Tag Archives: Today in the Word

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Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – PETER: SHAME IN FAILURE

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Failure has become a taboo word in our society. Teachers tell us to believe in ourselves. Motivational speakers pump us with slogans like “Where there is a will there is a way!” and “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.”

The apostle Peter is one of the most memorable characters in Scripture. He was enthusiastic, impetuous, and brave. His determination and strength distinguished him as someone who could be relied on to push through obstacles. These qualities fit the name Jesus had given him—the rock (see Matt. 16:18).

But the rock crumbled when placed under pressure. Peter had been so sure that, of all people, he would be strong enough to stand up for Jesus in any situation. At dinner when Jesus predicted that someone would betray Him, it hadn’t crossed Peter’s mind that it could be him (see John 13:21–24). He had protested against Jesus’ specific prophecy about himself; only hours later, he would fulfill that prophecy by vehemently denying that he knew Jesus. The rock turned out to behave like shifting sand.

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Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – DAVID: SHAME IN ACCUSATION

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“Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me.” As much as children would like to think this taunt is true, it doesn’t take long to discover just how deep words can wound, especially when they carry a false accusation.

David was being pelted by both stones and words. As he suffered his son’s betrayal and his people’s rejection, another person came to add insult to injury. Shimei, a relative of David’s old nemesis Saul, took advantage of David’s exposed position to retaliate on behalf of his clan. Shimei cursed and hurled rocks, but his most vicious verbal attack landed where David was most vulnerable.

Shimei played on David’s shame, accusing him of wrongdoing and blaming him for the mess he was currently in. It’s all your fault. You deserve this and more—Shimei’s message rang out. He declared that God had rejected David and was punishing him for being a man of blood.

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Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – DAVID: SHAME IN REJECTION

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Read 2 Samuel 15:13-32

A child runs off the playing field because no one picked him for a team. A teenager frowns after the boy she likes ignores her. A man weeps when the company he faithfully served for decades includes his name in the first round of layoffs.

David also experienced rejection. He was devastated by how swiftly the hearts of his people had turned from him, how craftily his own son had plotted against him, and how thoroughly his life had been turned upside down. Seemingly overnight he had been changed from hero to zero. People who before had risked their lives for him were now acting as if he would be better off dead. Their actions sent the message that he was disgraced, without honor, and unworthy of their loyalty (v. 31; see 2 Sam. 17:1–4).

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Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – ABSALOM: SHAME IN BROKEN RELATIONSHIP

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Read 2 Samuel 13:21-14:33

In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the father illustrates our Heavenly Father’s ready forgiveness and restoration of His errant children. The parable also demonstrates what true repentance looks like when a prodigal returns.

Absalom was disillusioned with his father. For two years, King David had done nothing to address the disgrace brought on Absalom’s sister, Tamar. Absalom’s vindictive anger caused him to handle things much the way Cain had. He murdered his brother Amnon, and then fled into exile to escape punishment.

Perhaps David realized his own wrongful inaction by not dealing with Amnon’s treatment of Tamar. Instead of lashing out in anger toward Absalom, he longed to restore his wayward child. Joab used the woman from Tekoa to convince David he would be justified in bringing his son back from exile without the punishment of death. David humbly received Joab’s advice and allowed Absalom to return.

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Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – TAMAR: SHAME IMPOSED

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Read 2 Samuel 13:1-20

A woman was on her way to an elegant charity event in New York City. She had gone to great lengths to make herself ready: her hair was perfectly styled, her dress was beautifully draped, and her jewelry sparkled in the streetlights. As she was preparing to enter the building, however, a car drove by and splashed mud from a nearby puddle all over her. Through circumstances beyond her control, her appearance was completely marred and she was no longer fit to attend the party.

Tamar’s shame came upon her in an unforeseen and uninvited manner, through no fault or choice of her own. She savored her status as a royal princess, wearing the beautiful robes that signified her virginity (v. 18). She went to her brother’s house only out of obedience to her father, King David. When it became obvious that Amnon’s intention was dishonorable and repulsive, she did all within her power to stop him.

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Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – HANNAH: DEFINED BY SHAME

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Read 1 Samuel 1:1-18

Katherine seemed to have it all—at age 17, she was a successful student with a college scholarship to the school of her choice, plenty of friends, and a supportive family. But no one knew that Katherine was deliberately starving herself. “At first, I just wanted to feel prettier—which I thought meant being thinner,” Katherine said. “And then I was so ashamed that it felt like a good way to punish myself for any way I messed up.”

In our reading today, Hannah might have initially appeared to have it all together. She was happily married to a husband who adored her. But her inability to bear children caused her constant grief and shame. In her day, an infertile woman was considered as worthless as an infertile field.

Despite her husband’s assurances of love, Hannah felt like cursed ground, useless and barren. Her rival taunted her, further confirming her degraded status. Notice that Hannah had done nothing wrong, yet others believed she deserved shame.

