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Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place ? He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Psalm 24 : 3-5 NKJV
Have you ever been charged with a crime ? Have you ever stood in a courtroom before a judge , awaiting sentence from a jury ? The silence in the air is palpable . Perhaps it is like the silence just before the dawn of each new day .The air is silent as it awaits the morning stars daily "Hallelujah Chorus " to ring out across the heavens and around the earth . Or perhaps it is like the silence before a huge , black storm encroaches upon your town and your life , bringing with it much rain and wind and total destruction . Either way , you know your life and it's future sways precariously between a life of freedom or a life of imprisonment . Perhaps you feel the guilt and shame of what you've done and you know you deserve a sentence of guilt and the life of shame behind bars that is to come .Or perhaps you are not guilty of the charges and only you and God know the real truth .And you silently plead to heaven for mercy and grace from the jury .
Or are you more like me ? Have you borne the guilt and shame of what happened to you when you were far too young to defend yourself .And it was done by people who should have loved you.Cared for you.Cherished you .And this false sense of guilt and shame reaches it's hideous tentacles down into your very soul and spirit .And this false entrapment goes with you well into adulthood .And it takes on an autonomous life of it's own .It wreaks havoc upon your life and choices and you bear the burden of it all .Until the burden gets too heavy to bear .And you cry out to the God who's been there all along .The God who has loved you all along with an everlasting and unquenchable passionate and holy love that burns with holy fire and righteous indignation . And He weeps for you and with you at what others of His creation have done to you(both family and strangers as well as church leaders ) . And then He goes one step further to show you just how He Himself sees you. He gives you a beautiful dream while you sleep :
In the dream I am in the back yard of one of two childhood homes that I lived in(and remember) .This is the first one , on Grayson Way , in Rancho Cordova , California . There is much activity going on inside the house as well as where I am on the patio. Suddenly an eruption of terrified screams happens . People inside as well as outside are screaming that there is blood on their hands and it's coming from the water faucets . Both the ones inside as well as the one outdoor one on the patio. I go over to the faucet on the patio and put my hands under it . Nothing but clear , clean water washes over my hands . The dream ends at this point and I awaken.God has shown me that he has declared me "not guilty." I do not need to bear within me the false sense of guilt and shame that has been eroding things much of my life .He has said that the blood is on their hands , not mine !
In closing ,let me ask you , "is there blood on your hands ? " If so , come to Jesus . He is the only one Who can cleanse you and set you free from your guilt and shame of your crime(s) ! Or if you are bearing a false sense of guilt and shame , this same Jesus is waiting for you too ! He wants to enfold you in His love and declare you"not guilty !"
