The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. (Psalm 23:1)
One of the most instructive metaphors for our relationship with Jesus is that of the Shepherd with His sheep. Sadly, much of the power of the analogy is lost on you and me because we have little or no understanding of the life of a shepherd or the ways of sheep. The Bible tells us that Jesus is our Good Shepherd who willingly laid His life down for His sheep (John 10:11). Scripture also tells us that the Lord’s sheep hear His voice and follow Him (John 10:27). Yet we all know by way of personal experience that we are prone to wander; when we do, our Good Shepherd comes after us to bring us back into the fold, all the while restoring our soul.
Psalm 23 continues . . .
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23:2-3)
When Jesus raises us from death to life, He is not only is the Savior of our souls, He is the Shepherd of our souls too. Regardless of where we go and what we do, we have our Soul Shepherd who cares for us, comforts us, and corrects us with loving kindness. When wolves come after us, our Good Shepherd does not run away; He protects us and provides for our every need. We are set apart by Jesus. We are safe with Jesus. We are secure in Jesus.
Psalm 23 concludes with these words:
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23:4-6)
Could your soul use a little refreshing today? Perhaps a bit of restoring? Go to the One who loves you so much He died on a cross so you could be in relationship with Him. Go to the Shepherd of your soul and receive all the refreshing and restoration you need today. He is the Shepherd and Overseer of your soul (1 Peter 2:25), and He has promised never to leave you nor forsake you. And He is calling you to come to Him today!
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
He knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. (Job 23:10)
It is not uncommon to hear people who are in a season of trial and difficulty say that God is punishing them for something. They are convinced that they have failed God in some way and God is exacting His pound of flesh from them. But this simply cannot be true! The reason I am so emphatic about that is the cross. Jesus hung on that cross and was punished in our place for every sin of all those who will believe — sins past, present, and even those still to come.
He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:5-6)
OK, you might ask, if God does not send the storms of life to punish us, then what is He doing? The answer is that He is pursuing us! I have said it here many times, but it bears repeating: God’s greatest goal in our lives is to conform us into the image of Christ, and He will use any means necessary to accomplish that goal . . . and one of those means is seasons of difficulty. When I look back at my own life, I can testify that God used storms to draw me closer and closer to Him. When the waves of challenge were washing over me, God was working all of it for my ultimate good . . . and that good is conformity to Christ.
God was pursuing me in the storm, not punishing me! God wanted to deepen my faith walk with Him, and He used those storm winds to do exactly that. Job knew it; you see that certainty in our verse for today. Hezekiah, king of Judah, knew it; he wrote, “Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish” (Isaiah 38:17). Christian, I hope you know it too.
Regardless of the difficulties you may be facing today — relationship tensions, financial troubles, health crises, or soul-crushing losses — God is in hot pursuit of you through all of it. God is testing our faith because there is no testimony without a test.
These trials have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:7).
It has been well said that a faith that has not been tested is a faith that cannot be trusted. Rest in the truth that God is pursuing you, not punishing you, no matter what difficulty you are facing this day.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Abraham said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” (Genesis 22:5)
If you are familiar with the story of Abraham and Isaac, you will remember that God called Abraham to do the unimaginable . . . the unthinkable: to sacrifice his son. Did Abraham simply head out and blindly do what God commanded? Not at all! Abraham knew God, both His promise and His character, and he trusted that God would do what was right and true, even in issuing this heart-wrenching, inexplicable command.
God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation and that his wife Sarah would bear him a son. Both Abraham and Sarah were childless at the time and Sarah was well beyond child-bearing age, but Genesis 15:6 tells us that Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. And when Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90, Sarah gave birth to the child of the promise: Isaac.
