Throw the first rock........if you can!

So, you ever been victim of someones persecution and the persecutor had issues of their own they should be more concerned with? More times than not when we get disgruntle about something someone does we begin to miss all of the good things they do and dwell on the thing we don't like. Sometimes this becomes such a problem, that we tend to lash out against that person. For instance your friend, of whom you have been friends with for a long time, keeps turning you down when you invite them to go to the mall with them. This same friend is the one that has always done things with you and for you for the past several years. Well after being turned down for the seventh time, you lash out to one of your other friends, displaying your unhappiness at being turned down again for a trip to the mall. You even go as far as to say that this friend that turned you down must not like you anymore because she won't go to the mall anymore. You continue to lash out with all kinds of speculation on what your friends problem is and end it with, well if she won't go to the mall with me then I won't be her friend. The whole time you are lashing out you are forgetting about the time your friend gave you her last $5 so you could get one of those cool school planners so you could be like everyone else. You also fail to recognize that when your friend gave you her last $5, it really was her last $5, because she has to work to help support her family at home. You also, in your time of lashing out, fail to see that you haven't been much of a friend to your friend because you have been so into your own thing that you have failed to see beyond yourself and the true hardtimes your friend is experiencing. You see in actuality, your friend hasn't been going to the mall with you because she knows she doesn't have the funds for it and she really feels that she won't be missed since she is from the poorer side of the tracks.

See sometimes we get so caught up in pointing out other peoples so called flaws that we overlook the flaws of our own. Jesus warns us against such behavior. In Matthew 7:4, Jesus says "How can you think of saying, 'Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye?" See we need to be careful in passing judgment on others, because chances are there are things in our own lives we need to address. We become like the Pharisees when we carry that "Holier than thow attitude". In John chapter 8 the Pharisees test Jesus with His knowledge of the Jewish law as well as try to get him to have a known adultress put to death by stoning. Jesus, being the Son of God obviously knew their hearts and their intentions, as well as the Jewish law. See it was custom to stone the lady and HER PARTNER for adultry. The Pharisees didn't bring the partner befor Jesus, they just brought the lady. So Jesus being so totally awesome says, yeah, she is guilty, but how 'bout the one of you who has never done anything wrong, you be the first one to throw the rocks at her. WAY COOL MAN!!!! Of course no one threw the rocks, and that brings me to my point. Before we go crucifying our friends for things we have no idea of their reasoning, we need to be totally without wrongness or blame ourselves. Ya see it's wrong to talk smack about your friends, so with that in mind and in line with the scriptures of John 8, you wouldn't be able to speak because you know it would be wrong to do so.

So the question is.......can you throw the first rock? Or should you just try to understand the situation and not be judgmental?

This really is a WWJD!!!!

God Bless,

Wayne

Hot of Cold?

Check this out,

Matthew 13:3-9 He told many stories such as this one:"A farmer went out to plant some seed.
[4] As he scattered it across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them.
[5] Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The plants sprang up quickly,
[6] but they soon wilted beneath the hot sun and died because the roots had no nourishment in the shallow soil.
[7] Other seeds fell among thorns that shot up and choked out the tender blades.
[8] But some seeds fell on fertile soil and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted.
[9] Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand!"

Matthew 13:18-23 "Now here is the explanation of the story I told about the farmer sowing grain:
[19] The seed that fell on the hard path represents those who hear the Good News about the Kingdom and don't understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches the seed away from their hearts.
[20] The rocky soil represents those who hear the message and receive it with joy.
[21] But like young plants in such soil, their roots don't go very deep. At first they get along fine, but they wilt as soon as they have problems or are persecuted because they believe the word.
[22] The thorny ground represents those who hear and accept the Good News, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares of this life and the lure of wealth, so no crop is produced.
[23] The good soil represents the hearts of those who truly accept God's message and produce a huge harvest—thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted."

So yesterday I get a call from one of the guys in my youth group. He asks for prayer because he just did something very few young people will do. He has been active in a certain organization that is about helping people. This is a volunteer effort and he does as much as he can for the cause. Well turns out that one of the guys in the organization is a little miffed because the member of my youth group has missed some meetings because of.........church. Yep, the guy is miffed because the guy from my youth group chose church over the meetings of the volunteer group. The meetings just happen to fall on the night of youth group. The extra meetings over and above the regular meetings were being held on Sunday. You know, the Sabbath, the day we worship God. Well the guy that was miffed pretty much told my guy that it was church or the organization so my guy said that if that were the case he would be in church. THAT'S SO AWESOME!!! This young person stood up for Christ and in the face of losing something he so desired, he stayed firm in his beliefs and chose Christ. So what kind of soil would you say he was planted in. Sounds like good soil to me! Are you planted in good soil able to produce an abundance of fruit? Or are you like the the seed planty in the rocky soil (verse 20), as soon as you are persecuted (as my friend was) do you become like Peter did and deny Christ. To deny Him is to not know Him. To the church of Laodicea Jesus says this,"Rev. 3:15-16 "I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other!
[16] But since you are like lukewarm water, I will spit you out of my mouth!

We need to be hot for Jesus and not lukewarm, like the rocky soil, because Jesus is pretty clear what He will do with us. What kind of soil are you planted in?