Grace for the Race

God will tolerate no rival. Nor should He! What this means is that you will experience the grace of “divine dulling” in two ways:

1. God’s grace will “dull” the excitement and enticement of the pursuit of your sin.

OR

2. God’s grace will “dull” the excitement and enthusiasm of the pursuit of your Savior.

First, Jesus will not allow His people to be driven into the ashes of defeat as it relates to the pursuit of sin. He will, in His perfect timing, dull our selfish ambition. He will, in His timing, dull our desire for sinful gain. God is in the business of removing the enjoyment and enticement of the sinful desires of our heart. He will do whatever it takes to “dull” the spell they have cast over us and reorient our hearts back to our first Love.

I will stop all her celebrations: her yearly festivals, her New Moons, her Sabbath days—all her appointed feasts. I will ruin her vines and her fig trees, which she said were her pay from her lovers; I will make them a thicket, and wild animals will devour them. I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot,” declares the LORD.  (Hosea 2:11-13)

The prophet Hosea paints a stark picture of the grace of “divine dulling” that God will bestow on us when we indulge ourselves in affairs of the heart. Look closely and you will see that God will remove the expected return on our sinful investment, which will ultimately drive us to our knees in repentance and the desire to return to our first Love.

Jesus will also dull the excitement and enthusiasm of our pursuit of Him. You may be wondering how that could possibly be an act of grace! When we have divided affections He will dull our affections for Him to open our eyes to the fact that the proverbial wheels are coming off the tracks of our lives. He will not allow us to experience the rich relationship of intimacy and affection with Him when He is not on the throne of our lives. And why should He? He will tolerate no rival and will never affirm our affections for anything smaller than Himself by letting us think that all is well.

I often hear statements in counseling sessions such as, “I’m not really enjoying my time of worship right now” or “I feel distant from God when I’m reading the Bible or even praying.” People look at me in astonishment when I tell them, “Perhaps God has sent you the grace of divine dulling to reorient your heart back toward Him. Could it be that you have settled for lesser lovers that have captivated your heart? That will block you from the right relationship you should be experiencing with your Savior.”

Remember, if your time with God seems distant or dull, you can be sure that God did not move away or suddenly become a bore. God does not move away from us; we drift away from Him. God’s Word does not become dreary or stale; our desire to search the Scriptures cools. When we give our hearts to something smaller than Jesus, that idol will drain us of our passion for the only One who is worthy of our love and devotion.

This is why we need to preach the Gospel to ourselves every day. We need daily reminders of the love we have in Christ and how everything else in this world pales in comparison to the fulfillment we find in Him. Let the grace of “divine dulling” drive you back to the only One who will meet you in your place of need and satisfy you beyond all you could ever ask or imagine.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Members of our congregation will frequently tell me after our weekly worship services that, “I’ve read that verse many times but I have never had it speak to me the way it did today.” You may have experienced this yourself, either during a church service or your private devotional time. When this happens, we’ve gone from studying the Bible to the Bible studying us.

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.  (Hebrews 4:12-13)

The more time you spend in the Bible, the more often you will sense the Scriptures studying you. Because the Word of God is living and active, it is connecting with you at the deepest level and speaking to you in your place of need. Because it is sharper than any double-edged sword, dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it is penetrating into your broken story and showing you how your story fits into God’s story.

The writer of Hebrews went on to tell us that nothing is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and laid bare before His eyes. That truth is not designed to condemn you, but to comfort and convict you. After all, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1). But the Word of God is studying those who are studying the Word of God, and it frequently brings the student under a sense of comfort and conviction.

The Word of God will comfort you in your

•  Sorrow
•  Pain
•  Difficulties
•  Challenges
•  Doubts
•  Fears
•  Guilt

The Word of God will also convict you in your

•  Sin
•  Idolatry
•  Divided affections
•  Indifference
•  Procrastination

God’s love is like a “consuming fire,” and we feel it burn intensely deep within our hearts. Even to the amazement of the angels in heaven, God desires to meet us in our very place of need every time we seek Him.

So . . . when was the last time you felt like the Word of God was studying you? When was the last time it had a hold on your heart so tight that you thought your heart would beat right out of your chest? The more you meditate on the Word of God and marinate in it, the more deeply you will feel it connecting with you and the more clearly you will hear it speaking to you.

Think about this for a moment: the All-knowing, All-powerful God of the universe desires to make a direct, intimate, and personal connection with you. And He has decided to do it through His inspired, infallible and inerrant Word. Our joyous response should be, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

This prayer is taken from one of the parables taught by Jesus; it is very familiar to students of God’s word.

