Who’s Your Judge? - Encouragement Café - Apr. 7, 2014

Who’s Your Judge?

Café Menu for Monday, April 7, 2014

Today’s Special is: That Is the Question!

Carefully prepared just for you by your friend, Jill Beran

Main Ingredient:

For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is He who will save us.

– Isaiah 33:22 NIV

Entrée:

Who is my judge? Who is the one whose opinion about me matters? Isaiah 33:22 answers the question quite clearly… the LORD is my judge and friend. He is yours as well. He is the One who gives the laws and deserves our reverence.

As I think about being judged, many thoughts can come to mind; and I’ll be honest, some of them aren’t good. It’s easy to remember the times I’ve been judged wrongly. Would you agree? We don’t forget the times others didn’t see the whole picture, then jumped to conclusions and made judgments that hurt. But today I don’t want to focus on the painful judgments that were wrong; let’s instead look at the judgments that come from God and are right.

Judgment Day is coming; 1 Corinthians 4:5 tells us that, but judgments are being made today as well. And friend, though we don’t like them, there are times we need them.

The LORD, our Judge, will do this in different ways. Jeremiah 17:10 tells us He will search our hearts and examine our minds. In 2 Timothy 3:16, we are told He will use His Word to teach and rebuke. The most challenging form of God’s judgment may be found in 1 Corinthians 5:12, “It isn’t my (Paul) responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.”

Friend, there are times God wants His people to judge one another. He instructs one believer to point out the sin in another believer. Nobody enjoys this, but we all need it. Does this explain every judgment that we experience? No, but it does account for some.

The next time you are feeling judged, go to God… share your heart and seek His wisdom. He is our ultimate judge… ask Him if what you are experiencing is from Him and trust Him to save you. He’ll rescue you from the sin you need to deal with or the pain you are feeling from a judgment you didn’t deserve.

Friend, let us remember He is a good Judge and His judgments always have a purpose!

Take Out:

Have you ever thought about judgments being a good thing, something that we need? Take some time and reflect on the times you’ve felt judged… is it possible that the judgment was coming from God? Ask Him to help you work through the feelings you’ve experienced and respond rightly to the judgments that were made.

Dessert:

Dear Heavenly Father, it can be hard to think about being judged being a good thing, but in Your Word You instruct us to judge fellow believers. Help me do that correctly and give me the ability to respond rightly when it happens to me. I know having my sin judged is a good thing, but I also realize it is a hard thing; when this happens, help me Lord. Give me wisdom and understanding. Grant me the desire to call sin, sin, and appreciate someone opening my eyes to what You clearly see. In those moments when I fall short and I am then called out for my sin, save me; and in those moments when others fall short and wrongly judge, save me as well. Thank You, Father, for being the perfect Judge. May I live to please You! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

© 2014 by Jill Beran. All rights reserved.

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