CAGE OF GUILT

Do you ever wonder how caged animals feel? Claustrophobic? Like the world is small, like they are missing out? Especially birds...Bird cages are very small. Birds have a God given ability to fly, but cannot due to the cage. If they do, they can only fly in the same place they have been over, and over, and over again. There food spills into their water, as well as their feathers and turds. They either sleep, or chirp loudly, throw seeds at the outside world...It must be a horrible, hopeless feeling!

How many of us are doing the same thing? Going through the same motions, routines, every day, either avoiding life, or loudly complaining about everyone else in the world.. I admit..I have been in a cage. A cage of guilt!

Currently, I am ready the book, "Wild Goose Chase", by Mark Batterson for small group. I had read it a few months ago, but this time, my husband and are are reading it together. This is something I would totally urge couples to do. Read TO each other. He reads 5 pages, I read 5 pages, etc, etc. This intimate act stirs the soul in a way normal every day life doesn't even touch. To hear what the Lord thinks about ME coming out of my HUSBANDS mouth, is like a warm bath to my soul. Last night we read the chapter about the Cage of Guilt.

I think I understand now why I sabotage myself, why I shrink. I do not accept the Grace of God. It is as if it is my birthday, and there are many presents, large, small, etc, but I only open a couple, and then give the one's I have opened away. I am not receiving the gifts and promises the Lord has for me.

Seriously, I can think all the way back to being a child, and I STILL feel very guilty about things. I said, or did, or didn't do. When we ask God for forgiveness, God forgives and then does something amazing...He actually FORGETS. Who are we NOT to forget? He sent His Son to die for our sins. We have to pray for the Lord to take that memory, or hurt away.. As you all know, from reading this blog, I forgave my dad last year,. Supernaturally, the Lord took all the hurt, and pain away, and has restored our relationship. So now, I have to work on forgiving myself. The little girl in me has held on to too much crap for too long, and it has effected me in my adult life. BIG TIME! I think the amazing thing is that guilt is a time machine. I can remember everything about the times in my life I feel guilty for. The Lord doesn't want us to live in the past, Satan wants us to live in the past. The Lord has blessings, gifts, for us. We need to receive them in faith. It is overwhelming how much God loves us. He doesn't want us to be caged. His Son died so we may live, so we may fly out of the Cage of guilt and live for Him.

Below is a blog that I found of a sermon a pastor did on this book....It will explain this chapter in the book that truly spoke to my heart...

The Cage Of Guilt We become so fixated on our past mistakes that we forfeit our future opportunities! Before we find out what this cage is all about I bet you can already think of five things you feel guilty about this week. Come on its so easy to have this feeling we feel guilty about not spending enough time with family,missing our kids games, having that extra piece of cake, not praying enough for the lost, or not doing what we know honors God. I've got some news for you and its news that can help you feel not guilty!!! Daily I have to remind myself of this: "What I've done is not who I am!! I am not my past mistakes I am child of the King! I do not belong to my situations, I belong to Jesus" Two things you need to know about the Cage of guilt: Guilt v.s.Grace (1) Guilt S h r i n k s - guilt shrinks passions, dreams, relationships,goal,vision (2) Grace E x p a n d s- everything in our lives!! passions, dreams, relationships, goal, vision... Peter is a great example of some one who was bound by the cage of guilt in Luke 22:54-62 we see the simple truth that Peter woke up to the sound daily of how he has betrayed Jesus. {see the following link to read the passage:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2022:54-62&version=65} *The sound of the rooster = the sound of the devil.

The devil will always remind you of your past mistakes and failures. *If you focus all your energy on the past you will never have energy to chase the goose! In the first passage we saw what brought on the guilt in this next passage we see how Jesus forgives Peter.John 21:3;15-17 Peter went back to what He did before he followed Jesus because of his guilt. You see guilt will always shrink everything in our lives, Peter felt that he was no longer worthy to live up to the calling that Jesus had spoken into his life. He went fishing

Jesus re-confirmed his love for Peter... He asked him three times if he loved him. He asked him more than once because he had denied him more than once by doing this he was calling him back unto himself. *Jesus wanted to turn the rooster crow from guilt to grace! The grace of God is more than enough to cover our past mistakes and failure.

Failure does not have to be fatal you can move on.

Life can change for you today all you need to do is give it over to God asking him to cover it in the blood of his son Jesus Christ.

What are the rooster crows that are keeping you in the cage of guilt every day? What past experiences are keeping you locked in this cage?