Justifying & Condemning

"He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD." - Proverbs 17:15

I have read through the book of Proverbs many times and I never noticed this verse they way I did last night as I was reading before going to bed.  I just want to share a few thoughts on justifying and condemning.

There are a lot of sins that are mentioned in God's Word, there are some that God says He hates, and then there are those that God says are an abomination.  If you look up the definition of the word abomination, here is what you find: 1. anything abominable; anything greatly disliked or abhorred 2. intense aversion or loathing 3. a vile, shameful, or detestable action, condition, habit.  This puts it in perspective how the Lord feels about certain things when He said they are an abomination.

Notice what the Lord says in this verse; He says the person who justifies the wicked is an abomination, but He also says the person that condemns the just is also an abomination.  The Lord Jesus Christ told us in the Gospels that the day would come when this would happen.  He said that people will persecute true Bible believing Christians thinking that they are doing God's will and doing society a favor.  Let's face it, we live in a society where wickedness is exalted and you are condemned for obeying and following God's Word.

However, with all of the above being said, I want to look at this verse in a different light for just a moment.  How many times have you and I been guilty of justifying the sin(s) in our own lives while at the same time we condemn others for the sin(s) in their lives?  Ouch!!!  The Lord laid that thought on my heart as I was reading this verse last night.  Many times we look our own sin as no big deal, or that God is somehow going to make an exception for us, but we condemn others for their sin and act as if God cannot or will not forgive their sin.  Then concerning the last part of the verse, many times we are also guilty of that one too.  How many times have you and I not had our hearts right with God bringing us to the place where we condemn those that are right with God?  If we all are honest, we will admit that we are guilty of this.  We look at the person living right and being obedient to Christ and we mock them or we tear them down because we are justifying our own sin and wickedness.

Lord help us as Your children to NEVER justify sin and wickedness whether it be in our society or in own hearts.  Then, Lord help us to NEVER condemn the just due to our disobedience and to the fact that our own hearts are not right with you.

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, I pray that You will search my heart and reveal ANY wickedness in me.  Help me to NEVER justify my own sin and disobedience to Your Word.  Help me to Never condemn those who are being obedient to You because of the sin and wickedness in my own heart.  In Jesus name, Amen!

Where Is The Church?

"And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also." - Acts 17:6

Over the last several months I have been burdened by a single question, where is the Church?  The Church in the book of Acts is accused of turning the world upside down.  Sadly, the only thing that the Church could be accused of today is selling out.  We are such a far cry from what the Church is supposed to be as read in the book of Acts.

Have you ever heard another church member recalling a story that ended with one of these statements:

"That church split over the color of the carpet!" or "The deacons meeting ended in an actual fight!" or "She walked up and slapped the pastor across the face!" or "She actually flipped the pastor the middle finger in a business meeting!"

You might be thinking that those statements sound extreme and that something like that would never happen.  I can tell you from personal experience that these things do happen.  The last example of someone flipping the pastor the middle finger in a business meeting actually happened to me last year.  Many Christians could share stories with you that defy the imagination.  Let me emphatically say that church is not supposed to be this way!

All you have to do is look around the community that you live in and you will see people that are hurting, people that need someone to love them and care about them, people that need someone to show them Christ.  Where is the Church?  We have gotten so caught up in our theology, our programs, and ourselves that we have quit being the Church!  What will it take to break our hearts for people in our communities?  What happened to  Christians helping their neighbors with a need?  What happened to Christians donating their time to the food bank or homeless shelter?  What happened to Christians just showing a simple act of kindness so that they might show and reflect the love of Christ?  Now please don't misunderstand me, I am not saying that we should do all of these things in place of witnessing and sharing the Gospel of Christ with the lost.  We must do all these things in conjunction with witnessing and sharing the Gospel of Christ with the lost.

May God break our hearts for those in our community!  May God so burden our hearts and our souls that we will start being the Church by showing a radical love and compassion for those in our communities.  I am all for having the right theology and doctrine, but those things are worthless if it doesn't radically change our lives and compel us to show unbelievable compassion to those in our community.

‎"The knowledge that God has loved me to the uttermost, to the end of all my sin and meanness and selfishness and wrong, will send me forth into the world to love in the same way." - Oswald Chambers

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, I pray that You would break my heart for those in my community!  Break my heart for their souls, their needs, and their burdens.  Help my to show them Christ's love in every way imaginable!  Give me a radical love and unbelievable compassion for those that are lost, those that are hurting, and those that just need to see that someone cares.  In Jesus name, Amen!

What Happened To Our Tears?

"Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!" - Jeremiah 9:1



I have a question that I would like to ask churches, pastor, and all Christians.  What happened to our tears?  What happened to our brokenness?  What happened to our burden for the lost and the backslidden?  This is something that I have been burdened and bothered about for a while now.  It seems that our churches and the Christians that occupy them have lost their tears and their brokenness for the world around them.  Compare that in contrast to the words of Jeremiah in the above verse.  He was known as the weeping prophet.  God help us today to be weeping Christians!

If you were to attend the typical midweek prayer service in most churches today you would find much of the prayer time occupied by shallow self-centered prayer requests.  Please don't misunderstand me, I am not trying to be rude or ugly, but rather be completely honest about the state of our churches.  If we are to honestly examine ourselves and what we pray for, it should trouble us.  Most of the time we spend more time praying to keeps saints out of Heaven than we do sinners out of Hell.

What happened to Christians specifically calling the names of people who are lost, on their way to Hell, and desperately need to be saved?  What happened to Christians coming forward to the altar and weeping for lost people to be saved?  I'm afraid that we have become to concerned with upsetting or offending someone by saying that they are lost an headed for Hell without the blood of Christ applied to their hearts and lives.  What happened to Christians weeping and shedding tears for those in the church who have fallen into sin and thus are not right with God?  What happened to us calling out there names, begging God for them to repent of their sin and get their hearts right?  Again, I'm afraid that we are so worried about upsetting or offending them that we keep quiet.

Is it any wonder why we are not seeing people saved like we used to or why we do not see the power of God upon our churches as we did 60 or 70 years ago?  When will we wake up and realize that we must get our tears back?  We must allow Christ to break our hearts for those around us that are hurting, lost, and desperately in need of salvation through Jesus Christ.  Instead of showing anger, hostility, arrogance, or a condescending attitude toward those who are lost, may God completely and totally break our hearts for their souls!  May we be willing to shed some tears and weep over their sin and their need for Christ!

I know that I am at the front of the line when it comes to failing to weep and shed tears over the sins of the lost and their need for Christ.  I pray that God will totally, completely, and utterly break my heart for those that are lost around me!  I pray that God will break the heart of our church for the lost in our community!

Will we allow God to break our hearts for the lost around us?  Are we willing to shed some tears over the lost in our community?  Like Jeremiah, are we willing to weep day and night for others to come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior?

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, forgive me for losing my tears!  Forgive me for my lack of weeping over those that are lost and on their way to Hell without Christ!  Lord, please break my heart for the lost around me and give me a burden and a passion for their souls!  Help me to be willing to weep day and night for those lost in my community to be saved!  In Jesus name, Amen!