He Who Is Without Sin

“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

This verse from John 8 has been preached on, read and even sung (Rebecca St. James) in my presence many times. Often, I have heard it preached in such a way as to solidify me in the place as one of those that is not without sin. It would be referenced in a lesson that was to defend the cause to not judge one another.

Today I heard this verse and for the first time I realized that 'He who is without sin" was present in that scenario! Jesus not only was sending away those who could not pass judgment, but was showing himself as safe, one who knows our sin problem and would not leave us. "He knows our sin, to our weakness is no strange"

How safe to know that God, as though we are constantly being brought before Him with our sinful transgressions against us, not only sends away our Accuser but says to us, "Neither do I condemn you". If there is anyone who is without sin, has the ability to judge, it would be Him, yet for those covered by His Blood we hear him say, 'I know what you've done and I see the sin that you are struggling with, yet I do not condemn you'.

 

Go and sin no more
He said "I will not condemn you,
I'll forgive and I'll forget it all
Go and sin no more
My child, let me remind you it
is I who'll lead and guide you as you go"

~ Rebecca St. James

Not the same thing

The importance of a daily quiet time has been impressed upon me since the early day of middle school church camp. I have yet to be consistently faithful to a daily quiet time and already  I'm learning that God desires more than reading the Word. It sounds obvious, but acknowledging that prayer isn't synonymous with reading the Bible, is a big eye-opener for me.

The easy solution would be to say that prayer can happen any time, any place, with eyes open, closed, head bowed or while driving down the road. While this type of prayer is beneficial, I have yet to experience, on a routine basis, true confession and intersession in my communication with God. There must be an intentional time before the Lord where I seek to claim His will for my life.

As cliche as it may sound, true communion with God is too important to not take time for. For reasons that don't have to be explained to us, God has established Kingdom on an ask/ receive economy (James 4:3). This means realizing that there are things that God could have in store for my marriage, family and spiritual growth that simply aren't because I haven't asked.

It's time that I begin seeing things through God's economy and merely stop getting through with my daily Bible time,skipping out on the deeper communion with God that is available to me.

Return. Remain.

Feelings of familiarity are such a blessing and familiarity with Scripture, proves to be a solid anchor.

The new TV series on the History channel "The Bible" had me following along through Genesis to Exodus with the portrayal of Abraham, Lot and Noah. One particular verse, in Genesis 19 really stood out to me:

"Early the next morning 

Abraham got up and 

returned

to the place where he had

stood before the Lord"

Morning Bible time has more or less been a familiar habit in my life for many seasons. Each day lending itself to unique struggles- yet cultivating roots, nonetheless. Proving more of God's faithfulness in teaching, than an ability for me to present myself before Him daily. 

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus provides the example of getting up early (Mark 1:35) to go before the Father. It's the familiarity to this meeting that serves as both the blessing and the anchor. Genesis 18:22:

"...but Abraham 

remained

standing before the Lord"

"Remain in Me and I will remain in you.

No branch can bear fruit by itself;

it must remain in the vine.

Neither can you bear fruit

unless you remain in Me" -John 15:4

No matter where I find myself, how close or distant I feel to the Lord the words 'return' and 'remain' will always serve as poignant reminders of the anchor and familiarity that is continually offered in the Lord. 

"You can never fall too far, so fast, so far that you can't get back when you're lost. Where you are is never too late, so bad, so much that you can't change" - Unspoken "Who you Are"