Showing posts with label Guilt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guilt. Show all posts

Friday, July 12, 2019

Unhealthy or Healthy Guilt?


Have you ever felt as though you did or said something for which you can never be forgiven? If you haven't forgiven yourself, this could be the crux of your guilt?


Guilt is a weapon Satan tries to use to try to separate us from God and cause us to live a life of torment even after we’ve been set free, by making us think that we still have a death sentence. It’s a weapon the enemy wields to turn us away from Christ.

What don’t we understand about freedom in Christ? God sacrificed his own son [filled with all the fullness of the Godhead] for us. In order for us to be free to love him, he first loved us.

Why did God make us so imperfect that we would have to suffer a life of guilt? He didn’t. Sin entered in. God gave us free will. We were free from the beginning to choose right or wrong, good or evil.

There’s no mistaking the difference between good and evil. Evil steals, destroys, and kills; it leads to spiritual death. Good builds up, judges rightly with long term perspectives, and is not selfish as it considers God’s will; it leads to eternal life.

If in our free will, we gave/give ourselves over to sin what can we do to shake that awful feeling? Did you ask God for forgiveness? Have you forgiven others? Have you received the sacrifice that He provided for your sins through Jesus Christ? If so, read on.

wipe-away-tears5 Biblical tips to overcome guilt:

1. Know who you are in Christ. The enemy [Satan] cannot take that away from you.
1 Corinthians 6:11  11And such [sinners] some of you were [once]. But you were washed clean (purified by a complete atonement for sin and made free from the guilt of sin), and you were consecrated (set apart, hallowed), and you were justified [pronounced righteous, by trusting] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the [Holy] Spirit of our God.
2. Keep away from self-righteous hypocrites.
Colossians 2:8-9 See to it that no one carries you off as spoil or makes you yourselves captive by his so-called philosophy and intellectualism and vain deceit (idle fancies and plain nonsense), following human tradition (men’s ideas of the material rather than the spiritual world), just crude notions following the rudimentary and elemental teachings of the universe and disregarding [the teachings of] Christ (the Messiah).
Matthew 22:18 But Jesus, aware of their malicious plot, asked, “Why do you put Me to the test and try to entrap Me, you pretenders (hypocrites)?”
Luke 6:42 How can you say to another believer, ‘Friend, let me take the piece of sawdust out of your eye,’ when you don’t see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First, remove the beam from your own eye. Then you will see clearly to remove the piece of sawdust from another believer’s eye.
3. Read the word daily. Trust what God says.
Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing the message, and the message that is heard is what Christ spoke.
Revelation 3:10 “Because you kept my Word in passionate patience, I’ll keep you safe in the time of testing that will be here soon, and all over the earth, every man, woman, and child put to the test.
4. Forgive others–forgive yourself. If guilt still plagues you after you are sure of your salvation, it’s possible that YOU didn’t forgive you. Remember salvation is for all those who receive it by faith. No condemnation to those who are in Christ. Romans 8:1
Luke 6:37 “Stop judging, and you will never be judged. Stop condemning, and you will never be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Luke 1:37 But nothing is impossible for God.”
Philippians 4:13 I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me.
Proverbs 16:3 Entrust your efforts to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.
5. Turn to God. Ask him for his grace and help to live with yesterday’s events so that guilt will no longer have a stronghold in your life, so that you will be able to live free from sin asking the Lord for forgiveness whenever a sinful thought or past action surfaces, and the sting of sin will no longer hurt.
Colossians 2:9 For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form [giving complete expression of the divine nature].
Have you received your free copy of Biblical Solutions for Cultural and Social Issues in the World Today study guide? Ask for your free copy today. [written by Pola Muzyka]

Our time on earth is a fraction of eternity. Our earthly bodies are dust.  The glorified body, given to those who receive Christ, will be our eternal, non-corruptible, heavenly body, able to be present with God without guilt.

  1. Pingback: Three Ways to Develop Our Faith in Christ

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

The Thief of Fear

Don't let fear immobilize you. A stronghold of fear is invited in sometimes because of unfamiliar territory, perceived or real dangers, temptation to do things we know are wrong, guilt from doing things we know were wrong, complications in our lives, complications caused by others, emotional or physical pain, and much more.

Types of Fear

1. Most of us face a time in our lives when we are at a crossroad. Should we proceed or not? As a child, we lean on our parents for guidance and hopefully trust them to encourage us in the right direction. As adults, we must step out of our comfort zones.
Isaiah 42:16 I will lead the blind on unfamiliar roads. I will lead them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light in front of them. I will make rough places smooth. These are the things I will do for them, and I will never abandon them.
2. Fear intensifies when we are not prepared or when the danger seems or is real. Most of the time, our thoughts play a role in rousing fear where there may not be anything to fear.
Isaiah 41:10 Don’t be afraid, because I am with you. Don’t be intimidated; I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will support you with my victorious right hand.
3. Resisting the temptation that causes fear can strengthen us and our faith and closeness to our Lord. Fear enters when our desire to give into temptations rather than listen to what God says about them is stronger than our desire for wholeness, peace, and the love of God.
1 Corinthians 10:13 There isn’t any temptation that you have experienced which is unusual for humans. God, who faithfully keeps his promises, will not allow you to be tempted beyond your power to resist. But when you are tempted, he will also give you the ability to endure the temptation as your way of escape.
4. If we have given into temptations, we fear that God will reject us, that we can never bounce back from it, or that we have been sucked into a vortex of unrelenting sin. But how can we break the cycle?
Do those things that prove you have turned to God and have changed the way you think and act. 
There are many openings to the stronghold of fear. Fear steals our blessings and causes us to react instead of to act. That’s right. If we fear we cannot have faith because fear doubts. Fear is a form of faith but without love, because FEAR faith says, "things will go wrong."
1 John 4:18 No fear exists where his [God's] love is. Rather, perfect love gets rid of fear, because fear involves punishment. The person who lives in fear doesn’t have perfect love.
Sometimes it seems easier to give in to fear rather than overcome it. When we give into fear in the extreme we become disabled or immobilized. A disabled person is not expected to do much to succeed or even to help others. A person without undue fear is never disabled even if he/she is in a wheelchair.

