Released to Grace

On April 16, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 6: 37

Do not judge.

Do you want to move from law and condemnation to grace and mercy? I can help you with that and I want to because being the keeper of the law is burdensome. Judgement exacts a price. It taxes your spirit, but it is also dangerous to your physical health so let’s set you free!

Spiritual Law – You cannot give away what you cannot receive.

People who judge others tend to be people who are hard themselves. If a person has difficulty receiving grace from God for themselves, they will tend to be rough on others. Though they may be nice people, lovers of God, their lives have a tinge of bitterness. You will often see a harsh edge to them. It seems to come from nowhere but there is a source, and it is self-loathing. They expect near perfection of themselves and transfer that rigidity to others. Now, the funny part about it is that they don’t always seem to be super self-critical. They sometimes give the impression of being self-impressed. None the less, what is needed is the fullness of grace and, indeed, it is the thing we all need.

I have noticed that some of the most critical people are the folks who seem to have their stuff together. The people who know they are a mess or have come from messy situations are so grateful for the grace of God that they tend to be a little less critical of others. They have a self-awareness that remembers the messy condition they were in before Jesus touched them. Those “Holier than Thou” people have cleaned up well, perhaps better than the rest of us. The strain of their judgments, though, is killing them and they deserve to be free. The critical spirit is a cruel task master.

We can become so wedded to the law that we fail to move in love. Our judgments precede us, rather than the love of God. As I wrote earlier in the year, it is easy to be judgmental because people are fallible. We are all one step away from doing or saying something stupid. So, when we look around us, opportunities abound for judgment. Here is the thing though, it is a crippling of our own spirit. Were we to actually forgive and accept ourselves, we would find ourselves less likely to judge others. If we will accept the grace and forgiveness the Father offers us, then we gain the ability to extend the same to others. It is our own self-condemnation that makes us so judgmental. If we will love ourselves and let the Father love us, if we will accept the love He has for us, then we can love others despite their shortcomings.

Our place is not to judge. We learned that from Jesus. What we may not have understood is that he gave us that advice to protect us, not others. It is our spirits which he was concerned about. He and Father want to share all their love with us, to hold us in their arms letting us know that we are accepted. When we allow them to fully love us, we will have love enough for our fellow human beings.

Grace and blessing to you in the beloved name of Jesus!

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Fallible

On March 26, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 6: 37

Do not judge.

Simply said, not so simply done. It is easy to be judgmental. Why? Because people are fallible. Look at even some of the great Biblical heroes. Take David, for example. God said of him, “I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.” (Acts 13: 22). What better testimony can one have? God has never said anything like that about me. None the less, we find it pretty easy to judge David. He messed up big time and, for some, that sin has become David’s legacy more than the years and years of trusting God and doing his will. Is he remembered as the man who wrote most of the psalms or as the man who sinned before God and country?

What of Moses? Here is another great heroic figure. He essentially created a new nation out of a group of slaves. He rescued his entire nation, millions of enslaved Jews but, he, too, was fallible. In the end, he failed and, subsequently, didn’t get to go into the Promised Land. He rose to prominence in his own eyes rather than trusting in God’s power and God forbade him entrance to the Promised Land. Wow! Are you kidding me?! This is the guy who parted the Red Sea, who got water from a rock, and more. He, too, had faults, and in the end suffered a major failure.

The point? People are fallible. It is easy to be judgmental because every person you know has faults and weaknesses. The harder thing is to be the instrument of grace. Grace is the opposite of judgment. “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ,” (John 1: 17). The problem is, like the Jews of the New Testament, we get stuck in the law. Jesus told us if we live by the law, we will die by it. That is not what any of us want. We all want God’s grace and that is a major reason we should live by grace.

We can look at a person and see their flaws or we can see the work of God. We can cover them with a mantle of grace such that what we see is through the veil of Jesus’ work in us and them. I do not say this is an easy thing to do. In fact, I believe it can be quite challenging. The easiest thing in the world is to focus on the many flaws each of us presents. The grace of God is acceptance in full view of our shortcomings. If Moses failed and didn’t get to go into the Promised Land because of it, what is the likelihood that many of us will fall short of God’s best? Thus, we are all easily judged as failures and miscreants. We don’t show the fullness of Christ’s love. So, if you want to judge me, or most others, it’s just not that hard. What Christ is looking for, though, is the for the love he has poured out on us to be used to spread grace, forgiveness and understanding for others. I think his instruction is pretty clear, “Do not judge.”

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Accuser

On April 13, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Revelation 12: 10

Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down.

Who is the accuser of the brethren? It is he who has been thrown down. It’s Satan, right? God is not the accuser of the brethren. We have already seen that He is the rewarder of the brethren. God is not judging us. He sent salvation and the salvation and power that He sent threw down the accuser. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8: 1). Christ, our savior, rescued us from judgment and condemnation. That is why our Father does not want us judging and/or condemning each other. He does not want tattle-tales.

Jesus said, “Judge not lest you be judged” (Matthew 7: 1). Well, that sentence could just as easily end with “Judge not.” Satan is the accuser of the brethren. Jesus is the savior of the brethren. He has restored us in His glory and majesty. That is why he hates to hear us judging and criticizing each other. He knows our weaknesses. That is why we needed a savior but despite our faults we are the beloved.

If God isn’t judging us, and we saw that to be true in Monday’s Word of the Day (John 5: 22) and Jesus isn’t judging us (John 3: 17) then where do we get the goofy idea that we are allowed to judge anyone? In doing so we are doing the devil’s work because he is the accuser. This is really huge. Since God and Jesus have foregone their legal right to judge, condemn and sentence us then anyone who does judge is usurping their authority. This is exactly why you see verses in the Bible against gossip, backbiting and strife. We are playing with the devil’s toys when we engage in those acts.

Whatsmore, judging others invites calamity upon ourselves. That is one of the big reasons Jesus doesn’t want us to judge. Remember he said, “Judge not lest you be judged.” Look at Luke 6: 37, “And do not judge and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.” The degree to which we accuse our brethren and judge them, that is the amount of judgment seed we sow and hence by that measure we will receive judgment. It isn’t that God is judging us. We have already seen that is not the case. No, it is that we will just reap judgment and condemnation from the people around us. If you think people are judging you, it might be because you have been judgmental. Jesus wants to save you from yourself.

Whatever you have thought about criticism, accusation, judgment and condemnation in the past should now be tempered by what you know from the Word. God has not called us as judges but rather as believers. He has not asked us to tattle on our sisters and brothers. He is explicitly saying to us that this is an area which is forbidden to us. Satan stands accused for this very thing. He is the one who holds our sin up before the Father but God has condemned him for his acts.

Free yourself from Judgment. It is too heavy a load to bear.

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