Meanings of Fear & Shame

Hebrew letters started as pictographs where each letter was a picture. Those pictures can give us insight into what Hebrew words mean.

The Hebrew word for shame (or ashamed) is represented by 3 letters picturing family, security, & destruction. Shame is "family security destroyed." Adam was a "son of God," and his shame destroyed the security he had felt with God. "The man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed" (Genesis 2:25). Their family security was not destroyed before the fall with God or each other. Shame also carries the idea of fear. Adam said in Genesis 3:10, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

The Hebrew word for fear is represented by 3 letters picturing work, man, & strength. Fear then is "work by man's strength." The first occurrence of fear in the bible has Adam & Eve picking fig leaves to cover their selves. Fear causes you to try to cover yourself by your works whether you need to or not.

These are some deep messages from God in only six letters!

 Each letter can have multiple meanings or synonyms. The positive fear of God would take the same letters & symbolize hand, head, & leader. God's Right Hand, the Head of the Assembly, Our One Leader Christ.

The literal meaning of the Hebrew word translated fear is a "flowing of the gut," which can be applied to "fear" or "awe." Have you ever been so scared or been in the presence of something so amazing that you could feel it in your gut? This "feeling" is the meaning of this word. The bad feeling of fear makes you try to compensate for whatever you are feeling badly about. The good feeling of fear (awe) makes you stand still in awe, to where you can't do anything but focus on Jesus who is God's Right Hand, the Head of the Assembly, & Our One Leader!

What do you want to be... no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives

We have a habit of asking kids & teens, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
I'd like to hear one say, "Do you mean what do I want to do? Because I still want to be me when I grow up."
We're apt to take our identity from so many things:  our jobs, our hobbies, the entertainment we enjoy, our religious affiliation, our spiritual beliefs, our political beliefs, & even our family & friends. A lot of this comes from insecurity or fear.

We are given artificial flavorings, artificial identity. It is meant to imitate the natural but it is not natural. The world just sorta makes us fall in place that way.

You can't be content until you are willing to be yourself without fear. But people will either love you for who you are, hate you for who you are, or not care about you, not care about the real you. They'll hate you because you refuse to take your identity from what they take their identity from. They'll stop caring about you because you refuse to be afraid of them & their opinion, no longer needing their approval. Those who love you for who you are are the hardest to find.

While you could say young adults & teens are selfish the ultimate truth is that most adults don't end up being selfish. They end up having a type of "team" mentality. They give up their identity for an affiliation or role within business, religion, family, or any paradigm. The mentality is, "I'm gonna let this thing tell me who I am" or even worse, "Who I am not & thus who I should be. I'm not who I should be so I need this system to tell me who I should try to become." Obviously that's religion & marketing 101. Tell people they are missing something & then offer them a way to get what they are missing. Systems get people to work for them or buy from them. They exist to take & not to give, they are artificial flavors & they've got just enough preservatives for you to not blame them.

The difference between me seeing myself as "a dad" or "Melody's dad" is colossal. You can be a parent & forever leave your kids in the dark because you are trying to be "a parent," you're trying to fit the role, meet the cliches, meet others expectations, fall within the grace of others' opinions & the acceptable norms. Doing this sets you up as someone who's goal is to control & manipulate your child instead of know your child. And it is no wonder because doing things like this sets you up as someone who's goal is to control & manipulate yourself instead of know yourself.

So the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" implies "I stopped being me & became this thing," & "what you are now has to go."

This all relates to the idea of being "in" the world but not "of" the world. Being of the world means you take or strive to take your identity from it. And let me tell you, the religion of Christianity is perhaps the most "worldly" thing in existence. It is the ultimate bait-and-switch.

Jesus saying, "Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it" refers to our false life, that which was given to us by the world to strive to keep or improve. I claim this because Jesus immediately went on to say, "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?" Think about His question.

Whoever wants to save their world-made-life will lose it. It will be destroyed because God will not keep that false life for us. Whoever abandons the world-made-life for Jesus, The Life who gives the God-made-life, will save their true life. The world-made-life "seeks to conform you into its image" until you are no longer you. The God-made-life seeks to renew you. When you are renewed you know God's desire has been to give you abundant life, abundant real life with no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.

