“So now the case is closed. There remains no accusing voice of condemnation against those who are joined in life union with Jesus the anointed.” (Romans 8:1; The Passion Translation)

I love these words. God is always drawing us into a deeper passion, into seasons of re-connecting with Himself. We each have moments when we start feeling overwhelmed by condemnation. Thoughts run through our heads like “I wish I hadn’t done that” or “I could have done that better”.

You know, sometimes, after you’ve gone through the process of prayer, repentance, forgiveness, release, and so on, you have to choose to just shake it off. If Satan can’t keep you from repenting, he’ll try to trap you with a worldly sorrow that is non-productive; it paralyzes with feeling terrible about yourself and a sense that you’ll never be anything significant. But this is not God’s desire for you. Godly sorrow leads to repentance, and repentance leads to redemption.

I’ve found myself in this place more than once. One time, back in the 80s, someone misquoted a prophecy I gave in Canada, and there were a lot of leaders upset with me. I started to think, “Well, I’m never gonna preach again!” God really had to deal with me and teach me about the dangerous trap of worldly sorrow. Even if I legitimately had made the mistake, He wouldn’t have wanted me to stay in that place of feeling condemned.

When something like this happens, there are steps we can and should take—we forgive ourselves, we forgive others, we make things right if we need to. But then there comes a point where we simply have to shake it off. We can’t walk around dragging garbage and baggage.

We have one Justifier; we have a Redeemer. If we wallow in the mess we were caught in or a past situation, then we hinder the Redeemer’s anointing from activating in our lives. When we release it, God silences the accusing voice of condemnation, just as our opening verse says.

A little further in the Romans 8 passage, we read these amazing words:

You have received the spirit of full acceptance, enfolding you into the family of God, and you will never feel orphaned; for as He rises up within us, our spirits join in saying the words of tender affection, “Beloved Father.” For the Holy Spirit makes God's fatherhood real to us as He whispers into our inner most being.

Listen—you are God’s beloved child. He wants to root out the orphan spirit in you and in the entire body of Christ. He wants you to recognize that you are not a victim and that you don’t need to get caught in the trap of victimizing yourself. You are called to be whole, and you are unconditionally loved.

I want to pray for you:

Father, I thank You that today we will feel totally accepted. Help us to reach a place where we feel accepted by You and by others. Thank You for uprooting the orphan spirit from our hearts. I thank You for this movement of the Holy Spirit bringing renewed passion for God as we recognize that we can feel close to Him, that we are 100% accepted. Help us remember that we are never alone and that God has never left us. We decree that we are not orphans; we belong to our heavenly Father.

Amen.