Christian Book Corner discussion

I'll be posting a weekly devotional here every Saturday. Please feel free to comment with any feedback :)

"Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring light to what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God." -1 Corinthians 4:5

I don't know about you guys but I find this very challenging. It's so natural for me to make assumptions about someone as soon as I see them. I think, as Christians we feel it's our role to strive for justice, and as soon as someone puts a foot out of line, to instantly judge. It seems so backwards that the people who are doing bad things seem to be the ones who come off best. But we forget that Jesus always hung out with people that other people judged. For example their was Matthew the tax collector, the ten lepers, the Samaritan woman by the well. All the murders, terroists and rapists we hear of on the news will one day answer to God. What we say about these people won't make any difference but what God says will so all we can do is pray they repent before that day.

Thanks for posting.
Yes, it is such a fine line to dance around - love and justice. I think we are really supposed to err on the side of love. I have struggled with that myself.

I think we all have! :)

"The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm" -Exodus 14:14

Easier said than done, right? I mean you have that piece of homework that's due in tomorrow that you haven't evn looked at, you've got to deal with family dramas, bills to pay, plus you're trying to find time to spend with God. Not to mention the fact that whenever you try to reach people for Christ all you get in return is a puzzled expression. I mean, how's it possible to stay calm in a world that's full of stressful situations? Well the Israelites found themselves in a pretty stressful situation in Exodus 14. The Egyptians were hot on their tails and there was no where else to go. I doubt any of us have ever been in a situation that stressful. Yet as soon as the Israelites calmed down the Lord rescued them just i the nick of time. Talk about tense! Sometime we look at our lives and feel the only option is to freak out but it's usually when we trust God that he does something marvelous! If you're still not convinced check out Matthew 14:29-31.

I love that Isobel! Thank you!

You're welcome! :)

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will." -Romans 12:2

God has called us to be living sacrifices, that means we are to daily give our life to him. But how excactly can we be living sacrifices? Well it says that we must reject the world's pattern and embrace God's pattern. but renewing our minds is easier said than done, so how do we do that? We must recognise what God has done in us and that all our abilities are God given. As brothers and sisters in Christ we must realise that we are all dependant on each other and all empowered by grace. We all have an individual responsibility that we need to recognise, as pointed out in verse 8 of Romans 12. Renewing our minds requires us to look at motivations for doing things. We should be motivated by love, honour, enthusiasm, joy, and paitience.