Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: God's Judgments
Date: Sunday January 22, 2012
Today's Chapters: Exodus 21-23
Preview of Today's Message: God sets judgments upon His people, the laws He enforces are given to not only keep us moral, they are given to protect us from the dangers of the world. All Scripture quoted from the King James Version.

Hello My Friend,

Judgment is the act of determining, as in courts of law, what is conformable to law and justice, also, the decision, or sentence of the court, or of a judge; the mandate or sentence of God. A pardon may be pleaded in the case of judgment. The sentence given to all mankind by God is death and hell, the judge is Jesus Christ Himself, and we will all stand before Him. There is only one way to be pardoned of this judgment, Christ Himself. “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.” -John 5:22-25.

While many of the laws God enforced upon the Jews are not enforced upon us today, they are good reminders of why He enforced them in the first place and of why we are to live a moral, uncorrupted life. “Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them...He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death...And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death...If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye's sake. And if he smite out his manservant's tooth, or his maidservant's tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.” -Exodus 21:1,12,15,22-27.

The law which authorized retaliation was a civil one. It was given to regulate the procedure of the public magistrate in determining the amount of compensation in every case of injury, but did not encourage private revenge. The later Jews, however, mistook it for a moral precept, and were corrected by Jesus on this matter. “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also...But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” -Matthew 5:38-40,44,45.

The people of God should ever be ready to show mildness and mercy, according to the spirit of these laws. We must answer to God, not only for what we do maliciously, but for what we do ignorantly also. God continues giving His judgments. “And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife. If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins. Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death. He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed. Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.” -Exodus 22:16-24.

Some of God's judgments should be common sense to man, but just like any law given it is enforced because someone did it first. God can see everything! He sees what we do, He even knows what we think. Nine times out of ten the things we think of become action regardless of whether those thoughts are good or bad. I woke up this morning from a dream (nothing immoral) wondering what God thought of that dream in my head and even asked forgiveness for thinking how the dream would end. Of course, we cannot control our dreams, but we can control our thoughts that lead to those dreams. I was thinking about the things that lead to that dream for a couple of days now, I do not want them to become actions, at least the corrupted things. “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” -James 1:13-15.

God does not enforce judgments upon us to keep us from enjoying life, He does it so we can enjoy life. All of the dumb decisions I made over the years that I suffered for are of my own doing and I deserved it. God promises to always be there for us, to love us through think and thin, whether we obey His judgments or not. However, imagine the blessings that God gives to us from living by those judgments all the time. God said,

“Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off. Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images. And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.” -Exodus 23:20-25.

That angel is none other than Christ, he blesses us and takes away the sickness of our sins when we obey His voice. Jesus said, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” -Matthew 10:28-34. Today, Christ lives in every believer in the form of the Holy Spirit and pardons all who accept Him.

Today's Psalm: 105:7 - “He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth.”

Today's Proverb: 19:29 - “ Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools.”

Today's Prayer: God, all the goals and strategies that I set for my life are the blessings of knowing that as I keep obeying Your judgments that I will eventually hear You say to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant“. You have persevered me and endured the hardships for me. Others in this world may earn titles and win prizes for worthy earthly pursuits, but the greatest prize that I will ever obtain is my entrance into Your Kingdom where I will see you face to face. Amazingly, not because I earned it, but because I believe in and have accepted Your Son as my personal Savior. Only through Jesus am I pardoned of my death and hell sentence. Thank You Jesus! In Jesus' name. Amen.

Enjoy the rest of your day/night.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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