His Grace, Not Shame, Transforms Us

This revelation is so simple, it really does take a theologian to mess it up.

We are forgiven of all our sins - all of them!

I used to live my life trying to preempt the hurt and upset in my mind.

It was a life of combing every hurt and trying to preempt the pain.

A sense of shame will come at us in our daily walk.

This world is saturated in condemnation, even if people think that they can ignore their conscience and do and say what they please.

This conscience inside of us does not die with neglect or busy work.

It takes the blood of Jesus, the blood which cleanses, and keeps on cleansing.

We are not supposed to feel guilty about. . .anything.

He took away all that guilt and shame for us at the Cross.

Now, as for how we learn how to live. . .

Doesn't that require shame, a sense of wrong-doing, for us to live right?

What does the Bible say?

"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:": (2 Corinthians 5: 14)

His love holds us in place.

The rules of "don't, don't, don't" don't cut it, either:

20Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 21(Touch not; taste not; handle not; 22Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? 23Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh." (Colossians 2: 20-23)

If the "No's" don't work, then what does change us? The grace of God!

"11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2: 11-14)

We understand more about the grace of God, the more that we see Jesus:

"2Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord," (2 Peter 1: 2)

Guess what else transforms us? The Holy Spirit, as we see more of Jesus!

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3: 17)

and also

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Romans 12: 1-2)

This revelation cannot be stated enough. His grace, not shame, changes us!

No Sense of Shame or Hurt

This is still a new thing for me to learn.

I have lived so much of my life feeling bad and kicking myself for doing something wrong.

I had read as early as 2006 that immaturity defines a person who walks around in shame, who feels bad about things that they have done wrong.

We are not supposed to keep feeling bad.

We are not supposed to keep punishing ourselves.

Did the blood of Jesus not accomplish the work that needed to be done?

This is still a new revelation for me.

We are not supposed to revisit the Cross every time we do something wrong.

We are not supposed to go back to feeling bad or guilty and then try to feel un-guilty -- for lack of a better word.

That is wrong.

We are not supposed to feel guilty or condemned at all.

The next challenge to this revelation - how are we supposed to go from doing bad to good? How do we grow in life and respect for others?

That is where the grace of God comes in!

"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2: 11-14)

Grace is a teacher -- shame and hurt do not teach anyone anything.

No Sins Imputed

 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” (Romans 4: 8)

This is indeed a blessed promise.

The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin, delivers us from all condemnation.

Yet if you grew up in the legalistic household which I grew up in, you would think that the blood of Jesus did not accomplish anything at all.

The falsehoods I was taught - they were just terrible.

In so many churches -- if they can be called churchces today -- the blood of Jesus means nothing, and oftentimes people do not even preach or teach about the ever-wonderful powerful cleansing of the blood.

It is really astonishing to me, after all these years, that I was reading and reading the Bible, yet I was believing such false doctrine.

God Almighty has provided the perfect pardon for all our sins -- all of them -- at the Cross.

The Alcoholics Anonymous cult would have us believe otherwise, that we have to keep ourselves clean, that we have to stay in check over ourselves and our perversions.

Since when did anybody get the idea that they could keep short accounts with God?

No sins are imputed to us. Even if we do something wrong, we need to recognize that God is not a fault finder anymore looking for ways to punish us.

Sin does bring forth death in our lives. If anyone claims that he is under grace, yet continues to live in sin -- he is lying, pure and simple.

This life given to us is not about staying one step ahead of our sicknesses. It is about living life, and that more abundantly. His life in us is about living in great power, and having all things provided  to us and for us through Christ Jesus.

I will not say no to any of that.

As for AA, I will continue to rail against the frauds of this terrible cult.

His Caring is Not Contingent on Me

God cares about me, not because of me, but because of His Son Jesus:

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5: 21)

With righteousness, comes all other blessings in our walk with God, in Christ.

For the longest time, though, I had believed that my standing before God was still dependent on me.

Whatever I was thinking or feeling, that would affect whether He was for me or against me.

One book I had read gave the impression that God was for me . . .just because.

The Bible is very clear why God is for us:

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8: 31-32)

God provided a full and final payment for all things through His Son!

