Tag: Fairness

Our Judge – God – He’s Always Fair

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Saturday, 2020-10-31
WRITTEN AT: Vicksburg, MS

BIBLE REFERENCE: 1 Peter 2:21-23
TRANSLATION: Living Bible (TLB)

BIBLE TEXT: 21 ….. Christ, who suffered for you, is your example. Follow in His steps: 22 He never sinned, never told a lie, 23 never answered back when insulted; when He suffered He did not threaten to get even; He left His case in the hands of God who always judges fairly. 

OBSERVATION: We hate it when someone accuses us when we did something illegal or hateful, but we are really hurt when they accuse us and we are innocent. Jesus faced many accusations, but He simply surrendered the situation to His Father. As His followers, Christians are probably doing the same that Jesus did, correct? Well, let’s look closer at this and see how sincere we are in following the ways of Jesus. We know and honor the same fair Judge as He did, but can we let go and let God?

APPLICATION: It happens at home, at work, at church and almost anywhere that we become involved, people falsely accuse us for one reason or the other. What are the causes? Jealousy and envy might be the two major causes, but the excuses are normally: favoritism; kissing up to the boss; given more education opportunities; etc. These all sound so familiar, and often used and misused by those who set out to attack us. Friends, at one time or another in our lifetimes, we could probably have been charged as ’guilty’ for retaliation, due to one or more of the above. Anger results as we rehearse in our minds what the person may have been thinking, planning or about to do. Revenge is something that we start to plan, for we then want the other person to hurt more than we do. But for the child of God, what aught we to do? Just keep everything bottled up inside? I don’t believe that’s what we are being taught in the Scriptures. Notice that we are taught about the character of Jesus, before being told how He handled unfair attacks against Him. So let me suggest that you pinpoint a scenario today where you would normally not handle attacks very good. Perhaps at work; at church; at a social club or even at home. Would the people in those places be able to accuse you of lying; lashing back at them verbally or perhaps threatening to get even with them? If so, do you suppose that they would trust you to judge them fairly and pass an honest verdict on their behavior? Friends, I believe that Peter wanted us to understand that if we truly model the life of Jesus, then we are more apt to follow His practices of leaving any judgment up to God on those that we feel may have persecuted or abused us. I believe that it is extremely challenging for us to rid ourselves of revenge. But what I do know is that there is One who can handle that for us. Oh that we would surrender our will to Jesus each and every day so that more of Him will come forth in our lives, for He judges fairly and He will guide us into His way of righteousness. Perhaps we should practice praying for those who persecute us, instead of fighting back or seeking revenge. The love of God will cause us to seek the very best for our opposers rather than following the world’s practices.

PRAYER: Precious Lord, thank You for showing us the way to righteousness. Thank You for showing us the source of power that will help us to live like You exampled before us. It seems so easy for us to draw conclusions about the thoughts and intentions of those that touch our lives. Please humble us to allow Your guidance and Your powerful touch to overcome and avoid evil, and to not be an instigator or agitator that may cause evil. Lord, may Your perfect will be done in and through us today and every day. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog at https://NuggetsFromGodsWord.org that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading or listening to this devotional, please go to the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and see all of my posts, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!

In All Honesty and Fairness

On By Ed AlgreenIn Fairness, Honest Relationship, Honesty, Judgment, Leadership, Leadership qualificationsLeave a comment

Post Date:

 Monday, 2017-07-17
SCRIPTURE

From:

 Deuteronomy 16:18-20 (NCV)

Text:

  18 Appoint judges and officers for your tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving you; they must judge the people fairly. 19 Do not judge unfairly or take sides. Do not let people pay you to make wrong decisions, because that kind of payment makes wise people seem blind, and it changes the words of good people. 20 Always do what is right…..
OBSERVATION:
Moses, in guiding God’s people as they prepared to enter the Promised Land, realized that this would be a whole new experience for them, so he tried to share every detail with them. In these verses that we will look at today he told them that they will need judges and leaders, to take the place of all that he and Aaron had done for them over the past 40 years. Knowing that we can also benefit from this reminder, I want God to lead us in this devotional on how we might be better leaders…
APPLICATION:
It is so easy for us look at a judge’s decision, and if it’s contrary to our belief, or our desire for the prosecuted (defendant), we may quickly respond “that’s unfair” without giving it a second thought. Our wish didn’t come true. However good judges are put in place to learn everything possible about the law of the land, so that when a case is brought before them, they could listen to all the facts, compare what they hear to everything they know about the law, and then determine as an independent person whether the defendant is guilty of wrongdoing. Not being a ‘judge’ you may question if this really applies to you and I. That’s what I want us to look at today, because I believe that we make decisions every day that shows God whether we are thinking and acting fairly. Let’s look at our work situation where we are looking at 3 candidates who have applied for a position we have available. Although much of our decision is based on a ‘gut feeling’, I believe it will surprise us to stop and ponder what prejudices or selfish motives come into play with our decision. Secondly, imagine two individuals being reported to you as doing something contrary to company policy. One brings you coffee every morning and has your back most of the time, vs the other one causes relational problems in your department. Can you honestly deal fairly and consistent with both employees? Things become especially tricky in churches when dealing with those that financially support the church vs a regular attendee who may or may not support the church financially. Friends, as you can see from the examples given, we all make judgment calls in some aspect of our lives. You can also see that bribes come in more ways than one, and they all serve to sway our decision in one way or another. This Scripture is teaching us to be careful of this, for it makes a wise man blind and causes him to make decisions that he may ordinarily have done if being obedient to his full understanding of God’s perfect laws. Obeying God’s laws is sometimes tougher than we might think, if we try to follow them in our own strength and power. I believe that it is a daily challenge that we must keep ever before God, that we seek His guidance, His strength and His perfect design for us to be aligned with what He desires of us. Living a life like Jesus is so different to anything we experience here on earth, that we must stay closely in tuned with our awesome Designer. Are you prepared to do this friend?
PRAYER:
Lord, this life is challenging at best, and we can only accomplish Your will with the help of Your Holy Spirit. Leadership is challenging when we have to put personal feelings aside and judge according to Your perfect design. But Lord, we want to be more like You every day and in every way. So teach us Your ways, and help us to understand Your perfect will more and more clearly. We love You Lord, and appreciate every opportunity You give to us to show that same awesome love to others we come into contact with, all for Your honor and glory, AMEN!
FOOTNOTE:
There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’.  If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!