How many of us can say we are unashamed at this very moment? Shame is a devastating emotion. It has the following effects on a Christian heart:

1. It makes us want to run away from God. Like Jonah, we want to get as far away as possible from the “all-seeing” eyes of God.
2. In anger, it causes us to blame instead of taking on responsibility. So, like Peter, we shamefully start cussing and denying Jesus. Or like an angry teenager, we run out of the room, slamming doors.
3. It causes feelings of self-doubt and failure. Instead of reaching out for help we find a depressive cave (1 Kings 19). This causes us to fall even further behind.
4. It kills. As the unresolved guilt builds up, we eventually hate the life we are living. Like Judas, it can result in suicide or mind-numbing addictions.

In 1 John (ESV) we are given a four-step solution to living an unashamed life.

1. Make it your goal to live right with God. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. Just Jesus! 1 Jn.1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
2. Accept that you will never be perfect. 1 Jn.1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
3. Instead of blaming we must confess (up to 490 times a day). 1 Jn.1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
4. Know Jesus will always have your back. 1Jn.2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Once you have applied the above antidote to shame, we must replace it with corrective action.

1. Study the word of God, 2 Timothy 2:15 (ESV) Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ASHAMED, rightly handling the word of truth.
2. Share the word of God, Romans 1:16 (ESV) For I am not ASHAMED of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

To be unashamed you must act unashamedly. So, who can you share the Gospel with right now?

 

At CYC last weekend, Reed Swindle presented a lesson titled “Unashamed to Confess”.  In his lesson, Reed described three types of confession. First, he described confession as an important part of the salvation process in asking for forgiveness of our sins and to remove our unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 (NIV) “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

James 5:16 (NIV) “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed…”

Reed explained that an important part of remaining faithful to God is confessing our sins and asking for forgiveness as we try to fix the sinful desires in our lives.

Secondly, he described confession as just admitting something. Reed described this as more of a “watered down” version of the word and is our way of having an excuse by saying we “may or may not” have done something. Reed declared the problem with this concept of confession is we use it to make it easier on ourselves when admitting our faith, saying “I may or may not be a Christian” or “I may or may not believe Jesus is the son of God”.

Finally, Reed described the third way the word confession is used as a much stronger word that has more strength than just “admitting” something. He expressed that confession is more than just admitting something, it has passion, commitment, it includes prayer and it’s a full decision. Reed proclaimed that confession is a lifestyle, and that as Christians we are not to confess with our mouths, but with our lives.

Reed concluded his lesson by emphasizing that refusing to confess is a denial of Christ and challenged each of us individually by stating, “Jesus was unashamed to die for you, why are you ashamed to live your life for him?”

 

She had been bearing her shame for a long time. I imagine she had managed to hide this from even those closest to her. But, out of necessity, her “sworn to secret” Doctors knew. And they had used this knowledge to extract much money out of her – probably promising to heal but instead delivering hopelessness.

Mark 5:25–29 (ESV) — 25 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.

Today, if you suffer from a medically unexplained illness it is called “heartsink”. The associated emotions are blame, shame, and hopelessness.

After 12 years of trying out the world’s physician provided pills and procedures, she reaches out and touches Jesus Christ.

Mark 5:27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.”

Friend, is your heart hurting? It’s time for your peace to return!

Mark 5:29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

 

Religious scholar, Dr. F.F. Bruce says: “If the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, the authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt” (Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are they reliable?). To prove a book historically accurate three things are needed: Bibliographical evidence, external evidence, and internal evidence.

Biographical evidence is based on the number of manuscripts that can be found. The New Testament alone consists of 24,633 manuscripts (Josh McDowell, Revised Evidence that Demands a Verdict). No other historical book comes even close to this mountain of evidence.

Some of the best atheistic minds have tried to prove that the evidence for Christ’s resurrection did not exist. However, anyone who sets out to honestly study the evidence, converts to Christianity. To name just two: Harvard Legal Professor, Dr. Simon Greenleaf; and Auckland University History Professor, Dr. Edward Musgrave Blaiklock.

When Jesus made the claim that he was the Messiah, the Son of God, he forced everyone to make a choice.