So what might seem at first glance like blind faith in following the command of God wasn’t blind faith at all, and Abraham’s assertion in in today’s verse makes that clear. He told his servants that “We [that is, “Abraham and Isaac] will come back to you.” The testimony given in the “Hall of Faith” chapter in the New Testament explains Abraham’s confidence:
By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. (Hebrews 11:17-19)
Abraham acted out of reason, not a blind faith. He remembered God’s promise regarding his son Isaac, and because he knew that God could be taken at His Word, Abraham acted accordingly. All throughout the Scriptures, we are instructed to operate by faith, and that faith is often rooted in wisdom, reason, and logic. God gave us the ability to think and reason, which means our faith is not blind, but a firm reliance on the One who can be trusted no matter what, even when we do not fully understand God’s plan. As Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Where does this message find you today? Whether the sun is brightly shining or the storm winds are blowing, remember to act in faith on all of the promises of God. Abraham followed God faithfully, holding fast to God’s gracious promise, and we are to do the same. We don’t need to know the future. We just need to know the One who holds it all in His nail-scarred hands. Let that truth set you free today.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24-25)
I have officiated at many funerals over the years. Some are filled with heartfelt memories of the one who has passed on. Some are not. I have come to understand that the difference comes down to what the deceased had been living for, and there are only two choices: We can either live for the self or live for our Savior. The choice is always ours.
I learned a long time ago that the only life worth living is a life lived out for the glory of Jesus. And if we are living for the glory of Jesus, we live to make an eternal difference in the lives of others. Living this kind of a life does not happen by accident; it only happens by choice. The impact we have in the lives of others will come down to the things we choose to do or not do . . . and we make those choices moment by moment.
Living a life that truly matters will stand the trial by fire. There will be circumstances in life that will burn us, but we will not burn up; our work “will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work” (1 Corinthians 3:13). The simplest way I can restate what Paul is saying is this: If what we are doing is done for our glory, it will burn up; but if what we are doing is done for the glory of God, it will survive the test of fire.
So . . . whose glory have you been living for lately? Who has been sitting on the throne of your life?
Remember, what we do echoes in eternity. May that echo be for the glory of God and the good of others – all others — regardless of the cost or circumstance. Then we will know we are living a life that truly matters.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (Philippians 4:4)
There are two kinds of joy we can experience in life: real joy or counterfeit joy. The first is lasting; the second is fleeting. Here are a few things to consider regarding the counterfeit joy which beckons to us every day.
Counterfeit joy seems real but leaves us wanting in the end. It was the joy Adam and Eve experienced when they decided to be their own gods and turn away from the One who had created them and breathed life into them. When their counterfeit joy evaporated, they found themselves running away and hiding from God. David experienced counterfeit joy when he decided to commit adultery with Bathsheba. He should have been leading the army of Israel onto the battlefield, but instead he took another man’s wife into his bed. The cost of this counterfeit joy was incalculable, leading to the murder of Bathsheba’s husband in an attempt to cover David’s treacherous tracks and ultimately to the death of the child that was conceived by their illicit union. Counterfeit joy is any joy you are seeking that is contingent on circumstances.
Real joy, on the other hand, is not rooted in circumstances; it is rooted in Jesus Christ. Joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22), and it is produced by God’s work in our lives. Joy is a gift of God, and we need simply to receive it and rest in it, regardless of the circumstances we are facing.
We do not deny difficult circumstances; like the psalmists, we cry out to God. We pour out our hearts and we tell Him exactly how we are feeling. Once we have done that, we cast all our cares upon Jesus because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).
Jesus has provided two main avenues to walk in so that we can experience real joy. The first avenue is vertical: we raise our eyes to heaven and focus on our relationship with Him. We spend time with Jesus in prayer and in the Word. We cultivate our vertical relationship through intentional and intimate time spent with Jesus each day.
The second avenue that leads to joy is horizontal: we look around us and build relationships with others. I often say that we were saved individually, but we were saved to community. We each need each other to experience real and lasting joy; that’s how God made us!
Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24)
Let us encourage each other to seek out genuine joy — the joy of the Lord — which we will experience as we pursue a deep relationship with Him and build edifying relationships with each other. As we walk down those two avenues of relationship, we will truly rejoice in the Lord. I will say it again: Rejoice!
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. (Revelation 22:13)
I would like to take a moment to share one thing about the One and Only – the Lord Jesus Christ – that will be a source of eternal encouragement to you right now, right where this finds you.
