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This Story Is a Mirror (Jesus and the Woman Taken in Adultery)

Oct 19

(Excerpt from Warren Wiersbe’s Life Sentences: What Sentence Will Sum Up Your Life?)

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How we respond to the account of the woman caught in adultery helps us better understand our own character. The secret sinner who dwells on such things longs for more details or supplies them from his or her own imagination. The legalist is disappointed that Jesus didn’t recommend capital punishment. But the believer who has experienced the grace of God gives thanks that there is forgiveness with the Lord.

We don’t have to commit this particular sin to know how gracious and merciful the Lord is. “Then neither do I condemn you… Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11). If you have ever heard those words spoken to your own heart, then you will want others to hear them too. You want them to be able to say from their hearts, “The Lord is my light and my salvation.”

A trap for Jesus

The scribes and Pharisees had plotted the bringing of the woman to Jesus, hoping to trap Him. If He forgave the woman, then He broke the law of Moses and was in trouble with the Jews. If He condemned her to be stoned, then He was in trouble with the Romans who alone could execute condemned offenders. They must have planned the trap carefully; how could they have caught her “in the very act” unless they had been waiting for it to happen? But where was the man with whom she had sinned? The law required both parties to be judged (Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22).

Four different lights are shining in this passage, the most important one being Jesus Himself, the Light of the World.

Light #1: Creation

It was daybreak, and Jesus was in the temple teaching the people. The scribes and Pharisees interrupted His ministry by thrusting the woman before Him and demanding an immediate answer. How rude can hypocritical religious leaders get?

1 Response forgiveness, new testament, warren wiersbe Read & Comment

Surprising Truths about the Fate of Abel

Oct 11

How would you sum up Abel’s life in one sentence? Compare your answer to this 1-line summary from Warren Wiersbe, who then shares some convicting and heartening reflections on Abel’s death and Christ’s victory. (This is an excerpt from the eBook Life Sentences: What Sentence Will Sum Up Your Life?)

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Abel - By faith he was commended as a righteous man. -Hebrews 11:4

The most important thing in life isn’t what we think about ourselves or what others think about us, but what God thinks about us. He is the final Judge. When He examines and evaluates our motives, words, and actions, are we commended, as was Abel, or are we condemned, as was his brother Cain? “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at,” God told the prophet Samuel. “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7).

The difference between Cain and Abel

Why did Cain murder his brother? “Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous” (1 John 3:12)… By using the plural “offerings,” Hebrews 11:4 may suggest that [God gave his approval] each time Abel came to the altar; and perhaps each time Cain noticed it, he became angrier and more resentful. What a tragedy to come to worship God and then go away filled with thoughts of murder!

Had you questioned Cain, you probably would have discovered that his theology was fairly sound. He believed in God and believed that God had created all things. He believed that God wanted to receive worship and thanksgiving. He believed that he and his brother were supposed to work and carry their share of the family burdens. But the demons believe in one God, and they aren’t saved; and when they think about God, they tremble — something Cain didn’t do (James 2:19). That’s why James added, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead” (James 2:26).

Dead faith is deceptive faith, but it doesn’t fool God. True saving faith makes the believer into a new creation, with a new Master, new motives, new priorities, and new desires to love God and one’s neighbor. Jesus called Abel “righteous Abel” (Matt. 23:35), and John said that Abel’s actions were righteous, so in both character and conduct, he proved to be a righteous man.

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Hope for Broken Hearts

Oct 10

“We cannot heal our own broken heart,” write doctors Henry Cloud and John Townsend, but there’s hope. Find out why in this excerpt from the NIV Life Journey Bible. -Adam Forrest

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A broken heart vs. “normal” pain

Brokenheartedness is a painful state of being… When we are brokenhearted, our inner self feels smashed into pieces. Brokenheartedness occurs when we do not have the capacity to bear a loss or pain and something breaks inside.

For example, it is one thing to be discouraged in a relationship after a quarrel or period of alienation; it is quite another to be devastated by a severe relationship problem, such as deception, unfaithfulness, abuse or abandonment. We can also be brokenhearted about the loss of a loved one, a serious health issue, an emotional problem or a career loss.

However it happens, life as we know it goes on hold when we are brokenhearted.

What can we do with our broken heart?

