“One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner." And Jesus answering said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he answered, "Say it, Teacher." "A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt." And he said to him, "You have judged rightly." Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this, who even forgives sins?" And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭7:36-50‬ ‭ESV‬‬

She had heard He would be at Simon’s house. I can imagine her walking to the house, grief welling up, trying to find words that could carry the weight of her heart. And yet, standing at Jesus’ feet, any words she had found fell away with the tears that rolled from her cheeks. Tears mixed with the dust that still clung to His feet as He reclined at the table. A table to which she was uninvited. 

A lack of invitation did not hinder her. She needed to see Jesus. No one had to remind her she was a sinner. She knew it, and the knowledge ached beneath her skin. 

With a broken heart, the sinful woman knelt at Jesus’ feet in an unfettered act of worship and repentance. With her hair unbound, she wiped away the many tears that had fallen from her face to His feet. In reverence, she kissed them and anointed them with precious oil from a newly broken jar. With a posture of humility and desperation, she sought forgiveness for the sinfulness that had taken the place of her name. 

Every time I encounter the story of this unnamed woman, my heart breaks. This is a woman who realized the gravity of her sin, but in seeing the recognition of her own deep need of forgiveness, I am confronted by mine. We share a brokenness. The aching knowledge of my messes and terrible choices is thick. I have hurt others for my own gain, carried selfishness veiled with kind actions, and spoken gossip where encouragement belonged. I am in desperate need of mercy and forgiveness. Yet in this place of desperation, hope is not extinguished. No, it is given new life. Because of Jesus. 

Jesus dares to love with ferocity and mercy. He offered up His very life to make right all my wrongs - past, present, and future. He paid what I never could, and I know forgiveness because of Him. And in knowing I have been forgiven, how do I now love? The perspective that informs how I see my failings informs how greatly I love. As Jesus tells Simon, “But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” If I undervalue the cost of forgiveness, I love out of poverty. But if I see the price of forgiveness as dear, I love out of abundance. 

My sisters, what if we dared to seek Jesus with abandon as this forgiven woman did? What would our lives look like? What knowledge would our hearts hold? He awaits us with tenderness, with freedom, with peace.

Are we equally desperate to adore and celebrate the One who has intervened on our behalf and paid what we could not, who took on skin to save us? If not, what is holding us back?

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Robin Zastrow wants to live in a world where coffee never gets cold and kindness abounds. When she's not discovering the wonders of construction paper and cardboard tubes with her two little ones, you can find her sneaking in another few pages of a book or jotting down bits of writing on scraps of paper.

One of her favorite Scriptures is:“Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” Psalm 33:20-22 ESV

They went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continue to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go and from now on sin no more.” John 7:53-8:11 

I spend a lot of time thinking about dignity. As the writer for Back2Back Ministries*, a global orphan care ministry,  the bulk of my job is sharing stories of growth and triumph from cyclical trauma on behalf of vulnerable populations.  And I consider every word carefully. One of the house rules at Back2Back is to ask oneself, “if the subject of this story heard it read aloud, would they feel shame? Embarrassment? Pride?” I work for an organization who is diligent about showing smiling faces and providing the hope that comes after hurt. And when I read this passage about the adulterous woman, I know confidently I walk with a Father who is also in the business of  not only focusing on the hope, but gives it, and He removes our hurt. A Father who provides dignity to populations who may not know it well. And He takes these positions seriously.  

I walk with a Father who is also in the business of  not only focusing on the hope, but gives it, and He removes our hurt.

As I read this passage of Scripture, I consider the adulterous woman. I imagine the Pharisees winging her into the center of a large crowd and scoffing. If I were in her position, I’d likely be trying to fold in on myself as much as possible – cowering, arms crossed over my body, doing anything I could to make myself smaller amidst the crowd. Her heart must’ve been beating so fast, trying her best not to imagine the ping of stones against her flesh, wondering how long it would take before she’d draw her last breath. And all the while, I imagine the crowd was jeering and taunting.

Can you imagine the isolation and fear she must’ve felt? 

