Love Does Series.....Bursting the Bubble of Shame & Anxiety

9/12  Love Does Series  “Bursting the Bubble of Shame & Anxiety”  Matthew 14: 22-33
 
Bursting the Bubble of Shame & Anxiety, don’t we all wish it would just take a pin?  Well guess what?  This situation takes more than a pin – it takes a nail!  Read on…….
 
What shall I do with shame?  What shall I do with anxiety?  Those questions were posed to us during Sunday’s message.  Pastor George went on the say that shame keeps us from living a life of love.  It’s like an anchor that keeps pulling us under, he said.  In the Love Does series this week we viewed Session 4 on Be Not Afraid.  Fear keeps you locked up inside, says Bob Goff.  It’s that anxiety that keeps you from acting and chasing after what Jesus is calling you to do.  We learned in this series that fears, their hiddenness, fuels all sorts of shame and humiliation in our lives and drives us to make bad decisions because we are afraid. 
 
Sunday’s scripture passage in Matthew gives the account of when Jesus walks on water.  Jesus sent the disciples away by boat, by evening the wind had picked up causing the boat to be beaten by the waves. As they were a ways out on the sea, Jesus came to them walking on the water.  Thinking they were seeing a ghost they cried out in fear! In vs. 27 we read “But immediately Jesus spoke to them saying, “Take heart it is I. Do not be afraid.”   When we do a search in the Bible on the words afraid, anxious, fear, there are many passages to read and learn from, to handle our emotions when we get caught up in those snares, and the comfort in knowing that Jesus is always with us, helping us out.  Pastor George gave us a lesson using Peter’s doubt.  In verse 28 Peter said, “If it’s you Lord command me to come to you on the water”  Jesus invited Peter to “Come”.  Peter got out of the boat during a raging storm, and keeping his eyes on Jesus, he walked on water.  When Peter’s eyes diverted off of Jesus, focusing instead on the storm going on he started to sink and cried out “Lord Save Me”.  Jesus took hold of Peter saying, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”  When Peter took his eyes off of Jesus bad things happened.
 
In our Right Now Media study this week From the Garden to the Savior by Robert Cheong, he states that all humanity has faced trials throughout life.  No one remains unstained by the effects of suffering.  But God has reconciled us to a hope that transcends our present struggles.  Jesus’ death and resurrection reconciles us to God and frees us from the burden of our struggles.  It takes the nails of Jesus Christ, that’s where we can find our freedom.
 
Unashamed by Christine Caine is another series we watched in Right Now Media this week.  Christine states that Shame has no place in our destiny God has for us.  God sees you as having infinite value.  The enemy uses shame to keep us away.  God runs towards us with unconditional love, grace, and acceptance.  Nothing can separate that.  Shame steels your joy.  The lie that keeps you shackled.  We’re not designed to live in slavery – but in freedom, she says.   Our freedom is found in Christ and what he has done for us.  Christine knows firsthand just how hard it is to break free from the hurt and pain she too lived through.  It isn’t easy she says, to let go of yesterday’s memories, what if’s, to move past your past.  It takes courage, it’s a decision you make, it isn’t easy, but liberating.  Christine says this, the degree to which you are willing to embrace the pain of recovery is the degree to which you will recover.  She teaches that God wants you to move forward but it will take true faith, forgiveness, and a love that only God can give.  Robert Cheong, in From the Garden to the Savior, said that when we set our eyes on Him, we fix our hope on a savior who exists beyond our circumstances.  He says to grow in your trust that Jesus is sufficient hope for your struggles, grow mature in your faith, and allow someone to walk with you through the process.  Live in the promises of scripture.
 
Pastor George gave three keys to bursting the bubble of shame & anxiety:  1. We SPEAK it – tell others about it.  There is a release within by letting it out.  Tell a trusted person who will listen.  2. WRITE about it, journaling, put it into words what’s causing you pain, shame, rejection.  3. PRAY it, cry out to God, Jesus says come – come to me.
 
God will give you the strength.  Christine Caine referenced the passage in 2 Corinthians 4:7 “…this all surpassing power is from God” and not us.  We as clay pots are easily broken, God will take our brokenness, our pieces, and put them back together again, in time, with our faith and trust in Him to do it.  She says we are to declare out loud that  YOU ARE IN CHRIST!  You are not who you used to be.  She gives these declarations we are to hold to:
Declarations in Christ
FORGIVEN – God has removed my debt
JUSTIFIED – God has changed my state
REGENERATED – God has transformed my heart
RECONCILED – God has become my friend
ADOPTED – God has changed my family
REDEEMED – God has changed my ownership
SANCTIFIED – God has changed my behavior
God is our hero.  His grace – in Jesus name – in this your greatest days are ahead.
 
Sunday’s lesson is that like Peter, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus, don’t let doubt nor diverting eyes cause you to start to sink again.  Jesus is our focus, what you focus on – you will achieve, says Pastor George.  It takes the nails of Jesus Christ to burst the bubble that traps us.
 
Larry and Darlene