May 19, 2025 • 29 mins
Pastor Vera McEwen is incredibly excited to give an open welcome to all at Love God Ministries! An online community where all truly are welcome, Pastor Vera embodies the Love of Christ through witness and discipleship. She founded Love God Ministries because conversations with people revealed a need for a community of believers where it does not matter how you look but recognize that you are a child of God.
Pastor Vera has been teaching and preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ and the Word of God for over 30 years. Her primary emphasis is spreading God's Love by providing pastoral care, preaching God's Loving Word, teaching God's Light-Filled Word, and implementing God's Living relational group architecture via in home communities.
She is currently reviewing the prospects of a doctorate in religious studies with an emphasis on Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic as encouraged by her professors at seminary. In addition to her vocation as Pastor she ministers as a certified professional and personal coach.
With God's help, she implements 1 Thessalonians 5.11, motivating people to be and do their very best by building one another up. Pastor Vera is a joyous, ever singing sister in Christ who after years of being pursued by God, stopped running and answered the call, halleluiah, הַלְלוּיָה
https://www.lovegod-ministries.org/
Pastor Vera has been teaching and preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ and the Word of God for over 30 years. Her primary emphasis is spreading God's Love by providing pastoral care, preaching God's Loving Word, teaching God's Light-Filled Word, and implementing God's Living relational group architecture via in home communities.
She is currently reviewing the prospects of a doctorate in religious studies with an emphasis on Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic as encouraged by her professors at seminary. In addition to her vocation as Pastor she ministers as a certified professional and personal coach.
With God's help, she implements 1 Thessalonians 5.11, motivating people to be and do their very best by building one another up. Pastor Vera is a joyous, ever singing sister in Christ who after years of being pursued by God, stopped running and answered the call, halleluiah, הַלְלוּיָה
https://www.lovegod-ministries.org/
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
The following content is provided by I am Refocused Radio
contributor Pastor Vera McEwen with Love God Ministries. We'll be
sharing today's message, and now here is your host, Pastor
Vera McEwen.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
The remedy, the remedy for rebellion. The remedy for rebellion
is repentance. You may be thinking, Pastor Drah, I'm a
little tired of messages around penitence. Hasn't it been several
(00:47):
months already that you've been speaking about repentance and penitence remedy,
the remedy for rebellion is repentance. And the reason why
(01:08):
we preach, the reason why we teach, the reason why
there is a message that extends more than just a week,
more than just a month, around repentance and penitence, it's
because each and every day we are sinners in need
(01:32):
of a savior, in need of repentance. Each and every
day there is someone out there who is thinking God
will not listen to me. There is no repentance for
the sin that I have done, for the sins, the transgressions,
(01:56):
the things that I do. The remedy, the remedy for rebellion,
the remedy for sin. The remedy for transgressions is repentance.
Turn with me to lamentations. It's in your Old Testament
(02:19):
after the songs. There you are lamentations. The reading for
today can be found in Lamentations, Chapter three, verses four
through forty through forty two. It's important that we recognize
(02:40):
that when we are in rebellion, which is each and
every day, recognizing that what we think about, sometimes, what
we say, sometimes how we act is not in alignment
with God's purpose for us. Lamentations, Chapter three, verse forty says,
(03:08):
let us in community, let us individually, let us examine
our ways. Uh oh. Let us examine our ways and
test them, and then do what And you know the
Hebrew word for this already, right, because we've been speaking
(03:28):
about this for weeks. Now, let us examine who we are,
test what we do and return Sabah return suva, return
sab return to the Lord. The remedy for rebellion is repentance.
(03:54):
It goes on to say, let us lift up what brillan?
What does it say? First? Let us lift up our
our hearts. We're always ready to lift up our hands
to show right. But it says let us lift up
our hearts and our hands. I love the Hebrew word
(04:19):
for lift or rise. I remember it because I thought Nasa, Nasa, Okay,
NASA has the rocket shifts that left right, Nasa lift
La bob your heart and your hands. Lift your hearts
(04:41):
and your hands to God in heaven, and say, for
those who have struggle trying to figure out what should
I say to God when I do not believe I
can be forgiven for my trends, aggressions, for my rebellion,
(05:01):
for my sins, say this we or you can say, ay,
we have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.
