07/21/2018
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Stop judging and evaluating
yourself, for this is not your role. Above all, stop comparing yourself
with other people. This produces feelings of pride or inferiority;
sometimes, a mixture of both. I lead each of My children along a path
that is uniquely tailor-made for him or her. Comparing is not only wrong;
it is also meaningless.
Don’t look for affirmation in the wrong places: your own evaluations, or those of other people. The only source of real affirmation is My unconditional Love. Many believers perceive Me as an unpleasable Judge, angrily searching out their faults and failures. Nothing could be farther from the truth! I died for your sins, so that I might clothe you in My garments of salvation.
This is how I see you: radiant in My robe of righteousness. When I discipline you, it is never in anger or disgust; it is to prepare you for face-to-Face fellowship with Me throughout all eternity. Immerse yourself in My loving Presence. Be receptive to My affirmation, which flows continually from the throne of grace.
Do not judge [others self-righteously], and you will not be judged; do not condemn [others when you are guilty and unrepentant], and you will not be condemned [for your hypocrisy]; pardon [others when they truly repent and change], and you will be pardoned [when you truly repent and change].” Luke 6:37
I will rejoice greatly in the Lord,
My soul will exult in my God;
For He has clothed me with garments of salvation,
He has covered me with a robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom puts on a turban,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10
Don’t look for affirmation in the wrong places: your own evaluations, or those of other people. The only source of real affirmation is My unconditional Love. Many believers perceive Me as an unpleasable Judge, angrily searching out their faults and failures. Nothing could be farther from the truth! I died for your sins, so that I might clothe you in My garments of salvation.
This is how I see you: radiant in My robe of righteousness. When I discipline you, it is never in anger or disgust; it is to prepare you for face-to-Face fellowship with Me throughout all eternity. Immerse yourself in My loving Presence. Be receptive to My affirmation, which flows continually from the throne of grace.
Do not judge [others self-righteously], and you will not be judged; do not condemn [others when you are guilty and unrepentant], and you will not be condemned [for your hypocrisy]; pardon [others when they truly repent and change], and you will be pardoned [when you truly repent and change].” Luke 6:37
I will rejoice greatly in the Lord,
My soul will exult in my God;
For He has clothed me with garments of salvation,
He has covered me with a robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom puts on a turban,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so
great a cloud of witnesses [who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s
absolute faithfulness], stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin
which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and
active persistence the race that is set before us,[looking
away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the
Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One
who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal]
set before Him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God [revealing His deity, His authority, and the
completion of His work]. Just consider and meditate on Him who endured from
sinners such bitter hostility against Himself [consider it all in comparison
with your trials], so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not
yet struggled to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and
you have forgotten the divine word of encouragement which is addressed to you
as sons and daughters,
“My
Children, do not make light of the discipline of the Lord,
And do not lose heart and give up when you are corrected by Him;
For the Lord disciplines and corrects those whom He loves,
And He punishes every son whom He receives and welcomes [to His heart].”
And do not lose heart and give up when you are corrected by Him;
For the Lord disciplines and corrects those whom He loves,
And He punishes every son whom He receives and welcomes [to His heart].”
You must submit to [correction for the purpose of]
discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons and daughters; for what son or
daughter is there whom their father does not discipline? Now if you are exempt from correction and
without discipline, in which all [of God’s children] share, then you are
illegitimate children and not sons and daughters [at all]. Moreover, we have
had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we submitted and respected
them [for training us]; shall we not much more willingly submit to the Father
of spirits, and live [by learning from His discipline]? For our earthly fathers disciplined us for only a
short time as seemed best to them; but He disciplines us for our good,
so that we may share His holiness. For the time being no discipline brings joy,
but seems sad and painful; yet to those who have been trained by it,
afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness [right standing with
God and a lifestyle and attitude that seeks conformity to God’s will and
purpose]. So then, strengthen hands that are weak and knees that
tremble. Cut through and make smooth, straight paths for your feet [that
are safe and go in the right direction], so that the leg which is lame
may not be put out of joint, but rather may be healed.
Continually pursue peace with everyone, and the sanctification
without which no one will [ever] see the Lord.See to it that
no one falls short of God’s grace; that no root of resentment springs up and
causes trouble, and by it many are defiled;and
[see to it] that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who sold his own
birthright for a single meal. For you know that later on, when he wanted
[to regain title to] his inheritance of the blessing, he was rejected, for he
found no opportunity for repentance [there was no way to repair what he had
done, no chance to recall the choice he had made], even though he sought for it
with [bitter] tears.For you have not come [as did the Israelites in the
wilderness] to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and
to gloom and darkness and a raging windstorm, and to the blast of a trumpet and
a sound of words [such that] those who heard it begged that nothing more be
said to them. They could not bear the command, “If
even a wild animal touches the mountain, it will be stoned [to death].”In
fact, so terrifying was the sight, that Moses said, “I am filled with fear and trembling.” But you have come to
Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to
myriads of angels [in festive gathering], and to the general assembly and
assembly of the firstborn who are registered [as citizens] in heaven, and to
God, who is Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous (the redeemed in
heaven) who have been made perfect [bringing them to their final glory], and to
Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant [uniting God and man], and to the
sprinkled blood, which speaks [of mercy], a better and nobler and
more gracious message than the blood of Abel [which cried out for
vengeance]. See to it that
you do not refuse [to listen to] Him who is speaking [to you now]. For if those
[sons and daughters of Israel] did not escape when they refused [to listen to]
him who warned them on earth [revealing God’s will], how much less will we escape
if we turn our backs on Him who warns from heaven? His voice shook the
earth [at Mount Sinai] then, but now He has given a promise, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth,
but also the [starry] heaven.”
Now this [expression], “Yet once more,” indicates the removal and final
transformation of all those things which can be shaken—that is, of that which
has been created—so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a
kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, and offer to God
pleasing service and acceptable worship with reverence and awe; for our
God is [indeed] a consuming fire.
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