Grace for the Race

“You bless the godly, O Lord; You surround them with Your shield of love.” (Psalm 5:12)

When we say that God’s love is unconditional, it is important to make sure what unconditional does not mean. It does not mean we are left unchanged. In his book, The Problem of Pain, C. S. Lewis put this truth this way:

To ask that God’s love should be content with us as we are is to ask that God should cease to be God; because he is what he is, His love must, in the nature of things, be impeded and repelled by certain stains in our present character, and because He already loves us He must labor to make us lovable. We cannot even wish, in our better moments, that he could reconcile Himself to our present impurities.

What Lewis is saying is the goal of Romans 8:29 – “to conform us to the likeness of his Son.” God’s love is true love because God’s love is at work within us changing us and conforming us more and more into the image and likeness of Jesus. As it has been said, “God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you so much so as not to leave you there.” God is making us more and more lovable with each passing day. God’s love for us is growing and maturing us in our faith and making us more like Jesus in thought, word, deed, and desire. And this is the ultimate goal of every child of God.

Because God wants what is best for us, He refuses to leave us in the condition He found us in. True love takes us from self-absorption to self-sacrifice. True love takes us from self-centeredness to other-orientation. True love takes us from “my will be done” to “thy will be done.” Remember, this does not happen in a day, but daily. You are a work in progress and it will take all the days of your life for True Love to make you perfectly lovable. Let that truth set you free.

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

Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” (Mark 5:36)

A man named Jairus who was the elected ruler of the local synagogue sought out Jesus because his daughter was dying. He believed Jesus could heal her with a simply touch of His hand, and so he fell at his feet pleading earnestly with Him to come to his home to heal his daughter. But along the way, Jesus paused to heal a woman who had a bleeding condition for 12 years, and when men came from the house of Jairus, they reported that his daughter was dead. The hope Jairus had for Jesus to heal his daughter had now turned into hopelessness. Or did it?

When the men came telling Jairus not to bother Jesus anymore because his daughter had died, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” To be sure, the circumstances in the life of Jairus argued against all hope. His daughter was dead. There would be no healing for his sick daughter. It was now too late. Well, it was indeed too late for a healing because the girl had died. So, instead of a healing, Jesus provides a resurrection from the dead. Whatever Jairus was thinking after being told his daughter was dead, he still had hope that Jesus could work a miracle. He had hope in an utterly hopeless situation.

What Jesus said to Jairus then, “Don’t be afraid; just believe,” He is saying to us today. Whatever storm wind that is blowing in your life, look to Jesus and fear not, because the God of Hope is at work in your life. Nothing is impossible for God and because of God’s great love for you, hope must be our response regardless of what we are facing. Greater is the power that is at work within us than any power that comes up against us. Let that truth give you hope in any seemingly hopeless situation.   

Remember, God brought water from a rock, bread from heaven, parted the Red Sea for the Israelites to walk across on dry ground, and raised Jairus’ daughter from death to life. What miracle do you need today in your life?  

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

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead . . . (Philippians 3:13)

Just as fire can be used to both build and destroy, so too memories. What you remember about your past can be used by God to build you up or take you down. Some memories will bring you pleasure and others pain. That is why you must treat your past like a school – learn the lesson, but don’t live there. Use your past like a springboard into your promised future, not a sofa to sleep on. Living in the “If only I had done . . . “ will keep you from living in the moment you have right now and keep you from being what God is calling you to be.

Listen, when you read through the Bible, you can see just how faithful God is to His people, especially when they are not faithful to Him. You see, it is God’s faithfulness to you, not your faithfulness to Him that keeps you secure in your saving relationship. God never failed His people no matter how they treated Him and He will never fail you. When you treat your past as a springboard and not a sofa, you are making it clear that you are trusting fully in God to use even your poor decisions, detours, and dead ends for His glory and your ultimate good.

Listen, your past does not equal your future. It is the devil that wants to remind you of your past to fill you to overflowing with regrets, fears, doubts, and hopelessness. The devil knows he cannot take you out of the hands of your Lord, but he sure can mess up your life along the way into glory, with gnawing guilt and relentless remorse. But this is not for you. Choose to look to Jesus, listen to Jesus, and lean on Jesus, because He has promised to never leave you or forsake you, no matter what you do.

Remember, God is not finished with you yet. You are a work in progress and along the way you will mess things up. Just keep looking to the One who called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light. When your past is a springboard and not a sofa, God will take every set-back and use it as a set-up for your cosmic come-back.

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

Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. (Psalm 126:5)

I don’t know where this finds you today. You might be riding the crest of the wave feeling like you are on top of the world. Or perhaps, you might be crushed under the weight of waves of challenge. But regardless, the psalmist is telling us we must remember to look past our challenges and struggles knowing that the tears we shed today will be like seeds that will grow into a great harvest of joy and thanksgiving tomorrow.

