"Barriers to Receiving the Holy Spirit"

Ashamed of God

For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He shall come in His own glory- Luke 9:26

God knows when you are ashamed of Him, when you are in a position where you respect men more than God or when your love for the world is greater than your love for God. God loves you so much and cares for you, He is prepared to bless you more than you can imagine but it pains Him when you don't want to even acknowledge Him in your life.

BIBLICAL INSPIRATION

Many of us are afraid or apprehensive when taking the name of Jesus in public, we all believe we live in a secular world and are very concerned about what others are going to think about us. It was no different with Peter, he was a man who lived and walked with Jesus, he saw countless miracles and Jesus Himself chose him as the leader and rock of the early church. He was a leader of the apostles and one of the closest to Jesus.
Just before Jesus was taken to be crucified, a girl asked Peter if he knew Jesus three times and three times he denies ever knowing Him. He was afraid of what others may think and if any harm may come to him if he accepts. It is a heart breaking moment for him and the church. Peter himself repented sometime later and Jesus accepted him back.
When Jesus rose from the dead He asked Peter three times "Do you love me?". By this time Peter knew the error of his ways, he acknowledged his error and embraced Jesus completely. He was filled with the Holy Spirit during Pentecost and his life changed, he did go on to become one of the greatest apostle and leader of the church ever, he himself performed great miracles and rose people from the dead. At the end he was crucified just like his master, he was crucified upside down because he did not find himself worthy to die the same way as Jesus.
The moral here is that it does not matter if you failed before, if you truly love Jesus and repent, He will fill you with His Holy Spirit and you will have the courage to boldly witness for Him. Jesus gave His life for you, it is only fair you at least acknowledge Him in public.

LIFE APPLICATION

*Are you ashamed of God? He who created you and loves you so much? You must repent from this attitude
*God gave you His only son, the least you can do for Him is publicly acknowledge it.