Posted on Monday, April 02, 2012 | By Kaye | In help , hope , Jesus Christ , strength , weak
I can't sleep yet friend, just been doing some thinking...I'm thinking of those who were once christians and those who used to love the Lord dearly and maybe still do but at the moment they have not found their way to Him yet, those who have not fully surrendered to Christ. I am not talking about unbelievers but I am talking about those who sit in church with us, those who we fellowship with but have not surrendered yet.
My heart really goes out to them because I once was like that, I can still clearly remember those days where I was on the brink of deciding whether I will follow Him or not. I can still remember the criticsm around me from fellow christians and how tempting it was to just throw in the towel knowing that I am not in the right place with God and yet I cannot give Him up because I fiercely love Him. How can that be? I was wondering during those days... my heart knows its Maker and yet I found it hard to surrender to Him completely.
The right time came though when God Himself did all the work, when I didn't really lift a finger. I came to a point where my heart just ached for a change and I was just in tears most of the time, saddened by the fact that I kept disappointing God. And the Lord answered me, He almost really pried open these clutching hands and took away everything that I relied on, took away the many fears and temporary comforts that were besetting me but now I can say I am a changed woman. I am eternally grateful to Him that I am but who I am now too is because of the Lord... He keeps and preserves me and even now He is still working on me because I make mistakes, lots of them.
Now, these things were brought back to my mind because I know of people who have not fully committed to the Lord but are honest about it and I also know of people who sit in churches and look the part but are not true followers of Christ. The former get a lot of flak from fellow christians (or so-called christians) and the latter do not because as I have mentioned before they say and look the part. But that is what really gets to me- is how people can judge others that quickly because my argument for this would be- How can we judge others when they are (even ourselves) are an unfinished work? who knows the beginning from the end, see? only God. Who can read the heart of a man? only God. So, what is the basis of judgement?
I am never really one for debate or contentions however I can argue word for word based on the Scriptures how we cannot judge others based simply on outward manifestations.
This is hard for me to say but a good many christians (or those who profess to be) can be a bit harsh and judgemental with those who are weak in faith even when God clearly instructs us to not despise the weak but to help them (Rom.14:1, Roma.15:1, 1 Thess.5:14). And sadly, this is not uncommon in the christian community- given the fact that there will always be a mixture of mature and immature believers. Judging and condemning the weak in faith is clearly a reflection of immaturity and not Christ-like at all and has to be corrected and exposed because the enemy takes advantage of this to create divisions, see.
I know this to be true because I used to be the same way and oh boy did I feel the judging eyes and sometimes condemnation, I know how it feels to be written off by one or many and it hurt s I must say. It hurt me a lot that I am perceived as a make-believer or even a 'professor' of christianity and feel that I am not good enough to be a christian because I am not like them. I almost agreed with them on their opinion about me but what made me stood my ground was God Himself- that gut feeling in knowing that He chose me.
It almost gave me a reason to forego christianity altogether. I felt disappointed because even though I am aware that I have not fully surrendered to Christ and the manifestation at that point was lacking but in my heart of hearts, I loved the Lord truly. It's just that I cannot change myself even if I try, I cannot manifest Christ on my own because we all know we cannot. It is only Him who can bring about genuine changes and manifestations but He does it in His time.
That is the thing that we all have to remember and respect that in God's economy there is a time and season for everything. That He has a different plan and strategy for everyone. The road to God is not a one road fits all....He is smarter than that and I don't mean to sound sacrilegious- but the point I am trying to make is that He made us all different, each of us is unique and so the way to capture our hearts would be unique too. See, there is courtship before we get married.
So, how can we help these lovely, little ones to go further along in their faith, we ask? Love is the answer, plain and simple. One good thing the Lord taught me that I can share with you is to use the Jesus' lens :) ask yourself- if God is here right this moment, how will He react towards those who are weak? will He judge them? will He write them off? will He say things about them? will He avoid them?
I think we all know the answer to these questions....
If Christ is here right this very minute and look at that soul who is hungering for Him yet is weak in the flesh, I have a very good idea of what He will go through. First His heart will just feel heavy with mercy and compassion, then His eyes will water a bit because His love towards that soul will become unbearably overwhelming... He won't judge nor condemn because He knows that soul is incapable of change without His help but He will approach that soul and talk with him/her, He will embrace them and revive them...He will say things that will comfort, words that will uplift, words that will encourage and give hope. He will be a friend first before He can become a God.
Let us be to others how He is towards us my fellow christians, forgiving, kind and merciful. That is the way to treat those who are weak in faith because that is how Jesus will treat us if we are in their shoes. We are all His children, it is good to not forget that we all once were unbelievers
but by His mercy we are saved. Let us not look down, talk about or judge those who are weak or who has weaknesses, for we are all at the mercy of Christ. He is the one preserving us, we have no strength of our own. May we just continue to love and encourage one another, uplift each other and may we not despise those who are weak but let us instead reach out to them so that Christ through us can help them break free of any shackle. May the love of God persevere in us. Amen. God keep us all.
