Guilt

I’m not talking about the guilt we get when we do something wrong and of which we should repent, but of false guilt. We can get trapped in a cycle of this false guilt can’t we? What are the things which trap you, what do you feel guilty about?

I feel guilt when I don’t meet someone else’s expectations .

I feel guilt when I don’t match up to someone’s perceptions of me.

I feel guilt when I feel I have let someone down.

I feel guilt when I can’t do something I feel I should be able to do.

I feel guilt when I can’t protect my children from the heartaches and trials of life.

Yes, I seem to feel an awful lot of guilt!

Guilt robs me of joy,

Guilt keeps me bound in a cycle of unworthiness,

Guilt weighs me down,

Guilt drains me,

Guilt immobilises me and keep me bound in that cycle of feeling guilty, feeling I can’t do anything about it and so feel guilty about that!

Phew how exhausting all that is!

So what can I do, what can we do with all that guilt?

First of all, we need to get a right perspective of this . Have we sinned? Have we fallen short of God’s high standards? Yes absolutely, but praise Him …

There is now no condemnation for those in Christ.

So if we have confessed our sin, if we have acknowledged all aspects of it, turned from it, asked for forgiveness then there is no condemnation from Jesus and if Jesus does not condemn us, then we should not be afraid of man’s condemnation.

Sometimes we just have to let go of other people’s standards and expectations of us. It is their standards, theirs expectations and not ours, so we should not berate ourselves when we can’t match up to theirs. I have to walk my own walk humbly with my God. We can never match His standards, but Jesus can and has done so and through Jesus we are accepted and justified (just-as-if I never sinned).

No condemnation!

Now I can walk free from the guilt of having failed others, walk free from the guilt of not meeting expectations, walk free from the guilt that would entrap me and walk in the freedom of Jesus.

Just

Today I am linking up with the women of Five Minute Friday. The idea is simple: Write for five minutes flat on the week’s posted topic. This week’s word is : JUST

God is just, good, fair, impartial, He hates evil, but loves justice.

Do I believe this?

If so, why do I find myself explaining/justifying God’s actions/ways to others? If so, why do I feel I have to intervene and sort out situations instead of leaving them with God to act according to His justice and mercy.

God is Just. Full stop . No need to explain, no need to intervene, just leave it, just trust, just believe, just wait till you see God work out His ways, just look at the cross.

Confident

Today I am linking up with the women of Five Minute Friday. The idea is simple: Write for five minutes flat on the week’s posted topic. This week’s word prompt is : Confident

Being confident is be assured of a thing, when relating to God it is a confident trust in Him.

A quiet, confident trust which is like a deep assurance, which too ‘passes all understanding’, so that no matter the outward circumstances, no matter the appearance of a situation, there is a quiet confidence, a quiet trust in the Lord, that He is in control and He WILL work all things out.

I am in need of that quiet confidence today. I am in need of that assurance of God’s sovereignty.

Isaiah 26:3 says:

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You,

all whose thoughts are fixed on You! [NLT]

So I fix my thoughts on God, I look to Him not the situation and I have that quiet confidence, that assurance that it is well, it is well with my soul!

BUILD

Today I am linking up with the women of Five Minute Friday. The idea is simple: Write for five minutes flat on the week’s posted topic. This week’s word is : BUILD

When I think of building I think of blocks one on top of the other. But in order to build you need a good foundation and that reminds me of the parable of the wise and foolish men. The wise man built his house on a good strong foundation, the foolish man on sand and when disaster struck, guess what? His house fell down!

So for me I have to have my faith, my life built on a solid foundation, on Jesus Himself. This week the ill winds of pain and sorrow blew in, a situation which I have no control over again came into our lives and it is hard, it is sore, those ill winds are blowing mighty hard, but Praise God, we have not been shaken, our foundation is strong and sure in Jesus.

Where

Today I am linking up with the women of Five Minute Friday. The idea is simple: Write for five minutes flat on the week’s posted topic. This week’s word is : Where

As I get older my “where’s” get more frequent! Where are my car keys, where’s my jacket, where is that receipt, where have I put such and such a thing, where is it?

Where has the time gone? Where are those precious moments with my children? Where has time passed me by?

However, one thing I do not ask is, ‘Where is your God?’, for I know Him. I know that He is with me, I am more sure of that today than I have ever been. I can look back and through the trials and hardships of life I can see that the Man of Sorrows has been right there with me. “Where is your God?” they may say, and I will answer, He is here, Immanuel God with us, Jesus on the Cross proves, yes demonstrates God’s love for me. Where are you God? You are there on the Cross, suffering, redeeming, saving. Where is He?, He is right here in the every day, in the messiness of life.