Grace, Guilt, On the Journey Together, Words of Endurance
Ridding Me of My Shame
Every day I’m up against it,
my nose rubbed in my shame –
PSALM 44:15 (THE MESSAGE)
While I have seen the Holy Spirit within me temper my words in tone and season them with love, whenever I am reminded of the damage that I have caused with my words in the past I feel “my nose rubbed in shame.” But whenever I am “tweaked” by shame I am reminded of a sermon given by our Pastor Ken Van Vliet on James 3:1-13. That Scripture reminded me of the power of my tongue.
A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse.
A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain
sets a course in the face of the strongest winds.
A word out of your mouth may seem of no account,
but it can accomplish nearly anything – or destroy it.
JAMES 3:3-5 (THE MESSAGE)
Once again I felt the shame of my past but Pastor Ken didn’t leave us there – he continued by reminding us that we are fully loved by God.
None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us.
I’m absolutely convinced that nothing –
nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic,
today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable of unthinkable –
absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love
because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.
ROMANS 8:35-39 (THE MESSAGE)
He then urged us to pay attention to our words for they are the windows into our true being.
“Your true being brims over into true words and deeds.”
LUKE 6:45 (WORDS OF JESUS – THE MESSAGE)
And then he encouraged us to confess to God what our words reveal about our true beings.
If we admit our sins – make a clean breast of them –
He won’t let us down; He’ll be true to Himself.
He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing.
1 JOHN 1:9 (THE MESSAGE)
Pastor Ken then reminded us that we could invite Jesus to heal our brokenness.
The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me
because God anointed me.
He sent me to preach good news to the poor,
heal the heartbroken,
ISAIAH 61:1-2 (THE MESSAGE)
And that is exactly what the Holy Spirit, within me, did – I went to Him for help and He healed my heart and rid me of my shame.
Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy;
no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
PSALM 34:5 (NLT)
On The Journey With You,
Dave Dravecky
