For Thought and Meditation - Thursday, March 16

[Pine Baron]

Good morning all. One of my struggles is resisting a "hardened heart". Have a safe and blessed day

The Master Will Judge
By Oswald Chambers

We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ… —2 Corinthians 5:10

Paul says that we must all, preachers and other people alike, “appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” But if you will learn here and now to live under the scrutiny of Christ’s pure light, your final judgment will bring you only delight in seeing the work God has done in you. Live constantly reminding yourself of the judgment seat of Christ, and walk in the knowledge of the holiness He has given you. Tolerating a wrong attitude toward another person causes you to follow the spirit of the devil, no matter how saintly you are. One carnal judgment of another person only serves the purposes of hell in you. Bring it immediately into the light and confess, “Oh, Lord, I have been guilty there.” If you don’t, your heart will become hardened through and through. One of the penalties of sin is our acceptance of it. It is not only God who punishes for sin, but sin establishes itself in the sinner and takes its toll. No struggling or praying will enable you to stop doing certain things, and the penalty of sin is that you gradually get used to it, until you finally come to the place where you no longer even realize that it is sin. No power, except the power that comes from being filled with the Holy Spirit, can change or prevent the inherent consequences of sin.

“If we walk in the light as He is in the light…” (1 John 1:7). For many of us, walking in the light means walking according to the standard we have set up for another person. The deadliest attitude of the Pharisees that we exhibit today is not hypocrisy but that which comes from unconsciously living a lie.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

When a man’s heart is right with God the mysterious utterances of the Bible are spirit and life to him. Spiritual truth is discernible only to a pure heart, not to a keen intellect. It is not a question of profundity of intellect, but of purity of heart. Bringing Sons Unto Glory, 231 L

[dverna]

This "judgement" thing is puzzling.

All you need to do to gain eternal life is to accept Jesus as your Savior. It is that simple. Your sins, regardless of how heinous, are paid in full by the blood of Jesus on the cross. He bears the guilt that should be on our "account". Is this true or not?

If it is true, then what "judgement" is there? Do some get to clean the lavatories in heaven while others spend eternity in the heavenly penthouse?

I am not trying to be flippant even though it may across that way. IMO this "judgment" mantra is used by religious leaders to brow beat their congregations. It seems a tactic to make people feel guilty and coerce folks to give more money to the church or to serve the needs of the church. Deeds are not the path to heaven. Even living a "good" life is not a path to heaven as we can never live a life without sin.

What is God judging? It certainly is not the number of "good" things we did relative to the number of "bad" things. If that was His criteria, He would not have sent His Son to die on the cross and tell us that the only way to the Father was through Jesus.

[Wayne Smith]

I have perhaps a unique perspective on this. We know, from brain research, that specific memories can be relived simply by stimulating one cell. This suggests that our brain has recorded all of our experiences. We read in Revelation that Christ will 'wipe away every tear' of the redeemed at the last judgment. This clearly states that there will be tears.

What if part of the process of this last judgment is to create a life review from the memories in each of our brains at that time? I know I would have a lot of regrets. I'm wondering if this is a final clearing of those memories, forgiven, but still hanging around in our brains?

I know my brain is not fit for heaven as it is. I also know God can take care of that issue.

[dverna]

I have perhaps a unique perspective on this. We know, from brain research, that specific memories can be relived simply by stimulating one cell. This suggests that our brain has recorded all of our experiences. We read in Revelation that Christ will 'wipe away every tear' of the redeemed at the last judgment. This clearly states that there will be tears.

What if part of the process of this last judgment is to create a life review from the memories in each of our brains at that time? I know I would have a lot of regrets. I'm wondering if this is a final clearing of those memories, forgiven, but still hanging around in our brains?

I know my brain is not fit for heaven as it is. I also know God can take care of that issue.

An interesting perspective. When we face the Lord, we actually judge ourselves and realize how truly unworthy we are, and the magnitude of His grace.


Something to ponder...

[USMC87]

Amen, I am forgiven forever!