sin of judging

Let him who is without sin cast the first stone

"Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." Luke 6:3-38

John 12:47-48 (New King James Version)

⁴⁷And if anyone hears My words and does not believe,^[a] I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. ⁴⁸He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

Luke 6:36

³⁶Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

I asked my pastor about my revelation..

I wrote my pastor an email, and here’re some of her answers to me:

(Words in italics are mine)

I CAN seek answers to EVERYTHING? Is this it?

Of cos you can but you may not have all the answers while you are on earth. Read Eccles 1: 16-18 even the wisest man of that time consider wisdom as grasping for the wind. Hence finding out and enquiring knowledge is not the answer to your life.

Many are called, and few are chosen. (what does this mean really?)

(In Matt 20:16 the complete sentence reads this way...so the last will be the first and the fast will be the last. For many are called but few chosen. Jesus shared this in the context of his second coming and He illustrated with the parable of the workers in the vineyard, he then talked about the greatness is serving. One way to understand a verse is to read the whole context. Over here, the context here gives us an urgency to live as a servant and one who is ever willing...cos Jesus will call everyone but not everyone will heed his voice, only those who heeds his voice is chosen).

I learnt this:
"Many Christians consider it their duty to deprecate logic and rational thinking, but do not realize that they are seeking to destroy our only hope of believing the gospel. John exalts rationality by beginning his gospel with the words that are traditionally translated as, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God". The word translated Word is logos; it can mean word, sentence, doctrine, ratio, wisdom and other such similar terms. What is clear is that the term means something like "rational order", and this verse is enough to prove that rationality is not something to be despised by Christians."

The origin of the Word (Logos) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2) He was with God in the beginning. Contrary to the teaching of most cults, Jesus was not the first Created Being. He was already present in the beginning. He has always existed. The word was Jesus!

The Word is the source of all life (Zoë, the life principle, not bios, mere biological life) and light (speaking of spiritual light as well as natural light). Without Jesus, we are dead and in darkness; interestingly, man has an inborne aversion (fear) to both death and darkness.

So did John exalts rationality? More so..he exalts God..cos the word was God and he wanted to relate with his times and be relevant to them..

But I do agree with you, as Christians we are not to throw away our rationality and common senses. God uses them all!

A common claim among Christians is that they do not want to analyse the scripture with a questioning mind because they want to 'live by faith'.

Define questioning? If you question cos you are doubtful, your approach and attitude is different from someone who wants to is a learner of the word. So it depends on your motives. We have to be careful cos the devil can darken our minds further if we are not walking in the light, if we allow doubts and confusions to crowd our thinking.

They make it sound like it is a biblical principle they are applying to their lives. The problem with this is that when they say that, what they really mean is that they want to 'live by BLIND faith'. I suspect that the real root of the problem is that they have unanswered questions which they feel, if brought to the surface will make a mockery of their faith. So in saying that they want to live my blind faith, they are actually sweeping the problem under the carpet, where like acid, it slowly erodes away their faith subconsciously. True Christian faith is not blind, but logical and based on truth – the word of God. John 8:32 - 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." We have to know the truth first before you can exercise reasoned faith. That is the key, reasoned faith – not blind faith.

The biblical kind of faith has an element of reason and risk too. For example when Peter walked on water, he has reasonable faith cos he knew that Jesus was there but he risked by stepping out of the boat to step out of the boat is beyond reason.

You have to know the truth before the truth can set you free.

When you know the truth, it means that you must have understanding in the word how things operate and work based on the word cos truth is God’s word, not based on our human analysis... Humanly you cannot understand why we can reap what we sow. The world teaches us with her understanding to store up wealth but God taught us otherwise. Is it blind faith to give and keep giving and be expecting a return? Humanly it seems illogical but is real faith! Real faith is the ability to understand His word and take his word as it is and that will set you FREE.

Real Faith is based on truth; on logic… not a blind faith based on ignorance. Blind faith in action is really just another word for 'presumption'.

Presumption is assuming that the thing that you do is initiated by God. Blind faith is when you're just blindly following something out of peer presure or other stuffs without convictions! Faith is conviction and so it is not blind. It is a knowing inside of you and inside your spirit, your soul, your mind...it has an evidence inside your spirit being...

The last I remembered, Matt 22:37 says - And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Has the bible been changed? Or was there a sign at the entrance of the church that says, "Leave your brains on this shelf".

God loves those who are hungry and He will give knowledge, wisdom and understanding to those who ask. Just like Daniel who was continually seeking the truth, a vision, a revelation, and he even fasted for 21 days from sweetmeat.. and God gave him an answer.

