Posted on 09/06/2021 12:03:33 PM PDT by rebuildus
Remember, God tends to select His biggest screw ups for His most important work.
Moses murdered an Egyptian before God picked him to lead the people out of Egypt. Even then, Moses argued with God about doing it.
Look at Saul who persecuted Christians and was present at the Sanhedrin when Steven was stoned to death, and he became Paul, the greatest evangelist in Christianity.
Or Peter who cut off the slave’s ear and denied Jesus three times. God made him the father of the church...
Many christians have a favorite verse: John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
And RIGHT after that,
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to judge ...
If Jesus wasn’t here to judge, what gives us the idea that it’s okay for US to do it?
I sure hope you cleanse that soul before the Holy Spirit turns you to charcoal.
Judging will always harm you. Statements of fact that are not judgement are ok. It all depends upon where your heart is when you do it and how you do it..
I am dismayed at all of the animosity for our good friend humblegunner here. Here he plays the part of The Good Samaritan and tries to help a person out and y’all come gunning for him. Shame on you.
Several times Jesus stated, “I have not come to judge, but to save.”
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And your point is?
Good thing I’m wearing me hip-waders.
It happens every day, I'm used to it.
I take comfort in knowing that I'm saving souls and
helping the world and a couple of smack-talkers can't change that.
Mission. From. God.
I may have been wrong once about 16 years ago, but I could be mistaken about that.
I think your sin can be found in your final paragraph.
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Humblegunner, your post is so excellent I could not delete or add a single word to it. All praise to you!
“Mission. From. God.”
Joel, is that you?
stopityerkillinme
BUMP!
I am confident I can admit when I am wrong and I look forward to doing so the first time I am.
That is one of my favorite scriptures.
While Jesus does not Judge, the Refining Fire will cause a person to feel like they are in hell if they don’t cleanse their soul of sin.
It’s just reality, not judgement... kind of like holding onto a sack of gold and trying to swim. You are not judged, but if you can’t keep your head above water you drown. No judgement, you just perish.
Humblegunner,
Maybe you should be the one taking a shower and some prayer. You cannot tell anyone they are going to hell since you have no idea what is in their heart.
They said they were a believer and that is all that is needed for our understanding. Anything else is hubris on your part.
Except that a great portion of the Bible is a text book on how to judge people, situations, etc.
It comes down to a simple choice: If you choose FOR the God Who loves us because He IS Love, you get to spend eternity with the God Who loves you.
If you choose otherwise, you end up spending eternity with the guy who goes out of his way to make you feel miserable, surrounded by people who look at things the same way, set up in a place where God says He will not go.
The way to recover from the sin of judgement is to realize and accept that God Loves you unconditionally, no matter what you have done. However, your self judgement is usually far worse than the judgement of others and it blocks you from receiving God’s Love.
When a person is unable to accept God’s Love their upper back appears very tight. I feel it when I am near them. They feel underserving of Love due to their self judgement and they close the back door to their heart.
I stayed at a Benedictine monastery while I was soul searching and noticed that about a third of the approximately 50 monks had the back door to their heart closed. They felt they had to earn God’s Love and felt unworthy of it. The Abbot radiated Love so I knew he was aware. I asked him how he would guide them to accept, feel and experience God’s Love in their souls. It’s a difficult thing to teach as often it takes intense suffering, leading to despair, and then surrender before a person feels God’s Love.
I try to always remember, Judge not lest ye be judged.
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Human beings render judgments every waking moment of their lives. And judgment of oneself and others is a fundamental necessity of life. Historically millions of those who were too timid or too cowardly to judge others have ended up in the Gulags and death camps run by those who they didn’t judge. GET REAL!
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