Ananias & Sapphira

"Who or what then can separate us from the love of Christ? There is no such thing! Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, NOR ANY OTHER CREATED THING (that means you), will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

If you believe that you can be separated from his love you will misinterpret scripture, applying things to Christians that are impossible. God is love, if you can't be separated from his love you can't be separated from Him.

Scripture gives no indication that God killed Ananias. It says, "As he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last." It also does not say what Peter said to Ananias's wife Sapphira was a good thing. Jesus rebuked His disciples for wanting to "call down fire from heaven" to kill people, telling them "You do not know what kind of spirit you are of." Peter seems to do something similar here to Sapphira causing her to die. John wrote that "perfect love drives out fear" yet what Peter did caused great fear for everyone. Paul said that because of what Jesus did on the cross God "no longer charges the world with sin" (1 Corinthians 5:19). What Peter did was ungodly. Acts is a narrative & it doesn't say "this was a good thing they did" or "that was a bad thing they did" but the rest of scripture makes it clear.

Are people really so hungry for fear, unforgiveness, & divine consequence for sin that we would rather justify Peter's actions in Acts 5 than we would see God as love, love that drives out fear? Absolutely.

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if this were a false story that was added to scripture.

Fear Behind the Curtain

One reason people oppose the "grace message" is because they are afraid of God. They think He will be angry with them, punish them, or break fellowship with them if they aren't vigilant to avoid sin & diligent to obey Him.

Another reason people oppose the "grace message" is because they are afraid of sin. They don't believe that Christians are dead to sin or free from sin. They believe sin still has power over us. They think we have to avoid sin like perpetually falling acid rain. Romans 6:14 says sin is powerless against someone who lives under grace (the recognition that God desperately loves you no matter what, y'know like a loving Father would). It also says that when you put yourself under law you give sin power over you that it otherwise would never have.

If you fear either of these things you doubt or limit God's love for you. 1 John 4:18 says there is no fear in a relationship where you know that you are loved. Knowing you are loved actually pushes away any fears that may come up. Zechariah said the very proclamation of the coming of the Messiah was "Fear not, your King is coming." Zacharias prophesied, "The Lord God of Israel has granted us the freedom to serve Him without fear." Every Christian that believes in the power of sin also believes they must fear God. They are living as if Jesus has never come to this earth. If you reject the grace message, you at least in part are rejecting Jesus & the suffering He has done on your behalf.

God has not given us a spirit of fear. If you are fearful you are not walking by the spirit He has given you. The spirit He has given us causes our hearts to cry out, "Daddy! Papa! Father!" What father demands fear? What father angrily punishes? What father abandons you whenever you make a mistake? Not Jesus' Father. Not my Father. What child wants to run to a father that does those things?

Free & Fearless: The Truth Behind God, Humanity, & The Law

In Luke 1:67-79 The father of John the Baptist, Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying... "The Lord God of Israel has granted us the freedom to serve Him without fear because He has saved us from the hand of our enemies."

This is huge. Here the Holy Spirit through Zacharias says God no longer requires us to fear Him. Many of us have suspected as such but may not have seen it so concise in the New Testament. But here is the reason we need not fear God, "He has saved us from the hand of our enemies (sin, death, Satan)." This says the only reason people had to fear God in the Old Covenant was because of the power the enemy had to harm them!

In Luke 17:4-7 (while still under the Old Covenant) Jesus cleared this up further. He said God values you deeply so do not be afraid of Him but instead be afraid of "the one who kills" which Hebrews 2:14 makes clear is Satan who has the power of death. So the point of fearing God was to trust Him like one would trust a body guard. If you didn't fear God, meaning fear the consequence of refusing His instructions, you would face turmoil or death. That is why the old covenant was based on performance because sin & Satan were based on performance & without the law showing people the consequences or "curses" of their actions they would be lying down in the street not knowing that they would be run over.

When Moses says in Leviticus 18:5 "The man who obeys these laws will live by them" he literally meant "live by them" as in obedience would prevent Satan from killing them. Paul said in Galatians 3:24, "the law was our guardian until Christ came." The law could not give life but obedience to the law could prevent death & guard people. God did not want to curse or harm anyone. Lamentations 3:33 says, "God does not make people suffer nor cause them grief from His heart." Whether we like it or not God did have to put some consequences out there upon some of His people for the greater good of the whole of His people. But He didn't do this because of His "holiness" or "justness." He did this because He was protecting His people from Satan who holds the power of death.

