The judicial system in our country was designed to adhere to the laws created by the legislature. Their work demands that a person brought before them is considered innocent until proven guilty without a doubt before a judge and jury of peers. Only then is a verdict of innocence or guilt given. If guilty, a punishment to fit the crime is decided and administered. This is how it supposed to work.
As believers, God has given us a much higher calling as servants, not judges, who seek Him as the one and only judge over our sins. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”… (Romans 3:23; Romans 3:10; Psalm 14:1-3; Psalm 53:1-3. There is no one who is truly good. Only God is Good. God knew exactly what/who we needed to resolve our sin issues once and for all, removing our sins from our record forever. The Plan was Jesus for a world of people who God’s loves.
As the church, we are taught right from wrong. As a practice, unfortunately we have spent too much time and effort in judgement of others’ sins versus the leading people to the Solution for the removal of sins. Jesus taught the pious Pharisees who practiced judgement with payments to them as they sought power over the people of God! He gives us the knowledge and wisdom that we need now;
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”—Jesus, Matthew 7:1-5
What we think, say, and do flows from our hearts. Jesus said that, too! We are too quick to draw attention to the wrongdoings of others while being content with our own cancer of sin they affects our spiritual growth and relationship with our Father, God!
What if God’s love in us looked past the sin to the person in need of a Savior? What if our words came directly from His Holy Spirit living in us—and nothing else? What if Love led Truth? How about responding as Jesus did? A good Jesus filter to follow is this, THINK before saying a word. Ask these questions before our own judgement clouds the issue;
T—Is what I am about to say the whole Truth, not as others tell it, but the truth as God sees it?
H—Is what I am about to say in response going to be Helpful in our walk with God together?
I—Is what I am about to say going to Inspire us to seek God first for His will and purpose?
N—Is my response really Necessary for this person to hear and respond to right now?
K—Are my words going to be delivered with Kindness, full of God’s love and care, for my friend in front of me?
Truth, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, and Kind—Responding more like Jesus would and less like our imperfect selves trying to prove a personal issue.
Real, honest, humbled believers know they are not perfect and never will be while living in an imperfect world where sin runs rampant and seemingly out of control. That’s why God’s Word to us warns us to “guard your hearts” so often. God knew we needed a Savior who removes our sins and cleanses our souls daily. God provides. God knew we needed to His Holy Spirit to lead us to all that is God’s Truth and the best for us with wisdom to desire His will be done in all the details of our lives. God gave us Jesus to be Lord over lives surrendered to Him. God never fails in His promises. God is able. God love is forever and unconditional. All have sinned, yes, but Jesus willingly laid down His life for our sins and paid the debt we all owe but cannot pay. What a glorious moment when we realize that Jesus did for us that we could not do for ourselves.
Zophar seems to be that pious church person who refuses give Job what he needs most—his love, concern, comfort, and encouragement. Instead, he becomes even more hateful with his words of rebuke and judgement of Job’s assumed sins—sins presumed guilty as charged because of Job’s current circumstances. Yikes!
Job 20
Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
2 “My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer
because I am greatly disturbed.
3 I hear a rebuke that dishonors me,
and my understanding inspires me to reply.
4 “Surely you know how it has been from of old,
ever since mankind was placed on the earth,
5 that the mirth of the wicked is brief,
the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.
6 Though the pride of the godless person reaches to the heavens
and his head touches the clouds,
7 he will perish forever, like his own dung;
those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
8 Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found,
banished like a vision of the night.
9 The eye that saw him will not see him again;
his place will look on him no more.
10 His children must make amends to the poor;
his own hands must give back his wealth.
11 The youthful vigor that fills his bones
will lie with him in the dust.
12 “Though evil is sweet in his mouth
and he hides it under his tongue,
13 though he cannot bear to let it go
and lets it linger in his mouth,
14 yet his food will turn sour in his stomach;
it will become the venom of serpents within him.
15 He will spit out the riches he swallowed;
God will make his stomach vomit them up.
16 He will suck the poison of serpents;
the fangs of an adder will kill him.
17 He will not enjoy the streams,
the rivers flowing with honey and cream.
18 What he toiled for he must give back uneaten;
he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.
19 For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute;
he has seized houses he did not build.
20 “Surely he will have no respite from his craving;
he cannot save himself by his treasure.
21 Nothing is left for him to devour;
his prosperity will not endure.
22 In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him;
the full force of misery will come upon him.
23 When he has filled his belly,
God will vent his burning anger against him
and rain down his blows on him.
24 Though he flees from an iron weapon,
a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.
25 He pulls it out of his back,
the gleaming point out of his liver.
Terrors will come over him;
26 total darkness lies in wait for his treasures.
A fire unfanned will consume him
and devour what is left in his tent.
27 The heavens will expose his guilt;
the earth will rise up against him.
28 A flood will carry off his house,
rushing waters on the day of God’s wrath.
29 Such is the fate God allots the wicked,
the heritage appointed for them by God.”
Job 21
Then Job replied:
2 “Listen carefully to my words;
let this be the consolation you give me.
3 Bear with me while I speak,
and after I have spoken, mock on.
4 “Is my complaint directed to a human being?
Why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me and be appalled;
clap your hand over your mouth.
6 When I think about this, I am terrified;
trembling seizes my body.
7 Why do the wicked live on,
growing old and increasing in power?
8 They see their children established around them,
their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their homes are safe and free from fear;
the rod of God is not on them.
10 Their bulls never fail to breed;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
11 They send forth their children as a flock;
their little ones dance about.
12 They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;
they make merry to the sound of the pipe.
13 They spend their years in prosperity
and go down to the grave in peace.
14 Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!
We have no desire to know your ways.
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
What would we gain by praying to him?’
16 But their prosperity is not in their own hands,
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
17 “Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?
How often does calamity come upon them,
the fate God allots in his anger?
18 How often are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff swept away by a gale?
19 It is said, ‘God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’
Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!
20 Let their own eyes see their destruction;
let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what do they care about the families they leave behind
when their allotted months come to an end?
22 “Can anyone teach knowledge to God,
since he judges even the highest?
23 One person dies in full vigor,
completely secure and at ease,
24 well nourished in body,
bones rich with marrow.
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul,
never having enjoyed anything good.
26 Side by side they lie in the dust,
and worms cover them both.
27 “I know full well what you are thinking,
the schemes by which you would wrong me.
28 You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great,
the tents where the wicked lived?’
29 Have you never questioned those who travel?
Have you paid no regard to their accounts—
30 that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,
that they are delivered from the day of wrath?
31 Who denounces their conduct to their face?
Who repays them for what they have done?
32 They are carried to the grave,
and watch is kept over their tombs.
33 The soil in the valley is sweet to them;
everyone follows after them,
and a countless throng goes before them.
34 “So how can you console me with your nonsense?
Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
“Zophar joined Bildad in telling about the fate of the wicked. He assumed Job was a hypocrite.
God may allow one person to live in prosperity and health and another to die unhappy and with a bitter heart. In death, however, both are alike. We can’t guess their character based on their wealth or health.
The key to forgiving others is to quit focusing on what they did to you and start focusing on what God did for you.”—Max Lucado, The Encouraging Word Bible
THINK before we speak, guided by God’s Holy Spirit, filled with God’s love in our hearts, and pray on all occasions in Jesus Name for each other.
Lord,
Help us, pause us quickly from judging, and restore our humbled walk with you as we love mercy and seek justice that comes from you alone. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
In Jesus Name, Amen
Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus) 