April 24, 2012
by D. Washington
(I dropped the E, cuz it had them tricks guessing too much).
The way I see it, everybody who comes to Christ at some point has to get 'butt naked'.
No covering.
'"For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may recieve the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." - II Corinthians 5:10 NKJV
That bema seat!
At home, I often study with the same Bible that ushered me into the faith.
Its a John MacArthur Study Bible - New King James Version.
The study notes for this verse state:
5:10 This describes the believer's deepest motivation and highest aim in pleasing God
The realization that every Christian is inevitably and ultimately accountable to Him.
'Judgment seat' metaphorically refers to the place where the Lord will sit to evalue believer's
lives for the purpose of giving them eternal rewards. It is translated from the Greek word bema,
which was an elevated platform where victorious athletes (eg during the Olympics) went to
receive their crowns. The term is also used in the NT to refere to the place of judging as
when Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate (matt 27:19, john 19:13). but here the reference is definitely
from the athletic analogy, Corinth had such a platform where both athletic rewards and legal justice
were dispensed (Acts 18:12-16), so the Corinthians understood Paul's reference. the things done in the body:
Actions which happened during the Believers time of earthly ministry. (This does not include sins since
their judgment took place at the cross Eph 1:7) Paul was referring to all those activities Believers do
during their lifetimes which relate to their eternal reward and praise from God. What Christians do in
their temporal bodies, will, in His eyes, have an impact for eternity. ( See notes on I Cor 4:3-5, Rom 12:1,2, Rev 22:12)
whether good or bad: These Greek terms do not refer to moral good and moral evil. Matters of sin have been completely
dealt with by the death of the Saviour. Rather, Paul was comparing worthwhile, eternally valuable activities with useless ones. His point was not that believers should not enjoy certain wholesome earthly things, but hat they should glorify God in them and spend most of their energy and time with what has eternal value.
No matter where I go or what I do, I always keep that verse in mind. It helps me to stay on task.
I've always been a bit hard headed. Thank God I was surrounded by people who loved me and used to whup my butt when I got out of line.
My parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles...I was always with people who didn't spare the rod.
Now, the game has changed. We all have our way of catching whuppings even today. It may not be with belts and switches anymore..but it's there.
When you have a Heavenly Father that loves you..He's going to chasten those He loves.
Especially when, as my Big Mama used to put it, 'You know you can be doing better than what you doing."
That was in a Richard Pryor joke too.
So, my point is that the world has a way of making us feel...overstated and underappreciated.
Just like with media stars, you hype em up one day and the next day it's booooo!! i DON'T LIKE HER!
That's why I know I needed something stable in my life. A foundation to build upon.
And once I came into the knowledge of Christ and accepted Him as my Lord and Savior....my life changed.
Some places immediately, some places gradually.
Like my mom always says, "You're supposed to come as you are, but it doesn't mean you're supposed to stay as you are."
I love her. She has always been a strong witness in my life.
But as much as I love her, my connection to Christ is not through her.
Im a strong believer in independent thought. Free will.
And any relationship with God has to be a personal thing, not something that's based on a mere mortal pastor, preacher, deacon, priest, mother, grandmother etc.
Very important.
Personal relationship with the Creator. You need it in your life.
The realest it got for me, is when I had to start telling my podnaz to stop sending me those freaky picture emails.
Ya'll know I got a problem, don't put that in my life. Thank you.
It's still a few that pop up every now and then...I be looking too, just like a fiend. Whaaaaat?? wow. that shh cray.
He still working on me too!!
Ok...here's the link to a couple of poetry performances that my cousin sent me.
They both address some situations that i've dealt with and/or am dealing with so it helped me. I'm sure it can help someone else too.
I need to get me some of those t-shirts...
-dwash
"The BIGGEST Loser" by Karness
http://youtu.be/yV3K8NcVt2o
"A Poem about WEED" by Jackie Hill
http://youtu.be/_2E-dHAKF7g