And this is what shame in the place of dignity does to us, sisters. You may never have cheated on your husband or significant other, but I imagine we can all recall a moment where we were publicly called out for sin. In these moments, our fear brain whispered to us, “you’re the only unclean one here, girl – everyone knows it’s true.”

Jesus then does what He always does – gently reminds those Pharisees they’re no worse or better than the woman they’re wishing to condemn. “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Now that’s a mic drop, if I’ve ever heard one.

Jesus doesn’t point His finger at each of the Pharisees and list their indiscretions aloud for all to hear – even though He could have.

Jesus doesn’t further shame the adulterous woman with her additional sins that the crowd doesn’t know – even though He could have.

Jesus doesn’t yell or criticize or lose His cool over a crew of bros trying to tell Him how to do His work on this side of Heaven – even though He could have.

He just calls it like it is – you boys with clean hands? Go ahead, throw the stones. And one by one, they walk away, until it’s just the woman and Jesus. He asks where they’ve all gone, asks who condemned her, and she says, “No one, my Lord.” 

“Me, either,” He responds. “Go. . .”

With just a few sentences, He provided dignity for a woman who believed she was going to be publicly chastised and stoned to death.

I empathize with this woman. It’s not a good feeling when our sin is called out publicly. However, she isn’t necessarily who I’m wanting to model after reading this story.  

It’s our Savior.

He has all the information. He knows all the mishaps. He has an ongoing record of every wrong committed. Yet He offers grace and dignity.

He doesn’t put the Pharisees on blast, He simply reminds them they’re not so pure.

He doesn’t encourage the crowd to do what the Law commanded of them, He just asks who’s gonna throw the first stone.

He doesn’t even lecture the woman at fault, He just asks who condemned her after all the hullabaloo.

He is gracious, tender, forgiving, and He seeks to restore the dignity with which He made each of us.

May we all be so, when dealing with other humans. May we each remember everyone has a past. May we recall the times we were called out, and how it felt. May we always know that no matter the story, no matter the history, no matter the sins, everyone deserves dignity. 

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. - Genesis 1:27

*For more information about this ministry, visit https://back2back.org.

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Steph Duff wants to live in a world where every human, whether small or regular-sized, learns to use their voice and is seen and known. When she's not traveling and story telling with Back2Back Ministries, you'll likely find her drinking excessive cups of coffee, with her nose in a book, or daydreaming about India. Her favorite scripture is Habakkuk 1:5, and she prays for a world in which Jesus is the name on every lip. Learn a little more about her love for semi-colons, what stirs her blood, and the yearnings of her heart over at www.stephaniduff.wordpress.com.

Today's team journal was written by our Conference Co-coordinator, Kacey Dixon.

This year has been shaped by disappointment and loss for our family. Between losing my father to a battle with addiction and cancer, to leaving our church home of seven plus years, we have experienced the sting loss can bring. With that being said, it has also been filled with sanctification, growth, and learning to be satisfied in the riches of Christ.

Paul’s Example

Ephesians 3:7-8 tells us,
“Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,” 

Paul was writing to the Church in Ephesus, and at the beginning of Ephesians greets them with all “grace and peace.” In these few short verses we see Paul’s humility, as he refers to himself as the least of all the saints. We see he was to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. The great mystery of the Gospel was now to be revealed to the Gentiles. Paul, who once violently persecuted early Christians (Galatians 1:13,) is now proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel for all people, Jew and Gentile alike! He is to teach that the riches of Christ are so deep, so many, so unfathomable that they are unsearchable. We could search infinitely but never fully find all of His many riches. He is infinite and we are finite.

Paul, who once persecuted believers, was able to fully realize his desperate condition without the forgiveness of Christ. He was able to see the grace and peace that Christ offers. He was to exhort those he once persecuted, the grace and forgiveness that God offers us through Christ. Oh, how the grace of God was made known through Paul’s life.

If anyone had a reason to feel the sting of loss, it would have been Paul, as he wrote the letter to the Church of Ephesus during one of his many imprisonments. Instead, Paul teaches in Philippians 4, that the secret to the contentment he has found, is in the strength of Christ and rejoicing in Him (Philippians 4:4-13.)

