Monthly Archives: July 2011

Did you hear the story about the little boy who was standing up on a pew during the church service?  His parents spent much of the service trying to convince the little boy to sit in his seat, so as not to distract those around them.  Finally the parents threatened the boy with a significant consequence for his disobedience and inappropriate behavior that would be delivered to his bottom-side immediately following the service.  Now, sitting and squirming in his seat, the little boy whispered to his parents, “I may be sitting down on the outside, but I’m standing up on the inside!” 

Did you know there is an obedience that is odious to Omnipotence?  It is obedience that is done simply for the sake of obedience.  It is done out of fear of the consequences of not doing it.  It’s done out of guilt and obligation and duty.  It’s done out of a desire to receive some reward in return.  This is not the kind of obedience Jesus rendered to His Father, and it is not the kind of obedience we are to render either. 

I desire (delight) to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.

(Psalm 40:8)

Because Jesus was perfect, we see perfect obedience as an obedience that is desired—obedience that is delighted in.  Jesus did what He did because He both desired and delighted in pleasing His Father.  It was never enough for Jesus simply to do the right thing.  His obedience was never rooted in fear, guilt or a desire to gain some reward.  He did the right thing for the right reasons.  His outward obedience was firmly rooted in an inward desire and delight to do His Father’s will.  It sprang from a heart that was beating with a desire and delight to please His Father in heaven.

I always please the Father.  (John 8:29)

All too often, you and I are like the little boy, sitting down in outward obedience but standing up in internal rebellion.  Our obedience is stained with mixed motives and selfish desires.  And that is why we must continually preach the Gospel to ourselves.  Jesus delighted in His obedience, even His obedience on the cross, and that should make all the difference in the world to us.  Jesus delighted in taking our sin.  He delighted in taking our guilt.  He delighted in taking our punishment.  (Can you truly wrap your mind around that?  He delighted in taking God’s wrath!)  He delighted in taking our death. 

Viewed in that indescribable light, is there anything too hard for us to do for Jesus?  When we keep the truths of the Gospel front and center in our lives, our hearts will beat with desire and delight to do His will!  Remembering not only what Jesus has done for us, but why He did it—from birth to death—empowers us to live like Jesus lived: obedient to the will of the Father out of a heart filled with delightful desire.  And when we fall short of the mark, we rest in the truth that we are clothed in His righteousness . . . not only forgiven by the Father, but delighted in too! 

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

Who is the story of your life about?  Is it all about you? Or is it about God?  Are you the central figure of your story or is God?  Are you the supporting cast or is God?

If it is you who is the “star” of your story, your story is MUCH too small and will always leave you dissatisfied and unfulfilled.  When you think about it, it really is silly to view ourselves as the star of our story.  From beginning to end, Jesus Christ is the star of our story, because our story is wrapped up in His story.  Our lives begin and end with Him, He who is the Creator of all things (John 1:3) and the Judge of all men (2 Corinthians 5:10). Jesus showed up as the Star; He saved us as the Star; and He calls us into His story to acknowledge Him for who He is and what He has done as the Star.

Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.  But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.  (Matthew 10:32-33)

We acknowledge Jesus before men when we make Him the Star of our story.  And as the Star, He gets top billing, He receives the headlines, and He gets all of the accolades.  We need to remember that if it wasn’t for Jesus there would be no glory in our story!  It would be a story only of total depravity, terrible destruction, and a timeless, terrifying death. 

Regardless of where this finds you—whether you are riding the crest of the wave or the waves of challenge are crashing over you—it’s all about Him.  Every success is about Him, and every season of struggle is about Him . . . whether we like it or not! 

He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth.  No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?”

(Daniel 4:35)

God does what He wants and He does it right well! And as the Star of our story, He does not need to explain Himself to us.  Our story is written by Him and for Him and He knows best what the individuals scenes should look like in order that He would be glorified. 

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable his judgments,

and his paths beyond tracing out!

“Who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been his counselor?”

“Who has ever given to God,

that God should repay him?”

For from him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be the glory forever! Amen.  (Romans 11:33-36)

So . . . who is the star of your story?  Who is writing the final few chapters?  When all we do is done for His glory, Jesus is the Star who stands at the center of our story, a story that can be summed up in a word: GLORY!

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

Most of us are blessed to have people in our lives who accept us with loving and open arms.  Yet not one of them really knows us like God knows us.  Even if our acceptance is found in the holy covenant of marriage, our spouse does not know us like God knows us.  “Even before a word is on my tongue,” David marveled, “behold, O Lord, you know it altogether” (Psalm 139:4).