There are only three stations in life: you are either in a storm, coming out of a storm, or heading back into a storm. So if you are riding the crest of the wave today, get ready for the waves of challenge tomorrow. Jesus made it clear that as His disciples, we would encounter trials and tribulations on this side of the grave. The curse of sin and cosmic brokenness in this world will always find its way to our door. Ans when it knocks, even if we don’t open it ourselves, it will come crashing in, especially when we least expect it.

Today’s Word is designed to cause us to rise above the waves of challenge and to see life from God’s perspective. Whatever you are going through, you are going through it. God has promised to get you to the other side. If Jesus does not take you out of your storm, He will take you through it and He will be with you every step of the way. Keeping this truth in view will strengthen us in our faith and grow us up into Christ.

Remember, weeping may indeed endure for a night, but you can be certain that joy will find you in the morning. You have His Word on it.

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

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (1 Timothy 3:16-17)

The great 19^th century evangelist preacher D. L. Moody once said, “The Bible was not given for our information but for our transformation.” Clearly Moody is echoing what the apostle Paul wrote to his spiritual son in the faith.

The Bible is the Word of God, designed to change us from the inside out. This of course, is all a work of God’s grace. But it demands our participation. We are called to “renew our minds” (Romans 12:2), by reading, re-reading, and re-reading again the Word of God. The more we meditate on and marinate in the Word of God, the more God changes us and conforms us into the image and likeness of His beloved Son Jesus. Now make no mistake, we are to have our own daily quiet time in the Word. But it is not to stop there. We are also to have our time in the Word with our family of faith.

Since we are saved individually, but saved to community, it is vital that we engage in community study of the Word of God. Because we were made for community, community group studies allow for encouragement and accountability. When you know others are looking forward to seeing you and hearing from you about what you learned in your time of study, you are far more motivated to do the work and show up to share. I like to call this, “Wielding the Word!” The more you wield it in view of sharing it with others, the greater will be your transformation.

Remember, the Word of God is far more than facts, figures, and stories of the heroes of the faith. It is God’s Self-Revelation. It is God’s Love letter to you to transform you into the person He is calling you to be to live the life He is calling you to live. So, how is God’s Word transforming your heart and your mind? 

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

Jesus said, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.” (Acts 1:4)

In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians he writes, “Let us not become weary in well doing” (Galatians 6:9). This was a reminder to his brothers and sisters in the faith to keep on keeping on with their good works for God’s glory, regardless of the response they were receiving. To be sure, there are a myriad of discouragements that can cause us to grow weary in well doing. Yet, today, I want to encourage you not to grow weary in waiting. Speaking from personal experience, I grow far more weary in waiting than I do in well doing.

The deafening silence from God in seasons of waiting can be a source of great discouragement if we are not careful. We receive no response from God. We sense only silence from heaven. And so, we do everything in our power to create our own noise to stir up both the silence and the stillness that rub against the grain of our soul. But God had installed both seasons of well doing and waiting in the lives of His children. When we keep going and sowing, we have a tendency to shift from working in the power of the Spirit to the self. We thwart God’s timing and hinder His help.

Jesus knew His disciples would fail in their own strength 2000 years ago, and He knows His disciples will fail in their own strength today. When we sense we are struggling with our season of waiting we are to remember these words from the apostle Peter, who also struggled with waiting while he walked with our Lord during His ministry:

“But do not forget this one thing dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” (2 Peter 3:8)

Let that truth set us free from growing weary in well doing and in waiting and God will be glorified and others will be blessed, including me and you.   

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

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Ever since the fall of man back in the Garden of Eden, we are all broken, sinful, and negative by nature. By sinful nature, we see the dark side of things. When things do not go our way, we invest all of our energy either excusing or accusing. We come up with a myriad of excuses to explain away our behavior and we come up with a myriad of accusations to point the finger at others. But this is not for you.

In our passage today we are reminded that regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves it, we are to give God thanks. That’s right. We are to thank God for everything, because we know that God is at work in everything, working all of it together for our good and His glory. Know this, we are as thankful as we choose to be. Giving thanks is a choice and it is a choice we are to make moment by moment, regardless of the circumstances we are facing. The key is to keep our focus on Christ and not the circumstances we are experiencing. Circumstances come and go. Circumstances change. But not Christ. He is the One Constant we have in our lives who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

When we fix our focus on Jesus, we will rise above excusing and accusing. We will begin to develop an attitude of gratitude in every situation. In the world of research on the human condition, an attitude of gratitude is the foundation upon which a healthy and happy life is built. So, regardless of where this finds you today, give thanks in all circumstances. See everything as a gift from God and a blessing from His hand. God uses every circumstance to conform you more and more into the image of Jesus.

Remember, God’s will for your life is to be thankful. Is this the confession of your life or have you let negativity have dominion over you? In all circumstances choose thanksgiving and you will rise above the waves of challenge and soar with the eagles.