Riches of Christ

So what exactly are some of these riches of Christ Paul is referring to? We know they are infinite and worthy of seeking after. This list is just a few of the many, unsearchable treasures we have in Christ.

1. Our Greatest Treasure

Jesus Christ, God’s gift to man, is and should be our greatest treasure and greatest delight in this life. The mystery of the Gospel revealed to man, that Jesus, fully God and fully man would humble Himself to come to this earth and live a life we never could and die a death we fully deserve, so we can be in right relationship with the Father. The richness to this treasure could be infinitely explored and never exhausted. We can understand Paul’s humility when we see the grace God has lavished upon us. He is foremost our greatest gift. We do not come to Jesus for the gifts He brings, rather He is the gift. All of the other gifts or riches He offers us are simply reflections of Himself.

2. His love, His grace, His peace, His mercy, His kindness

These are just a few of the riches in Christ we have once we have experienced the forgiveness of our sins and reconciliation with the Father. We are so undeserving of His kindness which leads us to repentance. We are so undeserving of His grace and mercy He offers in salvation and the forgiveness and forbearance that comes in our sanctification. When we fail and need forgiveness, and He forgives (John 1:1,) we taste first-hand the goodness of Christ.

3. His knowledge and truth

The last treasure in Christ I want to speak on is His infinite knowledge and wisdom. (Psalm 139:6) God knows all, sees all, is in control of all. Difficult times point us to the One who created us and is in control of all things, so we don’t have to be in control. We can surrender to a God who sees all, knows all, and loves. All pointing us back to the Father, showing our dependency upon Him. There is no real truth or knowledge apart from the knowledge and truth of Christ. This brings great comfort during times of difficulty. At least it has for me.

Being Satisfied in His Riches

When I lost my father to his battle with addiction and cancer, I could entrust my soul to my faithful Creator who knows all things. I was reminded of my humble state before the Father, that He would even save a sinner like me. I can then rejoice in the grace He offers. The Spirit has been reminding me I need to be satisfied in Him, He is my greatest treasure, and greatest delight. Oh how I pray, that I would believe this and the Lord would help me believe it, in my unbelief. These life circumstances apply to my life, but maybe they can minister to yours as well.

So...

When you don’t get approved for that mortgage on your dream house…
lift your eyes from the temporal satisfactions of this world to the infinite and eternal riches of Christ.

When the Lord leads you to a new church after being somewhere for many years…
lift your eyes from the temporal satisfactions of this world to the infinite and eternal riches of Christ.

When your father loses the battle with cancer and addiction...
lift your eyes from the temporal satisfactions of this world to the infinite and eternal riches of Christ.

When you’ve lost your temper with your kids and said things you wish you could take back…
repent and lift your eyes from the temporal satisfactions of this world to the infinite and eternal riches of Christ. 

These examples are personal to my life, but throw in any assortment of earthly disappointment or sin we may experience here, and the same will apply. Even amidst abundant seasons of this life, not marked by difficulty or loss, we still must lift our eyes from the temporal satisfactions of this world to the infinite and eternal riches of Christ.

It is not always easy to lift our eyes from the “here” to the “not yet,” but my hope is that we may be women who can face any circumstantial difficulty, loss, or abundance this side of heaven with hope and ultimate satisfaction in Christ. He is our greatest treasure. May we never give up on discovering and searching for the infinite treasures He offers. May we look up from every situation to see Christ in all, and above all. May this comfort our hearts, and may we be satisfied in the never ending riches of Christ. May God be glorified in our satisfaction in Him. As John Piper says, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” May this be true for my life and yours as well. 

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Kacey Dixon is a lover of Jesus, wife, stay-at-home mama of three and helps her husband run his small business. She loves coffee over ice and has a soft spot for helping broken women in need.

Today we are taking a break from our normal DWITW 365 posts to share a bit of what God has been teaching our sister Laura Swain through her time spent in the Word.

 “Rollercoaster” is the cliché I would use to describe my life right now, high-highs and low-lows. And a fair number of nauseating corkscrews that make your knuckles go white and your voice go hoarse.

