Dr H Reflections

Introspection – discovering our inner pain

Introspection – discovering our inner pain

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. – Psalms 139:23-24

Psalms 139:1-12

1 O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.

2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.

4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD.

5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!

8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.

9 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.

11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night–

12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.

What is introspection? Introspection is a psychological process that involves looking inward to examine one’s own thoughts, emotions, judgments, and perceptions. In everyday use, introspection is a way of looking inward and exploring one’s internal thoughts and feelings (Kendra Cherry).

The term introspection, also referred to as experimental self-observation, describes a research technique that psychologist Wilhelm Wundt first developed. Wundt’s technique involved training people to analyze the content of their own thoughts, feelings, and motives (Kendra Cherry) carefully and objectively. The goal is to lead to increased self-awareness.

The inherent dilemma is that personal introspection is not objective. It is subjective.

Hidden trauma, abuse, learned responses, and even unknown agendas lurk beneath the surface of each individual. These hidden soul-suckers are deceptive, and we are often unaware of them. They create a natural barrier or limitation to genuinely understanding ourselves. Consequently, our efforts and results are often inherently skewed.

Further, the human heart is untrustworthy. It is deceitful and evasive. It is essentially unknowable.

Jeremiah 17:9 The human heart is the most deceitful of all things and desperately wicked. Who can understand it?

Is there an objective way to discover who we really are? David shows us the way!

David wants to know if there’s anything in him which causes pain for himself, others, or the Father.

REFLECT & PRAY

“If we cannot deceive God, escape God, or ignore God, is it not sensible to obey God? Yes, it is reasonable, but there are those who prefer to oppose God and dispute what He says . . . in His Word” (Wiersbe).

Father please search my heart. Reveal what is inside of me which is offensive to You and hurtful to myself and others. Remove the dark spots that remain on my heart.

INSIGHT

The Father God is all-knowing. He knows everything all the time. His evaluations are not only objective, but they are also totally accurate. He knows everything about us and always has. Nothing is hidden from Him. If we had a medical condition, would we not seek a medical professional for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment? When we have harmful internal spiritual conditions, who better to seek help from than the all-wise, all-knowing living God? Every child of the King can seek counsel from their Father.

David is well aware of the Father’s personality and essence. In his prayer to Him, he acknowledges his all-knowing wisdom and understanding.

Psalms 139:1-7

1 O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.

2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.

4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD.

7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!

Therefore David asks the Father for an evaluation. He requested the Father to examine him and accurately determine what was lurking within.

The context of David’s request is revealing. David had just criticized and prayed for the destruction of his enemies. It is almost as though David wonders if he is justified. David is sagacious and had hidden God’s Word in his heart. He seems virtually prescient of biblical principles that the Lord Jesus Christ would teach a millennium later.

Was it wrong of David to cast the first stone (John 8:7)? Did his own agenda and sin cloud his conclusions? How often do we do the same thing but never consider the potentially faulty objectivity and accuracy in our negative criticism of others?

Luke 6:41-42

41 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?

42 How can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

He wants to make sure there is no log stuck in his eye.

Psalms 139:23-24

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

The two phrases in Psalm 139:23 are synonymous Hebrew poetry and rhyme in thought. They say the same thing as each other. They reiterate the perspective at the beginning of Psalms 139. The Father has searched him and known him. He asked the Father to do it again. David recognizes his emotional state and anxious thoughts. He does not want his judgment to be biased or prejudiced. He wants any grievous way to be exposed.

He wants to know if there’s any way of pain within his heart that has skewed his assessment.

The Hebrew word translated as wicked (KJV), grievous (ESV), hurtful (NAS), offensive (NLT, NIV), or painful is otseb. Otseb refers to an act that offends another. Otseb comes from the Hebrew verb asab. The verb asab encompasses both physical and emotional pain or discomfort. It can be literally translated as a way of pain. Such internal pain or offense can prejudice any of us. It can also be felt by those they come into contact with. Worse still, our pain becomes the Father’s pain. It can be a source of grief or sorrow for God (Ephesians 4:30).

“When we cannot understand ourselves or comprehend our feelings, God invites us to take our internal struggles to Him and ask Him for insight. He understands what we do not, and knows what to do when we don’t” (Stanley).

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Sweet Hour of Prayer ∙

Sweet Hour of Prayer ∙

They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb. – Psalms 19:10

Psalms 141:2 Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering.

Revelation 5:8 Golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints

Revelation 8:3-4

3 Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God’s people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne.

