2008-12-05
Good Morning God’s Treasures,
The Holy Spirit directs me to continue writing about judgments, in particular our accountability in making them. Whether or not the citation that follows is welcome depends on our knowledge of God’s will and whether or not we are doing our best to fulfill it in our own lives. PS 33: 13, “The Lord looks down from heaven and sees every person.” To those living righteously, this comes as the warm glow of God’s light shining on and reflected through us. To those with hidden secrets of manipulation, deceit, and other evils, this is something of which they should be rightfully afraid. God’s will is critical to us in our faith walks. IS 46: 9-10, “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ’My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’” If one is still physically alive on earth, then there is still time to alter our thinking and make changes in our lives to conform to God’s will. But time is off the essence, and there is no time like immediately to make these changes.
Being teachable really matters. IS 50: 4, “The Sovereign Lord has taught me what to say, so I can strengthen the weary. Every morning He makes me eager to hear what He going to teach me.” We need to examine ourselves to see if our attitude matches Isaiah’s here. Last week I was compelled to write about taking and giving constructive criticism. If we are living according to God’s standard, then when and if this type of criticism comes our way, we will not feel defeated by it, but will instead, feel reminded or with our paths cleared for us. Going through our lives is like working our way through a dense jungle with the machete knife of the Scriptures in hand. There are dangers [temptations] all around, but if we are aware, we can use our knowledge of God’s teaching to cut away all the foliage that covers the clear path to our heavenly destination. 2 COR 10: 3-5, “It is true that we live in the world, but we do not fight from worldly motives. The weapons we used in our fight are not the world’s weapons but God’s powerful weapons which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments; we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.” As for dangerous animals along our jungle path, we can combat them if we remember the principle of 1 JN 4: 4. “But you belong to God, my children, and have defeated the false prophets, because the Spirit Who is in you is more powerful than the spirit of those who belong to the world.” When we are teachable, our hearts are open to the direction of the Holy Spirit even when we find ourselves is dangerous territory. We have good judgment even in difficult situations and can often avoid such danger in the first place. We don’t quarrel, giving our opponents a chance to repent from their wrongful ways, not arguing to defeat them [2 TIM 2: 24-26].
Having said all of this, we remain always accountable for our thoughts, decisions, judgments, and general over all behavior with others. When we don’t act in love when making judgments, or we judge using our own standards and not God’s, our judgments are wrongful. We must ask: Is my spirit being teachable? We must remember 2 TIM 2: 2, “Take the teaching that you heard me proclaim in the presence of many witnesses, and entrust them to reliable people, who will then be able to teach others also.” Those instructions given by Paul was actually a repeat, only in different words, that God inspired the Midian priest, Jethro, to say to his son-in-law, Moses in the desert. This happened at the time Moses was being overwhelmed by the time it was taking him to make all the judgments of disputes for the Jewish people. Jethro was telling Moses to delegate authority to help with the smaller judgments to respected leaders [judges] in the community, leaving only the most important of matters to himself [EX 18: 13-26]. The judgments we must make today are of more than disputes between others, to say the least. But with the Holy Spirit at helm, our judgments can be laced with God’s wisdom. We can be said to be teachable.
Ultimate accountability always is found to be to God. When someone isn’t godly and makes a lifestyle of this behavior, then he must be left to face God. There were a few people in my own life, who caused me no end of trouble. Their problems were greater than anything my understanding of the Scriptures could help. I knew this and did my best to leave the ultimate decision on what happened to them to God. It was more important that I didn’t allow their evil thoughts, decisions, and actions, even those taken out on me, to pull me into the temptation of giving in to the anger and frustration I felt. Without being specific for reasons of privacy, I can tell you that God adjudicated each and every case without any help from me. And yes, He did so in His perfect way. The lesson here for me was found in EPH 4: 26-27, “If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day. Do not give the devil a chance.” After all, we must remember what we learn in RO 14: 11-12, “For the Scripture [IS 45: 23] says, ‘As surely as I am the living God,’ says the Lord, ‘everyone will kneel before Me, and everyone will confess that I am God.’ Every one of us, then, will have to give an account of Himself to God.” When we are righteous, we have no need to be afraid of this.
PRAYER: O Lord, we thank and praise You, as we recognize that every word you give us in Your word is designed to help us to learn to be teachable and to live righteously. PS 119: 93, “I will never forget Thy precepts: for with them Thou hat quickened me.” PS 119: 24, “I will never neglect Your precepts, because by them, You have preserved my life.” They give us life in the Spirit, and they preserve that life, so that You have the time You need to sanctify [perfect] us. We beseech You, Dearest Abba, to continue to be with us and help when we must make judgments or in any other pursuit in our lives. PS 63: 7, “Because Thou hast been my Help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.” So, again we ask You, as we do most every day, “Teach me how to live, O Lord” [PS 27:11]. Oftentimes we find ourselves needing to make judgments in the course of our interaction with other humans. These need to be in line with Your standards, and we must recognize when we are facing a problem only You can settle. Just as Moses took Jethro’s wise advice, we must understand that the authority to make a judgment must sometimes be left in the hands of someone more qualified than we are and sometimes even in Your capable hands. Where a person’s ultimate destiny is being decided, that is for You alone to handle. We must remember 2 TIM 2: 19, “But the solid foundation what God has laid cannot be shaken; and on it are written these words: ‘The Lord knows those who are His’ and ‘Whoever says that he belongs to the Lord must turn away from wrongdoing.’” We are asked to “be joyful in union with the Lord” [PHIL 3: 1], something we can do, knowing that God is looking down at us from heaven. Later in this same chapter [PHIL 3: 14] we can all prayerfully say, ‘So I run straight toward the goal [living righteously] in order to win the prize, which is God’s call through Christ Jesus to the life above.’” Eternal thanks and praise to You, Dearest Father, in the mighty and holy name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Next week, we will look at more on having teachable spirits and on some of the problems that crop up when making judgments. How can we not be grateful to the Father for giving us so much practical direction on dealing with judgments? He is always so generous in all He gives us, including all we have and our very lives. Just as He breathed life in to dry bones representing Israel, He does the same with us. [EZK 37: 10, 14; EZK 36: 26-27]. He will take people whose lives were unrighteous but who are willing to listen and to be teachable, and He will breathe life-giving faith in them, so they will hunger for His word and a life of righteousness. He will also give us direction to know when judging a problem is beyond our authority and/or ability. Often, He directs us to the right person to handle it, and sometimes, the problem runs so deep, that He will tells us to give it directly to Him. Sadly, there will be those people who are so far separated from Him that eternal condemnation is their only fate. Christ died on the cross for our salvation, but that salvation can only happen through faith in Him. JN 14: 6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father except by Me.” Touch words? You bet they are, but it has to be that God makes the ultimate decision on who the condemned are. Our ultimate accountability is to Him. However, read again the words of Christ’s mission statement in JN 6: 39-40, to see God’s will for as many people as possible. We are included in His flock that will one day, if we endure in our faith, will graze in His heavenly pasture. Praise be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn