Guilt, Day 4

Guilt, Day 4

Women keep a special corner of their hearts for sins they have never committed. - Cornelia Otis Skinner

Psalm 19:12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. 13 Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin. 14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

How many people do you know that are plagued with guilt? Many Christians worry that they may have committed a sin unknowingly, done something good with selfish intentions, or failed to put their whole heart into a task. They also feel that they may have neglected something that needed to be done. Guilt plays a huge role in our lives. It can draw us away from our Lord and keep us from behaving properly. It should not cripple us or make us fearful. God fully and completely forgives us when we ask, even for the things we do not even know we have done. Pray through Psalm 19:12-14 when you are feeling guilty, God will be sure to restore you. It is important for us to live our lives free of guilt. Now is a good time to evaluate our lives. What are our motives, dreams and aspirations built on? Is there a motivation from guilt. With the many roles that we each must play in our lives, it is sometimes hard to know what we were created for and what is expected of us. IF you are feeling a constant pull in your life from what you feel you have to do and what you know God wants, then pray about it. Many times we feel we need to help so and so because they helped us, or that we have to be on the PTA, or coach a team or join a committee because it is expected. This can cause a great deal of guilt later on in life when you look back and see that you struggled against God's will and others expectations. So do all things in Christ, not in guilt. Many times we are so ready to take responsibility for everything that we are constantly feeling guilty. If someone is feeling down or depressed it must be something we have done. If our children aren't doing well, involved in all the popular activities, it must be our fault. We are ready to take on the guilt of the world. It makes no difference whether we have done wrong or not, we feel we must be responsible. There are plenty of people around us who will support us in these illusions of guilt, and it is unfortunate. Taking on guilt is self-centered. This is different than carrying burdens for others. It is thinking we have to be responsible for everything that happens that makes ourselves the center of everything and takes the focus from God to ourselves. Go ahead and raise your hand if you know what I am talking about. Now is a good time to start simplifying your life, making sure to let others take responsibility for themselves and ridding your life of guilt and self-centered actions.

Dear Lord, thank you for your Word, forgiveness and a healthy conscience of what is right and wrong. I love you. I am thankful for your love. Please bless those who are reading this. Help them to be able to take your Word into their lives and become more like you every day. Amen.

Please pray for Bobbie W. this week. Also, please send in your praises and prayers or any testimonies or stories related to this weeks study on Guilt. I am sure that God will use your story to encourage others. Have a blessed day.

Guilt, Day 3

Guilt, Day 3

The art of creating guilt and frustration, the art of forgetting our gift.

Judges 11:31 then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hands. 33 And he defeated them from Aroer as far as Minnith—twenty cities—and to Abel Keramim,[a] with a very great slaughter. Thus the people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel. 34 When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot go back on it.”

Yes, we bring it on ourselves at times. Here, Jephthah made a rash vow which brought him unspeakable grief. Is there a time that you have made a foolish promise to God? No matter how spiritual it may sound, they may produce guilt and frustration when we are faced to fulfill them. God does not want us to make promises for the future that we cannot see, but he desires obedience from us today. Had Jephthah known his daughter would be the first to greet him, he would have never made that promise. Because we are not in control of our future, we should not make promises to God.

Judges 16:28 Then Samson called to the LORD, saying, “O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!”

Samson's past was full of sin. God did not care, because Samson was willing to have a repentant heart. God answered his prayer because God still loved him. He listened to Samson's heart. Many times, when we have sin in our lives, we don't feel like praying. Perfect moral behavior is not a condition for prayer. Don't let guilt keep you from your only means of restoration. No matter how long you have been separated from God, he is ready to hear you and restore you into a right relationship with him. Every situation can be salvaged if you are willing to turn to God. If God was able to work in Samson's situation, there really isn't any reason he won't be able to work in yours. There is no reason that he won't be able to work in other's situations either, so be willing to forgive those that are willing to turn back to God. Do not hinder others from being freed of guilt.

Dear Lord, I pray that I will never make promises to you that will bring me terrible guilt and frustration. Lord, I know that in the past there have been times that I have not been willing to respond to you when you have asked me to do things and in return something bad has happened. Please forgive me for that. Lord, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to come to you when I have done something wrong. Thank you that you hear my prayers and that you desire to restore me and give me a future of hope. Lord, I ask that you reveal to me today those that I have not been able to forgive. Show me how I can forgive them so that they can have freedom from guilt, so that they may be able to come to you and receive the gift of restoration in their lives. May I be obedient to you no matter who it is, for they are also your children. Amen.

Please remember to pray for Bobbie W. this week.

Guilt, Day 2

Guilt, Day 2

A sign of wrongdoing, a part of our conscience

Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

When we have done something wrong, it is sometimes really hard to come clean and confess it. Sometimes we include others in our wrongdoing. The effects of sin spread fast. Eve is just like many of us, she included her husband in the wrongdoing. This did not relieve her guilt, as we often think it will. By recognizing and confessing your sin, you will not pollute those around you. Once Adam and Eve sinned, they felt guilt and embarrassment over their nakedness. They tried to hide from God. There are times, we are guilty for something and we try to hide it from others and we separate ourselves from God. A guilty conscience is a warning sign that God placed inside you that goes off when you have done something wrong. Like a FIRE detector. I know, that was a little corny, but God wants us to be saved from a life of torment, if we respond to the signal, we are less likely to live with the effects of guilt. We are less likely to infect others. We should never ignore our guilty feelings, we wouldn't ignore the fire detector, would we? If we ignore it and do not eliminate what is causing the guilt or cause of the guilt, then we will remain guilty, hindering us from being in relationship with God. Is there any reason for you to respond right now? As soon as possible, respond to the signal and ask God's forgiveness so that you can correct that wrongdoing and move on into a life of freedom from your past.

Please pray for Bobbie W. this week.

Guilt

Guilt

Day 1

Guilt
1. the fact or state of having committed an offense, crime, violation, or wrong, esp. against moral or penal law; culpability: He admitted his guilt. 2. a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime, wrong, etc., whether real or imagined.
3. conduct involving the commission of such crimes, wrongs, etc.: to live a life of guilt.

Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

We have all done things that we are ashamed of. There is a tension of our past and future. What we have done and what we want to do. Because our hope is in Christ, we need to let go of our past guilt and look forward to what God wants us to do and become. Don't dwell on your past. Don't bring up others pasts either. Instead, grow in the knowledge of God by concentrating on the now. Your relationship with God is now. You have been forgiven for the past, act that way. If you have been washed clean by his sacrifice and accepted his gift of forgiveness, don't look back. Move on to a life of faith and obedience. Look on to a fuller and more meaningful life because of your hope in Christ. Forgive others so that they may also live fully in their hope in Christ.

Lord, thank you for your Word today. Open up our hearts and minds to grasp this concept of a guiltless life. Lord, I pray that we will learn from you what we as your children can do to rid our lives of guilt. Bring us to our knees in repentance so that we may be washed clean of the past, then lift our eyes upwards to you so that we may live a whole, guilt free life. Freedom feels good, Lord, thank you. Amen.

Please pray for Bobbie W. this week.