"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2: 13-15)

Today, we can rest assured that He is our God not because of anything that we have done mbut because of everything which He has done for us:

"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

13In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. (Hebrews 8: 10-13)

Today, let us read and meditate on the truth of First Peter:

"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." (1 Peter 5: 6-7)

His caring for me does not depend on me. It depends on Jesus, my High Priest forever, and He is not going anywhere!

Joseph Prince, Charles Capps, and Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

I love listening to good preaching, the Word which reveals more of Jesus, and how much He - not we - has accomplished in our lives.

There I go again, talking about "my life" when He is our life! (Colossians 3: 1-4)

This morning, this Thanksgiving morning, I learned about Jesus and what He was preaching about in the Sermon on the Mount.

Prince was talking about the folly of worrying, which cannot add to our height one cubit.

I then remember the turmoils I faced about seven years ago, when I learned about the gift of righteousness, and how we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Joyce Meyer had talked about all the gifts and inheritance brought to us through the gift of righteousness. I remember listing all the blessings which come with righteousness, and all of them started to manifest in my life.

I was making more money than I could ever have hoped. I was well taken care of in every aspect of my life.

Then I got confused by this passage:

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6: 33)

If I have been made the righteousness of God in Christ, why do I have to seek it?

The confusion grew more complex when I read this passage in the Gospel of Luke:

"But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. 32Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (Luke 12: 31-32)

So, I am supposed to seek the Kingdom of God, yet this kingdom God gives to us?

Then it got really interesting:

"Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17: 21)

So, the Kingdom of Heaven is something that we seek, but is something which God gives us, and yet the Kingdom is within us . . .already?

Questions like these made my peaceful rest in God's goodness hard to do.

Then I would take one passage, like this verse, and torture it into a set of works:

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." (Isaiah 26:3)

This passage is about trust, not feelings, or anything else. I can feel mad, bad, sad, even fearful, yet that does not mean I do not trust God. 

All these emotions are put aside to the truth of God's Word.

The corrupt ribbon which wrapped up all these distorted nonsense? Alcoholics Anonymous, the cult which despises the blood of Jesus, and makes nothing of His splendid, necessary sacrifice at the Cross, and beyond that diminishes Him to an ephemeral standard which no one can keep.

All of these thoughts and premonitions came running through my mind.

Then I watched Charles Capps during the next half hour.

He expounded on the Word of God, and he talked about the necessity of rightly dividing the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2: 15).

If something in Scripture seems to contradict something else, then it's all a matter of recognizing who said it, when and to whom. Context really is key. Inadvertently, people lock up the full understanding of Scripture with "Well, the Bible says   . .". Where, and to what degree? What is the message which we need to draw?

Two hours later, I was talking with a man about the Bible. He shared with me the Bible as Literature class he took in college. Taught by a Baptist Minister, the class focused on how to read the Bible. He had learned that the whole book is about JESUS!

It's not Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. The Bible is basically about. . .Jesus!

This issue of context is crucial - Crux - Cross.

So, let us consider the context of the above passages:

Matthew 6:33 depicts Jesus restoring the Mosaic Law, the Old Covenant, to its pristine, unassailable fullness. Jesus was clearly addressing disciples at the time.

Today, we are not disciples, but sons:

"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:" (John 1: 12)

and

"And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever." (John 8: 35)

Jesus also calls us friends!

"Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." (John 15: 15)

Today, when God the Father looks at us, He does not see us in ourselves, but in Christ Jesus:

"But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)" (Romans 5: 15-17)

and of course:

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17)

I was confused for so long. I did not understand what it meant to simply trust Him.

Why was this so hard?

I did not have the fullest revelation of the CROSS.

It's all about what Jesus has done, not what I am still supposed to do.

As for the passages in the Bible which seemed to confuse me, I recognize today that those comments were to different people during a previous dispensation, the Old Covenant.

The Bible is not about us. It is about Him.

John did not identify the fathers in his midst based on what they did, but on whom they saw and knew:

"I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. . . .I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known himthat is from the beginning." (1 John 2: 13-14)

Today, I understand that I have His righteousness as a gift, and I keep receiving it!

"For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5: 17)

Thank you Jesus for Joseph Prince, Walter Capps, and Kenneth Hagin, godly man who loved the Word, and allowed Him to abide them!

Joseph Prince, Charles Capps, and Rightly Dividing the Word

I love listening to good preaching, the Word which reveals more of Jesus, and how much He - not we - has accomplished in our lives.

