DOD 4 - 40 Days to Freedom Challenge

Monday 6/26/17
 

“The Gift of Getting Caught”

I remember like it was yesterday the first time my secret life and my public life collided in my marriage. I got a call from my wife wanting answers for the hundreds of text messages to one unidentified number on our phone bill from the previous month. I had no idea that kind of stuff was tracked on the bill, and I didn’t know what I was going to do. I panicked and felt so exposed, and didn’t know what was going to happen next. I had a choice in that moment - to come clean and humble myself to confession, conviction, and the Lord’s correction, or to rationalize, distract and diffuse, and then sweep it away. I did NOT pick humility that day, and chose instead a path that would lead me down the darkest road of my life. I had been caught and I missed the gift that was in front of me.

Warm Up: Music connects my heart to God’s and allows me to absorb truth in a way that simply hearing it spoken to me wouldn’t, and this song is a beautiful way to set the stage for this morning’s workout and truth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZzHYBFT9OE - “He Is Lord” by Elevation Worship

Getting Some Reps In: Read and Meditate on John 8:1-11

Questions to consider:

1. Think back to when YOU were caught in you sin. How did you feel? What did you think God was thinking about and feeling about you in those moments? Did your sin all come out at once or did you try to control and manipulate your circumstances to manage your image, only to see yourself get caught again and again?

2. The woman from John 8 was met with many different reactions from the crowd. What did Jesus have to say about the woman, her sin, and ultimately her position in relationship to God?

3. Through getting caught, did you sense the opportunity to “go and leave your life of sin”, or did it feel like a death sentence? Looking back, can you see this invitation now and did you take HIM up on it?

Perspective…
This woman was caught red handed in adultery, a crime punishable by death. She was dragged out in front of a crowd of religious men, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that this woman was expecting to die, and die painfully. What she encountered instead though, was the perfect, grace-filled love of a savior who knew everything she’d ever done, and offered her the path to life anyway. 

Genesis 50:20 “You (Satan) intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.”

A friend of mine who was pivotal in leading me through my initial recovery after my affair once told me that YOU CAN’T BE FULLY PARDONED UNTIL YOU ARE FULLY KNOWN. When we are fully known, And the invitation of the Love of God remains,  we can rest in knowing that what we’ve done doesn’t determine who we will be. In fact, getting caught fully frees us up to embrace the truth that God’s love is not contingent on who we’ve been or what we’ve done. Getting caught became a reason to celebrate in my life, because it introduced me to the unconditional love of God himself. 

Jesus finished his interaction with this woman by forgiving her, and then telling her to go and sin no more. The very next verse has him speaking again to the crowd saying, "“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”. This is who we get to be on the other side of getting caught. Encounters with Jesus that lead to life ALWAYS end this way. 

Philippians 1:6 “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

Cool Down:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiWvVKuUSsw - “Find Me” by Jonathan Hesler

Share on GROUPME how getting caught has changed your life, and what God has shown you about himself through your darkness coming into the light. Then listen to this last song linked above and ask the Lord to give you a new perspective on the time in your life when the truth came out and the darkness in your life was finally introduced to the light of Christ. This brothers, is a reason to celebrate, no matter what. And in case you need proof, I've got the newspaper with my mugshot on the front page cover spread in my bedside table still to this day any time I need to remember just how radical the love of God really is. I can't believe he saved such a wretched sinner like me!!!