Shame on You!

Shame...I'm trying to get a handle on the meaning and what's good and bad about it. One definition I read says that shame is an intense feeling of anguish the make you wish you could evaporate. Sometimes we use words like guilt or condemnation but they are not the same meaning at all. Guilt comes from realizing you have done something wrong. Condemnation is being convicted for doing wrong.
Society doesn't have much shame anymore. Everything is acceptable and God help you if you say anything against a life-style or practice. The Apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 6:5 "I say this to shame you." The Corinthian church was taking other believers to court and they had tremendous moral laxity.
We should never feel shame because of something that has been done to us. Abuse and rape are examples of the something done to us that causes undue shame. To the abuser and rapist we must say "shame on you!"
God help me to be ashamed when I 1) put others before God 2) put anthing before God 3) misuse God's precious Name 4) do no prioritize His day 5) do not honor my parents 6) murder someone 7) commit adulty 8) steal 9) give a false testimony 10) want my neighbor's house, husband, work or anything that belongs to them. These Ten Commandments were given to us for good reason. They show us all Christ died to forgive and there is no room for shame when we deal with it before the cross of Christ.
Jesus took all our shame on Calvary's cross. Hebrews 12:2 say; "...For He Himself endured a cross and thought nothing of its shame because of the joy He know would follow his suffering..." Every time I fail/sin I can go back to that wonderful cross and find Jesus bearing my shame. He always forgives for He want to say "Joy on you."
If you have a shame burden, please do not carry it long...it is too heavy for you but not for Jesus. The way free up the load of sin is to leave it at the cross. As Jesus said, "Go and sin no more!"

Love Notes

As I was walking past our church library today I noticed a book called Love Notes. One of the quotes in it comes from Saint Augustine, "God loves each one of us, as if there was only one of us." That kind of love is what each and every one of us have looked for.
A couple of weeks ago I was teaching a ladies class at church and gave them one on my quotes. "Most women do everything possible to make themselves perfect for the love of an imperfect man when the one who loves us most, just the way we are, is perfect."
I love the thought that Jesus loves me just as I am. He nevers knocks on my door and ask me how I'm feeling about Him or if I've done anything that displeases Him in order to rate His love for me.
Sheila Walsh says in her book God Has A Dream For Your Life that a friend of hers asked her how she would feel if there were a movie made of her life for everyone to view? Not just the good stuff but every thought and every action she has ever had would be recorded for all to see. Her friend stated that God has seen her movie and loves her anyway.
God is love...