God's Amazing Grace

John 8:9-11

 (9) And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
(10) When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her,
"Woman, where are those thine accusers, hath no man condemned thee?
"She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her. "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more."
 
The definition of GRACE?

Unmerited favor, divine goodness, mercy, pardon, leniency, forgiveness.
The Bible tells us that GRACE is all sufficient (2 Cor. 12:9) 1 Cor. 15: 10 tells us 
a truly awesome thing, which many of us fail to remember, which is as follows:

"But by the GRACE of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."

We've read about the adulterous woman many times, but fail to realize we are watching Grace in action. To read a definition of grace is one thing; to attempt to describe what in truth it really is, well, there just are no words. Amazing comes the closest, in my opinion.
How does Grace work?  What does Grace do? Let's observe.

In verse 4 of John 8 the scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus, a woman caught in the very act of adultery. It has always amazed me, the nerve these people had, to say to Jesus, as they set her in the midst," Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?"  Their implication was if MOSES said it..well, that was all that mattered. The Lord's opinion didn't' really count, didn't matter at all.
They were, of course, wanting to tempt him, eager to be able to accuse him of something.
   The beginning of grace in action: Verse 6 ".....But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as if he heard them not.
   Grace did not react as we would have. Jesus did not shake his finger in their face, did not raise his voice and shame them by naming their own personal sins aloud. Instead, he remained quiet, chose to ignore their words, though they did not yet silence themselves.
We could learn much by his example. How well we control our tongue reveals to the world just how much we have really learned by spending time with Jesus, or how much we truly lack....how much more we need to grow.

Verse 7 says ...." So when they continued asking him, he lifted himself, and said unto them. " He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone. at her."
 Being convicted by their own conscience, all of them departed, leaving the woman alone with the Lord.

 Sometimes that is what Jesus has to do with us too, has to allow things to happen that force us to be alone with him. Sometimes that is the only way he can get us to listen to him, sad as that is. We have our spouses, our children, our hobbies, our studies, our work, our friends...everything taking up so much of our time HE gets none of it. And if we are never alone with him there is no way he can educate us, instruct us, guide us,  comfort us, uplift us, strengthen us, or embrace us. It is that one-on- one time alone that can empower us to do as he asks.
 
  He asks us to do something; sets it upon our heart and mind so strongly we know it is HIM talking. And what do we do? We say things like "But Lord... I can't..."I have no time." I don't know how." What if this, or what if that? " He will put up with this for only so long. Then he'll turn away, and leave us to do whatever we wish. When that tall a wall gets between us and the Lord, it's not a wall of wood, but steel- and the only thing that can bring it town again is a repentant heart, a sincere heart, one like David's who recognizes how far we've wandered away -- how truly horrible our sins, how desperately we need a new heart.

Grace redirects us. Verse 10  Jesus asks the woman where her accusers are, if none have accused her. "No man, Lord." she says. Verse 11, "And Jesus said unto her. "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more."
Verse 12. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying. "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
Once Jesus touches our life; once he forgives us and sends us on our way we'll fall again, will still make mistakes. But that's okay. He says that "he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness..."
 This means we no longer will have to live as we were before his grace touched us; we'll never have to be stuck in the dark again. We can, in his strength, and with his help, walk on the right paths, following after him...in the light.


Jesus (grace) did not condemn the woman, nor does it condemn us. Instead, he forgives us, is merciful, loving, lenient. Jesus could have humiliated the woman further, could have made her feel more sad, discouraged, worthless. But he didn't. And he treats us with the same kindness and gentleness as he did her. God's grace pardons us, embraces us, heals us, binds up our wounds, and somehow, miraculously changes us into the person we have always wanted to be. God's grace sets us free from the things that have held us in bondage.

God's grace fills us with something we lacked. It so changes our hearts that we are able, through Christ, to no longer walk in darkness but in the light.
We all have things in our past we'd rather forget, things we'd not want anybody else to know about. We forget at times just how amazing a thing God's GRACE is, until Satan reminds us of something we did, and guilt and shame overwhelm us again. We run to the Lord and say "Lord, I am so sorry. Please forgive me."And what does he say?  He says "I don't remember that sin. I don't know what you are talking about. AMEN! Thank you, Lord.

 When we ask for forgiveness- he gives it, and gives it not only, but reminds us that it is now forgotten. Our problem is that we don't take him at his word. I determined awhile back, to get into the habit of reminding myself of that fact. It's helped a lot; has added quality to my life as well as given me the peace that the Lord desires his children to have.

It is the desire of my heart that we all come to rightly reflect Jesus Christ, so that
those who have yet to know him may desire to have that which we have, so that they may share in our JOY. 
Have a blessed day.
Love you much,

Barb