Daily Devotional for Saturday September 8, 2018
When are we allowed to judge others?
(Matthew 7:1)
***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER: Dear Lord, please help me to live this day honoring you in my thoughts, words, and deeds. Help me this day to live my life pleasing and acceptable to Jesus. Allow me to use my life to help someone else during this day, and be kind to everyone I come across no matter how they may treat me. Let Christ shine through me throughout this day oh Lord, be glorified through my life! In Jesus name I pray...AMEN!
Judging others. This is a verse that many use incorrectly, and I want to take a moment today to clarify what Jesus said when He shared this great truth during the Sermon on the Mount. Because I have never been afraid of calling sin exactly what it is when I share the TRUTH of God's Word with you, I get several hundred emails daily from people telling me that I have NO RIGHT JUDGING OTHERS. The fact is, what I do in the course of this Devotional each day is NOT judge anyone, but simply expose people, events, and issues in our society in the context of encouraging you in your daily relationship with the Lord.
When I use the example of a certain individual, I am NOT judging their heart, God will do that. I simply point out their actions. It is THEIR ACTIONS THAT JUDGE HIM!!!!! I DON'T HAVE TO!!!! When I talk about the sinful choices of those who engage in fornication or homosexual activity, I am NOT judging those who engage in these practices. I simply point out what they do. It is THEIR ACTIONS THAT JUDGE THEM. All I do is take what a person has DONE in the context of God's Word says which is our ultimate authority in ALL matters. IT IS GOD'S WORD THAT JUDGES THEM!!!
What Jesus said in Matthew 7:1 is very powerful. WE have no right to judge anyone since we ourselves are frail, sinful people. We must be as concerned about the sin in OUR lives, as we are in judging the sin in others. Having said that however, those who God has called into spiritual leadership must NEVER, EVER, shy away from calling sin sin. Those who commit acts of homosexuality or fornication are sinners. God said it, I didn't. PEOPLE CHOSE TO DO THE THINGS THEY DO, I DON'T. Every person stand accountable for their actions in this life. WHAT HTHEY DO JUDGES THEM, I DON'T!!!
Anyone that takes the time to read ALL of what I write each day, know that I ask people to pray for those who are lost and without hope. I call people often to PRAY FOR those who choose to engage in sinful sexual acts, whether it is homosexual acts, acts of adultery, or fornication, or any other sinful behavior. I use examples of the real world that we live in to drive home the point that I am making to YOU each day in relationship to your personal walk with the Lord.
I love you and care about you so much. I am not nearly as concerned for my own personal well-being, as I am for your ETERNAL well-being. THAT is why I do what I do each day. I will NEVER be silenced. If the culture through the media can allow the homosexual community to tell our kids that homosexuality is an acceptable choice, I will use my voice to say that it is a sin and a path of destruction. If servants of satan can have their garbage littered throughout our culture, I will use my voice to tell people that those who choose to engage in sinful behavior are living in rebellion to God and His Truth. Not against Bill Keller, but against GOD...and HIS TRUTH!!!
Pleased know today that Jesus was very clear about his admonition to "not judge others." But never take that to mean that we have to turn our heads to sin, and not speak out about what GOD SAYS is wrong! We are living in the last days. The war between TRUTH and LIE will become more pronounced.
Please pray for me daily as I get the message of GOD’S TRUTH to this lost and hurting world that we live in. Those who know Christ know that HE is the ONLY WAY. I judge no one. Only God can do that. But the Bible clearly says that "you will know a tree by the fruit that it bears." If those who know the Lord don’t speak up and “inspect the fruit,” who will?
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH CALLING A ROTTEN APPLE....A ROTTEN APPLE! God will judge ME if I am silent!!!
In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller