A Stone’s Throw from Grace

by Edie Melson

When they persisted in questioning Him, He stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.  John 8:7 CSB

Imagine with me the scene that day. A woman has been caught in the act of adultery. In first century Israel, it’s a crime punishable by death—death by stoning. The men and women drag her into the public square. I can hear the voices of her accusers, raised in hatred and condemnation.

• “You’re nothing but filth.”
• “You knew what could happen when you made your choice.”
• “Get rid of her. We can’t have someone like her contaminating our town.”

She’s thrown at the feet of a famous teacher, for him to pronounce the death sentence. Why did they bring her to him? Because he’s known for his compassion. By bringing her crime to his attention they can literally kill two birds with one stone. They can get rid of a sinner and either expose him as a liar, or a lawbreaker.

Instead, Jesus introduces them all to the concept of grace.

And He does it without compromising the law or the heart of compassion he’s known for.

Back in the viewpoint of our sinner, I can imagine her laying there at His feet, covering her head with her arms as she tries to make as small a target as possible. Every muscle is tensed, waiting for the first stone from the angry mob.

As the crowd begins to quiet, instead of the sound of stones whistling through the air, she hears the words of the teacher. His pronouncement takes them all by surprise—even her. And I can imagine that the next sounds she hears are the thumps all around her as the stones drop to the ground as the crowd disperses.

Those in the crowd learned a valuable lesson as did the woman. They learned that they have a choice when it comes to confronting sin. They can be stone-throwers or stone-droppers.

It’s a choice we still have today. Starting today I’m going to make a conscious effort to drop those stones and be an instrument of grace.

This article is brought to you by the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA).

About the author: Find your voice, live your story…is the foundation of Edie Melson’s message, no matter if she’s addressing parents, military families, readers of fiction or writers. As a leading professional within the publishing industry, Edie travels to numerous conferences as a popular keynote, writing instructor and mentor. Her top-ranked blog for writers, The Write Conversation, reaches thousands each month, and she’s the Director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference.

In addition, as a respected expert in social media, Edie has the proven expertise to teach others how to plug in without sacrificing valuable writing time. Her bestselling eBook on this subject has recently been updated, expanded, and re-released as Connections: Social Media & Networking Techniques for Writers.

Join the conversation. Are you a stone thrower or a stone dropper?

From Cover to Cover

by Rhonda Rhea

How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye!  Matthew 7:4-5

“You’re going to cover that, right?” Standard microwave-operating question. It’s actually more command than question. And I don’t think the answer should ever be “no.” Especially if it’s a lasagna reheat. Heating uncovered lasagna in the microwave leaves a tiny-little murder scene.

Still, through the years—more than once, even—I’ve heard one of my family members answer something like, “It’s fine. I’m only heating it for a few seconds.” I picture myself stringing tiny crime scene tape. So I’ve mostly responded: “What I hear you saying is that you’re volunteering to scrub the microwave.”

When we were raising our kids and had a slew of teenagers at home, I remember one time in particular opening my microwave and finding a fat mound of cheese cooked onto the bottom. I’m pretty sure a teen’s recipe for nachos goes like this:

*Take a pile of chips that’s much too large for the microwave.

*Add a ridiculous amount of cheese. I’m talking, ridiculous.

*And then, hey, why not add more cheese? Cheese is awesome.

*And you know what? The bag is practically empty now, so might as well dump the rest on there. All of it. Because…cheese.

The funniest part was that my teenagers rarely noticed the microwave mess. There’s no way you could move those nachos out of the microwave without an eight-foot stretchy cheese-string following you to the table. But no one caught it. My teens had an impressive way of choosing what not to notice.

I’d like to give them a hard time about their cluelessness, except I’ve seen a version of it in myself. Why is it so much easier to find fault in someone else than it is to notice a weakness of my own? There I go. Stringing that eight-foot cheese rope.

Jesus reminds me to notice. He asked in Matthew 7:3, “Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye?” (CSB). In the next verses, He points out the hypocrisy of trying to clean up someone else’s mess without taking care of my own.

All through the Bible, our God “covers” that subject well, as it were. He instructs us to let Him take care of our sin problem, and then let Him show us how to love harder than we blame, to show grace more than we accuse or find fault. Not ignore injustice or make room for sin. But overlook annoyances and rise above petty offenses. We’re called to remember that God has forgiven us, and then notice where love is needed instead of judgment.

Love? It covers.

“Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8 CSB). Peter isn’t saying that by loving others, our sins will be forgiven. Scripture is clear that our sin is covered entirely by the blood of Christ. It’s the most thorough covering in existence. Peter is saying, rather, that when we love someone well, we’re not so quick to notice his cheesiness.

I need to remember this often. To notice it well. I need to notice it with intensity and with intention.

