The first thing to remember

 The first thing to remember

The apostle Peter writes,

"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." 1 Peter 2:11,12.

The apostle Peter makes it clear here that we are aliens in this world. What that means is, we must obey the laws of the land we live in. As such we only have the rights and freedoms the government under which we are living gives us.

Only when mans laws violates our freedom to worship God  can we speak against the government.

We have no right to condemn or speak out against freedoms granted by the government to others no matter how vehemently we disagree with them.

At the same time we have no right to judge those outside the Church. The apostle Paul states,

"What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?  God will judge those outside. 

Expel the wicked man from among you." 1 Corinthians 5:12,13.

Sadly all too many calling themselves Christians are judging anyone they disagree with inside and outside the church. While at the same time not expelling those who are not presenting the Word of God correctly. 

Please think about it.

 

Praise the Lord

Praise the Lord
The Psalmist wrote,

Praise the LORD. 

Praise God in his sanctuary;

 praise him in his mighty heavens. 

Praise him for his acts of power; 

praise him for his surpassing greatness. 

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, 

praise him with the harp and lyre, 

praise him with tambourine and dancing,

 praise him with the strings and flute, 

praise him with the clash of cymbals,

 praise him with resounding cymbals. 

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. 

Praise the LORD. 

                               Psalm 150

Question: If you claim to be a believer in Christ Jesus do you praise The Lord, outside the church as well as inside the Church?
Please think about it.

Only God

Only God
The Psalmist writes,
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:13-16
This is by far one of my favourite portions of scripture. It tells me in modern terms God knows my DNA. He knows why I am the way I am. Therefor especially when it comes to where I will spend eternity only God has the right to judge me.
True we have the right to judge others when it comes to our personal safety or to protect ourselves from injustice. We as believers in Christ Jesus even have the right to judge others claiming to be Christians. The apostle Paul writing
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?  God will judge those outside. 
“Expel the wicked man from among you.” 1 Corinthians 5:12,13.
Judging other who claim to be Christians however to my way of thinking is only to see if they are preaching the word of God correctly. We as mere mortals cannot judge others with respect to where they will spend eternity.
Billy Graham the great American evangelist wisely said,

It is the Holy Spirits Job to Convict, 

God’s job to judge

 and 

my job to love, 

                               Billy Graham

Another American evangelist Tony Campolo said,
“We ought to get out of the judging business. We should leave it up to God to determine who belongs in one arena or another when it comes to eternity. What we are obligated to do is to tell people about Jesus, and that's what I do.” Tony Campolo
Even Jesus told us,
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:1,2.
James the half brother of Jesus wrote,
“Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,  
because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!” James 2:12,13.
In short we are to love all people, our family, our neighbour, even our enemy. For only God knows what truly makes us the way we are and only He can judge individuals fairly.
Please think about it.