"Whisper"

I listen for the whisper,

Of the Spirit when He speaks,

Words of kindness for the valley,

And strength to climb the peaks.

Sometimes I thought Him silent,

But that was not the case,

I just wasn’t listening,

Or looking for His grace.

But He was always with me,

And waiting for my pause,

In all my hectic action,

To wake up to His cause.

First time that I heard Him,

Was in a quiet place,

He showed me Jesus on the cross,

And said right to my face,

My sin is what caused it,

I heard Him clearly say,

But I could be forgiven,

On that very day.

Since then I sometimes wandered,

But He never let me go,

At every intersection,

He was there to show.

How to claim His promise,

How to turn for home,

And that He was willing,

To never cast a stone.

But says I don’t condemn you,

Don’t have to be ashamed,

Just get up and come with Me,

You will not be the same.

I’ve heard the tender whisper,

I’ve heard Him speak my name,

I know the Spirit’s leading,

He lifts up Jesus’ fame.

“Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, ‘Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?’ ‘No, Lord,’ she said. And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I. Go and sin no more.’” (John 8:10-11, NLT)

We all need to hear the Spirit say to us personally what Jesus said to the woman who was caught in adultery. After His famous challenge to her accusers, “let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone..” Jesus said two things to the woman. The first was that He did not condemn her. She was guilty, no doubt about it. But He gave her mercy instead of judgment. The second is that Jesus invited the woman to “go and sin no more.” In other words He not only forgave her, but also gave her a new start in life, characterized by righteous, rather than sinful choices. Life goes on and once we evaluate where we’ve been gong wrong, it’s a good idea to ask the Lord for forgiveness and the power to forgive ourselves.

Lord, help us to hear the whisper of Your Spirit, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Mikel Donahue, mikeldonahue.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Mikel, and God bless you.