We have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.
(05:22):
We have sinned and rebelled. The remedy for rebellion. The
remedy for rebellion is a repentance. Return to the Lord.
Lift your hearts, lift your hands, and return to God
(05:44):
and say we have I have rebelled and you have
not forgiven the remedy for your rebellion. The remedy for
my rebellion is to repent. Turn with me to Psalm
(06:15):
chapter twenty five. This is a wonderful song. Now, if
you're ever thinking what words can I say, of course
groaning is enough because we recognize that the Holy Spirit
listens to us, that God can hear our groaning. Well,
we don't even know what to say, but this is
a great psalm Psalm twenty five if you're looking for
(06:37):
a psalm to help you request forgiveness. I remember working
or Glorious Glorious organization, and I loved coming in every day.
(06:58):
And I would come in with all the these ideas
because I was so excited, and I'd say, Hey, we
could do this, or we can possibly do this, and
I would think of all these things we could do,
and I would begin doing them, and in so doing,
one of my colleagues began to ostracize me. I came
(07:22):
into this organization as a contractor, which meant I didn't
work for the organization. I worked through another company, and
her intent was to ostracize me so that I would
quit or I would ask to be pulled out of
that organization. But it was such a great organization to
(07:45):
support and work for. It got so bad, and I
know you've heard this narrative if you listen to Love
God ministries. It got so bad that she placed me
in the other side a twenty minute walk from one
side to the other side in a conference room by myself,
(08:08):
away from everyone. I'd have to trek over there for
my meetings, trek back to my conference room table, and
one of the things that I do, because I began
to feel less and less excited, I began to feel ostracized.
(08:29):
So since there was nobody in that conference room but me,
I would listen to the psalms all day. And I
remember Song twenty five being one of those psalms, one
of those psalms that really truly helped. But again, listening
to them all day also helped give me a sense
(08:50):
of peace, give me a sense of rejuvenation, give me
a sense of God being with me through this time
of struggle. So when we look at Song twenty five,
I want us to drop down to verse six. Verse
(09:15):
six says, remember Lord, your great mercy and said love.
Remember your great mercy and love, for they are from
of old. You are ancient of days God, Remember your
love and mercy. Do not do not remember what does
(09:40):
it say there, Braylan, What does it say, Dante? Do
not remember? Do not remember my sins, the sins of
my youth and my rebellious ways. The remedy. The remedy
for rebellion is repentance. And here we hear the Psalmist
(10:04):
speaking of repentance for being rebellious. Seven goes on to say,
do not remember the sins of my youth and my
rebellious ways, according to according to your great love, according
(10:25):
to yours said, according to your love God. That is
how I want you to remember me. For you, Lord
are good. It goes on to say, good, and it
(10:46):
upright is the Lord. Therefore, the Lord instructs us in
our ways, guides us when we're humble, because the ways
of the Lord are loving and faithful. For the sake
of your name, Lord, forgive my sins though they are great.
(11:09):
Forgive my sins though they are great. I love, I
love what it says about God. Here, if we drop down,
it says, don't only forgive me for my sins that
are great, but that when our eyes, when we are ever,
(11:35):
when we lift our hearts, our eyes, our hands to God.
Then the Lord, the Lord is gracious and forgives. The
remedy for rebellion is God's grace when we repent, when
(11:57):
we ask for forgiveness, forgiveness for our sins, great or small,
to be remembered in love. It is God's grace that
forgives us. The remedy for rebellion is God's grace. I
(12:18):
love how the Psalmist says that would we ask for forgiveness,
God will verse fifteen release. God will release your feet.
God will release your feet. God will release your feet
(12:40):
from any snare. Have you ever felt the snare of sin?
That community that you hang out with that's.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Pulling you down, that group at school that won't release you.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Though you know your life would be better outside of
that community when you repent.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
When you repent, God will unhinge, pull off every one
of those fingers in that snare, and release your feet.
The remedy for rebellion is repentance, and it's God's grace
that releases you from the snare.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Now drop down one more verse HM, it says, turn
to me, gracious God, Ooh, though I am lonely and afflicted.