Yet the Bible tells us that in spite of being fully known, we have the assurance of being fully accepted by God. 

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.  (Romans 15:7)

Think and meditate on this truth: that God knows everything about us and still delights in accepting us fully and completely.  He knows all our . . .

• Defeats and distractions
• Failures and faithlessness
• Blemishes and brokenness
• Self-righteousness and self-centeredness
• Idols and insecurities

And He knows every one of our sins, each one an affront to His holy, righteous, just, and perfect character.  Yet in spite of being fully known for the broken sinners we really are, God has accepted us in Christ without placing any conditions upon His acceptance.  WOW!  Can you think of anyone in your life right now who, if they knew everything about you, would accept you as freely and fully as God does?

Imagine a video of your last 30 days being played before your closest friends and family members—every action . . . every word . . . every thought . . . every desire . . . being played on the big screen for all to see.  Now that’s a thought to make your stomach turn over, isn’t it?  What would everyone think about you after watching that video?  What would they do with you?  Yet the God of the universe knows all the details of your life—the good, the bad, and the downright ugly—and still accepts you fully and completely.  What a friend we have in Jesus!

Think about the times you’ve debated with God like Job, denied God like Peter, and doubted God like Thomas.  And yet even in your debate, denial, and doubt, God never stopped accepting you with a love that is as total as it is transforming.  “Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,” David wrote, “your faithfulness to the clouds” (Psalm 36:5).

But it doesn’t end there!  Because we are fully accepted, we are to accept others even those we consider unacceptable.  Those we dislike we are to accept.  Those we judge we are to accept.  Those we avoid we are to accept.  Those we condemn we are to accept.  Those we disagree with we are to accept.  Jesus told us, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?” (Matt 5:44-46).

To be sure, we cannot do any of this in our own strength.  That is why we need the power of the Gospel pumping through our veins.  As we deepen our understanding of the acceptance God grants us in Christ—in spite of how unacceptable we really are—we are empowered to accept others . . . all others.   

We must remember God is at work in every one of His children, no matter what we might think about them!  And what God began in each one of us He will one day complete (Philippians 1:6).  God is not finished with any of us yet, and He won’t be until we pass into glory; so let us accept others even as we have been accepted . . . if for no other reason than to bring praise and glory to God.

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

I don’t know about you, but far too often my answer to that question is, “Not very much!”  Comfort zones have been and continue to be problem areas in my life.  Yet this is not the faith Jesus has called us to.  He wants us to pursue Him with abandon, press into Him with affection, and proclaim Him with conviction.  The call of Christ is a call to a real and radical faith.

Without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

(Hebrews 11:6)

The faith we are to exhibit is a faith that transforms everything it touches.  It is a faith that has no fear in being in a place of absolute failure and utter defeat if God doesn’t show up in a supernatural way to get us through.  As my beloved Pastor Tullian once said, “When the only way out is up [to and through the Lord God Almighty], that’s not a bad place to be!”

We are called to a faith that leads us to do what is uncomfortable until it becomes comfortable.  It is a faith that causes us to love the unlovable.  It is a faith that causes us to reach out into the unknown rather than retreat to a place of safety and security.

How different would your life be right now if you didn’t have Jesus in your life?  Did Jesus come into your life and turn your whole world upside-down?  Or would those who know you say they haven’t seen much change in you since you trusted in Christ?

Please understand that I don’t ask you these questions to make you feel guilty or discouraged.  I ask them of you because I ask them of myself.  I hope they will cause both you and me to examine ourselves and see if our hearts are beating for the Savior . . . or the self.

Do you remember the story of Jesus sending out His disciples without any supplies for the journey (Luke 9:3)?  What do you think Jesus was teaching His disciples—and us?  We are to be living in a way that requires—even demands—faith, so that we can live totally unto God and not ourselves. 

If God doesn’t have to come through for us in what we are doing, is it worth doing at all?  If the task is simply not big enough for our God, then we ought not to be doing it!  We must be willing to surrender all—our security, our satisfaction, our success—for the cause of His kingdom and simply trust and rely on the One who has raised us from death to life. 

So what are you doing right now that requires faith?  Living in this place is the only place where life has true meaning, significance, and purpose. 

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

Have you heard anyone use the word “scapegoat” outside the church?  In common conversation, a scapegoat is someone who is made to bear the blame of others.  “The team fired its manager,” a sportswriter might explain, “making him a scapegoat for the players’ failure to perform in the clutch.”  Have you ever been made to be a scapegoat?  Have you ever made someone a scapegoat for you?

