Live Free with Josh Howerton - Defeating the Accuser | Ep. 107 | Tuesday July 4, 2023

Episode Date: July 4, 2023

Guilt can be helpful in showing us something is wrong. Shame, on the other hand, comes from unresolved guilt and accuses us of being something we are not. Grace is the weapon to fight shame. We gain access to this grace through faith in the truth of what Jesus has done. We pray that today’s episode encourages you! For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, so glad you're joining us for the Daily Drive today. My name is Mike Bro, and together we're learning to see ourselves the way God sees us and in the process reclaim our true identity. This summer, we've been exposing some lies that hack into our soul and mess with the truth of who we are. Yesterday, we began to talk about the one thing that keeps so many of us paralyzed, and the lie is this, I am what I have done. I am what I've done in the past. We left off yesterday talking about how guilt from God's perspective is actually a healthy thing that lets us know that something not quite right is going on under the hood of our

life, in our heart, and our mind that needs immediate attention. It has a way of bringing the needle of our moral compass back to True North, if you will. But if we never deal with that guilt, if it goes unresolved, then it will eventually morph into its sinister cousin called shame. And Gang shame is a whole other level. I saw this post the other day, and I saw it and went, yes, it says this. If you don't deal with your demons, they go down into the cellar of your soul and start lifting weights. It had good. It has been my experience.

Lou Smeese describes the difference between guilt and shame this way. The difference between guilt and shame is very clear in theory. We feel guilty for what we do. We feel shame for what we are. A person feels guilt because he or she did something wrong. A person feels shame because he or she is something wrong. You might have heard this stupid joke before about a lady who was walking on her way to work every day. And every day she had to walk by this pet store.

And there was a parrot in the window of the pet store. And as she walked by the pet store, the parrot said, hey lady. And she went, what? And he goes, you're ugly. And she goes, what? It's really insulted her, you know. The next day she's walking down the street, walks by the pet store. the parrots in a window again.

He goes, hey lady. She goes, what? And he goes, you're ugly. And she's, I'm not taking this. Walks into the pet stores, talks to the owner, says, listen, every time I walk by your store, that stupid bird in a window insults me, I'm offended. And please, you got to make him shut him. He says, ma'am, I'm so sorry.

I promise you, he will never do that again. I'm so sorry. Sorry, this is so stupid. She walks down the street by the pet store again the next day, and the parent and the window says, hey lady, she goes, what? He goes, you know. I'm sorry But the Bible calls Satan

Who is the enemy of our soul The thief, the father of lies Also are accuser It gets to the point where all he has to say To us is, you know You know, come on You know you really are You know you're a loser, you know you're a drunk, you know you're an addict,

You're a junkie, you're a pervert, you know You know you're a failure You're tainted, dirty, irreversibly stained, you know You're so stupid, you're a drunk, you're a drunk, You're so fat, you're so ugly, you're so lazy, you're so unloved, you're so alone, always have been, always will be. You know, face it, that's just who you are. I'm telling you, shame is an extremely dangerous enemy. But you need to know this as well.

That shame has an extremely dangerous enemy as well. It's called grace. If shame tells me I'm defective, grace tells me that I'm valuable. shame's greatest weapon is the fear of judgment. Grace is even greater weapon is the relief of unfailing love. Shame says that because I'm flawed, I'm unacceptable. Grace says that even though I am flawed, I am priceless. Shame believes the opinion of other people is what matters.

Grace believes that the opinion of God is the only thing that counts. Shame keeps us stuck. Grace sets us free. Shame makes us hide. Grace makes us shine. Shame is the language of the hacker, and grace is the language of Jesus. Here's a few of my favorite verses to push back the lies of my past. Psalm 103, verse 12, as far as the east is from the west,

so far as he removed her transgressions from us. Isaiah 43.25, God says, I even I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and remembers your sins. No more, Isaiah 44.22. I have swept away your sins like the morning mist. I have scattered your offenses like the clouds. Oh, return to me.

for I have paid the price to set you free. Micah 7, verse 19, once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean. God says in Hebrews 1017, I'll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins. And I am praying today

that you would live in the truth of God's words to you and let your past be the past. more. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out? For more information about all digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.compt.com.com.com slash daily drive. live.