How Do We Judge?

 

 

How do we judge?

Notice I said we

For I am also including myself

In this company.

 

The company of believers

That is: the born again

That’s been wonderfully saved

In Jesus’ name.

 

Not the world at large

So, don’t be confused,

Thus, bear in mind my gravity;

I don’t mean to amuse.

 

 

Everybody judges:

Both saved and unsaved,

This is naturally human beings

And how we behave.

 

But the born again

Is where my focus is at,

How do we judge, I ask again,

Can you tell me that?

 

Notice I said judge,

You may say assess

But if you make them synonyms

You’ve flunked the test.

 

We do not assess,

We are jury and judge

And when we give our verdict,

We do not budge.

 

 

 

Clearly the above

Does not spell assess

And what is even more, we judge

According to the flesh.

 

How is it possible, you ask,

Being in the Spirit

But the flesh is still very present

And shows up as a habit.

 

Let us be honest

As we are expected to be,

The flesh wars against the Spirit

Whenever we are angry.

 

None of us is perfect

On account of the flesh

And sometimes we fail miserably

When facing a test.

 

Sometimes in a dispute

We tend to take a side,

As in a friend or family member

Whose guilt we try to hide.

 

 

We jump to conclusions

With little evidence

And often the first side we hear

Determines our bent.

 

Prejudging is prevalent,

One look tells me so,

I can see that he is the guilty one,

Just by looking, I know.

 

She would never do that

But he would for sure,

He’s been in the church for years

But wicked to the core.

 

Most of our judging

Is according to the flesh

Thus, I am guilty and so are you

So, it is here I rest.

 

 

Judge not says the Word

And here’s the reason why:

The flesh will often get in the way

And this we can’t deny.

 

Stewart Russell © October 31, 2024

 

Will I?

 

 

Am I going to make it?

Sometimes I doubt,

There are those who make me feel

I could be left out.

 

They point me to scriptures

That appear to point this out

And I must confess after I read

I still sometimes doubt.

 

God is able, they tell me

And plus, we do have a choice,

We could be obedient to Him

Or ignore His voice.

 

The moment we don’t listen

Could spell disaster for us

And the ravenous wolf

Could snatch us from Jesus.

 

Or, maybe I myself

Could take me out of God’s hand,

At any point I could decide

I am finished with His plan.

 

 

Am I going to make it?

Sometimes I doubt,

There are those who make me feel

I could be left out.

 

But it seems strange to me

That after being rescued

One would abandon his rescuer

To go back to that stew.

 

Picture a drowning person

That is pulled to safety

And dives back into the deluge:

That is insanity.

 

From what are we rescued?

That is the question,

And until we can truly answer it

We will have this problem.

 

Sin is the spiritual terror

From which we are saved

And the transformation that occurs

Dictates how we behave.

 

It is the initial choice we make

When we say yes to Christ

And by faith our born-again miracle

Results from his sacrifice.

 

It can happen only once

Just like in our natural birth,

The second birth is from heaven

The first is of the earth.

 

 

Am I going to make it?

Sometimes I doubt,

There are those who make me feel

I could be left out.

 

But having been born,

That is, having been born of the flesh

I am in this world until I die-

That is, when I am laid to rest.

 

Similarly, having been born again

That is, born of the Spirit,

I am a child of God forever

And in heavenly places I sit.

 

Whenever I am in doubt

I remember who my Father is

And since none can snatch me away

I will always be His.

 

It is very hard to be lost

A very good friend once said

And the friend was referring to someone

That was spiritually dead.

 

The Bible shows it is impossible

To foil God’s redemptive plan

And I know most definitively

None can pluck me from His hand.

 

Stewart Russell © October 9, 2020

By Life Before Lip

 

I listened to my pastor preach

And he was as usual on song,

He had my undivided attention

Though he was a little long.

 

“Preach the word,” he admonished,

“Use words when necessary.”

From that entire message

This will likely remain with me.

I always thought that preaching

Was about the words one use

But in the spreading of God’s love

There is a better way to choose.

Before one utter a single word

One’s life must speak for Christ

It is life before lip you see

And very often life will suffice.

“What we do speak so loudly

That others do not what we say,”

So life before lip is the way to go,

It is a better evangelism way.

Action is the key, my friend,

To attract a prospective convert

And when he queries your modus operandi

Then to words you can revert.

What makes you tick he’ll likely ask

Then to him you can reply,

I am quickened by the life of Jesus

That came for my sins to die.

Because of God’s indwelling Spirit

I now live not after the flesh

But I live by the Holy Spirit

By whom everyday I am refreshed.

The explanation comes by words

But the attraction by the life we live,

So preach the word; use words when necessary

Is good advice that one should give.

Stewart Russell © March 2019