When you are despair, when you are lonely, when you're
feeling ostracized because someone has placed you on the other
(13:48):
side of community, in a space where there's no body else,
and you come to God and you say, God, relieve
the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
God, God, God will deliver you.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
It says, yes, sure, a God will deliver you from
all your sins, all your transgressions.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Whenever you are lonely and somebody has put you aside,
God will relieve you. The remedy, the remedy for rebellion
is repentance. And it's God's grace that will release you.
Speaker 5 (14:41):
It's God's grace that will relieve you.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Turn with me to Acts. The Book of Acts is
in the New Testament after the Gospel. Matthew Mark Luke
John Acts Acts, chapter three, verses nineteen and twenty reiterate
what we have been saying over and over and over
(15:18):
that the remedy for rebellion is repentance. It begins with repent.
The word repent and Greek is mata noisadae repent. Turn,
turn around, leave repent then, and turn turn to God,
(15:44):
so that your sins may be wiped out, obliterated, gone completely.
You are created anew. When you repent from your sins,
God is willing to cleanse you and obliterate, wipe out,
(16:07):
get rid of all your sins. And then what happens
so that we're still in verse nineteen, so that times
of refreshing breathe that in times of the refreshing may
(16:36):
come from the Lord.
Speaker 6 (16:39):
The word refreshing in Greek is on a passeve casseilsa,
on a pasef casselsa, on a passeve casilsa.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
It means refresh, revive, but it literally means a new breath,
a breath that allows you to fully inhale and exhale.
You are revived, as though you were dead. Now you
are revived and back to the living life. The remedy
(17:14):
for rebellion is repentance. And when you repent, you are refreshed,
you are revived. It is a breath of fresh clean air.
(17:42):
Anna posep casseos. Turn with me to the gospel for today.
Speaker 4 (17:51):
The Gospel for today can be found in John John
chapter eight, Versus one through eleven.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
And I love this. We're going to start kind of
in verse four, and I'm just going to reiterate the narrative.
The Pharisees brought a woman, a woman who was caught
in adultery. Brought the woman called to it an adultery
(18:32):
to Jesus. And if it was a trap and Jesus
recognized it as a trap, and they say, teacher, teacher,
this woman has committed adultery. And Moses tells Us that
(18:52):
if she is caught in adultery, then we should stone her.
What do you think, Jesus? I love that Jesus. Jesus
(19:14):
is drawing. Jesus is drying in the dirt, and he
leaves a pause. Jesus is drawing in the dirt and
(19:37):
leaves a pause by not answering right away. It's that pause.
It's that in between time where people begin to get nervous,
for people to begin to wonder what's going on? Should
(20:00):
I say something? Should I go ahead and start stoning?
What should I do? I'm sure the crowd is in anticipation,
and the teachers are wondering, oh, oh, what do we
get ourselves into?
Speaker 7 (20:11):
And Jesus, Jesus is drawing in the dirt, and he
said to them.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Let any one of you, let any one of you, Let.
Speaker 8 (20:42):
Any one of you who is without rebellion, without sin,
without transgression, Let any one of you who.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Is without sin be the first ump, be the first
to throw a stone at her.
Speaker 9 (21:13):
When I was.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Being ostracized at that wonderful organization. People would come to
me who knew this person, and they'd say, this is
a pattern. They do this all the time. Vera and
I'd continue to listen to my songs, and every so
often she'd come into the conference room and she kind
(21:37):
of come in there with a little, you know, smugness
about her, and I'd greet her. I wanted to keep
my job. I loved what I was doing, and I
knew that I could add value. And one more thing,
I knew I had God's grace. The remedy for rebellion
(21:58):
is repentance. Finally, we had a new CIO come through.
I was moved to another entirely different city to do
a big project. I began working on it with the
same I am so excited. Yes, I love what I do,
(22:20):
kind of flavor that I always bring to all my endeavors.
She approached me. She approached me one day, this woman
that I hadn't seen in over a year, and said,
can you forgive me? I treated you really, really badly.
(22:49):
I said, of course, water under the bridge, no big deal.
And I said, you know, you may want to think
about reaching out to God. Oh, She's like, you know what.
I was a believer. But I've done so many things.
I've done so many things that I don't think that God,
(23:14):
that God would even allow me to come back. I
understand this. We are all sinners in need of a savior,
and I love what happens here in Job chapter eight.
