God has told us what we can expect in the future. This daily devotional looks at the coming judgment day and what we can expect.
Nuggets
- God is our Judge.
- Every person — living and dead — will bow before God and proclaim Him Sovereign God.
To read devotions in the Redo for Godliness series, click the appropriate button below.
Devotions in the Transformed to Perfection series
Hot. Humid. Not much sleep. Good day at church. Holiday.
My mind says it should have a holiday, too. So, I am going to pull nuggets out of the resources.
With it, we finish up The Law of Liberty series. It is really appropriate that I am writing this on the day the U.S. earned its freedom. You will be reading it on the day most will be celebrating it.
We really want to focus, though, on the liberty we have with God. Any liberty we do or don’t have in this life means nothing if we don’t have God’s liberty.
We are all God’s creation and are subject to Him. Let’s take a look.
Let's Put It into Context #1
Here is a running list of what we’ve discussed previously.
Here is a running list of what we’ve discussed previously.
Let's Put It into Context #2
“Welcome anyone who is weak in faith, but don’t argue about disputed matters” (Rom. 14: 1 CSB)
“Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand” (Rom. 14: 4 CSB)
Paul started this chapter out talking about the conflict between disciples who are strong in their faith and those who are weak in their faith. He cautioned we were to strive for unity. That means we are not to judge — regardless of which camp into which we fall.
Judgment Day Is Coming
“Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God” (Rom. 14: 10 CSB)
God is our Judge.
Resource
- Robertson wrote, “Nothing is to supersede personal conviction.” Nothing is to replace what we believe in God.
- Christian rights don’t begin where human passions end. Pastor John talked about us being enslaved to our feelings these days.
- We are to obey Jesus, not mess with someone else’s relationship with Him.
- We shouldn’t look to the church to make a pronouncement on what should be. It is God’s call, not man’s.
- Robertson wrote, “Judging is persecuting; it was the procedure of the dark ages.”
- We all judge because we are all human.
- It is arrogance to think someone has to worship our way and shows our narrow mindedness.
Resource
- Censoriousness means being critical of others.
- We forget we are all going to be judged using the same criteria at the same place — the judgment seat of Christ. We will have to give an account of ourselves here.
- We can’t think we are above God.
Resource
- We have better things that we could be doing than judging. We are called to witness, not judge.
- Having a strong faith does not exclude us from judgment any more than a weak faith act as an excuse.
- We’ve talked before about the Books of Revelation. Verse 12 takes it one step further and says we will each have to give an accounting.
- Trial phase will be past. It will be sentencing time then.
Glossary
Resource
- Parker wrote, “This is often spoken of as the most terrible event in human history. And so it will be, and the happiest too.” Ooo, baby. It is going to be bad for some when they realize just how wrong they were. But for the disciples of Christ, it is going to be wonderful.
- We shouldn’t sweat it when people judge us unfairly.
- We should strive to live righteously.
- We should be more worried about our character than our clothing.
- Parker wrote, “Right is right eternally; wrong is wrong for ever. Have we repented, etc.?”
- Jesus will judge us. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (II Cor. 5: 10 ESV).
- God judges us every day — He isn’t just waiting for the end.
- Did you ever really think about why Adam and Eve hid after they sinned? They knew God was going to come looking for them to judge them. Not to have their evening chat. Not to share an evening meal. To judge them — they expected to be called on the carpet.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Resource
- Each life is precious to God.
- Our little acts are important, too, because they shape character.
- Storrs wrote, “Every deed, however small or secret, comes under the cognisance of God. To neglect to adjust our inward life to this truth and cultivate the merely outward exhibitions of character is as irrational as it would be to burnish the ornaments of an engine and build the boiler of defective metal, or decorate the outside of an edifice while its foundations and walls are insecure.”
- We’ve talked before about the role our conscience plays in our walk. Some say the Holy Spirit is our conscience. Storrs contended that the conscience, through the Holy Spirit, “… is the echo of God’s voice.”
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Finally — Universal Worship
“for it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Rom. 14: 11-12 CSB)
Every person — living and dead — will bow before God and proclaim Him Sovereign God.
Resource
- Everyone will one day acknowledge God as Sovereign God — not just those who have ABCDed — everyone.
- Everyone who says they won’t submit to Him now will then.
Resource
- This passage quotes Isaiah 45:23.
- Thomas wrote, “This does not mean universal salvation …” Just because everyone is going to bow in end doesn’t mean God is going to go ahead and forgive everyone.
Resource
- God has said this. It is going to happen.
- The Essex Congregational Remembrancer wrote, “Though the reference is to the day of judgment, death will summon us to an immediate interview with our Judge.” God doesn’t limit the judging to the very end.
- They reminded us Who we are dealing with: omnipotent, omniscient, just God.
Resource
- We are responsible for our future.
- We are only responsible for the plan God has for us. I am not responsible for Adam’s plan, but I was called to witness to him. If I didn’t witness to him, that was on me. If he didn’t ABCD, that was on him.
Resource
- Paul, the Energizer Bunny for God, said he was “one of us.” He, too, Will be judged.
- Tyng wrote, “This accountability before God is an ever-present fact. Do not postpone it until death comes.” If we wait until death to make it right with God, it will be too late. We can’t change anything then.
- Tyng wrote, “We are not our brother’s keeper in this world except for his good.” We are to witness to others so that they become our brothers and sisters in Christ and disciple them so that they grow.
Making the Connections
God is Lord of all. He created all of us.
When He created the universe, God determined what was right and what was wrong. He did it based on His character.
When we do what He determined is wrong, God expects us to ask forgiveness. He doesn’t expect us to clean up our acts before salvation — but He does after.
God asks us to be consistent with His character. When we ABCD, we agree to change to grow into it. We do that by navigating the Sanctification Road.
Sanctification has three components. They are being, doing, and suffering. We can’t be sanctified if we skip one component.
How Do We Apply This?
- ABCD if we haven’t already
- Submit to Him in this life
- Live thinking of the accounting we will give on judgment day.
- Keep a handle on where we are in our walk.
Resource
It is really important that we find liberty in God. If we do not, we will spend eternity in hell.
Hell is real. It will not be a fun place.
To read a devotion in the Hell Does Have Fury series, click on the appropriate button below.
What changes do you need to make?
Father God. Lord, we want You to be our Sovereign God. We come to You now — we aren’t waiting. Change us to be like You.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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Am indeed blessed by this devotional on weekly basis.
More grace to fulfill his purpose here on Earth in the mighty name of Jesus.
Please, kindly dig deep into the role of character in seeking to be righteous?
Secondly, though not from the above devotional. What are likely topics or messages suitable for students outreach targeted @ the teenagers?
Thanks, and God bless.