“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame. Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.” Joel 2:25-27 NKJ
From the time we were young we have heard the phrases, “shame on you” or “you should be ashamed of yourself” and the feelings those phrases evoke are overwhelming because they make us think there is something wrong with us. Shame means: A painful emotion caused by a strong sense of guilt, embarrassment, unworthiness, or disgrace. One that brings dishonor, disappointment, or condemnation. Just reading those definitions might trigger memories for you where you remember something you said or did that you caused you to take on the feeling of shame.
But what I want you to know today is that God NEVER thinks this way about you and He promises that we will never be put to shame. Shame comes from the devil and he intends to use it to get our focus off of our righteousness IN Christ. He wants us to be so consumed by the emotions that shameful thoughts invoke that we do not stand upright in our faith with our head held high in knowing that we are accepted and approved by God IN Christ Jesus!
Sometimes we forget that Jesus died for more than just our sins on the Cross. He died for everything that we would ever suffer in life, including our shame! He sympathizes with us because He became shame for us; so that In Him and through faith IN Him, we could come boldly before the throne of grace and obtain mercy and grace in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16) When the temptation comes to take on feelings of shame we must take those thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. Our responsibility is to deny the devil the opportunity to gain a foothold in our minds through using condemnation in shameful thoughts.
It is so hard to imagine God dealing wondrously with us when we do something wrong but that is exactly what He does. God doesn’t change in His relationship with us just because we do something wrong. He is steadfast in His love towards us and He is NEVER moved by what He sees or hears His children doing. Only a human parent, lacking wisdom, ever tells their children they should be ashamed of themselves, not God! And only humans heap the condemnation of shame on each other because they lack wisdom and understanding of God’s goodness and mercy. When we do something wrong others will judge us but they judge because they themselves are guilty of the same things; which cause them to point out our flaws to ease their conscience of their own flaws. And sometimes we judge ourselves unjustly due to our lack of wisdom and understanding of God’s goodness.
Romans 2:1-4 says, “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”
When we do something wrong we do need to repent. But true repentance comes from the heart of the man who understands God’s goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering because He knows that God judges him by the truth, which is Christ IN him, righteousness and grace! When man understands the truth that he is redeemed, sanctified and made righteous IN Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:30) he no longer accepts the lie of shame that comes from the devil, his own thoughts, or from the mouths of others. I want to leave you today with the words God speaks to you when you say or do something wrong so you are empowered to renew your mind in the truth about who you are IN Christ and who Christ is IN you.
Child, I love you and when I look at you I see the completed picture of my Son’s righteousness in you. In you I see the completed work of the Cross and each day I am perfecting My unfailing love and faithfulness in you. I am transforming your identity into the image of My Son, who is blameless and holy in My sight. Come to me with the burden of shame that has been placed on you and I will give you rest for your weary soul. Take My yoke of love on you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart. I do not condemn you when you turn from Me for there is nothing you can do to change My mind about you. I made the decision to restore you to Me in right standing through the sacrifice of My own Son and I do not change my mind, based on your words or actions! I am restoring all the years that have been eaten away in shame! Believe it by faith and praise Me as I am delivering you from the stronghold of shame!
Prayer: I praise You today for dealing wondrously with me and for never putting me to shame! I praise You for restoring me to right standing with You through the sacrifice of Your own Son! I praise You for Your unfailing love and faithfulness! I praise You for restoring all the years of my life that have been eaten away by shame! I come boldly before Your throne of grace and I believe by faith that I obtain mercy and grace when I say or do something wrong. I praise You for Your goodness that leads to repentance and I stand upright in my faith and declare Your goodness throughout the land! Amen
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