Monthly Archives: June 2016

I have a question for you: When all is said and done in your life, what do you hope will be said about all you have done? May it never be the epitaph that appeared on the gravestone of one unidentified man, which read:

HERE RESTS A MAN WHO NEVER RESTED HERE!

Let me encourage you to ponder that epitaph for a few minutes. Imagine living a life in which the greatest goal was simply increasing its speed! No time to rest . . . No time to pause and smell the roses . . . No time to soak in an early morning sunrise or an early evening sunset . . . Just running on a treadmill that never pauses.

If this picture resonates with you at any level, I have a word of encouragement for you from sacred Scripture:

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away.  

(Ecclesiastes 3:1-6)

In other words, there is a time to work and a time to rest. God Himself set the parameters for His creation order, ordaining six days of work and one day of rest. God knows exactly what we all need, and there is one thing that many people neglect in their pursuit of “success” and “living the good life” . . . and that is rest.

So . . . how well have you been following God’s perfect plan for work and rest in your imperfect life? The key to finding the rest God has called us to lies in finding the work God has equipped us to do. And what is that work? It is expanding the cause of His kingdom—right where we are, doing exactly what we are currently doing right now. You see, God has called all of His children to every imaginable sphere of life to work and serve Him, from the boardroom to the classroom to the locker room to the family room.

Regardless of where this finds you today, God wants to use you to expand the cause of His kingdom. And when you are working toward the fulfillment of His purposes in your life, you can rest in both His promises and His presence. And when you come to the end of your life you can be sure it will never be said about you . . . HERE RESTS ONE WHO NEVER RESTED HERE!

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

No matter what you are facing today . . . no matter what obstacle stands in your way . . . I want you to know something: with God on your side, you are always on the winning team!

The Bible is filled with one example after another that exalts this truth for all the world to see. We might immediately think of Moses standing before Pharaoh and how God delivered the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. Perhaps the shepherd boy David comes to mind, he who challenged the giant Goliath because every fighting man in Israel was afraid to do it.

Here’s a name that may not be on the tip of your tongue; do you by any chance remember the story of Shamgar?

Shamgar son of Anath . . . struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.

(Judges 3:31)

God had delivered the Israelites into the hands of the Philistines, who were greatly oppressing them in every imaginable way, including leaving the Israelites defenseless by taking all of their weapons of war. So, lacking the customary weapons used in battle to defend one’s nation, a farmer named Shamgar was raised up by God. Shamgar plowed his fields with a team of oxen day after day, knowing that when harvest time came, the Philistines would plunder all that he had labored for. And so, with God on his side, armed with only an ox goad (a pointed stick used to “encourage”—or goad—the oxen to continue going in the right direction), Shamgar struck down six hundred Philistines and won the day.

Shamgar understood that with God on your side, you are always on the winning team, regardless of the circumstances you are facing. Imagine this farmer, armed with only a sharp stick, striking down one sword-wielding Philistine after another! When the dust had settled, 600 soldiers lay dead on the ground, and Shamgar went back to his harvest and his God.

What are you dealing with today? What obstacle stands in your way . . . personally . . . professionally . . . relationally? Shamgar could easily have said, “I don’t have the right weapons of war to defend my land” or “There are far too many enemies for me to stand against today!” But he did not! Despite the incredible odds he was facing, he knew that God was with him, and that was all he needed to know.

Do you know this truth today? Remember, whatever you are facing, God is facing it with you. He has promised—and it is impossible for God to lie—that He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 6:18, 13:5). You have everything you need to do everything He has called you to do, and you have today’s promise to encourage, inspire, and motivate you: With God on your side, you are always on the winning team!

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

Jesus taught some very counterintuitive things, to be sure. But I cannot think of anything more counterintuitive and more difficult to actually do than this truth from Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount:

I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

(Matthew 5:44 KJV)

I want you to consider some of the responses you have made to others lately. Are your responses in line with these words of our Redeemer? I think we would be hard pressed to find any more “out-of-this-world” responses than what Jesus commands here.

• When was the last time you blessed those that curse you?
• When was the last time you did good to those that hated you?
• When was the last time you prayed for those who despitefully used and persecuted you?

Returning good for evil is just not natural! The devil returns evil for good, and that is the way he would like everyone in the world to behave. But the child of God is to return good for evil, which, quite simply, is a response that is not of this world!

As hard as this instruction seems to be to follow, when we keep in view the One who has given it to us, it empowers us to actually live it out. No one ever received more evil for good than our Lord Jesus Christ. Never did our Lord sin—not once—and yet we scourged Him and spit on Him and nailed Him to a cross. Even on the night He was to be betrayed, He washed the feet of all of His disciples, knowing exactly what they would do that night: Judas would betray Him for thirty pieces of silver; Peter would deny Him to a servant girl three times; all the disciples would run from Him like men fleeing a burning building (Mark 14:50-52). And what did Jesus return for such evil? He gave love, forgiveness, and a cosmic compassion that went to a cross to pay the penalty for their sins . . . and yours and mine also, if we will but trust in His atoning work on our behalf.

So . . . the next time someone denies you or attacks you or betrays you, how will you respond? Remember, you can’t control how people will treat you, but you can control your response to their treatment. As Dr. Charles Swindoll famously said, “Life is ten percent what happens to us and 90% what we make of it.” You always have the choice in this life to return evil for evil . . . or to offer good for evil. The first response is the natural condition of fallen man; the second is the condition of the new man who has been raised from death to life by the mercy and grace of God. Which are you?

You can make an out-of-this-world response if you remember the One who always returned good for evil and who one day will call you out of this world and into His glorious eternal kingdom in the new heavens and the new earth.

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