This Week With Jesus

Who has the power to reject you? Isn't rejection a judgement? And who in this human world can judge?  Unfortunately, we all do, belying what Jesus taught or tried to teach. Judging others seems to be second nature to us. The question is why we do it. Firstly, we build our own castles by bringing others down . For example, some public speakers comment adversely on their audience to make a point, thereby positioning themselves higher than the audience, so that the audience accepts their views without question. Secondly, it sometimes helps to fit in the crowd . If 5 people we know don't like someone, we too pretend so that we may fit in and build a bond. And sometimes it may just be a self defense mechanism , not to get close enough to someone so you don't get hurt, therefore we build a justification for that by a negative judgement. Lastly, and this is a universal fact, we all have a perception that we are entitled . No. We are not. That's an illusion we have created abo

 

  A while back I read a story of a visiting pastor who attended a men's breakfast in the middle of a rural farming area of the country. The group had asked an older farmer, decked out in bib overalls, to say grace for the morning breakfast. "Lord, I hate buttermilk", the farmer began. The visiting pastor opened one eye to glance at the farmer and wonder where this was going. The farmer loudly proclaimed, "Lord, I hate lard." Now the pastor was growing concerned. Without missing a beat, the farmer continued, "And Lord, you know I don't much care for raw white flour". The pastor once again opened an eye to glance around the room and saw that he wasn't the only one to feel uncomfortable. Then the farmer added, "But Lord, when you mix them all together and bake them, I do love warm fresh biscuits. So,  Lord, when things come up that we don't like, when life gets hard, when we don't understand what you're saying to us, help us to ju