"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need."
Matthew 6:33
Man Lord please keep us focused on our mission in life...to be about You and Your Kingdom which is everlasting! I think part of our problem as Christians today is we are so consumed with things that simply do not matter to our God! I think more times than not we miss it...we miss what God wants us to see and to be about! I am sports guys, so here is analogy in sports lingo!
It would be like a pitcher pitching in the World Series. He has 2 outs in the last inning, and he is one out away from leading his team to victory. The batter steps in the box, and this pitcher throws his first pitch...and it is called ball 1. Then he comes back and throws 3 strikes in a row to strike out the batter, get the final out and win the game and become World Series Champions! Now imagine this...they just won the game right, as the catcher runs out to the mound, the pitcher is expecting to get a massive hug..."great job man!" or "we are the champs!!". Instead, the catcher runs out to the pitcher and says why was your first pitch to that guy a ball?
What does the first pitch matter now that the game is over?
I think this describes us as Christians, we are so concerned about the dumbest things compared to God's Kingdom! We are so busy worrying about ball 1, that we miss the next 3 strikes that win us the game and World Series. This is the reason I am challenging us to memorize Matthew 6:33! Let's stay focused together, and keep the main thing the main thing...let's be about our awesome Lord and His Kingdom! Help us to do this Lord God I pray!!
Summary...
I think these 6 verses go so well with what I was talking about above! We sometimes walk around as Christians thinking everyone else has a problem except us. I love this classic line from our Jesus..."How can you see the speck in your friends eye when you have a log in your own eye!" Yes!! That is awesome...score 1 for Jesus. The thought most people have about Christians is that we are so judgemental...and we are! We Have to follow verse 5, and deal with our stuff first and then help others.
I think it is the times we look in the mirror, deal with our "stuff", that we are reminded how imperfect we are and how badly we need Jesus. Taking more time to do this will humble us and prevent us from judging others! We need to look in the mirror a little more often...or atleast I do!
Jesus says something funny in verse 6...read it again. What do you think He meant by that? This past weekend Lauren and I went to Tampa to visit her sister. We went out to eat, and we were leaving the restaurant on our way back to the car and I saw this guys reading scripture with a sign that read..."Ask me why you are going to hell!" That right there is exactly what Jesus was talking about in verse 6...He warns us not to waste our time. He says do not throw something as beautiful as pearls to pigs! Now from the outside that can seem judgemental, and totally the opposite of everything He just said in Matthew 7, but Jesus was not telling us to judge others or even to give up on unbelievers. He was telling us not to waste our time. We have to follow Him in the way He spoke truth to others. Jesus never shy ed away from the truth, but He never was short on compassion either! He always was filled with love and He was the King at relating to people! Sitting on the side of the road, telling people they are going to burn in hell is not relating to people like Jesus would.
Let's be full of love and compassion, committed to not judge one another. Let us invest in one an others lives, and earn that opportunity to speak the Truth at the moment when it will be received by a heart that does not believe!
Questions...
- Have you ever judged someone unfairly?
- What can we do as Christians to change the way the world views us when it comes to always judging others?
- How can we be more intentional about looking in the "mirror" more to remember how broken we are, and to prevent us from judging others harshly?
- What is your strategy to share your faith with people who do not believe in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit?
Lord Jesus help us to become more and more like You! Please fill our hearts with compassion for others! help us Jesus not to judge others, but to relate to them in a way in which we can speak Your mighty Truth that they will hear. Please hold us tightly...Jesus I love You and NEED You Badly! Bless our community, fusion, and continue to use us to be the change! We surrender who we are unto You, take us and use Lord I Pray...In Jesus Name...Amen!
tom
3 comments:
Hey guys..or shall i say Mornin! You know i really like little passages like this that mean so so much! I personally have been forced to reread over these verses to remind myself about judging others. As far as what we can do to change the worlds views is we need to just quit saying we are a Christian and we read God's word but we need to strive to actualy live it! I know for some occasions we may not understand somethings the Bible says but that doesnt make it alright to just go upon ourselves and assume things. If i dont understand something in the Bible i make sure i get some clarity so i know exactly what i should be doing so that im following God's word.We could al be more intentional to looking in the "mirror" at how broken we are every morning when we wake up. After spending some quiet time or doing this Bible study we need to make it a "must do" thing. I know i havent been so well at it but lately i have been doing it a lot and it really does help you clarify to yourself some areas that you are broken in and need some tweaking up. My strategy for sharing my faith with unbelievers is just to love on them and occasionally invite them to Church and Church events. I make sure i am not pushy or forceful like "You have to come to Church you Heathen!"...No i am more calm and loving just how i was approached when i first wasnt a unbeliever. I think the reason why i could do this well is because of the fact that when i first became a Christ follower i had others who just loved on me and didnt ever make me feel uncomfortable. it was awesome!
Man i pray God you would help me and everyone doing this study to stay on track to just following you and staying away from situations that could get us off track! Amen.
Have a great day!
Ryan
:) Seek first the Kingdom of God, live righteously, and the Lord will give you everything you need.
Matthew 6:33
I'm believing in the verse more and more. After I praise God and Pray for others I pray that this would be my life. That I'd be seeking the Kingdom and living righteously so that my CREATOR can give me all I need to live.
I have judged and as Christians we find it easier to judge the "unholy" or the "unrighteous", but more so a brother or sister in Christ. Instead of confronting someone I'll just judge someone. I'll catch myself sitting in a mall or something and I just look at some people and just think "DANG!" which in every means is degrading to something God created. I wouldn't want someone doing that to me and this passage speaks truth into that.
I read this yesterday and I made sure that when I was praying this morning that I remember my imperfections and that I look at people with God's eyes: with love, compassion, forgiveness, mercy, truth, and beauty constantly. I'm broken completely without God. Ans as far as sharing my faith is just living it out and loving on people and inviting the to event and youth...and in college just staying and living in the word so that you can speak life into broken and messed-up peoples lives. LIVING IT OUT IS KEY.
I like that Jesus emphasizes to not waste your time. Oh so many time I waste time because I can't stand doing nothing. I was watching the NOOMA videos and the one called Noise. It hit home. I honestly love silence, but it's hard to find in this world nowadays with all the technology. Silence is where God is. I've tried and tried to explain this to other people but they don't understand because I couldn't comprehend it. The NOOMA video really helped me out and now I'm going to have 10 minutes of silence and work my way up. If God is found in silence that's where I want to be. It's on my myspace if you want to check it out.
I love you all very much and I enjoy reading all of your comments. I love you Jesus.Lord help us grow closer to you and be more loving and compassionate and filled with empathy when we think about judging someone. All glory and honor and praise to you. Amen
<3 Marissa
I can say that I work in an environment where it is very eas to get up on my high horse and start judging people left and right. There is so much gossip and drama at Publix, you wouldn't believe it. I find myself struggling so much not to get involved with the daily gossip and judging of whos getting fired, who got written up, who broke this, who can't bag right, who this that and the other. But then I remember that I am no where near perfect, the farthest from it. I need to look in my "mirror" everyday and remember that I am nothing without Christ, and realize how broken and messed up I would be if He hadn't saved me. It's been a constant struggle lately, but I feel its getting easier to be more humble and realize my imperfections.
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