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Refreshment in Refuge

    by Gina Burgess

Dryness of the Soul
Date Posted: May 20, 2018

What’s so amazing about grace? Philip Yancy asks that question in one of his book titles. Great book, too. We Christians, I believe, don’t consider the answer to that question enough.

What is so amazing about grace? It couldn’t be that even while we were filthy in our sin, depraved by our nature that Jesus chose to go to the cross to pay for everything, could it? Or could it be that out sins are tossed into the rubbish heap to burn up? Or could it be that God forgives the past, and we are not called to live a life of rigid legalism?

You do know there are about 1,000 commands in the New Testament, correct? And there are 613 commands in the Old Testament. Of course there is some crossover such as the Ten Commandments. But all these commands from our Lord God are summed up in one word. Love. Love the Lord with everything you are and love your neighbor as yourself.

Wow! Sometimes we treat our loved ones worse than we treat a stranger. Less common courtesy and taking their love for granted, even taking advantage of their love for some selfish reasons. But then, that really isn’t exhibiting love, is it?

So when we invariably act ugly to our loved one, or even our neighbors, or our siblings in Christ, we often feel continued shame for those words and/or actions. Why?

Holy Spirit conviction is not why we feel ashamed long after the deed has been forgiven by the person wronged and by God Himself.

We are forgiven. Forgiveness is a command. We forgive and are forgiven lest judgment by the same measure is accorded to us. Even if we stumble over the same wrongdoing, we should expect forgiveness seventy times seven times, which is what Jesus told Peter.

Before we acknowledge we’ve done any wrong (read that sinned), the unconfessed sin affects believers mentally and physically. Lack of sleep, crankiness, depression, moodiness—in general, dryness of the soul.

David explains it perfectly in Psalm 32 3For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

David knew that God already knew the sin. He felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit in God’s” heavy hand upon him.” All believers feel God’s heavy hand after sinning. It’s one of the Holy Spirit’s jobs to convict of sin, only for believers it is through His grief over our sinning that we are convicted.

If you have ever been to the Deep South in the summer time, you know what hot can feel like. It wilts the body and the soul. It’s hard to breathe. There is nothing so refreshing as iced tea and an air conditioned home to walk into after mowing the grass in a sun-filled, humid, 98 degree afternoon.

After about a year of his soul being dried up by the heat of unconfessed sin, David confessed his sin with Bathsheba.

5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

With David that was enough. When his son became so ill, he grieved, fasted, didn’t sleep, begged God for mercy for his son. When his son died, he got up, showered, put on clean clothes and ate a hearty breakfast.

He moved on in the Lord. That is heartfelt, deeply rooted belief in God’s forgiveness.

Isaiah 54:4

Do not fear, for you shall not be shamed, nor shall you be abashed, for you shall not be wounded, for you shall forget the shame of your youth, and you shall not remember the reproach of your widowhood any more.

Isaiah is prophesying a time when Israel will be gathered to the LORD’s breast as a much beloved wife. In verses four through five, he is talking about the shame and guilt we feel when we are confronted with our sin and are convicted of it within our heart. Here are most beautiful words to any Christian who has had those moments of knee-bending, face-in-the-carpet shame: You will no longer remember your disgrace.

Why did God say that? Because we have a conscience and we are prone to dwell on the negative. Negativism breeds and multiplies faster and further than anything imaginable. Just look at the murmuring and rumbling of the Israelites in the wilderness. When you get that old Dragon, the Accuser, firing guilt tipped darts (thought bombs) at the chinks in our armor, and you wallow in those thought bombs, you have a problem of unforgiveness of the self-kind.

Wallowing in self makes us think about those things we did and said and ask forgiveness over and over for it.

This makes Satan dance with glee.

To forgive one's self, one must reverse that process and remember that God is greater than our sin. Christ’s sacrifice was once and for all… that means every possible, conceivable sin was accounted for and covered by Jesus’ blood. That, my beloved siblings, is the greatest story of grace man ever attempted to understand.

Since our Kinsman Redeemer has already bought the sin, why do we insist on hanging on to the sin?

Unbelief.

It isn’t hard to do, either. Even Moses, who was the conveyor of such miracles of God as the parting of the Red Sea, the providing of water for more than two million thirsty people, plus all the livestock (which is an astronomical amount of water every day), and forty year old shoes and garments never wearing out plus many other things, had a moment of unbelief which cost him the promised land. Numbers 20:10-12. He struck the rock twice instead of speaking to it. God said it was his unbelief that caused his disobedience.

We Christians do not believe that God can, in fact already has forgiven that horrendous sin that we keep hidden in our hearts. Holding on to the sin is tantamount to making Jesus go to the cross all over again. That is what unbelief does. Since we know He only went once, and that was enough, then we should know that those guilty feelings which Satan aims at us as fiery darts, are literally harmless breaths of hot wind. They have no teeth so to speak, it is merely baying at the moon.

What happens to our past moral and spiritual failures when we repent of our sins and claim God’s forgiveness? Have you ever had an itch right in the middle of your back? Ever try to scratch it with your hand? That is where God casts our sins when we confess and repent, never to be reached, touched or thought of again. Glory!

The LORD forgives the past. His great compassion is far beyond understanding. If we were to be asked to give our first and only beloved son to pay for the lives of the most wicked of people who had nothing worthy to give back, our hearts would be granite and our faces be flint. Here’s the Biblical proof of it:

Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities I will remember no more."

John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

We know that with grace comes power. Death was stripped of its sting, and sin stripped of its power through the law.

2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

What’s so amazing about grace? The thing that makes me tremble comes from Paul’s letter to the Galatians.

Galatians 2:21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Galatians 5:4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.

Grace is absolutely crucial to have that relationship and fellowship with Jesus Christ, our Lord. To have and to hold forever and forever.

For the mountains shall depart, and the hills tremble; My loving kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall the covenant of My peace be shaken, says Jehovah who loves you. Isaiah 54:10

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Biography Information:

Gina Burgess has taught Sunday School and Discipleship Training for almost three decades. (Don't tell her that makes her old.) She earned her Master's in Communication in 2013.

She is the author of several books including: When Christians Hurt Christians, The Crowns of the Believers and others available in online bookstores. She authors several columns, using her God-given talent to shine a light in a dark world. You can browse her blog at Refreshment In Refuge.

If you'd like to take a look at some Christian fiction and Christian non-fiction book reviews check out Gina's book reviews at Upon

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