There I go again, talking about "my life" when He is our life! (Colossians 3: 1-4)

This morning, this Thanksgiving morning, I learned about Jesus and what He was preaching about in the Sermon on the Mount.

Prince was talking about the folly of worrying, which cannot add to our height one cubit.

I then remember the turmoils I faced about seven years ago, when I learned about the gift of righteousness, and how we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Joyce Meyer had talked about all the gifts and inheritance brought to us through the gift of righteousness. I remember listing all the blessings which come with righteousness, and all of them started to manifest in my life.

I was making more money than I could ever have hoped. I was well taken care of in every aspect of my life.

Then I got confused by this passage:

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6: 33)

If I have been made the righteousness of God in Christ, why do I have to seek it?

The confusion grew more complex when I read this passage in the Gospel of Luke:

"But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. 32Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (Luke 12: 31-32)

So, I am supposed to seek the Kingdom of God, yet this kingdom God gives to us?

Then it got really interesting:

"Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17: 21)

So, the Kingdom of Heaven is something that we seek, but is something which God gives us, and yet the Kingdom is within us . . .already?

Questions like these made my peaceful rest in God's goodness hard to do.

Then I would take one passage, like this verse, and torture it into a set of works:

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." (Isaiah 26:3)

This passage is about trust, not feelings, or anything else. I can feel mad, bad, sad, even fearful, yet that does not mean I do not trust God. 

All these emotions are put aside to the truth of God's Word.

The corrupt ribbon which wrapped up all these distorted nonsense? Alcoholics Anonymous, the cult which despises the blood of Jesus, and makes nothing of His splendid, necessary sacrifice at the Cross, and beyond that diminishes Him to an ephemeral standard which no one can keep.

All of these thoughts and premonitions came running through my mind.

Then I watched Charles Capps during the next half hour.

He expounded on the Word of God, and he talked about the necessity of rightly dividing the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2: 15).

If something in Scripture seems to contradict something else, then it's all a matter of recognizing who said it, when and to whom. Context really is key. Inadvertently, people lock up the full understanding of Scripture with "Well, the Bible says   . .". Where, and to what degree? What is the message which we need to draw?

Two hours later, I was talking with a man about the Bible. He shared with me the Bible as Literature class he took in college. Taught by a Baptist Minister, the class focused on how to read the Bible. He had learned that the whole book is about JESUS!

It's not Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. The Bible is basically about. . .Jesus!

This issue of context is crucial - Crux - Cross.

So, let us consider the context of the above passages:

Matthew 6:33 depicts Jesus restoring the Mosaic Law, the Old Covenant, to its pristine, unassailable fullness. Jesus was clearly addressing disciples at the time.

Today, we are not disciples, but sons:

"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:" (John 1: 12)

and

"And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever." (John 8: 35)

Jesus also calls us friends!

"Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." (John 15: 15)

Today, when God the Father looks at us, He does not see us in ourselves, but in Christ Jesus:

"But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)" (Romans 5: 15-17)

and of course:

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17)

I was confused for so long. I did not understand what it meant to simply trust Him.

Why was this so hard?

I did not have the fullest revelation of the CROSS.

It's all about what Jesus has done, not what I am still supposed to do.

As for the passages in the Bible which seemed to confuse me, I recognize today that those comments were to different people during a previous dispensation, the Old Covenant.

The Bible is not about us. It is about Him.

John did not identify the fathers in his midst based on what they did, but on whom they saw and knew:

"I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. . . .I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known himthat is from the beginning." (1 John 2: 13-14)

Today, I understand that I have His righteousness as a gift, and I keep receiving it!

"For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5: 17)

Thank you Jesus for Joseph Prince, Walter Capps, and Kenneth Hagin, godly man who loved the Word, and allowed Him to abide them!

I Am an Enemy of Bill W.

"Are you a friend of Bill W.?"

That's the question which members of AA like to ask prospective new members.

Today, I proudly write that I am an enemy of Bill "Cult of AA" Wilson.

His program of inaction, shame, and condemnation has misled all too many people.

The good news is that more people are waking up - and all over the world.

The grace of God is breaking forth in a world crying out for relief, release, and restoration.

Something inside of all of us -- we seek life and that more abundantly, liberty without fear of retribution if we fail.