Let's hone in right here on verse nine, who is
the first to leave and not stone? Now, Jesus has
(23:35):
just said, whoever is without sin? I am not without sin.
So when somebody comes to me and says, hey, could
you forgive me? Absolutely, I am not without sin myself.
Jesus says, whoever is without sin, whoever has not transgressed,
whoever is not rebellion, cast the first stone, throw the
(24:00):
first stone? And in verse nine, who is the first
to leave? It's the elders. It's the elders because they
recognize that every day is a day that needs repentance.
The refetti a rebellion is repentance. And I told her this, colleague,
(24:31):
I said, you know, you may want to start just
reading the psalms. Reading the songs is always something that
I recommend, especially to people who don't pick up the Bible,
who don't read the Bible. They're songs they're glorious. They
speak of who we are as transgressions, as sinners, as
(24:53):
people who are rebellious against God. They speak of us
when we are all extrasized, oppressed, put down in despair,
and tell us that God will release us from the snare,
relieve us from our depression, and that God will forgive us.
(25:17):
The remedy for rebellion is God's grace. When you repent
and return to God, God will forgive you and give
you grace, it says in verse nine the old ones
(25:40):
We're first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman
still standing there. Jesus straightened up an asda woman, where
(26:01):
are they? Has no one condemned you? No one, sir,
she says. Then Jesus says, then neither do I condemn you.
(26:28):
Go now leave your life of sin. One of the
beautiful things about being in relationship with one another is
when you repent, when you ask for forgiveness and what
gives you forgiveness, and God gives you forgiveness through grace,
(26:50):
then your relationships flourish. Our relationship still flourishes today. She
has helped me. She was the first person to sign
up for coaching when I opened my leadership coaching practice.
She was one of the first people to buy my book.
(27:13):
She has been saved by the grace of God, and
she recognizes that every day is a day of repentance.
And here's the cash. It's not just repentance with God,
but going to your neighbor, going to the other, going
to the people in your life and saying, look, I
recognize that I have not treated you right. I recognize
(27:38):
that I'm a sinner. I recognize that I have placed
you in a place that is not acceptable. I have
ostracized you. I am sorry. Can you forgive me? Our
response is always yes, we can forgive. We may not
want to forget, that's okay, but we can forgive and
(28:00):
move on. It doesn't mean that you have to be
in relationship with that person, but it does mean that
you can let it go. Because when you let it go,
it allows your heart to rise and soar. It allows
you to repent from your sense because we as a
community are here to lift one another up. The remedy.
Speaker 9 (28:26):
For rebellion is God's grace, and that grace comes when
we repent, and.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
When we repent, we are released from the snare. We
are relieved.
Speaker 10 (28:49):
From what puts us aside, and we can return, We
can return to God.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
you all ways, share that peace with one another. He
(29:28):
is from my agree with and Refocused Radio.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
Make sure you go to im refocusradio dot com to
listen to today's episode once again.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
If you always say keep God first, stay focused in
peace
The following content is provided by I am Refocused Radio
contributor Pastor Vera McEwen with Love God Ministries. We'll be
sharing today's message, and now here is your host, Pastor
Vera McEwen.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
The remedy, the remedy for rebellion. The remedy for rebellion
is repentance. You may be thinking, Pastor Drah, I'm a
little tired of messages around penitence. Hasn't it been several
(00:47):
months already that you've been speaking about repentance and penitence remedy,
the remedy for rebellion is repentance. And the reason why
(01:08):
we preach, the reason why we teach, the reason why
there is a message that extends more than just a week,
more than just a month, around repentance and penitence, it's
because each and every day we are sinners in need
(01:32):
of a savior, in need of repentance. Each and every
day there is someone out there who is thinking God
will not listen to me. There is no repentance for
the sin that I have done, for the sins, the transgressions,
(01:56):
the things that I do. The remedy, the remedy for rebellion,
the remedy for sin. The remedy for transgressions is repentance.
