Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Are you ASHAMED??

Mark 8:

34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. 36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.


This passage from the NT is obvious. Jesus proclaim what we must do to follow Him to salvation. An extra important passage to emphasize is 38 where He reminds us that we should not be ashamed to carry around His name and TRUTH to rule over our lives. Thus, placing it in our hearts to replace that of the world. Showing shame isn't just of the mouth or inaction. But of the way we live our lives. We can keep shame in secret, much like the Pharisee did. Good intention is not enough. Walking the walk isn't about pride. It is about being in full belief regardless of what other people think. When we are ashamed to reveal what is inside us, then we are not in full belief.

So when we think about 'why' Jesus proclaimed that shame is bad, it wasn't to feed His ego. But to stress the importance of truly believing what we claim we do. In other words, walk the walk as we talk the talk. There should be no hypocrisy. So it does show that a hypocrite carries shame. And to elaborate further. We all are hypocrites. Carrying shame within us. Many would deny this fact. Because they are prone to conjuring up beliefs about themselves without considering all things. Most people's beliefs are based on pride. So they give themselves credit for things, and then promptly score and classify themselves in their own minds. And they always fall short on accuracy. Because we cannot measure ourselves through our own will, good or bad.

It's sad to see so many people falsely believing that Jesus claimed we only had to "accept Him" into our hearts to find salvation. That idiotic belief usually comes in the form of words like Faith and Grace. Seemingly silent words that quietly carry us to GOD. But not really. People are looking for a way to Heaven without changing anything about themselves. They want the world. But out of fear, they want Heaven to avoid Hell. This approach attempts to fool GOD. Yes. There is every reason to fear GOD. But we do not walk towards Him only out of fear. We do so out of love. Because after all. He made us to do so.

The Bible talks about rebuking others. And this happens often. Because people often do need it. We have the tendency of adopting ideas or beliefs that aren't sound. It is almost always out of not fully understanding something. And that is okay if we know our own shortcomings and try to constantly monitor and fix it. But amazing enough. Many take those bad beliefs and embed them inside to stay forever. Its ignorance. Its foolishness. Its all of the above. So they must be rebuked. And that may not change their belief. It will only rattle the present belief loose enough to potentially fall. But it is up to them to figure things out. Jesus rebuked us all when He came to us. Imagine the many Truths that slapped us in the face. Both figuratively and literally, He shook people up. Enough to leave a long lasting impression. Enough to shorten His human life span. Jesus did not die an early death only because GOD willed it. It was an event that, like all other things, came from within the laws of the world. The death was due to His actions in this world. He made a lot of people angry and hostile. Or shall I stay, the words of TRUTH that He spoke did so.

When we understand that Jesus wasn't always about being sugary sweet. We realize that the TRUTH can undoubtedly be ugly as can be. Only because the world tends to thrive on lies and therefore hates TRUTH in many cases. And when the TRUTH comes, ugliness occurs. People would rather reject TRUTH in favor of believing whatever makes life easier. So its unlikely that Jesus always walked with grace. He showed contempt. Because humans show anger. And they are sometimes aggressive in proclaiming TRUTH. Just because Jesus was a sinless man, that does not mean He tip toed through the tulips. Gentleness isn't the only attribute of TRUTH. We saw GOD's Truthful anger being demonstrated many times throughout the OT. So to put it bluntly, we are going to piss some people off to get a point across. Because it is our duty to call people out of this world. Not by force. But by GOD's TRUTH. It is up to the people to ultimately decide whether or not they will listen. Jesus did not keep repeating Himself. He spoke the words. And it was enough to give people no excuse at all for not giving up this world.

All these things said. There is no simple and easy way to follow Christ. But there are still sacrifices to be made. Many use Jesus' death as a symbol of an ultimate sacrifice that made the path to GOD free and clear. Avoid-ant of any need for us to make further sacrifices. But if that is true, then much of what Jesus told while He was alive was in vain. He was calling us out. And sacrifices had to be made in order to do so. Just because He died, that doesn't mean His words became lies. That would have made Him (or GOD) a hypocrite!!

It can and should be stated over and over if necessary. JESUS CALLED PEOPLE OUT OF THE WORLD. TO GIVE UP THIS LIFE. AND FOLLOW HIM. In other words, our purpose in life is to serve GOD. Not to love the world. Not to "seek and find" pleasures and excitement. But to find TRUTH. Because it is being kept well hidden in the ways of the world. And many are being led around blind. They need GOD. And GOD needs us to help get the TRUTH out.