AA teaches members that they are always at risk of failure. If a man drinks again, he will die.

Yet four chapters earlier, the reader learns about Twelve Suggestions.

Not at all.

Alcoholics Anonymous is a dangerous cult, one which forces mind control and dependence on individual members, with no respite or hope.

What kind of life is one expected to live, if every day a person wakes up fearing that they might slip, that their thoughts and feelings determine whether they will have peace or not, and then teaches them that their thoughts and feelings are at the  mercy of other people.

This world is full of shame and reproach. The cult teaches people that they are responsible for the bad feelings which follow from mean and rude people that such feelings then separate us from God.

All of this nonsense is a bunch of lies.

I am a proud enemy of Bill W. today. He was another charlatan, fraud, and an anti-christ.

What does the Bible say to do with such people?

"Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time." (1 John 2: 18)

and

"Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:3And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world." (1 John 4: 2-3)

and also

"Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. 10If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:" (2 John 9-10)

I do not welcome Bill W. into my home or into my mind.

No enemies. Christ and Him alone!

Jesus Turns His Will and His Life Over to Me!

The third step of the Alcoholics Anonymous cult teaches people "to turn their will and their lives over to a power greater than themselves."

First of all, alcohol is apparently more powerful than most people, since they keep drinking even when they want to stop. Are we expecting people to turn their lives over to booze? I thought that the program was all about getting people to quit drinking . . .

Any way. the other problem with that stupid third step has to do with the life and will issue.

First of all, man is dead in his trespasses, and needs life, He needs more than rules and regulations., He needs to know that the Ruler is living within Him and granting Him life:

"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10: 10)

and

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised usup together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2: 4-6)

We were taken from dead in our trespasses to alive and seated with Christ Jesus, made kings and priests forever (1 Peter 2: 9)

There can be no discussion, then, about anyone turning their life over to God, or to some "higher power".

We need life, and Jesus grants us His life:

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness comeby the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2: 20-21)

and

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ,who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3: 1-4)

So, Jesus gives us His life - not the other way around.

As for the will to do something or anything - Jesus gives us that, too!

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ,who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (John 16: 13)

and

"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13)

and

"But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. " (1 John 2: 20)

So, let's give up this nonsense that we have to turn over something to God, for we have nothing to turn over to Him. He grants us all things!

The Pain is Shame -- and He Took Both Away

Alcoholics Anonymous places on people an unending sense of shame and wrongoing.

How else would you feel if every day, you woke up with the thought: "I am an insane, crazy alcoholic, and therefore my whole life is unmanageable, and I need someone else to tell me how to do everything.

What?!

I look back on this nonsense now, and see how patently unbiblical it all is.

Do we really believe the Word when we read:

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," (Romans 8: 1)

I have to admit that I really did not believe this.

Well -- that is not entirely true. There is so much more to learning about how forgiven, how graced upon, how righteous we are in Christ Jesus.

I read a beautiful statement in a pastor's blog about no condemnation:

Imagine waking up and learning: All your sins are put away. You will never be charged with wrong doing for anything that you have done.

I really had to take that in. That revelation is really something new. something wonderful to me.

I will never be punished for doing something wrong -- why? Because Jesus was punished for all the wrongdoings of this wrong world:

"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2: 1-2)

He is paying for all our sins. All of them

For years, I was brought up to feel shame and hurt every time I did something wrong. Many people really believe that shame and condemnation will get people to stop doing the wrong and start doing the right.

Yet that does not work:

"Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 21(Touch not; taste not; handle not; 22Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? 23Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh." (Colossians 2: 20-23)

Don't, Don't, Don't does not cut it, and does not work.

We need the grace of God, in greater measure:

"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2: 11-14)

Shame has no place in our lives -- none. Even if we do wrong, no one is in a position to shame us.

Jesus took away our shame, all of it, and whatever feelings may lingering, they are dust and ashes with no value:

"To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified." (Isaiah 61: 3)

This revelation has been particularly important for me, because I spent so much trying to put away or supress the negative feels of shame.

Today, it is much easier and better for me, I am not unhappy or hurt anymore when someone says something negative or mean to me.

I do not get confused anymore when someone says something bad -- even if they are rightly criticizing or faulting me.

Thank you, Jesus!

No More Shame

I took another look at the whole revelation of no condemnation in Christ.

