Day 181: Judged

1 Corinthians 4; 1 Kings 17; Amos 1

Wow, what powerful words from Paul: "And since our first duty is to be faithful to the one we work for, it doesn't matter to me if I am judged by you or even by a court of law...So don't judge anyone until The Lord returns. He will show what is hidden in the dark and what is in everyone's heart. Then God will be the one who praises each of us." This shows a lot about what our purpose is, how we should see others, and why we live for The Lord. It shouldn't matter what kind of commentary gets said about us, how we feel about what others are doing, and we definitely should not be seeking approval from anywhere else except our Lord. I know that I spend way more time than I ought, worrying about what others think of me and my faith, as well as concerning myself with their own spiritual walk and beliefs. That's not my job. My job is to give God glory in everything I do by making my life devoted to the message of Jesus Christ. The rest of it, my God, The Lord of the Universe will take care of in his time.

Paul says "God's kingdom isn't just a lot of words. It is power." I think sometimes people, even believers, act like victims. When people say mean things to us and about us, we whine about feeling hurt; when people face persecution, they want to give up; and when life gets hard, we start to complain. We are not saved so that we can have an easy life. We are saved so that God's Holy Spirit, the power of The Lord, can live in our hearts and we can share the message of Jesus with hope and without fear. We don't become followers of Christ because the story sounds good. People follow Jesus because of the power that is displayed in his love, his death, and his resurrection.

The more I read scripture, the more I realize that The Lord loves to provide for his people. Elijah was told to go across this river and hide there. God would provide food through ravens that he commanded. Then the widow has absolutely nothing left and believes that she will starve, and God takes the little she has and multiplies it for as long as she needs it. Then her son keeps getting sicker and sicker until he dies, but God brings him back to life. God wants to work miracles in our lives. He wanted Elijah's trust so that he could do this miraculous thing with the crow-food-service. He had Elijah show up on this widow's doorstep when she had nothing left, so that when she didn't run out, it could be attributed to God's miracle. The boy died, so that when he was raised to life, it would be clear that God worked a miracle. When Elijah and the widow had nothing, God provided. Sometimes when it feels like we have nothing left, that means we are ripe to have to rely on God to work a miracle, and I truly believe he wants to.

In Amos, he gives some terrible news to several nations. God is going to destroy them for the terrible things they've done. People have been hurt, sold as slaves, and pregnant women and their babies destroyed by these nations and God won't stand for it. We have to believe that the same God who judged these groups of people so long ago will also judge the people today who hurt and take advantage of others for their own gain. God is a just God. We have to believe that as much as we want to believe he is loving.