Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. - Matthew 7:1-6

I think this is one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible. It is right up there with “money is the root of all evil” (For the love of money is the root of all evil. - 1 Timothy 6:10) and “pride goeth before a fall” (Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. - Proverbs 16:18) and so many others.

So many people use this quote to try to make a case against Christians to show us believers that we cannot have opinions that certain things are sin, as well as other arguments. It drives me crazy when someone who does not know what they are talking about pulls a single sentence from a book and quotes it, without knowing the context in which it was written or in this case spoken by Jesus.

Q1: So, are we just supposed to ignore sin in fear of being “judgmental”, because of Matthew 7:1?

Q2: Because Jesus said “Judge not lest ye be judged” and “let he who is without sin cast the first stone” does that mean that Jesus was a hippy and whatever one feels like doing is cool with God? This is a sneak peek at the next post, since the first question’s response ended up way too long.

I am at a loss by how many people believe the answers to both of these questions is yes! It boggles my mind. The answer to both is NO!

Let’s start with question 1. First of all, start by reading the first full verse of Matthew 7, and the first 6 verses for a good understand of what Jesus is talking about. He is actually talking about hypocrites. That is what he means by getting the beam out of your own eye, before you go after another for a speck in their eye. In fact, when a brother/sister sins, you are supposed to confront them about it, first privately, if that doesn’t work, then go with two or three witnesses, and if that doesn’t work then take it in front of the church.

“If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” - Matthew 18:15-20

If you are taking something to your brother/sister by yourself, with witnesses, or to the church, that sounds like being in judgment of someone that has sinned against you. This is a topic that I could go on forever about, but because of time, I am throwing this together fairly quickly. Here is a verse I quote regularly from 2 John 1, mainly verse 10:

Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work. - 2 John 1:7-11

Having grown up with the King James Version, I do really like this verse in the KJV better, but I do use both the NIV and the KJV when studying the Bible, to make sure I fully comprehend what is being said. I find both to be useful.

If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: - 2 John 1:10

Do NOT even wish them God speed! Once again, believers are clearly being told to have discernment and to judge whether something is from God or not, and if it does not come from God, than we are not supposed to entertain it, welcome it into our house, and we are not even to wish it God speed! Obviously it is not saying not to witness to the ungodly, or that your family member who isn’t a believer can’t come to your house for a birthday party, or anything like that, but this is clearly saying that believers are not to entertain those spreading false doctrine. This verse sounds an awful lot like judging others.

Another example comes from the book of James, which back in high school we did a long study on the book of James, and I must say it is one of my favorite:

Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. - James 5:19-20

This verse talks about someone setting another back on the straight and narrow. If you aren’t supposed to judge sin for being sin, then how could you help/save your brother by helping him back on the Godly path?

Now, by now you may have noticed a trend about helping fellow believers with sin, so are we just supposed to judge each other and not the unbeliever?

There are few things. First, all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). None of us are perfect. Believers need to be in constant monitor of their own actions. If we are busy wandering off the path, we really should be working on getting back on that path, instead of telling everyone what is wrong with them.

Non-believers are just that - non-believers. Does that make sin OK? Of course not, but without the Holy Spirit convicting them, they are going to continue in a sinful lifestyle. Does that mean we as Christians should be OK with their sinful lifestyle? No! We are supposed to hate that which is evil. Sin is evil - we are supposed to hate sin (regarding hating the person or the sin - that is for another post, since this is not the point of this post). We can not, as Christians, accept sin as being OK or cool, even for non-believers.  At the same time though, running around yelling at everyone over why they are evil and going to hell because of their wicked ways isn’t really the best way to lead them to Christ and that usually gives them an excuse to hate Christians.

Repeatedly the Bible tells us over and over again to have discernment.  What does discernment mean?  It basically means having good judgment.  Christians shouldn’t go around belittling people, but at the same time, believers do need to believe certain lifestyles and beliefs are wrong.

I guess this is a popular topic lately.  Timm over at The Bench Stone has brought this up, and I have wanted to as well.  So here it goes…

Q:  Is the Bible 100% the perfect and accurate Word of God?