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ ”But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”  (Luke 18:9-14)

When was the last time you thanked God that you were not like a family member, a neighbor, your boss, your co-worker, the person you sit behind in church, a celebrity or politician, and so forth? Our “thanksgiving” list could go on and on, because we can always find someone we can compare ourselves to and feel much better about ourselves.

The question that should be asked about the Pharisee is, “Why do you think he didn’t compare himself with the patriarchs of the faith—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—rather than a tax collector, a man who was despised by society?” The answer, of course, is that he knew he would come out on top and thus feel better about himself.

So . . . let me ask you: do you ever make a comparison like the Pharisee’s?

•  Thank God I’m not like David . . . an adulterous murderer
•  Thank God I’m not like Jonah . . . running away from his calling
•  Thank God I’m not like Rahab . . . an immoral outcast
•  Thank God I’m not like Zacchaeus . . . dishonest and despised by his own people
•  Thank God I’m not like Martha . . . not knowing when to exchange work for worship
•  Thank God I’m not like Thomas . . . who doubted the resurrection
•  Thank God I’m not like Peter . . . he denied Jesus three times!

Shortly after I first trusted in Christ as my Savior, I read the Bible’s account of King David and found myself angry and confused. I talked frankly to a spiritual mentor about what I was feeling. The Bible describes David as “a man after God’s own heart,” yet he committed adultery with Bathsheba and later ordered her husband to be killed! Why on earth, I wondered, was this man regarded so highly by sacred Scripture?

I’ll never forget my mentor’s response: “The problem with you, Tommy, is you don’t see yourself as being as bad as David!” He was right; I didn’t. And why would I? I hadn’t committed adultery or murder. My mentor continued, “Until you see yourself as being like David and every other sinner in the Bible, the truths of the Gospel will never fully free you.” Once again, he was right! It wasn’t until I saw David’s story as my story that the Gospel began to take root and return a harvest of unshakable peace and unspeakable joy.

The truth is that we are all great sinners in need of an even greater Savior. The story of the sinners in the Scriptures is your story and mine. Their stories are simply mirrors into which we are able to see ourselves for what we truly are. At the deepest level of understanding sin, we must confess that we have committed them all. We have all committed adultery and murder. Perhaps you doubt me on this? Let me take a just a moment to convince you, using our Lord’s words from the Sermon on the Mount:

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, “Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.” But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell . . . You have heard that it was said, “Do not commit adultery.” But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  (Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28)

Man or woman reading this, would you really stand before God and claim that you had never been angry with someone? Really? You’ve never called someone a fool (or perhaps much worse) to their face or behind their back? And if you’ve passed puberty, would you claim before the all-seeing, all-knowing God that you have never—not once—taken a lustful look?

There is only one perfect Man who has walked this earth; the rest of us have long since forfeited any false hope of achieving sinless perfection. And perfection is what God’s law requires! The demands of God’s perfect justice are inflexible:

All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” (Galatians 3:10)

Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. (James 2:10)

Whether by revelation or by intuition, we know that we are not fit to stand in the presence of holy God. And so we have spent a lifetime running from God, making silly excuses to ourselves like, “Well, at least I’m not as messed up as _______!”  And, along the way, we have both betrayed and denied Jesus. You still insist you haven’t committed adultery? Is there a Christian reading this who has not confused the worship of work with the worship of our Lord and Savior at one time or another? Have you really kept God’s command to love Him with all your heart and soul and mind and strength? Or has there been a time when you loved something or someone else more?

Instead of thanking God that we are not like others, we should acknowledge that we are far worse! Like Paul, we should see ourselves as the worst of sinners. Yet in spite of our sinful condition, God in Christ has set His saving grace upon us. With the assurance of the love of Christ we no longer have to compare and contrast ourselves with others. We no longer have to be slaves to self-deceit. We are unconditionally loved and completely forgiven . . . and God did this while we were just like every other person we meet in the Bible (except Jesus): we are sinners in need of a Savior.

And praise be to God! He sent that Savior to redeem you and me.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

We have all heard the phrase “Stuff happens!” This slang phrase is intended as a simple, existential observation that life is full of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. It implies that bad things happen all the time and for no particular reason.

But is it true? Does stuff “just happen” to us by chance or a random roll of the dice?

“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

God had given the prophet Jeremiah a vision that was diametrically opposed to the wisdom of the world, which insists that the events that surround our lives are merely “C’est la vie”—that is, “Such is life!” Jeremiah had confessed, “I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). Not even a bird falls to the ground apart from our Father’s will (Matthew 10:29), and Jeremiah knew that full well.

