Thank you so much for joining me today for a little coffee break at
Coffee Hour! I hope you had a great weekend. I know the extra hour of
sleep sure helped me, especially after an awesome event on Saturday. I
am looking forward to sharing the highlights with you in a couple of
weeks when this series is complete. As we get closer to the upcoming
season, we will need the reminders of the things that we learned but for
now, let’s get back to The Adulterous Woman! Grab your coffee and come
on in.
So we just finished a little detour so let’s get back to the crowd
and the pandemonium of questions and opinions after Jesus stood up and
cried out professions and confessions in this huge crowd. I can just
imagine the officers standing around watching and listening as their
delusion of being in control crumbled every time they heard someone say,
“This is the Christ.” In fact, Scripture tells us that they had a
little meeting with the chief priests and Pharisees who wanted to know
what in the heck was going on and why hadn’t they brought this man
called Jesus to them.
I love what John 7:46 says: “The officers answered, ‘No man ever spoke like this Man!’”
So Jesus did get to them! Even these guys had hearts with a God-sized
hole that only “The Christ” could fill. Unfortunately the Pharisees
jumped on them like white on rice accusing them of being deceived,
reminding them that no rulers or Pharisees believed in Him so they
shouldn’t!
I feel another detour; in fact, there are two very important detours
that relate to things staring me in the face of my life right now as I
am writing this for you.
First, how does someone get so deceived? If I am honest with myself,
and with you, I have to admit that I’ve asked this question of Him so
many times, more than I can count, especially of people who claim to be
believers of Him and in Him. How could that be? When I look at the word
deceived I can’t help but think the answer lies within the word itself
so I think it’s important to take time to research it. Before I do that,
let’s take a quick look at the second detour, which is not nearly as
long or as deep as the first. The detour is that of the peer pressure of
the Pharisees upon the leaders. I mean here they were at this meeting
and I can just see the fascination that moved from their hearts to their
faces and then finally into their voices as they confessed that no one
had ever spoken like this Man!
As I read these words that the leaders dared to speak about “this
Man,” I can’t help but feel the blanket of pressure thrown upon them as
soon as the words left their mouth. In fact, I bet if I were a fly on
the walls inside this meeting, I’d wager that there was a moment of
silence induced by shock, and you could hear a pin drop on the floor.
These men that dared utter their curiosity were so overwhelmed with
wonder that they didn’t even stop to think before they spoke. They
didn’t take into account what others would think; they didn’t take into
account the possible ramifications. They were responding to what had
pierced the God-sized hole their hearts when they heard His words.
But how many of us dare to respond to that call, to that piercing of
the heart, despite our circumstances, despite what others may think,
even when we know others won’t agree? Even when we know there may be
negative ramifications?
Oh, that we would be moved to rise to the occasion of daring to
answer the call of “The Christ” and not get sucked into societal
pressures.
Join me tomorrow for the other detour which is actually imperative to
take before we meet The Adulterous Woman. In fact, we may feel like we
know her because of this detour!
Joyfully,
Evinda
P.S. Join us today at 1:00 at www.blogtalkradio.com/Chicklit-Power for our show about breaking free from co-dependency, a viral disease indeed!
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