This was NOT about God having a "holy standard" or requirement that people weren't meeting so He had to give the law to show them that they didn't measure up to His expectations. He brought the law to reveal sin because sin earned people death, sin produced death in people, sin crouched at people's doors waiting to devour them. God was ALWAYS a Savior. God has ALWAYS loved the world. God would have never given Adam & Eve the law. His only "law" to them was to "avoid the one thing that will kill you."

The law was not God's guidelines to righteousness. Romans 3:20 says flat out that "no human is made righteous by keeping the law" & "the law was given to make people conscious of sin." Why? Because "the wages of sin is death." Death is God's ultimate enemy because He loves mankind. He is life & the life giver. But there was a huge problem with the law. It was weak because obedience to the law was based on human effort. Sin took ahold of the law & produced more death. The only upside to this was that sin made itself even more evident as a problem that needed to be fixed.

Mankind was addicted to the drug of sin & destroying themselves with it. That is why God hated sin so much, it destroyed those He loved. As any parent would, God became angry with His children who were willingly destroying themselves & especially angry at those who were destroying others, the drug dealers who drug other kids into danger (something Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for doing).

Those God killed in the flesh & those who did not or were not able to trust in Him, God sent to what 1 Peter 3:18 calls "prison." A good father would let his drug dealing son go to prison or even turn him in to be imprisoned, particularly if it kept his other children from following the same path of addiction & drug pushing. That is a picture of God & the flood & every other place in scripture where God commands or threatens death for people.

"Jesus told the good news to those who were dead. He gave them the same choice that living men have, the choice to live like God in the spirit." (1 Peter 4:6)

Instead of sin being something where God deemed mankind unworthy of life because of their actions, God actually deemed mankind worthy of life despite their actions. He took some people's life away in the Old Testament & locked them up in "prison" so that they would one day take the chance to "live like God in the spirit" after Christ came off the cross.

So you see it was never about God being "too holy" to accept people or let them live. That is absurd. It was about God going to any lengths to save men from sin even if it was by taking their life here on earth, sending their spirits to prison, then giving the life of His Son to save them & set them free.

Hebrews 2:12-15, "Since God's children live in flesh & blood Jesus Himself became flesh & blood, that through death He might render powerless the one who holds the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives."

Even the most wicked people you could imagine, those you would help hunt down before you would forgive them, God gave the choice to be set free & know Him. The bible says humans were slaves to sin & slaves to the fear of death. Slaves are victims to those more powerful than themselves. Humans were victims of sin because of Satan, sin, & Adam's choice. Adam chose death. God didn't say, "Good you deserve it!" No, instead God said, "You chose death but I choose life. I will defeat death itself. I will save you & give you life again, life that lasts forever." Then God stepped into the world & bore the curses, consequences, & wages of sin.. He died so that we may live. He did not save us from Himself! He didn't kill His Son because He was unwilling to forgive us unless His anger was satiated & His wrath satisfied. He died saving us from our enemies & rose again to life to have triumph over them. Because of Jesus we are freed from all fear, fear of death, fear of sin, fear of Satan, & even fear of God. We are slaves no more! We are His sons, daughters, & friends.


Related Posts
Second Chances & Why God Killed
The Devil Has the Power of Death
To Fear or Not to Fear?
For all related posts see my Choose Life & Live! page

To Fear or Not to Fear?

In Luke 12:5-7 Jesus said, “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the one who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows."

Most assume that the one who "kills" & "has authority to cast into hell" is God, so much so that some translations capitalize "the One" making it seem as though it is God. But notice Jesus goes from telling people to fear to telling them how valuable they are to God, that He never forgets them. Jesus said God knows how many hairs are on our heads. He didn't say it to make a point about God being omniscient. He said it to make a point about how much God values us, which I think pictures God enjoying to number our hairs like a warm hearted father.

Jesus then goes on to tell the people "do not fear." Well which one is it Jesus? Fear God because he'll kill you & send you to hell or Don't fear God because He values you, you are always on His mind, & He delights in knowing every detail about you? It is the second one because the first one isn't referring to God at all. Hebrews 2:14 says, "The devil has the power of death." In John 10:10 Jesus says that Satan comes only to steal, kill, & destroy.

