Good morning. Well I'm in the book of Revelation which doesn't have a lot of things in it that would be encouraging in your everyday life. So today I'm going to back up to the first chapter of the book of Romans. 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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, but the righteous man shall live by faith. Today's liberal world of political correctness tells us that we should be ashamed of the gospel - that the gospel is not all-inclusive and offends people. In fact there are billions of people that are offended by it. They are offended by it because it is the truth. And no one wants to hear the truth; they want their ears tickled. They are looking for someone or something that tells them that what they want to do is all right. But it's definitely not all right. We should be tolerant, they say. But we can't be. We have to stand by the Bible. The gospel cannot be watered down. If we water it down, then our salvation is watered down. We are not the ones who should be ashamed – they are. Again we are not supposed to be hitting them over the head with the Bible. We are to be ready to make a defense to those who ask us. Sadly most Christians, including myself, are not ready. We think we are, and then someone asks us something we were not expecting. You see, they have a big supply of responses for anything we might say. If we say this, then they will say that; and on and on. They will think they win the argument; but all they win is the eternal separation from God. Back to verse 17: the righteous man shall live by faith. We know the One whom we have believed. And so we know that He and His words are true. We can trust them; and so have faith in them. We don't live by some great knowledge; but by faith. We know that we can live by what He says. It is the power of God for our salvation. Father help us to not be ashamed of your gospel; but to have faith in You. Help us to live day by day trusting in You. Help us to be ready to make a defense to anyone who asks us about what we believe.

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