, Who left a throne in Heaven to die for them, Who has made a way for them in eternity,  Who will guide their steps, Who will be their rock-- their calm in the storm, their hope for tomorrow, their real joy  no matter what life may bring….and Who will be there for them long after I’m home with Him. 

 

And Who I (just like my kids) need every moment of every day until then…

 

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  2 Tim 3:16-17

Sports, Moma Bears and Jesus

He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

Isa 53:3

 

I manage to overlook many things now in my life.   God has worked on my once famous temper and taught me to let more things slide.  However, when insults or unfair treatment are directed at my children… my blood still boils.   As I sat on the bleachers, my heart ached as I saw a hurt, aggravated look on my son’s face as he sat on the bench.   I prayed for the coach to put him in; I wrung my hands; I twisted my hair; and fume began to come out of my ears.   I knew I needed my own “come to Jesus” meeting, and so I abruptly left the stands and walked along the court to the gym door hoping to calm myself down in the cold night air.    Barely outside the door, I exclaimed, “God, do you know what they are doing to my son?”   And then it hit me.  

 

Here, I stood, an imperfect mother infuriated about her imperfect son’s treatment over a game.  My prayerful arguments about “how hard he has worked, how good he plays, and how he deserves more playing time” seemed so insignificant when my words rang back to me as if from God Himself , “Do you know what they did to MY Son?”   How did that feel to God the Father?  I cannot imagine what it must have been like for the all-powerful God to watch us so cruelly reject His Son.   Jesus had done so much more than try hard – they had seen Him walk miles of dusty roads to heal the sick, feed the thousands, and raise the dead.   Yet, they discounted all Jesus had done for them; rejecting Him and His love for them and cried for a murderer to be spared in His place.   They spat upon Him, ridiculed Him, and beat Him.  What if that had been my son?   What if it had been yours?  

 

Yet, instead of wiping us all off the planet, God so loved us, that He was pleased to give His Son for us.   All the punishment we deserve was heaped upon God’s one and only Son.   The Moma Bear in me cannot wrap my mind around that; nor can I fathom what it took for a beaten, bloodied, rejected Jesus to utter the words, “God forgive them for they know not what they do”.  

 

I wonder when God gives us children and lets us so deeply feel their heartache if He is giving us just a glimpse of how much it cost Him to send His Son.    Perhaps He allows our children to suffer unfair treatment so we might teach them more about what our Savior endured and how very much He loves them.   Perhaps God wants His children to be less like a Moma Bear and more like Himself – loving the unlovely, not returning evil for evil, exhibiting patience and grace.   Maybe it is especially in hard circumstances that the world can see something different in those of us who call ourselves Christians.  Maybe it is then that they will see 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.

⁴ Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵ 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.

Isaiah 53:3-5

 

Do I want God to change?

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Heb 13:8

 

Life is made up of moments.   Some are spectacular, unforgettable, and sweet.   There are also moments you wish would never happen --those moments where the bad news comes, and you know life will forever change.   We never know what the next phone call or breaking news story will hold…indeed, life is always changing by the moment.   Some thrive on change and make their dollar marketing change whether it be in the fashion world (oh, how I miss my 80s leg warmers) or political arena.   We are a people simultaneously drawn to and running away from change.   It both excites us and terrifies us, and there is nothing we can do to stop it.  

 

And then there is God.   He says He does not change. “Yes, yes”, we say “we know that”.  We say we take comfort in the rock-steady, unchanging nature of our God.  Yet deep down do we really believe He does not change?  Or do we, in fact, really want to believe He is changeless only about some things.   Incredibly, some rest in the fact of His unchanging love while simultaneously living as if He might have changed His view on certain sins.  Perhaps seeing the obvious problems with overpopulation and unwanted, inconvenient pregnancies, God has evolved in His views on the sanctity of life?  Perhaps, He really didn’t mean what He said in His Bible about divorce, adultery and homosexuality?  Ouch.!   Those are hard things --political things.  

 

But God is not a political god.   He doesn’t take an opinion poll and then take a stand.   No.  He is God and He says He does not change.   Would you really want Him to?   Would you want Him to forgive your sins and then decide you just aren’t worth it?   Would you want Him to promise you Heaven and then decide He has better options?   Don’t we desperately need to know we can count on God not to change what He has said? Would you want Him to tell you that the blood of His precious Son (that you are counting on to cover all your sins) is no longer an acceptable payment for your sin debt?  

 

Try as we may, we can’t have it both ways.   No, somewhere in the deepest part of us we have a desperate need to know really know God is indeed the same, yesterday, today and forever.   While He is all good, full of mercy and standing with open arms completely willing to forgive our sins—He does not redefine sin from one generation to the next.   He can’t change His nature, and we would be insane to want Him to be able to do so.   For those who call upon Him as Lord - He is also rock.   He is firm foundation in a world filled with sinking sand.   His changelessness is hope to be counted on.  He is our “true north”, and when we follow Him, we find rest for our weary, bounced-around-by-the-world and all its opinion souls. 

 

Prayer - Father, You are God and I am not.  Thank you.   My emotions are apt to change by the minute.   So also are the emotions of those around me.   Help me to rest in your unchanging love and follow your always-for-us ways.   Thank you that in the same passage of scripture where you tell me you will never leave me nor forsake me you also tell me you will not change (Heb 13) .   Help me to remember those truths when life gets hard, when the things I have counted on seem to fail me, help me to remember there is rest in your unchanging love.   Thank you Lord for being my rock.  Amen.