We cannot heal our own broken heart in our own strength; we need God. During those times, God does not leave us alone. He takes initiative, healing us and binding our wounds…

3 Responses henry cloud, hope, john townsend, life journey bible, niv bibles, pain, zondervan bibles Read & Comment

Abel’s Death and the Surprising Truth it Reveals about Life

Oct 08

If your life were summed up in one sentence, what would it be? A question question posed by Warren W. Wiersbe’s Life Sentences: What Sentence Will Sum Up Your Life?. In it Wiersbe Steps To Get Your Ex Back With You summarizes 63 lives from the Bible in one sentence each. Here’s his summary, and somewhat surprising reflection, on Abel:

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Abel - By faith he was commended as a righteous man. -Hebrews 11:4

The difference between Cain and Abel

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Jesus on Religious Hypocrites: A Good Show vs. A New Heart

Oct 04

“If you are ever bothered by religious hypocrites,” writes John Ortberg, “if you’ve ever wanted to post a scathing blog about how they turn your stomach, you’ll have to get in line behind Jesus.” Find out why hypocrites got under Jesus’ skin, and explore the difference between good behavior and true goodness, in this excerpt from John Ortberg’s book Who Is This Man. -Adam Forrest

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What makes “a good person”?

The good person is the person whose heart — whose inner being — is bathed and pervaded by divine love. Therefore the good person is not simply one who does good things; it is someone who genuinely wants to do good things…

Jesus’ teaching about the condition of the heart was so compelling that it entered into the moral vocabulary of the human race. The word hypocrite is used seventeen times in the New Testament. Every time it is used, it is used by Jesus. I know of few other words that are so singularly his…

Contrasts between hypocrisy and genuine goodness are laced through much of Jesus’ teaching. But one entire talk, placed by Matthew a few days before Jesus’ death, is devoted to this single topic. If you are ever bothered by religious hypocrites, if you’ve ever wanted to post a scathing blog about how they turn your stomach, you’ll have to get in line behind Jesus, because I do not know of any address by any enemy of religion that is more stinging in its rebuke…

0 Responses hypocrisy, john ortberg, new testament, who is this man Read & Comment

The Most Awkward Dinner Party of All Time (And Jesus Was a Guest)

Oct 01

If you made a list of History’s Top 10 Best Party Guests, would Jesus make your list? You may reconsider after reading this biblical story from Who Is This Man. Author John Ortberg invites us to a dinner that’s surely the most awkward party these guests would ever attend. In the encounter we glimpse the depth of Jesus’ compassion, and discover how his “crankiness and compassion” arise from the same source. Read, enjoy, embrace the awkwardness. -Adam Forrest

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Jesus could be a very irritating person to be around. We are going to look at a dinner where he deliberately picked arguments four times running.

I say this because compassion is a quality Jesus might be most famous for. When a leper asked for healing, Jesus was “filled with compassion.” When a widow cried out to him, “his heart went out to her, and he said, ‘Don’t cry.’ ” Adulterers and tax collectors and prodigals and Samaritans all evoked his compassion. A compassion makeover was coming to the world.

There is a general perception that Jesus was one of those extremely tender feelers who just couldn’t stand pain. Elaine Aron has written a book called Highly Sensitive People about folks who startle easily, who are easily affected by others’ mood or pain, who care deeply about others’ opinions. There is nothing wrong with being a Highly Sensitive Person. I am one myself. What’s it to you?

But other parts of Jesus’ story do not make him look like an HSP. In a story told in all four Gospels, he saw people exploiting the poor in the temple; he took out a whip and drove them away, scattering their money and overturning their tables and saying, “How dare you.”

Most of us Highly Sensitive People do not throw furniture… Jesus was as militant as he was compassionate. How can this man be that man?

There was a day when he exhibited both qualities together.

0 Responses john ortberg, new testament, who is this man Read & Comment

How to Be a Faithful Stumbler

Sep 27

When you’ve failed, what’s more natural for you — to deny your failure, or to claim it? Here Peter’s example shows the good that can come from failure. (This is an excerpt from the NIV Life Journey Bible by doctors John Townsend and Henry Cloud.) -Adam Forrest

While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. “You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,” she said. But he denied it. “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,” he said, and went out into the entryway.

When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, “This fellow is one of them.” Again he denied it. After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.”He began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.” Immediately the rooster crowed the second time.

Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept. -Mark 14:66-72

Mistakes are not the end

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Peter had failed profoundly. Rather than stand up and publicly state his allegiance for his endangered Lord and friend, Peter denied knowing Jesus. And though this failure was significant, it was not final. Peter grew from his mistakes, and Jesus reinstated him [see John 21:15-19]. By all Biblical and historical accounts, the restored Peter was a tremendous leader in the early church.

We need to embrace failure when it occurs. People who spend their lives trying to avoid or deny failure are also eluding maturity. The Bible is full of examples of faithful stumblers who through perseverance and love of God became mature people…

0 Responses failure, forgiveness, henry cloud, john townsend, life journey bible, niv bibles, peter, zondervan bibles Read & Comment

2 Opposing Pictures of Greatness: Herod the Great vs. Jesus the Child

Sep 26

Does it seem strange to you that Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, entered the world as a helpless infant? What are we to make of this? John Ortberg reflects on the crucial differences between Jesus and his contemporary, King Herod, in this excerpt from Who Is This Man. -Adam Forrest

The friend of Romans and the friend of sinners

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He entered the world with no dignity.