4 The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of God’s holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out.

How many things in our lives are genuinely satisfying and delightful?

William Walford was blind. Called on to preach from time to time in a rural English church, he composed sermons in his head to deliver on Sundays. He memorized a considerable amount of the Bible, which he quoted verbatim in his sermons, and he prayed.

William Walford grasped something that few of us comprehend. He experienced something that few of us ever do. When we enter into the Father’s throne room, something incredible can happen and certainly did for William. As he practiced talking to the Father in prayer and spent time with Him, he experienced a gentle sweetness and contentment. Prayer itself became sweet. It had a delightful fragrance of the Father’s presence.

William Walford wrote of this experience in his hymn written in 1845, “Sweet Hour of Prayer.”

Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer! That calls me from a world of care,

And bids me at my Father’s throne, make all my wants and wishes known.

In seasons of distress and grief, my soul has often found relief

And oft escaped the tempter’s snare, by thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer! The joys I feel, the bliss I share,

Of those whose anxious spirits burn with strong desires for thy return!

With such, I hasten to the place where God my Savior, shows His face,

And gladly take my station there, and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer! Thy wings shall my petition bear.

To Him whose truth and faithfulness engage the waiting soul to bless.

And since He bids me seek His face, believe His Word and trust His grace,

I’ll cast on Him my every care and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

Rather than having the vague hope of finding time to pray in our busy lives, we make a personal choice to set aside time to pray (Charles Stanley).

REFLECT & PRAY

The challenge for each of us is to spend quality time talking to the Father and experience the delightful sweetness and fragrance of His presence.

Father allow me to start slowly and then increase the quality time I spend with You in prayer. Now I know just minutes, but perhaps one day – hours.

INSIGHT

Psalms 19:10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.

Psalms 119:103 How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

The Psalms highlight the great value of the Word of God. The Psalms speak of the unspeakable joy and delight of those who love the Father’s Word and take comfort and find nourishment from it.

Sweet prayer is of similar value and delight to those who enjoy and practice it. Sweet prayer can be compared to the worth of gold and the pleasure of honey. Gold was the most precious material possession in the Ancient Near East. Sweet prayer is more valuable than gold. Honey was the sweetest substance known in the Ancient Near East. Sweet prayer is more delightful than honey.

Sweet prayer is more to be desired than gold, even fine gold, great wealth, and large quantities of material riches.

In the same way that David loved and delighted in the Word of God, William Walford delighted in sweet prayer. Why is this so? Because both bring us into a closer, more intimate relationship with our Father in heaven. What can be sweeter than sweet, loving proximity with the Father? He holds our hearts close to His. He desires that we draw near to Him.

1 Peter 1:8 You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.

We do not see the Father or Lord Jesus Christ with our physical eyes. But we see them both with the eyes of our hearts. By faith, we see Them. In prayer, sweet prayer, we see Them and experience a glorious, inexpressible joy.

There are no words to describe inexpressible joy adequately. But when you’ve experienced it, you know exactly what it is. Sweet prayer is a conduit that leads the way to inexpressible joy.

But there’s more! Our Father in heaven is perfect in all regards. He lacks nothing. He is eternal, self-sufficient, unchanging, and infinite. However, as a person, the Father also has emotions and expresses them freely. He has chosen to be actively involved with His children and interact with them. He is well aware of what we do. The Father can be pleased or grieved by what His children do.

Psalms 141:2 Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering.

Revelation 5:8 Golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

Our prayers are like incense, a sweet aroma offered to and received by the Father. Could it be that our prayers are pleasant to the Father? When we enter into sweet prayer with Him, do we bring Him pleasure, joy, and satisfaction?

The Father wants us to pray. The enemy does not want us to pray. He does all he can to hinder us. The enemy knows that we can accomplish more through our prayers than through our work. He would rather have us do anything else than pray (anonymous).

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Compassionate provision ∙

Compassionate provision ∙

They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat! Matthew 14:16

John 6:1-13

1 After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee.

2 A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick.

3 Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him.

5 Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?”

6 He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.

7 Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!”

8 Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up.

9 “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”

10 “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.)

11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward, he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted.

12 After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.”

13 So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.

Lost was an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004, to May 23, 2010, over six seasons, with a total of 121 episodes. The show included elements of supernatural and science fiction. It follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial jet airliner flying between Sydney and Los Angeles. They are stranded on a mysterious island somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean.

