{"id":29576,"date":"2022-01-19T22:45:34","date_gmt":"2022-01-20T03:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=29576"},"modified":"2022-01-20T06:52:18","modified_gmt":"2022-01-20T11:52:18","slug":"worship-wednesday-our-eyes-fixed-on-god-he-flips-our-shame-look-what-youve-done-tasha-layton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=29576","title":{"rendered":"Worship Wednesday – Our Eyes Fixed on God, He Flips Our Shame – “Look What You’ve Done” – Tasha Layton"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo Credit: Heartlight<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cYou did it:\u00a0You turned my deepest pains into joyful dancing;<\/strong> You stripped off my dark clothing\u00a0and covered me with joyful light.\u00a0You have restored my honor.\u00a0My heart is ready to explode, erupt in new songs! It’s impossible to keep quiet! Eternal One, my God,\u00a0my Life-Giver,\u00a0I will thank You forever.\u201d<\/em> – Psalm 30:11-12<\/a><\/p>\n

“For I have every confidence that nothing<\/strong>–not death, life, heavenly messengers, dark spirits, the present, the future, spiritual powers, height, depth, nor any created thing–can come between us and the love of God revealed in the Anointed, Jesus our Lord.<\/strong>“<\/em> – Romans 8:38-39<\/a><\/p>\n

For the Scripture says, \u201cEveryone who believes in him will not be put to shame.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>\u2013 Romans 10:11<\/a><\/p>\n

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”<\/em> – Philippians 4:7<\/a><\/p>\n

For many years we lived in a part of the world where you were either Muslim or Christian. You were born that way, and supposedly you would die that way. As I learned the local language (Arabic), I wanted to be able to communicate that, “No, I wasn’t born a Christian. It was a choice I made in response to God’s Spirit drawing me to Himself.”<\/p>\n

Recently I found my testimony in English and Arabic. The very first lines spoke to the shame I had, even as a little girl, at my frustrated longing to be good for my mama. She carried a heavy load of responsibility in life, and I didn’t want to add to it. Unfortunately, “being good” was something I failed at daily…to the point that I knew I couldn’t be good. I wasn’t good.<\/p>\n

Shame – that often silent companion that shows up unexpectedly to rob our joy and wreck our confidence. The Enemy loves to accuse us …to draw our attention away from God and onto ourselves. We spend enormous mental energy keeping shame hidden. At times, we turn our own shame into shaming someone else. It’s their fault. They are to blame. “Look what THEY did.”<\/p>\n

In psychiatrist Curt Thompson<\/a>‘s book, <\/span> The Soul of Shame: Retelling the Stories We Believe About Ourselves<\/a>, he talks about how “love and shame [are] competing for our attention, wrestling for authority over our memory, emotion, sensations and behaviors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

If we focus on our own sense of shame or how shameful someone else has been to us or someone else, we miss God. We miss His redemptive work in our lives, to draw us out of shame and into His love…extended to us and through us to others. If we keep our eyes trained on the Lord, we see ourselves as He sees us. We see others, even those we would want to shame, with His eyes of love and forgiveness. Our stories are altered, and the shame fades.<\/p>\n

It begins with fixing our eyes on God.<\/p>\n

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\u201cUltimately we become what we pay attention to, and\u00a0the options available to us at anytime are myriad, the most important of which being located within us. Paul, in his letter to the Romans knows this, stating flatly, \u2018Those who live according to the flash have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace\u2019 (Romans 8:5-6). To have one\u2019s mind set on something is essentially about paying attention.\u00a0 What do I pay attention to? Paul says that what we pay attention to doubles back and governs us. Hence our attention is deeply associated with either death or life. So much of the biblical narrative is the story of God working hard to get our attention.\u201d <\/strong><\/em>\u2015 Curt Thompson, <\/span> The Soul of Shame: Retelling the Stories We Believe About Ourselves<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
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\u201cTo this God, whom we meet in Jesus, we must direct our attention if we are to know the healing of our shame.<\/strong> We must literally look to Jesus in embodied ways in order to know how being loved in community brings shame to its knees and lifts us up and into acts of goodness and beauty.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u2015 Curt Thompson, <\/span> The Soul of Shame: Retelling the Stories We Believe About Ourselves<\/a> <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>Photo Credit: Heartlight<\/a><\/p>\n

Last week, on listening to Tasha Layton<\/a>‘s song, “Look What You’ve Done”<\/em><\/a>, I heard it with new ears. It felt new to me…and full of hope. I had actually written a blog<\/a> centered on it just a few months ago but have learned so much about shame since then, devouring Curt Thompson’s books<\/a> on the same. God is using these revelations to point me to Him and to embolden my hope that we can rewrite our stories. Like how Scripture can be fresh and new when we are desperate for truth, the same can happen with worship songs.<\/p>\n

This song right here is where I am this week. Maybe you, too? So together, we fix our eyes on Jesus, and He flips our shame on its head. With our eyes fixed on Him, we can receive His forgiveness and we can also forgive. No more shame. Eyes on Him. Hallelujah!<\/p>\n

Worship<\/a> with me.<\/p>\n

Look what you’ve done
\nHow could you fall so far?
\nYou should be ashamed of yourself
\nSo I was ashamed of myself<\/div>\n
The lies I believed
\nThey got some roots that run deep
\nI let ’em take a hold of my life
\nI let ’em take control of my lifeStanding in Your presence, Lord
\nI can feel You diggin’ all the roots up
\nI feel Ya healin’ all my wounds up
\nAll I can say is hallelujah<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Look what You’ve done, look what You’ve done in me
\nYou spoke Your truth into the lies I let my heart believe
\nLook at me now, look how You mad\u0435 me new
\nThe \u0435nemy did everything that he could do
\nOh, but look what You’ve done<\/div>\n
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Suddenly all the shame is gone
\nI thought I was too broken, now I see
\nYou were breaking new ground inside of me<\/div>\n
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Standing in Your presence, Lord
\nI can feel You diggin’ all my roots up
\nI feel Ya healin’ all my wounds up
\nAll I can say is hallelujah<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Look what You’ve done, look what You’ve done in me
\nYou spoke Your truth into the lies I let my heart believe
\nLook at me now, look how You made me new
\nOh, the enemy did everything that he could do
\nOh, but look what You’ve done<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
On the cross, in a grave
\nWith a stone, rolled away
\nAll my debt, it was paid
\nLook what You’ve done
\nIn my heart, in my mind
\nIn my soul, in my life
\nWith my hands lifted high, I’m singing<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Look what You’ve done, look what You’ve done in me
\nYou spoke Your truth into the lies I let my heart believe
\nLook at me now, look how You made me new
\nOh, the enemy did everything that he could do
\nOh, but look what You’ve done<\/div>\n
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On the cross, in a grave
\nWith a stone, rolled away
\nAll my debt, it was paid
\nLook what You’ve done
\nIn my heart, in my mind
\nIn my soul, in my life
\nWith my hands lifted high, I’m singing
\nLook what You’ve done*<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n