When God promised to give Israel a hope and a future, things looked pretty hopeless for Israel! A great many of the people had already been taken captive and exiled to Babylon, and Jeremiah knew that Jerusalem was doomed to be overrun and the temple of the Lord destroyed. Jeremiah could have stubbornly insisted—as many of his countrymen did—that this disaster was a result of chance, but of course he did not. Jeremiah knew that the judgments on Israel came from the hand of the Creator; he also knew that God’s discipline was ultimately delivered for the prosperity of His people, not their punishment.

It is no different for you and me. To be sure, God will discipline us, just as a loving father does with His children. But the discipline of God is never designed to harm us or crush us. It is always designed to prosper us—to help us grow and mature in our faith and to encourage us to call out to Him.

The Bible makes it clear: what the world calls “coincidences” are actually God’s providences, which He delivers for the good of those who are the called according to His purposes and for His glory. It is a wonderful comfort for the people of God to know that “stuff” doesn’t “just happen” and that there is no such thing as “happenstance” in heaven above or on earth below. This is exceedingly comforting when we find ourselves in painful providences. To know that nothing happens to us that doesn’t first pass through His nail-scarred hands is to know a truth that is as comforting as it is centering.

To know that sovereignty happens—not stuff—is to know the truth that sets us free to live out our faith with unspeakable joy and unwavering security. God plans to prosper His people, not paralyze them with the fear of uncertainty. God plans to give a holy hope and a future to the hopeful and the faithful. And knowing that this is the promise of the Almighty is to know all we need to rise above the circumstances of life and see God’s hand in everything.

One final point: there would not be a single painful providence that would be for our good if Jesus had not completed His mission. Only Jesus is the “Yes” and “Amen” to every promise of God (2 Corinthians 1:20), including the one given us from Jeremiah. We build our hope on the truth of the perfect life of Christ, His sacrificial death, His resurrection from the grave on the third day, and His ascension into heaven. God’s stamp of approval, assuring us that our debt had been fully paid and thereby cancelled, is found in the empty tomb. Gone is the gnawing guilt and faithless fear.

Jesus paid it all, so we can have joy unspeakable even in the face of all the “stuff” that is causing us pain. The truths of the Gospel have turned our groans into gladness, our sighs into songs, and our hurt into hopefulness. What God has promised He will most certainly deliver!

So . . . what stuff have you been dealing with in your life lately that may have you disoriented and disrupted? God is at work and He will not stop one step short of completing what He began in you. And you would not want Him to do that for a minute . . . even the painful ones.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

There is much in nature for which we have all given praise and glory to God. In sunny South Florida, we praise God for the beauty of the palm trees that sway in the breeze and the azure blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean that tirelessly wash up on the sandy shores, wave after wave after wave. But when was the last time you gave praise for thornbushes?

Their mother has been unfaithful and has conceived them in disgrace. She said, “I will go after my lovers, who give me my food and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink.” Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes; I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way. She will chase after her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will say, “I will go back to my husband as at first, for then I was better off than now.” (Hosea 2:5-7)

The unfaithful mother in this passage represents the people of Israel, who went after the Canaanite fertility religion to meet their needs and forgot the Lord. Sadly, this is the picture of most of us—perhaps all of us! The beauty of this passage is found in the fact that God pursues every rebel who pursues lesser lovers. And God is pleased to use painful providences (thornbushes) to rescue us from ourselves. For every idol we fervently chase after God has a blessed thornbush that will block our path, wall us in, and cause us to lose our way. What love the Lord has for His wayward children! He prevents them from getting what they want when what they want is something they do not need and should not have.

Experience has taught me that the grace of God’s thornbushes keeps us from reaching for more than Jesus (as if there were something “more” than Jesus!) or settling for less than Jesus. Remember, many of the things we chase after come under the heading of “good things,” but, as I have often said, good things become bad things when they become ultimate things. Family is a “good thing” until it becomes an ultimate thing . . . then it becomes a bad thing. Work is a “good thing” until it becomes an ultimate thing . . . then it becomes a bad thing. Church service is a “good thing” until it becomes an ultimate thing . . . then it becomes a bad thing. Recreation is a “good thing” until it becomes an ultimate thing . . . then it becomes a bad thing. You get the picture.

The grace of God’s thornbushes is intended to keep us from chasing and catching lesser lovers, which in the end turn out to be poor, blind, pitiful, and naked. As we are providentially pricked by God’s thornbushes, we are jarred awake from our slumber so that we can return to our first and far better love, the Lord Jesus Christ. So jealous is our God for our affection, He will stop at nothing—even thornbushes—to reorient our hearts back toward Him.

And the day will come when we will no longer need the grace of God’s thornbushes. No longer will the words, “I will go back to my husband as at first” pass through our lips. What God began in us He will one day complete (Philippians 1:6), and when that work is done we will no longer need the grace of thornbushes. We will be satisfied, fully and completely, with the love of our Bridegroom, and never again will we seek after anything smaller than Jesus.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

When was the last time you were on your knees before the throne of heaven, only to feel like no one was home? Have you ever felt like the prophet Jeremiah who believed his prayer was a one-way conversation?

