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Have you ever had a chance to sit in an airport for hours? What do you do? or..in a restaraunt..while youre eating, no conversation goin on...what do you do? Do you people watch? I do.

I was laying in bed tonite thinking...and this is what the Lord brought to my mind.

If you see my face from a distance, you would see a face with lines around my eyes, mouth, forehead...just about anywhere on my face. I dont begrudge the lines....they tell a story of a life full of laughing till i cried..laughter lines....crying till i had no more tears, squinting so as not to be blinded by the Arizona sun and the nights of laying in worry and prayer in the darkness. I dont begrudge the lines of time and life.

But, if you look closer...if you get close enough to see the lines...you would see that the deeper set lines around my eyes are from battles long forgotten..as if they were from another lifetime of years ago. Battles that no one would know about unless someone got close enough to see them for what they are.

Before, they were scars that surrounded eyes that showed no life. The smile didnt reach them and the colors in the world they should have seen were dimmed to black and white and shades of gray.

So, sitting in this airport...im watching people...and have to say...i was praying...Lord, thank you, for taking the judgmental spirit i carry away from me...for reminding me that you love all of your children.

A few days later, however, im sitting in a restaraunt with my aunt..and people watching again. The Holy Spirit caught me..right in the middle of the first thought that came to my mind. I saw a woman dressed as a man...i automatically thought..she has gender issues..

i saw a man who was so obese i wondered why he was eating pizza...

i saw a man who was covered with tatoos and automatically thought..biker, which led to drugs...which led to other flashing moments of judgment.

ouch. The Lord asked me...How do you know what lies underneath their skin? Why, when you have a son who is tattood from back to front and neither knows how to ride a motorcycle nor does drugs..why would you automatically think biker and drugs? What do you know about this man who is eating pizza when you think he should be eating fruit....who are you to judge..do you know what lies beneath what you havent gotten close enough to see?...close enough for Me to show you? Oh my. Oh my.

People, if you think you are not judgmental, search yourselves. You may not be...but i thought i wasnt either. What we see on the outside, is not what we should be looking at.

We have baby Christians who come here as they are called from the Lord. We are led to show them the fruits of the spirit. As zealous and joyful as they are that they have been saved by the blood of Jesus...and praise the Lord that they are!!!..still, they are babes. They dont know the fruits of the spirit until we show them..in the way we treat them..in the way we lead..being examples of His love and disipleship. They will come in like gangbusters...wanting to right all the wrongs in the world..through bible beating, judging...even though they dont even know they are being judgmental. We have been called to lovingly teach and lead them in the ways of the Lord..and the first of these is in love. He will show us, if we are willing to listen and do and act as He leads..in love.

If this isnt speaking to you, then maybe the shoe doesnt fit..but if it does, take head..ask the Lord to search your heart and soften it with His wisdom and love. Look deeper...look closer...see the story their lives tell. God is an awesome God and loves His children so much, He gives them each a different story to tell about His glory...but we all start out as babes.

God bless you all...and i love you all so very very much.

in Jesus,
love momo

had to add... just as there are people who have tatoos and arent battling drug addictions...there are people without outward signs but are dying inside of drug addictions and pain and loneliness and much more.....the inside is who God is reaching out for. The pain..the deep things of the soul...the things we cant see unless He shows us through His eyes...

do we stop at judging them? or do we reach deeper to the inside? Past the skin to what matters? to what is life-changing and life-giving..which can only be found in the love and mercy of the Lord..shown through our examples.

God bless yous

Thank you momof3. Thank you for your honesty. For being real.

Momo what a beautiful way to show that there is so much more than what meets the eye. If we would all look deeper and see the Truth...we might just receive a blessing

Thanx for sharing sis.

luv ya

I ask God to help me with the judging all the time. I does come sneaking up on you and I notice I do it more when I am around my husband or his family.
Thanks momo, it was a great parable!

thanks mom

ur post really got me to thinking. I used to think I wasn't all that judgemental, i see now its something i do everyday . Well, just something else for God to help me with. Thanks so much for ur post

luvs ya

You can't judge an apple by looking at a tree,
You can't judge honey by looking at the bee,
You can't judge a daughter by looking at the mother,
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.

Oh can't you see,
Oh you misjudge me,

Hear what else I gotta say!
You got your radio turned down too low,
Turn it up!

You can't judge sugar by looking at the cane,
You can't judge a woman by looking at her man,
You can't judge a sister by looking at her brother,
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.

Oh can't you see,
Oh you misjudge me,

You can't judge a fish by lookin' in the pond,
You can't judge right from looking at the wrong,
You can't judge one by looking at the other,
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.

Oh can't you see,
Oh you misjudge me,





In Christ , our Lord

Hey !! ... Where did the Edit feature go ? ... Was going to add ...


Buut ... If it looks like a duck , and quacks like a duck , I'm not about to call it a giraffe either !!

Vahn

Momo...love the post, wow...u r so right...
I do have a request from y'all tho...will u please provide tissue with these posts!!!

Vahn

Ditto

love you guys....and gals

love the poem, vahn!!!!

God bless you guys