DayBreaks for the Week of 8/22/22 – Not My Shame

From the DayBreaks archive: I took my wife out for lunch yesterday and as we were sitting there at Boudin bakery (we love their sourdough bread bowls), I was watching people come in and out.  People come in such a huge variety of shapes, sizes, and colors.  And as I watched them, I was struck (for about the millionth time in my life) by the fact that they all carry around their own consciousness all day long and no one else can see it.  They carry concerns and joys, pains and relief, despair and hope, love and hate – to name just a few emotions and thoughts. 

Not one of us can see inside their heads or hearts to know what is going on there.  And, if they hide what is there, we cannot tell.  There may be some who have studied human behavior and could make an educated guess based on little tell-tale signs, but for the most part, we’re clueless about what is going on with others.

Maybe we need close friends with whom we can be vulnerable…yet safe.  Someone that we can share what’s happening between our ears and the beats of our hearts.  We need fellow humans who can help us navigate the rapids and falls of life’s river that flows inexorably onward toward a common end. 

More than that, though, we need One who knows ALL about us.  One who will judge us by our hearts and not our shortcomings – just as He did with David long ago. 

There is a song by Fernando Ortega (possibly my favorite Christian musician) called Shame that has these words in it (excerpted):

Though I am weak
Sometimes weary
In times of trial
I hide my face
In the balance
Judge me wholly
Please don’t judge me
By my shame

I have tried to
Live life humbly
Not a coward
Not in vain
When my weakness
Overcomes me
Remember me
Not my shame
Not my shame

I am weak
Sometimes weary
Sometimes small
I hide away
When my hours
Are all accounted
Please don’t bind me
To my shame.

What a blessing it is to know that Christ has borne our shame, that He knows our innermost hearts, hears the unspoken words and thoughts that zing around inside our craniums…and loves us the same!

PRAYER: Lord, we can consume ourselves with our thoughts of failure, guilt and shame!  Remind us when we do that You have lifted that off us past, present and future because you are our closest friend! In Your name, Amen.

Copyright 2022 by Galen C. Dalrymple.

DayBreaks for the week of 4/03/22: Verdict Overturned

DayBreaks for the Week of 4/03/22 – Verdict Overturned

From Lee Eclov, Preaching Today:

“As a kid did you ever play that game where you lean over, put your forehead on a baseball bat and circle it three times? Then when you try to walk you stagger and stumble like a drunken sailor. Ministry has been a lot like that the last couple of years.

“John wrote his first Epistle to Christians dizzied by false teaching. What he says to all believers is especially helpful to us as pastors. Top of the list:

This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. … we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. (1 John 3:11, 16)

“When our heads are spinning and our hearts are bewildered, love is how we walk a straight line. People matter more than things. The person in front of you matters more than the crowd. Welcome the little ones in Jesus’ name. Search for the one lost sheep.

“Another dizzy-maker is failure to love others, perhaps by our sharp words, inattention, or gracelessness. How can we shepherd on when we’ve hurt our flock? Pastor John tells us,

If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. (v. 20)

“Our hearts are like a court rendering a guilty verdict, but there is a higher court. It is not that our heart was wrong but that we did not “know everything.” While we might fear that facing God’s high court would be the death of us, it is not so because God not only knows everything we’ve done but, more importantly, everything that Christ has done on our behalf. Our heart’s verdict is overturned.”

PRAYER: Father, how grateful I am that you are greater than my heart and that you overturn my own heart’s verdict and have declared me free of sin and guilt because of the work of your son, Jesus! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2022 by Galen C. Dalrymple.