In this seventh chapter of Matthew, in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about judging others—or criticizing and condemning others.
Matthew 7:1-5
“Do not judge lest you be judged. 2 “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 “And why do you look at 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,’ and behold, the log is 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.
Just previously (in chapter 6) Jesus spoke on worry. Now He turns to judging others…
I’ve been living in this apartment for over twenty years, and this branch has been hanging in front of my bedroom window for at least half that time—ten years. I’m not superstitious, but it is a mysterious looking branch. When I wake up in the morning it is the first thing I see. And when I go to bed and the moon is bright, it is the last thing I see. Well, here’s a poem—Oh Branch.
The Yellow Salsify or Yellow Goatsbeard may be considered a weed much like the dandelion.
I have been waking up early these days, because of the early light and also because of the heat. This morning I decided, before church, to go for a walk to beat the heat of the day. To my surprise I saw so many of my favorite flower—the Yellow Goatsbeard. They were all over the place—dozens of them. But I didn’t bring my camera. Rats! (the above is an earlier picture)
Here you see just the large pod of the Goatsbeard. It is in the middle of the day so the flowerhas closed up.
After church, though it was hot, I decided to go back to where I had walked earlier to get a few pictures of the Yellow Goatsbeard. But they were gone! I saw some of their pods closed-up, but no flowers…
I recently had a discussion with a young fellow about this subject, and he seemed surprised that I held this view—of a literal thousand-year reign of Christ on earth. I think his church holds the amillennial view. I didn’t have anything well-thought-out to tell him, so this is why I decided to do some work on it. I first got out my hermeneutics text book, which was written by my college professor, Dr. Edwin Hartill. He wrote a chapter entitled The Numerical Principle, which was very helpful as to the meaning of certain numbers. From there I developed a 5-point outline and conclusion, which you will see here in this blog post. I also want to apologize ahead of time for the length of this blog. But I know that if you are at all interested in this subject, it will be valuable to you.
These are large and far-reaching ministries, but I think they are just as important as the others. God wants us to prayer for all people, far as well as near. This is how these prayer ministries may be designed.
They may operate through the following avenues:
Magazines and newspapers. There are a few good Christian magazines and newspapers out there that focus on prayer. I get Herald of His Coming, which is jam packed with articles on prayer and it also provides the reader with about eight or ten News Briefs with prayer requests from various countries. I think newspapers and magazines like this one is an excellent way to recruit prayer ministry members, provide the reader with world-wide prayer requests, and to keep him or her motivated to pray.
A prayer letter. A letter may be mailed to all magazines and newspapers subscribers. Its purpose will be to invite them to be a prayer ministry team member, to inform them of key prayer requests, to interest them in books and materials, and of course to encourage them to pray.
Websites and e-mails. These will also be a valuable means to recruit new members and to pass on prayer information and requests.
Conferences. Not many in a worldwide prayer ministry will be able to attend a conference, but those who do attend will always be blessed and encouraged. I suggest churches and ministries raise money to send key leaders to conferences. Leaders always need the encouragement that conferences provide.
They will have the following prayer requests:
For state and national leaders and their governments, that they would lead wisely according to God’s will.
For missionaries.
For church and ministry groups.
For people groups that are struggling to survive. This would include all those in third world countries, and especially those who suffer from a lack of food and water, and from natural disasters.
For all who are persecuted for their Christian faith and that are oppressed by those over them.
I haven’t tried it yet, but I have read that there are a lot of benefits to this tea. Here are three that I repeatedly came across.
It Reduces Water Weight. If you’re feeling bloated dandelion tea may help by increasing urine output and flow. And this will also allow your liver to eliminate toxins.
It Could Promote Liver Health. The role of our liver is to produce bile (which helps enzymes in the body break down fats into fatty acids) and also to filter and detoxify our blood. “The vitamins and nutrients present in dandelions help in cleansing and maintaining the proper functioning of our liver,” says Dr. Ritika Samaddar.
Dandelions are one of the first flowers (or weeds) to appear. The big ones I think are kind of pretty. I guess the thing that most people dislike about them is how they tend to take over a lawn and choke out the grass. But I have heard that they have some benefits. You can make tea out of them.
How to make Dandelion Tea
First, make sure the Dandelions aren’t treated with chemicals.
Wash flowers and leaves, then steep in hot water for 15-20 minutes.
Next blog I will give you a few health benefits to this great flower–weed. Stay tuned.
For a while now I have heard of HR1, I heard that it was bad for our country, but I didn’t exactly know what it was. Maybe you are in the same boat. Well, I got busy and did reading on it and here it is.
What is HR1?
HR1 is a 791-page bill in Congress, which has been given the title “For the People Act.” It is a bill that intends to expand voting rights and is truly a wish list for the political left. The bill is on the verge of passing into law but is presently being stalled by a filibuster.
I can’t tell you how important it is that this bill not pass into law; for it will introduce voter fraud into this country like we have never seen before, and we will quickly turn into a Communist country—where, just like Venezuela, our votes won’t mean…
When our Lord says, “judge not,” in Matthew 7:1, He is using the term only in its negative sense—as the Pharisees judged. Certainly, we are to have discerning judgment, as to who is a false prophet and who is a true one, and to judge doctrine. And the state has judges and magistrates that are appointed by God to judge. And the church also is to judge its people in certain matters of discipline.
The kind of judgement our Lord is speaking of when He says “judge not” is a condemning judgement—a judgment we see in the Pharisees. This negative, condemning judgment can be seen in six ways.
It has an evil spirit attached to it. I would say that, for this reason, it is of the devil and it works to destroy us.
It condemns and despises others for no good reason. We have seen this toward the Samaritans…
Prayer A to Z 