By the way, I’m extra glad for every opportunity we have to cover this topic. In an entirely different way, I’m extra glad we now almost always cover our lasagna.

Thank You, Lord, that You live in me, and that You are faithful to remind. You’ve got it covered.

This article brought to you by the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA).

About the author: Rhonda Rhea is a TV personality for Christian Television Network and an award-winning humor columnist for great magazines such as HomeLife, Leading Hearts, The Pathway and many more. She is the author of 17 books, including the Fix-Her-Upper books, co-authored with Beth Duewel, and the hilarious novels, Turtles in the Road and Off-Script & Over-Caffeinated, both co-authored with her daughter, Kaley Rhea. Rhonda lives near St. Louis with her pastor/hubs and has five grown children. You can read more from Rhonda on her website or Facebook page.

Got baggage? Ever find yourself lugging around messy spiritual baggage like so much purse clutter? Rhonda’s latest release, Messy to Meaningful

Join the Conversation. How do you keep yourself from dwelling on the “cheesiness” of others?

Freedom: Is It Safe?

by Stacy Sanchez

“Aslan is a lion–the Lion, the great Lion.”

“Ooh” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he–quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion”…

“Safe?” said Mr Beaver …”Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

 (C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)

Is he safe? No, but he is good. The first time I read these words as a child, they leapt off of the page and resounded in my being. They became somewhat of an unofficial motto that I have chosen to live by. It’s right up there with “How hard can it be?” My friends won’t even let me finish that sentence anymore. They know what will be coming next–-something very, very hard.

I am a bit of a rule breaker. If there is a sign marking a trail that I’m supposed to stay on, I see that as a mere suggestion and forge my own. “Nothing was ever discovered by staying on the path.” I assert, as I grab my reluctant niece’s hand and tromp off  into the desert. (I may have got a text from her mother the next time I took her hiking, asking if we could please stay on the path.)

I could have been an explorer–-except in cold climates. I’m daring, not stupid. I’m more of a warm weather, beach explorer. More than once, my husband has had to reel me in. The echoes of his warnings still ring in my ears: No, Stacy, you can’t do that. Don’t taste that! There might be parasites. Get off of the lava!! Don’t swim after the sharks! Moray eels don’t like you all up in their face. You went where? By yourself? Are you crazy?

This dare-to-be-me personality of mine has come at the cost of other people’s judgment. When I became a pastor, I was called sinful, uppity, and a woman with an agenda to take over. That’s a lot of names for someone that just wanted to love God’s people.

As the only female to play and coach in a baseball league, I was labeled with words that would today be considered homophobic and sexist. Even now, when I stand up for a righteous cause, I learn a whole new set of words that describe how others think of me.

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36 NIV

In him and through faith in him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence. Ephesians 3:12 NIV

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 NIV

I guess I just take these verses to heart. If the Bible says we are free, ’nuf said. We have the freedom in Christ to be all that He has created us to be. Why don’t we act like it?

Freedom isn’t always safe. Quite the opposite. It can be messy. It costs us something. It cost Christ everything to give us our freedom. He definitely didn’t live a life of safety. If you think about it, a safe life isn’t a free life. We’re bound to be held captive by something or someone—maybe even our own fearful desires for safety.

When we are doing what God has called us to do or be, it can be scary. People will judge us. They will make their opinions known. It can hurt. But God is much more concerned with our character than our comfort. It is scary to step out into the great unknown of his calling. Nope, it might not be safe out there, but it is good because God is good. His ways are good. His plans for us are always good. And sometimes we find out that even though scary, it can be a lot of fun.

“I prefer a dangerous freedom over a peaceful slavery.” –Thomas Jefferson

Amen! Me too! We are free! We have been set free from religious laws, opinions, judgments of others, and the lies of the enemy, because of the unsafe thing Christ did for us on the cross.

No, He is not safe, but He is good! 

Father, sometimes You call us to step out into the great unknown. You want to stretch and grow us into the people you created us to be. It can be scary out there. Forgive us for not trusting You. Just like You grew a little shepherd boy into a great king, You want to make us into something great. Help us to trust that the plans You have for our lives are good and we don’t have to be afraid.

TWEETABLE
Freedom: Is It Safe? – encouragement from Stacy Sanchez on @AriseDailyDevo (Click to Tweet)

About the author: Stacy Sanchez has been married to her beloved husband, John, for 32 years, is a mother of 5, and a very young grandmother of six (soon to be seven) yummy grandcherubs. She is a pastor, author, and speaker. Her passions include teaching Christians about the Jewish roots of their faith, as well as helping to empower women to become all that God has created them to be. When not teaching or writing, you will find Stacy and John walking on the beach and playing with their grandchildren. You can connect with Stacy at her blog, writetotheheart.org, and on Facebook and Instagram.

Join the conversation: What scary thing has God asked you to do?