Silence
1. Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence
2. Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace. Exhale your worries.Praise and Thanksgiving
1. Think through your day, all the times that made you smile
2. Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people3. Open your heart to praise the Lord
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may exult in you.
Psalm 5:11
Confession and repentance
1. Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in you:
“Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
“Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
2. Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:
"Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gift to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."
"Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gift to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."
The Word
“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you."
Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage of scripture we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"
My Listening
This passage is about a new standard of our everyday living. Before you started following Jesus as your Lord and Savior, it would be no surprise if you were one of those people who liked to judge other people. We tend to play God's role to judge, just as other people often tend to judge us. I have seen too many broken relationships in families, churches, and communities because of judgment. It is quite sad.
When we live in a new way of being, we will become more and more like those people whom Jesus described in the Beatitudes; as a result, we start to do those three standard obligations God commanded the Jews to do: giving, praying and fasting.
Then, God's new standard will come naturally. This means we won't judge people, because to do so would be to take up God's role. He alone judges the intent of everyone's heart and actions. We cannot use our own standards, or our own way of measurement, to look down upon others while thinking that we have the best solution. How many times have you thought that somebody was wrong and you were right? As you are reading this, you may already think of a situation in which you think you are obviously in the right. That's simply a part of our humanity. We need God's perspective. And, we need to trust that he alone is the judge, not us.
Verse 6 is not easy to understand. Dogs and pigs were how the Jews described the gentiles.
Jesus seems to be warning his followers not to try to explain the meaning and life of the kingdom to people who won't even understand the Jewish world within which it makes sense...
The early mission of the gospel is to Jews only. After the crucifixion and resurrection, of course, everything is different; the gospel must then go out to embrace the world. For the moment, the disciples are to treasure the gospel like priests in the Temple guarding their holy things.
N.T. Wright. Matthew for Everyone, Part 1. Louisville,KY:Westminster John Knox Press, 2004, p.70-71.
So, our new standard should be:1. Don't play God's role to judge other people2. You need to know your role. Don't do things not in your role and not in God's time.
Dear Lord Jesus,
Lead us to live out this new standard so that we won't usurp your role. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Lead us to live out this new standard so that we won't usurp your role. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Reflect on these questions:
1. Do you tend to judge other people? Think of the last time you judged someone, whether it was their taste in fashion and electronics, or in their actions at work/home. Why did you make that judgment?
2. “We play God’s role when we like to judge other people”. What do you think about this message?
Family Corner:1. Has there been any explicit or implicit judgment in your family that has been hurtful?
2. How can you respond in Jesus' way when there is judgment and hurt in your family? Does today's devotion shed any light on that?
2. How can you respond in Jesus' way when there is judgment and hurt in your family? Does today's devotion shed any light on that?