For I am not ashamed...

Those of you out in blog land that are familiar with the AWANA program probably recognize the words of Romans 1:16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Another AWANA verse also talks about not being ashamed, 2 Timothy 2:15, Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Both of those verses are clear that Christians should not be ashamed of following Christ.

Apparently, this is a truth I need to learn because God also showed me some other verses that talk about being ashamed. Usually, if I am not in the middle of studying a book of the Bible, I will read the Psalm of the day. This very thing occured on the 25th of October. I had gotten off work late and hadn't read my Bible yet that day so I sat down at the dining room table and opened to the 25th Psalm. Technically, I should have read the 26th Psalm because it was after midnight but I decided to go for number 25 instead. God must have led me to that passage because 3 times in the 22-verse chapter does David implore God to let him not be ashamed. Verse 2 says, "O my God, I trust in thee; let me not be ashamed..." The following verse goes on by saying, "Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed..." Finally, in verse 20 David keeps with this theme by requesting, "O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee." The theme of the passage appears to be David requesting guidance and instruction from the Lord but he also keeps making the request to let him not be ashamed.

Though I hate to admit it, sometimes I do feel ashamed of the Gospel, of God. What does this look like in today's world? It comes in the form of me not standing up for my convictions. It has the appearance of me going along with the crowd because I don't want to look different. It is me using the course and profane language of the world because I am too worried that my "friends" will think I'm not cool if I don't. So many times I act like I am ashamed of Jesus and what he did for me. I let my fear of man and his disapproval get in the way of living a life that is unashamedly one that testifies to what Jesus means to me. I still live in the trap of being ashamed but I thank God that He has shown me this area in my life that needs attention and I pray that I respond in a manner similar to David in Psalm 25 when he prayed, "Lead me in thy truth, and teach me..." Only God can lead me to a place where I am not ashamed of Him and the sacrifice He made for me. The most important step I can take in the direction of becoming unashamed of my Lord and his death and resurrection is by acknowledging my need to have Him guide my life and my actions (ie, putting my trust in Him, as the psalm says). Only then, with God in charge, will I have the strength to stand up for what is right and show that I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it IS the power of God, unto salvation, to everyone that believes!

1st Samuel 16:7 – God looks at a man’s heart. People look at the outward. We look at beauty and strength as it relates to the physical. We measure a man by how many push-ups he can do or how fast he can run a mile or how good an athlete he is. We measure a woman by her beauty. Women spend so much time trying to beautify their outward appearance. Makeup, hair color, straighteners, curling irons, highlights, tummy tucks, facelifts, botox. It all revolves around outward beauty just like men look at outward strength. God, however, does not. He wants us to focus on improving our inner beauty and our inner strength. A woman who spends her time caring for others is more beautiful than a woman who spends her time putting on her makeup and fixing her hair. Inner beauty comes from serving others and focusing on their needs, not on focusing on yourself. Similarly, in God’s eyes, real strength comes from standing up for what is right, exerting self-control during trials and temptations, and defending the truth, rather than how much you can bench press or the number of crunches you do each day. Therefore, even though it is important to take care of our physical bodies, we should focus even more on taking of our spiritual bodies. Just like we should avoid junk food, we also should refrain from eating spiritual junk food. For example, listening to music that doesn’t glorify God, watching movies that may not be appropriate, or reading things that are not uplifting are just like spiritual junk food to the soul. Philippians 4:8 encourages us to feed our spiritual wholesome things. David had a heart that followed after God, and even though he was physically strong and good looking, God did not choose him for these outward qualities. Unlike Saul, David was chosen for the quality of his heart.

Yep. I'm at it again...

So I am pretty sure that this is the third blog I've made. I started off really strong on the other two but they eventually drizzled out and I probably can't even access them anymore. I don't even know if guys do blogs anymore but I want to use mine as a way to encourage others to seek after the heart of the Father.
I began studying the life of David recently in an effort to look at the life of a man whom the Scriptures refer to as a man after God's own heart. As I was driving home from a friend's house recently, I was pondering what it meant to be a man in today's society. I was interested in what the world and the media and pop culture had to say about the subject; I was seriously trying to figure out what a man in today's world looks like. Immediately, the thought, David was a man after God's own heart, popped into my head. I was like, what? Yeah, he was. Maybe I should look at his life and try to learn from him what it means to be a man. I began to think how clever I was to have had such an ingenious thought. Then the Lord prompted me that He had given me the idea to study David's life. I thanked Him for guiding me in this way and resolved to begin my study once I got home that night. Today marks Day 3 of the study of David's life and I am already learning so much about the shepherd king. The character qualities that he exemplified in his life are ones that all young men, and young men at heart should learn to cultivate. I hope that those who read my blog, if anyone, will grow along with me and encourage me as I begin this journey of what it means to be a man after God's own heart.
As to the name of my blog, Inward Appearances, I felt that this title was fitting because it was inward appearances that lead Samuel to choose David as the future king of Israel. At first, Samuel was looking at the outward appearances of David's brothers, their strength and good looks, perhaps. God told Samuel that although men look at the outward appearance God looks at the inward appearance, the heart. I believe that as Christians, we need to spend our time focusing on the inward appearances and making sure that our hearts are acceptable to God instead of focusing on the outward things, the things that don't matter anyway.