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March 31, 2009Scorning the Shame
Golgotha: Station Nine by Kevin Rolly.
May those who hope in you
not be disgraced because of me,
O Lord, the Lord Almighty;
may those who seek you
not be put to shame because of me,
O God of Israel.
For I endure scorn for your sake,
and shame covers my face.
I am a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my own mother's sons;
for zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
- Hebrews 12:2-3
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."
- I Corinthians 1:18-19
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Comments
The Paradox of the "Suffering Christ, the anguish He felt and yet the joy that was set before Him that enabled Him to suffer the "indignities" and shame of crucifixtion are foreign or even alien to our thinking. Scorn the shame indeed.....but realistically impossible for most of us who live in this culture of "instant gratification" on this side of the planet. Although Christ was "a man of sorrows...acquainted with grief" He brings hope to untold millions in every corner of the earth.I was "shamed" eight years ago....embarassed to death...and I lost my joy and about everything I owned as well.For years I stared into the abyss and I thought the "dark night of my soul" would never end. Christ gave my hurt and pain a name...."Pride" and I swallowed hard to keep from choking on it,but eventually God revealed to me it's meaning and purpose and more importantly it's restorative power. My "first love" for Christ returned and along with it a "New Song" in my heart, "not" without loss, and the grief that goes with it
and that was definitely not my preference. I am not now, nor was I ever a "martyr" and have no plans or calling to that effect, but nonetheless I thank God for everything and I'm more aware than ever of how God can use my pain to make substantial changes that would otherwise have been impossible.Because of this, I have no regrets, and would not change a thing, even though I would not wish on my worst enemy the tragic series of events that befell me beginning in 2001 up until very recently.God used those events to get my full attention and keep it long enough for me to get healed and become whole for the first time since I was ten years old. I purposed to "scorn the shame" and in return I have been given a "New Lease" on life and hope for a future that has at it's core the "JOY" of the lord. In Christ alone will I glory.
Posted By: Jerry Phillips | April 4, 2009 7:42 AM