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It’s one of the most abused and misused statements and deflections…

“You can’t judge me!”

“Judge much?”

“Only God can judge me!”

Identifying what the bible says is sin isn’t judging. To identify something is to recognize and name it.

Recognizing and naming sin is NOT judging. It’s our responsibility as disciples to hold one another accountable and to let ‘sinners’ (we are all sinners saved by grace) that they are falling short of God’s standards.

John 7:24 (NKJV)

²⁴ Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

Ephesians 5:11 (NKJV)

¹¹ And have ^(A)no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather ^[a]expose them.

Disagreeing with a sinful lifestyle is not a phobia. For example, if I have a child that uses marijuana for recreational use, and disagree with their regular use of it, that doesn’t mean that I hate them or make me afraid of them. I’m not a ‘marijuana-phobe’. WHEN YOU’RE FALSELY ‘DIAGNOSED’ WITH HOMOPHOBIA…

However, assuming that you know what is inside someone else’s heart…

Assuming that you know their motives…

Or pronouncing condemnation on them…

Are all examples of judging.

Saying that the cup in the picture above is green is not judging it. But, assuming there is coffee inside of it is. Assuming it can only be used for coffee is. The fact is that it may prefer being called a mug.

“YOU’RE JUDGING ME!”… is often the response to an assumption or a conclusion based on someone’s established behavior, character and that’s not judging, that’s their fruit.

Matthew 7:20 (NKJV)

²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

Most of us get angry at those we love the most…it’s just a part of relationships. All children, both small and adult children, get angry at their parents at some point and time…it’s just a part of the relationship.

Most of us who believe in God also claim to love Him and be in relationship with Him…We are His children.

Soooo, it’s doesn’t seem outside of reason to assume that those of us who are in relationship with God, have gotten angry with him at sometimes or another…if we are willing to admit it.

God’s children get angry at their Heavenly Father.

Have you gotten angry at God because…

You thought He ignored your prayer…

You thought He said no…

You thought He was being unfair to you…

You thought He should have intervened…

You thought He was being too harsh…

You thought He favored someone who didn’t deserve it…

You thought those who are evil continue to win…

You thought…

Well, I could go over possible reasons all day, but you know why you were angry with Him…if you’re willing to admit it.

King David, a man after God’s own heart became angry with God. As he was having the Ark of the Covenant (which represented God’s presence) brought back, the oxen pulling the cart stumbled and as Uzza reached out to hold the ark steady, God became angry at him for touching it, (because no one was to touch the ark), and struck him dead. This made David angry and afraid of God…

1 Chronicles 13:10 (NKJV)

 ¹⁰ Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzza, and He struck him because he put his hand to the ark; and he died there before God. 

Throughout the book of Psalms, there are hints of frustration with God…

Psalm 13:1 (NKJV)

“How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?”

Psalm 77:3 (NKJV)

“I remembered God, and was troubled;
I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed.”

Psalm 94:3 (NKJV)

“How long will the wicked, Lord, how long will the wicked continue to triumph.”

Habukkuk cries out…

Habakkuk 1:2 (NKJV)

O Lord, how long shall I cry,

And You will not hear?
Even cry out to You, “Violence!”
And You will not save.
³ Why do You show me iniquity,
And cause me to see trouble?
For plundering and violence are before me;
There is strife, and contention arises.
⁴ Therefore the law is powerless,
And justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.

Jeremiah laments…

Jeremiah 12:1-4 (NKJV)

Righteous are You, O Lord, when I plead with You;

Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?
² You have planted them, yes, they have taken root;
They grow, yes, they bear fruit.
You are near in their mouth
But far from their mind.

³ But You, O Lord, know me;
You have seen me,
And You have tested my heart toward You.
Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
And prepare them for the day of slaughter.
⁴ How long will the land mourn,
And the herbs of every field wither?
The beasts and birds are consumed,
For the wickedness of those who dwell there,
Because they said, “He will not see our final end.”

Jeremiah even cursed the day he was born…

Jeremiah 20: 14 (KNJV)

Cursed be the day in which I was born! Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me.

Remember this…Men and women of God are merely, MEN and WOMEN of God. Only human.

God remembers that we are only human…

Psalm 103:14 (NKJV)

¹⁴ For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.

 Psalm 78:39  (NKJV)

³⁹ For He remembered that they were but flesh,
A breath that passes away and does not come again.

