I am not ashamed….
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
Watching a panel show the other night on one of our television stations was one of the most saddening and disheartening experiences I have had in recent times. Without going into great detail, the program turned into a condescending diatribe mauling of Christianity and anyone who would believe in God. It appears now that debate, reasoning and challenged thought have been replaced by the worship of academia. I had always been taught that science, learning and investigation were what made science exciting and an ever learning journey into seeking answers to man’s greatest questions of his world, himself and all that we see and experience.
I find it fascinating that such hallowed emblems of study such as Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard all have chapels on their grounds.
It would tell us that faith in God, the belief in God were not treated with such disdain and dishonour as we find now in our time of existence. What happened? When did this paradigm shift occur?
Could it be that man has again succumbed to the lie of all lies now by believing that he is his own god now and has replaced the true and living God as taught in God’s Holy Bible, and is believed and been the foundation of our very humanity?
The Bible would tell us that this shift would indeed occur and peak at the very time that Christ would indeed return.
The Apostle Peter tells us and actually warns us of this time...1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
When you are in the ICU waiting room at a hospital and the doctor comes out and tells you they have done all they can do for your loved one, what do you do, where do you turn? When all the worlds sciences and learning have honestly given their best effort and there is nothing else that can be done, all the latest medicines, machines and skilled practitioners have been exhausted…what then?
It is then that the reality that sits in every man and women surfaces and cries out to God…the prayer that has perhaps never been prayed ever before rises spontaneously from ones heart and roles of our lips looking to heaven for ….help….for God!
The fact is, there is a living God, Jesus Christ was a real person who came to our earth to reveal to us, and the rest of the world, what God was like…He is loving far beyond we could ever imagine.
Then to seal any doubt whatsoever He did what no man could ever do…He died on a cruel cross, whilst forgiving those who crucified Him as they drove the nails into His hands and His feet…but three days later, He rose from the grace and was seen by more than 500 witnesses.
If you are struggling with the enormous weights of this fallen world and your heart is crying out for help…tonight, today, may you know there is a true and living God and He hears your prayer and He will answer you in your time of trouble…
I with Paul the Apostle tell of a truth that God has touched my life, and can touch yours for I am indeed not ashamed of the Gospel…for it is the power of God….and its available for all who would call on Him…may you join with us and worship the true and living God.
This is the fact, not a theory, but a reality that I would have you know and believe and know you can trust your life with!