MANY CALLED
FEW CHOSEN

STEP NINE

JUDGE NOT
 

WELCOME BACK MY FRIEND

I trust you're being patient.
The rewards of your patience in taking one step per day is a better ending.

2 Thessalonians 3:5  And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.

FOR THOSE WHO WALKED THE CCCC PATH ... THIS IS YET ANOTHER MESSAGE YOU MAY HAVE HEARD, BUT THE VALUE OF IT IS BEYOND COMPREHENSION IN ANSWERING ONE'S CALLING SO PARTAKING OF IT AGAIN IS SO VERY IMPORTANT

Glad you're back, because there's more exciting things to learn about REPRESENTING. In this Step we will be looking into a VERY important matter.

This is an important lesson that Jesus taught, and one that is too easily forgotten. You'll want to be extremely careful not to become judgmental of people. That is NOT our job as those called to REPRESENT. We are all human and we all have faults, so to judge another person for their faults is dangerous business. Let's see what else Jesus said about this:

There were Religious leaders during Jesus' time called ... "Pharisees" which judged Jesus every chance they could. If you read the Gospels, you'll find that they followed Jesus from place to place criticizing Him and testing Him and judging Him, until finally, they crucified Him. These were the Religious leaders of the people back then, people who most others trusted in their judgment because they were educated in the laws of Moses and the Holy Scriptures, and they were very dedicated to following them to the letter. They were well respected, so people went along with their opinions about Jesus and they denied Him as their Lord and Savior, even though scripture foretold of the Messiah that would save them from their sins, through the prophets for thousands of years, and the Pharisees were well aware of these prophecies.  

Jesus encountered these rascals, the "Pharisees," and you will learn what He said and did in response to their attacks in this Step. Many Christians and even Religious leaders of our own day, judge other people by the clothes they wear, the length of their hair, which side of town they live on, the color of their skin, how old or how young they are, past experiences and mistakes they have made, particular beliefs, etc ...

It's very sad that these people, who consider themselves to be better than another of God's children (even though, they know in their hearts that they were also forgiven of their sins of the past, and received God's Grace and still sin) and that these people would find it necessary to judge another, in some vain attempt to appear to uplift themselves ... Pretending to be doing a God service (something good for God).  

Their view makes the Cross, of no effect.

The point is that people that serve God and think they are here to judge may THINK they are serving God but they are not. They are serving their own selfish desires to be a judge and their words make what Jesus did on the Cross as if it were NOTHING when the TRUTH is that when our Lord died for us on the Cross ... It was EVERYTHING.

  There are a few self proclaimed, Religious leaders who like to suggest that LAW prevails over God's Grace. These rascals demand that the burden on Christians is to be heavy, so that it makes it difficult to enter the gates of Heaven. These people have no compassion, understanding or love for others, in their heart. They have no concept of the love that God has for His children. Their desire for self edification, blinds them from the TRUTH.

It was some Self proclaimed (based on one's own say-so) Religious leaders, back in Jesus' day, that were constantly following Jesus around quoting LAW. His responses were so compelling that they ran away in fear and confusion. They became so afraid of losing their high places, that they devised a plan and had JESUS crucified ... They used LAWS to do it. They claimed they were doing a God service.  

THEY WERE WRONG !!!

But, God had a plan and His Will ... Was done.

Jesus said it best, when the Self proclaimed Religious leaders of that time brought a woman before Jesus, to be judged for a sin that she had committed. They asked Jesus what should be done to her, knowing that the LAW said that she should be stoned to death ...

JESUS SAID...

BEWARE becoming one of the "holier than thou" teachers of LAW which elect to judge the lost, which are potential Christians ... Beware, lest you find yourself being judged, as you have judged these lost souls, and YOU lose God's Grace. 

THIS REMINDS ME OF A STORY

There was a man, that we will call Mr. Smith, who was sitting in Church with his wife. He had just dozed off, during the pastor's sermon, when he awoke to the sound of the collection plate coming around. He watched as the people next to him put in what they could afford, which was very little. When the collection plate reached him, he cleared his throat very loud, to gain the attention of all those around him, and put a hundred dollar bill into the collection plate. When Church was over, he was edging his way through the crowd towards the front door and saw a statue of Jesus. He thought to himself, "He needs a haircut and a shave" ...

On the way to his favorite restaurant for brunch, he came upon a stoplight and saw one of THOSE people. You know, the ones with a sign that says " Will work for food" ... This guy had long hair, a beard and very dirty, worn out clothing. As he came to a stop, Mr. Smith rolled up the electric windows in his new Cadillac and turned his head away from the poor looking man, who was now just outside his window, with his hand stretched out towards Mr. Smith. After what seemed like forever, to Mr. Smith, the stoplight turned green. Before Mr. Smith pulled off, he rolled down the window and yelled out, "Hey, ya bum ... get a job" and then sped off laughing.

A few years later, Mr. Smith died of cancer and ended up at God's Judgment seat. Jesus asked Mr. Smith why it was that he thought he was worthy to get into Heaven. Mr. Smith said proudly that he donated a hundred dollars every time his wife could drag him to Church. Jesus asked if that was the only reason and Mr. Smith said, "Yes, of course, I have paid for my way into Heaven" ...

Jesus looked at Mr. Smith and said ... "I disagree ... You failed to have compassion and love for your fellow man, when the opportunity arose. You are greedy and selfish and are not worthy to enter Heaven." Mr. Smith, convicted by Jesus' Words, turned and started walking away with his head hung low. Then Jesus said ... "And, by the way Mr. Smith ... I am no bum and I DO have a JOB."
 

THE MORAL OF THIS STORY IS ECHOED THROUGH THE BIBLE

What you do to and for others, you do to and for JESUS.

Be kind to strangers, it could be an angel testing you.
 

When you truly believe in Jesus and repent ...
God forgives your sins ... PERIOD !!!

SO YOU MUST CHOOSE TO FORGIVE OTHERS

HERE IS THE TRUTH ...

We're all given the gift of the Grace of God, whether we're sheep or shepherds or rich or poor or old or young or anything in between. To judge another person who may not have realized the TRUTH and the freedom and the beauty and the miracle of God's gift of Grace, is just flat wrong. 

If you ever find yourself judging another, or you recognize someone else doing that, put an end to it right away with the light of TRUTH ... God is the only judge.

This brings up another important topic for us to explore. Though we are CALLED to REPRESENT, we do make mistakes. It happens to absolutely every human being that ever lived, except for Jesus. We call it stumbling, or falling down. 

There are three ways that people fall, or sin:

3) By not knowing the difference.

There is ONLY one way to get up: 

Accepting God's Grace through believing that Jesus died for our sins, and repenting
(being sincerely sorry).

One of the important qualities of REPRESENTING is that when you fall down, you get up! 

The page you're about to visit shows that EVERYONE falls. It happens to even the very best of God's people. Even some of your Bible heroes.