{"id":6861,"date":"2019-12-27T20:00:29","date_gmt":"2019-12-28T03:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=6861"},"modified":"2019-12-22T16:33:49","modified_gmt":"2019-12-22T23:33:49","slug":"james4_11-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/james4_11-17\/","title":{"rendered":"Let God Be the Judge of That"},"content":{"rendered":"

James 4:11-17 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is James 4:11-17.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

James 4:11 (ESV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Do 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 11:\u00a0\u00a0How is it that when I bad mouth someone and judge them I am bad mouthing God\u2019s law and judging it?\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s because when I bad mouth or judge another person, I am acting not in accordance with God\u2019s law which tells me to not slander my neighbour and to love my neighbour as myself; rather I am acting in accordance with my own made up law which says, \u201cJB is the judge and jury\u201d.\u00a0 \u00a0When I bad mouth another person and break God\u2019s law to not slander others,\u00a0I send the message that God\u2019s law at least in this case is not worth following and that instead I should follow my own law.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So by railing and ranting against people who we think have disobeyed God\u2019s law, ironically and hypocritically we break God\u2019s law ourselves and speak evil of the very law we think we\u2019re holding other people accountable to.<\/p>\n

James\u00a04:12\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you–who are you to judge your neighbor?<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 12:\u00a0 What does it mean to judge someone?\u00a0\u00a0To judge someone means to give the final verdict on that person\u2019s life.\u00a0\u00a0God alone is qualified to act as judge.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0When God judges, his judgments are true and justified (Revelation 16:7).\u00a0 In contrast, when we judge others, it often comes in the form of mercilessly condemning others, railing against their perceived sins and failures while being blind to our own weaknesses and flaws.\u00a0 When we judge others, we end up attacking their character without fully understanding who they are and without much humility, love, or compassion. \u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s why Jesus says,\u00a0“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”\u00a0(Luke6:37) For even Jesus \u201cdid not come to judge the world, but to save it\u201d (John\u00a012:47).<\/p>\n

So what\u00a0should you do if you see a brother or sister not living in accordance with God\u2019s Word?<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Should you just turn a blind eye?\u00a0\u00a0Should you not voice any opinion at all when a fellow Christian keeps disobeying God’s command?\u00a0\u00a0Were Paul, James, and even Jesus being hypocrites when they would voice a negative assessment about someone else\u2019s character or behaviour?\u00a0\u00a0No.\u00a0\u00a0When we see a brother or sister living in a way that is contrary to God\u2019s Word, we can and should be concerned.\u00a0\u00a0We are even commanded to rebuke that person if we have all our facts straight and we\u2019re in the right place in their life to do so.\u00a0\u00a0However, in voicing that concern or that negative opinion, we must always do so gently with an attitude of humility, compassion and love.\u00a0 Let our goal always be to restore and protect, not to reject and attack.\u00a0 Remember that God alone is judge, that we don\u2019t see the full picture and that all of us have our own issues and flaws to deal with.<\/p>\n

James 4:13-16 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now listen, you who say, “Today or\u00a0tomorrow\u00a0we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Why, you do not even know what will happen\u00a0tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 13-16:\u00a0\u00a0What kind of evil boasting is James warning us against?\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s when I make plans for my future without asking what God wants (v15).\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s when I assume that I have my whole life figured out and that I don\u2019t need God\u2019s help (v13).\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s when I take for granted the time that I have on earth and do not appreciate that life is short and to be treasured (v14).\u00a0\u00a0When I act in any of these ways, I am boasting in the prideful and evil way James is warning against.\u00a0\u00a0Instead of being evil boasters,\u00a0may we be those who seek God\u2019s will before we plan our future, and who appreciate every day as if it is our last.<\/strong><\/p>\n

James\u00a04:17\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 17:\u00a0\u00a0This verse is a sobering reminder that\u00a0I sin not only when I go out of our way to do wrong things.\u00a0\u00a0I also sin every time I don\u2019t go out of my way to do the good that I know I ought to do.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are sins of commission and sins of omission.\u00a0\u00a0Even if on a given day you think you didn\u2019t do anything particularly immoral, you can sin just by not doing the moral things that you know you ought to do.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s why we all need a Saviour.\u00a0\u00a0Every moment of my life, I would be disobeying God and incurring His wrath were it not for the blood of Jesus that constantly covers my life.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, I pray that I would let You be the judge while I just focus on loving people.\u00a0\u00a0I pray that I would not be an arrogant boaster who plans his life without consulting You. And thank You that Your mercy, like a constant rain, falls on my life, continually cleansing me of all the wrong I have done and all the right I didn\u2019t do.\u00a0\u00a0You are the only One worthy to be the judge, and yet no one shows mercy like You.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is James 4:11-17.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

James 4:11 (ESV)\u00a0
\n11\u00a0\u00a0Do 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.<\/p>\n

On verse 11:\u00a0\u00a0How is it that when I bad mouth someone and judge them I am bad mouthing God\u2019s law and judging it?\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s because when I bad mouth or judge another person, I am acting not in accordance with God\u2019s law which tells me to not slander my neighbour and to love my neighbour as myself; rather I am acting in accordance with my own made up law which says, \u201cJB is the judge and jury\u201d.\u00a0 \u00a0When I bad mouth another person and break God\u2019s law to not slander others,\u00a0I send the message that God\u2019s law at least in this case is not worth following and that instead I should follow my own law.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So by railing and ranting against people who we think have disobeyed God\u2019s law, ironically and hypocritically we break God\u2019s law ourselves and speak evil of the very law we think we\u2019re holding other people accountable to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6862,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6861"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6863,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6861\/revisions\/6863"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}