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
We all find ourselves in moments of darkness when we can’t see our way forward and have no idea what to do next. We must remember that God is using the darkness to draw us closer and closer into the Light. Jesus Christ is the Light of the world, and He is the One and Only who can and will lead us through any dark night of the soul.
But let’s go deeper for just a moment. When Jesus said He is the “light of the world,” He was claiming that He alone is the source of spiritual insight . . . spiritual light. The triune God–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–is the only source of spiritual truth in the world.
So even when you find yourself in times of darkness because of the challenging circumstances you are facing, you will never walk in spiritual darkness with Jesus by your side. As a candle dispels darkness when it is lit, the light of Jesus Christ dispels every kind of darkness in our lives: the darkness of discouragement . . . the darkness of sorrow . . . the darkness of suffering . . . even the darkness of sin. Have you been walking in His light lately?
Jesus is the way forward whenever darkness descends on us. We must simply look up and trust in Jesus even when we cannot trace Him in the midst of difficult circumstances we are facing. Jesus has promised to use all things for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28). Rest in that truth, and when darkness seems to hide His face, as the English pastor Edward Mote wrote, rest on His unchanging grace, knowing that Jesus will guide you through to the other side of every patch of darkness in your life . . . until the day comes when you will rest eternally in His Light.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)
We have been talking about creating a bucket list: a list of things we deeply desire to do before the Lord calls us home. On Monday, I suggested that you make reading through the entire Bible an item on your bucket list. On Wednesday, we considered the importance of a life verse. Today, I’d like you to consider memorizing a new portion of Scripture.
Item #3 – Memorizing A New Scripture Passage
Scripture memorization is one of those spiritual disciplines that has fallen on hard times these days. Because the entire Bible is at our fingertips, on our phones and tablets, we feel little need to call up Scripture from memory. Yet Jesus made it clear just how important this discipline is when He defeated the devil during His wilderness experience.
When the devil assaulted Jesus with three temptations, Jesus quoted Scripture from memory to defeat the devil. He could not look into the scrolls for the words needed to disarm and defeat the devil, and He did not need to. Jesus had committed Scripture to memory, and we should follow His lead.
You probably know some Scriptures from memory, verses like John 3:16 and Philippians 4:13. But have you ever invested the time to commit more than a verse or two to memory?
Here is a thought to consider putting on your bucket list. Pick a psalm and commit it to memory. Or perhaps one of the parables. There is absolutely nothing like having the Word of God planted deep within your heart, especially for those moments when you find yourself under the attacks of the devil. Remember, committing Scripture to memory will return to you multiplied blessings. Here are three of them; memorizing Scripture will —
Renew your mind; Recalibrate your heart; Realign your will!
I pray you were encouraged this week by the Believer’s Bucket List. I hope these articles have inspired you to write out a detailed list of things God would put on your life . . . IF He were writing it for you. With an actual bucket list sitting in front of you, start going to work on getting some of those items marked off as “Done!” You will find yourself doing some things you never thought possible for the glory of God and the good of those you come in contact with along the way into glory. What do you say? Let’s kick the bucket!
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)
On Monday I introduced the idea of creating a “believer’s bucket list” — a list of things we deeply desire to do before the Lord calls us home. I suggested that you make reading through the entire Bible an item on your bucket list. Today I’d like to encourage you to consider coming up with a life verse that truly speaks to your heart.
Item #2 – Life Verse
A life verse is a verse or even a passage of Scripture that seems like it was written by God just for you. In my years as a pastor, I have seen that those who do have a life verse usually cite powerful reasons why that verse or passage resonates so deeply with them, from a major life event to the accomplishment of a great goal. Perhaps the reason is rooted in growing and maturing in their faith. My life verse has changed over the years, due to all of those reasons and different seasons of life. Here is a verse of sacred Scripture that resonates deeply with me today:
Jesus asked, “Do you have anything here to eat?” (Luke 24:41)
After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples, who were cowering behind locked doors. The disciples were “startled and frightened” when they saw Him, “thinking they saw a ghost” (Luke 24:37). Jesus said to them, “Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have” (Luke 24:39). Then Jesus said something that resonates deeply in my heart: “Do you have anything here to eat?”