Turn with me to lamentations. It's in your Old Testament
(02:19):
after the songs. There you are lamentations. The reading for
today can be found in Lamentations, Chapter three, verses four
through forty through forty two. It's important that we recognize
(02:40):
that when we are in rebellion, which is each and
every day, recognizing that what we think about, sometimes, what
we say, sometimes how we act is not in alignment
with God's purpose for us. Lamentations, Chapter three, verse forty says,
(03:08):
let us in community, let us individually, let us examine
our ways. Uh oh. Let us examine our ways and
test them, and then do what And you know the
Hebrew word for this already, right, because we've been speaking
(03:28):
about this for weeks. Now, let us examine who we are,
test what we do and return Sabah return suva, return
sab return to the Lord. The remedy for rebellion is repentance.
(03:54):
It goes on to say, let us lift up what brillan?
What does it say? First? Let us lift up our
our hearts. We're always ready to lift up our hands
to show right. But it says let us lift up
our hearts and our hands. I love the Hebrew word
(04:19):
for lift or rise. I remember it because I thought Nasa, Nasa, Okay,
NASA has the rocket shifts that left right, Nasa lift
La bob your heart and your hands. Lift your hearts
(04:41):
and your hands to God in heaven, and say, for
those who have struggle trying to figure out what should
I say to God when I do not believe I
can be forgiven for my trends, aggressions, for my rebellion,
(05:01):
for my sins, say this we or you can say, ay,
we have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.
We have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.
(05:22):
We have sinned and rebelled. The remedy for rebellion. The
remedy for rebellion is a repentance. Return to the Lord.
Lift your hearts, lift your hands, and return to God
(05:44):
and say we have I have rebelled and you have
not forgiven the remedy for your rebellion. The remedy for
my rebellion is to repent. Turn with me to Psalm
(06:15):
chapter twenty five. This is a wonderful song. Now, if
you're ever thinking what words can I say, of course
groaning is enough because we recognize that the Holy Spirit
listens to us, that God can hear our groaning. Well,
we don't even know what to say, but this is
a great psalm Psalm twenty five if you're looking for
(06:37):
a psalm to help you request forgiveness. I remember working
or Glorious Glorious organization, and I loved coming in every day.
(06:58):
And I would come in with all the these ideas
because I was so excited, and I'd say, Hey, we
could do this, or we can possibly do this, and
I would think of all these things we could do,
and I would begin doing them, and in so doing,
one of my colleagues began to ostracize me. I came
(07:22):
into this organization as a contractor, which meant I didn't
work for the organization. I worked through another company, and
her intent was to ostracize me so that I would
quit or I would ask to be pulled out of
that organization. But it was such a great organization to
(07:45):
support and work for. It got so bad, and I
know you've heard this narrative if you listen to Love
God ministries. It got so bad that she placed me
in the other side a twenty minute walk from one
side to the other side in a conference room by myself,
(08:08):
away from everyone. I'd have to trek over there for
my meetings, trek back to my conference room table, and
one of the things that I do, because I began
to feel less and less excited, I began to feel ostracized.
(08:29):
So since there was nobody in that conference room but me,
I would listen to the psalms all day. And I
remember Song twenty five being one of those psalms, one
of those psalms that really truly helped. But again, listening
to them all day also helped give me a sense
(08:50):
of peace, give me a sense of rejuvenation, give me
a sense of God being with me through this time
of struggle. So when we look at Song twenty five,
I want us to drop down to verse six. Verse
(09:15):
six says, remember Lord, your great mercy and said love.
Remember your great mercy and love, for they are from
of old. You are ancient of days God, Remember your
love and mercy. Do not do not remember what does
(09:40):
it say there, Braylan, What does it say, Dante? Do
not remember? Do not remember my sins, the sins of
my youth and my rebellious ways. The remedy. The remedy
for rebellion is repentance. And here we hear the Psalmist
(10:04):
speaking of repentance for being rebellious. Seven goes on to say,
do not remember the sins of my youth and my
rebellious ways, according to according to your great love, according
(10:25):
to yours said, according to your love God. That is
how I want you to remember me. For you, Lord
are good. It goes on to say, good, and it
(10:46):
upright is the Lord. Therefore, the Lord instructs us in
our ways, guides us when we're humble, because the ways
of the Lord are loving and faithful. For the sake
of your name, Lord, forgive my sins though they are great.