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

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1)

In Psalm 63, David writes about his wilderness experience. Some scholars believe it was the time when he was on the run from King Saul who was trying to kill him. Other scholars believe it was the time when he was fleeing from his son Absalom who was trying to kill him. Either way, his life was on the line and it was a wilderness experience for David. Yet, his focus was on his God, who was with him every step of the way.

David’s wilderness experience was beyond his control. But it was not beyond God’s control, and by keeping this truth in view, David was able to rise above the waves of challenge that were washing over him. In a dry and desolate land, David knows where to look for ‘water” as he longs to worship his God in the sanctuary in Jerusalem. His desperate circumstances did not affect or alter his confidence in God one bit. Why? Because he knew his God was a covenant keeping God, who promised blessing to His people and because he kept his focus on his God, not his circumstances. Notice that David says, “Your love is better than life” (Psalm 63:3). Is this the confession of our lives?

When the apostle Paul said, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21), he was giving us another Word for our wilderness experiences we face in life. For Paul, Jesus was everything. Paul lived a continual wilderness experience from the moment of his conversion till the moment he was martyred for his faith. Yet, he kept his focus on Christ, not his circumstances, and that is the key for you and me today. So, whatever wilderness experience you might be facing today or in the near future, keep in view both what David said, “Your love is better than life” and Paul, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.” When you do, you too will rise above every wave of challenge that washes over you because greater is the power that is at work within you than any power that comes up against you. 

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

As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water. “Oh no, my lord!” he cried out. “It was borrowed!” (2 Kings 6:5)

Every child of God knows that God cares deeply for them. They know that simply by looking at the cross. Upon that cross, Jesus was crucified so that all those who would trust in Him as Savior and Lord would have eternal life. To be sure, God cares about the salvation of the soul and our eternal destiny. But far too many doubt God’s care over the myriads of mundane moments in our lives. Today’s passage makes it crystal clear; nothing could be further from the truth.

While some men were cutting down trees to build a place to live, one of them had the iron ax head fall off the ax handle and into the water. To make matters worse, it was a borrowed ax. This man cried out to the prophet Elisha to help and help he did. He made that iron ax head float back to the surface for the man to retrieve it. What could be more mundane in the mind of God than a lost ax head. What could seem more insignificant to the God of the universe? Yet, God worked through Elisha to make it clear, He cares about the mundane matters of our lives.

We have a tendency to limit the work of our God only in the major areas of life. But here we see that those mundane moments matter too. God cares more for us than we could ever imagine. There are some things that more than others, but there isn’t anything that doesn’t matter to God. Everyday tasks and ordinary trials matter to God. Remember, even in those mundane moments that are as unspiritual as they are uninspiring, God is at work caring for you and conforming you into the likeness of His Son Jesus Christ.

We need to see that every moment matters to God. We need to see opportunities for eternal significance in every mundane moment, because God is in all of it working it all out for our good and His glory. So, what ax head have you lost in the waters of your life? Cry out to Jesus and watch Him make that steel swim.

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

For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them. (Proverbs 1:32)

Complacency is a great comfort to the slumbering soul. And it is this comfort that causes it to course through our veins driving us to seek a trouble-free life of ease, gathering up earthly treasure. Now the current of complacency does not keep people from doing much – just not doing much of what matters most to our Master. And what matters most to our Master demands the most from His disciples.

If we drift too long in the current of complacency, we will find ourselves spiritually stagnant, spending less and less time in the presence of Jesus. We read the Bible less. We pray less. We serve less. We give less of our time, talent, and treasure. And make no mistake, the current of complacency will cause us to notice less and less of the practical needs of those God sends into our lives. We have succumbed to the dreaded “C” word. Let us not forget what Jesus said to the church in Laodicea:

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:16-17)

Complacency causes us to drift along the sea of self-satisfaction by any means necessary. Life becomes self-centered and self-focused, leaving little or no room for our Savior. We become indifferent to others as our senses are dulled and our spiritual lives are disconnected. But that’s not all. The longer we drift along in the current of complacency the less we smell the stench of our own self-absorption. The fire we once had burning deep within has been snuffed out by Satan, who knows he cannot shipwreck out faith, but he can sure water it down and make it ineffective. 

So, how do we conquer the current of complacency? First, we confess our sin of complacency to Jesus. Now this is not the occasional complacency we all are affected by, but the complacency that has become a way of life. Second, we draw near to Him daily through prayer and His Word as you look to Jesus, learn from Jesus, and lean on Jesus more and more each day. Third, we resolve to rise above our over-committed schedules and respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit who directs us to those we have been called to serve and bless. Keeping Jesus on the throne of your life, exchanging self-satisfaction for Savior-satisfaction, will keep you from ever hearing these words, “Woe to you who are complacent in Zion” (Amos 6:1). 

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