Written on the Ground

"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in the act of adultery," John 8:3 records.

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees wanted to trap Jesus. Asking him to judge a case that needed no appeal. If he said she should not be stoned, then he was breaking the Law of Moses. If he said she should be stoned, then he could be guilty of inciting the Jews and breaking the Law of Rome.

On the horns of a dilemma.

What does Jesus do?

He stoops down and writes on the ground.

What did Jesus write?

Did he merely draw a doodle in embarrassment? Hardly likely. Did he list the sins of the accusers? Could be. Did he write the names of woman who the accusers had adulterous relations with or thoughts of? Possibly. Did he first write the charge before reading it in the custom of Roman judges? The condemning, "If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her," of John 8:7? He may have. Did he write Exodus 23:1&7 about being a malicious witness or bringing false charges? That would confront them. Did he write Jeremiah 17:13, "Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust," as a condemnation of their sinfulness? We do not know.

Whatever he wrote convicted them of their sinfulness. All of us have sinned. A fact.

Whatever he wrote exposed their hypocrisy. The sin of pretending you have no sin.

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees were guilty. Hypocrites. They stood in judgment. They stood with stones. They stood as sinners. With no room to judge. They dropped their stones. And they walked away. One by one.

When Jesus confronts you with your stone in hand, what is written on the ground before him?

What is your sin? Where is your hypocrisy?

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99 44/100%

Ninety nine and forty four one hundredths pure.

Purity.

We like the idea.

Clean. Fresh. Real. Simple. Virtuous. Upright. Good.

Sinless.

Ninety nine and forty four one hundredths pure? Not me. Not on my own.

I need purity imputed, righteousness received.

But how?

How does a person who is sinful and impure by nature become pure?

Authority. I am not God. You're not either. We can not conquer sin alone. We need power beyond our performance and authority beyond our ability. Purity starts with submission to God's authority.

Humility. Submission is an act of humility. Without which when continually striving on our own we will continually fall. Into sin. Purity grows where pride is pruned by humility.

Accountability. You can not do it on your own. Humility knows even with Holy Spirit empowerment, you still need external, flesh and blood accountability. Purity flourishes through shared accountability.

Need purity? Struggling with a secret sin? Debt? Pornography? Gluttony? Gambling? Jealousy? Judgmentalism? Anger? Worry? Adultery? Gossip? Fill-in-the-blank-thing-you-want-to-keep-hidden?

Be bold enough to submit to God's authority.

Be vulnerable enough to exercise humility.

Be courageous enough to engage in accountability.

Your purity is supernatural. It's a gift from God. Stop giving in to temptation. Forget the Deceiver's lies. Confess. Repent. And receive your gift of purity. 

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

Thanks for reading, Friends. Please share a comment, share this post, or subscribe. And, if you are struggling with a secret sin and need some accountability, then use my confidential contact page. You'll get no judgment, just guidance.

Biggest Problem

So often the biggest problem with me is me.

Just me.

I am my own biggest problem.

Not the circumstance I find myself in. Not the choices of others.

But the stuff within me. That seeks to control me.

Fear that stymies courage.

Pain that hinders growth.

Pride that conquers all.

I've seen the enemy. And he is me.

My own evil desires. My sin nature within me. My compulsions toward control, posture, pleasure, image, recognition, unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, laziness. These and so many more lurk within. And they lurch for control.

And, bless my heart, I'm stuck with me. You think you've gotta it bad putting up with me sometimes? Well, you don't have to live inside this head. I gotta put up with myself all the time.

Or do I?

Can I somehow replace all that desires evil and ill with something that is better than I can imagine or achieve on my own?

Can I surrender self?

Can I hand-off my biggest problem?

Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn't pleased at being ignored. Romans 8:5-8 MSG

Having made that life changing handoff, let me resist wresting control back again. Or again. Or again and again.

What's your biggest problem?

How do you handle it?

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I'm Good

Our church has a prayer chapel. An external, single room building that sits at the edge of our parking lot near some trees. 

This afternoon as I was returning from lunch, a car was parked in the shade next to the chapel. The driver had his window down.

I greeted him and asked, "Can I help you with anything?"

"Just taking my lunch," came his reply.

So I stated, "Didn't know if you wanted to use the prayer chapel. I can open it for you."

He responded, "No thanks. I'm good."

Really?

You sure?

I hope you are good.

I pray you are good.

He very well may not have wanted to inconvenience me. Or maybe my odd request caught him off guard. So he answered without thinking. But the irony—seemingly not wanting to pray—was not lost. 

How many times in my life can I be prayerful? Always.

How many times do I give God the "I'm good" when I'm far from it?

How many times have I left the throne of grace unattended because I was too busy bowing at some throne of sinful humanity? Even my own deceived, fallen humanity.

Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time. Hebrews 4:16 HCSB

Knew Neither

Have you ever been overcome by a Scripture? A Scripture so inspiring or so convicting that it just stops you right in your tracks? 

That was my experience in daily Bible reading recently. We read God’s Word to know God, His purposes, and His ways. We read God’s Word to learn. We read God’s Word to be surprised too. A daily Bible reading plan, like those through YouVersion on your smartphone or computer, keeps you in the Word and allows God to speak. Even when you don’t expect it. 

So, there I was. Minding my own business. Reading through Judges. And chapter 2 verse 10 overcomes me. It jumped up, grabbed me, sat me down and started my mind racing. 

“After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.” Judges 2:10 NIV

Oh, no! That's the genertation of Joshua and the conquest of the Promised Land. That generation saw God do amazing acts and benefited from His gracious blessing.

What went wrong? Did they never tell their kids what God had done in their lives? Didn’t they seek to introduce their kids to a personal relationship with God? This younger generation didn’t know the God who calls them His own because of the shortcomings of their parents. What a tragedy!

It got even tougher as I thought about me. And you. And our generation. How am I doing? How are you doing? As parents, we love our kids. As Christ followers, we love all children. We want children to know God more intimately than we do. Thats our hope. But is it our prayer? Is it our practice?

We can not make children or young adults follow Jesus. But we can show them the way.  

We can love them through their challenging and changing years toward maturity.

We can pray for them all along the way. Every day. Or even moment by moment. Like breathing.

And we can teach them. Teach them with the Bible. Tell them with our words. Show them by our example.

Let it not be said that our children knew neither God or His great works.

Teach them. Tell them. That they might know.

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