Why would Jesus tell people to fear Satan? Because Satan's power of death had not yet been broken by Jesus' resurrection. Lets look at Hebrews 2:12-15 again, "Since God's children live in flesh & blood Jesus Himself became flesh & blood, that through death He might render powerless the one who holds the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives."

God is the Savior who offers life. Jesus didn't tell us to fear God, He said "Don't be afraid, God values you tremendously." Jesus' coming was prophesied as a time to not fear. "Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt”' (John 12:14-15). In Luke 8:50 Jesus said people are saved, healed, & made whole by trusting without fear. Why shouldn't we be afraid? Because our perfectly loving God values us enough to count every hair on our head.

What about the Old Testament telling people to "Fear God?"
During the temptation of Jesus, Jesus said, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’” (Mathew 4:10). Notice the word, “Worship.” Jesus said worship the Lord your God, but the verse He quoted in Deuteronomy says, “Fear the Lord your God, serve him only" (Deuteronomy 6:13). So Jesus changed out the word, “Fear” with, “Worship.” It must be that these two words are synonymous in the mind of Christ, and who else to interpret the fear of the Lord than Jesus himself! Jesus himself defined “the fear of the Lord” as “to worship the Lord.” Jesus was talking to Satan. If there was one being for Jesus to be talking to and say "fear the Lord!" or "be terrified of the Lord!" it would be Satan yet Jesus still gave us the true meaning. The fear of the Lord is not frightfulness & terror. The fear of the Lord truly is worship which means "reverence, honor, & respect."

This suggests that perhaps "fear God" never meant "be terrified of Him" but instead always meant regard, respect, & revere Him. Even if it did once refer to a terror type of fear our King has come being announced beforehand as someone to "fear not." And His Spirit has come to pour out His love into our hearts, a Spirit that is not of fear, but of power and of love and of a mind that can be confident in its abilities to understand.

"There is no fear in love. Love gets rid of fear. Fear involves punishment. Love does not punish. God is love. If you are afraid of God or afraid of punishment you have refused to be completely carried by His love. This is the key to letting His love carry us, knowing that we love because He first loved us. If you get that backwards, thinking that He loves or gives because we first love Him, your experience of His love will always be inadequate because you will be too busy trying to love Him to let Him love you." (1 John 4:18-19)

Fearing the Truth

I don't have the impression that truth is dangerous & to be avoided. Are we to think that everyone that Paul wrote Romans & Corinthians to, or everyone Hebrews was written to, or everyone that 1 John was written to were all mature enough to "handle the truth"?

Paul said to the Romans "I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh" & he goes on to speak some of the most solid & amazing spiritual perfection language in all of scripture.

In 1 Corinthians Paul calls the people "babes" yet still hands out to them major things in 2 Corinthians such as "God is no longer charging people with sin" (5:19-20), & "we identify no one according to the flesh (5:16)."

2 Corinthians 5:16-20 isn't meat, it is as pure & simple as the gospel gets & Paul speaks of the new creation (spirit) in this same context.
"From now on we identify no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; look, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the service of reconciliation, which is that, "In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their (the world's) sins against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."'

Is it dangerous for people to pick up the bible and read it? How does the truth lead someone astray? Why would we rather put the light of the gospel & our new creation in Christ under a bushel OUT OF FEAR than we would shine it?

Are we to be afraid of God's perfect love which doesn't charge people with sin & makes His children born spiritually perfect? Or are we to be so afraid of sin, whose power Christ destroyed, that we hush up about the goodness of God? Are we to be more afraid of the power of the enemy to lead people astray with the truth than we are to trust in God that He will use the truth to set them free?

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who trusts" (Romans 1:16). I trust the power of the true gospel far more than I trust that the enemy can distort its results. False gospels ruin people. The true gospel makes people whole.

I've never seen a single person ruined by the God's honest truth. People who fear the truth of grace still bask in a self-righteous mindset. They think that people shouldn't be taught about Christ's righteousness given to us until they can "handle the truth" & not go out acting however they want. They are afraid that knowledge of grace will cause people to behave badly. So what if it does? Would you rather someone believe a lie & be ignorant of the truth & behave morally for a time or someone know the truth of God's love & behave immorally for a time? The first entrusts people to themselves and their own performance. The second entrusts people to God & the power of His truth. For whatever reason people are so afraid of someone "sinning" that they'd rather keep them in the dark instead of exposing them to the light of God's love, the same love that is the only thing that truly changes people.