It has nothing - absolutely nothing to do with how we feel.

We are not righteous or unrighteous because of what we  may or may not feel.

It is all about what Jesus did at the Cross.

There is no shame. No sense of wrongdoing.

Nothing.

Our feelings do not matter. They simply do not matter.

The sting of shame is taken away in the Cross.

We are no longer under law, under sin, but under grace, walking by faith.

The Lord Jesus did not just give us grace to live in sin, but rather through the grace of God we overcome sin and live godly lives.

Anyone who is still living a sinful life is not under grace, but in the flesh, under law, in death.

I was thinking about this deep yet very misunderstood revelation in the body of Christ.

There is no shame at all.

No sting.

We are not to be led or taught through shame, either.

When I look back on all that I have learned, I realize finally - why would we use shame in the first place?

It makes no sense.

It is not even biblical:

"Train up a child in the way he should go,

And when he is old he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22: 6)

We are not set free, not find the pathway of life through death and destruction

"No" and "Don't!" and "Stop!!" do not create life-giving direction in our lives.

They do not create life at all!

I remember when my mother used to tel me: "Arthur, you should do this or that, because if you do not, you will feel bad tomorrow."

Using the fear of shame or guilt or using shame or guilt as a means of motivating people -- is not wise.

God wanted to move in the lives of His creation by inviting them to choose Him.

He did not use shame, force, or threats. He said "Of all the trees, freely eat, but that one tree."

To the Israelites at the border of Kadesh-Barnea, God said: "I set before you life and death. Choose life."

Jesus came to us and affirmed: "I have come that you might have life, and that more abundantly."

Now, all we have to do is believe on Him to be alive in Him.

Shame kills His life in us. Condemnation kills.

Sentencing people to shame and death does not create life, worth, obedience, or blessings in our lives.

The Alcoholics Anonymous cult breeds shame and condemnation into people, teaching them that they are insane drunks who must turn their wills and lives over to a program and a sponsor.

Ugh!

There is no reason, none whatsoever, for anyone to feel shame when they are in Christ.

He took our shame, and He took no shame for Himself.

For every spit, insult, and beating Jesus took, He was relieving us of all our shame.

He scorned the shame! In turn, we can do the same thing.

There is no shame, no condemnation, and even if we do something we wrong, or find ourselves failing, we are not to "feel bad" about it.

There is no shame, no condemnation in Christ. None.

I Have Wanted To Write This For So Long

I hate Alcoholics Anonymous.

I hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it.

This evil program teaches people that they have to add something more to the perfect work of Jesus Christ.

I cannot begin to tell you the pain and suffering which I had gone through in my head, and in my life.

For years, I was taught that I had to think and feel certain ways in order to be OK with God.

What is this nonsense?

It is not our job to think about Him!

Our Daddy God is thinking about us!

It is not my job to bring Him into my life.

He is my life, and all I have to do is believe on Him.

Yet why have so many people struggled with this wonderful grace of God?

Because in our flesh is sin, this idea that I can do all things on my own. That there is still something more that I can bring to the party.

Where have we gotten these pernicious and salacious ideas from?

If we mix law and grace, calling it "balance", we end up throwing the goodness of God our of our lives and throwing our walk off balance.

It cannot work, where we think that we can have  a part in "our lives", when in fact Jesus is our life.

Don't believe me? Check out Colossians:

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ,who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3: 1-4)

He is our life. This is not true because I believe it.

I believe it because it is true.

What grace! What wonderful. What a gracious and wonderful Savior we have in Christ Jesus!

You Can Stop Trying to Stop the Hurting

Alcoholics Anonymous breeds shame in people.

They feel that God is far away, not talking or moving in them, if they feel bad.

All of this pressure falls on the member of the cult, because he is taught to hold onto this hypervigilance at all costs, or he will drink again and die.

The cult teaches people that they are insane, that they need constant help, that they have to work at staying in "emotional balance", even though they live in a world filled with challenges and hardships.

Every day, I would feel this chronic pressure to fix my feelings, to fix what I was thinking and feeling.

I had been taught, on account of this wicked cult, that faith had everything to do with what we are thinking and feeling.

So, the result is a painful monomania, looking into oneself, constantly obsessed with one's feeling, and then a sense of shame every time that a bad feeling pops up.

