The Only Judge

Revelation 14:6-7 - Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth--to every nation, tribe, language and people. He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."

It is no surprise to me that God revealed these verses to me. He has convicted me of so many sins as I have read through his great word…selfishness….greed…materialism…forgiveness…to name just a few of the big ones. Why would he stop there…I mean…now that he has opened my mind to understand that I have many things about my heart I need to adjust...why wouldn’t he keep asking me to adjust my old way of thinking.

My friends and I were going to eat dinner by the wonderful pool the second night we were here for training. I had already pointed out and made fun of a quite large woman in a very revealing swimsuit…she apparently had tried to squeeze her large body into a swimsuit 5 sizes too small…cause she was spilling out quite badly at the top. They all laughed and agreed with me of course…she had no business wearing that in public. They were ordering pizza…but I wanted a salad…so I entered the restaurant here at the motel to get one to go. They sent me to the bar area…where I had to sit and smell the strong drinks of others…and wait for it to be prepared. I knew in my heart I would use the thought as soon as I had it…so I typed it into my blackberry. As I typed… “How in the world did Jesus do it…sit in those places…with those people…” I was completely oblivious to the fact that he was in the process of teaching me a HUGE lesson about being judgmental.

These verses take every thought I have ever had that included they shouldn’t…or they have no right…and turn them right into the next big sin I must try to remove from my heart. I simply am not the one who is suppose to judge….anything…anybody….for any reason. It was those other sins he is in the process of washing away from my heart that gave me the need to judge. Jesus sat in…  “those places…with those people..” because his heart never had the thought to judge them…he knew that was his father’s job.  So as he looked up at people like Zacchaeus in Luke 19….or the woman caught in adultery in John 8…or the criminal that hung beside him on the cross in Luke 23…he saw their need to be saved from his father’s judgement…rather than all the things that his father might see wrong with them when they stood before him.

I must change the way I look at everyone from now on…ask God to help me see the hurt they are using to substitute for a relationship with God. I must learn to see into their heart…and love the person…not what I think they have done wrong.  I must realize that I am not sinless and can never cast stones at others again.  I must begin to look at other’s heart first and ask God to help me turn my need to judge…into an opportunity to minister to someone. I won’t feel so inadequate for the task if I realize that God sent the Holy Spirit to help me…all I have to do the next time I am tempted to judge is ask for help …to ask the spirit to give me a heart to love…to befriend…to forgive…to invite them to go to paradise with me someday!

Father…my tears are fresh reminders that I have messed up once again.  Forgive me for all the thoughts that I was ever better than anyone else…that my standard of dressing….that my values to never drink again…that my need to point out the faults of others…were the benchmark for others to follow.  I realize this morning that I am just a saved sinner…who by grace and mercy…and the forgiveness of the father…needs to worry only about her own righteousness. Help me father to be more loving…to ask you to help me search for ways to remove this habit of judging completely from my life…so you can teach me the thoughts that Jesus had…as he sat next to Zacchaeus….and allowed Him to realize on his own that he needed to change.  Help me to see what you wrote in the sand that day you knelt beside the woman caught in adultery….that helped her see the need to be more pure. Help me to feel the love you had for that criminal on the cross as he revealed to your dying son that he knew who he was…and accepted the salvation that gave him a free ticket to paradise that day. Amen.