Daniel fasted cos he was consecrating Himself...and he received vision from the Lord and it's interpretation ( Daniel 10:4) His fasting was not because he wanted the truth and he was asking for the truth. Rather at that time, Daniel was a prophet to the people and the king and He was fasting to be set apart for His use.

I truly pray that God can bring me to the place of annointing and I also pray that the Holy Spirit will convict the hearts of those unsaved. Because, if I believe that God gives free will, then He won't force Himself upon those who do not yet know Him, hence I will have to pray for the Holy Spirit to convict the unsaved hearts to turn towards God.

Am I correct here, pastor?

Yap..first build your foundation in God first and great no. 1 commandment love Him with all your heart. You need to love him with all that is within you. Love can be rational but sometimes beyond your understanding. read Proverbs 3:5-6

My revelation is that, it is ok to keep seeking, to continually ask, to clear the doubts I have, to refute the challenges presented, because I want to love God with all of my mind, so that I do not live with doubts about God.

The story here is this:
I never thought I'd fall in love with intelligence till I met my lecturer. Anyways, he opened my world to fresh new perspectives, his world is beyond what I thought I knew.
From then on, knowledge became of prime importance to me.

I think that you can seek knowledge however read Eccles and you will find that much knowledge is also vanity upon vanity. Your professor may be highly intelligent in his intellect but he cannot heal his own sorrow and broken heart. If he is so wise upon himself, he can be so full of himself which is actually not good...I pity those who think that they know it all and are always self-sufficient and self- made. We are all CREATed beings, not the creator.. How can we know it all???? How can we know everything? A chair is never more superior than the one who made the chair. The chair 's job is to fulfil its purpose, ie to serve as many people as possible to sit on the chair..his portion is not to know how to make another chair..understand girl?

Enjoy! love, pastor

The verses jumped right at me

Last night I prayed specifically to God and asked Him:
"Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that you bless us with wisdom, with
greater understanding of Your Word, that God, you will speak to us.
God, is the bible still relevant today? Is the bible valid? Speak to
us, Lord, as You would."
and of course my prayer was slightly longer than this, but the above
was the gist of it.

I then proceeded to read my bible (like I should every night, usually
3 chapters per nite)
I was on the book of John.

John 7:15 caught my eye:
"And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters,
having never studied?"

I carried on, to read this John 7:16-19:
"Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him. Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?"

I stopped.
I wondered if that was God's answer to my question. So, I prayed to
God and said, "God, are You speaking to me? If this is so, I pray O'
God that You will reinforce the message; the answer.

I proceeded to read the bible and the footnotes said:
"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" John 8:32
"Jesus makes a big deal about truth because only the truth sets you
free. Satan is the father of lies, a master deceiver, and he wants you
to believe anything other than the teachings of Jesus. The truth is
that believing in Jesus saves you from your sin, and saves you for
eternal life. In this verse, Jesus says that the truth will set you
free because Jesus frees you from your bondage to sin. Satan will
whisper lies to you over and over, hoping you will believe his tricks
and get confused. Remember that confusion is not from God. (see 1Cor
14:33)
When you feel confused or overwhelmed, return to scripture and read
the truth of the words of God. From Him, you will find direction and
clear guidance. Meditate on those words. Let His truth come alive in
your mind and in your heart.
The bible makes a big deal about truth because lies will lead you
astray. Stay focused on the truth of God's Word. Know the truth,
follow the truth, tell the truth. It 'shall make you free'! [see for
yourself: Ps 33:4; John 1:17; 17:17; Eph 4:20-21]"

Admittedly, after reading the above, I was still a little skeptical
since my question was about the validity of the bible itself. So, if
it asked me to refer back to doctrine, I was a little skeptical of
what it was saying, although I was already half convinced I had
already gotten the answer.

By the end of my 3rd chapter [John 9] (last chapter for the night's reading),
about the story of how the blind man was healed, this verse spoke to me:
27He answered, "I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do
you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?"

sheesh, I was a little taken aback.
I know not what to say actually :p
I then told God, " God, I know what the first line means, but what about the second line? I mean, yes, I do want to be your disciple; I want to be discipled. God, I pray that You will continue to consecrate me; bless me with Your annointing; set me apart from the world; sanctify me for Your kingdom; for Your glory."

In any case, I am convinced that God is real.
"Seek and you will find."
"If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in
me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of
living water." (John 7:37-38)

All in a night's reading! What a night!

