Saturday, February 4, 2017

Lord, please help us to walk in the light revealed.

Have you ever been guilty of assuming someone knows something only to find out they don't? Have you ever tried to explain a situation to someone hoping for understanding only to realize they haven't a clue as to what you are talking about? We want people to understand along with us so we have someone that knows what we are going through. We want people to have similar experiences so we get ask them questions about how they react in the experience. When we realize others might not have the same experiences it can be a bit confusing. We generally do not like to be the lone wolf so to speak, in a situation because we can either believe there is something wrong that we are the only one, or we can believe we may have been singled out for something others have not. Neither scenario brings comfort really, or rather a full understanding from others.  We can't assume to know the situation of others. We can't KNOW their walk, their individual- very personalize walk with Christ through life. No two people ever experience something the exact same because from the get go our different personalities will cause different reactions. Two people facing the exact same problem will look at it from different points of view, their own. If by chance the people seem to look at the problem in the same way, it is all but guaranteed that down the line their thoughts will diverge into different ideas.  We are INDIVIDUALS with individual walks with Christ and my walk is not yours. I may look at your life and imagine that you aren't as close to God as I am, and instantly comprehend that I have to be much further away from God simply by having such a thought. We are NOT to judge others.  Even when we judge their actions, we are not to judge the results of their actions. I can't say that because I see someone stealing something that they aren't God's. I can say that person committed a wrong act, but how that affects their walk with God is between them and God. Truly each of us is the chief of all sinners, because we can't know another's life of sin.  We are not to judge anyone else based on our own conscience. We can try to ask if another has a similar conscience pulling, but if they don't we can't judge them. We may be either behind where they are in their ongoing walk with God, or in front, but it makes no difference because there is no behind or in front as being better or worse, but each of us walking according to our OWN learning. If we do get behind in our OWN learning, refusing to grow for whatever reason, that is something we have to seek forgiveness for. But to say another is behind would be only adding to our list of things needing forgiveness, they might be exactly where they need to be in their walk with God.

Mat 7:1  Judge not, that ye be not judged. 
Mat 7:2  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 
Mat 7:3  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 
Mat 7:4  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? 
Mat 7:5  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. 


'Due to varying degrees of knowledge in the conscience some are not conscious of sins regarded as very great by their fellow-believers. Hence, let us not judge one another. The Father alone knows how to handle His children. He does not expect to find the strength of “young men” in His “little children” nor the experience of “fathers” in the “young men.” But He does wait for each of his children to obey Him according to what he already knows. Were we to know for sure (which is not easy) that God has spoken to our brother on a particular matter and that our brother has failed to listen, then we can persuade him to obey. Yet we should never force our brother to follow what our conscience says to us. If the God of perfect holiness does not reject us because of our past unknown sins, how can we, on the basis of our current standard, judge our brother who only knows now what we knew last year? In fact, in helping other people we should not coerce obedience from them in small details but only advise them to follow faithfully the dictate of their own conscience. If their volition yields to God they will obey Him when the Holy Spirit sheds light on the words clearly written in the Bible. As long as his volition is yielded, a believer will follow God’s desire the moment his conscience receives light. The same is applicable to ourselves. We should not overextend ourselves to the point of exciting the strength of our soul to understand truths beyond our present capacity. If we are disposed to obey today’s voice of God, we are considered acceptable. On the other hand, we should not restrain ourselves from searching any truth which the Holy Spirit may lead us intuitively to search. Such restraint would mean lowering our standard of holiness. In a word, there is no problem for that one who is willing to walk by the spirit.'

The Spiritual Man- by Watchman Nee (Excerpt)

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