Tonight I have been up late reading in the Bible in the New Testament book of Romans. In Chapter One "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle" writes in verse 16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." ((NRSV)
I am not ashamed of the gospel...the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith...
So if we are not to be ashamed of the gospel then we will want to share it. But first I found myself on my knees praying to God, asking for forgiveness, praying that He would be first in my life...not what I think would make me happy but simply wanting God to be first in my life. What does that mean? I don't know exactly ... but I do know that if God is first in my life that I will ask Him to guard my heart. I will seek first His kingdom and His righteousness...and let the rest fall into place in His timing.
Also in this first chapter of Romans Paul writes that none of us has an excuse when it comes to knowing God. Sometimes people argue about different religions and how it is judgmental to say that everyone has to come to God through Jesus and how can that happen if they live somewhere that people don't ever hear about Jesus. Verse 20 says, "Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse..." What that is saying at a minimum is that even though everybody wants an excuse like "I don't know enough about God to make a decision" the truth is that we have seen enough to decide for or against God...no excuses.
So if the whole world is without excuse then certainly I am not without excuse. And neither are you ... each of us has the opportunity to know God and receive salvation through Jesus Christ.
But what do we do about that? How do we take the opportunity that we have and share that with someone else? By not being ashamed of the gospel, by putting God first no matter what, by caring more about what God wants than what anyone else wants, including ourselves. When people see us completely sold out to God and His purposes then they see some more of "the things he has made."
Got a thought on this or an example of living this out...or even a question? Leave your thoughts here.
I am not ashamed of the gospel...the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith...
So if we are not to be ashamed of the gospel then we will want to share it. But first I found myself on my knees praying to God, asking for forgiveness, praying that He would be first in my life...not what I think would make me happy but simply wanting God to be first in my life. What does that mean? I don't know exactly ... but I do know that if God is first in my life that I will ask Him to guard my heart. I will seek first His kingdom and His righteousness...and let the rest fall into place in His timing.
Also in this first chapter of Romans Paul writes that none of us has an excuse when it comes to knowing God. Sometimes people argue about different religions and how it is judgmental to say that everyone has to come to God through Jesus and how can that happen if they live somewhere that people don't ever hear about Jesus. Verse 20 says, "Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse..." What that is saying at a minimum is that even though everybody wants an excuse like "I don't know enough about God to make a decision" the truth is that we have seen enough to decide for or against God...no excuses.
So if the whole world is without excuse then certainly I am not without excuse. And neither are you ... each of us has the opportunity to know God and receive salvation through Jesus Christ.
But what do we do about that? How do we take the opportunity that we have and share that with someone else? By not being ashamed of the gospel, by putting God first no matter what, by caring more about what God wants than what anyone else wants, including ourselves. When people see us completely sold out to God and His purposes then they see some more of "the things he has made."
Got a thought on this or an example of living this out...or even a question? Leave your thoughts here.
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