“I’m thoroughly convinced that one of the keys to a successful Christian life is to remember that God’s heart is one of mercy and forgiveness, not judgment. Maybe you remember in the Bible when the religious leaders brought this woman caught in the act of adultery before Jesus. They said, ‘look, she broke the law, and the law says she has to be put to death. What do you say about it?’ Well, that was a trap to try to catch Jesus in His words, but He replied to them (paraphrased) ‘whoever among you guys has never done anything wrong before, you throw the first stone at her.’ Of course with that, they all slinked away. Jesus said to the woman, ‘look, I don’t condemn you, go and sin no more.’ You see, the religious leaders would if they could, but they could not. And Jesus could if we would, but He would not. All because He’s the embodiment of God’s heart- a heart of mercy and forgiveness, not judgment.” ~CJ McKay

Remember God’s Heart

In case you’re not familiar with the Scripture CJ is referring to, here’s the full text from John 8: “At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ They 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. When 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.’ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At 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. Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir,’ she said. ‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’ “

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Jesus, Friend of Sinners

In a commentary from Enduring Word, I found this beautiful and encouraging explanation of this story. Referring to when Jesus bent down to write on the ground: “a low posture, identifying with the humiliation of the woman. Jesus did what He could to identify with, care for, and ease the embarrassment of this woman. One may say this story illustrates the great problem: how can God show love and grace to the sinner without being unjust, without breaking His own law? He does it by first identifying with the sinner in their low condition.”

What If We Must Confront Sin? 

In this interaction between Jesus and the religious leaders, we see “Jesus exposed a common sin: a desire to punish the sins of others, while ignoring our own sin. If we must look at the sins of others, we must be aware that we have also sinned. There is still a place for exposing and rebuking and directly dealing with the sins of others in God’s family, but it must always be done with a heart that recognizes itself as a forgiven sinner. When done right, confronting sin is done more often with tears and a broken heart than with anger and condemnation.” (Enduring Word Commentary)

When you’re struggling and being hard on yourself, or dealing with someone else being harsh with you, I hope you’ll remember God’s heart of mercy towards you. Turn toward Jesus and allow Him to help you repent and go forward in the knowledge of your identity as His child. 

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God bless you. Stay hopeful!

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Well, this certainly was a revelation to me. Sometimes as Christians we get caught up in doing our best to make things happen…we’re trying to get God to do things for us. I guess maybe I was caught up in that. The other day I heard this still small voice inside of me say, “Grace is already flowing; all you have to do is just get in it.” That’s all you have to do, just get into the grace and things will happen. And you know what? That grace started flowing at the cross and it’s been flowing ever since.

CJ McKay

Did you know that the Jews in the Old Testament were to follow approximately (there is some dispute among scholars) 613 laws or commandments to be right with God? While these days there might not be many people trying to keep all the Old Testament laws, the mindset of trying to earn salvation is surely alive and well. Let’s talk about why grace changes everything in the life of a believer, and how we can keep ourselves from falling into the trap of legalism. 

1) Understanding Grace

The form of grace you might be most familiar with is the characteristic of God towards people usually described as “undeserved favor” resulting in the possibility of our eternal salvation. But read the Scriptures carefully, and you’ll notice another meaning: “this favor overflows in powerful, practical helpfulness from God in your daily life where you most need it.” ~John Piper, (desiringGod.org) The beauty of this truth: not only does God give us the means to be reconciled to Him and saved from eternal punishment, but He also strengthens us to do what He’s made us to do in our daily lives. 

He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.

2 Timothy 1.9

God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

2 Corinthians 9.8

2) How Grace Changes Us

So how should we live in the face of grace? We should be a deeply grateful, loving, humble people. When our human nature tries to rear up and cause us to be judgemental, harsh, or prideful, we’re forgetting that without God, we’re in exactly the same boat as the people we’re judging. 

