Decisions Decisions!

 Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

John 8:1-5

     Decisions!  We face them every day.  Some are easy to make (Coffee before speaking for me please). And some are not so simple (Bacon wrapped salad or salad wrapped bacon?).  But have you ever had a decision to make that, no matter what you decided, someone was going to be ticked off at you either way?

     In today's passage, a woman has been brought to Jesus who was caught in the very act of adultery.  Adultery, in Jesus' time, was punishable by death!  Jesus taught grace, love and mercy.  And this woman has been brought to Jesus, by the religious leaders, and put in front of Jesus for a decision.  Jesus was teaching a crowd of people about God's love, mercy, forgiveness and grace, and now He has to make a decision that is going to make Him EXTREMELY unpopular with either the "Church Folk" who brought the woman or the people He had been teaching.  Jesus had been put in a "damned if you do and damned if you don't" situation.

     What about us?  Do we have decisions to make that are "damned if you do and damned if you don't"?  Let's face it, you can't make EVERYBODY happy. And let's also understand, you will discover who your TRUE friends are in such situations because they will stand by you even if they disagree with your decision.

     Meanwhile back at the ranch, Jesus has a decision to make.  If he decides that the "Church Folk" are correct, then His teaching about love, mercy, grace and forgiveness will be seen as a pack of lies and no one will want to listen to Him ever again.  On the other hand, if He decides to go the route of mercy, grace, love, and forgiveness, the "Church Folk" will take umbrage and tell the Romans that Jesus should be killed because He was inciting the common folk to go against the church.  What to do, what to do?

     But Jesus took Door #3 and told the "Church Folk" if their way was so good, then they needed to be the ones to STEP UP and prove it!  Were the "Church Folk" right?  Technically, yes!  According to the Law of Moses, having been caught IN THE ACT of adultery, the woman should have been killed (and so should the man she was with).  But the reality is this, none of the "Church Folk" were willing to step up and hurl the first rock.  They liked Jesus even less after this, but they preferred to be cowardly and make a lot of noise rather than step up and prove their ideologies.

   And this same struggle continues. So we have a decision to make (damned if you do and damned if you don't): Will you cut and run?  Will you step up and prove your ideology?  Or will you just make a lot of noise for attention and so people will think your noise makes a difference?  

Ever Have That Sinking Feeling?

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water 
and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, 
he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
 ~Matthew 14:29-31

Ever feel overwhelmed by life? Sometimes it feels as if, no matter how hard you try, you just can't seem to keep your head above water.

Peter felt like that.  He and the Disciples were in a boat because Jesus has told them to go ahead.  A storm came up and was bouncing the boat around, when they saw Jesus (thinking He was a ghost) walking on the water toward them.  Jesus told them who it was and for them not to worry.  Then Peter (and I love Peter) told Jesus to prove it was Him by letting him (Peter) walk on the water too.  

Jesus told Peter to "come on in."  So Peter hopped over the side and started walking toward Jesus.  And then...."Reality" set in!  Peter took his focus off of Jesus and started looking at the noisy and the in-your-face storm, with the wind and the waves, and Peter got scared.  When Peter got scared, he began to slip under the water.  When he fixed his focus on Jesus, the storm was not a bother.  But when he started looking at the storm instead of Jesus, the storm became overwhelming!

Let's face it, Life has a way of being loud, in-you-face, and overwhelming.  But when you stop for a moment to think about it, no matter what life throws at us, Jesus is right there with us reminding us that He is our life preserver!

Consider what God has told us in Isaiah 43:1-3:

But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you.
    O Israel, the one who formed you says,
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
    I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you go through deep waters,
    I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
    you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
    you will not be burned up;
    the flames will not consume you.
 For I am the Lord, your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

Keep your focus on Jesus and the things of this world will grow strangely dim. 

Just One More Chance.....PLEASE?

All who have been united with Christ in baptism 

have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 

~Galatians 3:27

 

Have you ever messed up so badly that your prayer wasn't "Help!" rather is was more "Please God tell me You didn't see that"?  

  

When I first became a Christian, I admit that I wasn't very clear on the concepts of Grace, Mercy, and Forgiveness.  I spend (wasted) so much time trying not to mess up and worrying about whether I had messed up and not realized it.  And, of course, the enemy loves to play games with people like me, "Are you SURE you didn't think something bad just now?  Try NOT to think about how angry that person makes you!"  I would even go so far as to write down the things I knew I had done wrong so I could ask God to specifically forgive me for them.  And guess what?  When I had a "not too bad" day, I was cocky and proud of myself!  When my day was "a horrible very bad no good" day, I was crushed.  So I spent the first years as a believer on this rollercoaster and ended up feeling pretty worthless.

 

Finally, I saw a quote from Martin Luther, "Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly!"  Was he giving me permission to do whatever I wanted and to sin freely without regret?  Absolutely not!  It's the last part that caught my attention, "But believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly."  You see, Martin Luther got it!  He understood the truth that we are going to mess up (Thank you Adam and Eve), but because of the sacrifice of Christ we are given second chances!

 

Then someone showed me Romans 7:15 where the Apostle Paul openly states, "For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want—instead, I do what I hate."  The Apostle Paul messed up!  That brought a huge sense of relief to me.  

 

Then I was reminded of the people that God had given second chances:

     *  Samson was a proud womanizer, God gave him a second chance to fulfill God's plan for him. 

     *  Sarah LAUGHED OUT LOUD when she heard God's messengers telling Abraham that she would bear a son at 99 years old, yet God gave her a second chance to fulfill God's plan for her.

     *  Peter denied Jesus THREE TIMES (and with profanity), yet God gave him a second chance to fulfill God's plan for him.

     *  Saul (who became Paul) tried to destroy Christianity, yet God gave him a second chance to fulfill God's plan for him.

 

You see, God is the God of second chances, and because, as believers, we have put on Christ like a new garment, God sees Christ when He looks at us.  There's no better feeling than knowing that God has forgiven me in spite of me.  And that God has given me second chance(s) to fulfill His plan for me.

Feel Like Giving Up?

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

 

Ever feel like giving up?  I have, lots of times.  Some of those times I gave up and some I didn't.  I can tell you that the times I did give up are not good memories.

 

I have talked with people who are enduring horrific diseases like cancer and leukemia.  I have talked with people who have been injured severely enough that limbs had to be removed or they are no longer able to move without help.  But there is one aspect of each of these people that strikes me as encouraging...they refused to give up!

 

Our bodies WILL at some point start to slow down and might even deteriorate, but the unconquerable spirit that comes from realizing and understanding that as long as we have breath God has a mission for us.  Say what you will about wanting to quit trying, but here's a little tidbit, when God has a mission for you, He will stop at nothing to make sure you fulfill that mission.

 

We have a choice to make:

       1. We can focus on why it's impossible for us to accomplish.

       2. We can focus on God see Him accomplish the impossible through us.