Judge Not, Love Much

Recently I have become acutely sensitive when I hear colleagues, friends and family members being critical and judgmental of others.   I too am guilty of this, but I am trying to stop myself when judgmental thoughts invade my brain.  None of us likes to be judged, and perhaps it is because of our insecurities and how we judge ourselves that leads us to judge others.  

We judge each other on appearance, intelligence, success, wealth, lifestyle, behaviors and so on.  We judge people we know and people who are complete strangers.  

Have you ever smiled or said, "hello" to a stranger and were ignored or received a glare in response?  Have you ever walked past a person with their hand out asking for help and thought, "why don't they get a job" or "if I give them money they will just go spend it on booze"?  Have you ever been critical of someone who is overweight, drinks too much, sleeps too much, can't hold down a job, dresses weird or is just plain grouchy?   

Matthew 7: 1-5 ¹ “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. ³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in someone else’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from the other person’s eye.

 Most of the time we don't know the truth about a person.  What is it that they experiencing or have experienced in life that leads them to behave in certain ways? 

Perhaps the person who did not return your smile or hello had just lost a loved one, or has a sick child, or is struggling financially or just didn't hear or see you.   

Perhaps the person who needed a hand out is on the street because they have run away from an abusive relationship, or can't find a job and the unemployment check is only enough to pay the rent to shelter the family, but not enough to feed them.

What if, instead of judging people, we start thinking about them in a different way.   Instead of judging people what if we give them grace and love them, as God does with us, unconditionally.  

By nature, we are weak and we need to rely on each other to be stronger and help each other up, not tear down and push each other away.  If you are on the receiving end of judgment, don't let those who are judging control you or your emotions. It is enough to know that God is the only one we need to please and he forgives us and loves us unconditionally, if we open our hearts to him. 

1 John 4:12 (KJV) ¹²No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

I pray that you are filled with the spirit of grace and love, perfected by God and that it shines  through you to someone else today.  I pray that God blesses you and makes you strong, confident and accepting of yourself regardless of how others may judge you. 

I am not sure who receives these messages or reads this blog, but I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart and tell you that I love you and welcome your comments. 

God Will Lift You Up

Isaiah 41:10 (NKJV) - 10 Fear not, for I am with you;
 Be not dismayed, for I am your God. 
I will strengthen you,
 Yes, I will help you,
 I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. 

Do you ever have days where you feel lost and alone?  I don't mean literally, but spiritually and emotionally.  Days where you wake up feeling bored and tired from following the same old routine.  "Is this all there is?"  

I admit that I have felt this way from time to time and it is very uncomfortable.  During these times we tend to feed our emotions with unhealthy habits, like eating and drinking too much. We also may withdraw from our friends, stop going to social events, stop exercising and find ourselves just going through the motions.  While it is normal to feel this way and get stuck from time to time, it can be a dangerous place if it continues for too long.  

So how do you shake it off and get back to living?  How do you get back to waking up in the morning feeling excited about the day?  Are you ready to make a change?

First, it starts with reconnecting with God.  Start by making time to read the scripture every day and pray constantly.  If the bible intimidates you, then pick up a daily devotional or find a website like www.biblegateway.com.  Start out by giving yourself 30 minutes each day to this endeavor.  That's not much when you consider how much time we sit staring at the television.    

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT)  ¹⁶ Always be joyful. ¹⁷ Never stop praying. ¹⁸ Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

You can never pray too much and you are never alone.  You are not bothering God.  He can and does listen to each and every one of us at every moment of every day and does not get confused or overwhelmed.  He loves us and wants us to talk to him about everything in our lives every day.  He wants to provide us with direction and a spirit filled with energy,  joy and hope.  

Second, and I know that this is a common catchphrase, but I think it really works to "fake it till you make it".  Even if you don't feel confident about yourself and the direction of your life,  just for now, pretend that you are and eventually it will translate into the real thing. 

Third, take a look at eating and exercise habits.  Are you eating a lot of highly processed,  high carbohydrate and sugary foods.  These are the foods that can cause weight gain and play havoc with your emotional well being.  Exercise improves both your physical and mental health. I know that it is hard to get started but if you can take the first step, the rewards will make it worthwhile.    

Fourth, make commitment to something that makes you focus on the needs of others and not your own.  Volunteer to drive a neighbor to the grocery store or doctor.  Take a friend who needs a listening ear to lunch and listen.  Clean out your closest and donate clothing, food to other items to a shelter. Whatever works for you. 

Fifth, change your routine.  Take a class that doesn't involve your work or profession, like  cooking, martial arts or photography.  Take up a new hobby,  join a bible study,  learn to play a musical instrument or start a blog.  You don't have to do these things alone, do it with friend or spouse.

