We all have regrets.

Things we wish we could "do over, forget, erase."

Memories that remind us of our humanness, our frailty, our inability to always choose right.

If these moments that make us blush, or even make us feel ashamed, could be known by all, our reputation would be tarnished, our image marred.

Because of this, there are parts of all of our lives that we don't share publicly.

We don't talk about freely.

We wrap up tight and keep private.

And yet, God sees all.

He knows all.

He unwraps all our ugly and lays it out open.

And somehow, in His eyes, even as He looks at the worst in us, He still loves us.

We are cherished in spite of our sin.

We are adored in spite of our flaws.

We are loved in spite of everything about us that is incredibly unlovely.

That's the power of the Gospel.
The Good News.

Jesus lived.

He died.

And then He rose again.

Because God loves us,

He conquered death forever and became the final sacrifice for sin.

He took the one plan the devil had for destroying the Hope of mankind

and allowed the very people who hated Jesus to nail to the cross everything about themselves that was evil right along with their Savior.

Wow!

The devil must have felt pretty good for those three days Jesus lay in the grave and the disciples hid from the crowds.

He must have thought he had finally defeated the very Son of God.

But Sunday came!

Jesus rose and suddenly the power of His resurrection set everything about God's plan for this world in perfect motion.

Abraham's journey to the mountain with Isaac became personal.

God providing another way, another sacrifice, a perfect lamb.........

suddenly the disciples must have been scouring the Old Testament and discovering story after story made more sense in light of all that had happened around them, through them and in them.

The power of the Old Testament comes from what happens in the New.

The power of the "old us" comes from what happens in the "new us."

Today, what are you ashamed of?

Let it go.

As you release your past, your mistakes, your shortcomings, your failures, and your disappointments,

thank God for the one moment in history that changed everything about our todays and our tomorrows.

The moment when the power of God brought salvation to all who believe and brought comfort to all who grieve.

Death was nailed to the cross along with our sins,

and that's why I may be ashamed of many things about my past (and even my present many days),

but I will never be ashamed of what Jesus did for me on Calvary.

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.

Romans 1:16

So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner.

Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.

II Tim. 1:8

Proclaim the Good News to Someone Today.

Don't be ashamed.

This world needs some good news!