Expecting Perfection?

I'm so glad you are here! I hope during your visit you get a glimpse of God's heart for we become what we are gazing at. Currently I am writing my way through Judges sharing glimpses of God's heart and character for a weekday devotional. To check out the entire series so far head on over the the Judges Devotional. And if you blog, come on over on Friday's for a blog link up.   

And have you had a chance to check out all the blog posts linked up from Friday? Super encouraging. 

Have you been hurt by other believers? I imagine so. Sometimes that stings worse than being hurt by non-believers because we have this mostly unspoken expectation other believers are suppose to be perfect and act like Jesus. We have an expectation of safety. Our Mr. Levite thought the same way, he was willing to go out of his way to stay with the people of God. He thought that would be safer, he thought they would be his refuge (though we will see in the horrific end of the chapter that is just not the case).


"When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, "Come, let's stop at this city of the Jebusites and spend the night." His master replied, "No. We won't go into an alien city, whose people are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah." He added, "Come, let's try to reach Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night in one of those places." So they went on, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin. There they stopped to spend the night. They went and sat in the city square, but no one took them into his home for the night." Judges 19:11-15  


They arrived, just coming from a 5 day party with super hospitable Father-in-law, and now, among the people of God, there is none who cares for him. Have you been there? Have you gone into a gathering of believers and felt completely alone? I have. 

Lack of hospitality is a sign of an inward heart problem of self-absorbsion. But yet, have I been there? Yes. 

Jesus doesn't hold the expectation of perfection over believers heads, so why do we? He sees them through His blood, just as He sees us. Eyes of grace.  

Other believers are going to fail us, always. They are still being made more like Jesus everyday. Like a wet rag, He is wringing out the impurities and sometimes it's ugly, yet beautiful. As we are all being refined as gold together, let's not expect perfection from each other. Let's cling to the gospel for them just as much as we do ourselves because the reality is that we all need Jesus everyday. Let's push through the junk together without being frightened by any fear. Let's enter the hard place of communicating, knowing the Lord is with us. Knowing a brother/sister is born of adversity.

So our glimpse of glory is God as the Sanctifier. The One still making us more like Him, and making them more like Him.

Oh Lord, we can be so quick to criticize and condemn. As we see You as the One who sees Your people through Your blood, help us see the same way. Help us, by Your strength be quick to give grace and cling to the gospel for others.

Have you subscribed? I'm giving away a FREE copy of the Life Purpose Plan; discovering how your uniqueness, current reality and the mission fit together for the glory of God when you do. 

#441 Lots of laughter at Bible study
#442 The awesome-ness of college students
#443 Enough women registered for the conference
#444 Beautiful decorations and donated free food for the conference
#445 Anticipation of getting to talk about how incredible God is!

I'm joining the beautiful ladies at Pause on the Path, Finding Heaven,  Women Living Well, Good Morning Girls, A Holy Experience, We Are That Family, The Beauty in His Grip, Nebraska Graceful, The Wellspring, The Better Mom, Homestead Revival, Create with Joy,Carissa Graham, Deep Roots at Home     


Mind Sharing?