Monthly Archives: April 2019

With you is the fountain of life. (Psalm 36:9)

It is true that when Jesus saves us individually, He saves us to community. The Bible knows nothing of the solitary saint. When we are raised from death to life, we are placed within the body of Christ. As part of His body, we are to remain in contact with all the other parts of His body as we come together in our corporate worship, fellowship, service, and times of study. We are fed and nurtured in our faith when we are connected with the people of God.

But we have all experienced times when it seemed as though we were walking through a barren wilderness, even though we are surrounded by the people of God. Why? Perhaps we had neglected the Fountain Himself.

Speaking from both personal and pastoral experience, I can testify to this truth. It’s easy for me to get so focused on ministry that I neglect my time alone with the Master. To be sure, I am drinking from the wells of the great cloud of witnesses (other Christians), but that is a poor substitute for the Fount of Every Blessing (Jesus Christ). The family of faith will strengthen and support us as we walk with Christ through the details of life, but, make no mistake, only the Fountain will sustain us every step of the way.

It is in that Fountain of Life that we were first given new life. Like Lazarus, who was four days in the grave, we must be called forth from the tomb of spiritual death by the Fountain of Life to receive the new life that we now have in Christ. Once we have come forth from the tomb, our life experience is much like Peter’s. We declare to our Prince that we will never fall away . . . yet we all too often do, and with very little effort. What then? Like Peter, who denied the Lord three times on the night He was betrayed, we will be renewed and refreshed when we flee to the Fountain of life. And we must not simply sip from the wellspring of life, but submerge ourselves in it!

Do you thirst today? Do you feel like you’re running on empty? For some, that emptiness is simply because they have separated themselves from the people of God. If that is you, return at once to your family of faith. However, if you are plugged into the people of God and still find it hard to light up, return at once to your Fount of every blessing. The thirst you are experiencing is just a prelude to being filled to overflowing, for your Lord has promised, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink” (John 7:37).

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

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard about you, that you can interpret dreams.” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “It is not within my power, but God will speak concerning the welfare of Pharaoh.” (Genesis 41:15-16 NET)

The story of Joseph is one of the most remarkable in all of Scripture. He was hated by his brothers, who coolly ate their meal while debating whether or not to kill him and finally decided to sell Joseph for the price of a slave. After serving Potiphar faithfully and well, Joseph was falsely accused of rape by Potiphar’s wife and thrown into prison. Joseph languished in prison for two additional years after speaking prophetic words of comfort and restoration to Pharoah’s cupbearer, only to have the cupbearer forget his promise to plead Joseph’s case to Pharaoh. And yet after everything that had happened to him, Joseph’s first thought when he stood before Pharaoh was to give glory to God.

The parallels between the life of Joseph and the life of Christ are numerous and unmistakable. Like Joseph, Jesus was hated by His Jewish brethren, who constantly looked for opportunities to falsely accuse of Him of blasphemy and heresy. Ultimately Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot for the going price of a slave. Witnesses who could not even get their stories to agree brought false testimony against Him. After three years of ministry to the people of Israel, teaching the Word of God and healing them of every type of disease, the “thank you” He received was the harsh cries of a frenzied mob screaming, “Crucify!” And yet when the high priest demanded of Jesus to “Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God,” Jesus gave glory to His Father in heaven:

Yes, it is as you say . . . But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven. (Matthew 26:63-64)

And at the very end, as Jesus hung on that cruel cross, He again gave glory to God, saying, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46).

Both Joseph and Jesus experienced betrayal, hardship, and pain, and yet the glory of God was at the front of their minds and on the tip of their tongues. How is it with you and me? Do we keep the glory of God front-of-mind also, even when everything seems to be going against us?

That is what we are called to do.  We are to declare His praises no matter what may lie before us, as 1 Peter 2:9 instructs us:

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God raised us from death to life. He has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. He has promised never to leave us or forsake us. We should declare His praises at every opportunity!

This attitude of irrepressible joy is wonderfully captured by the words of the hymn, “To God Be the Glory.”

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

Let the earth hear His voice!

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

Let the people rejoice!

O come to the Father thro’ Jesus the Son,

And give Him the glory, great things He hath done.

Fanny Crosby, who wrote that marvelous anthem of praise, lost her sight when she was six weeks old. Yet she penned more than 8,000 Gospel hymns, including the incomparable “Blessed Assurance.” One day a well-meaning but shortsighted visitor told Ms. Crosby that it seemed odd that, although God had blessed her with such extraordinary talent, He had not seen fit to restore her sight. Fanny Crosby promptly replied that if she could have asked the Creator God one favor at birth, she would have asked to be born blind, because, she explained, “When I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight shall be that of my Savior.”

God has called us out of darkness and brought us into His glorious light. May our words and our countenance reflect His glorious, life-giving light to everyone we meet.

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

Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)

When was the last time the truth of today’s verse seized you? Perhaps if you commit it to memory, it will do just that the next time you are tempted. To know that our Lord Jesus was tempted in every way and yet did not yield should provide great encouragement to us.

Every sin we are tempted to engage in also sought to tempt Jesus. We must never dissociate our Lord from the difficulties of daily living. Yes, He was fully God, but when Jesus took on flesh, He took on our personhood, and He willingly went through everything we will go through . . . yet He never once gave the devil a foothold.

Whatever battle the devil has waged against you this day, fear not! Jesus went toe-to-toe with the serpent and conquered every one of his temptations, and He left a blood-stained cross behind as a testimonial to this truth. The atoning sacrifice that was made for all God’s people had to be perfect . . . spotless . . . without blemish, and the Resurrection is proof positive that this was the case. Truth was tempted, just like we are . . . but He never gave in to it!

It’s important to remember that Jesus did not live His life on this earth in His power as the second person of the Trinity. No, He laid that power down and lived in the power of the third person, the Holy Spirit. And Christian, that very same power is available to you and me this day, moment by moment.

Think about it this way: if Jesus had conquered the devil’s temptations in His own power, how much encouragement that would bring to us? Wouldn’t we expect Jesus, the Son of God, to defeat the devil? But when we realize that Jesus lived His life in the power of the Holy Spirit, we should find tremendous encouragement and hope . . . and a model for living our own lives.

We are all tempted, but being tempted is not a sin. Today’s verse tells us that Jesus did not sin, yet He was tempted in every way, just as we are. It is sin, however, when we yield to temptation. So regardless of where this message finds you today, remember that when the devil comes knocking, you do not have to answer the door! You have the same power in you to say “Away from me, Satan!” that Jesus had. Resist the devil, in the power of the Spirit of God, and he will flee from you (James 4:7).

One last thing to consider: you can look upon whatever is tempting you as an exhortation to run to Jesus, who understands exactly what you are going through. To be sure, when we say NO to the devil and YES to Christ, temptation is a sanctifying wind that blows us into the arms of our Lord. May that truth set all of us free!

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