
I want you to be in heaven. I want my children to be in heaven. I want every one to be in heaven! I understand based on the teachings of Christ, that this will not be the case (Matthew 7:13-14) but, it is my goal to continually be evaluating my walk with God, and challenging myself to live more like Jesus, and to make sure I am on the path to heaven. I simply want to share with you some of my recent personal thoughts.
Jesus reveals one very important piece of information as to how you and I can obtain our ultimate goal.
Matthew 10:32-33- Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Jesus says that if you confess Him before others, He will confess YOU before the heavenly Father! Earlier in the Matthew 10 passage, Jesus was telling His disciples that they were going to be persecuted for what they preach, and right after saying these things, He said
“What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.”
I’m afraid many times we are great at confessing in private. But, not so good, when in public, when around our peers, when on the job, when… Charles Hodge once said, “confessing Jesus is a daily activity and obligation”
How do I confess Jesus? I’m glad you asked 🙂
1. You confess Jesus by talking about Him.
Fishermen talk about fishing, golfers about golf, football players about football, hunters about hunting, farmers about farming… Christians talk about fishing, hunting golf, football, farming… not enough about Jesus.
I have often been troubled by this fact. Not just as I look at the lives of others, but, as I honestly examine myself. Why do I not talk about Jesus more than I do? Why is it easier for me to talk to my church family about my sooners than it is for me to talk about my savior? I believe Jesus has the answer for me/us.
Matthew 12;34- “…for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
I am convinced that when we are struggling to talk about Jesus, it is because Jesus is not firmly seated in our hearts.
2. You confess Jesus by living a life of purity.
It breaks my heart that you have to be around “the world” . Because the world out there is tough. We live in a corrupt world, I promise you, if you live a life of purity, you will stand out
Phil 3:20- .But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Meaning, we not only belong to heaven, but we live as aliens while here on earth.
1. We don’t listen to the same music
2. We don’t watch the same tv shows
3. We don’t wear the same clothes
4. We don’t update the same status’s
5. We don’t have the same goals
6. We don’t have the same language.
The world says “if you follow all of the rules, you miss all of the fun.”— just a little sin is ok. Jesus says–
Matthew 5:8- “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”
The word that is used here for pure literally means- “to be clean, innocent, blameless, unstained by the guilt of anything”
What are you confessing by the purity in your life? Confessing that you believe in Jesus, or confessing that He is not that important to you.
3. You confess Jesus by changing your life!
When we think of “confess” we think of just simply saying “yes” when we are asked if we believe that Jesus is the Son of God
This is Vitally important! Matthew 16: Jesus is going about from place to place, then He just stops and asks His disciples… who do people say that I am? And they all gave Him various answers.. some say that you are a prophet, some say you are, John the Baptist, Elijah, Prophets. Then Jesus said… Who do YOU say that I am? And Peter replied you are the Christ, the son of the living God! Jesus praised Peter for this response.
But I must tell you, just saying those words, does not mean a thing.
I wonder how often Christ looks at me and says “Troy, who do you think that I am?” and when I say, you are the Son of God. He wonders, why aren’t you living like it? You see, if we believe Jesus is the Son of God, we will change our lives.
Brenan Manning was quoted as saying “The greatest leading cause of atheism in the world today, is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door, and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds, unbelievable.”
Let me ask you… Are you proclaiming Christ? Or are you creating doubt in Christ?
How could anyone believe that there is a loving savior named Jesus Christ, if you and I claim His name, yet go on with our lives like nothing has changed?
In Mark 5 we read of the account of a demon possesed man who identifies himself as “legion”. He was a strong man, a violent man, a wild man. He was someone that everyone was afraid of, then something happened, something life changing, he met Jesus.
Jesus cast out the demons, tried to send him on his way, but this formerly possessed man begged Jesus to let him accompany Him (Wouldn’t you?)
But then we see the rest of the story in v. 20
Mark 5:20- And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
Let me ask you, why did everyone marvel? Sadly, I do not believe it was because of what he said. Think about it, many men before and after have stood before a large crowd and preached and the people…. sadly, many times, do not “marvel.” It is my belief that the reason for the people standing in amazement, is because there was a man that used to terrorize their area, and now he is a preacher?!?
He changed his life! He got attention of the people, it allowed him to further the message of Christ. The question is not, have you confessed? The question is…
Are you confessing Christ each day with your life?
So that one day… One beautiful day, Jesus will look at the Father, point to you and say.. He is one of mine…
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