Monthly Archives: August 2019

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire . . .He put a new song in my mouth. (Psalm 40:2-3)

If you could stand a bit of encouragement today, then please read on. The psalmist reminds us that our God is in the business of taking whatever mess we find ourselves in and turning it into a masterpiece. He takes us from the pit and places us in the palace. And He lifts us out of the mire and calls us into the choir, that we might join the heavenly chorus in singing praises to His mighty and merciful name.

Take just a cursory glance through the Bible, and you will see that our God delights in delivering His people from the mire into the choir. He took Moses from the mire of murder after Moses killed the Egyptian who was beating the Hebrew slave. Forty years later, God called Moses out of the backside of the desert to sing a song of deliverance to Pharaoh. God also took the apostle Paul from the mire of murder. Paul (then Saul) stood by, watching approvingly and holding the coats of those stoned Stephen for boldly bearing witness to the Righteous One, Jesus Christ. And the song that God gave Paul to sing turned in to nearly two-thirds of the New Testament.

Here is a biblical truth that we all must keep in view. God has promised to take us from the mire to the choir, but often He does not deliver us out of the mire, but through it. May these lyrics from God Hath Not Promised, by Annie Johnson Fling (1866-1932), minister to you this day.

God hath not promised skies always blue,

Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;

God hath not promised sun without rain,

Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.

But God hath promised strength for the day,

Rest for the labor, light for the way,

Grace for the trials, help from above,

Unfailing sympathy, undying love.

Christian, the mire you find yourself in is not likely to be murder; perhaps it is a marriage gone sour, a prodigal child, struggles at work, a habit that has turned into an addiction . . . I could go on. But please know that God is at work in your life right now, conforming you to the image and likeness of His beloved Son. He has promised to never leave you nor forsake you, and He has promised to take you from the mire to the choir . . . and, as the psalmist said, “Many will see what he has done and be astounded. They will put their trust in the Lord” (Psalm 40:3).

What an incredible promise our loving Lord has given you! I pray that many will put their trust in the Lord as you go about your day today, singing joyful songs of praise to your Redeemer!

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

All things are yours, whether . . . the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ and Christ is of God. (1 Corinthians 3:21-23)

Sometimes we shrink the truths of the Gospel down to things promised. To be sure, we have been promised an eternity with our Lord. This eternity is a place where we have been promised that there will be no more sorrow or sin, pain or persecution, fear or faithlessness, disease or death.

But what about right now? What does the Gospel promise us in this present life?

This article would truly have no end if I were to try and set before you all that we have been given presently in Christ Jesus. Here are just a few things of those things, and I pray these words will provide both comfort and encouragement for you.

• We are unconditionally loved.
• We are completely forgiven.
• We are perfectly accepted.
• We are totally empowered.
• We are supernaturally strengthened.
• We are eternally united to God in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

What we must remember is that the Gospel not only affects our eternal life, it also affects our everyday life. As the apostle Paul wrote in our verse for today, whether things present or things to come, all is ours! Paul was advancing the truth that God had already set before His people in the Old Testament.

The upright shall have good things in possession. (Proverbs 28:10 KJV)

As a child of the Most High God, you currently have good things in your possession. To live out this truth is to live a life marked by joy and thanksgiving to the One who has so graciously given you life and breath and everything else. And remember, above all that you have been promised, you have the presence of your Lord Jesus everywhere you go. When Jesus walked with His disciples, they had Him with them physically, but not every moment of every day. But when Jesus left this earth, He sent His Holy Spirit and promised that His Spirit would dwell within us every moment in this life . . . and throughout the next.

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

Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.  (Psalm 119:133)

People often ask me, “How can I know if I am redeemed?” To be sure, Scripture provides great insight into the confident assurance we are to have in knowing our right standing before God. However, when I am asked that question, I always direct people to read today’s verse and search their hearts to see if the request of the psalmist is their request too. Only the redeemed will request of the Redeemer that no sin will rule over them. Is this your daily request?

Sin would occupy the throne of our lives if it could, because sin is never satisfied with coming in second. But when Jesus went to the cross and cried, “It is finished,” He was announcing that Satan, death, and sin had been defeated. However, there is something every saint of God must remember about the Christian life: Inasmuch as sin no longer reigns in the life of the believer, it still remains. Sin has been defeated, yes, but it is not yet totally destroyed. As Steve Brown says, “The dragon has been slain, but his tail still swishes.”

Because the old nature is still alive within every child of God, it must be our daily prayer that no sin will rule over us. It is a battle we must be willing to fight—not just daily, but moment by moment. Each day we wake up in the crosshairs of the world, the flesh, and the devil. The battle is fierce and the enemy is ferocious; the tempter will do everything in his power to gain ground in the life of the believer.

Throughout this ongoing battle, there is something you must never forget, which is the response of the Redeemer to the request of the redeemed:

Sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:14)

Will we still struggle with sin? Yes, we do and we will every step of the way into glory. But sin will never again reign in the life of the redeemed. We will be weakened and we will be wounded, but we will never be wrecked on the sandbar of sin. If we were still trying to save ourselves under the law, sin would have its way with us. It would discourage us, derail us, and ultimately defeat us. But we are not under the law. We are under grace, and the grace of God has promised to comfort, correct, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness

Regardless of where this message finds you today, keep fighting the good fight of faith against all the schemes of Satan. Know that He who began a good work in you has promised to complete what He started. Make your request each day that no sin will rule over you and know that it shall not.

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