(11:09):
Forgive my sins though they are great. I love, I
love what it says about God. Here, if we drop down,
it says, don't only forgive me for my sins that
are great, but that when our eyes, when we are ever,
(11:35):
when we lift our hearts, our eyes, our hands to God.
Then the Lord, the Lord is gracious and forgives. The
remedy for rebellion is God's grace when we repent, when
(11:57):
we ask for forgiveness, forgiveness for our sins, great or small,
to be remembered in love. It is God's grace that
forgives us. The remedy for rebellion is God's grace. I
(12:18):
love how the Psalmist says that would we ask for forgiveness,
God will verse fifteen release. God will release your feet.
God will release your feet. God will release your feet
(12:40):
from any snare. Have you ever felt the snare of sin?
That community that you hang out with that's.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Pulling you down, that group at school that won't release you.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Though you know your life would be better outside of
that community when you repent.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
When you repent, God will unhinge, pull off every one
of those fingers in that snare, and release your feet.
The remedy for rebellion is repentance, and it's God's grace
that releases you from the snare.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Now drop down one more verse HM, it says, turn
to me, gracious God, Ooh, though I am lonely and afflicted.
When you are despair, when you are lonely, when you're
feeling ostracized because someone has placed you on the other
(13:48):
side of community, in a space where there's no body else,
and you come to God and you say, God, relieve
the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
God, God, God will deliver you.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
It says, yes, sure, a God will deliver you from
all your sins, all your transgressions.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Whenever you are lonely and somebody has put you aside,
God will relieve you. The remedy, the remedy for rebellion
is repentance. And it's God's grace that will release you.
Speaker 5 (14:41):
It's God's grace that will relieve you.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Turn with me to Acts. The Book of Acts is
in the New Testament after the Gospel. Matthew Mark Luke
John Acts Acts, chapter three, verses nineteen and twenty reiterate
what we have been saying over and over and over
(15:18):
that the remedy for rebellion is repentance. It begins with repent.
The word repent and Greek is mata noisadae repent. Turn,
turn around, leave repent then, and turn turn to God,
(15:44):
so that your sins may be wiped out, obliterated, gone completely.
You are created anew. When you repent from your sins,
God is willing to cleanse you and obliterate, wipe out,
(16:07):
get rid of all your sins. And then what happens
so that we're still in verse nineteen, so that times
of refreshing breathe that in times of the refreshing may
(16:36):
come from the Lord.
Speaker 6 (16:39):
The word refreshing in Greek is on a passeve casseilsa,
on a pasef casselsa, on a passeve casilsa.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
It means refresh, revive, but it literally means a new breath,
a breath that allows you to fully inhale and exhale.
You are revived, as though you were dead. Now you
are revived and back to the living life. The remedy
(17:14):
for rebellion is repentance. And when you repent, you are refreshed,
you are revived. It is a breath of fresh clean air.
(17:42):
Anna posep casseos. Turn with me to the gospel for today.
Speaker 4 (17:51):
The Gospel for today can be found in John John
chapter eight, Versus one through eleven.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
And I love this. We're going to start kind of
in verse four, and I'm just going to reiterate the narrative.
The Pharisees brought a woman, a woman who was caught
in adultery. Brought the woman called to it an adultery
(18:32):
to Jesus. And if it was a trap and Jesus
recognized it as a trap, and they say, teacher, teacher,
this woman has committed adultery. And Moses tells Us that
(18:52):
if she is caught in adultery, then we should stone her.
What do you think, Jesus? I love that Jesus. Jesus
(19:14):
is drawing. Jesus is drying in the dirt, and he
leaves a pause. Jesus is drawing in the dirt and
(19:37):
leaves a pause by not answering right away. It's that pause.
It's that in between time where people begin to get nervous,
for people to begin to wonder what's going on? Should
(20:00):
I say something? Should I go ahead and start stoning?
What should I do? I'm sure the crowd is in anticipation,
and the teachers are wondering, oh, oh, what do we
get ourselves into?
Speaker 7 (20:11):
And Jesus, Jesus is drawing in the dirt, and he
said to them.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Let any one of you, let any one of you, Let.
Speaker 8 (20:42):
Any one of you who is without rebellion, without sin,
without transgression, Let any one of you who.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Is without sin be the first ump, be the first
to throw a stone at her.
