Our faces are NEVER covered with shame - Psalms 34:5

Posted 26 Feb 2013

Psalms 34:4-7 (ANIV)
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.

Verse 5 is fantastic, especially for those of us who all too readily accept the enemies’ accusations that we somehow do not measure up to the perfection we THINK is expected of us. Our society “demands” that we are this or that; that we perform flawlessly; that we measure up & juggle all the balls well & with a smile plastered on our faces at all times! But really it is the quiet whispered accusations of the enemy of our souls who keeps laying expectations upon our overloaded backs until we creak under the strain.
His goal is not to perfect us, but to break us.
Of course we “hear” his accusations in the first person; “I should do better”, “I didn’t do that very well”, “I should shape up & be more like, x,y,z”. But accusations “heard” in our imaginations in the first person are from Satan.

We HAVE to resist his insidious accusations… But how do we do that?

God’s word is powerful to the pulling down of strongholds. We must rely on what the Word of God says, not the whispered, poisonous warped words of the enemy, which are designed to knock us down & keep us down… sometimes with our own absent-minded consent.

2 Corinthians 10:5 (ANIV) says, ‘We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.’

I rather like the Message version of that scripture which reads, ‘We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.’
‘powerful God-tools’ = The Bible; the Word of God, which speaks the truth to us at all time. Rely on what we KNOW God has said, through the Bible, not on our own thoughts which are so variable, wavering & subject to outside influence.
‘…for smashing warped philosophies’, that’s a GREAT way of describing the evil, soul-destoying accusations of Satan!

Psalms 34:5 reminds us (& boy, do we need daily reminders!!!) ‘Those who look to him [God] for help WILL be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.’ That verse reminds us that DESPITE all the fears, insecurities & ideas that we don’t measure up; that we’re not good enough, the FACT is, that Jesus MAKES us sinless, such that we do not have to accept the enemies accusations any more.

We need to learn to disregard ANY thought that accuses us; disregard ANY thought that says we don’t measure up; disregard ANY thought that says we don’t perform well enough. Any “voice” that says these things to you is not “for” you, but against you.

God loves you…
Don’t gloss over that 3 word sentence without REALLY dwelling on it & realising the truth of it. If God loves you, then He ISN’T going to accuse you. God has paid far too high a price (in the death of Jesus) to accuse you & “put you down”. That’s not what God is about AT ALL. Any & all performance anxiety you face never comes from God, it is an accusation from the enemy of our souls. After all, Jesus described his yoke as easy & his burden as light, right? (see Matthew 11:30)

The FACT is, the death & resurrection of Jesus the Christ is MORE THAN ENOUGH sacrifice to remove ANY & ALL sin from our souls. The work of Jesus REMOVES any claim Satan has over us any more. The cross of Jesus IS ENOUGH to save us.

So don’t listen to that small inner “voice” that accuses you. The Holy Spirit DOESN’T accuse, He CONVICTS. There is a BIG, fundamental difference between accusation & conviction.
We need to learn the difference, then we ‘ll correctly identify the source of the “voice”, every time.

If anyone (outside or inside) accuses you, then they are not speaking God’s Word in love… so disregard at once!
Keep your shield of faith up at all times.

Psalms 34:5 reminds us, ‘Those who look to him [God] for help WILL be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.’ That means that never, ever will God accuse us, & therefore, never EVER do we have to accept shame. We ARE free of all shame – that is our on-going condition, even if we don’t feel like that is true. Just because we don’t feel it, that doesn’t change the fact that, through Jesus, we ARE free of all condemnation, accusation & shame.
So don’t accept that thought-accusation – kick it into touch! It isn’t from God, so you don’t have to accept it.

Remember: the shield of faith is there for your defence: use it.

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