Luke 9:26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
God knows when we are ashamed of Him, or when we are in a position where we respect people more than God, or when our love for the world is greater than our love for God. God loves us so much, and He is prepared to bless us more than we can imagine, but it pains Him when we don’t want to even acknowledge Him in our life.
Many people are afraid or apprehensive when saying the name of Jesus in public. We all believe we live in a secular world and are very concerned about what others are going to think about us. It was no different with Peter, he was a man who lived and walked with Jesus, he saw countless miracles, and Jesus himself chose him as the leader and rock of the early church. He was a leader of the apostles, and one of the closest to Jesus.
Just before Jesus was taken to be crucified, a somebody asked Peter if he knew Jesus three times and three times he denies ever knowing him. This took place just hours after Peter told Jesus that he would rather die with Jesus then deny Him ever in his life. He was afraid of what others may think and if any harm may come to him if he openly disclosed his relationship with Jesus. It is a heart breaking moment for him and the church. Peter himself repented sometime later, and Jesus accepted him back. Peter was one of two who rejected Christ that night, but Judas never did return back to God in repentance.
When Jesus rose from the dead, He asked Peter three time “Do you love me?”. By this time Peter knew the error of his ways, so he acknowledged his error, and embraced Jesus completely. He was filled with the Holy Spirit during Pentecost and his life changed. He did go on to become one of the greatest apostle and leader of the church ever, he himself performed great miracles and rose people from the dead. At the end, he was crucified just like his master. In fact, he was crucified upside down because he did not find himself worthy to die the same way as Jesus.
The moral here is that it does not matter if you failed before. If you truly love Jesus and repent, He will fill you with His Holy Spirit and you will have the courage to boldly witness for Him. Jesus gave His life for you, it is only fair that we at least acknowledge Him in public.
When we act ashamed of Christ in the USA, we do so at the risk of maybe being made fun of, or looked at strangely. While for many in other countries, to represent themselves as a Christian would be to risk freedom and even life. What excuse do we have then?
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