A:  Yes.  Definitely.  100%.  Now, here is why.  The men that wrote the Bible, the Word of God, were chosen by God.  These were men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write the Word of God.  If God is all powerful and perfect, and if you believe the Holy Spirit is powerful, then can the Holy Spirit inspire these men to write the Word only partially accurate?  By saying you do not believe the Bible is 100% the Word of God, you are taking away the perfectness (is that a word?**) of God.  By saying that the Bible was written by men and saying that it isn’t perfect because it was written by man is saying that the Holy Spirit isn’t powerful enough to get the Bible written perfectly.  That is not something I would ever want to have to give account for - saying that the Holy Spirit isn’t perfect nor powerful enough.  It is also stepping a little too close to blaspheming the Holy Spirit (which is the only unforgivable sin):

Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.  And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.  - Matthew 12:31-2

Jesus is the living Word of God (John 1).  Would the Bible have called Christ the “Living Word of God,” if the Word of God, the Bible, was full of error?  Of course not.  God is all powerful and He is perfect.  Would an all powerful, perfect God screw up His own holy word, the thing that He gave us to help us know and understand Him?  Nope.  That would be saying that either God isn’t perfect, or that God isn’t all powerful.

A serious, true Christian/believer cannot believe that the Bible is not 100% accurate.  If you do believe it, I would suggest some serious time in prayer.

**Disclaimer:  Yes, I do know fun-ness and perfect-ness are not real words.  But it is the way I am when I talk.  Please do not hate! 

There is something I call the “Hippy” Jesus bandwagon.  Where Jesus is all love, and there is no hate or judgment.  Is this true, and as Christians, should we only show love and never anger or hate?  And where does the whole judge not lest ye be judged verse come into play?

Q:  Was Jesus all about love and peace, and never showed anger/hatred?

A:  Not quite.  Jesus definitely preached “love thy neighbor”.  However, Jesus also displayed some emotions that were not all about peace/love.  In Mark 11, Luke 19 and John 2, we see the story of the money changers in the Court of the Gentiles.  Jesus makes a whip and in holy anger drives the money changers and the animals they were selling out of the temple, and spilled their money.  Jesus was angry and rightfully so, God’s house was to be a house of prayer.

There is a season for everything including hate.  Yes, that’s right, hate.  I always like to back my beliefs with the Bible, since that is the perfect and true word of God (maybe my next post should really be about why the Bible is 100% the Word of God).

The fear of the Lord is to HATE ALL evil. - Proverbs 8:13

HATE that which is evil, cling to that which is good. - Romans 12:9

Obviously we are supposed to hate evil.  So we are supposed to hate something.

This is interesting.  I am very turned off by the idea that Jesus was a peace loving hippy and was the type who sat around the campfire, holding hands and singing Kum Ba Yah.

I want to close with that we are supposed to love and show compassion, but my point in this entry is that there is a time to hate and even Jesus showed anger (a holy and just anger).  It is something to consider.  There is an appropriate time and place for hate, but at the same time, hate used in the wrong way is wrong, but that was not my point in this post.

God works in mysterious ways.  As I was writing that post yesterday about praying that God would show us where to move, Mike got a call, saying a town home that we had asked about had become available.  Apparently, the people who were going to take it, changed their mind.  Mike went over and talked to the property manager and found out that they are going to repaint the whole thing and replace all the carpeting, which is such a blessing because of my severe allergies.  As of now, all the doors are being opened for us to move into this town house.  It is really nice, it is an end unit, with a one car attached garage with 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths.  I am really excited.

Today is a rediculously hot day, even for VA and it is only June.  Our a/c has been on the fritz since last year, but for some reason, it is working in full force today and it nice and cool here.  I think it was low on freon, maybe the complex checked and saw it needed some juice.  :-)  Thank God for being able to be cool on this near 100 degree day.  Oh and did I mention humidity is at 110 percent? 

My management at work, actually decided to pay us for Thursday.  When power is out, we are supposed to go to another building or take vacation.  They decided to have some mercy on us and allow us to charge the whole day to overhead.  This is really a blessing since I will need as much vacation as I can get for the big exodus approaching.

