Faith Filled Friday & Free Chapter

I read this again the other day and the Lord used it to encourage me so thought I would share it with you. Hope it blesses you too.

Free Chapter from A Devotional Journey through Judges 
{Expecting Perfection?}

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-absorption. 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.


Get the devotional.

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We exist to glorify God, to display His heart and character. And I just love how we are all uniquely built to do that. So every Friday I want to give you, uniquely designed by God, an opportunity to link up your thoughts on God, art, baking, photography, parenting, marriage, homeschooling, writing or blogging and more if they tie into or display the Lord somehow. 

Here's how it works.
1. Link up as many blog posts as you want below by clicking the link below and following the prompts. (Perhaps think of old posts you want more exposure to as well as new ones.)

2. Let your readers know by including a link at the bottom of your post (or somewhere on your side bar) or paste my button code (found below and on the side bar).

3. Take a minute to comment on another sweet lady's post.

About Laura

Laura, the creator and host of Missional Women is married and has five kids, two of whom are adopted. Laura and her husband have been missionaries to college students for 12 years serving with Master Plan Ministries. Laura is the Women's Development Coordinator and has discipled over 150 girls, led over 30 Bible studies and speaks to college and women's groups. Laura has authored 5 books, including an award winning 12 week Bible Study on First Samuel, Beholding Him, Becoming Missional, Reach; How to Use Your Social Media Influence for the Glory of God, and A Devotional Journey through Judges, a devotional to accompany the free online Bible study at TheBookofJudges.com. You can find her on facebook,twitter, pinterest, youtube, instagram and her author site.

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