His Heart, My Home

On Resurrection Day, we published a post entitled “The Rock That Rolled”.

Since then, we have “been on a roll”. Our last three posts, and also today’s teaching, deal with the massive stone of guilt, shame, and condemnation the enemy uses as he seeks to imprison us in the tomb of our past sins and failures.

If you missed any of these Spirit-inspired messages, we strongly encourage you to read and meditate on them now.

They are:

4/20 – The Rock That Rolled

4/28 – From Guilt to Glory

5/5   – Shattering the Shackles of Shame

5/12 – Your Guilt Trip Has Been Canceled

May the Lord bless you as He shines the light of His love into your heart, dispelling the shadows and shame of the past, so that you enjoy the abundantly blessed life Jesus has provided for you.

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Many years ago, when I was much younger, I used to go to the Louisiana State Fair in Shreveport with my siblings, and cousins.

We would go into the “Funhouse”, which was  designed as a maze. It was filled with mirrors that distorted your image, confusing and disorienting you to make it harder for you to find the exit.

After you bumped your head on the mirrors and walls of the maze, and ran into the other confused kids a few times, you realized the Funhouse really wasn’t very much fun! The kids who panicked were escorted out of the Funhouse by a the attendant or a parent.

Our enemy has constructed his own version of the Funhouse, spinning a tangled web of lies and accusations. He uses the negative feelings of guilt, shame, condemnation, unworthiness, regret and self-incrimination, to entrap us in a maze of mirrors that distort the image of who we are in Christ.

Living in condemnation is self-focused. We obsess over our past mistakes, and offer God our vows to change… which inevitably lead to broken promises, repeated failures, and even more condemnation. Over and over again! A vicious cycle! Trapped in the maze!

Receiving forgiveness is God-focused. We admit we are lost, and powerless to escape the condemning maze of our past without the Lord’s intercession and intervention. We surrender, realizing, acknowledging, and embracing, the greatness of His mercy, and His unconditional love. “He, not me”, then becomes our focus, and thus, our salvation, our victory, and our peace.

Satan constructs “a maze” from the broken and distorted mirrors of our past and our Abba-Father delivers us from condemnation by His “amazing” grace!

Let’s take a look at the past from the perspective of God’s Word:

” Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
(2 Corinthians 5:17)

God doesn’t even consider the past, and neither should we. The past, like the fun house mirror, distorts the reality of the present.

The Wuest Translation of the verse above says, “… the antiquated, out-of-date things (which do not belong to the new life) have passed away.”

The Greek word for the phrase “old things” is “archaios”, which means “original; ancient; out-of-date”.

It’s the source of the English words “archaic” and “archeology.”

And God says that these “old things” have “passed away” (parechomai), that is, they have “come to an end; gone away; perished.”

If we use the archeology analogy, we could say they have “become extinct.”

So why are we constantly digging up our backyard looking for the dinosaur bones of our past blunders, errors, flaws, lapses, and wrongs? They are extinct, fossilized, and buried on the past!

Paul, the Apostle, put the past in its proper perspective… behind him! Here he is, in his own words:

“In no instance, have we ever wronged, or harmed, or taken advantage of anyone.”
(2 Corinthians 7:2, Twentieth Century New Testament)

Wait a minute! We know that Paul, formerly Saul of Taurus, persecuted the Church. He arrested believers, and had them thrown in prison to be tortured and killed.

So how could Paul, the Apostle, make a statement like that? He could, only by exercising his resurrection-faith, to live a resurrection-life, a life infilled by the resurrected Christ!

“My old identity has been co-crucified with Christ and no longer lives. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives His life through me—we live in union as one!  My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God who loves me so much that He gave Himself for me, dispensing His life into mine!” (Galatians 2:20, TPT)

Notice this. Paul said the new life that he lived was empowered by faith in the Son of God. Paul didn’t just achieve an awareness of sinless perfection the moment he was born again. Neither do we. Paul, like every Christian, had to live and walk by faith, moment-by-moment, step-by-step, one day at a time. He still had to deal with the emotions, feelings, and memories of his past.

The failures and guilt of our past (both before and after we received the Lord) don’t just evaporate like the dew on the morning grass. Our victory over sin, guilt, shame, and condemnation only comes by faith.

“…this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:4)

Three Steps to Freedom from Condemnation:

● Look in the mirror of God’s Word. See yourself as God sees you in union with Christ.

The problem is not that we don’t believe that Jesus died and rose again. The problem is that we don’t believe that we died with Him and rose again with Him! But we did! As surely as He rose, we rose with Him, leaving sin, shame, and condemnation in the grave! His life is our life. His victory is our victory!

“… because we continued to behold in the Word of God, as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, (we) are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever-increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another…” (2 Corinthians 3:18, Amplified Bible)

● Take authority over your mind whenever you think about your past. Take those negative thoughts captive, and make them obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

When a condemning thought from your past comes into your mind, arrest it, and stop it dead in its tracks.

Speak this out loud: “No! I don’t live in the past! Jesus has made all things brand new and given me an abundant life! I am living in the now, free from all condemnation! And I have a forever-future with my Abba-Father in heaven!”

● Realign your thoughts and your words with the new creation reality of who you are in Christ.

Diligently and consistently confess God’s Word concerning His mercy, His love, and His power, in your life. You will discover that your emotions and feelings will begin to line up with your confession.

You have already passed from death to life. Now, God wants to remove your guilt and shame, and activate the blessings of the New Covenant in your life.

Amen! Enjoy the Fair of New Life in Christ! And please stay out of the “Condemnation Funhouse”!