Who will stand up for Jesus?

I am a huge fan of the Houston Texans.  Yes I know they do not perform to their highest potential. Yes I know they start slow, dominate in the second half, and then find a way to loose after all the drama. Despite that I am still a fan.  I wear my Andre Johnson replica jersey when I have the opportunity.  I have Arian Foster and Andre Johnson on my fantasy team and NEVER benched them (except when on a buy week).  I have also stayed away from drafting players in our own division because I will not route for someone against my Texans.  Because of the way I feel about my team I constantly have to defend them and let people know that I stand behind my team at all times. I am a Texan fan!

If we are able to stand behind our athletic team whether they are winning or loosing…why can’t we do the same for Jesus?  After all not only is He winning, but He WILL win in the end as well!  He is a risen savior and soon to be a conquering king!  We still have a hard time standing behind Him openly.  You are not alone with this internal battle.  Satan wants us to be bashful and ashamed to stand behind our convictions.  He is reminded of his ultimate fate when you as a child of God stand up for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard when one of the High Priest's servant women came to him and said, "You, too, were with Jesus of Galilee."  But he denied it in front of them all. "I don't know what you are talking about," he answered, and went on out to the entrance of the courtyard. Another servant woman saw him and said to the men there, "He was with Jesus of Nazareth."  Again Peter denied it and answered, "I swear that I don't know that man!"  After a little while the men standing there came to Peter. "Of course you are one of them," they said. "After all, the way you speak gives you away!"  Then Peter said, "I swear that I am telling the truth! May God punish me if I am not! I do not know that man!" Just then a rooster crowed, and Peter remembered what Jesus had told him: "Before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you do not know me." He went out and wept bitterly.

Mat 26:69-75

Peter was one of the great apostles.  He would ultimately stand so strong for Christ that he is crucified as well, and even requests to be hung upside down because he felt he wasn’t worthy enough to die the same way Jesus did.  The point is not that Peter was crucified for Christ…the point is that he denied Christ in public during the trials.  Most of us are in the same spiritual position of Peter the disciple, and need to grow to be more like Peter the apostle.  What made the difference?  It was the physical realization that Christ had risen from the dead.  We already know this truth.  We already have the historical information that He is a risen savior.  Yet, we still are not strong enough to stand up for Jesus.  For some of us it may be linked to spiritual immaturity or biblical knowledge.  For others it may be a lack of knowledge on how to witness.  This month The Roman Road Christian Bookstore is featuring:

• NIV Daily Walk Bible (Updated & Revised) to help deal with the first issue
• What's Your Passion? Proven Tips for Witnessing to Family, Friends, and Strangers by Ken Gaub to deal with the second issue.
• Also check out our selection of bibles starting under $2.00 so you can always have the word of God in your pocket or purse.

All at discounted prices...no coupon code needed

Get yourself equipped for today!

Trusting God

Why can’t we trust God as easily as we obey Him?  I know that question is an oxymoron in itself, because as Christians we do a VERY poor job of obeying Him to begin with. Think about it though.  We are that poor at obeying Him and yet we are worse at trusting Him!  I know there are a lot of people out there that will say, “I trust God. I just need to be more obedient.”  No you don’t.  Jesus Himself said, "I assure you that if you have faith as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this hill, 'Go from here to there!' and it will go. You could do anything!" (Mat 17:20)  I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen any hills move around lately.  Still think you truly TRUST God?

Psa 9:10  And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee; For thou, Jehovah, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

Let’s look at trust as faith.  We have faith that Jesus came into this world…we have faith that He was and is the Son of God…we have faith that He was sent to be the atonement for our sins…we have faith that He was risen from the dead.  Ok, times are tough he is with you helping you and guiding you…He will not let you fall too far…you believe that?  We say yes with our minds and mouth, but no with our hearts.  Why not? Because we do not truly trust God.  Trusting God is the hardest thing you will ever do.  Obeying His command is easy…it’s written down!  We see it!  It makes sense!  Trusting goes beyond the physical world we live in.  It goes into the very fiber of our spiritual selves.  The part of us that God himself is shaping and molding constantly.  Stop…step back…quit thinking in the physical here and now and begin to pray and force yourself to open your heart to trust the unseen.

When my wife lost her job almost a year ago I was just like anybody else.  I got angry that we are now a statistic of yet another unemployed American.  Well, I started questioning the fact that we are Christians…how could God let this happen.  Then I ran into a devotional that had a single statement that jumped out. “If God would bruise His own Son for the greater good then Why would he not bruise you as well?”  Times aren’t easy and neither is trusting God, but He is there for us.  By trusting Him you will also grow from all this negativity around you…I have!

This month’s feature book Trusting God: Christian Faith in a World of Uncertainty by Earl F. Palmer is a great place to begin to build your own trust.

 

Product Description
Can we really know that Christianity is true? Is there a place for doubt in the Christian life? Pastor Earl Palmer tackles these and other crucial questions in this helpful book, showing that authentic Christian faith is not a blind leap into the dark, but rather personal trust in the God who reveals himself in the Bible. Faith is putting our weight upon the faithfulness of God. It is our response to the evidence of God's self-evidence.

Through numerous biblical examples Earl Palmer shows the many ways that we can be assured that our faith is well placed and yet be open to honest inquiry and deep self-questioning. Anyone who has ever been paralyzed in their faith by the forces of internal doubt will benefit from prayerfully reading this book. Each chapter includes Scripture readings and discussions questions for individual or group study.

Use coupon code “blogger4” to get the book for $11.50.