Good morning!

            Judas Iscariot, because of his actions would be forever known as a “Traitor” and would be a by-word or curse word like Sodom and Gomorrah (Deuteronomy 28:37). Judas did not start out as a traitor any more than people started off to be alcoholics (1 Corinthians 10:10-13). When Jesus sent the twelve disciples to the lost sheep, it was quite possible that Judas ran into his father who was a Pharisee (Matthew 10:5-16). Remember, the Pharisees hated Jesus because Jesus shined a light into the soul of the Sanhedrin and the Sanhedrin did not like it (John 1:5). Judas loved money being the Treasurer afforded him access to stolen money (John 12:6). The Sanhedrin needed to get rid of Jesus but, the attacks had to come from the inside, and their pawn was Judas Iscariot (Zechariah 13:4-6, Matthew 27:3). Judas had no idea what would unfold or how much it would cost him. All he knew was the one man who could forgive Judas, Jesus, Judas betrayed (Psalms 109:4-9).

            Each human being on planet earth has at least one temptation. God’s word gives us full authority over our temptations (Romans 16:19-20). The problem is, we do not always avail ourselves of that authority because, “sin is pleasurable.” Like Moses, each of us must chose the wealth we will inherit whether it be the wealth of this world or the wealth of a life lived for Jesus Christ (Hebrews 22:24-26). I would like to say what Judas went through was a “one off” situation but, it was not because it happens every day in our world. I cannot emphasize strongly enough the importance of the choices we make in our lifetime. Being a Bible toting born again Christian does not stop us from allowing ourselves to indulge in sinful behavior. My encouragement for you today is, balancer your journeys with the Word of God, stay in the Word of God all of the time (John 8:31-32), and never surrender to Guilt but cast all of your cares on the Lord (1 Peter 5:7).

I.H.S.

MK