Don't Be Ashamed In Jesus' Name : Jonathan Crabtree
Jesus is the name above every other
name. He walked the oceans, healed the blind, cast out demons, made the lame
walk, made the deaf hear, raised the dead and most of all he died on the cross
for our sin, beat death at its own game and unlocked the gates of heaven so
that anyone who calls on his name will be free from all their mistakes and have
a place in eternal life. And yet after all he has done for us we deny him in
our schools and work places just because we are scared of what people think. I
know that we can make it less about Jesus and more about “church” or “our
religion” but in actual fact by avoiding those questions about what you did at
the weekend or where did you go on a Friday night we are denying Jesus and all
he did in our lives. Today if you are a
Christian and your reading this blog then you are probably in one of three
categories. Your ether in Denial, Deflection or Detention, Denial is what I
have said before, you avoid talking about church and Jesus and very few people
know you are a Christian. Deflection is the opposite end of the scale, everyone
knows you are a Christian but you ram that into people, you are “holy” and
“spiritual” about it and you deflect any arguments against God and Jesus and
stand your ground to the upmost level. And detention is in the transition
period between denial and a happy medium and it annoys the heck out of you. You
want to speak out about god in your life, but you don’t have the courage to
make a move or you feel restricted. Now you may be siting down reading this
blog thinking, “I am none of those…” well I hate to say it, but your back into
denial! No one is perfect and everyone could improve, the key is finding a
happy medium between living a normal life, and living extra-ordinary in Gods
power and in the confidence that you are everything that God says in his word.
Now to get practical, If you are “In
Denial” why haven’t you made a conscious decision to make a move in your school
or workplace? I hate to be a prude, but it is clearly put it in revelation
3:15-16 “I know all the things you
do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm
water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!” If your not living
for God your not living in the fullness of Gods glory and that’s that, it
doesn’t make much of a difference to God if you are living in sin or living
pure because his grace can cover it and he has the power to set you free from
it, but if you aren’t living for him your not fulfilling your purpose. We often
speak about our calling and what God has called us to do, but ultimately in the
very beginning God made us for his pleasure and to worship him, so if we aren’t
fulfilling that then how can we progress to bigger and higher things, and I’m
sure you want that. If your struggling to motivate yourself, I can guarantee
that you aren’t reading your bible daily, your not praying daily and your not
worshiping daily. I know it sounds daunting to dedicate yourself to that much
every day but Even a 10 second prayer, one note of worship and one bible
passage is enough to do it and to keep your mind on him, and that will
naturally increase as your thirst to know about him and to worship him
increases.
Now we move on to “Detention” because the remedy for this
problem is the same, read the word and worship, but focus in on passages of
scripture that talk about who you are in Christ and what he thinks of you. Put
them on your wall and memories them, read them before you leave the house in
the morning and reflect on them. Tell yourself, I am chosen, I am a
prince/princess of the most high king, Jesus is with me every day, he knows how
many hairs are on my head, he loves me in abundance, I am the apple of his eye,
he loves me enough to go to the cross, have nails taken through his hands and
feet and die so that we cold know each other! When you speech that truth over
your life and you start to realize who you are in Christ you will soon find you
aren’t shy any more and you just want to share it with the world and when you
do people will see the worth that you have and the relationship you have with
Jesus before you even open your mouth. That self worth and “Godfidence” will
have a lasting impact on your friends and family and in allot of cases they
will approach you asking about the love that you have for Jesus and that he has
for you. The fact is that despite all that you might think, everyone is
searching, they just don’t know what they are searching for, and it’s your job
to let them know, Jesus is the answer to their problem so don’t be ashamed to
speak about Jesus and the life changing power that you have experienced,
because there is nothing to be ashamed about because 9 out of 10 times they
want to know.
Last but not least are the “Deflectors” to put yourself
in this category takes some humbling, but in the nature of these type of
people, backing down and admitting your wrong is a hard thing so if you have
time, find a friend who you trust and ask them to be honest with you about the
way you hold yourself when it comes to this subject. I know exactly how it is
to be here, feeling obliged to defend God in everything you do and to stand up
for what Gods word says in every situation when God really doesn’t need you
doing that. We all know john 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave
his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but
have eternal life.” But we often forget the next verse where it says “God sent
his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through
him.” You see we are not here to judge people, or to write them of there ways,
everyone is entitled to live their life how they please, however we are called
not to condemn the world, but to save it, to be a living example of how to live
and to lead by example. The truth is God doesn’t need defending, I’m sure he
can deal with a few misquoted verses from the bible or scientific theories that
disprove his existence. He knows he is real and he knows how he made the
universe, God in all his glory wont loose any self esteem or confidence because
of a few petty words, so why should you defend him? Make your point, and stick
to your beliefs, but don’t argue late into the night with people who are never
going to have their minds changed. I mean whose life was ever turned around by
facts and figures? The things that change lives are love, grace, mercy, and
kindness. And you have all those things through Christ so it is a better use of
your time to show love to that person and show them kindness despite your clash
of beliefs. That will have a much larger effect than a simple argument.
I know that this is quite a challenging message and it
does take you right to the core of your thinking about sharing the love of Christ,
but if you are feeling condemned by my words please let me set the record
straight, as I said before I’m not here to condemn you, but to try and save you
from your ways of thinking. The fact is every pastor, speaker, worship leader,
evangelist and biblical teacher will have gone through at least two of these
stages and I can say for myself I have been through all three and Jesus himself
shows us that there is no shame in being in denial, or in detention, or in
deflection. Just look at the life of peter, Jesus spends 3 years of his life
with peter, and he even publicly among the disciples showed is support for
Jesus, saying he would never deny him, and yet in the courtyard outside the
court he denied him three times. I know we have all been there before with our
Sunday face, putting on a show for everyone at church, letting them know
everything is fine, but then life catches up on you and you get swept away with
the fear of, what will happen if I speak out and let people know my faith. But
when we do slip up, Gods grace is there to pick us back up and wipe the slate
clean. Jesus goes back to peter after his death and meets him on the beach and
gives him a chance to redeem himself, and we all have that chance daily because
his mercy is new every day, so take the opportunity with both hands and make a
change in your life!
My prayer for you is that you would identify where your
at and have the passion and fire inside of you to go forward and make those changes,
not having to worry what is happening to your left and right, but to have your
eyes fixed on God so that when people see you they see Gods reflection in your
life. I pray you will be gifted with the confidence to not be afraid of what
people will think of you but that you would go out and be bold in your faith,
and in the knowledge that God is looking out for you, but also that you would
know the limits of your conversation and not be so consumed with putting other
people right that your love for them is blown out the window. Go out and spread
gods love! Amen
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