My heart and desire first and foremost is to see many come into the kingdom, and for the Body of Christ, it is to see them healed and made completely whole and to walk in the fulness of their redemption, and understanding the love of God. In understanding this, it avails them to walk thru life as victors and free from all condemnation and guilt. Having a working knowledge of the love and grace of God is one of the most powerful and life changing things that can take place in the understanding of how to be successful as a christian in their own personal lives and professions. Knowing this they will be empowered to walk and conduct themselves as our Lord would have them too.
On of the examples Jesus used to demonstrate this was when the Jews wanted to stone the woman caught in adultery. In John 8:7-11 Jesus addressed this issue of grace and forgiveness. As they were getting ready to stone her Jesus said: “Let the one who has NEVER sinned throw the first stone!” of course I can imagine that those in the crowed surrounding those who were getting ready to stone the woman were saying to themselves, “that is uncle Jim, he can’t throw a stone, he stole some food from the street vendor, and that is my brother he was fornicating last night, and that is my dad, he has lied many times to me.” So Jesus knowing the law used the law against the stoners, and of course they were convicted and the scriptures said when they heard Jesus they were convicted and began to slip away one by one. I see to much of this self righteous judging going on today from our leaders in the pulpit to those in the pews, still living by the letter of the law. Now don’t misunderstand me, I am not advocating sin or feel sin is ok to do, sin does bring consequences, believe me I think we all can attest to that. But LOVE COVERS a multitude of sin! (notice Jesus did not go around telling people about her and trying to scar her name or reputation, no he forgave, restored and gave her the confidence to start over again) We that are spiritual should restore in a spirit of meekness those who have missed it unless we also fall into the same situation considering ourselves. (Gal.6:1-3). Much more can surely be said of this but I need to move on.
So what did Jesus do? He asked the woman “Where are your accusers ( remember the devil is the accuser of the brethren) Didn’t even one of them condemn (Judge and Punish) you? He then goes on to say “Neither do I pronounce judgement and punishment on you, go and sin no more” Wow! How powerful is that, Jesus is the grace and love of God in action. He could have done what many do and responded in this manner: “Woman you should be ashamed of yourself, you did this to yourself, you are a sinner, an adulterer, boy are you not blessed that I came by and saved your neck” No, thank God he did not! He empowered her to move on with her life and become victorious. Had he answered her in a self righteous and condemning way, that lady would have been so sin conscious and guilt ridden she would have never been able to recover and move on with her life, it would have empowered her to live the way she did before and led a life based on her works only and in fear. We can learn a lot from this in how we look at others who have stumbled in their walks with God.
In John 3 Jesus said I did not come to condemn (judge and punish) the world, but through him we might be saved (deliver, heal, protect, forgive, prosper, etc). This is how Jesus operated and he is the will of God in action.
Thank God we can be the ones who heal our wounded in stead of the ones who kill our wounded and slander their names and deformation of their character etc. Lets begin to restore and protect our own and empower them to stand tall and fulfill what God has for them. In the words of one of the greatest men of God that I had the privilege to be associated with: “You never make your light shine any brighter by putting another mans out.”
I will continue with this subject in my next blog! Remember you are valuable and precious to not only me and to those around you but also to the Lord Jesus Himself.