If you are feeling this way right now, start with step one and reach out your hand to God so that he can pull you up and get you moving in the right direction. If you know of someone who is feeling this way, help them to extend their hand to God, so that he may lift them up. 

It's all just one day at a time and that's all we have for now, so let's not waste it. 

God Bless You!

  

  

My Happy Place

Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

This is my happiest time of day.  Sitting in my office, surrounded by my books and my kittens in the wee hours of the morning. The house is quiet, except for the hum of the furnace taking the chill off of my early morning reverie. My cup is filled with hot steamy coffee and I can breathe. This is the time of day when I feel the closest to God. My head is clear, not yet cluttered by the events and worries of the day. I am able to sit quietly and open my mind and my heart to receive guidance from our Father.  I cherish this time, like no other as it is when I am at peace with the world and myself, at least for a short time. 

Of course, this is the time when my best writing is done. Dear Lord, please use me as your instrument and when the words start to flow from my head to paper, I am grateful and filled with awe. Did I write that?  

I believe that God talks to all of us through others. We all are and can be instruments of God, if only we ask. Advice is easy to give and sometimes it is difficult to distill the message properly depending on the giver. God doesn't use everyone to get messages to us, so we need to be discerning. 

Sometimes he uses strangers passing through our lives that we will never see again.  He also uses select people who are in our lives for a long period of time. In our hearts we know who they are, because they are the ones that love us without condition, without self-serving motives or malice. They are not perfect either, but these are the people who generally do things for us without expectation that we reciprocate and they want the best for us, even if it means less for them. If you have someone who loves you in that way and you can learn to love others in that way, you are truly blessed. 

I pray that God uses someone today to get a message to you that you need to hear. An answer to prayer or assurance that you need that God is in your life and in control. He knows the purpose of your life, has plans for you and asks that you trust him.     

I love this peace prayer from St. Francis of Assisi 

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

when there is injury, pardon;w

here there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; 

to be understood, as to understand,

to be loved as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying [to ourselves] that we are born to eternal life.

Happy Easter!

Today we celebrate a new day, our freedom from sin, a second chance and new beginnings. All, thanks to our sweet Jesus and by the grace of God. Easter is the blessed Christian  holiday in which we commemorate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and his ascension into heaven. What an amazing experience for those who were able to observe it first hand! Nothing is more beautifully written about this than the scripture and testimony of the disciples and Mary Magdalene. 

John 20: 1-23 (NLT)

The Resurrection

1 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. ² She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

³ Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. ⁴ They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.  ⁵ He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in.  ⁶ Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings.  ⁸ Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— ⁹ for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then they went home.

Jesus Appeared to Mary Magdalene

¹¹ Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. ¹² She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying.  ¹³ “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”  ¹⁴ She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him.  ¹⁵ “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”   ¹⁶ “Mary!” Jesus said.She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”). ¹⁷ “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”  ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

^{Jesus Appears to His Disciples}

¹⁹ That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said.  ²⁰ As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!  ²¹ Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”  ²² Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Easter also marks the beginning of Spring, my second favorite time of year. With spring comes new life, rebirth and renewal. Life that lay dormant over the winter starts to emerge.  As I look out my office window this morning, I can see the calla lily's and roses in bloom.  There are new tiny lime colored green leaves emerging on the walnut tree and new fragrant blossoms on the orange tree.  I take a deep breath and inhale the fresh, clean air of Spring and my spirit is filled with joy.

As with nature, this is also a time of renewal for us.  Take time to see the possibilities, filled with hope and with gratitude for the second chance that God has given us to live our lives as he intended.   

"Twas Easter Sunday. The full-blossomed trees filled all the air with the fragrance of joy.—" Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Palm Sunday

Today is Palm Sunday, also known as Passion Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week.  On this day Jesus rode on the back of a donkey into Jerusalem and was welcomed by cheering crowds of people who threw down their cloaks and palms in his honor.   His victorious ride was met with acknowledgment and celebration of his authority from the multitudes, but with great resistance from the Roman rulers.   

Matthew 21:6-11 (NKJV)

⁶ So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. ⁸ And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!

‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!Hosanna in the highest!”

¹⁰ And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”

¹¹ So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

This is a week of mixed emotions as we experience grief over the horrible Crucifixion of our sweet Jesus to save us from our sins.  We also get to celebrate his beautiful resurrection and the blessings we enjoy today, because of Him.    

I found this beautiful video on YouTube.  It illustrates the events of Holy week.  The precious song that accompanies the video is called Footprints in the Sand and it is performed by Leona Lewis.  I hope you will enjoy it.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GjlSepH0nw

May God bless you, keep you and fill your hearts with love and gratitude during this glorious Holy week.