"You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently.... To keep Your statutes! Then I would not be ashamed, when I look into all Your commandments." (From Psalm 119:4-6)
Different psychiatrists which I have read say that shame is "the quintessential human emotion....All extravagant behaviors are reactions to it....It's the root of dysfunction in families....After decades of obscurity-- spent, confused with and over shadowed by guilt-- shame is increasingly recognized as a powerful, painful and potentially dangerous emotion,-- especially for those who don't understand its origins or know how to manage it." Okay, then, I guess we should deal with it.
When one looks, "into all [His] commandments," there is nothing left but shame, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." But the purpose of God is not to produce a shame which has no remedy. His purpose is to bring us to repentance and acknowledgment of our sin, surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and experience the power of His Most Precious, Cleansing, Delivering Blood.
Our text, as all Scripture, deals with the problem of shame, as well as every other "dangerous human emotion." The first verse of our Psalm declares who are the, "Blessed;" they are, "the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord!" Today's text reiterates this, and you and I know this to be true. You and I know that if our life would have been dominated by Him Who is, "The Word of God," Jesus Christ, our life would have been a shameless life, a life free of guilt, a life of purity. Now too many religionists tell people this is impossible. So I guess what they are really saying is that God has given to humanity, in both Old and New Testaments, an impossible way of life. On the contrary, the only impossibilities of life is life without Jesus Christ and obedience to His Words. "But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."
Many events and people in our lives have brought shame upon us. Only One Person, Jesus Christ, can bring, "Then I would not be ashamed."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I am thankful to You that through the Blood of Jesus Christ and obedience to, "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us," and in us, "Then I would not be ashamed."
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* Please pray for us and the resources for our DC Mission, October 28-November 5, 2012
Different psychiatrists which I have read say that shame is "the quintessential human emotion....All extravagant behaviors are reactions to it....It's the root of dysfunction in families....After decades of obscurity-- spent, confused with and over shadowed by guilt-- shame is increasingly recognized as a powerful, painful and potentially dangerous emotion,-- especially for those who don't understand its origins or know how to manage it." Okay, then, I guess we should deal with it.
When one looks, "into all [His] commandments," there is nothing left but shame, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." But the purpose of God is not to produce a shame which has no remedy. His purpose is to bring us to repentance and acknowledgment of our sin, surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and experience the power of His Most Precious, Cleansing, Delivering Blood.
Our text, as all Scripture, deals with the problem of shame, as well as every other "dangerous human emotion." The first verse of our Psalm declares who are the, "Blessed;" they are, "the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord!" Today's text reiterates this, and you and I know this to be true. You and I know that if our life would have been dominated by Him Who is, "The Word of God," Jesus Christ, our life would have been a shameless life, a life free of guilt, a life of purity. Now too many religionists tell people this is impossible. So I guess what they are really saying is that God has given to humanity, in both Old and New Testaments, an impossible way of life. On the contrary, the only impossibilities of life is life without Jesus Christ and obedience to His Words. "But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."
Many events and people in our lives have brought shame upon us. Only One Person, Jesus Christ, can bring, "Then I would not be ashamed."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I am thankful to You that through the Blood of Jesus Christ and obedience to, "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us," and in us, "Then I would not be ashamed."
******************
* Please pray for us and the resources for our DC Mission, October 28-November 5, 2012
* Read, "Carolyn Glick: Israel on the Eve of Us Elections" at:
www.jerberwash.blogspot.com
www.jerberwash.blogspot.com
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
