"Hey, Olivia!" Amanda yelled across the cafeteria room.  Olivia lifted her soft, green eyes to see her friend jog toward her with her lunch.

"Hi," she answered when Amanda sat down next to her.

"Did you see that new girl?" Amanda asked her friend.

"Oh, yeah, she looks kind of weird, doesn't she?" 

"Yeah, her clothes are clothes my grandma wears!" The two girls laughed softly among themselves.

"Oh, here she comes," Olivia said with disgust in her voice.

"Hi, thar," said the new girl with a small smile.  "Mind if I sit myself down here?"  Amanda and Olivia exchanged glances.  This girl not only dress funny, but she talked funny, too.

"Yeah, we're saving it for someone." Amanda lied.  The new girl nodded and sat down in a corner to eat her lunch alone.

We may not always judge people in this particular way, but, whether we realize it or not, we do judge people somehow.  It's natural for us to judge people before we meet them, but we really should refrain from doing it.  After all, we have no knowledge of the people we do not know unless it is told to us by someone else.  Even then, we shouldn't believe everything we hear.  

Think about the new girl in the story for a minute.  What if you didn't have enough money to buy all the nice clothes everyone else was wearing and had to go to out in public that way?  Would you think it would be fair to have people think you are weird without even getting to know you first?  I think we would all say No to this question.  And it doesn't even to be about clothes.  It could be how a person acts (shy, crazy, talks with a funny accent, walks oddly, etc.), but God doesn't want us to judge people by their looks.  He wants us to judge rightly and we really shouldn't be judging at all.  God is the ultimate Judge.  

The next time you judge someone unfairly, pray and ask God to forgive you.  Then think only positive things about that person.  And, if you can, maybe even talk to that person and be a friend to him/her. 

"Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgement."  John 7:24

Strength and Endurance

Can't seem to find my way.

I've given so much strength to You.  

Why are you letting me drown?

Now, I don't think I can pull through. 

This race that I've been running

Just makes me incredibly worn.

I want to keep trying to move forward,

But I'd rather collapse and mourn.

I've called out to You, oh Lord,

But You don't seem to hear me.

Maybe I am not trying to hear

You offering to set me free.

I'm wrapped in my own strength

And in my own way of doing things.

Will God really renew my strength

And give me strong, eagle wings?

I finally stop to look at You,

And I see Your extended hand

Reaching out to grab my own

And help me, once again, to stand.

With a new energy and hope

I'll finish the race I did start

And always look to God for strength,

And to support my weak heart.

______________________

Remember, that God is always read to give you strength and endurance no matter what you're struggling with!

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,"  Hebrews 12:1

"but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."  Isaiah 40:31