I’ve been lying to you guys for too long..

It’s true. I’m ashamed to say it, but I’ve been two-faced for too long. It’s time for you guys, my friends to truly know who I am and for me to stop being embarrassed or fearful about what people will think about me. 

Right now, this year in 2015, I will openly and confident say that:

1. I believe in Jesus. I believe He is God. He is my friend and wants a relationship with me. He is my Saviour and chose to die for my sins because He wants me to live in eternity in Heaven with Him.
2. I pray before I eat my meals. For too long, I have been embarrassed about blessing the food that I am about to consume when I go out and eat with my non-believing friends because of what I think they’ll think of me. It’s time for me to stop and own up that I want Jesus to bless and protect the food that I’m about to eat. I want the food that I consume to give me energy and to not have any bacteria/radiation in it that could affect me internally. I want to bless the person or people that have prepared the food. This is what I regularly do and there’s no reason for me to be ashamed or embarrassed to do that.
3. I read my bible every day. I believe God speaks to me through the words in the bible. I enjoy reading it and I like taking it on trips with me. I also like sharing cool things that I’ve learnt in it and encouraging people with it. 
4. I believe in the power of prayer. I never use to like praying out loud in front of people because of what people would think about me, but I’m freed from that fear because I know it’s between God and I, I’m just having a conversation with Him and He’s listening to me. I know God can bring people freedom. I know He can heal, both physically and spiritually, as well as emotionally, mentally and intellectually. I know He can bring peace, hope, guidance and fulfil the desires of our hearts. And I would LOVE to pray for any of you. It’s time for me to stop being scared to ask my friends if they need prayer for anything.
5. I go to church every Sunday. When someone used to ask me what I did on the weekend, I would never share about church. But why? I love church. I love being a part of a community that loves to connect with God. I love being a part of a community that loves to encourage each other. I love hearing more from the bible because I often don’t understand or I have a different interpretation of what God is saying to me in that scripture. I love serving and I love showing love to people.
6. I love talking about Jesus. The things He has shown me has blown. my. mind. Often unbelievable in this day and age but the things I’ve seen and witnessed, I can’t deny that it didn’t happen. It has changed my life and more people, especially those that believe in Jesus need to know the true power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit speaks. He leads. And He guides. He wants to use you to encourage people. He wants to lead you to people that need prayer; that need healing; that need Him. If only we opened our ears to hear Him and fearlessly obeyed. I can’t say I do this well or even often, but I’m definitely going to try.
7. I can preach and I can lead worship. I’ve never done it in Melbourne and I don’t think I ever will, but I know and have experienced God giving me the gift and ability in those areas if He needs me to step up. God wants His people to receive gifts from Him. He desires to give good gifts to His children, even the gift in speaking in tongues. The question is, do I want it and if I receive it, will I use it and obey?

There’s so many more things I could talk about but this blog came about while I was walking around the neighbourhood on New Year’s Day and thinking about what I wanted to change in my life this year. God made me think of Romans 1:16 which says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes…” 

I don’t believe in New Year Resolutions anymore (read last year’s blog –
http://sarahcheung.theworldrace.org/?filename=new-years-resolutionsnever-again) but I do believe you can aspire to change something in your life anytime in the year, and as it happens to be the start of 2015, this is the year where I will stop being ashamed of following and sharing about Jesus because that’s who I am. My identity is in Jesus and I love being this person and I know God loves me no matter what. 

I’m just ashamed for all the times I’ve battled and chosen to not listen to Jesus’ voice in my head when I’ve been talking to a friend who has different beliefs than I do. So many times I’ve chosen to not mention Jesus or pray in front of my friends because I’ve been too scared or embarrassed. It’s time to stop pretending, stop being two-faced, receive Jesus’ forgiveness and step out into the freedom that He has given me.  

I’m sorry friends’ if you’ve felt I have deceived you by making you think I was “different” or “cooler” or “less religious or devout,” and I understand if you don’t want to be my friend anymore. But I still love you. I will always treasure you as my friend and I am always up for a chat if you ever need to talk to someone.

Thanks for reading this. This has been my struggling for awhile now, but today I can say, I’m free from this fear and I’m… (see below) …to call myself a Jesus lover.

(Image from lifeforhim.wordpress.com)