Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The judging thing ... Its all about grace



Just some more thoughts or maybe reflections on this.


It is hard for some people to get their head around Christianity and the God of the Bible. Its hard for a lot of them to understand the sin thing, or how one man dying on the cross means all are forgiven, or of a man physically rising from the dead and disappearing into thin air! And there are things like "Christian terms": blood, righteousness ect. How a God of love condemns most to hell. It can sound kinda strange right? The Bible says that its only by Gods revelation that we can see this. I wonder at times whether Christians really realize that He uses US as that revelation at times. Non Christians DO look at Christians and how they treat one another and others in the world.


It seems at times that Christianity does much to gain converts then does a lot to ostracize and kick people out. You got to wonder about the person who goes to church for help. Lets say they are in a marriage that is an abusive unloving sham and the Pastor delivers a message about adultery and only through adultery they can divorce. The poor woman now must feel even God is against her! What a dilemma..


Ever notice how one Christian gets delivered from a certain thing then in short order pronounces judgment on others who are deemed to be captive of the same thing? Methinks that mankind loves to judge and in their hands the gospels are used for all sorts of mind games, abuse, manipulation and control. Then there comes the predestination issue were some say God chooses therefore the pressure is off them. Sheeeeeesh!


The Bible teaches us that God reveals Himself to all that search Him and He wants nobody to perish. God loves us with a head over heels and beyond love and we are all precious in His sight. I think at times that we forget how precious it is that we know Jesus, the treasure in the field the lost coin, ect. Its all about grace and what He has done for us and we really have no right to treat others as they "deserve." Its this surrender of self that we gain something of eternal value. Joy, peace, no fear of death and more He died to give us. We need to demonstrate our faith in Him in this surrender of self, demonstrate that we can "risk" for others as He will meet our needs. When we live our faith, that we can show this gift of grace to others as its been extended to us on a more complete and higher level that the world around us will notice for sure. The world I think is starving for this kind of grace. I think that there are going to be multitudes in heaven (who I thought were going elsewhere) as only God knows the heart. Its not up to us its about Him. Our "job" is to allow ourselves to be more and more open to Him, drawing ever closer, and allowing the outpouring of that to the world around us.


Just some thoughts on a Wednesday morning .......

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Zechariah 7:9 (NIV) "This is what the LORD Almighty says:
'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.

I site this passage to bring home two points...
First, because this message was delivered long before the coming of Christ or the term Christian was introduced.
Second, whatever banner an individual exist under, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc., has nothing to do with God's will. Our father desires us to show justice, mercy, and compassion to each other period. That takes in the whole world, not just members of one religious group. Many Christians along with members of other religious groups seem to have discounted this fact. I'm glad this oversight caught your attention, as I am glad that you pointed it out. I pray that others will come to understand this. It is the Will of God.

Blessings,
Matt.

G.Dowell said...

Yes, grace is the key. Sometimes I wonder how off we Christians are in what God and Christ had intended for His followers.