We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ… II CORINTHIANS 5:10
On this beautiful spring morning here in Ohio, how about considering a Spiritual Spring Tune-up , or perhaps, even a Spiritual Spring Housecleaning? You know, just for greater efficiency, clarity, focus, restoration, and absolutely NO, greater peace and harmony in your camp is not selfish!
I simply must share yet before the Utmost reading a “profoundly secular” quote from the notorious Oscar Wilde that may well ought be another motto for “Life Long Learning Christians” continually seeking the relevancy of the Gospel in our culture. “It is what you read when you don’t have to, that determines what you will be (do) when you can’t help it.” Heard on the 9 PM Sunday night Hallmark movie. Perhaps a combination of errors to inflict truth!
Paul says that we must all, preachers and other people alike, “appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” But if you will learn here and now to live under the scrutiny of Christ’s pure light, your final judgment will bring you only delight in seeing the work God has done in you. Live constantly reminding yourself of the judgment seat of Christ, and walk in the knowledge of the holiness He has given you.
Tolerating a wrong attitude toward another person causes you to follow the spirit of the devil, no matter how saintly you are. One carnal judgment of another person only serves the purposes of hell in you. Bring it immediately into the light and confess, “Oh, Lord, I have been guilty there.” If you don’t, your heart will become hardened through and through.
One of the penalties of sin is our acceptance of it. It is not only God who punishes for sin, but sin establishes itself in the sinner and takes its toll. No struggling or praying will enable you to stop doing certain things, and the penalty of sin is that you gradually get used to it, until you finally come to the place where you no longer even realize that it is sin. No power, except the power that comes from being filled with the Holy Spirit, can change or prevent the inherent consequences of sin.“If we walk in the light as He is in the light…” (I John 1:7).
For many of us, walking in the light means walking according to the standard we have set up for another person. (Ouch, though so true!) The deadliest attitude of the Pharisees that we exhibit today is not hypocrisy but that which comes from unconsciously living a lie.
This reading is so profoundly simple and true. Enjoy getting rid of the cobwebs you’ve accumulated during the chaos and enjoy living in the Son Shine today and always.