God Does Not Punish His Children

Jesus didn't go around punishing people for sin even if the law said to do so. The predominant view of God today is that Jesus would have cast the first stone & all of the stones. But the truth is He loves people and doesn't hold sins against us.

Religion wants you to believe that God is a good God when it pictures Him abusing His children with guilt, shame, & sickness. That somehow "holy" means quick to anger, easily offended, and vindictive. If God's love & goodness is unrecognizable as love or goodness to mankind then the gospel isn't good news, it is non-sense. God is love, the bible defines love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. God is patient, kind, unarrogant, He does not seek His own, He is not easily provoked, He does not take into account wrongs suffered, & He does not rejoice in unrighteousness (not even in punishing it), but rejoices with the truth.
Perfect love cast out fear because fear has to do with punishment (1 John 4:18). God is perfect love, if we think He punishes us then we aren't understanding His perfect love. If you think God punishes you then I implore you to explore His perfect love more.

Suffering does not equal punishment from God and neither does discipline or persecution. Punishment is "a penalty imposed for wrongdoing." Christian persecution usually comes from the consequences of right doing. Persecution and suffering can come from doing good things for God's sake & that doesn't mean God is abusing His children. It is just the world responding with hostility to God.

Paul says in Colossians 1:24, "I am happy about my sufferings for you, for by means of my physical sufferings I am helping to complete what still remains of Christ's sufferings on behalf of his body, the assembly." This is about living sacrificially for others out of love. God is loving His people through Paul and that love involves suffering for the sake of others, not getting beaten up by God for God's sick pleasure. Paul chose to put himself in danger for the love of Christ and for the love of others. Jesus did the same thing for the love of the Father and for the love of us.

It pleased the Lord to bruise Jesus (Isaiah 53:10) not because God gets sick pleasure from beating up His kids but because it served a purpose of greater love. God was pleased to bruise Jesus like a surgeon is pleased to cut someone open and remove a tumor. Christ took the beating that sin would give us to condemn sin so it would not be a barrier for mankind and God any more. God doesn't love abuse but He does love to free people from abuse. Christ offers freedom from the abuse of sin.

Some think God chastening is God punishing. The Greek word behind "chastening" does not mean punishing. It is the word usually translated as discipline and means help grow, teach, train, nurture, "the whole training and education of a child." God does not punish His children, He corrects them with truth for their benefit. [More on God's Discipline]

GOD CHOSE TO LOVE YOU AS A PERSON OVER PUNISHING YOU FOR YOUR ACTIONS. Thinking you've been good enough to deserve the goodness of God totally misses the point of the cross. On the other side of the coin, anyone thinking that bad things are happening in their lives because God is punishing them for something bad they've done is also missing the point of the cross. The point was not Him hating sin. The point was Him loving you. It's not, "For God so hated sin.." but "For God so loved the world.."

Most Christians think God's punishment is to make you feel really bad (shameful, guilty) about what you've done. God created mankind to be loved not to be punished. Jesus came to take away our sins. Shame, guilt, & condemnation should not be a part of a Christian's life in any way. When you are not judging yourselves in light of the finished work of the cross (free from sin, accepted, loved), you will still experience the punishing effects of sin (rejection, shame, condemnation). Even If you are deceived, ignorant, or ignoring you will live what you believe. If you believe God punishes you then you will label your own feelings of shame, guilt, depression, failure, dissatisfaction, etc as "God's discipline" or "God's punishment." Whether it is true or not you will live what you believe. Believe in His love! Trust in His love! He is love! He is The Truth! HIS LOVE IS TRUE FOR YOU!


Related Posts
The Discipline of the Lord, Our Loving Father Helping Us Grow
Suffering is Not God's Punishment
Christian Persecution & America

In the World

I think "being in the world but not of the world" has more to do with how we treat people not issues of personal purity which most seem to focus more on today than actual relationships. Love does no harm to a neighbor. If the entertainment I intake doesn't harm my neighbor then there probably isn't a problem with it.