I never understood why I was so easily set off, until I recognized how destructive Alcoholic Anonymous really is, and all the Twelve Step programs which follow from it.

I hate this cult, and I will do everything I can to inform the world that there is a better Way -- He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

So much has changed, and so much indeed has changed for the better.

I am no longer responsible for trying to keep Jesus alive and well in my life.

He is my life, and He richly provides everything.

I can stop trying to stop the hurting. The hurting, the feelings, have nothing to do with the blessings of God in my life.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1: 3-6)

Grace and blessings are not something that we have to feel or fight for, They are wonderful gifts which we keep on receiving through Christ Jesus! (Romans 5: 17)

The big problem for me for so long was that I kept trying to stop the bad thoughts and feelings, as though they were impediments to faith and trust. They have nothing to do with any of that!

Wow!

Don't Tell Me I Have to Do More

I despise Alcoholics Anonymous!

This awful cult teaches people that the work is never over.

We have to keep working and working.

We have to keep making sure that we work hard and keep God ever close to us.

I am learning so much more about the New Covenant, what Jesus enacted at the Cross.

There is no replacement for this wonderful dispensation.

Nothing.

Not Ten Commandments, not Twelve Steps, not even the 613 Mosaic rules which none of us could keep. Why else would our loving Father have provided to the Israelites an economy of sacrifices until the fullness of time in Christ Jesus>

We have to be very clear and uncompromising about the truth who sets us free!

The fact is - this world is still dedicated to asking the question: "What can we do, that we may work the works of God?"

The answer is Jesus -- the answer is the Person!

The answer is not doing more, but seeing more.

The answer has nothing to do with doing more.

It has everything to do with seeing more.

When are we going to get over this nonsense?!

Once again, the reason why we struggle - because we think that we have some life in and of ourselves.

Impossible.

"Apart from me, ye can do nothing." (JOhn 15:5)

Jesus was not kidding when He told His disciples this truth.

In the next chapter, the disciples still have questions, and still don't quite understand.

"Show us the Father" - Jesus answers: "If you have seen me, then you have seen the Father."

"Show us the way." Jesus answers: "I am the way, the truth, and the life."

Jesus not only answers our questions but supplies so much more that we may ask, even before we ask the question!

Please do not tell me that I have to do more. How dare any of us think that we can add anything to what Jesus did.

Rather, we need to see more, to see more of Him who has been from the beginning, to recognize His great accomplishment, and enjoy more of His grace abounding to this sighing, dying world.

The Only Work I Can Do: Believe on Him

I just love reading and reading this wonderful yet oft-overlooked passage in the Gospel of John:

Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. " (John 6: 28-29)

"What shall we do, that we can work the works of God?"

So, the Israelites recognize that they cannot do the works of God yet they still that there is still something -- anything! -- that they can do so that they can start working the work.

Really?

A dead man can do nothing.

We need life, and throughout the Gospel of John, the writer keeps hammering this point about Jesus. He is our life, and His life is our light.

He has come that we would have His life, and that more abundantly.

In John's First Epistle, John keeps communicating this wonderful truth:

"He who has the Son, has life. He who has not the Son, has not life."

So, what really can anyone of us do, that we can start working the works of God?

When are we going to get off our spiritual high horse, and recognize that we were dead in our trespasses, and that we need life!

I don;t need someone to tell me how to live better. We have the standard for how to live, the Ten Commandments, the entire moral law, and guess what?! We cannot keep it at all!

It actually condemns, kills, and destroys! The punishment for not keeping the law? Death!

Really, if we acknowledge what has happened to us in Adam, from the beginning, we acknowledge in turn that we need life!

So, let's get off this idea that we can work for God. That we can serve Him out of anything that we have.

Jesus had to rebuke the Isrealites of His day:

"This is the work of God -- that you believe on Him  -- Jesus -- whom the Father has sent."

How many of us still refuse to believe on Him?

"Oh, I know that Jesus died for me, but I am on my own from here on out.:

Uh? How can you claim to be saved from death to life, and then think that the life you have received is something that you have to work for?

You never earned it in the first place!

Now, the one charge that many church people like to foment falls along these lines:

"So many people are just sitting around doing nothing, saying "I bellieve! I believe!"

The fact is - when someone is talking "I believe" you have to ask them: "What do they believe?"

