Jesus in John 7:24 said to the people: “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” So he is telling us to judge, and he is not contradicting himself elsewhere. Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets!” (Matthew 7:15) How could we obey and “beware” of “false prophets” unless we test them- that’s judging.
The apostles’ teachings are from Jesus and the spoke far more on testing and judging than even Jesus did, they named names (8 of them in the New Testament, as the prophets did in the Old Testament) and were correcting the church in their letters.
*Jesus was rich, He had the best clothes, had houses and everyone was attracted to him. Numerous Scriptures are used to validate a prosperous Jesus one who had the best of everything. The bible says this: “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him…” Isaiah 53:2-3
The scriptures present Jesus as average in appearance and prominence. Not only did He not attract from his outward appearance but he also lowly in His dress and demeanor. Isaiah describes as a man we wouldn’t recognize as important if we saw Him on the street. The fact that Judas had to identify him for the arresting party shows us that he looked similar to the other Jewish men of his time.
There was no outward attraction by appearance or status that they should desire Him, he did not dress in the finest clothes. None of his disciples followed Him because of any promise of earthly prosperity as he was asking them to leave all. He did not tell them to do something that He Himself did not do.
*Sow your seed so that you can reap a harvest. Thirty, 60, 100 seed is used to justify their reaping of blessings of money from sowing money. But it was riches that caused some of the people not to receive THE WORD. “Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful” (Matthew 13:22-23).
Matthew 13:18-23 Jesus explains the seed is the Word and how the people need ears to hear, so they can understand the spiritual meanings of the word and be fruitful. Four examples of soil are given, only one has the seed grow correctly and eventually bear fruit, the other three do not. Jesus explains of the seed being sown in Mark 4:20: “But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirty fold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
The Word of God brings salvation, the fruit of the Spirit in one’s life in various degrees when understood correctly. When misapplied it can bring ruin. Despite what many have been told, Jesus said the seed is the WORD, not money and certainly not numbers.
By the time this goes to print it should be common knowledge that I have put my name in the political arena running for City Council District 7.
This was a decision I went back and forth with myself and the Lord and well, He won.
I don’t know why He has led me to go down this road but all I can say is that I wasn’t gonna start disobeying what my Spirit (Don’t print this but leave capped, it distinguishes from God’s Holy Spirit in me and my spirit) has told me now. Every time, and I do mean every time this has happened, I have grown spiritually in leaps and bounds and it takes my faith to levels I could have never before believed were possible.
Trust me, I have spoken to the key individuals the Lord has led me to speak to and as a born-again believer, God has prepared me for the worst. Believe me you, there is nothing that no human can possibly do to me or say about me that I already haven’t told hundreds as one of my many testimonies. What Satan had meant for bad God has flipped the script for good.
I believe that the main reason He has lead me to do this is because the area I live in is considered one of if not the worst in St. Pete and the saints of Childs Park and Jordan Park deserve someone that will do nothing less than putting the cares and needs of the people first before their own no matter what.
We don’t believe that this has happened and well, here we go. I won’t make any promises except to say with God for us, who can be against us.
Till next week
