Do not pass judgement on one another

Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

For it is written:
” As I live, says the LORD,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.“

So then each of us shall give account of himself to God (Romans 14:1 - 14:12 NKJV)

Joke #4

An atheist is walking through the woods one day when all of a sudden a huge
bear runs out to attack him. The atheist runs as fast as he can but trips
over a stump and falls to the ground. As he turns rover the bear is
standing on top of him, paws stretched wide ready to maul him.

"Oh God" screams the atheist.

Suddenly time stands still, the bear freezes in the attack position and a
voice out of heaven says "Yes, you called?"

"Oh" says the atheist "you really do exist! Can you make this bear go away?"

"Why should I?" says God. "You've been denying my existence all your life"

"Fair point" says the atheist. "Ok, how about this. Can you turn the bear
into a Christian instead?"

"Ok" says God and time resumes once more. The bear stops in attack, bows
his head meekly and says "Dear God. Thank you for what I am about to
receive..."

Joke #3

A biker was riding along a California beach when suddenly the sky clouded above his head and, in a booming voice, the Lord said, "Because you have TRIED to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish." The biker pulled over and said, "Build a bridge to Hawaii so I can ride over anytime I want."

The Lord said, "Your request is materialistic. Think of the enormous challenges for that kind of undertaking. The supports required to reach the bottom of the Pacific! The concrete and steel it would take! It will nearly exhaust several natural resources. I can do it, but it is hard for Me to justify your desire for worldly things. Take a little more time and think of something that could possibly help mankind."

The biker thought about it for a long time Finally he said, "Lord, I wish that I and all men could understand our wives. I want to know how she feels inside, what she's thinking when she gives me the silent treatment, why she cries, what she means when she says nothing's wrong, and how I can make a woman truly happy."

The Lord replied, "You want two lanes or four on that bridge?."

Joke #2

Jesus Christ is dying on the cross, his disciples are gathered around, crying. Peter looks up and notices that Jesus seems to be calling him, "Peter, come hither!"

Immediately Peter rushes over to the cross, only to be hit severely over the head by the roman guard. He gets on his feet again and wants to return to the other disciples when he hears Jesus calling again, "Peter, come hither!"

So, again Peter tries to climb the cross to get to his lord, when the roman soldier draws his sword and chops Peter's arm off. Peter is getting a little pissed and wants to go back to his buddies, but again Jesus summons. The roman guard can't believe that Peter is trying yet AGAIN to climb to the cross, and chops off another arm. Peter is now covered in blood and demented from the blow to the head and wants to call it a day. Jesus hoarsly croaks, "Peter, please, come to me!"

By now, the roman guard is tired of chopping limbs, so he lets Peter be. The faithful disciple struggles to climb the cross (without arms mind you) and after a long while he finally arrives at his Lord's side. Hurting, suffering, bleeding, Peter looks into his Master's eyes and asks, "yes, my Lord. What is it?" Jesus smiles lovingly and looks off into the distance as a weak smile plays across his face, "Look Peter, I can see your house from here!"

Joke

A man appears before St. Peter at the pearly gates. "Have you ever done anything of particular merit?" St. Peter asks.

"Well, I can think of one thing," the man offers. "Once, on a trip to the Black Hills, out in South Dakota, I came upon a gang of high-testosterone bikers who were threatening a young woman.

I directed them to leave her alone, but they wouldn't listen. So I approached the largest and most heavily tattooed biker.

I smacked him on the head, kicked his bike over, ripped out his nose ring and threw it on the ground, and told him,

'Leave her alone now or you'll answer to me.'"

St. Peter was impressed.

"When did this happen?"

"Just a few minutes ago."

You are Unique

“Yet you made him but a little lower than God, and you have crowned him with glory and honor.” (Psalm 8:5 AMP)

You don’t realize how unique and valuable you are — none of us do. The reason you are so vulnerable to the fear of dejection is because you’re full of self-doubt. That’s why when criticized by another person, deep down inside, you have the doubt and fear that they’re right. So it hurls even more.

The effect of sin is always insecurity. The more we sin, the more insecure we become. When someone ignores you at a party, you might say, “They must not like me!” Maybe they just didn’t even see you there. But because you were seeing through the eyes of fear, you were vulnerable. 

What’s the antidote to the fear of rejection? The antidote is to put God in first place. Second, you put people in their place by putting their opinions in the right perspective. Then, you must accept what God says about you.

Yet you made him but a little lower than God, and you have crowned him with glory and honor.” (Psalm 8:5 AMP). You were created by God, and God does not make junk.

Not only were we created by God, but Christ made us acceptable — not because of what we’ve done, because we could never be good enough to be acceptable to a perfect God. Ephesians 1:4 says, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (NIV). Jesus Christ died on the cross, paid for all our sins, and covered us with his love. God looks down at you and says, “What Jesus did was acceptable. You are acceptable.” All you have to do is accept what he’s done for you.

You were created by God. Christ has made you acceptable. It doesn’t matter what you say about yourself; it doesn’t matter what other people say about you. If God says you’re OK, then you’re OK.

No matter who rejects you, God never will.

A New Wine Skin - Prelim

He told them this parable: "No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skin, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins." Luke 5:36-38