Sadly Christians are very afraid of sin because they think & live as if it is more powerful than Christ in them. It is not in the slightest. Satan's only attack is trying to get you to believe lies. Christians are in far more danger of Satan's attacks from the falsehoods spread at most pulpits than they are with secular entertainment. A lie about God is the most dangerous kind of lie & can make you miserable your entire life. Performance based religion that says Jesus didn't take care of our sin problem is the most worldly thing of all.

When we think we "step away from God" by our actions He is always right there. You can't "step away from God." Nothing you can do separates you from His love. Trust in that truth and your worries about "being taken away from Christ," "stepping away from God," "breaking fellowship with God" will fall off and you will get to bask in His true love that never lets you go. If you fall He goes down with you to help you back up.

Our faith is what overcomes the world (1 John 5:4). "Our faith" isn't our morality. Faith means you trust in God, in His love and goodness towards you. That faith is weakened or nullified when you believe His love and goodness have barriers. Christ removed all barriers at the cross. Fear not for He is with you.

Psalm 6 in the Light of The Messiah

O Lord, do not correct me in Your anger, Nor discipline me in Your wrath. (v1)
The blood of Christ spilt on the cross allows us to enter into a covenant of permanent peace with God (Matthew 26:28, Colossians 1:20). In this covenant God swears to never be angry with His children (Isaiah 54:9-10). He will never have wrath for them. His kindness is what leads us to change our minds for the better (Romans 2:4).

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am weak; Heal me, O Lord, because I am terrified (v2-3)
You never need to beg God for His favor, graciousness, grace, or healing. Because of Jesus God has given you everything you need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3) & has already blessed you with every spiritual blessing that exists (Ephesians 1:3). As we grow to understand all the things He has provided for us through our loving Lord & Savior Jesus Christ His perfect love will deliver us from all our fears (1 John 4:18). We will also see the power of His love compensate for and counteract our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9).

“O Lord, you will not correct me in your anger, nor will you discipline me in Your wrath.

You have been gracious to me, O Lord, your strength fills in the holes of my weaknesses and builds strong towers upon them.
You are here Lord. You heal me and deliver me from my fears. You have rescued me and saved me because of your lovingkindness.
I will make mention of your death and give thanks to you so others may live because of you.

I rest in you and you comfort me in my tears no matter how plentiful they become.
Your truth brings youthful life to my eyes so that I may see the elaborate niceties of your love.

You hear my prayers, you keep me safe, and you offer grace even to those who desire to harm me.
You seek to deliver them from their shame and to turn them from their hurtful ways.”

Part 5 in a Series

Shouting to Rest!

Romans 8:15 says, "You did not receive the spirit of bondage leading to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"

What are most Christians afraid of?
That God is not pleased with them. That they will lose favor with God. That they have offended God. That God will break fellowship with them. That God is cursing them because of something they've done. That sin separates them from God. That God won't protect them. That God won't provide for them. That they aren't doing enough, aren't praying enough, aren't witnessing enough, aren't reading the bible enough. That God doesn't love them very much if at all.

Every one of those fears is a lie. Jesus didn't commit the ultimate act of love for you to sit and wonder, "How can God really love me after all I've done and keep on doing?" He loves you more than you'll ever know because "his love surpasses all knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19).

Cry out, "Abba! Father! Jesus! .. Deliver me from believing these lies that make me think 'yeah, you'd die for me but you wouldn't live for me.' Jesus I never again want to feel like your death wasn't good enough so I have to add to it. I don't ever again want to think that your love for me is conditional or that your pleasure in me comes only from my performance. God I want to recognize your love for me every moment I possibly can. May I always know that the gospel is the good news of your graciousness not the bad news of all I have to struggle to give back. I'm tired of trying to earn what I already have and reaching for what is not mine. I want to live in what you give, who you gave. I want your promises to reshape my perceptions. Jesus after you finished offering yourself as the sacrifice for sins you sat down at the right hand of the Father. My life is now hidden with Jesus in you Father because you raised me up with Jesus and sat me with Him. The work is done, it is finished, paid in full! I want to rest with you. You said 'come to me and I will give you rest.' Here I am Lord. Here I am Father. Here I am friend."

How do you rest with someone? You trust them, you feel secure with them, and you relax!