The survivors must work together to survive on this seemingly deserted tropical island. It left many of its viewers dumbfounded and scratching their heads. It was convoluted and had lots of twists and turns. But ultimately, it boiled down to a straightforward plot: it was about people who were lost searching for answers. Upon reflection, that is the background against which the Scriptures are set.

Wherever the Lord Jesus Christ went, large crowds of people thronged Him. As the God-man, His humanity was exactly the same as ours. He grew tired, hungry, weary, and needed alone time with the Father.

In this story, the Lord Jesus Christ retreated by boat to a lonely, desolate place on the sea of Galilee’s northeast shore. But the crowds figured out where He was going and walked quickly around the sea to arrive there first. Time passed, and this large crowd found themselves stranded in a desolate place late in the afternoon without food.

Matthew 14:14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them.

The plight of the multitude pierced the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Greek word translated as “moved with compassion” or “had compassion” is splagchnizomai. The English word spleen comes from this word. Splagchnizomai literally means “to have one’s inner being (viscera) stirred.” It is a far stronger emotion than sympathy. It means to be deeply affected in one’s innermost being, particularly that area characterized by pity, empathy, or compassion. It could be translated as “His heart was filled with pity,” “His insides were stirred up,” or “He felt very sorry for them” (UBS).

The disciples were very human, just like us. Can you imagine how they might have felt? What an embarrassing quandary. They realized there was not enough food for such a multitude of people. Their thinking was totally earthbound. Their human resources were exhausted. That was all they relied upon, so the response was quite natural. They concluded that there was nothing that could be done. Rather than turn to the Lord Jesus Christ for help and depend upon Him, they asked him to send the crowd away.

But the Lord Jesus Christ had a more excellent and instructive way to handle the situation. He directed the disciples to feed the crowd themselves. They were dumbfounded. Humanly speaking, it was impossible. They had no food among themselves. They had no money to buy food. And even if they did, there was no local, kosher McDonald’s anywhere to be found.

But Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, showing a smidgen of faith and initiative, spoke up. He noticed that there was a young boy with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good would that be with this huge crowd? In all probability, he probably thought that such a small amount of food could barely feed the thirteen of them.

To provide for this multitude would take a miracle. That is precisely what the Lord Jesus Christ intended to do from the beginning. It was a teachable moment. But He wanted His disciples to realize that what is impossible with men, using purely human resources, is possible from the resourceful hands of the living God.

The Lord Jesus Christ prayed for the Father’s provision; He took the five loaves and two fishes and supersized them. Using the creative power of His hands, the Lord Jesus Christ multiplied the meager offering into a superabundance of food.

REFLECT & PRAY

Often, a quick self-inventory of our resources and abilities finds us wanting.

Father thank You that You are indeed the creator God and can do the impossible. We call it a miracle. But for You, it is quick, easy, simple handiwork. It is far better to trust in Your provision than to strive to be sufficient on our own.

INSIGHT

Initially, the disciple’s hands provided nothing. The hands of the Lord Jesus Christ multiplied, broke, and provided what was needed. Imagine for a moment a magician performing on stage. He whips off his hat and pulls out a rabbit – no big deal. Any magician can do that. But then he pulls out another, and another, and another ad infinitum. One after another, loaves and fish were instantaneously created and handed out in a similar fashion. But the supply never diminished.

Starting with practically nothing, the Lord Jesus Christ miraculously produced a great feast of bread and fish using only His own hands. It was not a magician’s trick!

Mark 6:41 And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves, and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them, and He divided up the two fish among them all.

The Lord Jesus Christ then used the hands of the disciples to do what they could do. The twelve disciples were first assigned to distribute the bountiful provision and later to gather together all of the leftovers into twelve empty baskets. Why twelve baskets? One for each apostle. I can picture each of the disciples toting a large, overflowing basket.

This was intended as a literal “hands-on” object lesson regarding the compassion and miraculous power of the Father to provide for human needs. When the Lord Jesus Christ challenged the disciples to take care of it using their own resources, He wanted them to recognize their utter limitations and inadequacy. Only the Father has adequate resources.

The Lord Jesus Christ has given every child of the King the tremendous task of communicating His gospel message to others. He does not demand more from us than we have. But He does require all that we have.His message is simple and straightforward. “Come to me as you are; however, ill-equipped; bring to me what you have, however little, and I will use it greatly. Little is always much in the hands of Christ (Barclay).

The Father intended the story to teach faith and dependence upon Him. He provides steps of action to take to solve the everyday problems of life. It is pretty straightforward:

Start where you are with what you have.
Give what you have to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do what He asks.
Conserve the results

Sadly, many of us reason that it is never the right place nor the right time for the Father to work. The Father has a totally different perspective.

