Easy On The Judgement

 

Who will bring charges against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather He who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

Romans 8:33-34

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Accepting Jesus as our Lord, Master and Savior washes us clean of all our sins. We need not spend our lives defending ourselves against our past sins, because we are forgiven.

Likewise, we are to view other Christians without condemnation because Jesus died once for all, including those whom we would like to judge as unworthy. We need to be mindful that new Christians are new and may take a while to sort those things out in their lives which do not measure up to God’s word. Rather than judge, it is better that we rejoice with them in their salvation and pray with and for them.

A Little Praise Goes A Long Way

 

And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. 

Luke 1:33

We are so close to our children that we sometimes do not see what other people see. 

We had a pastor, whose five year old son was quite a handful.  He was not a compliant child and everything was an argument.  If trouble could be found, he would find it. The pastor said they went to his kindergarten conference and the teacher could not say enough good stuff about him.  She said, "He shares, he is studious, he helps others and he is so kind."  To which the parents replied, "We are Tom's parents."  The teacher said. "I know."

Jesus was a baby, when God revealed to Simeon that He was the Messiah. Mary and Joseph were not expecting that. I am sure they knew Jesus was special because the Angel told them so before He was born but they probably thought that this would not be revealed to anyone else until Jesus was an adult.

Let’s all take a minute to watch our kids and catch them doing something good. And, say, “Wow, that sure was nice of you to do that.”

A little praise goes a long way.

Tossed, But Not Shaken

Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you;

He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

Psalm 55:22

Things do not always go as we plan. Things are sometimes downright awful. But in all things God is with us and He promises to keep us and keep us going.

We are tossed around, but our faith is not shaken.

Testing Testing

 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James 1:2-4

Nobody likes trials and tribulations. They can be heart wrenching and heart breaking or at the very least frustrating, but they also make us stronger because we gain confidence by overcoming the problems we face. Overcoming may mean victory, or it may mean that we go on serving God, even if things do not workout according to our plans and wishes.

I won’t say shake it off, but I will say keep going for God. Things will get better and you will get stronger.

New Things Have Come

 

Therefore if anyone is in Christ; he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come.

2 Corinthians 5:17

When we ask Jesus to be our Lord, Master and Savior, God gives us a new start and new things that are all good.

Knowing this, we as Christians can encourage new Christians to accept that they are forgiven, their past is past, and they can claim a new life in Christ.  And, we too, can acknowledge this and not begrudge anyone of their rightful place in the family of God.

Be ready and be kind. With new Christians, new things have come.

Sidelined

And there arose a dispute among them as to which one of them was the greatest….

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

But he said to Him, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!”

And He said, “I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.”

Luke 22:24, 31-34

At the last supper the disciples squabbled about who was the greatest. Jesus listened and said that it was not who man thought was the greatest who would lead them, but who God selected.

Peter was always shooting off his mouth. He was overly confident and had what we call good self-esteem. Neither of these are bad characteristics for evangelists, but they can get in the way when trying to minister to people. Jesus did not reject Peter, but He let him know that as much faith as he had, it would not be enough to overcome the trial that was coming.

Peter denied Jesus three times (Luke 22:54-62) but Jesus did not deny Peter rather He called Him again. We see this in Luke 16:7 when the angel at Jesus’ empty tomb told Mary and Mary Magdalene to “… go tell His disciples and Peter, He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him….”

What does this tell us about being a Christian? It tells us that even when we fail that God still loves us and that we are still called to minister to others for Him. We may be temporarily sidelined, but with God we are not out of the game.

If you think you have somehow failed the test for being a Christian, think again. God loves you and Jesus loves you and they have work for you to do. 

Get busy. 

Because We Care

 

Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2

What do we do when we encounter someone who is suffering? Do we run away or do we stand beside them and pray?

Because we care, we pray and share words of encouragement. Even if they reject our words and make light of our prayers, we know that God hears and will answer. Sometimes it is God’s answer which turns a hurting lost soul to Him.

If you are suffering, I pray God will shower you with His mercy.