Monthly Archives: November 2020

But for me it is good to be near God. (Psalm 73:28)

If you were asked to describe your current relationship with Jesus, how would you respond? There are periods in my own life when I would describe the difference between walking side by side rather than face to face. In other words, my relationship with Jesus is always important (side by side), but it is not always intimate (face to face).

There is relationship when walking side by side. There is agreement and one accord; there is a common purpose that leads in the same direction. Now, without question such a relationship is important, but it is not necessarily intimate. Intimacy is moving from a side-by-side relationship to a face-to-face one. It is the experience of not only deeply knowing, but being deeply known.

Scripture says of Moses that “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend” (Exodus 33:11). You and I should desire such a relationship with our living Lord. When God created us in His image, He created us for relationship with Him, one that would not only be important, but intimate as well. Our God wants what we all so desperately need: an intimate personal relationship with Him.

When the psalmist said “It is good to be near God,” I don’t believe he was talking about proximity; he was speaking of intimacy. The psalmist knew that intimacy with God has no competition or contenders in this life. And that is the way God designed it to be! That God-sized hole in each of our hearts was put there by God so that it could only be filled up by Him and nothing else. There is nothing smaller than God that will ever be able to meet us in our deepest place of need, no matter how hard we try to make it so.

Listen, God wants intimacy with you so much that He provided for it as His expense. In sending His precious Son to die on a cross, He paid the price and paved the way for you to experience intimacy at the deepest possible level—to live coram Deo (before the very face of God). Enjoying intimacy with Jesus is knowing that everything we think, do, say, and desire is fully known by Him . . . and that includes all the things we ought not think, do, say, and desire. Through it all, we are fully known and yet completely loved. That truth, when fully understood, takes an important relationship and makes it intimate.

So let me ask you: Would you describe your relationship with Jesus as one that is important . . . or intimate? Remember, every aspect of life is to be lived before the face of God. If we desire deep and abiding intimacy, we cannot withhold any part of our lives from Him. We will never experience the intimacy we were made for if we compartmentalize our Christianity.

The importance of our life with Christ is guaranteed; intimacy depends on us. This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright. (Genesis 25:34)

How often we are just like Esau? In a single impulsive moment, we settle for far less than God’s best for our lives because we want whatever it is right now to fill up some emptiness inside, rather than fixing our focus on the only One who can and will meet our every need. If you see a little bit of Esau in yourself today, then please read on . . . and be encouraged!

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” . . . Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. (Genesis 25:29-34)

Esau traded the lasting benefits of his birthright for the immediate, momentary pleasure of a meal. Esau wanted to solve the immediate problem of his hunger instantly without ever considering the long-term consequences of his actions. We have all done the same thing at some point (or points) in our lives. We see something we want, and without counting the cost we reach for it. In that moment we believe we are satisfied, but more often than not, fleeting pleasure leads to lasting pain. The lure of instant gratification blinds us to lasting heartache that lurks just around the corner.

We are all very much like Esau in exaggerating what we think we need. Was Esau really “about to die” from starvation? Perhaps he had missed a meal when he was out in the open country, but his desire was inflamed by the smell of food, which extinguished his good sense to shun instant gratification and embrace eternal gain.

We have many examples of making the same mistake in our own lives. Here are just a few:

• Trading family time for business success
• Trading the pleasures of food for poor health
• Trading ease for activity that leads to sickness
• Trading wants for needs

So how do we keep from making the same mistake Esau made? We forsake instant gratification. The key to doing this is to “count the cost” (Luke 14:28) of our actions by comparing the short-term pleasure against the long-term pain.

It is easy to fritter away great portions of our lives chasing after things that don’t really matter—or worse, things that cause great pain and harm. May the testimony of Esau’s life—“He ate and drank and then got up and left”—not be the testimony of our lives. The rest of the story reminds us of the bitter regret Esau felt after he thought through what he had done. A little extra thought and prayer on the front end will save us great pain and regret on the back end when we forsake instant gratification. This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

“I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them. (John 21:3)

Jesus had been crucified, dead, buried, and then resurrected from the grave on that first Easter morning. He had shown Himself to several of His disciples on a number of occasions, including the one who had denied Him on the night He was betrayed. Even after encountering the resurrected Jesus and seeing the nail prints in his hands and feet and the wound from the spear that had been thrust into His side, we find Peter doing what He had done all his life: fishing.

Peter was returning to his old life, rather than moving ahead into his new life in Christ. To be fair, Peter was undoubtedly still struggling with his recent, cowardly failure, when he had denied even knowing Jesus—not once, but three times. Yes, he wept bitterly immediately after that, a clear indication of his repentance, but I’m sure Peter believed, deep down, that he had “blown it” and that Jesus had no interest in using him anymore. And so Peter returned to what he knew best—fishing. He had no inkling that he was about to be caught in the Master’s net for a time of restoration that would prepare Peter to become a great fisher of men.

What was true for Peter is true for you and me, as well; we all need times of restoration in order to return to the primary call God has placed on our lives. When we fail our Lord, we have a tendency to retreat back to what we are familiar with and avoid God’s best for our lives. We can easily convince ourselves that we will no longer be used by God for the call He has placed on us, so we “go fishing”—we go back to our old lives and tell ourselves that serving the Lord is something that is only done by “good” people. But we must remember what Peter learned: that God is not finished with us! Our loving Lord is in the business of using broken and sinful people . . . because that’s all He has to work with! Scripture promises that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus: (Philippians 1:6). Let that be an encouragement to you today and every day God gives you to live out His perfect plan and purpose for your life.

Have you “gone fishing” recently? May these words that Christ spoke to Peter on the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee both comfort you and challenge you every time you stumble to get back up and continue doing what you were created to do: expand the cause of His kingdom.

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” (John 21:15).

Christian, you will fail at times, but you will never be a failure. If you’re familiar with this passage of Scripture, you know that Jesus asked Peter the same question—“Do you love me?”—not just once, but three times, just to make sure Peter and the other disciples understood that Peter’s three denials were covered by the blood of the Lamb. And what is true for Peter is true for you and me as well! This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!