Biblical help to overcome fear:

1. Pray and thank God in advance.
Philippians 4:6 (GW) 6Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks.

This verse doesn’t need much of an explanation if you’ve already received the salvation of Jesus Christ. If you haven't, GO. Get on your knees, ask for help and expect (WITHOUT FEAR) that God will answer.

As I faced one of the most fearful trials of my Christian life I kept Psalm 91 in my pocket and glanced at it from time to time. It really helped me then and continues to help me now. PSALM 91 is a good Psalm TO MEMORIZE.

2. Have patience. If what you fear is eminent you may continue to fear it, and patience takes a back seat. If you have prayed, wait, and trust God that he will deliver you from any undue fear.
Proverbs 25:15 With patience you can persuade a ruler, and a soft tongue can break bones.
Fear caused by real eminent danger needs addressing in other ways. Here are some helpful links to keep safe from Domestic Violence, Stalking, Violent Crimes, Terrorist Crimes. Let us know if these links are broken.

3. Trust God. The truth is that we lack trust when we don’t see our answer come immediately or when we fear death.
Psalm 56:3-4 Even when I am afraid, I still trust you. 4I praise the word of God. I trust God. I am not afraid. What can mere flesh and blood do to me?
Matthew 10:28 Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell.
4. Be Faithful – God is always true to His word. ALWAYS!
Romans 3:3 3What if some of them were unfaithful? Can their unfaithfulness cancel God’s faithfulness?
1 Corinthians 1:9 God faithfully keeps his promises. He called you to be partners with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
5. It’s up to us to choose not to fearchoose instead the righteous fear which is awe-inspiring respect and reverence for the Lord.
Psalm 91:5-7a  You do not need to fear terrors of the night, arrows that fly during the day, 6plagues that roam the dark, epidemics that strike at noon. 7aThey will not come near you,
Proverbs 3:7 Do not consider yourself wise. Fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
Patricia Redsicker, the owner of WordView Editing, points out that there are 365 references to FEAR NOT  in the Bible. One for each day of the year.

Written by Christian author, Pola Muzyka
Follow Pola on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and more.

Friday, September 7, 2018

Free from the Stronghold of Guilt

Judgementalism stalks with other religious spirits to confuse us when we attempt to rest in the promises of God given to us through the salvation of Jesus Christ. The stronghold of guilt can steal our peace, joy, trust, and even our faith.
It is a weapon Satan uses to try to separate us from God and cause us to live a life of torment even after we’ve been set free–thinking that we still have a death sentence. It’s a weapon that would turn us from Christ if we gave into it.

What don’t we understand about freedom in Christ? God sacrificed his own son [filled with all the fullness of the Godhead] for us. In order for us to be free to love him, he first loved us. 

Our time on earth is a fraction of eternity. Our earthly bodies are dust.  The glorified body, given to those who receive Christ, will be our eternal, non-corruptible, heavenly body, able to be present with God.

Why did God make us so imperfect that we would have to suffer a life of guilt? He didn’t. Sin entered in. God gave us free will. We were free from the beginning to choose right or wrong.
In our free will, we gave/give ourselves over to sin. But the stronghold of guilt no longer has a place in our lives when [if] we accept Christ because sin has been defeated.

5 Biblical tips to overcome guilt:
1. Know who you are in Christ. The enemy [Satan] cannot take that away from you.
1 Corinthians 6:11  11And such [sinners] some of you were [once]. But you were washed clean (purified by a complete atonement for sin and made free from the guilt of sin), and you were consecrated (set apart, hallowed), and you were justified [pronounced righteous, by trusting] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the [Holy] Spirit of our God.
2. Keep away from self-righteous hypocrites.
Colossians 2:8-9 See to it that no one carries you off as spoil or makes you yourselves captive by his so-called philosophy and intellectualism and vain deceit (idle fancies and plain nonsense), following human tradition (men’s ideas of the material rather than the spiritual world), just crude notions following the rudimentary and elemental teachings of the universe and disregarding [the teachings of] Christ (the Messiah).
Matthew 22:18 But Jesus, aware of their malicious plot, asked, “Why do you put Me to the test and try to entrap Me, you pretenders (hypocrites)?”
Luke 6:42 How can you say to another believer, ‘Friend, let me take the piece of sawdust out of your eye,’ when you don’t see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First, remove the beam from your own eye. Then you will see clearly to remove the piece of sawdust from another believer’s eye.
3. Read the word daily. Trust what God says to those who have received salvation.
Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing the message, and the message that is heard is what Christ spoke.
Revelation 3:10″Because you kept my Word in passionate patience, I’ll keep you safe in the time of testing that will be here soon, and all over the earth, every man, woman, and child put to the test.
4. Forgive others–forgive yourself. If guilt still plagues you after you are sure of your salvation, it’s possible that you didn’t forgive you. Remember salvation is for all those who receive it by faith. No condemnation to those who are in Christ. Romans 8:1
Luke 6:37 “Stop judging, and you will never be judged. Stop condemning, and you will never be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Luke 1:37 But nothing is impossible for God.”
Philippians 4:13 I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me.
Proverbs 16:3 Entrust your efforts to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.
5. Turn to God. Ask him for his grace and help to live with yesterday’s events so that guilt will no longer have a stronghold in your life.
Colossians 2:9 For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form [giving complete expression of the divine nature].
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