beam

Matthew 7:1-5
5 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

According to this scripture and its context: Is there a beam in your eye? The general response would in all probability would be no. But yet most of us have beams in our eyes and are not aware of them. Hopefully by the time you finish reading this you will know if you have one in your eye or not.

In order to get a better understanding of what a beam is, let's look at verses 3 and 4 again in the New American Standard version, " And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck our of your eye, and behold, the log is in your own eye?" Another translation says, " Let me take the splinter out of your eye, and behold there is a log in yours." As you can see from my scripture text having a beam in your eye can obscure your vision. When I say vision, this is not limited to what's seen physically, but also and most important, your perception (or what you think) of a person, place, or thing. Now this is very important, because what you think about a certain person, place, or thing will determine your actions toward them. What keeps me from walking in unity and harmony with you is largely depended on what and how I think of you. This is what has kept the body of Christ divided for so long, too many beams in the eyes of the members.

Notice also that beams will cause you to judge or �form an opinion of...� It is okay to judge, but we must learn to make righteous judgments. Even though Matt.7:1 says to "judge not" there are other scriptures that tell us to judge between ourselves (members of body of Christ), and to judge righteous judgment. So in order to correctly interpret Matt.7:1 you must examine it in light of other scriptures to come to know that this type of judgment spoken of in Matt.7:1 has to do with forming opinions of people, places, and things without proper evidence to bring about a true conviction, or come to a logical conclusion.

Beams are the main reason for misunderstanding or lack of understanding. Misunderstanding is the mother of all division. Show me division, and I'll show you misunderstanding. Wasn't it at the tower of Babel that the races were created and made because of lack of understanding:

GENESIS 11:6-8
6 And the LORD said, behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

Just by God confounding their speech to create a misunderstanding brought about division. And if you'll notice they all congregated to the people they could understand. We as the body of Christ must realize the importance of understanding, for without it we will stay divided, and congregate to our own little group or denomination. And all that we are suppose to do (and imagine to do), as a body will never be accomplished because of division. Notice that the confounding of their languages by God created the different races or nations. But the confounding of our language by the devil has created de-nomi-nations. In the natural, lack of understanding created races, spiritually they're called de-nomi-nations. We shouldn't have spiritual races in the body of Christ. For in the spirit there is neither male nor female, Jew nor Gentile, Black or White, and so on. The reason they exist is because of beams that have caused us not to see clearly.

Beams or the parents of all prejudices! For to be prejudice is simply to pre-judge a person, place, or thing. Whenever you come to a conclusion of a person, place, or thing without complete or sufficient knowledge to make a correct or intelligent judgment, you have pre-judged, or you're prejudice. There are many who would tell you that they don't have a prejudice bone in their body, but yet they are just as prejudice as any racist or supremacist. A person who has a prejudice against another denomination is just as much a racist as a person who has a prejudice against a person of another race.

                                          " The Lack of Knowledge "

In Hos.4:6 the Bible says, " My people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge. " It also says in I Cor.13:9, "For we know (or have knowledge) in part, and we prophesy in part." One of the main reasons we should keep from Judging is because we lack knowledge. It's okay to judge or make a ruling on a certain person, place, or thing if you have received full knowledge of it; but when all you have is just a part or piece of knowledge, you need to beware; you could easily arrive at a conclusion based on your limited knowledge which will always cause you to pre-judge or be prejudice.

In the Bible, before a ruling or judgment could be made, it had to be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses. The same holds true in our judicial system today. In order to establish whether a crime or injustice has been committed, witnesses to the facts must be called in order to establish facts. Each witness must have a part of truth, and all of the pieces of truth must be put together to establish the " Whole truth and nothing but the truth. "

                                        " The Wrong Side of Truth "

Did you know there are two sides to truth? The Bible says in II Tim.2:15, " Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." Notice that truth isn't truth unless it's rightly divided. Which also infers that it could be wrongly divided. To come to, and arrive at real truth, you must study it when it comes or you could easily get the wrong side of it. Now this is what I mean when I say the wrong side of the truth. Have someone asked you a question that you knew was going to get you into trouble if you told the truth, but you really didn't want to lie about it, so you only told the part that was to your benefit (or you, as they say bent the truth a little). You told them the truth, but not the part that would incriminate you.

