Grace for the Race

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!

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. (1 Corinthians 4:20)

It has been wisely observed, “We have no power from God unless we live in the persuasion that we have none of our own.” The Bible is full of examples of people who lived out this truth. Notice what the apostle Paul says about his preaching ministry: “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5).

Now if anyone could have been depending upon his own strength, ability, and keen intellect, it was Paul. He was at the top of his field as a religious leader in Judaism, having been trained by the most respected religious leader at that time, Gamaliel. His education and study of the Scriptures was second to none. But he did not rely on his own power in preaching. Rather, he relied solely on the power of the Holy Spirit, working in and through him. Remember, it was Paul who said, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).

So, are you living your life in the power of God or in your own power? Are you relying on the wisdom of God or the wisdom of the world? Acknowledging your powerlessness is the place where God shows up with His Omnipotent power. God is not in the business of blessing those who are living in their own strength. God is in the business of blessing those who are totally dependent upon him and surrendered to His will in their lives. The paradox of powerlessness is that this is the only place you will find all the power you need to do all the things God is calling you to do for His glory.

Paul had a thorn that he pleaded with the Lord to take away. It made him feel powerless. But instead of God taking it away, He used it for His glory and Paul’s good, saying, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Let this truth set us all free to acknowledge our powerlessness and live in the power of God.

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

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out. (Proverbs 10:9)

It is said of the French Bishop of Geneva Francis de Sales, he lived parallel lives in private and public. When another bishop planned to write a biography about Francis, his goal was to find out if his life in private matched up with his life in public. The bishop went to visit Francis and drilled a hole in the wall so he could spy on him to see if he could find the secret of his holy life. What he learned was virtually nothing – yet it was almost everything. He discovered that Francis was the same in private as in public. His talk matched his walk in both spheres of life. He rose from bed early in the morning, careful not to make any disturbance so as not to awaken his servant. He prayed, answered correspondence and took care of his ordinary tasks in the same gracious manner that he followed when he was in public.

Francis is known for his writings on the topics of spiritual direction and spiritual formation, particularly the Introduction to the Devout Life and the Treatise on the Love of God. His walk and his writings witnessed to his sold-out life, whether in private or in public, for the advancement of the Kingdom and the glory of Christ. In order for this to be the confession of our lives, we must be committed to living parallel lives both publicly and privately. The word for this is INTEGRITY!

To understand integrity biblically, we cannot see life like a pie, cut up into different pieces and disconnected from the whole. We have a slice for our professional life and a slice for our personal life and a slice for our church life and a slice for my compulsions. This kind of life lacks integrity. We are one thing in one area of our lives and something different in another area of life. To avoid this pitfall, we must be committed to living a whole life before the face of God and committed to doing it the same whether someone is watching or not. The Bible says, “The Lord detests those whose hearts are perverse, but he delights in those whose ways are blameless” (Proverbs 11:20).

Remember, inasmuch as the goal is perfection, we will not reach that goal until we cross the Jordan and are received into glory. Until then, we do the best we can with all God has given to us to do it with, knowing we have a God who loves us unconditionally and forgives us completely when we mess it up.

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

But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground. (Exodus 14:29)

One of the most spectacular events in the Old Testament history of God’s chosen people is the crossing of the Red Sea. After the deliverer Moses leads the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt, they find themselves standing at the edge of the Red Sea., with the approaching Egyptian army closing in on them. The people of God believed they had been delivered from bondage in Egypt only to be destroyed in the wilderness. But God showed up in a BIG WAY.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were dived, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. (Exodus 14:21-22)

What God did for His people back then, He is doing for His people now, and that includes you. What Red Sea are you facing today professionally, personally, and relationally? God is calling you out of your past and into your promised future. He is calling you out of the known and comfortable into the unknown and uncomfortable. Answer this question: “What Egypt do you need to be freed from?” Damaging thought patterns. Destructive behaviors. 

