Matthew 7

I was studying Matthew 7 with our youth last evening. We discussed the "plank removal" and we discussed the idea of judging our fellow man when we have this huge plank in our eye. As we were talking it occurred to me that the passage is much more than about not judging others. When I read verse 2, it really struck me what Jesus was saying, " For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you." By what standard would we like to judge. Its ironic that we would say as a Christian that we would only want God to judge us, while not realizing that He has the most insight as to the intent of our heart. Do we really want Him judging is? I mean in "real life" is it not better to have our fellow man judge us, after all we can fake them out, we can "pretend " to be something we are not and then the judgement we receive , we actually fabricate. The problem is when this is the standard by which we choose to be judged or understood, we find ourselves constantly misunderstood. So we have to reinvent ourselves or default into apathy. What if the standard by which we were judged were God. What if the "measure was God himself. What would this look like? Yes, its dangerous. Why would I say that? Well, God is the only one who knows the true intentions and condition of our heart. When He is our standard, we can not be misunderstood. Who better to judge us than the one who, " knows the depths of our hearts, and loves us the same. " I choose to live for God, not the approval of man. He knows me and , and as long as I seek Him and Him alone, what else could I want for?

Now onto the judging others part. Scripture does not say that we should not judge period. Jesus just informs us that the "measure" by which we do so will be the same measure by which we are also judged. What if we looked at others and understood that we could never truly understand their hearts. What would we do then. " You Got it" We would pray for them and allow the One who truly knows them to speak to them and change their hearts. By the way, at that point, He may show us our true selves.

As the youth and I discussed, God's standard is way to high for us to reach on our own. Jesus knew that, and that is why He came down to earth to not lower the standard, but to lift us up to a position of righteousness. How encouraging is it to know, for me at least, that God has never lowered His standard for me, but has judged me based on the perfection and sacrifice of Jesus.

What if we looked at people that same way? Would our hearts break for them? Would we pray more honestly for His passion ? Just some thoughts !

My confidence

Last evening, the youth and I discussed the bar that has been set before us by God. The youth had tremendous insight regarding how high that bar has been set. At first glance this truth can be intimidating because we know that we can never measure up. God's Word tells us that He is holy and he cannot be in the presence of unholiness. When you read Philippians 3:9, you realize that God has not lowered His standards , but rather has placed us in relationship with the only one who could live a perfect righteous life. , " and may be found in Him , not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith." We must learn to stop having confidence in our own ability, but must learn to place all of our faith and trust in Christ Jesus.
Thank you Lord for placing that bar so high, and thank you for allowing me to trust in His ability to live up to the standard.

Are We missing Out?

This question I ask because, I wonder just how much do we miss out on hearing God because of all the noise that surrounds us? How many days go by that you cannot hear the voice of God, for all the clutter and noise? Does this even bother you?

Without practicing silence, we will not hear from God, so this week just try silence. You would be amazed at how difficult it is to even sit for 3 minutes, yes I know people like me have an even more difficult time, but just try it. Just sit for a period of time, read a portion of scripture and ask God these three ?'s

1. How have I messed up?
2. What do you want to show me?
3. What do you want me to do?

Of course each of these questions requires not just the asking, but the waiting for the answer. Also remember, God most often speaks through His Word.


Psalm 46:10 : " Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted on the earth.

How Good is Good Enough ?

It's not so unusual we think this way. Look at our lives! We've been taught to ask: How well do I have to do to get the A? How many points do I need to average to make Varsity? What GRE scores do I need to get into that graduate program? What sales goal do I need to hit to get the promotion? The 'how good is good enough' question in one form or another applies to most every aspect of our lives.
Here's the great news...our God operates in a whole other economy than this world does! What is His only requirement for us to be loved by Him and sure of eternity with Him? Look at the words of scripture:
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. ~ 1 John 5:11-13

Do: Rest in the fact that your place in eternity and the love of the Father doesn't rely on your own goodness, but on the goodness of Jesus Christ.
Pray: Dear God, thank you that I can know without a shadow of a doubt that I'm accepted by You because I have Jesus! Show me someone in my life that needs to know this truth and help me to find just the right opportunity to share this great news with them.

Repeat the Words of Job !

Can we repeat the words of Job ? If its been a while or if you have never read the book of Job, I challenge you to do so. As you read, the point is not to compare your life to Job's and come out releaved that yours is not quite as bad. The point is that regardless of what life throws your way, the knowledge that "My Redeemer lives" should keep us going. As I think about this in the context of Easter , I realize that the hope that we have in Christ is the same hope that Job in the Old Testament. If Jesus can defeat death, He can certainly handle your problems, if He died to save your life for eternity, He can certainly give you the life He promised on this earth.

Colossians 3:22-25

Although this scripture is aimed at servants/employees, it is applicable to each one of us in our lives, whether we are in employment, or working in the home, or in a particular full-time ministry. Whatever we are doing, let us not be looking to man’s approval. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Whatever we do, let us do it as if we are doing it for Jesus. May we not be pleasers of men, performing well when their eyes are on us. Because our reward does not come from men, but from the Lord, as verse 24 says “Knowing [with all certainty] that it is from the Lord [and not from men] that you will receive the inheritance which is your [real] reward. [The one whom] you are actually serving [is] the Lord Christ (the Messiah)”.So often we may look for approval from others. Quite often it doesn’t come. We shouldn’t rely on that, or even look for that. In the end it is God who we will stand before to give an account (Romans 14:10-12).Let us look for our Lord's approval smile. To hear the words ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant’.

I so often find myself pulled in different directions, of course this happens because I find myself wanting to please people over God. I just felt these verses were a reminder I needed most of all. I am called by God, not man and pleasing man is a dangerous thing that will often pull us off course. The enemy (Satan) I believe uses our tendency to need the approval of man to get us not to sin directly, but to take our eyes of Jesus. I guess Paul knew what he was talking about when He told us to " Fix our eyes on Jesus"