This is another reason why you must beware of lack of knowledge. When someone is telling you something about another person (especially if they wanted to justify their cause) they will tell you only the part that makes them look the saint, and the other the villain. Oh, what they said might have been true, but did you get the whole truth, or the other side of it? Many friends, loved ones, families, businesses, and churches have been broken up by people receiving the wrong side of the truth. Never receive an accusation against anybody without getting it established in the mouth of two or three witnesses. If you hear just one side of it, you can get a beam put in your eye.

                                                      " What Is A Beam? "

As I have already fore stated, a beam is something that can obscure your vision. Now that "something" can be: Number one, "Information of...," and number two, "a bad experience." There may be others but they would fall under one of these headings. Once you receive information about a person, place, or thing and accept it as truth, from that moment on you'll will judge and examine every person, place, or thing in light of that information that you believe to be true even if it's wrong. Even your actions toward them will be governed by the information you have received. How many times have you been a victim of hearing something negative or bad about a person that you really never ever met, but found yourself with an attitude or preconceived idea about them without ever having said one word to the person? All you know is what you heard.

Another danger of having a beam in your eye is that it could very well be to ward�s someone whom God has ordained to bring salvation and deliverance in your life! This one I have seen all to many times. I have come across people who needed deliverance or ministry in some form or another, and I knew it was in the area of my anointing. I knew that if I could get them to receive me, that God could set them freebased upon His anointing that He had placed upon me, and in me. But the people could not receive either because of the color of my skin, or because of something some preacher told them about God not doing that anymore. "Miracles, healing, speaking in tongues all passed away with the last apostle,� they say. And I have seen folks die and didn't have too! Suffer sickness and disease and didn't have too! Not walk in the fullness of the Spirit, and could have! All because a beam towards me and the anointing on my life was placed in their eye by someone who had a beam in theirs.

Beloveth we need to understand that God has a variety of ministers and ways to reach us, because everyone and everything doesn't appeal to us all. It has to be a certain person, place, or thing, at a certain time, under certain conditions before we can receive. But if you've had a beam put in your eye towards that person, place, or thing you may never get your deliverance. The one person in all the universe that can help you is the one you can't stand the most, all because of what you heard about them. Frightening isn't it?

                                  " Where Do Beams Come From? "

PEOPLE & FEAR! These are two agents that put beams in the eyes of people in some form or another. Listening to other people talk about or give information of..., concerning some person, place, or thing will put a beam in your eye quicker then anything else. As we have already fore stated, the spirit of prejudice feed and breed off of beams. The reason why the spirit of prejudice rules and dominates people is because of what they have been told by someone about a particular person, place, or thing. Prejudice is learned behavior! It's not something a person was born with. People who are prejudice against any person, place, or thing got that way by hearing "knowledge of...�

Notice also that I continue to say against, "a person, place, or thing." Because in the Christian world, we not only have to deal with racism, but also denominationalism (prejudices toward other denominations). Not accepting another denomination because of knowledge you have heard from someone is denominational prejudice; it's spiritual racism. One denomination thinking they are superior to another. Keep in mind that the Bible says, we know in part. I haven't found one denomination yet that has the complete picture, have you? Now granted the Bible did say to obey them that have rule over you, (Heb.13:17) but you have to line up what "them that have rule over you" say with the word of God. For even they are capable of having beams in their eyes (and a lot of them do). Many leaders speak in light of the beam that's in their eye.

[Just a side note: Beams have a way of perpetuating themselves. Because they can be so easily passed along simply by the sharing of information. Many people who are in leadership don't even realize that their whole ministry is based on a beam put in their eye by their pastor or leader (the man/woman whom they come up under). If most of the pastors or leaders would go back and actually examine very carefully what they are preaching, they would probably find the most of what they are preaching is about 40% word, 10% unbelief, 10% doubt, and about 40% doctrine and traditions of men that has no scriptural basis whatsoever. And they've passed this along to their members, who have started their own work, and passed it on to those under them, who have started their own work and passed it on unto them, and the cycle continues. I challenge you to go back and review what you believe, have been taught, or teach and see if it's pure word, or a beam you've picked up from someone you've sat under.]

