Freedom

What are we afraid of if we lay down guilt, and make the choice to not carry it?

What if He did speak to us to obey and we didn’t?  Does carrying around guilt make us a better person?

I like to sometimes look at my own kids.  I don’t want to ever “guilt” them into coming to see me, make them feel bad if they don’t give things to me, or punish them again and again for any little thing they do to offend me.  I want them to know that I love them and enjoy that love.

Isaiah 57 says,

“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

The Lord wants us to enjoy Him, yes to obey Him and humble ourselves before him, but to be revived and to be joyful when walking with him daily.

There are times when His presence is so sweet and I’m enjoying my time with him, when I have a thought that makes me feel guilty.  I don’t think that’s his thoughts that come and interrupt my time with him, to bring me down to shame and feeling unworthy.

Jesus is the worthy One, and he makes me worthy of His blessings poured out on my life, and one of those blessings is the freedom to enjoy Him without guilt…without performance…without shame.

Lay it Down

I just read the definition of “guilt” and it has two – one is a noun – one is a verb.

When we’ve committed a crime or offense, we then feel guilty for what we’ve done.  Those actions, when we repent, are forgiven, and we no longer have to carry guilt for them.  That guilt is not my struggle.  But maybe it’s yours.  You don’t have to carry it.

The second definition is a verb where we try to “guilt” someone into something by inducing them to perform.  This is the guilt I struggle with, the guilt of my thoughts that “if” I don’t do this or that, then I’m displeasing  Him.

This second kind of guilt I never even read about in the Bible on my search for the word “guilt.”  Guilt from sin, from committing acts against others, is self-imposed guilt and is understandable…we all experience it at times.  But guilt where God “induces” us or manipulates us into action by making us “feel” guilty isn’t see in his character… AT ALL.

God doesn’t guilt us into action.  People do that.

I’m going to try and remember this the next time I feel like I’m not performing up to speed.

Guilt tells me that if I don’t perform, I won’t be approved of or loved.  

And that kind of guilt can get heavy enough until it determines the way I walk – head down with a heavy heart.

But guilt that comes when I know I’ve sinned, results in my heart turning and repenting, because that’s God’s way – to restore and heal and remove the shame.

I’m still thinking and learning about the difference between self-imposed guilt and guilt that comes from Him – oh wait – guilt is not from HIM!

Then that means I can lay it down…

From Guilt

Hebrews 10:22 says

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water…

I think what I doubt sometimes is my sincerity of heart.  I know that I have hidden agendas and personal wishes and hurts that color my requests, when I come to God.

I also know that sometimes my faith is not assured, it’s shaky and wavering when I’ve just been hit with fear or questions that plague my mind.

So for those two things I sometimes feel guilty in His presence.  After all, he is the definition of HOLY and nothing escapes him, not even our hidden agendas.

But I do know this.

I believe in Jesus and his death and resurrection, my heart has been cleansed.  And there is also a cleansing of a guilty conscience that takes place with that forgiveness.

Dear Lord, cleanse me of sin, let me be aware of that cleansing, and may I walk free from the baggage that comes with lingering guilt or new guilt that I tuck away inside and carry on my shoulders.

No More Guilt

Prior to this next verse in Isaiah, there are 132 verses on guilt, those who keep sinning, how to deal with guilt, how the guilty will be punished, how disobeying brings guilt, and they are heavy, heavy verses.

And then in Isaiah, we read this,

With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

It was a coal from the altar that touched his lips. A coal from the offering for sin.

This is a foretelling of Christ’s work on the cross – the great sacrifice – the perfect sacrifice.

All of that heaviness that guilt brings when we sin and mess up, or even when we just think we’re not doing it “right” was atoned (paid) for, and this verse tells me that…

My guilt was taken away.

So therefore, I’m thinking that if I carry around a heavy bag full of guilt daily, and I’m not raising my fist or blatantly disobeying a direct command from His word, that heavy bag is not meant for me to carry.

In fact, I can toss it off to the side and leave it.

Never to pick it up again.

That’s a hard concept to grasp and live out…but I want to do it.

The Holy Place

Exodus 28 lines out what the priests are to wear when entering God’s presence:

Make linen undergarments as a covering for the body, reaching from the waist to the thigh. Aaron and his sons must wear them whenever they enter the tent of meeting or approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they will not incur guilt and die.

There were offerings to be made and sins to atone for, back in the Old Testament, before the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  And sin had to be punished, and the guilty often died due to sin.  God was holy, and he still is.  And taking his holiness lightly by entering his presence in any way other than how he directed resulted in certain death.

However, even then God made provision for man to enter into His presence, to hear his voice, and to see and experience his power.  It required obedience to His word.

There were no excuses and nothing went unseen or unpunished. 

Fast forward to our present day walk with Christ and what a privilege it is that our guilt has been erased and washed away by the sacrifice – the last living sacrifice – to a holy God.

We don’t have to wear specific coverings when we enter into time with Him.  We are guilt-free and covered already, by His blood.

I want to remind myself that his blood was/is enough for me, even when I pick up those suitcases of guilt and lug them around.  And I want to hand them over to Him, allowing him to open them and empty them, and then toss them aside, as I reach out that same hand that carried the guilt…to now hold His…in the holy place with Him.

Free of Guilt

One of my goals this year is to travel lightly, (I’m reading Max Lucado’s book Traveling Light), and one thing I want to lay down is guilt.  It’s not really guilt for past sins that plague me, I know I’ve been forgiven.  It’s mostly guilt about not being good enough, not performing well, or not giving enough.  And I want to be free.

So, join me if you will!

In Exodus 20, in the list of the 10 Commandments, we are told this…

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

That’s a strong command and one with a bit of “scare” hooked up with it.

However, I have rarely looked at this command except under the umbrella of cursing, using God’s name in that way.

But how many times do I use misuse God’s name when I say that I love Him and He loves me, and I follow Him and want to be associated with His name, but yet I walk around feeling shamed and dismayed…after all He’s done for me?

Could that be a misuse of His name?

When he says I’m spotless, that I’m approved and pleasing in his sight, and that I’m his daughter and all He has is mine, and yet I go around feeling guilty and shaming the work that He’s done for me, is that a wrong use of His name?

I think so.

I’m not one that struggles with using God’s name in vain, but I do often struggle with bearing his Name and resting in all that He has for me, as his daughter.

I’d like to think about how I use His name this year, in a whole new light…

Changed

In Luke 9, we read of the transformation of Jesus as he was praying…

About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.  As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.  Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus.

Jesus was with his friends, his closest followers, and they went up on a mountain to visit with God, to pray.  It was during that prayer, during communion with his father, that his face changed.  In fact, even his clothes changed!  They became as bright as a flash of lightning!

Jesus had just been talking about losing one’s life by giving it to Him.  And then he prayed.

When is the last time your prayer time was so powerful that your face changed, and your clothes were affected?  I’m not sure I can say that my clothes have ever been affected by my encounter with God, but I’d like to experience that.

Maybe, however, we are changed in ways that we are unaware of.  Maybe when we spend time communing with our Father, our face is lifted as the cares and worries dissipate.  And maybe what others see in our outward appearance is as powerful as a flash of lightning, and they look at us with a “wow,” at the power and force of God in our lives.

At least that’s how we should be affected when we cast all of our cares upon him and worship him for who he is – the One who never changes – the Father of lights – the Savior of our souls.