Man in the Image of God
Man was made in the image of God, God was not made in the image of man. Many “Christians” demand that God must be the way their human minds imagine based on our own cultural understanding. They end up worshiping a God who has never existed and never will. God DOES bring judgement. Jesus brought judgment. He did not judge repentant sinners but he judged those who sinned but argued as proponents for their sin. There are many Pharisees in the church but there are also many Pharisees preaching humanistic ethics as a new religion, claiming that if God exists he must be on their side. The common thread in Pharisees, the only people who Jesus adamantly opposed, rebuked, and judged openly, is that they are unapologetic and refuse to repent, always justifying their own beliefs. We all start out blind, only Jesus can open our eyes. If you refuse to let him, then you are no doubt establishing yourself among the Pharisees who took him to the cross and traded the king of heaven for their own values and cultural beliefs and norms.
John ch 9
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.
Isaiah 30:15
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.
Jesus’ Armor is Different than Ours
Christians; Suit Up!! Ephesians chapter 6 teaches the armor of God. A Christian is to wear a belt of truth which covers our private parts and keeps us mobile and agile, a breastplate of righteousness to guard our heart, shoes which carry the gospel of peace, a shield of faith to extinguish doubt and distress as influenced by the evil one, the helmet of salvation to assure our minds and assure the enemy that we are commissioned in the army of God, and the sword of the spirit.……which is the Word of God, all scripture, every word, is our offensive strength, our precision blade and crushing claymore.
There are other garments which we do not wear though, garments reserved for Jesus Himself. Isaiah 59 refers to garments worn by the LORD at the time of his judgement. Jesus also wears the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness, and He IS the Word (Logos) of Truth. But Jesus, the the time of the second coming, wears “garments of vengeance” for clothing and he wears a mantle wrapped around him (like a shaw but denotes position) of Zeal.
Romans 12:19 says Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, “vengeance is mine, I will repay,” saith the Lord.
As Christians when we try to exact vengeance ourselves we take the clothes off of Jesus’ back and assume a role that we are not made for not are we prepared for. When we are zealous for vengeance we are essentially serving a partially naked, exposed Jesus because we make him that way.
Revelation 3:19 says Christians should be zealous for repentance, Titus 2:14 says we are to be zealous for good deeds, and Romans 12 says we are to be zealous for our service to the Lord, but never for vengeance.
A zeal for vengeance and judgement is only properly wielded by a loving, patient, and omnipotent God who sees the hearts of man and judges righteously.
Don’t serve a naked savior.
Do not seek revenge or be excited to see people judged, but seek out good works, repentance, and service to our Great and Mighty King.
Self-Perception and Effectiveness
An accurate self-perception is critical to successful relationships both professionally and personally. It is particularly important if we are building an empire around an ideal self. If we are deceived in our own understanding of ourselves, the people around us suffer, especially those who truly love us. For example, If we live life assured that we are financially savvy and are not, we will lose everything. The worst part of this deception is that if we refuse to accept …that we aren’t really what we think we are, then not only are we broke but we do not learn and will continue to make the same mistakes. If I perceive myself as a great musician while reality is that I struggle then not only will I continually embarrass myself but I will lack a desire to practice, I may not seek out training, and I will ignore the opportunities to grow in my passion that might one day allow me to achieve my dreams.
Find your identity in Christ. Seek out wisdom from outward sources and develop an honest and accurate self perception that allows you to grow beyond your flaws. Tame your tongue, guard your heart, be excellent at what is good, be innocent of evil, do not be deceived, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind by daily diving into the Word of God.
Finally, guard your character. When one looses trust, it can be regained. When one makes mistakes, they can be forgiven. But when one exposes real character flaws then that person’s entire purpose and being is undermined and can never be repaired to its prior heights. Guard your character, hold your tongue often, and strive to be blameless among men.
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. Proverbs 3:7
When we do what is right in by our own judgement.
When we look at our country and politics, the media, the Church, and especially Facebook, our stomachs can just get all knotted up. Why is everything so out of control? People who value kindness and are genuinely nice people argue almost violently against each other over political issues and worthy causes. The answer to this condition can be found in the book of Judges. In our society we commend people for doing what is right in their own eyes. People get an “A for effort” and even the Church would support people doing what is right in their own eyes, especially when people are working for charity or good will. The problem is that when the book of Judges says that there was no king and the people did what was right in their own eyes this was God calling them out for their sin. The LORD was to be their King and yet they ignored the Laws of right and wrong and did whatever seemed good to themselves. This is how we have Christians who can say they are pro-choice and can replace the gospel message with a message of social justice and humanitarianism. When your desire for inclusion and tolerance exceeds your desire to align yourself with your creator God and His laws for His children then you have fallen into sin and regardless of your action or lack of actions, God judges your heart and motives. The lack of enforcement of laws that are meant to protect reflect man’s demand to do what is right in his or her own eyes rather than follow God’s plan.
Let the churning of your stomach, your anger at our society, become a righteous anger aligned with the Word of God and move accordingly. There are many social issues that are clearly directed by scripture…..the sinful and condemning nature of homosexuality, the sacrifice of the unborn to the god of convenience and fear, the insubordination to leadership (good and bad….scripture even tells us to do right by our bad leaders and employers). Feminism that would cause gender confusion and role reversal from the intent of God in His Word is sin and much of the Church is caught up in it.
Where sin abounds grace much more abounds…..but scripture is clear that we have to reach a place of honest repentance and submission to God before we are recipients of that grace.
Proverbs 21:2 says All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD evaluates the motives.
Let us align ourselves with the Word of God which teaches us right and wrong no matter what age or culture we find ourselves in.
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Camp of the Bride 