Must Appear

Must Appear

2 Corinthians 5: ⁶ So we are always full of courage. We know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord's home. ⁷ For our life is a matter of faith, not of sight. ⁸ We are full of courage and would much prefer to leave our home in the body and be at home with the Lord. ⁹ More than anything else, however, we want to please him, whether in our home here or there. ¹⁰ For all of us must appear before Christ, to be judged by him. We will each receive what we deserve, according to everything we have done, good or bad, in our bodily life.

 

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Receiving a summons to appear in court was never fun but it happened. The words “YOU MUST APPEAR” were in big bold red capital letters that seemed intimidating. The letter held instructions about my court date but it also had the traffic violation and the date of my malefaction.

 

• I felt angry, shamed and scared all at once.
• I felt like my perfect driving record was damaged.
• I felt that I had to drive extra perfect to keep from being judged again. This was super false!

 

Paul mentions the true purpose of life. He says “Life is a matter of faith” and then tells everyone that the faith that is worth anything is to please the LORD JESUS who will one day judge everyone according to every deed that is done.

 

My Observations

• Every deed I do is seen by GOD.
• One deed does not undo another deed in GOD’s eyes.
• GOD is the only one who sees the things I do for HIM and judges the things I do for myself.

 

Trying to act righteous can sometimes get me in trouble. I mean, when I think I am pleasing GOD by following the Bible to the letter, I may be hurting others by holding them to a standard I could not keep myself. BUT DOD wants me to act differently.

 

HE wants me to point my sinful life to HIM so others can do the same. Life is not about living in perfection rather accepting perfection which is JESUS. The HOLY SPIRIT will then guide me to the places I need to go and deliver the words I need to say. Life is about surrender so I can be pleasing to GOD. The more I surrender to GOD the more pleasing and amazing deeds HE guides me to do.

 

Challenge

• What do you notice about fear and courage in this passage?
• Have you ever placed your courage in something the crowd is saying but felt it could possibly be against what GOD is telling you?
• Can you gain courage to surrender your life to JESUS little by little, giving HIM your deeds as best as you can without worrying about HIS judgement but focusing in on HIS love today?

Rare Action

Rare Action

1 Corinthians 5: ^12-13 After all, it is none of my business to judge outsiders. God will judge them. But should you not judge the members of your own fellowship? As the scripture says, “Remove the evil person from your group.”

 

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My meetings usually ran smooth, but this one wasn’t going so well. I had a guy who insisted on interrupting and asking antagonizing questions. Usually my approach was to request to hold questions until the end, but this was not going to happen with this guy. I stopped the meeting and told him to leave.

 

• There have been rare times when I had to kick someone out.
• There have been rare times when I needed to let someone go.
• There have been rare times when I exceeded the capacity for patience and had to tell a person to leave.

 

Paul addressed a person, perhaps a self-acclaimed church leader, who was boastful about his sexual escapades. He implies that the guy also acted greedy, worshipped idols, slandered people, was a drunkard and a thief. It seemed like the guy was not going to surrender his life to following JESUS any time soon. The best thing to do was to tell him to leave.

 

• GOD wants me to be able to tell a disrupter to leave.
• GOD wants me to recognize when a person is not following CHRIST but serving their own lusts.
• GOD wants me to remove the evil person from the group as a rare but necessary action.

 

Judge not lest you be judged still applies when considering kicking someone out of a fellowship. I mean, any group can segregate themselves and make up rules to keep their fellowship looking and acting like themselves.

 

That is not what is going on here. In a diverse group of people, there may be a person who clearly is not following JESUS and is harmful to spreading HIS message of love and forgiveness. Such a person is spreading evil versus love. This person needs to be removed from the group. I am grateful GOD forgives and restores.

 

• Do you have a person who is being disruptive in your group?
• Has that person exceeded everyone’s patience regarding the love of CHRIST?
• Is the person spreading evil and focused only on worldly conversations?
• Will you prayerfully remove this person and hope he or she will be restored by GOD someday?

Adjust the Approach

 

Adjust the Approach

Acts 26: ⁹ “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰ And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. ¹¹ Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

 

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After learning a little about the Bible, I wanted to put the information to use. When told about a couple living together, my immediate response was “They shouldn’t be doing that” in a condemning tone. This was way after I had sex without being married in college. I figure that I could tell people what they were doing wrong, now that I learned something.

 

• There were times when I thought my approach was right.
• There were times when I read the Bible and brought judgment on people.
• There were times when I overlooked my sins to point out the sins of others.

 

Paul confessed he had the wrong approach. He told King Agrippa that he was very zealous about learning the Jewish customs, so he became a Pharisee. He judged people for believing in JESUS as the Messiah, which seemed counter to what he learned. He persecuted many and applauded their death. BUT GOD had a different plan for Paul.

 

• GOD wants me to see people as AHE sees them.
• GOD wants me to give HIM my judgement in exchange for HIS peace.
• GOD wants me to love one another as HE has loved us.

 

Seeing the world as “us” is difficult sometimes. I mean, when people dream of new kinds of hatred and lusts daily, who can teach GOD’s message of love. BUT GOD knows what is going on. HE simply needs me to be consistent in my love to those HE sends me to.

 

GOD sees my heart and knows how wicked it can be. HE cleans it out and places HIS SPIRIT in it. HE gives me purpose, namely to bring people to HIM. HE says “MY grace is sufficient” and I believe it. I am grateful HE cares for people like me.

 

• Are you judging someone?
• Do you easily see their flaws and overlook your own?
• Will you allow GOD to deal with “that” person and ask HIM to adjust your approach to spreading the good news about JESUS, today?

It is not easy

Hosea 9: ⁸ The prophet, along with my God,
    is the watchman over Ephraim,
yet snares await him on all his paths,
    and hostility in the house of his God.

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“I’ll teach Sunday School” was my noble decision. Read a little and guide people through a few Bible verses was my concept, but I had no idea what I signed up for. The more I taught, the more I had to study. Then I hit a verse that made me want to jump out of this “teacher” job. GOD said “Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly.” I noticed GOD was treating me differently than others.

• While others could get away with things GOD held me to a higher standard.
• When other people could do what they wanted to do, GOD held me to a more strict code.
• While others could say what they wanted to say GOD treated me with less tolerance.

Teaching and prophesying for GOD can be a tough road. Humans and even GOD looks at me differently. The desire to have people change their lives over to following GOD can be met with ridicule and at times, persecution. Temptation to simply say what people want to hear pops up regularly. BUT GOD wants me to say what HE says.

• GOD says to me “I did not spare my one and only SON to save all who believe.”
• GOD says to me “Do not speak MY name in vain or make light of MY power.”
• GOD says to me “Do not be proud that you are in MY family rather be thankful enough to teach others.”

Nervousness mixed with confidence is the best way to describe being a teacher of CHRIST. I may “know” something, yet my sinful doubt keeps me from executing GOD’s word flawlessly. Fortunately for me, even though I am held at a higher standard, GOD said “No man will pluck you out of MY hand.” This is comforting and the snares mixed with hostility become bearable.

• Are you in a ministry and still facing persecution?
• Do you find following GOD to be difficult at times?
• Can you rest assured that HE loves what you are doing and asks that you press on?
• Will you allow HIM to protect you in HIS way and keep going anyway?