I’m sharing a beautiful song to pair well with one of the most beautiful examples of the forgiving grace of Jesus.
April 23
2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:2-11)
I had to double back and hit this story after I wrote my judgmental “Earth Day” post where I passed judgement on how we have treated this planet. This beautiful story above needed to be on its own day, and all attention devoted to learning the message within. In the Bible I am using to pull all these verses from, The Jesus Bible, the authors included an aside that early manuscripts and ancient witnesses do not include the story above at all. I decided to do some research to make sure John was the only Gospel to include this narrative and I found a post that moved me to tears, and I knew I could not write a devotion on this without pulling from this fresh analysis that was an anointing of perspective to my soul. So instead, I will simply share it here and let you read it for yourself. #whichsideareyoustandingon
Reading plan: John 18:25-40
Deeper reading plan: 1 Chronicles 23, 24, 25, 26
Prayer and meditation: Pray for the sick, pray for the lost and their loved ones. Pray for recovery Pray for redemption for this lost world. Pray that you find ways to draw near to Jesus each and everyday.
Fitness challenge: 28 minutes of running. This is a minimum, you can always run further.
Common Sense Reborn 