WOW! When we get to the other side of the grave, we will have resurrected bodies and we will eat! We will hug, we will dance and sing and work and play and we will EAT! I used to think that “going to heaven” meant that I would be a spirit being, floating around on a fluffy cloud, strumming a celestial harp for all eternity. And that really didn’t excite me much! But to know we will have immortal, resurrected bodies and will do many of the same things we currently are doing fills my soul with joyful anticipation. When I think of eternity that way, the invitation to the marriage supper with Jesus rocks my world! I love to eat, and knowing that food will be part of our forever existence is awesome!
When I find myself in the midst of a season when the storm winds are blowing and the waves of challenge are washing over me, I reflect on these words of Jesus, and I am reminded that the best is yet to come.
I’ll see you on Friday for our final item on our bucket list.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)
This week, I want to encourage you with three things that should be on every “believer’s bucket list” . . . and they would be if God was writing your bucket list for you. In case you’re not familiar with the phrase, a bucket list is a list of things you want to do before you “kick the bucket” . . . a Christian would say “before you pass into glory.” The term grew exponentially in popularity after the 2007 release of the charming movie The Bucket List, starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. Here are a few examples of bucket list items: swimming with dolphins; running a marathon; jumping out of a perfectly good airplane (with a parachute, of course); seeing the northern lights; going zip lining; climbing a mountain. Some of the most popular bucket list items involve travel.
There are many things God would put on your bucket list, and I am quite sure they don’t include parachuting or zip lining! I encourage you to take some time to prayerfully consider what some of those things might be. This week we will consider three of them, all related to the Word of God.
Item #1 – Read The Whole Bible
If you have ever read through the whole Bible, you have already checked this off your list, and you are probably reading it through over and over again. However, if you have not done this yet, let me encourage you to make this a bucket list priority.
Years ago, the church I was attending offered a new Daily Walk Bible to anyone who would make the commitment to read through it during the next year. I accepted the challenge, and on January 1st, 1999, I began the journey. I would love to tell you that I read each daily portion every day; I would like to say that, but I didn’t do it. What did happen, however, was that I read far more of the Bible that year than I ever had before. Eventually I was able to make it through the entire Bible in a year, and I have been doing it ever since.
Christian, never forget that the goal God has set before us is progress, not perfection. If you set a goal of reading through the entire Bible, you will definitely read more than you would have without that goal on your list. And why would you not want to do this? The Bible is, in fact, God’s love letter to you.
We’ll take a look at a second bucket list item on Wednesday.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds. (James 1:2)
Because joy is an “inside job,” given to us by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, we can face trials of any kind and still have the deep and abiding joy that only comes from above. When we face circumstances in life that we don’t enjoy, God has promised us a joy that rises above the circumstances . . . and that joy’s name is Jesus.
When we keep our eyes on Jesus, we find the joy of the Lord that is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10), even when waves of challenge are crashing over us. And please note that if/when we choose not to find joy in our difficult circumstances, we will have less joy . . . but still the same amount of difficult circumstances!
Perhaps no one demonstrated this better than the apostle Paul. In spite of being beaten with rods, receiving lashes from a whip five times, and being stoned, shipwrecked, persecuted, and put in prison, he actually wrote: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4).
When we spend less time grumbling about our circumstances and more time glorying in who Jesus and what He has done, we will experience the joy of the Lord. The Bible makes it clear that a joyless Christian is an oxymoron (that is, a contradiction in terms) because one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is joy (Galatians 5:22).
The next time you find yourself in circumstances you don’t enjoy — and that may be right now as you are reading this — remember that you can still have joy if you keep your focus on Jesus. Remember, no matter what you are facing or will face in the future, you never face it alone. Jesus is with you, Jesus is for you, and Jesus is in you. Let that truth set you free to experience the joy of the Lord, which is your strength.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 