Here in Hawaii you are used to seeing the ocean. You can sit for hours watching the tides go in and out, but for me, I recall a time, at age 10, when I went to visit my cousin in California. Being from West Texas, I never saw a large body of water like the ocean. I was amazed at the way the waves just rolled in and rolled out, and rolled in again. I remember stepping into the waves trying to balance myself and with each wave that rolled in and out, I would lose my balance. With each wave that rolled in and out over and over again I am reminded of God’s loving Grace.

God’s Grace is just like that, it constantly keeps coming over and over again. Just when you think you’ve made too many mistakes here comes more Grace. Just when you think you’ve rebelled too often - poof - more Grace comes in. Grace is a word that the Bible uses for God when He comes to redeem and restore a group of people that He will love and shepherd forever. Grace is a life changing, washing, drenching wave of God’s love. Maybe you need some of that Grace today. Maybe you had a difficult week, or had some challenges, or maybe you just need to know that God hasn’t given up on you yet. And you just need a good drenching of God’s Grace.

Using the story of Jesus and the adulteress woman from John 8:1-11we are shown a great example of God’s Grace.  In verse 2 it says Jesus was teaching near the temple in Jerusalem when a group of people, prominent religious leaders bring an adulterous woman before Jesus. In verse 4& 5 we hear them say, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery, by the Law of Moses it says we are to stone her. What do you say?” She is probably dressed scantily and is embarrassed for having been caught in the act of adultery. But we do find out later this was probably a trap to catch Jesus off guard. This woman is probably lying on the ground having lost her balance and as she looks up at her accusers. As she lies on the ground she probably sees them with stones clenched in their fists. She probably feels alone, that no one will stand up for her and that no one will come to her defense. Interestingly, John writes about the different postures of Jesus throughout this confrontation. In verse two it says, “Jesus sat down and taught them…” Then John writes in verse 6 “Jesus STOOPED down and wrote in the sand”. Don’t you think Jesus would have stood up maybe on a slightly higher ground like a step because He is trying to make a point? But He STOOPS down. Why do you think He stoops? What do you think He wrote?

No one really knows what Jesus wrote, but, why did He stoop? Could it be because He wanted to come down to her level? Do you know what it is like for someone to look down on you? Do you know what it’s like to be on the bottom of the totem pole, or to know what it is like to be left out? Or do you know what it’s like to have fingers pointing at you just like what is happening to this woman? But we see here that before Jesus talks to them, He stoops down and comes to eye level with her. It has been said that “Grace is the God who stoops”. Will you let God stoop for you? Will you let Him come down to your level to show you His grace? You should because He knows how you feel, He’s been there.

He stooped low enough to be born in the womb of a teenage girl. He stooped low enough to be born in a stable filled with animals. He grew up in a poor family and was raised to be a carpenter. He probably had to face cranky customers and hard labor. Jesus knows how you feel and what you go through. He headed up an “Organization” of twelve men and had followers of thousands of people he had to manage. He stoops low enough to meet us at our level. There is never a time when Jesus would say, “I don’t get it”. “Grace is the God who stoops.”

But then we find in the following passages that the stooping Jesus becomes the standing Jesus. He stood up to confront the constant accusations from those leaders. So He stood up and looked at these people and says in verse 7, “He who has never sinned let him throw the first stone.” Then scripture says He stooped down again and started to write in the sand. What do you think He wrote in the sand? But there is silence and looking at each other and hearing Jesus say, “you who never sinned, throw the first stone”, we soon hear the dropping of each stone. John even writes with detail in verse 8 “Beginning with the oldest…” they all begin to walk away until Jesus looks up and says to the woman, “where are your accusers?” This is a great question. Not just for her but also for you. Where are your accusers? I am probably talking to people who know what it is like to be accused, whether they accuse you falsely or of things that you actually did do. When I was twenty, I am reminded of all the things I had done, my heavy drinking, all the people I hurt, and all the girls I took advantage of. I had a difficult time realizing the forgiveness of God’s grace because I kept hearing the voices of accusations constantly coming at me. Maybe you also have grown up in a life of condemnation. Constantly hearing the voices accusing you saying you’re not fast enough, not smart enough, not pretty enough, not good enough, not rich enough, not educated enough… one accusation after another. I had a friend who used to tell me he had a mom who must own a travel agency that specializes in guilt trips. Maybe you can relate.

Where do these accusations come from? Sometimes form our minds, sometimes from others. But ultimately, remember all accusations come from the devil. And yes there is a devil, one who comes seeking as it says in John 10:10, “to steal, to kill and to destroy”. And his time is short, so he seeks today to take away that joy from you and me. But he can’t take your salvation. However he can take your sleep, your happiness, your contentment through these accusations. When you sense this unending sense of unhealthy guilt you need to know that this accusation is not from Jesus Christ.

