Psalm 84:10 [ESV]

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Think about that for just a minute.  Really think about it...

Now, if you didn't think about it... go back and do it.  Stop and think about it.  Slow down in this life... and take in God's Word.  Stop, go back... read it again and think about it.

...


Now that you have thought about it, is it true?  Which part?  The first part or the second?  Yes, there are two parts--go back and read...

*First we acknowledge in our mind that a single day with God is better than a thousand days on this Earth.

*Second, we accept in our hearts and commit to rather being a doorkeeper in the house of God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

How about you?  Do you realize both, just one of them, or perhap neither?  I will suggest that it is not enough to merely acknowledge the first part that it is better to be in the courts of God.  That part is easy for me.  A single day in the presence of God is better than a thousand days on the Earth in this age. I accept that.  Now to the second part.  This takes commitment and action that is much harder to accept. It requires choices and desires that will result in change.  We need to commit our hearts to whatever it takes to really fulfill the second part--choices that will change the very shape and image you take on in life; molded by decisions that are truly based on God's Word, which you will keep in your heart at all times.

What are you striving for?  Is it monetary riches or fame?  Is it a better house, a bigger barn, or a faster mule merely for the sake of your own life on this Earth?  Or, do you strive to be truly rich in heaven?  Do you strive to be considered good among your peers on Earth, or good among your peers in courts of God (namely, God Himself, of course) in heaven?

What are you fighting for?  Is it your guns rights, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, or the right to party?  Or, is it that you name the Name of Christ with ingegrity and honor, with humility and faith in the sovereign Lord Who gives us eternal life--that you would truly seek Him and serve Him all the days of the life He has given you?

Hard questions we all (myself included) need to answer on a daily, moment to moment basis.

Knowing that this is true:  For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.

There is no doubt that is true.  Think about it... acknowledge it... and decide on the second part.  Can you decide what is best?

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

What is true, for you?  What is truly, true?

Judge Your Brother With Righteous Judgment

We have all heard "Judge not lest you be judged" ripped out of context, and applied to a situation where someone is pointing out another person's offense and/or sin.  Never mind that a few verses later Jesus actually gives instruction on how you ought to judge your brother righteously by first removing the plank from you own eye.  There may not be a more often part of Scripture that is quoted by the world.  It's one of the few times in the modern vernacular that so many people use the otherwise uncommon word, "lest".  It just seems more official when quoting something old sounding.

I earnestly believe this is a ploy of the devil to get us all to hold hands and give ourselves false warm-n-fuzzy feelings while our houses made of straw burn down around us.  "Don't correct your brother... don't bother inspecting your own heart in the hopes that you can approach him or her rightly.  Just don't pass judgment at all.  Just let it continue without saying a word until they meet the judgment of God head on some day.  God will judge them, and only God can judge them."  God's Word says no such thing.  And, I will argue that there is nothing more that Satan would love than for you to let your brother or sister slip deeper and deeper into sin on your watch when you could have pulled them out from the fire with a well placed and Spirit lead, loving, and meaningful judgment.

Now that said, it is true that we aren't suppose to judge ignorantly, unfairly, or void of a heart of restoration.  Our heart in all correction, rebuke, and judgment of sin, ought to be that of construction instead of destruction of the eternal person, with the destruction of the flesh.  God will separate the sheep from the goats someday, as only He can.  We have all sinned... we have all fallen short of the glory of God.  We are all hopelessly doomed without His mercy... and we woudl all do well to remember this in every word we speak.

There is a lot to be said about judging in the Bible, so I will try and keep this short with only a few versus.

John 7:24

Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.

Jesus was inditing those who were judging others for circumcision according to the flesh, and passing judging on those who "worked" on the Sabbath.  One thing that can be drawn from this is that there is righteous and unrighteous judgment.  Of course Jesus says to judge using righteous judgment.  Don't merely judge according to the flesh, or according to your own standard... judge according to the righteous standard of God.

1 John 2:10-11

Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

What is a plank in the eye, but something that would make it hard to see?  When you judge another, is it truly in love or is it in hate?  Do you seek to ultimately build up the person or to destroy?  Though it's true we seek to destroy the flesh, we seek to build up and save the person from trouble—all by the power and leading of God's Spirit.  Is that your goal?  Before you judge, ask yourself this question.  Do you love him/her?  If you can't first say honestly and sincerely—before God whom all things are laid bare—that you love him/her, then it may be certain that you are not ready to judge.  You need to go back to the drawing board, work on that plank, and return when it is removed.  A hard thing to do in and of ourselves, but judgment can be righteous if motivated by love.  God help us.

Romans 2:1

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

Do you judge hypocritically?  An interesting passage.  Read what Paul writes, by the Spirit of God.  If Paul is saying you can't judge others, then he ought to have gone back and had the very sentence erased.  In the very sentence Paul says not to judge, Paul passes judgment—does he not?  He is judging while saying not to judge.  He is correcting those who are judging hypocritically—those who are doing the same things they judge others for.  What is Paul's judgment of said people?  It is quite stern and firm!

(v5) But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

Woah Paul, that was kind of harsh.  Did you just mention God's wrath?  I mean, calm down buddy... easy goes it.  You need to remember Jesus said judge not lest you be judged Paul!  More often than not, when the "judge not lest you be judged" is whipped out of context by others, they are the ones falling under the righteous judgment of Romans 2:1.  They, ironically, are the ones passing judgment on others while saying that someone else should not pass judgment on another person.  In the very breath they condemn themselves while they pass judgment on another person for judging another person!  That's the way hypocrisy goes.  Is an endless circle of error and blindness. When you judge, use righteous judgment.  Only by the power and help of God's Spirit, Who reveals to us all things... can we truly and fully do so.  Judge according to His Word, not your own.  Do not jump to conclusions.  Instead, leap to faith!