Matthew 9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

The Father responds to human need, failure, and suffering with love and compassion. The Father is always moved to shepherd us.

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I AM the LORD! ∙

I AM the LORD! ∙

They did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor. – Exodus 6:9

Exodus 6:1-9

1 Then the LORD told Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. When he feels the force of my strong hand, he will let the people go. In fact, he will force them to leave his land!”

2 And God said to Moses, “I am Yahweh – ‘the LORD.’”

3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El Shaddai – “God Almighty” – but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them.

4 And I reaffirmed my covenant with them. Under its terms, I promised to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as foreigners.

5 You can be sure that I have heard the groans of the people of Israel, who are now slaves to the Egyptians. And I am well aware of my covenant with them.

6 Therefore, say to the people of Israel: “I am the LORD. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment.”

9 So Moses told the people of Israel what the LORD had said, but they refused to listen anymore. They had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery.

Dr. Shane Lopez was a Senior Scientist at Gallup and one of the world’s leading researchers on hope. Dr. Shane taught that hope is contagious. Here are some of his observations. “The tiny ripple of hope you set in motion can change the path of someone’s life. Hope is created moment by moment through our deliberate choices. It happens when we use our thoughts and feelings to temper our aversion to loss and actively pursue what is possible. How we think about the future – how we hope – determines how well we live our lives.”

He believed that hope could be engendered by:

Modeling hope and treating others with the kind of love, compassion and kindness you want for yourself.
Caring enough to support others who are in need of help.
Becoming a Super-Empowered, Hopeful Individual who believes the future can be better than today, and you can make it happen, despite the obstacles in your way (psychologytoday.com).

“The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, ‘O God, forgive me,’ or ‘Help me’” (Billy Graham).

“Depression begins with disappointment. When disappointment festers in our soul, it leads to discouragement” (Joyce Meyer).

“The most essential factor is persistence – the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement that must inevitably come” (James Whitcomb Riley).

When the Father promises to do something, the children of the King can rest assured and trust that it will be done. Frequently, before a promise from the Father can be realized it is preceded by a change in the status quo. The Father makes waves. He has a way of shaking things up. When he appeared at Sinai, the earth shook. In the future, He will shake both the earth and the heavens. His goal is to shake things until all of the things that can be removed, are removed (Hebrews 12:26-27).

In a similar fashion, to a much lesser degree, the Father also shakes His children. We do not desire to be shaken or rattled. His touch is often viewed as an unwelcome intrusion or disturbance. Often things often get worse before they get better.

Upon returning from Mount Sinai, Moses goes to Pharaoh and asks him to let the children of Israel go. Pharaoh rebuffs him. Moses fails and his failure brings sadness and adds misery to his people. He blames himself and questions why the Lord asked him to do it in the first place. It is easy for most of us to identify with the failure of Moses. He starts with great enthusiasm and falls flat on his face. He complains and whines. He wonders if the Father made a mistake in choosing him. He seems so inadequate for his assignment. But that is exactly the point, Moses is adequate for the job. That is why the Father chose him to do the job.

But the gloom and doom of pessimism are often contagious. After 400 years of suffering and servitude making bricks for Pharaoh, what could be worse? Try making bricks without straw. The people were discouraged. They stopped listening to Moses and hoping in God. They did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency (Exodus 6:9).

The Hebrew word translated as broken, despondency, and discouragement is qotser. Qotser means shortness. When used in conjunction with the spirit, it has a sense of impatience and dejectedness. They were beaten down, and their spirits were broken and crushed. They were discouraged and exhausted. They had given up (UBS).

Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is like a tree of life.

“When we feel oppressed and our spirit groans, it is difficult for us to believe the good promises of God regarding our welfare” (Stanley). Instead of being long-suffering, they figured they had suffered long enough. They had had enough. All hope was lost.

REFLECT & PRAY

Physical suffering pains our bodies, but emotional suffering and discouragement bring leanness to our souls and ravages our hearts.

Father remind me again and again, and bring to my mind that no matter what my circumstances are or how gloomy and dire my situation seems to be, your answer always begins, “I am the LORD!”

INSIGHT

The irony is that initial failure lays the groundwork for ultimate success. Pessimism and doubt are the fertile soil in which promises are fulfilled.

Matthew 19:26 with God all things are possible.

