Monthly Archives: July 2019

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12)

Mark well, beloved, these words from James: There is a special blessing from God that can only be found on the other side of burden. God will meet us in our place of deepest need, whether we find ourselves in sunshine or storm.

The trial of burden that God sends our way is not designed to bury us under its weight. Rather, the fires of affliction purge from us all that is counterfeit to our Christian faith. And what is not consumed in God’s heavenly fire emerges both blessed and built up as a testimony to having stood the test.

God is faithful to those who are His. He will not allow any of His children to sink when the waves of challenge come crashing down; He will provide all that is necessary to rise above the storm and emerge on the other side standing on the Rock of Ages, fully blessed with divine approval: the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.

Notice that James tells us that only those who love God will receive the crown of life. Is this the condition and cry of your heart? Does your heart beat with love for your Lord . . . truly, deeply, passionately, wholly? Then fear not, regardless of the burdens you are facing . . . regardless of the obstacles that currently stand in your way . . . regardless of the problems that are present in your life right now . . . you are His and His crown of life is yours. No weapon formed against you can prevail because God has promised to preserve you.

Just a cursory glance through sacred Scripture makes it clear that all the saints of God are tried in the fire of affliction. From Joseph in Egypt to David in the desert to John the Baptist in the Herod’s court to Paul in Rome, God’s people stand the test and receive the crown of life. Remember, God is working all things together for your good and His glory. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19), and a love that is not tested and tried is no love at all. The love of God in Christ Jesus was tried in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the hill Golgotha, and it proved to be genuine. Jesus refused to shrink back from the unimaginable burden of His crucifixion; He not only stood the test, but He strode out of the grave that first Easter morning with the crown of life.

Like Savior, like saint. He stood the test and so shall you, because greater is the power in you than any power that comes against you. True love must be tried and it must be tested, and it must persevere, because it is His love that strengthens our love all the way into glory.

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

“The Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’” (Hosea 1:10)

The reach of God’s amazing grace knows no bounds. God’s arm is not short . . . He can reach all the way to anyone and He can reach anybody. May that truth be a source of eternal encouragement to you today!

Notice the power of God’s amazing grace that is declared in today’s verse. It makes strangers into sons and the rebellious into the righteous. This is the truth about my standing with the Lord God Omnipotent, and I pray that it is your truth as well.

For most of us, there was a time when we felt as far off from God as we do from the stars. We had nothing to do with God or His people. We were distant, disconnected, and desperate. But God, in His sovereign mercy and amazing grace, opened the eyes of our hearts and gave us ears of faith so we could hear Him whisper from on high, “You are now a child of the living God.”

Our God is a saving God, full of mercy and grace. Adam and Eve knew this truth by way of personal experience. When they chose to rebel against God, they ran and hid from Him. And what did God do? He pursued those rebels on the run. This is the pattern of God that is presented throughout the entire Bible. It’s rare to find a story in the Scriptures where a great saint of God did not rebel in some way. And yet, with every right to leave His children wallowing in their wickedness, we see how God ran after them, picked them up and dusted them off, and set them back on their feet so that His robe of righteousness would shine forth once again.

It is beyond human comprehension that the Creator of the universe would desire a personal relationship with selfish, sinful creatures such as you and me. Yet God the Father sent God the Son to die on a cross for our sins so that we would be transformed from NOT His people to BOUGHT people. The deep truth of Scripture, of course, is that we were always His, having been chosen before the foundation of the world . . . but we didn’t know it. As Steve Brown says, “God knew you and took care of you before you knew Him.”

So . . . knowing that you were once far off from God but now have been brought near by the blood of the Lamb who took you from NOT to BOUGHT . . . are you encouraged? Living in the light of this truth—not just daily, but moment by moment—will keep you strengthened, even in those moments when you have done something that makes you feel like you are NOT. You are His, Christian, BOUGHT by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and there is no power in heaven or on earth that can change that. Rejoice in His unfailing, unchanging, amazing love!

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

“Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, Sovereign Lord, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever.” (2 Samuel 7:29)

It is one thing to plead our petitions before the throne of grace, for we have been invited to do so day and night. It is another thing altogether to plead His promises. It is to these pleas that we can expect to receive blessings multiplied for His name’s sake, for what God has promised, He will surely do.

I first learned that our God is a covenant-keeping God when I was in seminary. It was one of Dr. Robert Reymond’s favorite phrases, and he would often remind his students that God is a promise-maker and a promise-keeper. As children of God, we are to plead His promises, because every promise of God is “Yes” and “Amen” in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20). We are invited to come boldly before the throne of grace and remind our God of the promises He has made to us, and we can plead His promises in confident anticipation that He will perform them.

Is it not a source of cosmic comfort to be able to do as David did? We see in today’s verse that the shepherd king went to His God and repeated back to Him what He had already promised to do for His servant. The Bible is filled with promises that God has made to you. When was the last time you took Him at His Word and pleaded those promises? David knew what we all are to know by way of personal experience: Not a single promise of God will ever fall to the ground unfulfilled or return void. When God speaks, it is settled, and to see so many sure accomplishments presented to us in the Scriptures should keep us on our knees day and night.

There is no need that you might ask God to meet that He does not already have sufficient provision promised for you, for He has promised to “meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Regardless of what you are facing in your personal, school, family, or professional life, God has uttered a promise that you have been given permission to plead to Him. Know and trust in what David knew, that your God is pleased to bring to pass all that He has promised to give to you. And never forget that He will always make good on His promises to you in His perfect way and in His impeccable timing. Plead His promises and prepare to be blessed . . . and amazed!

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

Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

Do you know why the devil loves the consumer Christianity that is so prevalent in the church today? It’s because the consumers are sitting on the throne of their lives, having pushed Christ to the periphery. And when Christ has been pushed to the periphery of our lives, we set ourselves adrift on a sea of self-centeredness.

Consumer Christianity is all about ME. The focus in on self rather than the Savior. The consumer comes to church asking, “What will I receive?” . . . “How will I be blessed?” . . . “How will my experience today meet my deepest felt needs?”

Now, please don’t misunderstand me; it is entirely biblical to come to the Fount of every blessing and expect to receive, be blessed, and have your deepest needs met. But when that is our focus, our aim, and our expectation when we come to church, we have completely missed the primary purpose of assembling together as a body of believers. Far too many churches foster a culture of consumer Christianity by communicating a primary message of “Jesus and me” rather than “Jesus and we.” These churches preach to felt needs without setting forth the cost of discipleship.

But this is not for you! Jesus made it abundantly clear that in order to be His disciples we are to deny the self, not focus on it. We are to let go of the reigns of our lives and invite Jesus to guide us in the direction He wants us to go. Trusting in our Savior means we have come to the understanding of what it means to deny the self.

But Jesus did not stop there. He also said we must take up our cross, and that message was not lost on His first century audience. The roads of Rome were lined with crosses that held the dying and deceased victims of Roman “justice.” Jesus was saying we must be willing to not only deny the self, but to die to self. Only in dying to self can we find the life we most desperately desire: a life of significance, meaning, and purpose. And where does that kind of life take us? It takes us wherever Jesus leads us as we follow Him, regardless of the cost or circumstance.

If you have been infected with a bit of consumer Christianity, fear not! The cure is clear. Keep the cross in view—not the cross you are to carry, but the one upon which Jesus was crucified. He took your nails and your crown of thorns and poured out His blood so that He could have an intimate, personal, relationship with you for all eternity.

Remember these words from Peter: “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God” (1 Peter 2:16 ESV). Christ died to set you free from slavery to selfish desires. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and you will find that all your needs will be given to you as well.

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