There will always be “Red Seas” on the road ahead as you make your way into glory. Greater is the power that is at work within you than any power that comes up against you. Let these words from Moses encourage you to keep on keeping on, knowing that God is working everything together for your good and His glory, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today” (Exodus 14:13)

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

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)

Most people have a Bible somewhere in their homes. Sadly, for far too many, it is gathering dust on some table top or book shelve. The Bible is the number one, best-selling book in the history of the world and has had a profound impact on Western civilization from its beginning. The question is, has the Word of God had a profound impact on you and the life you are currently living?

God gave us His Word so we would read it. He could have left it up to the Holy Spirit to encourage, motivate, and inspire us to do His will in this world. But He did not. He gave us His Holy Word so that we would read it and respond to it and therefore, be changed by it. When Jesus was being assaulted in the desert by the devil in His wilderness experience, He responded with, “It is written!” Jesus knew the Word of God and was able to use that word to resist and ultimately defeat the attacks of the devil. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

Think about going a day or two without eating. You will not only grow hungry you will grow weaker and weaker. Now multiply that by a week or even a month. Just as our physical bodies need nourishment to sustain life, our souls need nourishment to sustain spiritual life. We need to come into God’s presence each day and marinate in and meditate on His Word. When we do, we will be able, like Jesus, to fight against everything that comes up against us in this life, achieve victory, and give God all the glory.

Remember, God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We live in a spiritually dark world and need the light of our Lord’s love that is found on the pages of sacred Scripture to guide our steps into God’s will for our lives. Along the way into glory, the Word of God will give us both direction and correction to live a life for the glory of God and the good of others – all others – including ourselves.     

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

“Let my people go, so that they may serve me.” (Exodus 8:1)

These words came from God through Moses to Pharaoh when God was getting ready to free His people from bondage in Egypt. God was setting His people free from slavery in order that they would worship and serve Him. What was true thousands of years ago is still true today – we have been saved to serve.

Now many in the church today have messed up this biblical truth. Instead of understanding we have been saved for service, they believe they are saved by service. This, of course, is a false gospel rooted in our merit, not God’s mercy. Salvation is all of God. There is nothing we do to get saved. But after God saves us, we are not called to serve the One who has set us free from the bondage to sin, Satan, and death. We are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God through service. And in the most practical sense of understanding the truth that we have been saved to serve, we are to live lives of sacrificial service to others – all others – regardless of cost or circumstance.

We have blessed to be a blessing. We have been healed to help. We have been saved to serve. This is the call for every child of God, not just those who are in vocational ministry like pastors and missionaries. Every Christian is in “full-time” Christian service, regardless of what profession they have chosen. The butcher, baker, and candle-stick maker all are called to serve their Savior. A “non-serving” Christian is a contradiction in terms of gargantuan proportions.

Remember, as you continue growing and maturing in your faith, keep in mind that your maturity is always for ministry. As Jesus said, “He came to serve, not be served,” and the same must be said about those who are His disciples. Is your life reflective of the truth that you have been saved to serve?

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

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. (Galatians 2:20)

Inasmuch as we have been crucified with Christ legally, because God looks at us as if we had died with our Lord Jesus Christ, what I want to encourage you with today is to focus on living, not dying. Because we have been crucified with Christ, we have also been raised from the dead with Him too. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that lives in us and is at work in us making us more and more like Christ.

The more we allow our Lord Jesus Christ to live in and through us, the more we become like Him. The more surrender to God’s will and submit to God’s Word, the more we are “being transformed into His image with every increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). This process is known as sanctification, and it takes place throughout the entire life of the Christian. It does not happen in a day, but daily, moment by moment, as we cooperate with the work of the Holy Spirit within us.

When the apostle Paul said, “Christ lives in me,” he was reminding us that we become more like Jesus through inhabitation, not imitation. Through the choices we make in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we begin to do, think, and say, what God wants us to do, think, and say. In the strength of the Almighty, we have the power to say ‘Yes’ to the things we must say ‘Yes’ to and ‘No’ to the things we must say ‘No’ to. Paul gives us another reminder to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose” (Philippians 2:12-13).

Remember, Paul is not warning us we can lose our salvation. Once saved, always saved. We are not to live in nervousness and anxiety. What he is saying is we are to pursue what we are practically through obedience in the power of the Holy Spirit, what we already are positionally, because Christ lives in us.

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