Mark 14:61–62 (ESV) — 61 But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

Friend, do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? If not, the burden is now on you to prove it. If you do then the burden is now on you to share it (He Came, Died, was Buried, Ascended, & will Return).

 

Ephesians 3:20-21 – Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, [21] to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. (NASB)

What lies ahead for Summit in 2019?

Pessimists are right.  Optimists are right. The glass is half-empty.  The glass is half-full.  The way we look at our world changes our world.  A former boss used to say, “perception is reality.”  If you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re probably right.  Expectations have magical powers. So many people to serve, so many helping hands to be offered, so many things to learn, so many to teach.  We start one step at a time and we build line upon line, precept upon precept. Forward motion multiplies. Today’s as good a day as any to commit to possibility.  The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:31, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”  It’s time to think big!

All it takes is someone to say “I have an idea.”  It doesn’t require any special training, certificate or degree. It’s simply the work of someone who cares enough to lead, at least right now. And right now is enough. Imagine all that can be accomplished when we imagine the possibilities and someone says, “C’mon, let’s do it.” As Paul declared in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”  The creator of the universe is not limited by the things we can imagine.  If we trust in Him, and seek to do His will, there is nothing we cannot accomplish!

 

After a month of ice, I could finally turn on my pond’s pumps. But there was still a massive chunk of ice in my 20 Gallon filter. So, the question was, would the filtered water flow via the return pipe to the pond or would it wastefully spill out onto the deck? Today, it worked out! Just before overflowing, the gravity system kicked into high gear.

But there is a time when overflowing is a good idea.

Philippians 1:9–11 (ESV) — 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Paul is praying for an overflow of love that originates from knowledge and all discernment. When this happens, we can approve what is excellent.

Several times a day, I find myself being attacked by the fiery darts of Satan. During these times I am called to approve or reject the thoughts before they can morph into action. My action (that which overflows into the lives of others) is either love or anger. If it is love that overflows I am assured a life that is pure and blameless on the Day of the Lord.

Friend, what is overflowing from your heart today – love or anger?

 

Proverbs 4:4-5 (NIV) …”⁴Take hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands, and you will live. ⁵Get wisdom, get understanding, do not forget my words or turn away from them.”

One of the greatest and most difficult responsibilities of parents is to encourage their children to become wise, or as Laura and I call it, “make good decisions”. Here Solomon tells how his father encouraged him to seek wisdom and understanding. This encouragement may have prompted Solomon to ask God for a discerning heart above all else.

Ultimately, all wisdom comes from God of course, and parents can only urge our children to turn to Him, but if you want wisdom you must decide to go after it by learning from God’s Word. This is not a once-in-a-lifetime step, but a daily process of choosing the path towards righteousness that leads to wisdom. Nothing else is more important or more valuable.

 

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. – Romans 8:5-6

 

Each day of life is filled with decisions.  Most are so small that they are hardly even recognized as decisions.  Others are monumental, gut-wrenching and drastically change the course of life.  Should I change jobs?  What field of study will I choose?  Who will I marry?  Should I be a Christian?  Decisions like these set us on a unique path that affects everything.  A third category of decision, however, is the most interesting, decisions that seem routine, but end up changing everything.

 

The third category is habits, those things we do almost unknowingly because we have made the decision so many times that it has become involuntary.  Our habits powerfully set the direction of life by tiny degrees every day.  The cumulative effect of these continuous tiny changes outweighs even the monumental decisions of life.

 

If it is our habit to participate in Sunday school every week without fail, we will reap many good things, such as:  knowledge of the Word, encouragement, Godly friends and deeper faith.  These benefits positively affect all the other decisions we make during the week, compounding the decision to put God first.

 

Tragically, the opposite is also true.  Sticking with the Sunday school example, the habit of staying up late Saturday night and skipping Sunday school leads to a compounding of harmful effects, such as:  missing all the benefits listed above, guilt over divided loyalty, and a diluted spiritual focus that leads to vulnerability to temptation.  The cumulative outcome of this choice made over and over is a much weaker focus on Christ.

 

The verse above spells it out clearly, “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”  Decisions are made with the mind.  Make decisions that will bless your spirit and you will see your life being transformed day by day.