Thursday Open Heavens Devotional - You are not condemned!

                                     

Memorise: For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 1^st John 3:20

Read: Genesis 3:6-10, And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. ⁷ And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. ⁸ And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. ⁹ And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? ¹⁰ And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

Self-condemnation is a natural phenomenon that feeds on the human awareness of guilt. In the book of Genesis 3:10, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and without anyone scolding them, they were condemned in their hearts:

“And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

Self-condemnation is not the same as sorrow for sin. Sorrow for sin leads to repentance but self-condemnation leads to fear, inferiority complex and low self-esteem. The Bible teaches that God has offered us forgiveness of sin through the death of Jesus Christ. Self-condemnation produces feelings of shame, disgrace, fear, terror, and depression, according to Ezra 9:6, that says:

“…O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens”

And Isaiah 6:5:

“Then said I, Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

Self-condemnation could sometimes be very dangerous in cases where it develops into depression, because it has succeeded in sending some people to their early graves. In Matthew 27:5, Judas Iscariot suffered from serious guilt and self-condemnation,

“And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.”

May the Lord deliver a user of this devotional suffering from guilt and self-condemnation today in Jesus’ name. Furthermore, 2^nd Corinthians 7:10 says:

“For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”

The sorrow of the world is synonymous with guilt and self-condemnation, the Bible says it brings death. Guilt defiles human life, produces feelings of anguish, despair, shame and disgrace. Guilt also produces feelings of unworthiness as in the case of the prodigal son in Luke 15:21. In the Name that is above all other names, the power of self-condemnation is broken in your life today.

Prayer Point: Father, please let your perfect love drive away every iota of self-condemnation in my life in the name of Jesus.

Bible in one year: Jeremiah 47:1-49:22, Psalms 59