UNASHAMED

Scripture:

“From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” – Matthew 4:17

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” – Proverbs 16:18

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew First and also for the Greek.   For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, and it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’.”- Romans 1:16-17

“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Romans 6:23

“Thomas said to him (Jesus), “Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how an we know the way? Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth and the life.   No man comes unto the father except through me”- John 14:5-6

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.   If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me.” – Revelation 3:20

“Whoever is ashamed of me and My words (Jesus), of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in His own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the Holy Angels.” – Luke 9:26

Prayer:

Heavenly father, in the name of your son Jesus, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of the heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and redeemer.    I do not seek approval or praise from no one.   I don’t look for titles, prestige, or anything that glorifies me and not you.    May the only thing these readers see that my hope and glory lies is in the cross of Jesus Christ.   My ultimate prayer is through the global audience that I have, may people take heart the words YOU want me to say and let it produce fruit that bears 30, 60, and 100 fold returns of blessing.   In the name of Jesus Christ, Messiah Yeshua, our Lord and Saviour, Amen.

Reflection

One of my favourite preachers and teachers of the word of God, Dr. David Jeremiah, wrote a book that should be required reading for those who are concerned about the times that we are in.   The book is called “I Never Thought I See The Day”.   It explores all the changes that is going on that not only is affecting contemporary culture, but also creeping into the contemporary church.    For a young man like myself who was basically saved, sanctified and reared in the Christian faith and the church all my life despite some drama and pain, I have begun to see that from when I grew up until now, things have changed drastically, and unless the church and society comes back to the moral principles found in the Bible, it is only going to get worse.

It has become a sad day when the majority of people that I encounter in my daily walks of life ascribe more to atheism and secularism then a faith system.   A shocking stat is in Toronto; only 7% of the population attends religious services.   It is also a sad time where the church is mired in the fleshly deeds of greed, lust, pride, envy and strife to the point where the truth has been drowned out or superseded for the love of filthy lucre (money). 

It has also become a sad day that Christians and non-Christians have very casual, lax views regarding sexual issues and matters of our time.   The apparent Biblical norm of sex within the confines of a heterosexual marriage relationship is thrown out the window in favour of one’s “rights and privileges” as an advanced free citizen of society.   Virginity is now seen as something to be ashamed, not highly valued.   In other words, the chief end of man or woman is to “get on up and turn it loose”, not “waiting to exhale”.  

Recently there have been some blog posts, commentary and discussions from people that suggest I “hate gays” and I am “anti-intellectual”.   To clarify something.   I do not hate gays, and I am a highly educated person who graduated on the Deans List in my graduate class at university.   For me, I take grave concern when I see Christians and non-Christians twist and turn the truth of the scriptures to satisfy their interpretive agendas.

To close, I want to pose two challenges.    One is for those who profess a belief in Messiah Yeshua or Jesus Christ.    The other is for those that don’t know him.

For the believer:  This is not the time to play games, back up, put up or shut up in the face of opposition.   The road to heaven is a narrow one, and if we really want the Lord’s blessing, we ought to DAILY take up our crosses and follow him WHOLEHEARTEDLY.   We must learn to fight the good fight of faith and put on the whole armour of God to stand against the devil.   We got to be mission-minded believers whose mandate of Matthew 28:20 to go into all the world and make disciples (not converts) and if not able, seek to actively support those who are doing God’s work.  Remember, the harvest is plenty, the labourers are few.   Pray for harvest workers, since the coming of the Lord is near.

For the non-believer: Please know that I have nothing but love, joy, peace and grace to you coming from Jesus.   I pray that you would come to accept his unconditional love and grace that he has provided for you when dying on the cross and trust in him alone for your salvation.   Jesus is the ONLY way to direct communication to God, since he did it all through is life, death and resurrection.  

I hope and pray that in all this, you would seek to choose life in the spirit in these last days, and not death.