Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from the group Phillips, Craig, and Dean singing … Your Grace Still Amazes Me … poignantly singing of God’s saving and sanctifying grace is truly AMAZING.
==============
Highlight Verse[s]: John 8:7 [NLT] … [see photo] 7 They kept demanding an answer, so He stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”
… Recognizing the God’s Law about the sin of adultery, Jesus challenges the Pharisees to cast the first stone at the woman if they are without sin themselves.
==============
Highlight Passage [context]: John 8:1-11 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus challenges the Pharisees to cast the first stone at the adulteress if they are without sin.
==============
Reference Passage : … Matthew 7:1-5 [NIV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus’ teaching on avoiding a prideful/haughty spirit and first examining ourselves before judging/blaming others.
Reference Passage : … Romans 3:23 [NIV] … 23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
… Not one of us could have been one to cast the first stone as Jesus commanded in John 8:7.
Reference Passage : … 1 John 4:1 [NIV] … 1 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God.
… Before we judge/blame others, we must test the situation and have all the facts.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Alyson Kieda, uses a story to illustrate how we are often tempted to blame others … when we, ourselves, must examine our own lives before casting the first stone of blame. And the ODB author wrote: Lisa felt no sympathy for those who cheated on their spouse . . . until she found herself deeply unsatisfied with her marriage and struggling to resist a dangerous attraction. That painful experience helped her gain a new compassion for others and greater understanding of Christ’s words: “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone” (John 8:7).
Anyone, besides myself, have a tendency to judge or blame others harshly when we see them involved in a flagrant sin? Our prideful/arrogant … very natural … spirits can, so easily, … raise up when we see someone sinning, can’t they?
But then, if we take into account what Jesus taught in the highlight passage … as well as the other truths in the reference passages, we need to hold back, don’t we, and examine all the facts, as well as our own, natural, sin nature, before we cast the first stone at others?
And I am one who, among many I think, will try to be guarded to avoid any knee-jerk blame if I see others sinning today, checking my own spirit to be in line with that of the grace of my Lord. And yes, like the song, linked above, I too am amazed that God would grant me His grace to have saved me, a sinner, … and now to give me the power to try to avoid sin in my life today … and tomorrow.
=============
My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for giving us Your amazing grace.
=============
My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me to do all we can to avoid casting the first stone at other, fellow, sinners. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
No comments:
Post a Comment