Confess Him and Find Your Joy

Announcements:

No potluck this Sunday! There will be an auction at the Spring Street Auction House right after church.

Updates:

Shirley and Dwayne continue to mend; please pray for their full recovery.

Rebecca is beginning to do some work within the ministry she has been helped by!

The doctors say that Brayden’s neck is all right.

Lisa is doing much better, her infection is healing well and June is planning to come home soon.

Praise Reports:

Nellie’s friend, Tammy, is dealing with brain cancer, and her whole hospital bill was canceled!

Amber passed her COMPASS test and is now an official college student at Crowder College.

We have an awesome volunteer fire department!

Prayer Requests:

Katherine—finally found out what has been wrong with her hip. She’s supposed to have a full replacement in December!

A family in town was moving into a house on Flickenger St., it caught fire, and they lost nearly everything.

Mary, Pam, and Byron—physical, spiritual, and mental peace and well-being

Nellie’s friend, Tammy—brain cancer.

Toby—brain cancer

Students going back to school, as well as Katherine as she teaches at Crowder

Ruby and Danny—under the weather

Our Police, fire dept., and city council—wisdom and encouragement

Vernon shared something with us. God is always involved in our lives, but desperately desires intimacy with us. Men in particular might shy from this “warm and fuzzy” idea, but that’s not necessary. King David was very manly, but also close and personal with God. Vernon thinks of this relationship like his relationship with his dad when they would go fishing out on the lake early in the morning. As a young boy one of the most comforting  things in the world was when Vernon would sit at his dad’s feet and his dad would wrap his warm coat around him. He can still feel the warmth and shelter of that coat and his father’s love. Our Heavenly Father wants to give us this same experience, and sometimes we can miss it altogether. Then he shared this song with us, The More I Seek You by Kari Jobe.

Do you remember what it was like after your conversion? Maybe the world seemed new to you, maybe you were possessed with an inexplicable joy or a peace that passed all understanding. Perhaps you haven't felt that way since then. Is there any way to go back there, to go back to the kind of joy that we had when Jesus first saved us? Here is a principle which may help us regain what we've lost.

Romans 10:8-10 says that "with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." So it is the confession with the mouth that brings salvation. What does "confess" mean? It could mean to "admit," "agree with God," or "to say the same." Personal Application: if the joy of your salvation is waning, ask yourself if you've been confessing Christ. It isn't something we do just once when we're saved. It doesn't mean just talking about Him. It means agreeing with Him, admitting Him before the world at every opportunity! This is something we can do, it's practical. 

What are the consequences if we don't confess? Read Matthew 10:32-33. 

Some of the most exciting times in our Christian walk come when we step out and admit our belief in Christ. Sometimes it's hard, even dangerous (John 9:20-22), and the stupider faith looks to our society, the harder it gets. But Jesus has promised to confess us before the Father, so the more we do it for Him the more He'll do it for us. This isn't just an ego-trip for Jesus, though. If we fail to acknowledge Him it reflects the state of our belief in Him. This is how Jesus "knows" us (Matthew 7:22-23).

Is it possible to believe and fall short of confessing? The Pharisees did (John 12:42-43). They were too frightened of what others would think of them, and of losing their livelihoods. Even at the risk of our own lives we must confess Christ. And the more costly the confession, the more joy! The apostles were praising God as they died for the sake of their confession. Our salvation becomes more special and nearer to us when we take opportunities to admit Jesus as our Savior before others. 

Walking the talk validates our confession before the world (Titus 1:16, 1 Peter 3:16). 

Confession is our joy and our salvation, not our duty. Your soul needs to hear your lips confess your Savior, and so does the world.

David Schofield - Confess (ArtPrize 2010), a photo by mattvandyk on Flickr.