Not Ashamed

Scripture:

Romans 1:16  "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile".

Observation:

Paul, as he was opening up his letter to the Romans, tells them he is eager to preach the gospel to them.  He was longing to preach in Rome, the seat of power in that day.  He tells them that he is "not ashamed of the the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes".  He was not ashamed because he knew the power of the gospel to change lives.  He knew it's power and knew the results of preaching the gospel.

Application:

Do we preach a powerful gospel?  Are we ashamed of the gospel because we haven't seen the power of the gospel work as strongly in our day as it seemed to in Paul's day?  Paul knew the gospel was powerful because he had seen it in action as it was preached.  We need to step out and be unashamed because the gospel we carry is absolutely powerful.  It does change lives.  As we do, we will have more confidence in the gospel being powerful.

Prayer:

Lord, let me preach Your word with power.  Let me not be ashamed of you or the gospel as I run into people in the streets.  I want to lead more people to Christ this year than ever before.  Help me walk in greater conviction that the gospel can provide all a person needs.

Yours,
Jeff