Things have become much harder now that my twins need a more predictable rhythm day to day. My kids and I are virtually housebound as we decode the secret nap schedule that only the twins know and are reluctant to divulge completely. My older girls and I are feeling stir crazy and a bit isolated.

I have never felt closer to the Lord than I do right now, though. I have never wanted to know Him more. I have never been hungrier for Scripture. And at the same time, I still face daily struggles with idols who have names like “Alone Time” or “Feeling Appreciated.”

I’ve been praying through this and feeling so mystified about it. God, why is there such ugliness in my heart when I was just relishing every morsel of Your Word a few hours earlier? How could I feel so close to You and still lose my cool like that? The juxtaposition of my attitudes has been surprising to me. But it doesn’t surprise God.

I’ve just finished reading the Pentateuch as part of #DWITW365. I am only about 150 days behind (haha!) but I am chugging along. At the end of Deuteronomy, we see how tenderly the LORD shares some ugly truths with his beloved servant Moses. In Deuteronomy 31:16 God says to Moses: “You are about to rest with your fathers, and these people will soon prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering.” Gulp. He goes on to say that because they break the covenant He will no longer dwell with them. This is starting to sound a lot like Genesis 3. And then: “For I know what they are prone to do, even before I bring them into the land I swore to give them” (v. 21).

He blesses. We rebel. He corrects. He reminds us who He is. Then He takes us where He has promised us we will go, in full knowledge that the cycle will repeat again and again and again.

Well, you don’t have to be God to know that these people are prone to do this. The entire story so far has been about God performing literal miracles to save this people group (who, by the way, he calls HIS). The people He longs to be with, the people He wants to save the world through, the people He calls, delivers, raises up, and meets in the desert. And that glorious goodness is met by their complaining that they wish God had left them in slavery in Egypt.

So these people will leave God and the Law and call their prosperity their own? Shocker. Sarcasm aside, what does shock me is that God still takes them there! He knows what they will do in the promised land and He still makes them victorious to possess it and call it their own!

Today I texted some friends asking for prayer because I was feeling frustrated with my flares of anger. Beautiful that they are, they responded to my ugly sin problem by blessing me. “Hey, why don’t you drop off the girls so they can join us for a pizza and game night?” And, “Hey, I am dropping off a brownie in your mailbox.”

On the way back from dropping the girls off, I ran through the Burger King drive-thru. Little did I know, this seemingly quick stop would take nearly an hour out of my day. I was chill for the first 20 minutes: listening to vintage Steven Curtis Chapman and praising God as the twins were miraculously quiet in the backseat. But when I began to realize I had been forgotten – abandoned in the “please pull up and we’ll bring your food out to you” zone – I began to crumble. I’ll save the entire story for another day, but that anger I had just been praying about came spilling out of me so fast. Want to know the song that was playing right before it happened? “Only Natural” by SCC. You really should give the whole thing a listen. Part of it goes like this:
 So mirror, mirror look again,
 You’ve seen the fool that I have been.
 But did you see the grace that covers me
 Not to do anything I please;
 In fact, grace is the only thing
 That makes me what I am not naturally.
 Its supernatural power brings life out of the grave.
 It gives sight to the blind man,
 And it will not let me stay…
 Only natural, only natural.
 I’ve got the spirit of the living God alive in me,
 Giving me power so I don’t have to be
 Only natural.

I was face to face with grace. And grace looked a lot like brownies and pizza and games and prayers from friends that have seen my most broken parts. Yet I am like an Israelite who forgets. And like He did with the Israelites, God is good to say to me, “Hey you, look around at the piles of precious food, friends, and practical love I am making fall from the sky to feed your soul. Also, I saved your life. And, I love you.”

He blesses. We rebel. He corrects. He reminds us who He is. Then He takes us where He has promised us we will go, in full knowledge that the cycle will repeat again and again and again. This is what we are “prone to do” (Deut 31:21). And faithfully loving us is what He is prone to do.

