Judge not!!!

"Judging a person does not define who they are, but defines who you are"

I was shocked, confused, bewildered

As I entered Heaven’s door,

Not by the beauty of it all, 

Nor the lights or its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven 

Who made me sputter and gasp– 

The thieves, the liars, the sinners, 

The alcoholics and the trash. 

 There stood the kid from seventh grade 

 Who swiped my lunch money twice. 

 Next to him was my old neighbor 

 Who never said anything nice. 

            

 Bob, who I always thought 

 Was rotting away in hell, 

 Was sitting pretty on cloud nine, 

 Looking incredibly well. 

I nudged Jesus, ‘What’s the deal? 

I would love to hear Your take. 

How’d all these sinners get up here? 

God must’ve made a mistake. 

‘And why is everyone so quiet, 

 So somber – give me a clue.’

 ‘Hush, child,’ He said, ‘they’re all in shock. 

 No one thought they’d be seeing you.’  

Lesson learnt : JUDGE NOT!! This poem reminded me that it is God's job to judge others and not us. And, that no one except God is good and perfect.

Remember.....Just going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car. 

Every saint has a PAST

Every sinner has a FUTURE!

"Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?"

 – James 4:11-12 (Bible)

Source : Click here

Don't know the author's intention of this poem. But, whatever it was it taught me a great deal about God :) 

While reading this poem, it greatly reminded me the kind of people whom God chooses. It is completely different to the world's definition of morality. 

This poem doesn't seem to contradict on what the Bible says.

Throughout history as written in the Bible, if we look at the people God had chosen, for example (list as far as I know)

Moses - murderer

David, Samson, Solomon fell for women.

Peter lied and denied. 

Paul murderer who persecuted Christians.

Pharisees - followed the ten commandments, well-versed with the scriptures.

What does it conclude then?

So, on what basis does God choose people, if not on the basis of morality?

Have we misunderstood God then?

How do we get accepted by God, if not based on morality?

You haven't seen the whole picture

When I saw the little boy playing with his mom, I remembered. The news from Singapore had sent shockwaves across the family - bringing a break in the daily routine. A relative had passed away. This is not uncommon in a big family, so what’s so shocking about this? She was only 29 years old. She had died of a fever caused by a rare virus which had contracted her heart, giving the doctors no time. It took away her life in minutes leaving a 6 year old girl and her 12 months old baby sister, motherless. Yes, motherless. ‘Lord it’s not fair.’ I argued silently as I watched the boy and his mom play. The boy was insisting that water be poured into his hand from his sipper. When his mother did that, he laughed, rubbed and clapped his hands in glee, spreading water all around him. When it was over, he held out his baby hands, all five fingers apart and with an impatient ‘mm’, he told her what to do. His mother was very patient with him. She poured a few more drops into his hands. This went on about 5-6 times. Then he pushed his orange truck towards his mom. ‘Mm’ ’mm’ he conveyed pointing at it and nodded insistently. As I watched this, I was rather amused at first. Then my eyes filled with sudden tears when I remembered the 1 year old who had lost her mother. She needs her mama just as much as this little boy. ‘Lord, why? Why a mother? That too, of a baby and her 6 year old sister! I had to shut my eyes as tears filled them. Ours was a big, loving family. Besides, for all we knew, their father might remarry. But it won’t give them their mother back. Who except a loving mother would be patient enough to pour drops of water on your hands-6, 7, 8 times-for just this reason that it makes you happy? During all this questioning, a still small voice seemed to be saying something. It always becomes clear when I begin to listen to it but if I don’t, it just fades away. ‘You haven’t seen the whole picture.’ It struck me at once. Who are we to question God? We haven’t seen the whole picture. Maybe the plan that God has for this world is like one big drawing. In a drawing of such great magnitude, just looking at a curved line and asking why it isn't straight is senseless. Maybe if people understood this, they wouldn't always want to know why. I still don’t know why all this had to happen. I know one thing - till I see the whole picture, my job is to pray for them, do my best to help and stop asking why. ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways’, says the Lord. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

(Isaiah 55:8, 9)

Author :  Shwetha Muthu

Song that means alot!

