The Accuser

By Cheri Cowell –

I don’t know about you, but I carry an invisible person around with me. No one else can see her, but I know she’s there. Most of the time she is silent, but her voice, even when not audible, is loud and clear to me. Sometimes she can go for weeks without speaking, and at times I almost forget she’s there. Then, when I least expect it, she speaks in a cruel, accusing tone, almost in a whisper, but she might as well be shouting for all the world to hear. She is my accuser. Jesus knew her.

On this day as Jesus sat in the place of authority in the Temple, she’d been brought before him. Her sins were great. Everyone knew what she’d done, but no one knew more than she. Although the men who stood ready to stone her for her sins were visible, her accusers—her memories—were always with her. When one by one the accusers left, unable to stand in Jesus’ presence with the stones of judgment in their hands, there was another less visible who was also banished. Jesus’ question, “Where are your accusers?” was meant to show the woman (and us) that in light of His forgiveness, even the accusers we carry with us have no place to hide. Their voices are silenced.

The next time your accuser rears his or her ugly head inside of your mind, remind that voice that you belong to Jesus and see how fast your accuser flees.

“Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” (John 8:10 NIV).

PRAYER: Jesus, I hear you asking, “Where are your accusers?” and when I look around I see both the visible and invisible have no voice. Help me to accept that I have been truly forgiven.

Slurp!

By Cheri Cowell –

Have you walked through your garden lately and heard the slurping sounds? That’s right, slurping coming from your plants as they soak up all that wonderful rain. For weeks I was watering for at least a half-hour every night because there had been no rain. Lately, though, we have been getting those terrific steady rains. I know my plants appreciated the water I was giving, but there is magic in the water that comes from heaven. The plants show it by how strong they get, how green they become, and how much they grow. It’s as if they are saying, “Praise God!”

We are like that. We can go along for quite a while with a little watering by the water this world has to offer. Our thirst is temporarily met by lunch with friends, a walk, ice-cream, or a good movie, but after some time we begin to show how sun-scorched and parched we are. We may become irritable, easily frustrated, tired, overwhelmed, and needy. When you and I see these warning signs we need to call upon the Lord to send in the rain. The scriptures tell us He will satisfy our needs if we are willing to cry out, and do a few other things.

Isaiah tells us true faith is not just about us, but also about what we do in relation to others. We are being called to take what we learn and let it transform us so much that we stop pointing fingers, talking maliciously, and holding onto our pride. When we do this we will begin to serve others and shine like the noonday sun. When we do this God will quench our thirst in a way that only the Lord can.

“Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and God will say, “I’m here.” If you remove the yoke from among you, the finger-pointing, the wicked speech; if you open your heart to the hungry, and provide abundantly for those who are afflicted, your light will shine in the darkness, and your gloom will be like the noon. The LORD will guide you continually and provide for you, even in parched places. He will rescue your bones. You will be like a watered garden, like a spring of water that won’t run dry” (Isaiah 58:9-11 CEB).

PRAYER: Praise God for hearing my cries for help. Thank You for being the Living Water that my spirit needs. Show me the ways in which I point fingers, talk wrongly, and harbor pride. My heart’s desire is to be like a well-watered garden, watered by the Spring of Living Water that never fails.

Grandma’s Little Helper

By Cheri Cowell –

I expected it every time I visited my grandmother, she was either preparing a meal to take to someone in need, or she was putting “one away” for when she would hear of an illness or death in a friend’s family. I loved being grandma’s little helper in the kitchen as she prepared these meals. I learned a lot of lessons, some about cooking, but most were about life. As we cooked together she would talk about the needs of the person we were cooking for and how she always received more than she gave. Sometimes I would have the privilege of riding along with her to deliver her homemade “stoup” (soup that was so thick it almost qualified as stew), or her yummy chicken broccoli casserole. It was in the doorways as we delivered these dishes that I witnessed what it really looked like to practice hospitality.

Paul is explaining in this passage in his letter to the Roman church how to function as a body. He precedes this lesson on practical love by explaining that each of us is gifted in a unique way so that together we might serve others in God’s love. He ends this section by explaining that in order to practice true hospitality, we must first understand what true love means. Hospitality is, therefore, an outgrowth of mature love. My grandmother knew this and practiced what Paul preached.

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality” (Romans 12:9-13 ESV).

PRAYER: Thank You, God, for the gifts I have been given. Help me to share them. Give me new opportunities to practice hospitality, to practice love.

Scars

By Cheri Cowell –

It was the day before my sixteenth birthday. One more day and it would be legal for me to drive without my mom in the car. I couldn’t wait. My mother wanted to reinforce some of those driving lessons I’d been taught with one more outing. So we set out for an afternoon of errands, one of which was to take our cocker spaniel by the vet’s for her check-up. We had gotten her from the pound about a month earlier, and it was time for her final shots. I can’t remember now if we ever made it to the vet’s, but I do remember the accident. And yes, I was driving, and it was my fault. I didn’t see the car before I made the right turn. The other car hit us, spun our car around and pushed it into a telephone pole. In the impact, my head hit the rearview mirror and sliced open the bridge of my nose. I still have that scar.

That day sitting along the side of the road with an EMT trying to stop the flood of blood coming from my nose, I was more worried about my dog. I knew my mother was okay and the other people in the accident were fine, but my dog was to be sent to the pound until we could pick her up. We had just bought her from the pound and I worried she would probably think we were returning her there. I was almost hysterical with the thought that my dog would think she wasn’t wanted.

Some scars are deep, and aren’t caused by anything we’ve done. Yet, the scars remain. We live in an imperfect and broken world and sometimes our scars remind us that we belong to a different world. Someday we will be permanent residents of that new world where there are no scars. For now we must accept God’s forgiveness, and live with our scars—the scars of a broken world.

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4 NIV).

PRAYER: I praise You, Lord for Your gift of forgiveness. Some of my scars are from my own sins and I ask for Your forgiveness for those. But some of my scars are there by no fault of my own. Help me to see them as a reminder of the broken world we live in and the future we have in heaven—a world free of scars.

Incredible Grace

By Cheri Cowell –

With the temperatures climbing like they have been lately, I was reminded of a group of people from an area church who decided to take bottles of ice-cold water to people who were working outside. They thought this simple gift of love and compassion might be a chance to witness and would also be something “Jesus would do.” Two team members set out on a Saturday with four bottles of water to give away. They were very discouraged after several hours. No one was mowing their lawn, walking their dog, or washing their cars. It was too hot. When they were about to give up they drove by a laundromat and saw two women who looked a little weary from the heat. These good samaritans handed them the bottled water then discovered the women were living with their families out of a van parked out back. The two water-bottle-missionaries were able to help this family find shelter and a meal. Not the opportunity they thought their day would provide, but it would be what Jesus would do. God desires us to extend grace to the weary.

Paul was encountering a lot of people who thought they were safe and secure because of their lineage, their wealth, their position in life, their deeds of charity, or their allegiance to Paul. Paul wanted to make it very clear that although the Jews were the chosen people, it wasn’t their heritage that saved them. It was God’s grace and His grace is given freely to those who deserve it and to those who don’t. If we are to do as Jesus would do, we need to look on the needs of others as an opportunity for us to share grace, especially when those who need it don’t really deserve it.

“I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace” (Romans 11:1-6 NIV).

PRAYER: Thank You Lord for the opportunities You provide to share Your grace and love. Help me to broaden my view of those who are in need so that all of Your children might come to know Your incredible grace.

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