Sylvia Neusch: "God Is Removing the Shame of Your Past Season!"

From the Desk of Steve Shultz:

I know very few people who don't carry (or at least remember) the feelings of shame they took on themselves or allowed to be put upon themselves.

Most of us have made significant mistakes at some point in our lives, or we may even have suffered abuse through no fault of our own.

No matter the cause, SHAME is debilitating and can keep us from God's "Promised Land" for us.

Sylvia Neusch says this:

"Shame is unhealthy in every way, causing us to feel worthless, depressed and anxious. If we are Believers in Christ, God has already taken our sin and shame upon Himself. We have received His cleansing and are now new creations through His death and resurrection.

"Our enemy wants us to take on our old identity as slaves or orphans, and He wants to cause us to walk in shame, condemnation and confusion once again; but our freedom is found as we walk in repentance, humility and consecration, embracing our identity in Christ."

This word of the Lord is going to help you see and act to have that shame removed so that you can move strongly into God's promises for your life. (To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.)

Enjoy!

Steve

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Recently, I was in a worship time and the Lord began to speak to me about how He wants to remove the shame of His people as they transition fully into this new era. There are some who have experienced hardships and events that have produced a level of shame in their lives. Others, I believe, have been in the Valley of Decision. Some have not chosen well during these times and now are struggling with shame and condemnation because of their decisions.

During the past two years we have been bombarded on every side by contradicting voices. It has taken a deeper yielding to the Spirit to know what is truth and what are lies, and then to follow the way of righteousness. The mounting pressure produced in the Covid, fear, political and racial pressure cooker of 2020 and 2021 has caused things to rise to the surface in almost everyone.

God is never the author of a demonic agenda, but He is a master at using whatever the enemy throws at us to continue perfecting us into the image of Christ as we submit to His Lordship in our lives. Our response to the enemy's schemes, meant to divide, destroy or defeat us, either caused us to pull in closer to Jesus, or move further away. The resulting shame and condemnation of choosing the latter is a type of prison in itself. Jesus is the answer and offers freedom from the binding chains of shame.

An Army Made Vulnerable

In many ways, the Church is like the children of Israel in Joshua 5, who had crossed the Jordan into their Promised Land. It would seem that the Lord chose the worst possible time to make a vulnerable army of men, who were incapacitated by circumcision just after they had crossed over into Gilgal. Here they were, completely made vulnerable in front of Jericho, the strongest military outpost of the Canaanites.

"At that time the Lord said to Joshua, 'Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.' So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth." (Joshua 5:2-3)

The Israelites were put in a place of having to totally trust in God. God, in His infinite wisdom, knew that this generation of Israelites were themselves walking in a prison of shame. This younger generation that had been born in the wilderness had never been circumcised. They bore not only the shameful memories of their parents' slavery in Egypt, but also the shame of a generation who disobeyed God and wandered in the desert for 40 years. (Photo via Piqsels)

God knew and understood that to victoriously take their land, the children of Israel would need to be circumcised and healed in order to begin to see themselves differently. Their perception of their identity would greatly affect the next phase of their journey.

"And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed." (Joshua 5:8)

Circumcision of the Heart

We know that the whole journey into the Promised Land is a prophetic picture for us today. This picture of circumcision we are not unfamiliar with. Paul speaks of the spiritual application of circumcision in Colossians 2:11-12: "In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through your faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead."

And Romans 2:29 refers to a circumcision of the heart: "...[A]nd circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person's praise is not from other people, but from God."

I sense that much of the Church is at a kind of crossroads in this season. As the Israelite army was called to a time of great vulnerability, to lay down their weapons and be circumcised, so are we being called to a similar place. There is a deeper consecration, a deeper cutting off of the flesh that the Holy Spirit is beckoning us to in this new era.

The enemy has attempted to derail this generation from obtaining the promises of God. But, I hear God saying, "Go deeper with Me; come up higher with Me. Lay down everything that has hindered you in this race and receive My cleansing. Yes, make yourself vulnerable to Me and I will remove the dirt and grime from the former season. Allow Me to do surgery in your heart. You will be made new as you rest and abide in My presence."

A Time to Be Healed

The second part of Joshua 5:8 says, "...they remained where they were in camp until they were healed." We think of Gilgal as a place of physical healing from the circumcision the men experienced. Gilgal was a place of physical healing, but it was a place of heart healing as well. (Photo via Stocksnap)

"And the LORD said to Joshua, 'Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.' And so the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day." (Joshua 5:9)

In an interesting use of wordplay, the Lord made it clear to Joshua that during that time He had removed the reproach of their former slavery to Egypt by rolling it away. The name Gilgal means "a wheel; rolling." Then Strong's Concordance refers to the word reproach as "shame, rebuke, or disgrace."

An essential part of their healing was in the removal or the "rolling away" of their shame. Shame is unhealthy in every way, causing us to feel worthless, depressed and anxious. If we are Believers in Christ, God has already taken our sin and shame upon Himself. We have received His cleansing and are now new creations through His death and resurrection.

Our enemy wants us to take on our old identity as slaves or orphans, and He wants to cause us to walk in shame, condemnation and confusion once again; but our freedom is found as we walk in repentance, humility and consecration, embracing our identity in Christ.

There is a necessary pause happening right now for many in the Body of Christ in order to deal with the assault to our souls that's occurred in the past two years or beyond. Though we have stepped into a new era, we have already seen that there are indeed giants in our land. As we receive His healing, it is only then that we are prepared to take on the giants that illegally inhabit our land, and then step fully into our promises.

Prayer

Father, thank You that once again You are removing the shame from Your people that has occurred in this past season. Thank You that You orchestrate times of cleansing and healing for Your children as you wipe away the pain and trauma from their hearts. Now, release life, hope and fresh vision to Your sons and daughters. Bring courage and strength to step into the promises You have spoken. Release a fresh baptism of Your Spirit to walk in grace, truth and power. For the glory of Your Son's name, amen.

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Sylvia Neusch
Sylvia Neusch Ministries
Email:Click here
Website: www.sylvianeusch.com

Sylvia Neusch is a wife, mother, pastor, author, prophetic voice and prophetic blogger. Sylvia operates with an anointing to sense the times and seasons and encourages the Body of Christ in stewarding the current and coming move of God. Through her writing and teaching, Sylvia has a passion to encourage and equip people to discover their true identities and to mature in Christ to walk in their God-given destinies. Sylvia and her husband Richard are the senior leaders of True Life, a non-denominational church in Round Rock, Texas. They are also the founders and co-directors of the Austin School of Supernatural Ministry as well as regional facilitators in Central Texas for Sozo Ministry.

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