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Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – THE LAW: SHAME ENACTED

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Read Leviticus 13:40-46; 14:1-20

To our modern Western sensibilities, the treatment of lepers prescribed in the Old Testament law can seem harsh. But in ancient times, such illnesses were a deep cause for shame. People born with deformities or afflicted with certain diseases were thought to have been cursed by the gods, and they endured lifelong public shame.

As painful as it seems, the treatment prescribed in the Law (13:45) would be an external enactment of the internal shame that a leper already felt. Though everyone might know he was without guilt, his shame was unavoidable. His status had been redefined by a condition outside his control, rendering him unfit for the company of normal people and excluded from the public worship of God.

Such ostracism might be shocking to us, but in the context of the ancient Near East, the Law’s provision for a shamed person’s restoration was merciful in comparison. The Mosaic Law instructed priests—those closest to the worship and holiness of God—to examine the leprous person outside the camp (14:3). Hope remained that if their disease had cleared, their shame could be dealt with, too.

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Today in the Word

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – Noah: Shame Exposed

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Read Genesis 9:18-29

For in the image of God has God made mankind. Genesis 9:6

Many people have experienced a nightmare in which they find themselves in public half-dressed or even naked. They feel mortified over being so exposed and spend the rest of the dream desperately trying to cover themselves and escape the situation, hoping no one else has noticed.

Noah woke from his sleep to discover that the nightmare had really happened. He had always been conscious of living an upright life before God and men, and God had honored him accordingly (see Gen. 6:8–9). But Noah was human, and he fell prey to the temptation to misuse the fruit of the earth for which he had toiled and with which God had blessed him. In a moment of weakness, he consumed too much wine and fell into a drunken sleep, oblivious to the fact that his nakedness was shamefully exposed.

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Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – Cain: Shame Covered Up

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Read Genesis 4:1-16

By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. Hebrews 11:4

Presenting gifts is a customary part of official government visits. Lady Kramer, the British transport minister, discovered too late that her present to Mayor Ko Wen-je of Taipei, Taiwan—a watch from the House of Lords—was more gaffe than gift. In Chinese culture, giving someone a clock or watch is considered in bad taste, since the phrases “giving a clock” and “attending an old person’s funeral” are pronounced similarly. “I had no idea a gift like this could be seen as anything other than positive,” Lady Kramer said. “In the U.K. a watch is precious—because nothing is more important than time.”

Cain had worked the earth by the sweat of his brow to produce a gift for God, but God favored his younger brother’s instead. We are told in the book of Hebrews why Cain’s offering was insufficient: it was not offered in faith (Heb. 11:4). Cain might have responded to God’s rejection of his offering with humble contrition, but he chose to turn away from God in anger.

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Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – Shame Provided For      

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Read Luke 1:5-25

The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. Genesis 3:21

A Ugandan pastor tells the story of the day his father kicked him out of the house. The young man had grown restless and disrespectful, thinking he knew better than his father. His father told him to leave the family home and directed him to a hut at the edge of his property. He provided his son with enough goats to start his own herd. At the time, being forced from the family home felt like a punishment, but later the son was able to see how his father’s gracious provision allowed him to mature and to learn how to be a man.

God’s treatment of Adam and Eve following their rebellion was a severe but fitting punishment. Because they had not cooperated with God’s rulership, the woman’s body wouldn’t cooperate with her attempts to bear children; the ground would not cooperate with the man’s attempts to bear fruit. Even their relationship would be defined by tension and frustration (v. 16). Their lives would become a constant struggle against death, reminding them of the dust from which they were made and the low position to which they would return.

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Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – Shame Uncovered

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Read Genesis 3:1-13

You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:16-17

A child playing hide-and-seek will often cover her eyes with her hands, thinking that the rest of her body is then also hidden. An adult learns to hide his secrets more effectively, avoiding eye contact in order to disguise his thoughts and feelings.

As we saw yesterday, Adam and Eve were created by God, and they were innocent and guileless in the way they related to God and to others. When Eve encountered the serpent, she was not guarded or discreet in her interaction with him. Like a child, she took his questions at face value. She did not have knowledge of good and evil—though she did know God’s command (see Gen. 2:17).

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Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – Life without Shame

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Read Genesis 2:4-25  The LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Genesis 2:7

Marketing specialists know that an image of naked babies—cooing or playing or smiling—will capture most people’s hearts. Wide eyes and chubby tummies catch our attention, appealing to happy thoughts of a world full of innocence and wonder.

Today’s passage paints a similar picture, one of freshness, beauty, and discovery. God had just created the earth, bathing it with freshwater streams and preparing it to produce life. Finally, God shaped some dirt into a being who would bear His own likeness (Gen. 1:26; 5:1–2). He exhaled His own breath into this sculpture, filling it with life, personality, and spirit (v. 7).

God placed the newly created man in a garden and surrounded him with beautiful things to explore, create, and enjoy (v. 8–9). This human would be God’s image-bearer on the earth, imitating His creative work and tender care (v. 15).

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