One Sabbath as Jesus and His disciples were walking through some grain fields they were breaking off the heads of wheat, rubbing off the husks in their hands and eating the grains.

   But some of the Pharisees said, "That's illegal! Your disciples are harvesting grain, and it's against the Jewish law to work on the Sabbath." Jesus replied, "Don't you read the Scriptures? Haven't you ever read what King David did when he and his men were hungry? He went into the Temple and took the shewbread, the special bread that was placed before the Lord, and ate it - illegal as this was - and shared it with others." And Jesus added, "I am Master even of the Sabbath."

   [Another time,] the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees brought in a woman who had been caught committing adultery, and made her stand before them all. "Teacher," they said to Jesus, "this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. In our Law, Moses gave a commandment that such a woman must be stoned to death. Now, what do You say?"

   They said this to trap Him, so they could accuse Him. But Jesus bent over and wrote on the ground with His finger. As they stood there asking Him questions, He straightened up and said to them, "Whichever one of you has committed no sin may throw the first stone at her." Then He bent over again and wrote on the ground.

   When they heard this they all left, one by one, the older ones first. Jesus was left alone, with the woman still standing there. He straightened up and said to her, "Where are they, woman? Is there no one left to condemn you?"

   "No one, sir," she answered. "Well then," Jesus said, "I do not condemn you either. Go, but do not sin again."

   But God gives us even more grace, as the Scripture says, "God is against the proud, but He gives grace to the humble." So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil, and the devil will run away from you. Come near to God, and God will come near to you. You are sinners. So clean sin out of your lives. You are trying to follow God and the world at the same time. Make your thinking pure. Do not give the devil a way to defeat you.

Taken from Lk. 6, Jn. 8, Jas. 4, Eph. 4, The Living Bible, Today's English Version
and The Everyday Bible. For free Lifescope book, write to Box 1575,
Carlsbad, NM 88221. Please send $1.00 for postage and handling.