THE RESURRECTED LIFE -- Day 17

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Day 17:  The Woman Caught in Adultery (John 8: 1-11)

Early one morning Jesus was walking by the temple and entered.  He sat down and began to teach those who had already gathered there for the morning teaching.  Commotion filled the air outside, and the sounds of a struggle could clearly be heard.  The voice of a woman crying caught Jesus’ attention over the angry, loud words of the men with her.

“Rabbi, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the VERY act!” the Jewish leaders cried.  Filthy, humiliated, and ashamed, the woman stood in the center of the entire gathering.  The eyes of the crowd burned holes in her heart.  Anger welled up inside of her as she considered the injustice of this law.  “Where is the man who was with me?” her thoughts screamed out. “Isn’t he just as sinful as I am?  Have I been set up?  How did the religious leaders know?  They didn’t just “happen” by that early in the morning, did they?”

Her thoughts were interrupted by, “Our law says such a woman must be stoned!”  It was then that all attention turned toward the Teacher.  It was the first time the woman had taken notice of Him.  It seemed like hours passed while He wrote in the dirt.  She wondered if He would condemn her.  Her eyes dropped to the ground as she realized she had no hope of forgiveness. 

Jesus answered the Pharisees who had brought the accusation against the woman.  “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”  Her eyes still cast downward, she heard the murmurs, then the shuffling of feet, and when she dared to look up, she met the eyes of her Savior.  Turning to where her accusers stood she discovered that not one of them remained in the street.

Do you run in to be the first to accuse, judge, and condemn when someone has been caught in a sin?  Or maybe you are the “adulteress”—caught and in need of repentance.  Either way, we must know who we are……SINNERS, all of us!  Jesus told the woman, “From now on, sin no more.”   It applied to both the woman and the Pharisees in this story.  It applies to us as well.  Which sin do you relate to?  Stop sinning now, if you are.   Or begin now to be the first to love and restore the sinner.

THE RESURRECTED LIFE -- Day 15

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 Day 15:  The Immoral Woman (Luke 7: 36-50)

He was coming to her town—the Man who forgave sins.  Surely there was no one who needed that more than her.  Her immorality was well-known by all.  She felt dirty, unclean, and unworthy of His forgiveness.  Yet, something inside of her was prompting her to go and find Him.

Asking a woman on the street where she might find Him, she returned her look of judgment and condemnation with a downward glance to the ground.  She was thankful that the woman had told her where Jesus could be found, but her shame made her feel like running home instead.

Pushing her feelings aside, she continued on her way, holding very carefully the alabaster vial of perfume in her hands.  Arriving at Simon the Pharisee’s home, she quietly slipped in the side door undetected.  There He was, reclining at the table.  Lowering her eyes, it became quite obvious that the well-known tradition of foot washing had not been offered to Jesus.  His feet were as dirty as her own heart.  Had He been treated with disrespect, she wondered?  She knew exactly what that felt like?

Overcome with her identification with Him, she slowly moved so that she was standing right behind His feet.  Her tears flowed freely and unceasingly, making rivers over the dirt and dung caked on His feet from His travels.  The tears made clean paths on the way to the floor underneath.  Bending down, she took her hair and began to wipe His feet completely clean.  Over and over she wet them and wiped them as years of shame, guilt and regret poured from her heart to His feet.  Then she took the vial of perfume, broke it, and poured it out on them, kissing them as she worshiped the One who might forgive her guilty stain.  Love for Him welled up in a heart once hardened by her own wrong choices.  Moved by this ‘love in action,’ Jesus turned to her and said, “Your sins have been forgiven.  Your faith has saved you.  Go in peace.”  Never had her heart felt so clean.  In peace she left her old life behind.

What are you willing to do to worship Jesus?  What if it humbles you?  Do your feelings ever dictate whether or not you will obey your inner voice? Do you bring to Jesus a clean or dirty heart?  Do you have peace?

The Idols Of Our Hearts

Pin It Originally: How To Add a Pinterest (Pin it) Button to your Blog/Website http://cs-doon.blogspot.com/#ixzz1ryXJUBEC Israel had seen God execute His judgment on the Egyptian gods by the plagues He sent. Now Israel was being sent into Canaan, their Promised Land, to drive out the wicked Canaanites, their pagan gods, and demonic worship practices. Israel was to go in and utterly demolish every evil thing in order to possess the land God was giving them.  He asks us to do the same thing with every evil thing in our hearts.  (Numbers 33: 4, 50-55)

God will always judge what is wicked.  While we may not always understand how a loving God could orchestrate the annihilation of people, we must grow up in our understanding so that we can discern that God knew the hearts of those He was about to destroy.  He knew that they had already chosen to be anti-God.  He knew the evil of their "worship practices."  And He knew that they would not be converted to a faith in Him.  As a matter of fact, He knew that they would lead His people astray.  Therefore, God, in His infinite wisdom, used His own people Israel to execute His judgment on the people living in the Promised Land.  He did this so that Israel would have a pure nation to dwell in, one that was rid of pagan worship.

In God's direction to His people we clearly see the battle plan:  cross over the Jordan into the land, drive out the people by force, destroy all of their gods and idols, demolish their high places (altars of worship), and take possession of the land.  God certainly did not want any corrupt practices to dwell among His people and lead their hearts astray.  Now can you see where WE are heading?

Inside each of our hearts there camps many gods and idols.  These very gods are not set on a mantle and worshipped.  Instead, they are part of the sin in our lives.  All of us have attitudes that we default to.  We have sins that we practice that are more important to us than God.  Oh, we don't like to say that is true, yet it is.  Many of us can see what the god of our heart is by merely looking at our checkbook, taking note of what we spend our money on.  Many more of us will realize what our god is simply by listening to what pronouns we speak the most:  I, me, my, mine!  The priority of self points to who is really the god of our life! 

If you think God is the only authority in your life then it might be a good thing to consider this list:

Self-sufficiency, self-reliance, self-absorption, selfishness, impatience, hatred, unforgiveness, depression, anxiety, worry, bitterness, self-superiority, argumentative, self-deprecating, gossip, pot-stirring, envy, jealousy, hypocrisy, deceitful, lying, malice, abusive speech, coarse speech, partiality, bigotry . . .  The list is endless!  But we must begin to think in terms that identify these as the very evil practices that they are!  God's Word says they are the evil in our flesh that battles against the Spirit of the Living God in us!

Since God is an unchanging God, then His view of evil practices has not changed either.  If He charged the Israelites to destroy all evil practices so that they could live in purity instead of sin, what do you think our unchanging God will want our battle plan to be?  Of course, He wants us to destroy the very things inside our own hearts that lead us astray and away from Him!

In my forthcoming book (May 1, 2011) God has given me a great way to get these idols and gods into His hands and off of our backs.  It involves first identifying what is really in your heart, and then taking full vengeance on what He reveals to you.  This book, Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, can be purchased right now on Amazon.com, or directly from me (and I will sign your copy!).  Request your signed copy by contacting me at cherylgnagey@gmail.com or at www.cherylgnagey.com.