over the last month i have been thinking about a man in the bible. he heard the truth, saw jesus feed the thousands, walked with him, talked with him and ate with him. he devoted 3 years of his life to following him. he believed in him and believed that he loved him enough that he could always do that. when the pressure got to be too much and he realized that he would have to give up his desires, his wants, and his way of thinking for jesus he betrayed him. he saw everything that jesus did. he did not have to read about it, or find the proof that he did it - he saw it. he handed him over with a kiss on his cheek for money and the fear of being known to be his follower. he was judas.
judas was the type of man that would chosen the social causes that are clearly against god, because he would have feared others. he was the ultimate hypocrite, the ultimate wolf in sheep's clothing, and the biggest betrayer of jesus ever to walk the earth. christians never talk about judas really, because they really do believe they would never betray christ for their own beliefs and wants.we do it everyday by
choosing society, or relationships over him.
judas would have said i am a sinner, but wouldn't know what his sins are. there are a lot of individuals that profess christ that have no idea what they do wrong. they can't see that they aren't willing to give up anything about themselves for christ or another. they would fear it and they would never let you point it out. they don't understand that they have to change for him. they have no choice once they accept is gift.
i have heard christians say they believe in the death and resurrection, but they don't fully believe anything after that. they don't believe that he fed the thousands, healed the blind, or that he could have possibly said they were hypocrites. they don't believer he got anger and yelled at their disobedience to his father. they don't believe that he would come into their homes and actually say you have chosen your way over my truths. they can't comprehend that jesus would tell them they were wrong. i have come to realize that christians that say they don't know what god meant by that scirpture, or say they don't do that have a huge problem with authority. they have a huge problem with his authority. i find it hard to believe that every epistle written were just stories that we could pick and choose from for our life to live by.
last summer i really wanted to go to romania. i had a desire to go and share christ and it wasn't so much about what i could teach these individuals, but what they could teach me about truly depending on him. during this time my husband's father had recently died, and my sons were having terrible separation anxiety because we had to leave so abruptly without them truly understanding why. i hadn't told my father that i was going, but when i did finally tell him he said something to me that made me see how selfish i was being. he said if you leave your husband and children while they are hurting you will be a selfish wife and mother.
i can imagine the conversation with god about it. he would have asked why i went on the trip, and i would have said it was for you. he would have said no, it was for you. he would have called me out for choosing myself over the covenant i made with my husband and children. for some reason people cannot accept this about god. i have no idea why when the truth is right there; scripture. what we are willing to do says a lot about our character and what we value not only to god, but to others. what we aren't willing to give up says the same thing. i have come to realize that the saying "god only gives you as much as you can handle" is a myth. i believe that he will keep giving us more to break us until we finally depend fully on him, and face his truth. that we cannot breathe, thirst or hunger without him.
something is broken in this country. what we aren't willing to do for him out of fear is shameful. what we aren't willing to do for our spouses is shameful. what we aren't willing to do in our families is shameful. what we aren't willing to do for our friends is shameful. he is watching us and remembering everything that we choose that is wrong in his eyes, because we don't believe we have to is shameful. just because we remove him visibly from our eyes, or say that he is not there does not mean he isn't there. just because we say that what we are doing is for god doesn't mean that it really is. it may be for us; our wants, our needs and our desires. maybe, just maybe, we are more like judas than we realize or are willing to face about ourselves.
21 But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. 22 For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” 23 And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this. Luke 22:21-23
"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." 2 Timothy 4:3-4
Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Romans 2:3
4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's[b] seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. 1 John 3:4-10
17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites,[a] and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. Romans 16:17-18
"But you may not have realized that when you came to Christ, and you confessed your sin, and your sinfulness, and you asked Him to save you from your sins and to become your Lord and Savior, inherent in that was an oath of obedience. You were saying, “I confess Jesus as my Lord.” What that means is if He’s your Lord, you’re His slave. There was inherent in that confession--an oath of obedience." John MacArthure
