PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
Romans 8:1–4
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
CONSIDER THIS
The enemy loves to shame us because it becomes the voice in our head that tells us we are bad people who do not deserve to be loved, forgiven, or accepted. Yesterday we read a passage from Paul about the correction he gave to the believers in Corinth. Correction is different than shame. Paul has never used the sin and the mistakes of the believers as a way to shame them and tell them they had gone too far to receive forgiveness. Jesus also never used His correction to make someone believe they were not worthy of receiving forgiveness or eternal life. But the enemy will. Satan understands that if he can make us question our identity as children of God we will hide ourselves away from the loving arms of our Father. This makes shame a dangerous emotion.
In today’s culture, we seem to have a love-hate relationship with shame. On the one hand, people will completely disregard any sense of wrongdoing and will stick their heads in the sand believing they can do anything that feels right to them. On the other hand, people will cling to shame and convince themselves they are unlovable. In studying the effects of shame, mental health experts have found that as shame is held in the body, it can lead to issues of self-esteem, isolation, and feelings of humiliation. These are feelings the enemy takes advantage of to keep us enslaved to him, but this has never been the Lord’s intent for our lives. In our passage today, Paul tells us that there is no condemnation for followers of Jesus, not because they can do anything they want, but because Jesus’s sacrifice has freed us from the shame of sin. When we hold on to shame, we reject the freedom Jesus provides. In verse 3, we read that Jesus laid his life on the altar by dying on the cross as the sin offering for us. Remember that the sin offering was given to seek atonement for our fallen nature, the original sin that we have because of the fall in Genesis 3.
But Jesus gives us freedom from our shame because He says, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love” (John 15:9). Our shame will make us question who we are because we know our flaws, our thoughts, the excuses we’ve given, and we know our brokenness. When we surrender our shame, we choose not to live by the lies of the enemy. Surrendering our shame allows us to feel the freedom of grace we have been given. John, the disciple of Jesus, wrote “And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming” (1 John 2:28).
THE PRAYER
Father, because of Your love we can reject the shame of the enemy. We stand today as beloved children of the Most High King. Thank You for being the sin offering that frees us from condemnation. Amen.
THE QUESTIONS
How have you felt condemned in your life? Is that condemnation coming from someone else or within you? How does this verse help you feel released? How will you live differently today knowing that you are called to live by the Spirit and not the flesh?
For the Awakening,
Susan Kent
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P.S. JOIN J.D. AND IVAN THIS MORNING!
Quick reminder, J.D. Walt and Ivan Filby will be hosting a Wake-Up Party Call this morning, Saturday, March 23 at 8:30am CT. Make sure to BYOC (bring your own coffee). We can’t wait to see you! Use this link to access the Zoom call.
3 Responses
Shame comes from fear. Fear is the spirit of the evil one. Both are effects of Fall in the Garden.
Genesis 3:10
And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
When we live and are IN Christ, shame falls off. Why? Because fear falls off. No power or authority can abide IN Christ; if so, it would change because the love IN Christ changes anything that enters. In Christ is love, power, and a sound mind.
John 15:4
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
If fear and shame attack us, they tell us we are out of position, that we have stepped out of Christ.
That’s what happened to Adam. By disobeying God, he lost His position.
Genesis 3:9
But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
The remedy? Step back IN! Get back into your position IN Christ.
Staying 💪’ n Christ
Ephesians 6:10
Finally, be strong IN the Lord and IN His mighty power.
Christ-followers are called to no longer live according to their human desires but to live according to the desires of the Spirit. Christ’s sin offering and the life-giving presence of God’s Spirit who gives life, have set us free from the condemnation of the law and from spiritual death. They actively empower us so that we can continually focus on, listen to, obey, and adore the risen Jesus.
I’m aware that I am. I can focus my attention as I choose. There’s no biological explanation for my consciousness. I’m a supernatural being living in my physical body. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Because of Christ’s death on the Cross, I can now choose moment by moment to resist my sinful desires and instead live according to God’s Spirit by making Him always welcome to daily live in, work in, empower, and direct me.
Shame is not experienced by all individuals. For the unbelievers, it’s because they’ve not been convicted of their sins. For the antinomians, it’s due to their rejection of God’s revealed will as shown in the law. And for those who’ve placed their faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross, it’s because they trust in the truth and authority of Scripture. I personally do not experience shame for my past transgressions and lack of total commitment, only regret that I wasted so much of my prior life. Thanks be to God for His gifts of Grace.