HILLSONG UNITED : "From the inside out"

ALBUM : UNITED WE STAND

A thousand times I've failed

Still your mercy remains

And should I stumble again

Still I'm caught in your grace

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

My heart and my soul, I give You control

Consume me from the inside out Lord

Let justice and praise, become my embrace

To love You from the inside out

Your will above all else, my purpose remains

The art of losing myself in bringing you praise

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

My heart, my soul, Lord I give you control

Consume me from the inside out Lord

Let justice and praise become my embrace

To love You from the inside out

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise

From the inside out, O my soul cries out

My Soul cries out to You

My Soul cries out to You

to You, to You

My heart, my soul, Lord I give you control

Consume me from the inside out Lord

Let justice and praise become my embrace

To love You from the inside out

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise

From the inside out, O my soul cries out

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise

From the inside out, O my soul cries out

From the inside out, O my soul cries out

From the inside out, O my soul cries out.

Youtube link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-afZJ9_TIM

Jesus and Religion???

You may wonder if Jesus came to the earth to form a religion!!!

If you ask me, the answer will be a big NO. 

When I realized God ,I didn't feel like being part of a particular religion called Christianity(cos I was already named Christian, born in a so-called Christian family), but I felt like being in a relationship with a God whom I  truly felt existed.

Jefferson Bethke explains this clearly in a video he published on youtube. Take a look at it :)

Where is GOD when people are in pain?

I have always had this thought and would question GOD repeatedly for an answer. That was when I came across this book 'Questions?Answers!' written by Philip Yancey.
 Pain calls our most basic beliefs about God into question. Over and over again I have heard questions brought on by pain :

•  Is God competent?
•  Is he really powerful? 
• Is he fair?
• Why doesn't he seem to care about pain?

The recent Delhi gang rape incident shook the whole of India. The questions asked mostly were , "Where was God when she was suffering?"

Check out this link where a guy answers the question "Where was God?" when many innocent children were shot in Connecticut.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150277475014980&set=vb.266677860049554&type=2&theater

Suffering can be physical or emotional, a pain that most people might have experienced in their lives.
Pain can be because of losing the loved one or feeling guilty, lonely,empty etc.

To start with, I would like to share my experience. If you had read my previous post, you would have known that I didn't believe in a God before. It was at this time, I faced lot of rejections and emptiness. The worst part was, I was not able to love anybody including my parents, whom I thought as my world. I neither felt loved nor was I able to love others. I wanted to cry out aloud but I couldn't because I felt empty inside. I searched for peace and happiness everywhere, including church ,temple, meditation and what not. But , nothing helped :(

I became addicted to pornography when I was in high school, so whenever I felt depressed I would start watching porn or movies for long hours. My laptop became my best friend. I used to stay awake for hours at night and sleep during the day. I was not able to concentrate on my studies. My life was in a complete mess. Nobody understood the suffering I went through , because I acted as the most jovial person, had loads of friends and a good name too. I was hiding behind a mask. I wanted someone to help me from the guilt of sin(pornography), and from the secret dark life I was living. The life I lived was nearly killing me that to escape that I even tried committing suicide. But nothing worked.

It was in a final attempt, when I was about to lose hope on everything I decided to go for an option, which I didn't want to consider at all, and that is searching for the existence of GOD. I found it really difficult to believe in a God who didn't seem to care about my pain or clear the doubts that I had regarding him. But, after a year of struggle I found my FAITH. A faith which nobody can ever shake it away from me. When I turn back now, to reflect on the horrible journey I travelled,  I can see that God has been with me through the struggle and has helped me understand him. I didn't realize it then, but I do now.

I realized that God really loves us, but its we who keep him away from our lives, being too busy to deal with the mess we make in this world. God doesn't force man to do things his way, because he has given us the FREE WILL.

 It took a while to realize what God did for me. It was this and is ready to do it IN YOUR LIFE too :
     
   I saw pornography(and every wrong act of mine) ----------- > Jesus took the blame for all that I did (including pornography and every wrong act of mine)

   I became righteous ------------> Jesus became a sinner

   I was released  ---------------> Jesus got punished on the cross

He took away all my pain, guilt, suffering, rejection in him. He also got punished, and DIED instead of me. The day I realized this, I cried for the first time, after almost three years. I started falling in love with the guy named Jesus who was sinless, who sacrificed his life to give life to me. I felt peace and joy that I have never felt before in my life. I didn't turn away from my bad ways instantly. It took me years, but God was helping me and I felt quite easy to help and love others, which I had found it difficult to do. God was changing my life. I can say, that I am the most happiest person on earth now.

If you have felt pain, rejection or suffering in your life before, I would like to say that God loves you and wants to help you. Just give him the permission to do HIS work in your life  :)

Please feel free to comment :)