Satan Destroys, Jesus Refines.

 We are all the time making snap judgments about others, it has become second nature to us. We just have to see someone to start the process. How often we are surprised to find out our snap judgments are wrong. We get to know someone and they turn out to be very nice, or unfortunately we may get to know someone whom we thought would be nice only to find out they aren't. Snap judgments go either way. That kindly appearing person might have a bitter soul, while the grungy appearing person might have a heart of gold.

Even so, we formulate opinions of people- those was barely know at all, and those we've known for years. Once our opinion is made though, we can often be surprised because people don't usually remain stagnant during their lives, they grow, they change- and no, not always for the better, but then again, not always for the worse.

Have you labeled people to be a certain way? You know- that person is Mr. Grumpy, that other person is Super Drama, and that person is Too Sensitive, while the other is No Compassion, you get the picture. There goes Miss Bubbly with Mr. Joker, and not far behind them are Shy Guy and Blunt Girl. Mrs. Sweetheart is talking with Giggling Girl, and…. Yes, I know, I can shut up now, you really do know what I'm talking about.  I'm sure you know your own personality and might even be aware of a label that's been placed on you, or you might have several labels.

What we have to realize is that our Lord tells us not to judge others. As we pass our judgments on people perhaps being overly critical at times, we are being judged in the very same manner because every single judgment we make has a boomerang affect, it comes right back at us instantly.

You might feel justified to be critical against people who commit evil atrocities and are found out, but even then we need to take it all the way down to the source. I hear you now saying that's just making excuses for people. I'm not saying people who embrace evil don't deserve any punishment or to be locked up away from harming others, I'm saying the source, the well spring if you will, of ALL evil any person can ever commit is from Satan. 

You can throw the names of several very evil people at me, and yes, I'll agree they are evil. They've chosen an evil life, and because I know the evil in my own life (outright acts, to even my thoughts) I have to believe all are capable of being forgiven. I judge their action to be awful, but I cannot judge their eternal life, not ever. I don’t have the knowledge of the Holy Spirit to give me the final outcome of a person's life. We can read that Judas Iscariot was lost to eternal life and the source of that knowledge is heavenly, not from man. 

We are told that we will be judged and we are going to be judge based on how we judge others- how do YOU want to be judged? With compassion, fairness, understanding, truth, hope? If you are reading this and believing you need to be judged in truth and the truth is you are an awful person deserving of punishment, then that honesty is amazing. All have sinned, all of us are worthy of punishment and death, ALL of us. However, Jesus wants to offer us LIFE, salvation, hope that all that we can hope for isn't death eternal. We need to offer all others the same hope we have ONLY through Jesus, not through any act of our own! 

Having said all that, we also know it wasn't Jesus' way to badger anyone into believing His truths. Jesus didn't slap salvation on everyone He came in contact with when they blatantly did not want salvation. The offer was there, and is still there for all to accept, but Jesus will never force anyone and as our greatest of all example, we too cannot force any truth on anyone. We are to make truth available. We are to be as loving as Jesus would have us be even to those who despise us, but far as it goes we are to offer truth but if it's rejected we are to be on our way. 

Truthfully, there will be many who do not want truth and even if you did badger them day in and day out forcing them to listen to you as you try to bring truth to them, they would only harden their hearts against you. 

We all face daily obstacles, as Satan attacks us in ways we never even dream of- health, family, money, self. Satan will use any and all things that he can to derail our walk with Christ. Satan doesn't want us surrendering daily to Jesus Christ. Satan wants our personal demons to rear up foremost in our lives so he can beat us down into despair. Despair of ever truly belonging to Christ. We have to believe by FAITH! And faith tells us we will NOT have tangible proof! Faith that Jesus will do as He tells us He'll do, save us even from ourselves! 

Everyone we encounter is a child of God. Everyone we encounter has their origin in God, just as we do. Everyone we encounter is in a spiritual warfare, just as we are. Everyone, Jesus died for everyone. No one is worthy of Jesus' death. No one can be good enough to deserve salvation. You can commit no good deed that will warrant you salvation. You can't keep from sin and think that enables you to deserve eternal life. You can't celebrate not succumbing to a cherished sin by feeling right with Jesus, as if YOUR abstaining from that sin was by your OWN power! We get caught up in that, we get caught up in believing we can keep ourselves from sin, simply because we are told not to sin by Jesus Himself. The thing is, Jesus enables us to keep from sinning and all glory goes to HIM. And IF we succumb, it's because we are weak, and we have no power of our own, and we will be TRIED IN FIRE. We must trust that the fires we are put through are refining us, not destroying us! This is trusting in our SAVIOR. Satan destroys, Jesus refines!

May Jesus guide us in every single encounter we have with other people. May He be our source of witness, may He use us for His will, may we heed the words of our Savior and allow the Holy Spirit to live in us- our hearts, our minds, our whole being. All through the love of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, now and forever!

Amen.

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. 

Mat 7:6  Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.