There is, however, a healthy guilt. It is the one that awakens us to mistakes, rebellion, or sin. It causes us to say, “I’m sorry”, to change our minds and to try again. But there is a lot of guilt from the devil that leads to sadness, darkness, and depression. This story about Jesus and this adulterous woman shows us not only what He did back then, but what He is doing right now. Remember He stooped for her as He stoops for us. When He stoops He takes every accusation away. He stooped and hung on that cross and He stooped when He took that final breath and was placed in that tomb. But then He stood. He rose again and He spoke up for us – He defends us. Did you know that from Heaven this very day, He stands up for you, He is your Intercessor. For each of you who know what it’s like to be caught in the midst of accusations, Jesus stands up for you. He treats you with Grace, with forgiveness. You may have given up on yourself but He hasn’t given up on you. He wants you in His eternal kingdom and He’s not going to let you go. This is the Grace I tell you about – the wave that just keeps coming and coming and coming.

But it is even more than what He did for that adulterous woman; Jesus gives you His heart. He gave her His help, but did you know that when you give your heart to Jesus He gives you a new heart? In the book of Ezekiel 36:26 it says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you…” In the Bible, “Heart” means ability and desire. So every time you see the word “heart” in the Bible, think “can do and want to”. Think of it as when you give your heart to Jesus, He in turn does you a favor by placing His heart inside of you. This is a gift of Jesus that no other Philosophy gives. Mohammed doesn’t say he gives you his heart nor does Buddha. Remember, in Galatians 2:20 Paul writes, “It is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives within me”. Not only for me, above me, below me, beside me, before me, but IN me. He places a new “can do” or “want to” in me. Jesus is loving through me, talking through me, living within me.

It’s like the gift of a heart transplant of a young girl, Taylor Storch (Taylorsgift.org), who died prematurely but placed in the heart of a woman who desperately needed a new heart. Taylor was 13 when a tragic skiing accident took her life. Her parents made the agonizing decision to donate her organs. Her strong young heart lives within this other person. The one request her parents made was that they be allowed to meet Taylor’s heart recipient and be allowed to listen to their daughter’s still living heart – which they so lovingly did. So now I ask you, oh child of God, when God hears your heartbeat, whose heart does He hear? Does He hear the still beating heart of Jesus Christ? Apostle Paul mentions the indwelling presence of Jesus in the heart of the disciple 216 times in the Bible. John mentions it 26 times. It is not a casual idea in the Bible. So when you give your heart to Jesus He does you a favor. A radical new nature dwells in you waiting to be used. And day by day for every single degree of glory God is trying to reclaim every part of that indwelling spirit of the heart of Jesus Christ.

Maybe you can’t control your anger, but Jesus can. Maybe you can’t resist that temptation, but Jesus can. Maybe you can’t forgive that jerk but Jesus can because He dwells in you. Your best days are ahead of you as Jesus grows and grows within you day by day. This is that Grace – wave upon wave upon wave. Grace is not only what Jesus did but what He is doing right now inside of you. You may think, “But if I have a new heart then why do I still have my old habits?” It’s simply because transplants take time. Don’t let the devil make you think that because you are having a rough day, or month or decade, that you have not received the living presence of Jesus within you. Satan is just trying to destroy you. You just remember that Philippians 1:6 says “He who began a good work in you is faithful to bring it to completion.”

How do you do this? Belong to a great church, do your daily devotions and just stay faithful laying claim in that of Jesus Christ. If you take a rock and put it into a container of water, it gets wet, right? But when you crack it open it is bone dry. However, when you take a sponge and place it in water you’ll find that the water permeates all over. Be like that sponge keep your heart soft not hardened. Lean on Him and know that He is with you.

Learn the lesson that 2 daughters have seared into their hearts.  Years ago, when they were 5 and 7 years old, their mother drove them high into the mountains for vacation. They stopped at a cliff side cabin and the mom got out of the car – leaving the girls in the huge SUV. But something went horribly, horribly wrong that day.

The mom looked back just in time to see that the car had begun to roll toward the cliff – with her 2 girls still inside! Without a thought for her own safety, she flew to the front of that mass of unforgiving metal. The mom hurled herself against the SUV. But it would not stop. With death for her 2 little girls and that cliff rolling ever closer she furiously clung to that giant car.

Inside the SUV, the girls felt that fraction of a second rise and fall slowing as the wheels crushed their mom’s body. It was that fraction of a second that would last them an eternity. It was that miraculous fraction of a second needed for their grandfather to reach the SUV and engage the hand brake.

Miraculously, while that huge weight broke her body, it did not break her Holy Spirit. She did more than survive. That mom simply replaced her legs with a wheelchair and went on loving her daughters and they her.  Growing up, those daughters will tell you that despite her wheelchair, their mom has been there for them for everything – especially that fateful day.   

Jesus is like that. He placed Himself between us and certain destruction. Oh how He must love you. Jeremiah 29:11 says “ ‘For I know the plans I have for you’ declares the Lord ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’ ” Let that love go deep within you, be strong in that love, live in that love, receive that love. Believe in Jesus and live a life of Grace.

1 Have you ever been accused of anything? Wrongly or otherwise? How did you react?

2 What kinds of experiences have you had that shows God’s grace?

3 What does grace mean to you?

4 What steps can you take to bring you to that new Heart within you?