He would have been known as a mamzer, a child whose parents were not married. All languages have a word for mamzer, and all of them are ugly. His cradle was a feeding trough. His nursery mates had four legs. He was wrapped in rags. He was born in a cave, targeted for death, raised on the run.

He would die with even less dignity: convicted, beaten, bleeding, abandoned, naked, shamed. He had no status. Dignity on the level of a king is the last word you would associate with Jesus. There is a king in the story, though. Jesus was born “during the time of King Herod.”

To an ancient reader, Herod — not Jesus — would have been the picture of greatness. Born of noble birth, leader of armies, Herod was so highly regarded by the Roman Senate that they gave him the title “King of the Jews” when he was only thirty-three years old. He was so politically skilled that he held on to his throne for forty years, even persuading Caesar Augustus to retain him after he had backed Caesar’s mortal enemy, Mark Antony. He was the greatest builder of his day. “No one in Herod’s period built so extensively with projects that shed such a bright light on that world.” The massive stones of the temple he built are visible two thousand years later.

Jesus was a builder. A carpenter. He likely did construction in a town called Sepphoris for one of Herod’s sons. Nothing he built is known to endure.

In the ancient world, all sympathies would have rested with Herod. He was nearer to the gods, guardian of the Pax Romana, adviser to Caesar. The definitive biography of him is called: Herod: King of the Jews, Friend of the Romans. The two phrases are connected: if Herod were not a friend of the Romans, he would not be king of the Jews.

Jesus would be called “friend of sinners.” It was not a compliment. He would be arrested as an enemy of the Romans.

0 Responses birth of jesus, dignity, herod the great, john ortberg, who is this man Read & Comment

Can You Change Someone Else?

Sep 24

Can you change someone through prayer, good advice, and lots of elbow grease? Find out what doctors Henry Cloud and John Townsend have to say in this devotion from the NIV Life Journey Bible. -Adam Forrest

Influence vs. Control

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Moses did what he could, but he did not try to change things outside of his domain. He changed himself by mustering his own courage, appearing before Pharaoh and delivering God’s message. But he could not change Pharaoh’s heart, nor did he try. Yes, he worked to influence Pharaoh, but he did not have the power to make Pharaoh follow his wishes.

Though Pharaoh was clearly in the wrong, it was not Moses’ job to change him. It was his job to deliver the message.

Like Moses, our boundaries help define what we do not have power over: everything outside of them! As the “Serenity Prayer” reminds us [see below the jump], we need the courage to change the things we can and the peace to accept the things we can’t change. In other words, “God, clarify my boundaries!” We can work on submitting ourselves to the process and work with God to change us. We cannot change anything else: not the weather, the past, the economy — and especially not other people.

2 Responses henry cloud, influence, john townsend, niv bibles, zondervan bibles Read & Comment

What Song Do You Sing? (A Profile of Deborah the Judge)

Sep 19

We all choose a song to sing. What’s yours? We gain insight from Deborah’s song in this devotion excerpted from Once-a-Day Men and Women of the Bible Devotional.

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“So may all your enemies perish, Lord! But may all who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.” -Judges 5:31

What song do you sing? This verse is the last stanza in the famous song of Deborah, the fourth (and only female) leader of Israel during the long and difficult period following Joshua’s death. She organized a military response to the aggression of Jabin, a Canaanite kingpin, whose army included a fearsome 900 iron chariots. Foot soldiers facing this armada would be like modern infantry advancing against tanks and artillery.

In Israel’s army, the determining factor was never the order of battle, but always the faith of its leaders. In an ugly, evil era, Deborah called the nation to its mission. For 40 years the people prospered under her leadership. In one decisive moment, she did not flinch at Sisera’s overwhelming military advantage, but pressed her countrymen to victory — by prayer, words of encouragement and her presence. In the end, her bully adversary lost his army, his life and his honor.

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Bible

This Story Is a Mirror (Jesus and the Woman Taken in Adultery)

A trap for Jesus

Light #1: Creation

Surprising Truths about the Fate of Abel

The difference between Cain and Abel

Hope for Broken Hearts

A broken heart vs. “normal” pain

What can we do with our broken heart?

Abel’s Death and the Surprising Truth it Reveals about Life

The difference between Cain and Abel

Jesus on Religious Hypocrites: A Good Show vs. A New Heart

What makes “a good person”?

The Most Awkward Dinner Party of All Time (And Jesus Was a Guest)

How to Be a Faithful Stumbler

Mistakes are not the end

2 Opposing Pictures of Greatness: Herod the Great vs. Jesus the Child

The friend of Romans and the friend of sinners

Can You Change Someone Else?

Influence vs. Control

What Song Do You Sing? (A Profile of Deborah the Judge)