“From the Heart” teaching by Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.

For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”  Mark 8:38 NKJV

We live in an adulterous and sinful generation; a generation which has no fear of God; a generation that calls bad good and good bad; a generation that mocks and persecutes those who serve and fear God and who obey His word. If you want to be popular, you will go with the crowd, but if you want to honor God, you will definitely be swimming upstream against the flow of the ungodly. The devil will not let you just quietly serve God, he will stir up people to get you to back down and deny the blood of Jesus, because that is what you are doing when you are ashamed of the Lord and of the gospel. You have to realize that the darker the world gets, the more even a small light will shine. You cannot hide your light and if you can’t hide it then you might as well let it shine brightly!

Sometimes people are ashamed of their family, but they are usually very careful not to act like it in front of them so that they don’t offend them. It hurts to know that a family member is ashamed of you. It is even worse to be ashamed of Jesus, Who poured out His blood for you on the cross. Jesus wasn’t ashamed to hang on a cross and take abuse for you! If you are afraid of what people think of you and you allow their opinions to cause you to be ashamed of Jesus then you trample His blood underfoot.

If you are a Christian, washed in the blood of Jesus, there is nothing to be ashamed of. If you are ashamed of Jesus and His word, He will be ashamed of you when He comes. You don’t want Jesus to be ashamed of you!

For both He Who sanctifies [making men holy] and those who are sanctified all have one [Father]. For this reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren; 12 For He says, I will declare Your [the Father’s] name to My brethren; in the midst of the [worshiping] congregation I will sing hymns of praise to You. 13 And again He says, My trust and assured reliance and confident hope shall be fixed in Him. And yet again, Here I am, I and the children whom God has given Me. 14 Since, therefore, [these His] children share in flesh and blood [in the physical nature of human beings], He [Himself] in a similar manner partook of the same [nature], that by [going through] death He might bring to nought and make of no effect him who had the power of death–that is, the devil–15 And also that He might deliver and completely set free all those who through the [haunting] fear of death were held in bondage throughout the whole course of their lives. 16 For, as we all know, He [Christ] did not take hold of angels [the fallen angels, to give them a helping and delivering hand], but He did take hold of [the fallen] descendants of Abraham [to reach out to them a helping and delivering hand]. 17 So it is evident that it was essential that He be made like His brethren in every respect, in order that He might become a merciful (sympathetic) and faithful High Priest in the things related to God, to make atonement and propitiation for the people’s sins.  Hebrews 2:11-17 AMP

Jesus is not ashamed to call you His brothers and sisters. Even though you were an unworthy sinner, He was not ashamed to wash you in His blood and forgive you and treat you like family, because that is what you become when you accept Him as your Lord and Savior.

Jesus came down from heaven, was born as a human being, lived among us, was anointed by the Holy Spirit, loved and helped people, and in the process, made enemies who tried to kill Him, but could not, until He, Himself, laid down His life. He suffered and endured enormous opposition, persecution, lies, criticism, abuse, beatings, excruciating pain, the weight of the sin of the entire world, and finally an extremely slow and painful death because He loved us and because His mission was to make atonement and propitiation for the people’s sins. He was not ashamed to die for you, don’t be ashamed to live for Him!

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control. 8 Do not blush or be ashamed then, to testify to and for our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for His sake, but [with me] take your share of the suffering [to which the preaching] of the Gospel [may expose you, and do it] in the power of God.  2 Timothy 1:7-8 AMP