Speaker 9 (21:13):
When I was.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Being ostracized at that wonderful organization. People would come to
me who knew this person, and they'd say, this is
a pattern. They do this all the time. Vera and
I'd continue to listen to my songs, and every so
often she'd come into the conference room and she kind
(21:37):
of come in there with a little, you know, smugness
about her, and I'd greet her. I wanted to keep
my job. I loved what I was doing, and I
knew that I could add value. And one more thing,
I knew I had God's grace. The remedy for rebellion
(21:58):
is repentance. Finally, we had a new CIO come through.
I was moved to another entirely different city to do
a big project. I began working on it with the
same I am so excited. Yes, I love what I do,
(22:20):
kind of flavor that I always bring to all my endeavors.
She approached me. She approached me one day, this woman
that I hadn't seen in over a year, and said,
can you forgive me? I treated you really, really badly.
(22:49):
I said, of course, water under the bridge, no big deal.
And I said, you know, you may want to think
about reaching out to God. Oh, She's like, you know what.
I was a believer. But I've done so many things.
I've done so many things that I don't think that God,
(23:14):
that God would even allow me to come back. I
understand this. We are all sinners in need of a savior,
and I love what happens here in Job chapter eight.
Let's hone in right here on verse nine, who is
the first to leave and not stone? Now, Jesus has
(23:35):
just said, whoever is without sin? I am not without sin.
So when somebody comes to me and says, hey, could
you forgive me? Absolutely, I am not without sin myself.
Jesus says, whoever is without sin, whoever has not transgressed,
whoever is not rebellion, cast the first stone, throw the
(24:00):
first stone? And in verse nine, who is the first
to leave? It's the elders. It's the elders because they
recognize that every day is a day that needs repentance.
The refetti a rebellion is repentance. And I told her this, colleague,
(24:31):
I said, you know, you may want to start just
reading the psalms. Reading the songs is always something that
I recommend, especially to people who don't pick up the Bible,
who don't read the Bible. They're songs they're glorious. They
speak of who we are as transgressions, as sinners, as
(24:53):
people who are rebellious against God. They speak of us
when we are all extrasized, oppressed, put down in despair,
and tell us that God will release us from the snare,
relieve us from our depression, and that God will forgive us.
(25:17):
The remedy for rebellion is God's grace. When you repent
and return to God, God will forgive you and give
you grace, it says in verse nine the old ones
(25:40):
We're first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman
still standing there. Jesus straightened up an asda woman, where
(26:01):
are they? Has no one condemned you? No one, sir,
she says. Then Jesus says, then neither do I condemn you.
(26:28):
Go now leave your life of sin. One of the
beautiful things about being in relationship with one another is
when you repent, when you ask for forgiveness and what
gives you forgiveness, and God gives you forgiveness through grace,
(26:50):
then your relationships flourish. Our relationship still flourishes today. She
has helped me. She was the first person to sign
up for coaching when I opened my leadership coaching practice.
She was one of the first people to buy my book.
(27:13):
She has been saved by the grace of God, and
she recognizes that every day is a day of repentance.
And here's the cash. It's not just repentance with God,
but going to your neighbor, going to the other, going
to the people in your life and saying, look, I
recognize that I have not treated you right. I recognize
(27:38):
that I'm a sinner. I recognize that I have placed
you in a place that is not acceptable. I have
ostracized you. I am sorry. Can you forgive me? Our
response is always yes, we can forgive. We may not
want to forget, that's okay, but we can forgive and
(28:00):
move on. It doesn't mean that you have to be
in relationship with that person, but it does mean that
you can let it go. Because when you let it go,
it allows your heart to rise and soar. It allows
you to repent from your sense because we as a
community are here to lift one another up. The remedy.
Speaker 9 (28:26):
For rebellion is God's grace, and that grace comes when
we repent, and.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
When we repent, we are released from the snare. We
are relieved.
Speaker 10 (28:49):
From what puts us aside, and we can return, We
can return to God.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
you all ways, share that peace with one another. He
(29:28):
is from my agree with and Refocused Radio.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
Make sure you go to im refocusradio dot com to
listen to today's episode once again.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
If you always say keep God first, stay focused in
peace
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