The good news is that what comes naturally to us is not the way it has to be. Just a chapter earlier in Deuteronomy, Moses is summarizing his last speech to the Israelites. He has been imploring them for nearly the entire book to love the LORD only and follow His Law, not turning to the right or left. And then he says:

“This command that I give you today [to love the LORD and follow his Law] is certainly not too difficult or beyond your reach. It is not in heaven so that you have to ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’ And it is not across the sea so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’ But the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it.” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)

Of course, we know that we could never do this perfectly. That’s why we need a Savior! And He’s also given us the Holy Spirit – the one that lives inside of us – who empowers us to follow God, even when it is not the natural thing to do. He calls us to this unnatural living and gives us what we need to do it! It is not “beyond our reach.” And as I yield to Him and allow Him to cut out the ugliness in my heart, He is not surprised by what spills out.

Lord, I have seen the sin cycle of Israel and lived it myself. I don’t want to do what comes naturally to me. I want to live freely, live as your child, redeemed and forgiven and empowered by your Spirit to obey you. Thank you for working in my heart, patiently and persistently. Thank you for equipping me to do what seems upside-down to the rest of the world. Teach me what “unnatural” living looks like. Make me hungry for your Word and help me understand it and apply it. Amen.

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Laura Swain wants to live in a world where her kids sleep until 8am. When she's not outside in the garden, you can find her on the floor reading with her kids.

One of her favorite passages in the Bible is 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 (NIV), which ends with: "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

In 2 Corinthians 6:11-13, Paul speaks to the idea that our hearts can grow cold and calloused to the community of Christ: “We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return ( I speak as to children) widen your hearts also.”

In 2 Corinthians 7:2-3, we see the heart addressed again: “Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.”

We are called both to live and die together… We are called to love

Our relationships with one another are eternal! Get ahold of that! Not only will our relationship with Jesus be eternal but our relationship with His people is eternal as well. We are called both to live and die together. I think part of that dying process is forgiving those who have either intentionally or unintentionally hurt us. 

We are called to love. As 1 John 4:19- 21 says: “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

We find an exhortation in 2 Corinthians 6 and 7 to widen our hearts, make room in your hearts (2 Cor.7:2), and admonition from the apostles to the church that “you are in our hearts” (2 Cor. 7:3). 

As the body of Christ, we are called to function as a body and 2 Corinthians 1 is filled with the very intentions and purposes of what our lives together were ordained by God for……

EACH OTHER, not self!

• Comforting each other (v.4)

• Sharing abundantly in Christ's sufferings (v.5)

• Share in comfort (v.5)

• Share in affliction for the sake of comfort and salvation (v.5)

• To see a purpose to our affliction (v. 6)

• Hope for each other (v.7)

• Tell each other our burdens and afflictions (v.8)

• Encourage each other (v.8)

• Rely on God, not ourselves (v. 9)

• Remind each other  (v.10)

• Help each other by prayer (v.11)

• Visit each other (v.15)

• Work together for joy (v.24)

2 Corinthians 21-22 encapsulates God’s intentions for US! 

“And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”

Who are we to hold on to unforgiveness and distance ourselves from God’s gracious provision for our lives? The body of Christ is a supernatural community that is ordained by God for our good and His glory! We cannot treat the grace of God like a smorgasboard where we pick and choose what we like, disregarding the very things that will nourish us and build the body of believers up into the head which is Christ. 

Our experiences are to be shared with one another for one another.

So, let us submit to God’s Word. Let us respond in maturity today by praying that He would widen our hearts for His people because we are in this thing together for the long haul! 

Our experiences are to be shared with one another for one another. We must lay aside any weight that would hinder us from running the race with endurance. Unforgiveness is a heavy burden that will ensure a root of bitterness. Bitterness and unforgiveness will not be allowed in our future heavenly relationships, so why would we allow them in our earthly kingdom minded relationships if we are serious about our love for God? 

Above all else let’s LOVE! 1st Peter 4:8 attests to the importance of our relationships with one another this side of heaven: “Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.”

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Karen Savage wants to live in a world where Christ is Glorified. When she's not serving her family, you can find her serving others. Her favorite Scripture is John 15:7-8 ESV.