Monthly Archives: April 2021

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)

There is a great little story that speaks to conquering sin in our lives. A young boy was struggling with a variety of temptations, so his parents asked their pastor to come and speak with him. After the young boy described some of the devil’s temptations, the pastor responded, “The next time the devil comes knocking, just ask Jesus to get the door.”

Here is what we must remember when it comes to sin. Sin still remains in the life of the child of God. Just read through the seventh chapter of Romans if you have any doubts that sin smears the life of even the most godly believer after salvation. Yes, sin still remains in the life of the believer, but sin no longer reigns in that life. The power of sin was broken on the cross when Jesus paid the penalty for our sins — all our sins, past, present, and future.

Before Jesus came into our lives, all we could do was sin. Even our best actions sprang from sinful, selfish motivations. But after Jesus raises us from death to life and gives us the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, we have the ability, for the very first time, not to sin. Here is how Paul explained this powerful truth.

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13).   

Here are a few truths to encourage you from Paul’s words to the Corinthians. First, everyone is tempted and temptation is not a sin. Scripture tells us that Jesus Christ was “tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Second, never feel like you have been singled out when wrong desires rear their ugly heads in your life. Others have resisted temptation, and you can too; we all have been given the same Spirit and the same power to fight against the slings and arrows of the devil. God has promised that he will always make a way out for all of us, if we are willing to walk in it.

Is there any particular struggle you are facing in your life right now? Something in your personal life . . . your professional life . . . your family life? Just remember, when the devil comes knocking with his many and varied temptations, just ask Jesus to get the door. I promise you that He will make sure that particular temptation will not overtake you.

Let me close with a word of caution for all of us. We should never try and answer the door ourselves. None of us are strong enough! We simply need to ask Jesus to answer the door of temptation, and we will receive our deliverance.

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

Carry each other’s burdens. (Galatians 6:2)

Your first glance at this title might cause you to think that I will be sharing some tips from our sport training ministry to help build your upper body strength. And it certainly is true that I enjoy this aspect of our church ministry, having spent most of my life coaching and training athletes in sports and the martial arts. But the “shoulder strength” I am talking about here has nothing to do with weight lifting, but rather lifting weight.

Regardless of your age, athletic experience, physical ability, or station in life, as a child of God you have been given supernatural strength to help others in a variety of different ways. As Christians, we are called to bear one another’s burdens — to come alongside others and let them lean on us when they are not strong and to offer them a shoulder to cry on. We all have the perfect amount of shoulder strength to be a blessing to others in their time of need. It is God who has ordained the church to be His shoulders to help strengthen others in their times of need. It is only when the entire body of Christ is engaged and working together that we will be what God in Christ died to make us — His body.

So how has God been using your shoulders lately? Please keep in mind that this has nothing to do with ability; it has everything to do with availability. God gives all of His children the ability to be a source of strength to others. But it is up to us to make ourselves available to be used by God for His glory and the good of others.

Think back to the last time you needed a shoulder to cry on or when someone came alongside of you to help you bear a particular burden. We really do need each other, because God will work no needless miracle to ease a burden when He has already ordained for His children to be His shoulder strength.

Take some time today to consider those closest to you and how you might be able to meet some particular need. Ask God to show you how He wants to use you in the life of someone who needs your strength, and you will be blessed beyond measure. “And in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

One last thought: Don’t forget that when you are helping carry someone else’s burden, Jesus is carrying you every step of the way. For God has promised to meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

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

“If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” (1 Corinthians 15:14)

On Monday we took a look at the “embarrassing” evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the testimony of the women and on Wednesday we unpacked the “enemy” evidence provided by the religious leaders. Today we will look at Saul of Tarsus, who described himself as “a Pharisee of Pharisees,” and who was a true enemy of Jesus and the Gospel.

For more than two thousand years, no skeptic has ever been able to explain in any reasonable and plausible fashion how or why Saul, the savage persecutor of the church, became Paul, the pastor, preacher, and disciple of Jesus Christ, who penned much of the New Testament.

Saul of Tarsus was greatly feared among the first-century church. He was relentless in his persecution of the followers of Jesus, and he testified to that fact in several of his epistles (1 Corinthians 15:9; Galatians 1:13; 1 Timothy 1:13), frankly admitting his great zeal in persecuting the church (Philippians 3:5). Along with his epistles, the book of Acts records Saul’s efforts to destroy the church. Then something happened on the road to Damascus.

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (Acts 9:1-6).

There may very well have been no greater enemy of the early church than Saul of Tarsus. Scripture reports that he held the coats of those who stoned godly Stephen to death, giving his full approval to their actions (Acts 7:58, 8:1). Saul was blinded by his self-righteous, false religion, and he did everything in his power to extinguish the light of the Gospel . . . but to no avail. The resurrected Jesus showed up and transformed Saul the persecutor into Paul the preacher.

How do we explain this incredible transformation? There is only one way; it happened just as the Scriptures say it happened. Time and time again, an honest reading of the Bible and of history confirms that the Scriptures are historically true and accurate.

One more thing. It is beyond contestation that Paul was martyred under the emperor Nero for his faith in Jesus. The early church fathers, Polycarp, Tertullian, and Clement of Rome all testify to this truth. The only way anyone could go from killing Christians to being killed for being a Christian is because of a heart-altering encounter with the risen and resurrected Lord. From embarrassing testimony to enemy attestation, God has given us powerful, plausible proof for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So the question is: Do you believe He is risen? He is risen! He is risen indeed!

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