Guilt and Shame -Satan's Devices and Gospel Cures

A couple of weeks ago I did some posts on the concept of covenant. In my busyness I let them behind - with all good intention -and failed to finish the race well. I then began to cycle into guilt, and as time moved on shame about my failure as a blogger. Once these two walls are up we often do not scale the wall to return because we must first humbly admit that we set out to accomplish something and did not. I will not make any empty excuses like, "Im too busy", but instead recognize that I lacked the resolve to give the mental energy necessary to putting up substantive posts.

This week I realized that many times in the past I would do the same thing with serious prayer and Bible Study. I would set out with grand aspirations and then when I was not able to hold up the cycle of guilt and shame would keep me from returning at all to receive the blessings of study and prayer before God. If we are not careful, in these moments we will lose hope and give up on a practice that requires diligence and yields great reward. Last week, The Preacher Bill Jessup reminded the congregation that the parable of the sower is first and foremost about the abundant power of the Word of God. One of the implications is that we are to be regular "hearers of the word" (listening to teaching, personal study and reading) so that the seed of the gospel can be brought to harvest in our life.  The cure for the guilt and shame is, of course, the gospel which reminds us that in grace by faith we have come and through the same we will persist. So with that said, I am longing to be diligent in two areas. My, "hearing of the Word" coupled with prayer and blogging of the covenant posts. For this I pray for God's grace.