My heart really goes out to them because I once was like that, I can still clearly remember those days where I was on the brink of deciding whether I will follow Him or not. I can still remember the criticsm around me from fellow christians and how tempting it was to just throw in the towel knowing that I am not in the right place with God and yet I cannot give Him up because I fiercely love Him. How can that be? I was wondering during those days... my heart knows its Maker and yet I found it hard to surrender to Him completely.
The right time came though when God Himself did all the work, when I didn't really lift a finger. I came to a point where my heart just ached for a change and I was just in tears most of the time, saddened by the fact that I kept disappointing God. And the Lord answered me, He almost really pried open these clutching hands and took away everything that I relied on, took away the many fears and temporary comforts that were besetting me but now I can say I am a changed woman. I am eternally grateful to Him that I am but who I am now too is because of the Lord... He keeps and preserves me and even now He is still working on me because I make mistakes, lots of them.
Now, these things were brought back to my mind because I know of people who have not fully committed to the Lord but are honest about it and I also know of people who sit in churches and look the part but are not true followers of Christ. The former get a lot of flak from fellow christians (or so-called christians) and the latter do not because as I have mentioned before they say and look the part. But that is what really gets to me- is how people can judge others that quickly because my argument for this would be- How can we judge others when they are (even ourselves) are an unfinished work? who knows the beginning from the end, see? only God. Who can read the heart of a man? only God. So, what is the basis of judgement?
I am never really one for debate or contentions however I can argue word for word based on the Scriptures how we cannot judge others based simply on outward manifestations.
This is hard for me to say but a good many christians (or those who profess to be) can be a bit harsh and judgemental with those who are weak in faith even when God clearly instructs us to not despise the weak but to help them (Rom.14:1, Roma.15:1, 1 Thess.5:14). And sadly, this is not uncommon in the christian community- given the fact that there will always be a mixture of mature and immature believers. Judging and condemning the weak in faith is clearly a reflection of immaturity and not Christ-like at all and has to be corrected and exposed because the enemy takes advantage of this to create divisions, see.
I know this to be true because I used to be the same way and oh boy did I feel the judging eyes and sometimes condemnation, I know how it feels to be written off by one or many and it hurt s I must say. It hurt me a lot that I am perceived as a make-believer or even a 'professor' of christianity and feel that I am not good enough to be a christian because I am not like them. I almost agreed with them on their opinion about me but what made me stood my ground was God Himself- that gut feeling in knowing that He chose me.
It almost gave me a reason to forego christianity altogether. I felt disappointed because even though I am aware that I have not fully surrendered to Christ and the manifestation at that point was lacking but in my heart of hearts, I loved the Lord truly. It's just that I cannot change myself even if I try, I cannot manifest Christ on my own because we all know we cannot. It is only Him who can bring about genuine changes and manifestations but He does it in His time.
That is the thing that we all have to remember and respect that in God's economy there is a time and season for everything. That He has a different plan and strategy for everyone. The road to God is not a one road fits all....He is smarter than that and I don't mean to sound sacrilegious- but the point I am trying to make is that He made us all different, each of us is unique and so the way to capture our hearts would be unique too. See, there is courtship before we get married.
So, how can we help these lovely, little ones to go further along in their faith, we ask? Love is the answer, plain and simple. One good thing the Lord taught me that I can share with you is to use the Jesus' lens :) ask yourself- if God is here right this moment, how will He react towards those who are weak? will He judge them? will He write them off? will He say things about them? will He avoid them?
I think we all know the answer to these questions....
If Christ is here right this very minute and look at that soul who is hungering for Him yet is weak in the flesh, I have a very good idea of what He will go through. First His heart will just feel heavy with mercy and compassion, then His eyes will water a bit because His love towards that soul will become unbearably overwhelming... He won't judge nor condemn because He knows that soul is incapable of change without His help but He will approach that soul and talk with him/her, He will embrace them and revive them...He will say things that will comfort, words that will uplift, words that will encourage and give hope. He will be a friend first before He can become a God.
Let us be to others how He is towards us my fellow christians, forgiving, kind and merciful. That is the way to treat those who are weak in faith because that is how Jesus will treat us if we are in their shoes. We are all His children, it is good to not forget that we all once were unbelievers
but by His mercy we are saved. Let us not look down, talk about or judge those who are weak or who has weaknesses, for we are all at the mercy of Christ. He is the one preserving us, we have no strength of our own. May we just continue to love and encourage one another, uplift each other and may we not despise those who are weak but let us instead reach out to them so that Christ through us can help them break free of any shackle. May the love of God persevere in us. Amen. God keep us all.
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