The Woman Caught in Adultery

John 8:1-11 is an awesome story. It's about the woman caught in adultery. Read it by clicking here. I was thinking yesterday about this story. And God brought to my attention something. In this story, we find Jesus does 3 things for us. He loves us. He defends us. He forgives us.

He loves us despite past mistakes. You can have a checkered past. Jesus loves you anyway. This was the woman caught in adultery. She was a prostitute. Not only that, but she was possessed 7 times. But He didn't send her away. He didn't tell them to stone her. He loved her anyway. Seven times Jesus freed her from demonic control. And as a result, she gave Him her life. She was the first to see Jesus after His resurrection. What wondrous love! What matchless love! A woman with a history like hers, and He still loved her anyway.

Not only does Jesus love us despite our mistakes, He defends us. Here the crowd of scribes and pharisees were, trying to get Jesus to make a decision (so they could trap Him). But He didn't say a word. He just bent down. Some might wonder how not saying anything counts as defending her. But if He would have said to stone her, He wouldn't be the loving Son of God He claimed to be. If He said to let her go, He wouldn't be following the Mosaic law. So He just bent down and starting writing in the sand.

But they kept pestering Him. So He got up and said, "He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone." I can imagine the woman must have cringed. After all, it was a crowd of self righteous people accusing her. But that didn't happen. The accusers went away. One by one. Oldest first, down to the youngest. He defended this woman. Notice that He did not defend her sin. But He did defend her life.

He loves us anyway, and defends us.

Lastly, He forgives us. And not only does He forgive us, He tells us to stop sinning. He asked the woman where her accusers went and if anyone condemned her. She noticed that they left and said, "No one, Lord." Then Jesus told her to stop sinning. Jesus never asks us to do something without giving us the strength to do it. But don't  be fooled. Neither you nor I can do a thing without Christ. But if we have a relationship with Jesus, then, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." - Philippians 4:13.

Come to the Well

Here is a song by the group Casting Crowns. I hope it touches you as it has me and countless others. 

Praise Through the Hard Times

Have you ever fallen on hard times? Whatever the case may be. The wife of Jacob had a problem. Leah could see that Jacob favored his other wife, Rachel over her. Rachel, after all, was who Jacob wanted to begin with. But because of the custom of the day, Leah had to get married first, being the older of the two sisters.

In Genesis 29 we find the story of Leah beginning to have sons by Jacob. She has one son. She named him Reuben. And she says, in verse 32, "It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now." But Jacob still didn't show her the affection she wanted.

She has another son. This time she named him Simeon. She said, in verse 33, "Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too." But again, Jacob isn't showing her the affection she wants from him.

She has a third son. She names this one Levi. In verse 33, she says, "Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." Except he didn't.

She has a fourth son. She named him Judah. But something different happened this time. She stopped feeling sorry for herself. She realized her worth didn't lie in her husband. She realized her worth was in God. God helped her to understand that praising Him is what it's all about. She said in verse 35, "This time I will praise the LORD."

And you know the cool part about this? When she finally decided to praise God instead of throwing a pity party, God blessed the lineage of that son. It was Judah that the promised Messiah would one day come to rescue Israel and the world.

You see? When we praise God, He does great things. Yes, it may take a while to see them. But this is a hard learned lesson sometimes. Trust me. I've had to learn this the hard way.

I've had such troubles over the years with finding a job. But I began to realize that praising God is step one. Focusing on my relationship with Him is the priority. And when I realized this, God began to bless me in ways that still dumbfound me.

And yes, I'm still learning this lesson. It's an every day, often multiple times a day, battle. The devil isn't going make things easy for me. But as long as I keep my eyes on God, the world around me can fall apart. But my God will supply all my needs, according to His glorious riches.

So when you're tempted to feel sorry for yourself, do yourself a favor, and don't. It only hurts you. Trust me. I know from experience. God is all that really matters. Rise, take up your cross, and follow Him.

I Surrender All

I Surrender All

I surrender all.
All of the pain.
All of the sorrow.
All that this world has to offer.

I surrender my life.
All of my wants.
All of my desires.
All that I thought I was.

I surrender my plans.
All that I have done.
All that I am doing.
All that I will do.

I lay it at your feet, my God.
All that You are.
All that You want for me.
All that you want for my family.

I take up my cross,
To follow You.
To learn from You.
To love like you.

By: Gabriel Taylor
On: September 25th, 2011.

Baggage

We all carry around past hurts and regrets. Often times someone will steer clear of someone else because they have "baggage." But doesn't everyone? Heaven knows I do. I grew up with a bit of a rough childhood.

My biological father left when I was 4. I've had people come and go all throughout my life. I've learned things about people that left me appalled. The baggage list could go on but I won't get in to detail, at least not right now. I may write my biography later on but this post is not the time or place.

If there's one thing I've learned from people coming and going all throughout my life it is this: that Jesus is the one constant. He is the one that has never left me and never will. He said so in Matthew 28:20 and in countless other promises throughout the Bible. It's hard to accept but once you do, it frees you. Knowing that Jesus is always there to catch you when you fall. Knowing that when all others fall away, He remains.

Follow the jump to a video skit by The Skit Guys on this very subject. You will be touched. Your life may very well be changed. This is their skit on Baggage.