A New Beginning

Scripture:
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 the Greek.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is good new for us who have experienced rejection, dishonor, hopelessness, shame, and pain; caused by bad decisions based on our own way of thinking, or caused by things that did not have anything to do with us.

The gospel helps us to rebuild our lives according to how God created us to function. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the balance to a weary soul that is tired of the same old lifestyle; that craves a new beginning, through the belief and hope of the risen Christ.

The gospel is a compass that leads and guides the hearts and mind of us who desire true change for ourselves; so that we may be an example of what God can do through a renewed mind in Him. The gospel is the hope of our souls, the light to our path, and the strength of our purpose.

Through the gospel lives are saved through the winning of souls, the love of God is expressed, and hearts are released into the very presence of God. Therefore, how can we be ashamed of the gospel, because it ignites change, restores broken hearts, reaches through pain, and transforms our minds into the mind of Christ?

Why would we be ashamed of the gospel when it saves lives from death?

Reflection:
It does not matter what we've done in our past. It doesn't even matter if we've made mistakes today. If we are truly remorseful of the things that we have done, that we know we should not have; then God will forgive us; just like He forgave Peter who denied Him three times in the presence of a crowd of people. Peter was ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ, but Peter was also remorseful because of his actions, and He was no longer ashamed; he was used mightily for the building up of the kingdom of God.

The gospel changed Peter's life, and the gospel continues to change lives today. When we agree with the Lord Jesus Christ that we do not know how to do good without him, and we believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, we receive a new beginning in Him (Romans 10:9), and He will lead and guide us every step of the way.

Concordance Definitions:
Romans 1:16

Gospel:
1) a reward for good tidings
2) good tidings
a) the glad tidings of the kingdom of God soon to be set up, and subsequently also of Jesus the Messiah, the founder of this kingdom. After the death of Christ, the term comprises also the preaching of (concerning) Jesus Christ as having suffered death on the cross to procure eternal salvation for the men in the kingdom of God, but as restored to life and exalted to the right hand of God in heaven, thence to return in majesty to consummate the kingdom of God.

b) the glad tidings of salvation through Christ
c) the proclamation of the grace of God manifest and pledged in Christ
d) the gospel
e) as the messianic rank of Jesus was proved by his words, his deeds, and his death, the narrative of the sayings, deeds, and death of Jesus Christ came to be called the gospel or glad tidings.

Power:
1) strength power, ability
a) inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth
b) power for performing miracles
c) moral power and excellence of soul
d) the power and influence which belong to riches and wealth
e) power and resources arising from numbers
f) power consisting in or resting upon armies, forces, hosts

Salvation:
1) deliverance, preservation, safety, salvation
a) deliverance from the molestation of enemies
b) in an ethical sense, that which concludes to the souls safety or salvation

1) of Messianic salvation
2) salvation as the present possession of all true Christians

3) future salvation, the sum of benefits and blessings which the Christians, redeemed from all earthly ills, will enjoy after the visible return of Christ from heaven in the consummated and eternal kingdom of God.

Believe:
1) to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in
a) of the thing believed

1) to credit, have confidence
b) in a moral or religious reference

1) used in the NT of the conviction and trust to which a man is impelled by a certain inner and higher prerogative and law of soul.

2) to trust in Jesus or God as able to aid either in obtaining or in doing something: saving faith.
3) mere acknowledgment of some fact or event: intellectual faith

2) to entrust a thing to one, i.e. his fidelity
a) to be entrusted with a thing

Blue Letter Bible. "Paul's Epistle - Romans 1 - (NASB - New American Standard Bible)." Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2009. 30 Nov 2009. < http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Rom&c=1&t=NASB >

Higgins, S. (2009). A New Beginning. Devotions for Thought. Higgins Publishing, Emeryville, CA - http://devotionsforthought.blogspot.com