John 8:1-11 They Convicted by Their Own Conscience

Brooklyn Museum - The Adulterous Woman--Christ Writing upon the Ground (La femme adultère--Christ écrit par terre) - James Tissot

John 8:1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.

2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.

3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,

4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

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?

11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

 

In comparison to the mercy of Jesus, the brutality of mankind:

Woman in Iran Receives 74 Lashings for ‘Violating Public Morals’ by Refusing to Cover Her Hair

 

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The Gift and the Responsibility

Samson and Delilah MET DP855461

This portion of the story of Samson comes from Judges 16.  Samson had gifts and responsibilities before God and at this point in his life he had had some failures in fulfilling his duties.

Judges 16:20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.

 

He assumed he would be able to continue to operate in the strength he always had, but the Lord had departed from him. When he got to the moment of his death, he finally obeyed God.

Judges 16:1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.

2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.

3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.

4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.

6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.

7 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.

10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.

11 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.

13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.

14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.

15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.

16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;

17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.

18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.

19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.

21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.

22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.

24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.

25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.

26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.

27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.

28 And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.

29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.

30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.

 

Any gift God gives is for the benefit of other people, and if that lesson is ever forgotten, the gift can be removed.

 

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The Underside of a Tapestry

Textiles; tapestry weaving, a loom being raised to working t Wellcome V0024160

 

Tapestry is not a familiar term in the twenty-first century. Tapestries are complex woven pictures.

La Resurrezione, workshop of Pieter van Aelst, 1525 - 1531

 

The back side of a tapestry can show the change of thread color, or have some knots.  The top side of the tapestry is the finished product.  The top side may look beautiful.  The bottom side may look unappealing with a mass of threads and knots.

Cassie Floan helps with a river tapestry (9897215656)

 

Our lives are like tapestries and much of what is woven in them depends upon us.  Do we start something and then stop, and a thread is cut and that part of the tapestry is incomplete?  Do we fail to fill in one section of the tapestry totally?

Jesus purchased back the ability to walk in the graces and gifts and life of God.  Once we receive that by being born again, what we do with that is up to us.

There are many parables that indicate that life is a two way street, a two way relationship between God and man.  There are those who like to focus on the finished work of Christ only, and it is a finished work.  However, the objective is to move the finished work from the unseen into the seen, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  That requires our involvement and obedience to the Spirit of the living God.

None of us knows what tiny action may be the thread of a new beginning in the tapestry of life.

There used to be a saying that you don’t hear anymore, at least I haven’t heard it for a long time; it is an altered rhyme of a poem.

“Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do or die.” Source

 

It sounds a lot like what the Lord God said in Eden.  He gave a command and if they did not obey the consequence was “thou shalt surely die”.

Who has despised the day of small things?

It is very easy and human for the natural mind to take over and say, “I don’t need to bother with that” or “that is unimportant”.  We really don’t have a good understanding of what is important from the standpoint of heaven.

Isaiah 55:6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

 

 

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Train Tracks

train tracks

Photo by Wolfgang Rottmann on Unsplash

Moving into 2024, life will be like a railroad train track.  This is not anything new or unknown or a surprise if one reads the Bible.  The fact that there are two different pathways is woven throughout the Bible.  One pathway leads to life.  One pathway leads to death.

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

 

There have been some who have sought to be in tune and on time. For them 2024 will bring this.

Psalm 20:5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the Lord fulfil all thy petitions.

 

Then there are those that the Lord has asked them to do something, some act of obedience, that has yet to be fulfilled. In image, these individuals are standing on the edge of a high cliff. The undone deeds may  come back like a boomerang and knock them off balance … not a good place to be.

Spiritually speaking, it is good to clear the books and balances at the end of 2023.

Photo by Tuấn Thanh on Unsplash

 

 

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