1 Corinthians 2:15-16

The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

If you are a spiritual person, and if you have the mind of Christ, then the Spirit within you will be leading you; you will be inclined to judge all things according to His Word.  You will seek things that are above, not below, seeking to please your Father in heaven and see Him glorified.  When we judge, we judge for the edification of others and the glorification of God

Now go and judge all things—all things.  All in love.  Do you love your brothers or sisters enough to see them spared from the fire?  Do you love your brothers or sisters enough to see them built up by correction and not torn down by sin?  Then go judge yourself, and then go judge your brother with righteous judgment.  It may be you whom God uses to spare others from His wrath.  Those are the kinds of things I (and we) should hope for in return.  I desire to have a brother come to me in love, sincerity of heart—sometimes softly and other times sharply—to correct me when I am missing the mark.  As I write this, I can honestly say I desire that in fellowship. I desire that it would continue to be my desire in fellowship.  I desire Spirit lead correction from you, brother.  I believe if it is, we would all serve the Lord more effectively.

The "Apple" Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree...

And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”  -Genesis 2:16-17

At home we have a wood burning stove. The stove sits on a tiled platform that I built, keeping it up and off the carpet. It is clearly separate from the rest of the room. Micah (and future children) is instructed at a very early age that he is not allowed to touch it. This is the forbidden fruit of our home right now. Where as Adam could not eat, Micah is not even allowed to touch the platform that the stove sits on.  Micah has never been burned, and he has no idea what it means to be burned.  He has really little concept of hot and no concept of fire. He does, however, know what the word "no" means, and that's what we work with. "No" is probably the first word Micah ever learned to comprehend when he hears it. It will likely be the first word any of our children learn. Therefore, because he comprehends it and may do it anyways, there is now moral consequence to what he does, and discipline needed.

Why no?  Is it because we are mean? Is it because we don't love him? Is it because we don't want him to someday learn to harness the power of fire? No. It's a no because we know what's better, and if he were to reach up and touch the stove, or manage to open the stove, he could be severely burned or even set the entire house on fire.  Micah doesn't know that, but we know that. We know better for Micah than Micah knows for himself.  We know things Micah doesn't know.  When he does touch the platform anyways, he is disciplined and told "No"; then there are tears. How much better is that discipline and those tears, than being severely burned or burning the house down around you?

Now, back to Adam in the garden.  We know that nothing died before Adam sinned (ate the fruit). There was no death, and it was by one man's sin that death entered the world (Romans 5:12). If you were in Adam's situation, would you have eaten the fruit? What do you think? Adam was the first human being ever created by God. Created before sin had given way to entropy in this fallen world; what a perfect creation he must have been. Imagine in your mind the perfect man, with perfect body and mind—that was Adam.  Perfect in strength and immunity.  Free of any disease or sickness.  He was probably more perfect than we can imagine.  As great as God made Adam—perfect in the Garden—Adam still took the fruit, didn't he?  The champion representative of mankind, the best representative of human body and mind; the "genuine article", fallen prey to sin.  Do you think you would have refrained from sin?  I think not.  Truly all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:21-26). We are not better than Adam in any way. We all need the grace of God.

That's just the honest truth. I believe we all would have sinned.  Furthermore, regarding things in this life now, I have sinned—I have taken the fruit. Certainly there are sinful things we have all been told not to do, did it anyways, and agreed later we ought not to have done. Consequently our eyes were opened to things we would have otherwise never known. Things that increase our struggle with sin still today.  Truly, ignorance is bliss, and there are things better left unknown.  How better is it to just take God at His Word?  We need Jesus, every moment of every day.  Both on the days you think you're doing "good" and on the days you think you're doing "bad".  We are constantly at the mercy of God, and Jesus is the means by which that mercy flows constantly.

Whereas Adam was perfect in ways we were not, we have many things I would call "advantages" over Adam.  We have God's complete and inherent written Word giving us the history of the fall of man, combined with the example of Christ and His Holy Spirit within us giving us ALL instruction for ALL things pertaining to this life (2 Peter 1:2-4).  Even though we have sinned intentionally and willfully—ignorant or not of the consequences—Christ died for us while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8). For those of us not under the law but under grace, that grace is abounding much more than our sin (Romans 5:15-20).  We have been living on this Earth as mankind, for thousands of years. We have seen sin and the consequence thereof throughout generations of history. We have examples throughout time of men and women before us.  So, what excuse then do we have to keep on sinning? None at all.  Yet, we do still sin.  It is no wonder that God's grace must be abounding, much more, if any one could be saved.  Where Adam might have pleaded ignorance compared to us (not that he was ignorant, he disobeyed), what will we plead?  Our only hope is that we will plead Jesus!

Knowing all of these things should cause us to cling to God even more, secure in His salvation apart from any works of your own.  And, it should cause you to sin less because you do not take for granted the price that was paid and the grace that was given by Him who died for you—in all of our ignorance, willful ignorance, and sin—while you were actively sinning.  Not just as Adam sinned the once, but many more in many other ways.  Who is less deserving than us?  Who would be more justified in condemning us than God?  Yet, Christ died for us while we were sinners, in the very act of many sins and knowing that we would continue to sin.

This is why we are told, and how I will conclude...

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  -Romans 8:35-39

A New Year... A New You

A new year. What is a new year to God? What is time to the timeless?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. -2 Cor 5:17

That Scripture is true every time you read it (and even when you don't read it). If you are... then you are. If you aren't, then you aren't.

What are you plans for this New Year? Have you made any resolutions? I believe that in God's eyes, you're either already new or you're not; you're new or your old, and there is no in between.

ANYONE in Christ, IS a new creation.

If you're in Christ, you ARE new, every moment of every day.

You're either a saint, or you're an aint!