Received Grace

Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, ² which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, ³ concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, ⁴ who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, ⁵ through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, ⁶ among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;⁷ to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ because I have RECEIVED GRACE. When God came into my life, He changed me. He changed my desires, wants, outlook, goals and perspective. He showed me that He loved me and had a plan for my life. I was an insecure child who never lived up to the expectations of those around me. It seems that there was no hope and that I would never please anybody or amount to anything. I understood myself to be stupid and unworthy. I was a complete disappointment to those who knew me. When I began to seek this God of hope, He came to me. He showed Himself to me. My friends and I used to wonder how He could find us in the hills of Tennessee, but He did! God helped me see that Jesus loved me and that with His help, I would always be received in the eyes of the Father. With His love, I would be received for ever and ever. Through the death of His Son Jesus, I received grace and am forever His! He is proud of me! Though the world many wonder why I'm here, God never wondered why He created me. He knew what He was doing and in fact, was pleased. How could one who has RECEIVED GRACE ever be ashamed of the gospel? I do not know!

Today, celebrate with me that I am not ashamed of the gospel because I have RECEIVED GRACE from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Not only is He risen, but He is risen in me!

I pray that you have RECEIVED GRACE as well. If not, His grace is available for you!

Not Ashamed: 16 reasons from Romans 1-16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16, NASB

I've been listening to Dr. Ed Young's sermon podcasts on Romans and reminded of how much this book of the New Testament has to offer. So when Nancy Taylor asked if I'd teach her Life Bible Study class at Houston's First Baptist Church, I was thrilled to hear that they had also been studying Romans. Yesterday, I was blessed to meet this great group of ladies and share with them not only the HeartCall way to present the gospel, but teach them 16 truths (one from each chapter) from Romans on why we are NOT ASHAMED of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

In the months to come, on this blog, I will be posting 16 reasons we are not ashamed and I encourage you to begin reading in Romans and looking for the answer to the question, "Why are we not ashamed of the gospel?"

It's a bit hard to define not ashamed, but the idea here is that because of what Christ did for us, we are not to hide what we believe and why we believe it. If we really know that Christ is alive, we want to tell it. In Romans 1, Paul tells us that we are set apart for the purpose of the gospel (good news of Christ). Because of Christ, we want to tell others! Especially during this Easter season, let's look for ways to get to know people and share with them the difference that Christ makes in our lives!

Start reading Romans and see what you find. I'd love to hear so post it on our Facebook page at Jaye Martin Ministries or send us an email through our website, www.jayemartin.com/contact.

Happy Easter season! He is Risen!