Luke 9:26, “Are you Ashamed of God?” Read at your own risk.

Luke 9:26, “Are you Ashamed of God?” Read at your own risk.

Today during my reading time I came to this verse in Luke, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” If you are a believer and you read that verse, it is hard to just pass by. Maybe you have passed and ignored it before, but I bet it is still in your head rattling around somewhere. If you say, I am not ashamed of God…” Are you sure? Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and you were about to say “Jesus” and quickly changed it to “God?” It is easier to say “God” to a non-believer isn’t it? It is not as dividing. You can say “God” and it can mean a lot of stuff to a lot of people, but say “Jesus…” But who is speaking this verse in the Bible? Jesus. Are you ashamed? No you say? Do you really mean to say, “I am not ashamed as long as the person who asks me is also a believer that I have known for a long time and I’m in my home or at our church and there is nobody new standing too close by.”? Well I might not be perfect, but ashamed to too strong of a word. Ok.

What about this verse from Revelation 3:15-16, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

Are you ashamed? No? How about lukewarm? How do you know if you are lukewarm? This is not the perfect answer, but ask yourself this: Do people around me know that I am a Christian? Not that I believe in God, but that I believe that Jesus is the way the truth and the life and nobody comes to the father but through him… John 14:6. There is a huge difference. You don’t want to be lukewarm but you are scared? I understand. Start slow. First, pray. Ask God for courage, words, and opportunity. Next, have faith and see what God does through you.

• Don’t know what to say? Have faith, God is bigger than your ability.
• Don’t know who to talk to? Have faith, God will send them to you.
• Don’t want to get in trouble at work? Have faith, God is bigger than your work.

In my title I said, read at your own risk. That was for two reasons: One, because these verses from Luke and Revelation are convicting and they are going to ask that you crawl out of your comfort zone. Two, because I have a challenge for you…

Look around your circles, your buddy, your office cube, the dude standing next to you, etc. Ask them, “What do you think happens to you when you die?” See where the conversation heads. Keep the faith. God is in control of the situation. Then, send me the results. I will compile them into another blog and share them with everyone. This can be a great source of encouragement to everyone.

If you need some help you can send them to this link. You can also print it for them and hand it out:

http://goodfaithblog.blogspot.com/p/do-you-want-to-become-follower-of-jesus.html

Written by Chris Vasecka

To join a group of Christian business professionals who want to guide the next generation of Christian small business owners and professionals go to www.goodfaithpeople.ning.com.