As many of you know, the word scapegoat is introduced in the Old Testament. During the Day of Atonement, Aaron the high priest would lay his hands on the head of a live goat and confess the sins of the people of Israel.  This scapegoat was then released into the wilderness, symbolically bearing the sins of the Jews and carrying them away from the presence of God.  As Psalm 130:12 rejoiced, “As far as the east is from the west, so far does [the Lord] remove our transgressions from us.”  In the New Testament, Jesus is our supernatural Scapegoat, who actually did bear all our sin away from us and from the presence of God . . . bearing them away as far as the east is from the west.  As he hung on the cross, Jesus was released into the awful wilderness of the wrath of God.  

The difference between the Old Testament scapegoat and the New Testament “Scapegoat” is the first one was a symbol (theologians use the word type) pointing to the ultimate substance (or reality).  The live goat simply pointed to the supernatural Scapegoat who would finally and fully remove our guilt and sin. 

Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.

(Romans 4:8)

Christian, do you really believe this incredible truth penned by the apostle Paul?  The awareness of our own sin, which brings with it both pain and shame, often seems to block us from receiving and resting in this truth.  Yet this is the only place we can find rest for our souls and recharging for our batteries of service, holiness, godliness, and obedience.  As long as we believe that our sin separates us from the love of God, any obedience we achieve will always be a result of duty and obligation, not a response of gratitude and love. 

The blood of your supernatural Scapegoat, our great Redeemer, Jesus Christ, cleanses you from all unrighteousness (see 1 John 1:9).  You sins have been removed from you, “as high as the heavens are above the earth” (Psalm 130:11), a distance which simply cannot be measured!  Receive it that truth!  Rest in it!  Respond to it with a heart that overflows with love and thanksgiving for the supernatural Scapegoat, who on the cross won for you both freedom from guilt and faithfulness to God. 

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

Far too many in the church today believe Jesus saved them to make them “good.” They’re missing altogether the deeper message of our salvation.  They have reduced the Bible to a book of rules and shrunk their faith to a “things-to-do” list.  For those who may be trapped in this gross misunderstanding of the Christian faith, let me say this: Jesus did not save you to make you good; He saved you to make you His!  And out of the Gospel-truth of being His, good behavior and good works naturally flow!

[Jesus Christ] gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.  (Titus 2:14)

Our goodness flows out of our relationship with Jesus Christ.  There is nothing within us that causes goodness or contributes in any way to continuing it.  Once Jesus saves us, we are His for good and for bad; for richer and poorer; in sickness and in health.

“Behold, I am with you always,” Jesus promises us, “to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20). When we understand this Gospel-truth, we no longer have to keep trying to work our way into His continued acceptance. Our acceptance is based not on what we do, but on what Jesus did on our behalf. 

“Work harder and do more!” is the slave driver’s pitiless cry to the Christian who has not yet been seized by the truth of the Gospel.  These miserable saints fail to realize that by working to prove their love for God, or to pay for the love He lavishes on us, are more tightly focused on themselves than they are on God!  And this is precisely what the devil wants God’s people to be doing. 

The dominating forces driving these individuals are guilt and fear.  They feel guilty over their past and fearful about their future.  They look back and see the countless times they fell short of God’s mark and are consumed by an overwhelming sense of indebtedness.  They believe they must repay God in some way for all He has done for them.  To be blunt, they feel they need to buy God’s love.

They look ahead, fearful about a future that will be marked by not measuring up (that is, not proving their love for God) and suffering the consequences delivered by the hand of a God who will inevitably come looking for a little payback!  In other words, they believe God is going to exact His pound of flesh from them.  When we mistakenly base our relationship with Jesus on our good works, we live lives of quiet desperation and utter despair. Does any of this resonate with you?

The way out of this mess is by going deeper into the Gospel.  All others religions say, “DO!”  Only Christianity says, “DONE!”  Because of what Jesus has done for you, you don’t have to fixate on what you are doing for Him. It is only when we see our salvation as being more about whose we are rather than what we do that we will begin living a life that is pleasing to God.  Good works flow out of an understanding that, even without them, I am still loved and accepted in Christ.  Remember this: Jesus doesn’t call us to “Do more and try harder.”  Instead He calls us to, “Come near to God and he will come near to you” (James 4:8).

