Romans 1:16

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

Are you a part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed"?

"I am a part of the fellowship of the Unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit Power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, mundane talking, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by presence, learn by faith, love by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the
pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, back up, let up, or shut up until I've preached up, prayed up, paid up, stored up, and stayed up for the cause of Christ. I am disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until He returns, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes.

And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My colors will be clear" for "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.." (Romans 1:16)

By Dr. Bob Moorehead

1 Kings 19:11-12

The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

Have you ever felt like your senses are getting dull? I recently heard that there were some new ring tones teenagers were putting on their cell phone that people over 30 could not hear. It seems that the evolution of covert communication has reached this instant messaging generation. Not only do they have their own language, the new pig latin, but now they don't even have to hide their notes because when they are delivered because the only ones who can tell it is coming are the ones young enough to receive it.

The ringtone is called the Mosquito. it is set to a piercing high pitch that, as our sense of hearing gets dull with age, cannot be heard by adults. I have learned that not all adults lose their ability to hear these tones. Some retain their sensitivity to these pitches. I believe that our spiritual senses become dull with age like the loss of hearing. We lose the ability to hear God because we begin listening to the wrong things. We look for the big miracles, signs, life changing directives, and clear paths to enlightened living.

It seems that God speaks more subtly than that. When God sent Elijah to the mouth of the cave there were some radical things that happened as he waited. But time after time it says that God was not in those things. It was the gentle whisper that came from God.

If God whispered to you would you hear it? Would you be able to recognize His voice? Or are your senses dulled by the hope of the fantastic. Take time today to be silent. Read a passage of scripture. Ask God to speak to your heart, and listen for Him to whisper words that will change your life.

1 Corinthians 3:16

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

Where do you go to be in the presence of God? And when you go there, do you act differently than other times? Let me suggest a radical idea that is not new with me. It comes straight from the Bible. If we have faith in Jesus Christ we are always in the presence of God. There is no more sacred place than inside of you.

When Jesus died on the cross the Bible tells us that the curtain separating the "Holy of Holies" from the rest of the world was ripped from top to bottom. The Holy of Holies was the place in the temple where God's presence rested. It was the place where the Ark of the Covenant (made famous by Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark) was kept. It was a special place where the priest would only enter once a year to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat for the sins of the people. It was a place that was unaccessible to the public because the Holy One had not come yet.

Jesus was that Holy One. When He died the Spirit of God was released by an act of God. Shortly thereafter the Spirit came to rest on those who believed in Jesus. The sacred place was moved from a fixed location to the hearts of believers, called "Followers of the Way." We now inherit this reality of the presence of God in our lives. Our bodies are "Temples" as the Apostle Paul says. We are the holy place.

So, back to my initial questions: Where do you go to be in the presence of God? Everywhere; And when you go there, do you act differently than other times? No. Ah, but we do act differently if we perceive a place to be more "Holy." May I suggest that we begin to see all places as Holy when we set foot in them. Your work becomes a house of God when you are there. Your home is a sanctuary to the Most High when you are there. The store, bar, restaurant, movie theater, etc. all become a place of worship if you are there because God is with you. Carry His presence with respect and awe; He may be using you to transform the lives around you. He may be using you to build more temples through the people you meet and lives you influence.

1 Peter 1:16

It is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

When I was in high school I played on the varsity basketball team. We would practice for hours each afternoon. We ran sprints, practiced passing drills and shot free throws and lay ups over and over again. When I would get together with my friends to watch basketball we would crowd around the TV to watch Michael Jordan. We would watch, analyze and imitate every move that we could. We tried to jump higher and higher. We would even lower the basketball hoop down to where we could get the feeling we imagined Michael had as he flew through the air.

We are all creatures of imitation. By watching those that we admire we imitate the things they say, the things they do and try our best to BE like them. The older I get the more amazed I am at Jesus example. He was humble, powerful, energetic, reflective, patient, kind, purposeful, gentle, strong and brave just to name a few admirable traits. He told the truth even when it hurt; He expressed anger at things that were not right; He gave of Himself completely for me to have life. The life He lived set Him apart from all others in history; it makes Him holy.

If you are anything like me, you see that great, holy example and say, "I can't..." So you lower the goal to something that is not holy at all, but very average. You maintain status quo rather than BEing like Christ. God didn't say, "Be average because I am average" or "you can't be holy because I am holy." No He raised the hoop to regulation saying, "BE holy because I am holy."

Being doesn't come naturally does it? Our basketball team didn't just walk out on the court for games. We practiced. If we are going to BE holy it is going to take practice and discipline. Prayer, meditation, solitude, humility, memorization, fasting, saying no to sin and yes to good. It is a process that grows and develops. It is a journey that sets us apart from evil, and it makes us look more and more like Jesus. Do you look more like Jesus today than you did last week? What are your new "Jesus moves"? Make 1 Peter 1:16 your mantra for a week. God will make you holy, the more you imitate Him.

1 Corinthians 11:1

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

How many times have you wished you had someone to show you how to do something? When my son was born, I wanted someone to show me by example what to do, but there was nothing. It was like my wife and I were given this incredible gift that required constant attention and no instruction. "You'll figure it out," people would say. But the greatest success came when someone would come to our house and show us how it was done. Our spiritual lives are similar. We know that life is an incredible gift, but what do we do with it? Where do we find purpose and meaning? Is there a particular way to find fulfillment or do we just figure it out?

I believe God has given us the perfect example in Jesus Christ. He made the right choices, gave the right advice and changed the course of history in the process. It is, however, difficult to understand what His example teaches us to do in many situations. How do we interpret the 2000 year old book that recorded what Jesus said and did?

Jesus teaching has been passed down through the generations accurately through the Bible, yet inaccurately through human example. Many people have discounted faith in Jesus Christ because of the example of Christians. So it is important from the beginning to understand what is good to follow as an example and what should be discarded.

As the Apostle Paul wrote these words, he was saying, "Filter my actions through the model of Jesus Christ. My actions are imperfect, but Jesus example is perfect. When my actions line up with His example, that is how you do things."

I hope these reflections act in the same way. As they mirror the 2000 year old example of Jesus in a relevant way for your life, follow it. At its best, these devotional thoughts will point you toward Jesus, and I will simply become a modern day lens through which to veiw Him. God bless you and give you discernment as you read and seek Him. He has given you an incredible gift, LIFE, and He wants you to experience it to the greatest degree of fulfillment.