The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith
Ashamed No More
When I was a young Christian, I suffered a great deal from recurring shame for the same issues over and over again. An older friend pointed out that Jesus had forgiven me and I had no reason to be ashamed any more of those things that are past that I have confessed and have asked forgiveness for. I came to understand that this is one way that Satan side-tracks and immobilizes Christians. If he can keep up the noise of our past sin, keep us striving with the shame of past sin, then he can keep us from listening to our Lord’s still small voice and render us ineffective for Jesus. In Revelation 12:10 he is, after all, called the “accuser of the brethren”.
I recently found myself plagued by this same inner battle and it took me awhile to realize what was really behind the self-accusations. It has been some time since I recognized such a malicious spiritual attack as I have been experiencing over the past several weeks. Dan cited the topic of my past five devotional posts as the probable reason for the attack and I agree.
Once I confronted the enemy directly, I found that singing worship songs and reciting Scripture to God helped me refocus. The first passage to my mind was the key verse that followed us during Dan’s cancer thirteen years ago:
“Do not remember the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth. Shall ye know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert” (Isa. 43:18-19).
Another one that keeps coming to mind is Colossians 1:19-23:
“For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell and, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto himself whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, unblameable, and unreproveable in His sight if you continue in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven.”
I find the promises of Hebrews 13:5, 2 Peter 1:3-4, and John 10:28-29 especially comforting:
“Keep your life without covetousness and be content with such things as you have. For he has said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So then we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
“His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
“…I give unto them eternal life. And they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them to me, is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