The enemy is so tricky, and it’s easy to begin to subconsciously think that because we made the decision to follow Jesus, we’re actually better than the people who haven’t yet. Or that we’re doing better than other believers for some reason or another. Be wise to the tricks of the enemy, and root out thoughts like that ruthlessly. Humble yourself and immerse yourself in the Word to change your thinking and your heart.

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3) Lean Into Grace

If you find yourself struggling with your thoughts as described in the paragraph above, pray about it, confess, and find scriptures to help you change your thinking (examples to follow). Just as we can’t earn salvation, and we don’t have the strength in ourselves to obey the Word or do what God has called us to do, we also can’t change our minds on our own. Ask God to help you root out thoughts that are unpleasing to Him. Ask Him to replace your thoughts and the attitudes of your heart with His own. God, help me to see people the way You see them. Create in me a clean heart. 

Confession is a powerful way to humble yourself. Talking to God and asking forgiveness for the things you’ve done, thought, or neglected to do help you remember that you’re not perfect; that you need God as much as anyone else. 

Studying your Bible and choosing Scriptures to meditate on will help you change your thoughts. Below are 3 to start with, but I encourage you to find others that speak to you. 

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Romans 3.23-24

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2.8-9

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

Isaiah 30.18

Fighting self-righteousness is something all believers have to do on one level or another. Do you have a go-to Scripture to help you in your fight?

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God bless you. Stay hopeful!

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“Do you have problems making decisions because you kind of feel like, ‘Well, I’m not sure I can hear from God.’  Well, here’s what Jesus said about that. In the New Living Translation, John 10:27, he said, ‘My sheep listened to my voice. I know them and they follow me.’ Jesus says, ‘Yeah, you do hear from me. You hear from God.’ Start believing that. Hope that’s a source of comfort for you.”

~CJ McKay

This is a source of insecurity for many Christians today- whether or not we can hear from God. Can you relate? One thing that might be tripping you up is if you’re expecting an audible voice or an unquestionable experience. That’s not the norm for most followers of Jesus. His Spirit speaks to us in a “still small voice” (1 Kings 19.12) that we have to learn and practice to recognize. Be encouraged by the fact that God wants to speak to you. Jesus died on the cross for the very purpose of giving us a way to have a relationship with God. If you’re not sure how to distinguish God’s voice from your own thoughts, or the voice of the enemy, read on for 3 ways to tell.

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1. Does it line up with God’s Word?

One thing you can be very sure of: if you’re feeling a leading to do something that goes against God’s Word, it’s not God’s voice. Of course, this means you need to know what the Word of God says. Spending time reading the Bible and in prayer will help you know how to live your life, will show you the character of God, and will give you peace in times of trouble. 

2. How does it make you feel? 

The Bible tells us God is our loving father, that He corrects us for our good, and that He is patient and kind. On the other hand, the enemy is the father of lies, our accuser, and the author of confusion. To add another voice into the mix, our own voices are often speaking against the truth of God, out of our insecurities or lies we’ve come to believe. We can learn to discern the voice of God by spending time with Him, praying and listening, and by taking the time to think about what the voice is saying and how it’s saying it. 

3. Is there confirmation? 

God is not trying to trick us. He’s not purposefully making it hard for us to hear His voice. There’s so much noise around us today that we can easily lose focus and end up listening more to the voices of the world than to God. When you feel the Lord telling you something, watch for confirmation, probably from multiple sources. Many times I’ve felt the Lord trying to teach me something from Scripture, or telling me to do something, and then that same thing might come up in a conversation with a friend, in the sermon on Sunday, and then on my favorite radio program the next day! Prayerfully keep your eyes and ears open.

Remember, God knows your heart. If you are trying to please Him and be obedient to Him, He knows that. Your heart towards Him is more important than if you make every decision perfectly or make all the right moves. Learning to recognize God’s voice in your life might take some practice, but you’ll learn from your mistakes. And God’s always right there with you…He’ll lead you to where you need to be.

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God bless you. Stay hopeful!

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