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

We have all heard of tug-of-war, and most of us have played it.  It is a contest that pits two teams against each other in a test of physical strength and endurance.  When I was in the Hollywood Fire Rescue Department, a group of my friends and I entered into a tug-of-War competition called the “Tug-a-Ton!”  Each team was allowed up to but not exceeding 2000 pounds of total man weight on their side of the rope.  You could have as many men as you wanted on your team as long as the total weight of all the men combined did not exceed a ton (2000 lbs). 

I will never forget the team we lost to in the finals.  After a long day of tugging on the rope, everyone’s hands and forearms were pretty well beat up with cuts and bruises.  The team we were up against came out for the championship match wearing special “lobster” gloves for a better grip on the rope.  The gloves were allowed, but we firefighters were too proud to wear our gloves.  We fought hard for nearly ten minutes, but in the end we were pulled across the center line and into second place.

So the term “tug-of-war” can describe a demonstration of brute strength by two opposing teams, such as a rivalry between two departments of a company.  Today I want to employ a metaphorical use “tug-of-war” to describe the battle going on daily inside the heart of every Christian believer—a-tug-of-war between the sinful nature and the Spirit of Christ.  The apostle Paul described it perfectly in his letter to the church in Galatia.

The sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.  They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.  (Galatians 5:17)

Like two opposing teams straining at their side of the rope, the sinful nature is at war against the Spirit, and the Spirit is fighting against the sinful nature.  The Bible makes this truth crystal clear.  In The Gospel For Real Life, Jerry Bridges writes, “We must acknowledge this tension if we are to make progress in the Christian life.  Indwelling sin is like a disease that we can’t begin to deal with until we acknowledge its presence.  But in the case of sin, we must also count on the fact that, though it still resides in us, it no longer has dominion over us.” 

Sin remains, but it no longer reigns.  Jesus reigns, and the grace that He poured into your life when you were saved is the same grace that He continually pours into your life as He is sanctifying you.  Sin is no longer our master (see Romans 6:14).  Jesus is our Master, and it is His Holy Spirit that has power and control over us. 

It is the grace of the Gospel that empowers us to keep on pulling, even when we have fallen into the dirt time and time again and feel like we have no strength left to pull.  When we are weak, we are strong because of the One who is on our side.  In knowing that Jesus will never take His hands off of our side of the rope, regardless of how often we slip or let go altogether, we find the strength to keep fighting the good fight.     

You see, for the Christian, the One really pulling on our side of the rope is Jesus.  It is His hands.  It is His strength.  It is His grace.  And Jesus has never lost a match!  He’ll pull us across the center line and into the winner’s circle!

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

The world places people into two distinct categories: “Winners” and “Losers.”  This discrimination is hardwired into the DNA of all of us—that people are either winners or losers.  But the Gospel provides another completely different category, which I like to call “Witnesses” and “Learners!”

Instead falling into the worldly categories of winning and losing established by a culture dominated by competition and one-upmanship, the Bible says that God’s children are either “witnesses” or “learners.”  A witness is someone who faithfully reflects the character of Christ.  A learner has fallen short of that mark, but from a posture of Gospel-saturated humility, is engaged in learning the lesson God has given to them.

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.  (Acts 1:8)

The Greek word for “witness” in the New Testament is Martos, from which we get our English word martyr.  In essence, a witness for Christ goes beyond their words in life to a way of life.  They bear witness with both their lips and their lives . . . their profession and their practice . . . their words and their works.  You see, the Gospel not only provides for spiritual needs, it provides for physical needs as well.  How else would we explain Jesus feeding crowds of thousands and making the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear, and the dead live again?

When Christians bear false witness—that is, when their practice contradicts their profession—they are moved into the category of “learner” . . . NOT loser.  Every time we mess up is an opportunity for the Master to teach us something about ourselves and our God.  Every time we bear false witness, whether in thought, word, deed, or desire, we are given an opportunity to learn more about the truths of the Gospel and the trustworthiness of our God. 

So the next time you stumble and sin, look for the lesson God wants you to learn.  Don’t let the world convince you that you are a “loser”!  With Jesus on your side, losing is not an option, because He has secured every victory for you on Golgotha’s Hill.  And the most important lesson we need to learn is the truth that God, in His grace, loves us through every storm . . . every struggle . . . and every sin.  He does not withdraw His love from us, no matter how often we bear false witness.

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

The devil is on the prowl for unbelievers; he is busily engaged in keeping them in utter darkness.  