The Scriptures are replete with examples of the Father doing the impossible after all hope is lost. But a few examples: the raising of Lazarus from the dead, the preserving of the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, the miracle of the Red Sea, the angelic hosts guarding Elisha and Gehazi, and the greatest of all, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The problem has never been with the Father. The problem has always been with our discouragement and lack of faith. The Father wants us to know and believe that He is the answer to all of our problems and circumstances. Every aspect of our physical and emotional well-being and eternal salvation depends solely on His character and eternal attributes.

Why did the Father allow Moses to fail at the very beginning of his mission when he went to Pharaoh the first time? Perhaps, if Pharaoh had released the nation of Israel the first time Moses asked, Moses would have been given most of the credit. Instead, his attempt totally backfired. As a result, he had to shoulder all the blame.

The people were convinced that Moses was incapable of leading them to the Promised Land. Only the Father could bring them out of Egypt by His mighty hand (Exodus 32:11). The longer Moses and Pharaoh quarreled and wrangled over the release of Israel from bondage, the clearer it became.

The Father was teaching His people to put all of their trust in Him. In due time, they discovered that when all else failed, the one thing they could count on was the One who said, “I am the LORD” (Ryken and Hughes).

His answer is always the same, “I am the LORD!”

“Exodus is a God-centered book with a God-centered message that teaches us to have a God-centered life. Whatever problems we have, whatever difficulties we face, the most important thing is to know who God is. We are called to place our trust in the One who says, ‘I am the LORD.’ . . . When nothing seems to go right, and it is not certain how things will ever work out – even then he says, ‘I am the LORD’” (Ryken and Hughes).

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Condemned not ∙

Condemned not ∙

From this day on, I will bless you. – Haggai 2:19

John 8:3-11

3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery.

5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.

7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”

8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.

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.”

Charles Dederich was a reformed alcoholic and a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. In his day, Alcoholics Anonymous did not accept people who were addicted to anything other than alcohol. Dederich wanted to help everyone with any drug addiction, so he started his own program named Synanon. During this time, he coined the phrase, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life” (https://theredheadriter.com/).

The story in John 8 relates to the woman caught in the act of adultery and presented to Jesus for judgment. Most readers of the New Testament are familiar with it. There was no question about the crime or the guilt. The issue was what to do next. The Lord Jesus Christ reset the clock and gave her the opportunity for a do-over. Essentially, he said, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”

John 8:11 Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on, sin no more.”

Consider for a moment, “As the judge in her case, He showed more interest in her prosecutors than in her guilt. Without prosecutors, Jesus dismissed the case. This was His prerogative as her judge. He only issued her a warning. She would have to stand before Him again in the future, but this was not the time that He wanted to pass judgment on her (cf. John 3:17). He gave her mercy and time to change her ways” (Constable).

Through redemption and forgiveness, each child of the King is given the same opportunity. What you make of that opportunity is yours to decide.

REFLECT & PRAY

Because of His great love, the Father often issues only warnings rather than tickets. What an example He sets for His children.

Father thank You for loving me, forgiving me, and allowing me to begin anew, change my ways and make better choices.

INSIGHT

Having been given a second chance, what will we do with it? Modifying our lives and changing our patterns of thinking and behavior are uncomfortable and sometimes painful. Even though we are often chained to our old habit patterns, and they make us miserable, they still die hard. Starting over and creating new patterns of behavior are often more frightening and disconcerting than continuing in the misery that we have grown accustomed to and comfortable with. The degree of difficulty increases with age and the harder it is to make changes.

Several requirements must be met to overcome our old life patterns.

You must recognize the need for change.
You must be humble enough to admit the need to change.
You must seek help to make the change and allow others to help you.
You must stop doing whatever you are trying to abolish from your life.
You must constantly think about the process of changing to ensure you don’t let your guard down to old habits.
You have to forgive yourself for the past.
You have to replace the old with the new (https://theredheadriter.com/).

Each of us is allowed to go and sin no more.

At the time of Haggai, the children of Israel found themselves in challenging circumstances. As a result of their disobedience, the Father cursed their land and their husbandry.

But in due time, they repented. They experienced a change of heart and direction. Because of their inner heart transformation and their new direction, their future is brighter than their past.

Psalms 103:8-14

8 The LORD is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry, and filled with unfailing love.

9 He will not constantly accuse us nor remain angry forever.

10 He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.

11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.

12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

13 The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.

14 For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.

The Father asks for our obedience today so that He may bless us tomorrow. The Father’s blessings for obedience usually do not appear as soon as we obey. But the Father works for those who wait for Him (Stanley).

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 10-04-2

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