What would cause a good law abiding Jewish boy to feel shame? What difference does the Gospel of Jesus Christ make when it comes to shame? Is God All Powerful? These are a few questions that I ask people that are having a challenging time grasping Grace and as you will see from this devotionals scripture they make a lot of difference!
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” – Romans 1:16
Shame in the Jewish society then as well as now was caused by Not following the law. Shame could be easily placed on someone and hard to remove from a person or a family name, thus it was and is in many circles a shame based society.
But then Jesus came! And the very foundations of the world were shaken, especially the pillars of the Jewish community. Suddenly ALL power for goodness rested in God alone! No one was needed to remove your shame because that was done by the cross – Oh and that covered past, present and future shame because Christ is the end of the law for ALL who believe!
Where most Christians and most people start to slip back into shame is at the point they start to see with human eyes again. By this I mean that they start with a “good idea” like “well if I earn more money then I can support my family better and give more to the church and missionaries.” From this point they get busy thinking that they control something and that their works make a difference. After that the shame comes in because God is trying to gently remind them that He doesn’t need their help, He only wants them to rest in Him. The shame comes in as they don’t make enough and God allows satan to place guilt and shame on them in an attempt to get them back to His perfect rest and Love.
My suggestion – Rest in Him Alone! Life is Too short to Not Rest in Him Alone!
Here is a simple meditation to facilitate your rest. I hope you will find a time and a place daily where probably wont be disturbed and you can just gently close your eyes while you sit in a comfortable position and rest in Him by breathing and:
Breathe in and say:
“Jesus took All”
Breathe out and say:
“my shame away”
Practice this until you see that Jesus bore ALL your shame on the cross and part of that is because Christ IS the end of the law for ALL who believe!
