THE THING ABOUT THROWING STONES

There was a woman who was brought to Jesus, charged with adultery. Her accusers wanted her stoned to death. I was excited at how Jesus showed mercy to her, I mean he forgave her sins but I learnt another lesson from this.

Jesus went ahead to ask about her accusers after he replied to them to throw stones at her if they had not sinned before. They were all gone because none of them could throw a stone at her, they were not perfect. At the time she was caught in adultery, they were eager to throw stones at her, her imperfections were magnified that they couldn't see they had gone astray before.

Jesus' response is a big lesson for us all. Some of us may have attempted to throw stones at other people at a slight display of imperfections from their parts, especially those people we expect so much from. An example would be fellow believers whom we expect to do better in lifestyles and character. Sometimes, we believers may do things that aren't our nature-like, but God doesn't see us through the lens of our offences, he sees us through Christ, he sees us as his righteousness. He's forgiven you of all your sins, he forgave you ahead. So why don't you see others how God sees them? You can do that because you have God in you. You have the love of God in you, an unconditional love spread abroad in your heart to reach out to other people.

We are not to select whom to love or be good to. Sometimes, it's possible to unconsciously select who qualifies for your love because we've already judged. Even before actually getting to know somebody, it's possible to look at them and make judgements or from things you've heard about them.

Don't get it wrong, because you are not to judge others doesn't mean you can't correct or call out people when they go astray. When you do things not in sync with your nature, God corrects you in love. He doesn't condemn you. God is firm but gentle. He wants you to follow the right paths. This is how you should correct people. If you can't confidently correct or call out a person for their mistakes, don't talk behind them or put them down before others, it will only make these people see them the way you've made them to be. Even before correcting, how is your heart towards them, are you already throwing stones in your mind? If so, you need to listen to what God is saying to you at that moment. Let the Holy Spirit lead you not your ego, self righteousness or you may need to drop it. Because you have the liberty to correct does mean you hold a microscope observing every move of a person for a fall. Be more focused on showing love than spotting wrongdoings.

Jesus did correct that woman, but did you notice how he did it?

John 8 vs 10 -11 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” 11 “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

Mathew 18 vs 15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

Ephesians 4 vs 2 With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

Hebrews 12 vs 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

GOD CARES ABOUT YOUR BODY

           

God does not only care about our spiritual wellbeing, he cares about our bodies and minds as well. A reason why he told us to renew our minds regularly with his word that we may attain growth and bear fruits. My focus today is to make you understand that Jesus cares about your body very much. He wants you well, he wants you whole. 
Jesus wants you to experience miracles in other areas of your life too.

Jesus was so passionate about making people well in their bodies. He went about healing the sick and raising the dead. He travelled far and wide to heal/deliver people. Even when he wasn't where the sick was, he made pronouncements and they were well. Miracles are a part of the goodnews that Jesus brought to us, most times we have made up our minds that miracles can't happen to us for one reason or the other and wonder why other people experience it and we don't. You need the right mindset and the right attitude towards Christ which is; he wants you well and he is intentional about you. Yes, having faith in Christ is very important and we are not to base our minds on what we feel or see.

There are two things I want you to gain from John 6, Jesus sat five thousand people down to feed them after the crowd followed him around most of the day. Jesus was sensitive to know they would have been tired and hungry. The first thing to gain is, know when your body needs rest to rest and when it needs care to care for it. Secondly, He had five loaves of bread and two fishes in a basket, Jesus raised the basket and thanked the father without a doubt that those people will be fed. The spirit of God, the working power of God was at work through Jesus while he was on earth. Jesus knew the fullness of God was in him. When we accept Christ into our lives, the fullness of God lives in us. Colosians 1 verse 19 for God in his fullness was pleased to live in Christ”.  Colosians 2 vs 9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. 10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

We are capable of doing what Jesus did and even greater works because the fullness of God is in us. We are sons of God and it's through us that he works his power on earth. Ephesians 1 verse 19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realm.

John 14 verse 12  I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.

John 6 vs 29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” Mathew 17 verse 20 “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”

It's okay if faith is a walk for you right now, God is with you through those steps and he will constantly reveal things to you. Be intentional about it and depend on the Holyspirit to reveal the truth to you because what you know matters, most times it's not knowing the right things that stands in the way. God wants you well and you can pray for your self to get well.

Look beyond your symptoms, and believe you are healed. There was a time I had a fever, I  claimed my healing the instant I felt it, minutes later I got better. It came back the next day though, more serious. I refused succumb to it, i claimed my healing and went about my day. At a point I chose to rest because I hadn't rested the entire day, and i didn't stop believing i was healed. Later in the day, i got up regardless of how I felt and that was the end of it. 

There was a time as a child that I developed a painful red swelling on my body, I was taken to the hospital. After examining me, the doctor told my older sister who was stood in as a guardian that if I didn't get better, he would have to do a surgery. He told us to pray that I got better and wouldn't need that surgery after which he gave me a medicine, I can't recall what type. To have a surgery with the location of the swelling wasn't so good. The swelling was really painful that it affected my movement. My family must have prayed, I can't remember saying a personal prayer. After a while, I got better and was completely healed. I remember not completing my medication, I left a lot of it behind because I played with the drugs, I threw them ignorantly in the air like little balls. This testimony is to show you how intentional God is about healing us even when we are not aware. If I was to be left alone with the drugs I abused I probably would have had a surgery but God intervened.