I'm Following Jesus – Page 1482 – Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Friday, April 03, 2020
Chapters: Judges 10-12
Message: Passing Judgment

Hello My Friend,

Grief; The pain of mind produced by loss, misfortune, injury or evils of any kind; sorrow; regret. The pain of mind occasioned by our own misconduct; sorrow or regret that we have done wrong; pain accompanying repentance. It occurred to me as I was reading the chapters for today, just how much it must grief God to see His children fighting among each other. Yes, we are all sinners, and God will deal with each and every one of us directly, but, we as saved, born again Christians need to lighten up and stop passing judgment on each other, especially with what we have going on right now. It reminds me of the parable that Jesus spoke.

“Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” – Luke 18:10-14.

When one Christian thinks of themselves more highly than the other, they risk the danger of mixing Law with grace. While grace does not replace the need to live as God would have us, we must understand that if we are going to judge according to the Law, then we are ourselves are guilty of breaking them all, (James 2:10-11). God deals with each and every one of us as He sees fit to bring us to repentance. Think about what is going on today, this plague spreading across the entire planet is nit a result of just a few of His people living in sin, this is the result of many, many, whom have forsaken God all together, and turned to false gods.

Do you think that all these religions proclaiming Christ all worship the Almighty God? Anytime a religion alters the words of the Bible to suit their own beliefs, then they are creating their own god. Why do you think that there was and still is a different god in every nation? Here in America, we have so many different nations so you can imagine how many false gods are here. Now, up until now, we have seen how God has been dealing with His people on the promised land. Do you remember the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh? They were in Gilead, which was on the other side of the Jordan. Well, they too had forsaken God and turning to not only one, but several false gods.

“And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim. And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir. And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years. And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havothjair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead. And Jair died, and was buried in Camon. And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and served not him. And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon. And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.” – Judges 10:1-8.

“And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel:” God will not just allow His people to follow every god and religion that makes them feel good, He wants all of His people to come together and unite under His Church. It took Israel eighteen years for them to cry out to God, and by the way, these are the ones who had turned on God, not His faithful. However, this time, God did not help them.

“And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim. And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand. Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation. And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day. And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.” – Judges 10:10-16.

“let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.” While God’s mercies endure, there does come a time when He will not deliver His people out of their tribulation unless they put away the false gods and repent. “and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.” Do you see who God grieves for our misery when we come to Him with sincere confession and repentance? God is always faithful and just to not only forgive our sin, but cleanses us from theme as well, (I John 1:9). Well, they repented, God hear their cries, and sent a God fearing man to deliver them. However, the people frowned upon him, and rejected him. Why? His mother was not an Israelite.

“Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah. And Gilead’s wife bare him sons; and his wife’s sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father’s house; for thou art the son of a strange woman. And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob: And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon. And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father’s house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress? And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” – Judges 11:1-2,5-8.

“for thou art the son of a strange woman.” Some Christians are the most judgmental, but who are they quick to come to for help when they need it? This is where Jesus makes it a point to tell us not to judge according to appearance, but by righteous judgment, (Matthew 7:1-6). You may not approve of what someone may be doing, but you are not the judge, God is. He is the one who knows who we are, and if we are doing something wrong. “Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.” – James 4:11-16.

It is one thing for mature Christians to guide and teach the younger ones so that they can learn and grow in Christ, it is another to make someone be who you expect them to be, and then judge them because they are not following your rule. No one gets anywhere and succeeds unless it is in the will of God. After Jephthah led the people of Gilead to victory over Ammon here comes Ephraim again arguing that they were excluded from the battle. This time there was no reasoning with them, and a civil war broke out, and forty-two thousand Ephraimites needlessly lost their lives because of this.

“And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire. And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands. And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me? Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites. And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.” – Judges 12:1-4,7.

“ye delivered me not out of their hands.” Instead of passing judgment and attacking each other, we ought to be lifting up and encouraging each other. And you cannot attack His anointed, if you do, then it will be on you because God will judge you. So, there may be some of who appear to be more worldly than the others, they listen to contemporary Christian music, wear more flattering clothes, die their hair different colors, or watch rated R movies. Instead of fighting with them and demanding they stop, guide and nurture them in the way that God would have them go, not you, but God. Not everything we see as sin is sin, and we must also remind ourselves that we are all sinners, if God pointed out everything we did, we would all be sitting in time out until He brings us home. We are all here for one reason and one reason only, and that is bring others to Christ. If we are fighting, how are those of the world going to know who He is, and why the importance of knowing Him?

“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” – I Corinthians 3:1-6.

Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for Your mercy and grace to save a sinner like me, I know there is nothing I need to do to repay You for my salvation, but I do not want to be someone that You just save, I want to be a witness and a testimony of your mercy and grace. I do want to be successful in all that You call me to do, and know with Your help it is possible. Lord, Lead me and guide me, help me to walk the path You have given me, with the utmost faith, fill me with Your mercy and grace, show me how to give mercy and grace, and how to love all as You love me. Let me grow and become a reflection of Your Son as I become completely dependent on You, trust the decisions that You have for me are for the best. Let me not be judgmental of others, rather teach righteous judgment. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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