Sheila opens referring to the photo attached, in context of our walk with God and how life in general can distract us and take us off course.
What most of us really want is love, what we settle for is a series of distractions.
We are fully known, and fully loved by God.
What most of us really want is love, what we settle for is a series of distractions.
We are fully known, and fully loved by God.
We ask ourselves; What if The Lord saw all of me? So we hide.
The world tells us to deal with things in this manner in order to be accepted;
The world tells us to deal with things in this manner in order to be accepted;
1) There must be nothing wrong with you
2) If you do have something wrong, Get over it!
3) If you can't get over it, then pretend.
4) If you can't pretend, don't show up, and hide yourself away
5) And, if you insist on showing up, at least have the decency to feel ashamed, and cower in the corner.
"I lugged around inside me a dead weight of not-good-enoughness" – Lewis Smedes
Shame: We need to learn to differentiate between shame and guilt. Guilt tells me I've done something wrong, shame says I AM something wrong.
Sheila then recounts a story from her youth when she was excited about going to the school dance. Her father had drowned after escaping from a mental asylum when she was approximately 5 years old, and you could tell from her recount that she felt she was to blame, due to circumstances covered in her account which I cannot recall now.
As a result of circumstance and deep emotional heartache and pain, her Mum provided the best she could for her young family. Her Mum bought her a beautiful frilly dress for the dance, which wasn't to Sheila's liking as it wasn't 'in fashion', but she graciously and gratefully accepted it as she knew how hard her Mum must have scrimped and saved in order to buy the dress.
Sheila paraded the dress around the home to show it off to her Mum, and set off for the dance. Her Mum was proud as punch. When Sheila arrived at the dance the differences between herself and the other girls seemed to be amplified as the other girls were wearing fashionable dresses. So, Sheila spent the entire time hiding behind a school shed, not wanting to participate as she was embarrassed by her dress, but she didn't want to go home to her Mum as this would upset her.
In Sheila's adult life she was a successful Christian TV news presenter and one day she had a mental breakdown. She went from a confident, from the outside, national Christian TV presenter who had it all together, to a 34 year old woman locked up in a mental asylum.
Throughout the next few years she had the opportunity of growing from her breakdown, and drew closer to God as a result, something for which she is grateful.
As a result of circumstance and deep emotional heartache and pain, her Mum provided the best she could for her young family. Her Mum bought her a beautiful frilly dress for the dance, which wasn't to Sheila's liking as it wasn't 'in fashion', but she graciously and gratefully accepted it as she knew how hard her Mum must have scrimped and saved in order to buy the dress.
Sheila paraded the dress around the home to show it off to her Mum, and set off for the dance. Her Mum was proud as punch. When Sheila arrived at the dance the differences between herself and the other girls seemed to be amplified as the other girls were wearing fashionable dresses. So, Sheila spent the entire time hiding behind a school shed, not wanting to participate as she was embarrassed by her dress, but she didn't want to go home to her Mum as this would upset her.
In Sheila's adult life she was a successful Christian TV news presenter and one day she had a mental breakdown. She went from a confident, from the outside, national Christian TV presenter who had it all together, to a 34 year old woman locked up in a mental asylum.
Throughout the next few years she had the opportunity of growing from her breakdown, and drew closer to God as a result, something for which she is grateful.
Psalm 34:4 & 5: "I sought (inquired of) the Lord and required Him [of necessity and on the authority of His Word], and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked to Him and were radiant; their faces shall never blush for shame or be confused."
5 They looked to Him and were radiant; their faces shall never blush for shame or be confused."
In the passages in Genesis to this point God had been referred to as the 'Lord God', however after the 'fall' God is referred to purely as Lord. [To me (Sam), this denotes that our position in relation to God went from 'walking with God' in the garden, as they did while in Eden, but after 'the fall' they felt they were subject to God, in a position of being dominated by God].
The enemy attacks your trust of God, assures you that you won't die, in order to tempt you to be led off course. As a result of the disconnect from God, He then needed to create laws to protect us as He loves us, unconditionally.
