Hi everyone, I can’t believe I made it an entire month with no social media, sad but true. It was a good month and it showed me how much of a link there is between my screen time and my ability to stay focused during my quiet time. What was really wonderful was the ability to stay with the journaling verses for a longer period of time and to really hear the Lord as I wrote. I have to say my personal journaling was better than it’s been in years.
And so it was during this time that this next plan took shape. We were only half way through the month, journaling Proverbs 16: 2 about how we may see ourselves as pure but God examines our motives. Ouch, my outward actions might be pretty pure, even very pure by the worlds standards, but my motives, sorry, that’s another story.
The next thing I knew, I was re-reading J. I. Packer’s chapter on God as Judge in his classic work, “Knowing God” and frantically looking up every reference verse in that chapter. As I worked my way through these verses, and so many more, I clearly saw the connection between His purity and His position as Judge. Why do we seek to be pure, why do we work towards purity and holiness? Because we will stand before a Holy and pure God someday and account for all of our words and actions. And although at first that scares me, I’m a woman of many, many words and not all of them are pure, after all. I need not fear because in spite of all that will be accounted for and judged, my name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and so I will be acquitted for all my transgressions, in fact I already have been because of Christ’s death on the cross and my resulting faith in Him.
So why wasn’t that the end of it? Why did I keep on with this particular attribute? Because deep inside all of us is the need for just judgment to be meted out against the wicked. We only need read or watch the news to see how unjust humanity is. And if we cry out for justice where will we find it? The institutions meant to keep justice and order are hard to trust these days.
But God is on HIs throne and He is perfectly just and He will judge all the inhabitants of the earth, both living and dead someday. This doesn’t frighten me because if I look back at the attributes we’ve journaled over the last 8 months I’m reminded that He’s not just a judge, He’s an unchanging, loving, sovereign, good, majestic, trustworthy, wise, and pure judge. I need not fear Him because I can’t help but worship Him!
So yes, we are going to take a deep dive into God our Judge over the next 31 days, but stay with it. The passages are long because I was trying to keep these verses in context since this is not a particularly easy topic. You aren’t meant to journal every word, but I do hope you will give yourself some time with this plan. Try not to use outside study aids until after you’ve sat with the scripture and examined your own heart first. My prayer is that we each will be led to repentance wherever necessary, but also, and especially that we will come to find comfort in the fact that our God is a just Judge.
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