God has seen us through another week and He has continued to send an outpouring of blessings on us.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.  For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.  - Psalms 100:4-5

Well, what a crazy few weeks it’s been. Mike and I were looking at having a house built for the past couple of months. I had been really wondering what God wanted us to do and praying and praying and praying. As we went through each step, I prayed for God’s mercy and guidance. God finally, at the eleventh hour, slammed that door shut. It was slammed shut in such a way that Mike and I knew God was telling us to hold onto our money and wait. What God wants us to wait for is still unclear. So we are waiting for God to show us where to go. A lot of things are about to happen around here. Housing reports in NoVA are showing that housing may drop as much as another 10-15 percent, reducing house prices a whole 25% if that happens. We are about to see some interesting times with the fall election (and I am not thrilled by either candidate), and the next president could very well make or break this area. Most of this area survives because of the government, such as the DoD. If that budget is raped, like it was 15 years ago under the previous administration, we may see NoVA fall apart financially. Mike and I will be fine, but housing may continue to fall, which would might cost us a lot. I am not sure what the future has in store, but God’s got a hold of it and He continues to send an outpour of blessings on Mike and I.

Mike and I both had our commutes cut by about 75%, so gas prices are not worrying us in the least. I use to use about a tank just during the work week alone. Now I am filling up about every 3 weeks. Praise God for that blessing.

On Wednesday, our area got hit with one of the most powerful storms I can remember. Tornadoes everywhere, it seemed and one spotted near us. I was sitting quietly at work, my officemate and I had the local news station playing in the background when I heard about the storm headed our way. I called Mike and he and his officemate left immediately. I decided to stay, and went and moved my car to shelter, since they were calling for 1″ hail. As soon as I got out of my car, I literally ran to the door and just as the door closed behind me that winds started tearing apart trees and branches were flying everywhere. I started walking up the stairs to my office and just as I arrived at my floor, my officemate told me they were telling everyone to go to the basements to seek shelter. We went down and sat there. Power went out. And we sat there. The emergency signal with announcements kept coming over the loudspeaker asking everyone to get as far away from windows or other possible “danger” zones as possible. We sat there and talked. She is a Christian and we just bonded while the outside world was being torn apart. I had no way of knowing Mike was safe. As I sat on the floor, I prayed for Mike, my sister, my dad, and my birds - they were all stuck in the middle of this storm. We were finally told that the worst of the storm had passed. My officemate and I walked up the stairs. We were still without power, and as we looked out our office window, we could see trees that had been struck by lightning, trees and branches that had fallen on cars and debris everywhere. I called my husband. Mike made it home! The birds were OK! His car was fine. I called my mom. She, my dad, and sister were OK! Praise God!

It took us 4 hours in the dark before we could leave because power had taken out all the traffic lights, causing traffic to back up so badly, it was backing up all the way in the parking lots! My teammates and I congregated and told stories and laughed. Finally, it was time to leave. I was on my way home, traffic was bad with all the traffic lights being out and the downed branches and trees everywhere. My sister called and was without power, so I picked her up and we went back to my place. The wreckage was unbelievable. There were branches, downed trees and siding from buildings everywhere. She and I had dinner and played some video games as the storms kept coming through.

Thursday, I got to work to find no power! Apparently, the storm had blown a transformer and with all the other storms, the power crews couldn’t work on it. We were told to go home and enjoy our day off! Mike also arrived at work to find no power, so he was also sent home. Mike and I relaxed and spent a great day together. We drove around NoVA to assess the damage, and it looks like near where I work saw the absolute worst. It was crazy. I grew up in very southern Louisiana and saw many bad hurricanes, and that is what that cell looked like, the wind was extreme and the lightning was lighting up the sky at a fast pace. It was quite a beautiful storm, actually. Watching something that powerful is breath taking. How anyone could live through a storm like that and see the awesomeness of our Creator and still not believe in God confounds me.

Today, power is up, so I could go to work. I can’t wait for this weekend. There has been way too much excitement in my life this week.

Before I go, I have a great story to share. One morning this week (not sure which one), I was driving to work, when God warned me about the guy that I was next to on the highway. My eyes somehow saw his tire wobbling a bit, something I would have never noticed, unless I had known to look. I sped up a bit and passed him. Just after I got around him, I looked in my rear view mirror to see his tire bouncing across the street and him losing control of the front of his car and swerving all over the place. If I had not seen that tire, there would have been an accident. The tire and/or his car WOULD have hit my car. What a mess that would have been! Sometimes, it is the small things that God shows you that saves you from a huge mess. God has definitely had His angels watching over me this week. Praise the Lord!

Psalms 91 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, so I will close with a verse from that chapter that seems so fitting.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. - Psalms 91:11