Suspend Judgment

"We are examples of His forgiveness."

WILL YOU pray for Muslims? Or will you call them out on their beliefs? What do you teach? Is this a walk of love or division? Teach people how to pray. Teach foundations. Teach righteousness. Turn their eyes toward Jesus and the Holy Spirit as a person and not a show. Give them the gentleness of the Father.

Evangelist Brown sinned, so did Pastor Smith and Apostle Jones, and it was seen on the world stage. Many have sinned. Many have repented. Where is our forgiveness? I heard one story where a man, ordained to preach the gospel, messed up big and took himself off the scene. But knowing he was forgiven, and subsequently asked to speak at a church, he accepted, but then warred with himself and decided to decline at the last minute. Then God spoke. “What is it you have done?”

Are we forgiveness? Or are we looking for an excuse to judge, but calling it truth? Are we teaching truth or calling out error? God is love. 1 John 4:16.

Teach truth. Don’t point out error. Pointing out error only brings division. We don’t want more strife. We want increased knowledge and revelation. Instead of giving an example of WHAT NOT TO DO, show Jesus who is our example of WHAT TO DO, of how to respond, and handle situations. In His moment of greatest pressure, He prayed. Then He submitted Himself to God’s will and laid down His life, knowing IN PEACE OF MIND that His Father (the Spirit of His Father which is also the Spirit of Christ) would raise Him from the dead. He endured because He loved all men, and for that reason alone was given the keys to the kingdom of death and hell. These He got from His Father. Hell was made for the devil and his kind. It is not a place created for the devil’s judgment of man, but of God’s judgment of demons and fallen beings.

The Father has made Jesus the Judge. Jesus receives all judgment from the Spirit of His Father. These were His words in John 5:22 and 30. His judgment is salvation. Redemption. From His death we, mankind, can be made into new creations, free of death and filled with eternal life. Love did that, and the love of God in us speaks the love of God over anyone. ANYONE. We are not the Judge. We are examples of His forgiveness.

The Spirit points the way to Jesus and reveals Jesus. He does not speak of himself as separate from Jesus, but puts Jesus in the center and up front. But Jesus speaks strictly through the Spirit. There will never be the presence of God in anyone absent of Jesus. And Jesus is always backed by the Father. The Father who is love is seen as love through His Son and works His love in us through His Spirit.

“Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others.” (Philippians 4:8 TLB)

“Love … does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong.” (1 Corinthians 13:5 TLB)

You can be anointed by the Spirit and not speak the words of the Spirit. Just as a policeman can have the authority of the office but not act becomingly for an officer of the law. Israel sets an example. They wanted a king. God did not want them to have a king and warned them about the duties of having a king. Then He set about to give them His King – who is Himself. Jesus is the King with the authority of the King. Jesus is God with the Presence of God. He is Redeemer having received for all men the authority to give redemption. He births in us the desire to forgive.

We cannot claim to be in Him, to follow after Him, and still be critical of others. Even if we are standing exactly where God has placed us, in the pew or the pulpit. God’s love covers sins. It does not reveal them.

“Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8)

It is as has been said by many before. Treat others how you would like to be treated. Do not come to God asking for your needs, claiming faith, then turn around and bite and devour another person. Suspend your judgment and prefer God’s. Bury their sins in the depths of the sea, right next to yours. Then work with the Holy Spirit to pull down this stronghold in your mind so that it never again comes out of your mouth.

And in so doing, you will look and sound like Jesus, who faced the cross not out of duty to the will of the Father but because He shares His attributes. He is the Father. He is the Son. His Spirit is within us, and that is enough to alter our view forever. Where prayer out of a heart of love is what we do because He has made us who we are.

“The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.” (Galatians 5:14-15 BSB)

Image by Thomas G. from Pixabay


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com