Most of the time, they will talk about God doing something for them.

Yet God has done far more than something - he has done everything!

He did everything for us at the Cross through His Son Jesus!

The issue -- once again -- comes down to LIFE.

People who are lazy, by the way -- are actually quite busy, in their minds, full of fear.

The truth is, though, that man is dedicated toward doing, doing, doing.

We even "do" in our minds, even if we lie down and do nothing else.

One of the proverbs speaks to the root causes in our minds:

"As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed." (Proverbs 26: 14)

Even lazy people are busy, but in their minds, doing nothing but fear and worry.

The more that we get busy resting in His truth, the more that we recognize that our one work is to believe in Jesus.

Jesus is alive, Him who has been from the Beginning!

There is only one work that I can do - which is to believe in Him!

The rest is the grace of God, which He so freely supplies through His Son! (Romans 8: 31-32)

We Need to Trust that He is Wherever We are Going

For the longest time, I was led astray by false doctrine.

I have written from time on this page about the bad teachings which had held me in bondage for the longest time.

The people who were responsible for training me in the way to go, they did not do their job.

My mother especially, who was a "Stepper Mom" without qualification, had imbued in my false ideas of so many kinds.

For the longest time, I was very angry. Angry with her, and angry with my father, too.

Yet being angry with people who have not taught you the truth - that is not the truth that will set you free, is it?

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22: 6)

and

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (JOhn 8:32)

The truth that we need to know is the truth of God's grace, for grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (John 1: 17)

The truth shall set you free.

It is very hard for me to accept that I had imbided so many lies, had not been nourished in the Word of God.

One of the biggest lies I was taught -- I was taught to live in constant doubt.

Doubt about whether God was for more or against me.

Doubt about whether he was going to be there for me or not.

Doubt about where I was going or not going, and whether it was a good idea to go or not.

This doubt was constantly forced into my mind through the fearful badgering of my mother:

"Are you sure that that is God's will? What if it's not God's will? You could be doing something wrong. God won't be there for you."

This doubt caused so much pain and unease in my life. Faith is essential.  We have to believe that God is, and a rewarder of those who seek Him.

All of this gets undone as long as we wake up every day believing that we have to think or feel a certain way so that He stays with us, that our feelings or our thoughts will somehow cut us off from God.

We do not need help. We need life.

We need to know that He is going to be there for us, even if we are going a way that is not beneficial to us - at first. He is slow to anger, rich in kindness is He not? Even the Psalms declare this wonderful revelation about God our Father, and we see Him in Jesus, our Lord and Savior:

"Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

8If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

9If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

10Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." (Psalm 139: 7-10)

We cannot be separated from Him. This lie that He may or may not be there for us is all wrong, too.

Furthermore, the notion that He could go or run away from us: all of that is false:

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." (Hebrews 13: 5)

We need to trust that He is already there -- wherever we are going.

He is not coming and going anymore, the way that He did under the Old Covenant, when the blood of Jesus had not yet been shed, forever cleansing away our sins.

He Is Still Trustworthy, Even if We Do Not Trust

"If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself." (2 Timothy 2: 13)

Here is another revelation worth sharing.

Jesus is still trustworthy, even if we do not trust Him.

He does not come and go in our lives, even if we find ourselves wavering and unsure.

Jesus does not get huffy and angry with us if we find ourselves wondering and doubting about His truth and committment to caring for us.

Consider Abraham, the father of faith, and how open he was about his doubts:

"1After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." (Genesis 15: 1)

Notice, that even though God had quickened Abram to do great and mighty deeds, including the massive defeat and slaughter of wicked kings, the LORD had to comfort and assure Abram that He was with Him, his sure and unwavering reward.

2And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 3And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir." (Genesis 15: 2-3)

Abram was already having doubts about having a child of his own through his lawful wife Sarai. Instead of getting angry, instead of rejecting Abram or giving up on him, He continued His assurances:

 4And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. 7And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it." (Genesis 15: 4-7)

God is not in the business of leading us on then dropping us.

He does not prop up our hopes, then dash us.

He comes though and has continued to come through for us time and again.

He is trustworthy, even when we think that He is not worthy or trust. When we understand this, then our faith is no longer an obstacle, for faith is not about us, but about Him who has been from the beginning (1 John 2: 12-14).