Intelligent

I had been going on for a while about knowledge, wisdom and understanding; been praying for intelligence; seeking for answers..
Once, immediately after my prayer, during my bible-reading, God said, "The spirit of God gives understanding, wisdom and knowledge to anyone who asks. (Isa 11:2)"

Two days ago, God spoke to me thru my bible again..

"Faith is not having an intellectual belief in God. It is knowing in your heart that He is real and responding with your life (the things you do) to the gift of mercy He gave you through His son."

God never fail to use my bible to speak to me.. and it is amazing how it is always straight to the point. This is also how I know that God is real. Amen.
Hallelujah!

listen intently

Pastor, you told me to have conviction, but I did not comprehend that fully.
I kept going on and on about wisdom and intelligence, about preaching to the U1s (the intellect agnostics) and you said CONVICTION.
I meditated about it for a while, and the meaning slowly began to surface..
From the book LEFT BEHIND:

Rayford was a pilot. He had paid no attention to his wife when she spoke to him about rapture. Now, he is left behind.

But he is not about to waste his second chance, and neither does he want the others to miss the boat like he did. He had just spoken to the reporter on what he thought of the phenomenon from his perspective as a pilot, whose passengers went missing on his plane. This got the reporter thinking..

“But even more exciting was the possibility that another answer man awaited him in Chicago, a man he trusted simply on the recommendation of a pilot who has seemed to speak the truth with authority.”

Rayford was no intellect nor evangelist, yet he spoke boldly of his new-found faith. That, spoke to me, of CONVICTION.

Tonight, as I went home from cell group. A friend of mine was harping about how it was not possible to be a true Christian, about how corrupt the world is today, and how it was not possible for anyone in any occupation to be true Christians except pastors and full-time church workers. I didn’t like the way he talked about being true Christians, which almost sounded like an excuse.. Anyway, that got me thinking. What (is it) about a True Christian? [He made a mention about Mother Theresa somewhere] Then I remembered yesterday’s Daily Bread:

"He was wounded for our transgressions. —Isaiah 53:5

In our let's-make-everything-okay world we often look at sin and wonder, what's the big deal? After all, our sin isn't so bad. If we lie a little or cheat just a bit—what's the harm? If we gossip some or use coarse language a few times—whom will it hurt? What's so bad about sin?

It's bad because of what it put Jesus through. Yes, our sin was the reason for the torment Jesus suffered as He made His way to the cross—and as He hung on that cross and ultimately died a horrific death.

Of course we can never undo what has been done; that pain can never be reversed. Yet we must understand that if we continue to sin knowingly, we are in effect turning our back on Jesus and His pain. It's as if we're saying that it doesn't matter to us what we put Jesus through, we're going to do what we want. To sin in the light of the cross is to tell Jesus that even His intense suffering has not taught us about the awfulness of sin."

To be a true Christian, let us all try to practise what we preach. Expect no less of yourself what you expect of the world. Disappointments are only as disappointing as your sights.

Trust in yourself and you are doomed to disappointment;....but trust
in GOD, and you are never to be confounded in time or eternity.
- Dwight L. Moody

Keep your eyes on God and you'll soon lose sight of your fears. INDEED..

I woke up with a message..

You know, God has been speaking me to me more often these days.. (just when I thought, "hmm.. I haven't updated my prayer journal for a while now..")

This morning as usual, I woke up to my alarm: my anthem which I have chosen for myself:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart

And lean not on your own understanding

In all your ways, acknowledge Him

And He shall direct, and He shall direct your path”

Since I have been praying for a revelation. (I had earlier wanted to join the preaching contest for EMERGE, so I prayed for a revelation on a sermon outline) So, when I woke up this morning, this was the message in my head:

Friends, how hungry are you today?

Are you hungry for God?

How many meals do you take a day?

Are you filled with the spiritual food of God?

God loves those who are hungry and He wants to fill you.

Following that message, were a few others that were ringing in my head.

God’s anointing

Fear. Fear is mistrust.

Fear not. …

What is your anthem?

There were so many messages ringing in my head that I wanted to write all of ‘em down.

Unfortunately, I became too anxious about what I needed to do that I decided to do the rest of the unimportant things first: brush my teeth, change, take supplements etc etc

When I was done with everything, I started to pray, and I prayed very intently knowing that God’s presence is with me.

When I went to work, I was reading today’s daily bread.

Haggai ^2:5 'This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.'

Subsequently, as I was doing my bible reading for today, 12^th April:

Acts ^{13: 15} .. “Brothers, if you have a message of encouragement for the people, please speak.”.

It was then, that I started to write down the message that I had this morning.

God is serious. I told Him I wanted to show Him that I was serious too, and I really should.