Judas

 

Day 15

I randomly opened my Bible to Matthew this morning. Oh my....

Judas, who walked with Jesus, who was CHOSEN by Jesus as his disciple betrayed Jesus for money.

"Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over."Matthew 26:14‭-‬16

Betray - to be unfaithful in guarding, maintaining, or fulfilling; to disappoint the hopes or expectations of; be disloyal to

Oh my heart....such a disasterous decision Judas made that day. But don't be fooled Dianna.....don't measure Judas' decision with a ruler you think you've never held. Call it betrayal, call it compromise, call it complacency, call it disregard, call it unkindness, call it sharp words, call it lack of compassion....and just like that I began to see all the "Judas'" in my life.

I often wonder why I am so quick to look at other's shortcomings when time and time again my own failures....uh.....sin..... are just as egregious (outstandingly bad; shocking) or maybe more so,  than another.

How many like to "grade" sin? ✋ "Oh, I just told a little white lie." "Well, I've never murdered anyone." "I've never cheated on my spouse." "I've never stolen anything." "Idols??? What idols???"

I had lunch with a friend yesterday and three impactful things we talked about:

1. Concentrating on keeping our own houses clean before we try to clean someone else's.

Can't think of a more humbling senario than pointing out someone else's dirty laundry when they know my basket is overflowing. How is my credibility then?

2. Go to the word of God BEFORE going to another to vent.

My first reaction when I'm hurt, when I'm anxious, when I've been unfairly accused, when I'm the target of a rumor....you get the picture....is to phone a friend. A friend that I know will comfort me.....and agree with me. 🙄

3. Realizing that we only have our story to tell. We simply cannot tell another's story, period. We don't know it and that leads to inserting our own thoughts and opinions.

Oh how #3 leads to all kinds of sin. Gossip being the biggest.

Gossip - casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true.

It's really incomprehensible to see the fallout of Judas' betrayal. After all Judas' betrayal led to Jesus'death. Look at the definition of betray again. To be unfaithful in guarding or maintaining; disloyal....I am not unlike Judas....that makes me so sad.....I am disloyal when I seek out a friend for comfort or answers before I seek God's comfort and counsel. I'm not guarding my relationship with Christ when I make bad choices that spoil my witness, especially in front of those who don't know him.

Please hear me, it is not wrong to seek godly wisdom and counsel. It is not wrong to seek comfort from a friend. And as I look to hold fast to #3 - telling my own story - these are areas where I know I need work.

"You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."James 4:2‭-‬3

Such conviction for me! What are my motives? I want to feel better. I want absolved. I want justice.

"Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor."Matthew 27:13‭-‬14

JESUS MADE NO REPLY

I want to fight! I'm going to defend myself! I have rights! That was wrong! I am justified!

When I puff up my chest and stand on the mountain top proclaiming, "I am no Judas" I need be equally as aware that one small step to my left or right can plunge me to the valley repentance.

On the super, SUPER bright side? Even when I fail, I am never alone in that valley. Jesus, my Savior, is with me wherever I go. On the mountain top and in the valley. He is a good, good Father. Why would I not want to be in close relationship with him? Why would I choose to turn to others first? Why would I cry, "UNJUST" when I know HE knows? The real beauty, though hard to actually grasp, that when I've fallen and I say, "I'm sorry Lord" IT IS FINISHED. He casts my sin far as the east is from the west.

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." Psalms 103:11‭-‬12

Jesus called Judas a friend. He chose him as a disciple. He does the same for me. Judas thought he saw something better. I do that too. By the grace of God, who sent his son to die, I can do, what Judas also could have done, ask for forgiveness and my sin is remembered no more.

Sitting here this morning I am feeling beyond blessed. A peace that goes far beyond the circumstances of this life. Does that mean that circumstances don't affect me? Absolutely not. Jesus says, "In this world you will have trouble. Take heart! I have overcome the world." And THAT is where my inner peace lies. In the One who took my burdens to Calvary.