FIRE BY NIGHT

"Reflections Upon Reflections" [of The Father's Heart]


        ...."You, in Your great compassion, did not forsake them in the wilderness; The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day, to guide them on their way, nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go".... Nehemiah 9:19 NASB


                                                                                                      FEBRUARY 14TH


DEFINING JUDGEMENT

  [PART 2]

                                                      THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RIGHTEOUS AND UNRIGHTEOUS JUDGEMENT


Words of prophecy:

* Fear not what others may think. Only rest in the assurance of My peace and I shall make you - and those with you - a great "sign and wonder" that shall continually confound all those whose hearts are hardened towards Me, and continually bless [elevate] and prosper all those whose hearts are towards Me. Know this: that you, and all those with you shall have a superabundance of My wisdom and power, that shall cause you to "transcend" [overcome] in all things, and as you continually acknowledge Me in all of your ways I shall surely direct your paths, and you shall have the continued understanding and discernment to "judge" My people - with a righteous judgement.

*       The key to maintaining "righteous judgement" [discernment] in all areas of ministry is for one to be willing to do ALL of My will - at ALL times [John 7:17-18].


...."Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment"....

                                                                                                                                   John 7:24 NASB

...."You [set yourselves up to] judge according to the flesh (by what you see). [You condemn by external, human standards.] I do not [set Myself up to] judge or condemn or sentence anyone. Yet even if I [the Word of God] do judge, My judgment is true [My decision is right]; for I am not alone [in making it], but [there are two of Us] I and the Father, Who sent Me"....
                                                                                                                                                                                                    John 8:15-16 The Amplified Translation

...."But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper [the Holy Spirit] will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged"....

                                                                                                                                                                                                                              John 16:7-11 NASB


          The difference between righteous judgement and unrighteous judgement is that "righteous judgement" is the pure and undefiled judgement of God. It is a word spoken in perfect accordance with the revealed knowledge of God's Word and the unction of the Holy Spirit [the Spirit of Love]. It is the "anointed" words that convict the heart of the hearer - and it is ALWAYS rooted and grounded in the love of the Father abiding in the heart of His chosen vessel. "Unrighteous judgement" is a word spoken - or an action taken - that has its origin in the "flesh" and has, as its root motivation in the speaker [or doer], the desire to justify and exalt themselves [and their own agenda] above the one being spoken to or against - and, thus, it is ALWAYS self-serving in nature. How "fine" this line can be, but how far apart is the fruit that is born! On the one hand, righteous judgement [through love and obedience] is ALWAYS sent by the Father for the greatest eternal benefit of the one experiencing the convicting power of the Holy Spirit - in order that the one experiencing His Love might be led into the place of a deep and thorough repentance before Him. On the other hand, unrighteous judgement is ALWAYS critical and condemning in nature with a view to one maintaining a position of self-exaltation over the one on the receiving end of their words and actions [in many cases through envy and jealousy]. Often this will lead to conspiracy and treachery in the midst of God's people - as ALL unrighteous judgement is designed by Satan to force the one being unrighteously judged [falsely accused] to depart from the Will of God [their being in the Will of God {in perfect alignment with the Word of God}] the very reason for the persecution in the first place] [2 Timothy 3:12]. Those who have given their heart wholly to God - those who desire His Will above ALL else will gladly receive and yield to the convicting presence of the Holy Spirit - whereas, those who have held to any form of self-will and self-desire will not receive the ministry of the Holy Spirit and will, in fact, be found vehemently opposing it - in their rebellion.

THE LOVE OF GOD AND THE JUDGEMENT OF GOD CANNOT BE SEPARATED

          We, as believers, have NO right to take the judgement of others upon ourselves. Our chief aim and desire should be to come to the place [by the power and leading of the Holy Spirit] where we are continually devoid of a "self-consciousness" [self-serving attitudes of any kind] and a "sin-consciousness" [an unworthiness-consciousness [insecurity] that continually leads to self-exaltive behaviour in some form]. In becoming fit and pure vessels of the Father's love our "every" word and deed will SURELY bring forth His righteous - and "necessary" - judgement in any given situation and, thus, He will accomplish through us the precious work that He has set out to accomplish in ALL those who cross our path. Let us not think for a moment that the love of God and the judgement of God can be separated for it is the Father's [loving] Word [the plumbline of His Will] that convicts us of sin and judges our "inordinate" words and actions. As we faithfully give the Word [Will] of God preeminence [day in and day out] we will enter into the perfect liberty that is ours, in Christ - and in this perfect liberty we will rise above the trap of judging others unrighteously. As a matter of fact, the more one's relationship with the Father and His Word is developed [through a close and intimate fellowship with them] [John 14:21,23] the more sensitive one becomes to the command to "judge not" [unrighteously] - lest you be judged in the very same manner. When we view our own lives in light of all that Jesus did for us at Calvary it becomes very difficult to judge in an unrighteous manner, hold unforgiveness, show no mercy - or any other action that is clearly apart from the love of God. May we all begin to treat other in exactly the same manner in which the Father and Jesus have treated us - for then we will surely have a deep and divine assurance abiding within us - a deep and divine assurance that refuses to judge others in a spirit that is not of God.

to be continued