You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through.  (Lamentations 3:44)

To be sure, one of the great trials for the Christian is the trial of the silence of heaven. The years have taught me that often those with great faith are given even greater faith through seasons of silence from the throne room. Charles Spurgeon explained it this way:

The Lord, when He has given great faith, has been known to try it by long delaying. He has suffered His servants’ voices to echo in their ears as from a brazen sky. They have knocked at the golden gate, but it has remained immovable, as though it were rusted upon its hinges. True saints have continued long in patient waiting without reply, not because their prayers were not vehement, nor because they were unaccepted, but because it so pleased Him who is a Sovereign, and who gives according to His own pleasure. If it pleases Him to bid our patience exercise itself, shall He not do as He wills with His own! Beggars must not be choosers either as to time, place, or form. But we must be careful not to take delays in prayer for denials.

When no one seems to be home in heaven, you can be sure that God is preparing you for a greater good than an immediate answer to your requests. Make no mistake, unanswered prayers are never unheard. God hears all of our prayers and knows which answer is best to give to us: YES, NO, or WAIT. Our God does not hear our prayers and then forget them over time. Can you not testify to prayer answered long after you had forgotten the prayer request itself? I certainly can testify to this truth.

You see, God knows what is best for everyone of His children.Sometimes the child needs a rapid response of YES and God is delighted to give it. At other times the child needs a firm NO, and God is so pleased to give that too.And there are times the child needs a solid WAIT in order that faith might be strengthened and God would be glorified.

So . . . what prayers have you been praying lately?They never “fall on deaf ears” in the eternal counsel of the Triune God.God hears our every petition and will deal with us according to His sovereign purpose and plan for our lives.

When Solomon said, “I called Him but He gave me no answer” (Song of Solomon 5:6), he was simply experiencing what every child of God experiences from time to time.Solomon knew God had not departed, even though the answer to his prayers was delayed.And you too must never forget that God cares so much for you that He will only give to you what He knows is for your ultimate good and His glory.Let that Gospel truth carry you through seasons of silence from the throne room of heaven.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

We often read the word blessed in sacred Scripture, but do we really know what it means and how God wants us to understand this extraordinary word?

In the New Testament, the Greek word for blessed is makarios, which has a very special meaning. You see it in rapid fire in our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount:

•  Blessed are the poor in spirit . . .
•  Blessed are those who mourn . . .
•  Blessed are the meek . . .
•  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness . . .
•  Blessed are the merciful . . .
•  Blessed are the pure in heart . . .
•  Blessed are the peacemakers . . .
•  Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness . . .
•  Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you . . .

To be blessed in the biblical sense means considerably more than our modern meaning of the word happy. Happy is good, but it does not rise to the level of blessed, because happiness is based on circumstances. In good circumstances we are happy; in bad circumstances we are angry or sorrowful or frightened. But for the person who is in a state of biblical blessedness, what is going on around him or her has nothing to do with what is going on inside.

To be blessed is to be in possession of the favor of God, which is entirely unaffected by the circumstances of life. It is experiencing the highest level of spiritual prosperity, no matter how much or how little physical prosperity one is experiencing at the time. Homer wrote of the mythical Greek gods as being blessed in themselves, a state unaffected by the world of men, who were subject to poverty, weakness, and death. Homer described this state as being “of the gods,” who were elevated above earthly suffering and the limitations of earthly life.

The apostle Paul expressed this idea beautifully in his letter to the Philippians:

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.  (Philippians 4:11b-13)

In the Beatitudes Jesus set forth in His majestic sermon, He made it clear that those who have God as their father are blessed, regardless of the circumstances they are currently facing in life and in death. This is the experience of the person who has been saved by grace and who daily experiences God’s salvation and forgiveness of sins . . . all of which is altogether apart from his outward condition. Because of our union with Christ, we are raised above earthly suffering and the limitations of earthly life, because we know that we are eternally His and nothing can separate us from the love of Christ and His continual care.

We must always keep in mind what the word blessed does not mean. It does not mean:

• Healthy are you . . .
• Untroubled are you . . .
• Prosperous are you . . .
• Popular are you . . .
• Successful are you . . .
• Admired are you . . .

To be blessed by the Best is to be deeply secure in our relationship with our Savior. It is to be filled with joy unspeakable and profound contentment to be who we are—because we are His. And the life of the one who is blessed is to be marked by rejoicing and gladness, “because great is your reward in heaven” (Matthew 5:11).

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!