It is totally and completely irrational thinking to think, receive, and believe that one denomination has the whole picture. Just like it would be totally irrational for one race of people to think that they are THE race. Now I didn't say that all religions had a "part," but denominations (Christ or Christian affiliations). The Bible says the body of Christ is built up by that which every joint supplieth.

Now on the other hand, (in reference to fear) when a person has had a bad experience, they tend to judge every person, place, or thing in line with their experience. Since we are talking along the lines of being prejudice, let's use it as an example: I've seen cases where people of one race had a bad experience with someone of another, and they judged everyone of that whole race in light of that bad experience. From the moment after the experience their view of that particular race has changed. Forget the fact that only one person of that race committed the offence. In their minds they are all the same because of the beam. Now, whenever anyone of that race walk, talk, or do anything, it will always fall under the scrutiny of their beam. Their bad experience have created a fear that causes them to see, hear, feel, and react in line with their bad experience.

How many times have you heard this one? " All men are Dogs!" Or, "I'll never love or marry again?" People are afraid to love because of beams. Many homosexual and lesbian relationships have come out of bad experiences with the opposite sex. Nowadays, even if the man (or woman) is doing everything right, they are still judged in light of previous experiences. As a pastor I have seen on many of occasions where a member would have a bad experience with one pastor, or maybe even two, and get a serious beam put in their eye towards all pastors or men of God. Many are out of church today, and won't step a foot in a church because of a beam that got put in their eye from a bad experience with a pastor, or anyone in the ministry field. BEAMS ARE DANGEROUS!!! They can cause you to miss out on God's best, and have you caught up in all sorts of mess! Take an inventory on what you believe, and why you believe it, make sure it's in line with the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God!

                                    " When Beams Go Undetected "

Notice in my scripture text that the person with the beam in their eye is not aware of it. Now here is the problem: Most people that have beams in their eyes are not aware of them. They can see where everyone else is off, but never themselves. Beloveth, you'll never work on your problem if you don't believe you have one. The whole purpose of this writing is to get you to see that we all have beams in some form or another, and we must recognize and acknowledge that in order to get them out. It is easy to get, " a borrowed conscious " about another person, place, or thing without knowing you've picked it up! Stop and examine your motives and actions when it comes to other people, places, and things and see if they are really lining up with the word of God. That statement that you made about Brother so in so the other day; was it based on what you know about him personally, or what you heard? Why won't you go to, or fellowship with a certain church? Is it because of what you KNOW or HEARD? Why won�t you marry outside your race? Is it because of something you know, or have heard?

The Bible says that in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. If you hear something about a person, place, or thing before you receive it, make sure you have examined all the facts before you draw your conclusions. If you don't it will result in a beam that will forever alter your view of them until something could be done to convince you otherwise. Beams that go undetected often turn into strongholds in a person's mind. Once they become strongholds, most (if not all) of the time the person or persons cannot be persuaded that they are off in their thinking. The truth can walk down the street with a red cap on and slap them in the face and they still won't know it. It is easier to change a person's thinking when they first receive bad knowledge then when they've had it for a very long time.

                                                 " Examine Yourself "

In order to know if there is a beam in your eye or not, you'll have to do a self-diagnostic. II Cor.13:5 says, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves." The Bible also says in I Cor.11:31, "For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged." According to scripture there is one person we are definitely qualified to judge, if we weren't it wouldn't have told us to examine ourselves. But before we can do so, we must first recognize the possibility that we could be wrong about a person, place, or thing especially if we haven't gotten sufficient knowledge. We must recognize the possibility that we may have a "borrowed conscious". Ask yourself the question, can what I believe stand up to the scrutiny of the word of God? The only true measuring stick that we have in order to do a thorough examination of ourselves is the word of God, which is able to divide asunder the soul and the spirit and the joints and morrow. Can what you say you believe and say, stand up to the scrutiny of God's word, or IS THERE A BEAM IN YOUR EYE?

By Pastor David Foster

All scripture qoutations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise stated. This teaching is brought to your by Pastor David Foster and Son of God Ministries, Inc. and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the express written consent of Son of God Ministries, Inc. P.O. Box 46514, Little Rock, AR 72214,.