The enemy attacks your trust of God, assures you that you won't die, in order to tempt you to be led off course. As a result of the disconnect from God, He then needed to create laws to protect us as He loves us, unconditionally.
[I feel, though, that the laws written in the old testament are a combination of God-inspired laws and those that 'man created' in order to further the rules. If there's one thing I know about Gods' children, and that includes every nation and tongue, is that when it comes to God we always put our own flavour and agenda on things, in order to further our personal cause and to appear 'more righteous' - (Sam)].
Every promise from God you can stake your life on. Even when we fall we can rely on what God has spoken and trust Him and learn to ignore the enemy. [Which is why I personally always refer to 'What would Jesus do?', as He came to restore us back to the Father, to remind us of who God is and how to relate to Him. (Sam)]
The bible says "Resist the enemy and he will flee." The enemy will always attempt to undermine your understanding of God's unconditional love, by causing you to question Gods love.
[We, as human's, have so much difficulty comprehending unconditional love, as we are constantly bombarded with conditions on our love with one another, and the way we believe we will be accepted by people if we behave in certain ways. (Sam)]
Every promise from God you can stake your life on. Even when we fall we can rely on what God has spoken and trust Him and learn to ignore the enemy. [Which is why I personally always refer to 'What would Jesus do?', as He came to restore us back to the Father, to remind us of who God is and how to relate to Him. (Sam)]
The bible says "Resist the enemy and he will flee." The enemy will always attempt to undermine your understanding of God's unconditional love, by causing you to question Gods love.
[We, as human's, have so much difficulty comprehending unconditional love, as we are constantly bombarded with conditions on our love with one another, and the way we believe we will be accepted by people if we behave in certain ways. (Sam)]
The enemy loves to pick us off, take us away from our friends and family and church, and make us feel that we need to be alone. The enemy wants to;
1) destroy our relationship with God and each other
2) and cause you to doubt your gift.
Some of our masks are more expensive, but serve the same purpose in hiding our flaws and our pain.
The enemy wants to destroy your creativity; he wants to minimise you.
However, we need a guarantee. Within us is a gift. The gift of the Holy Spirit.
However, we need a guarantee. Within us is a gift. The gift of the Holy Spirit.
Hebrews 12:1-2: How did Jesus handle this? He reminded us that we have a great cloud of witnesses, those who have gone before. Jesus Himself also went before us to make a way when there wasn't one, and He intercedes for us daily.
Jesus endured the cross. He was despised by men, and they put Him to shame. [even in the garden of Gethsemane Jesus physically wanted to not go through with taking up the cross. Jesus was sweating blood, as He knew what His physical body was about to endure, and He asked the Father to "take the cup from Him", BUT Jesus said "Your [Fathers'] will be done". (Sam)]
Endured in the Greek means to stay in a place beyond an expected point in time.
Jesus, in the bible, is referred to as 'despised by men'. Despise in Greek means to think little of; to pay no attention to. Jesus didn't let the shame distract Him from His purpose which was to restore Gods Children to the Father.
How do we live these days? Being vulnerable and living a life that is connected to one another, is the key to overcoming shame, as it causes us to feel safe when we share ourselves completely, without judgement.
Those things that attack you are the things to overcome. We don't have to get ourself out of the hole, Jesus will reach in and grab you out of it.
Those things that attack you are the things to overcome. We don't have to get ourself out of the hole, Jesus will reach in and grab you out of it.
He is the Rock of Ages. "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling." Show up as you are. Come as you are.
Remember who you are. The first drop of blood noted in the bible was when God killed the animals and fashioned clothes for Adam and Eve. Detours in our lives are bumpy. We tend not to walk His direct path, because we get distracted. We think "Did God say?", or we get distracted by life, or family, or incorrect biblical teaching.
Sheila finished by encouraging us that we don't have to get it together. God killed animals in order to create the clothes. The bible says "the battle is won" and the "battle is His". We don't have to fight, all we need to do is walk with God in His rest.
Sheila finished by encouraging us that we don't have to get it together. God killed animals in order to create the clothes. The bible says "the battle is won" and the "battle is His". We don't have to fight, all we need to do is walk with God in His rest.