[T]he god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4)

Satan is on the prowl for the believers too! Scripture is bookended by admonitions to be on guard against our cunning and terrible adversary.  God cautioned Cain, “Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7). And Peter warns the church, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

To be sure, Satan can never take you out of the hand of your Savior (see John 6:37 and 10:27-30).  But Satan can and will mess up your life . . . if you let him.  I once heard a speaker quote John 10:10—“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10)—and declare that Satan is working tirelessly to steal your innocence, to destroy your dreams, and to kill you!

The devil is on mission to blind you to the truths of the Gospel in subtle and surprising ways.  You would do well to review how Satan approached Eve in Genesis, Chapter Three.  Satan doesn’t try to convince you that there is no God; instead he smoothly seeks to convince you that a Godless existence isn’t all that bad—it’s actually quite fun and fulfilling!  The more the devil can ensnare us in living a life of self-seeking personal pleasure, the more profoundly we are blinded to the life God calls us to live.

Christian believers are blinded when the devil distracts and diverts their affections to things smaller than God.  And how frighteningly easy this is to do—especially when these things are not inherently bad . . . or even incredibly good. 

• Work is good . . . but not when it blinds us to Jesus
• Relationships are good . . . but not when they blind us to Jesus
• Recreation is good . . . but not when it blinds us to Jesus
• Taking care of our home is good . . . but not when it blinds us to Jesus
• A hobby is good . . . but not when it blinds us to Jesus
• Serving the church is good . . . but NOT when it blinds us to Jesus!

My beloved pastor Tullian frequently admonishes our congregation that “Good things become bad things when they become ultimate things.”  Our love for the good things in this world can blind us to what should be the one true love of our lives: Jesus.  The devil has expertly developed the diabolical tactic of blinding believers by keeping them busy being busy.  We are certain that idle time is the devil’s workshop, so we keep on keeping on, chasing after lesser gods that never deliver what they promise.  At the end of the day, we realize that our problem is not so much in what we are running after, but in what we are running away from. 

The only cure for the blinding of believers is the Gospel, which tells us that repentance and recovery of spiritual sight are gifts from God.  Paul wrote to encourage us “in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will (2 Timothy 2:25-26 NIV).

Elsewhere Paul exulted that “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20).  We are not to fear, for we know our victory was eternally secured when our warrior King cried out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30).  Martin Luther exulted in the victory Christ won for us in “A Mighty Fortress is our God.”

And though this world, with devils filled,

should threaten to undo us,

we will not fear, for God hath willed

His truth to triumph through us. 

The Prince of Darkness grim,

we tremble not for him;

his rage we can endure,

for lo, his doom is sure;

one little word shall fell him.

By resting in the truths of the Gospel and recalling all that Jesus has done for us, we begin to see more clearly.  And in seeing more clearly, we see Jesus as the only thing and the only One who can satisfy our deepest needs: pardon for our sins and peace for our weary souls.

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

Do you remember the story of the “good” thief on the cross who entered into heaven moments after his conversion?  He went instantly from imperfection to perfection.  God has done this great work of salvation countless times in the lives of His saints; some folks have used the phrase “deathbed conversion” to describe it.  But our loving Lord did not do this for us.  Why?  Why would God keep us out of His heaven when heaven is what we all long for?

Charles Spurgeon profoundly asked, “Would God keep His children out of paradise a single moment longer than was necessary?  Why is the army of the living God still on the battlefield when one charge might give them the victory?  Why are His children still wandering hither and thither through a maze, when a solitary word from His lips would bring them into the center of their hopes in heaven?”

The answer to the great preacher’s question is found, of all places, in the oft-repeated refrain from The Blues Brothers movie: “We’re on a mission from God!”

If God did not have work for us to be doing, we would have already entered into our eternal rest alongside the saints who have gone before us.  We remain here on earth as ambassadors for Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:20), tasked with expanding the cause of His kingdom.  We are here to be both salt and light.  Our Lord commands:

You are the salt of the earth.  But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.  You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.  (Matthew 5:13-16)

Jesus used the metaphors of salt and light to tell us something very important about our mission.  Salt in ancient times was used both to enhance flavor and to act as a preservative.  As salt, we are to bring Gospel flavor to all we do, as well as preserve the truths of the Gospel in our fallen and broken world.  As light, we are to be visible as living epistles of Christ, shining the light of His truth into every dark place, so that God would be glorified.

So don’t fret about the length of time God takes to complete your transformation from imperfection to perfection.  There is work to be done!  You’re on a mission from God!  And the mission He has given you is Kingdom work, in which you live beyond your personal wants, needs, and desires, and live instead for the glory of the King and the good of others . . . all others!

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