To judge the living and the dead.

fear not God can be trusted.

Thank you for your prayers.

A lot of people
think that God is an angry judge
sitting in heaven with a long white beard
and with an unhappy disposition.

And they live their lives this way:
Afraid, 
ashamed, 
secretive,
and just doing enough to keep God happy.

And many think that Jesus 
is a happy hippy who hangs out with sheep.
So they like Jesus,
and don't like the Father.
The trouble is,
this is a lie.

Jesus said that the Father judges no one,
but has given all judgement to the Son.
The one who lived among us,
who lives in us by the Holy Spirit,
and who will live among us again,
is the judge.

I think that's pretty fair.
He knows all that we go through.
Judgement isn't about being afraid of the future.
We can experience judgement now.

When we come into agreement 
with what God says about something
we can confess it,
and it is forgiven.
We can judge ourselves and bring it to him
and sort it out now, not later.

We hear the word judgement 
and we think "punishment."

No, 
Jesus, 
who was perfectly human,
can rightly assess things.
He knows all about the difficult world we live in.
And he will assess things rightly.
Some things are unjust and evil,
and yes, there are people who will be punished.
Our God is a consuming fire,
for some that fire is the fire of love,
and for some,
it will be unquenchable misery.

It is better 
to have it hot here 
than hereafter.

Jesus loves you 
and wants you to bring all that you are hiding to him.
He knows it all anyway.
And when you do,
you will discover 
he is the kindest 
and most compassionate
Person in the universe.

Fear not.

He Never Fails,

+Christ