 Matthew 26:41 (NKJV)

⁴¹ Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Even Jesus, Yeshua, Himself cried out…

Matthew 27:46 (NKJV)

⁴⁶ And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

God allows us to have human moments, but He expects us to ‘come to ourselves’, trust Him and honor Him. He allows us the opportunity to express our humanity in reverence and respect.

When you read the bible, after these men and women of God were angry…after they lamented…after their frustration….THEY TRUSTED GOD!

In the midst of their ‘complaint’ was PRAISE. Each of the Psalms mentioned above ended in PRAISE for God.

Jeremiah 20: 11-13 (NKJV)

But the Lord is with me as a mighty, awesome One.

Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail.
They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper.
Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten.
¹² But, O Lord of hosts,
You who test the righteous,
And see the mind and heart,
Let me see Your vengeance on them;
For I have pleaded my cause before You.

¹³ Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!
For He has delivered the life of the poor
From the hand of evildoers.

They praised God in their pain to activate their faith….They continued to press in to the purpose that God had for their lives.

Anger is one of the ways we were created in God’s image. God becomes angry sometimes, but His anger doesn’t last.

It’s human and natural to become angry at God and doubt, but He told us…

1 John 4:4 (NKJV)

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

…So it’s superhuman and spiritual to overcome our anger and trust Him.

God knows we will have PITY PARTIES, but He expects us to turn them into PRAISE PARTIES.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

John 12:27 (NKJV)
“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But FOR THIS PURPOSE I came to this hour.

There is nothing more powerful than a person who is certain of his or her purpose, and relentlessly working towards it. But, I hear so many people say,

“I don’t know my purpose!

or ask,

“How do I know I’m walking in my purpose?”

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 It is clear that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ knew His purpose. How else could His human side endure the humiliation, shame and pain of the cross. Every word He spoke, every miracle He performed…led to the cross.

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John the Baptist’s declaration that, “He must increase and I must decrease” in John 3:30 implies that he knew his purpose as well. Of course we were all created to glorify God our creator (Isaiah 43:7), if you are a parent, it is God’s will that you be a good parent and bring up your children in the Lord (Ephesians 6:4).

But, what about the thing(s) we were born to do that no one else can do?

How can we discover that?

Here’s a simple way to help you find out your purpose(s) that God has for your life. I call it the BEBLESSTIFIED.COM THREE P’S of PURPOSE. 

Your Position
Your Passion
Your Pain

YOUR POSITION
This us exactly what it implies. Jesus was born a Jew, and His purpose was to save Israel first then the world from their sins. Acts13:36 states, “For David, after he served his own generation by the will of God fell asleep…”. It is no coincidence that you were born into your specific time, family, socio-economic status, race, culture etc. It was no coincidence that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born into his particular family in the south in 1929 to set him up for his purpose in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Yes he was a husband and father, but his purpose went beyond that. Somewhere in your position, you find your purpose.

YOUR PASSION
In Matthew 25, the Parable of the Talents, Jesus explains how He gives us all talents and has expectations of each of us according to our ability. What are you good at naturally and effortlessly. What do you have an aptitude for? What do you enjoy and get satisfaction out of most? What cause tugs on your heart more than any other? This is the key to your gift and more than likely your calling. Are your using your natural abilities only for your self…Your profession or vocation…Or, to help promote the Kingdom of God?

YOUR PAIN
Philippians 1:29 reminds us that it has been granted to us to not only to believe in Jesus, but to also suffer for Him. It isn’t fair that Jesus suffer and die for our sins and we have a convenient care-free life. We are to share in His sufferings so we can share in His glory as stated in Romans 8:17. We all have situations, storms, circumstances and assignments that we didn’t ask for. You will notice that very few, if any people in the bible who were used by God signed up for their task. You may have been: betrayed by a loved one, had your heart-broken, had a family member murdered, had your parents die while you were young, lost everything, been accused or imprisoned for something you didn’t do…the list can go on and on. But just as Abraham being told to leave his country and go to a place that God will show him, Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers, Hosea being told to marry a prostitute, or Joseph being told to marry a woman who was already pregnant by the Holy Spirit…your unsolicited pain, storms, trials, sicknesses, disabilities and circumstances sometimes hold the keys to your purpose in God.

So, look at your life from the beginning until now. Look at your POSITION…your PASSION…and yes your PAIN, and find YOUR PURPOSE.

BE BLESSTIFIED!!!