Monthly Archives: March 2026

Walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

In the world we live in, it is much easier to live by sight rather than by faith. The sights and sounds of the world we live in capture our attention and control our affections. We end up living for the here and now, rather than the there and then. But God wants us to live according to His promises even though we cannot see them, which empowers us to live in the now with a view to the then.

It was Martin Luther King Jr. who said, “Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” Because God is sovereign and in complete control of everything, we can simply look to Him and trust in where He is leading us. We don’t need to know the twists and turns in the path He has put us on. All we need to know is the One who is leading us every step of the way. When Paul tells us to walk by faith and not by sight, he is telling us to build our lives on the things that have eternal value and to live in light of eternity.

Every child of God can use an occasional faith-lift. We need to be reminded of God’s plan and purpose for our lives and resist our natural inclinations to follow our own plan and purpose. A faith-lift is shifting our trust away from ourselves and putting it on our Savior. A faith-lift is leaning not on our own understanding, but putting all our weight on our Lord and following wherever He is leading.

Remember, a faith-lift is rising above feelings that can be so fickle. We feel one way in this moment, and another way in the next. It is rising above the circumstances of life and fixing our focus squarely on Christ. This requires a recommitment to surrender and a refusal to live in self-reliance. Cling to Christ and allow God’s power to renew your mind, recalibrate your heart, and realign your will. This is the kind of faith-lift we all could use.

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

I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. (Hebrews 8:12)

Because we know that God knows everything, everywhere, and at all times, what in the world does it mean He will remember our sins no more? Does God really forget our sins? Not exactly. God does know everything, everywhere, and at all times. But He chooses to leave our sins, all our sins, nailed to the cross. God simply refuses to bring up our past sins no matter what we do.

Listen, the memory of past mistakes, shortcomings, and sins can cause us to live in the past rather than learn from the past. Yet, God wants us to treat the past like a school. We are to learn the lesson, but not live there. It is Satan that whispers in our ears – remember what you did back then – how could you do that again – perhaps you are not even a child of God – all the while trying to shift our focus away from our Savior and put in on ourselves.

As a pastor, I often have people tell me in our coaching sessions, “I just can’t forgive myself.” That is one of Stan’s sharpest darts aimed at the heart of the believer. Do you see just how man-centered that statement is? It’s not about forgiving yourself. It’s about appropriating God’s promised forgiveness that has been secured by Jesus in His crucifixion and resurrection. When we sin and repent of our sin, that is the end of it. When we are in a saving relationship with Jesus, all of our sins are forgiven, past, present, and the ones still to come. What we need to do is have a good forgettery – and not let our past sins keep us in bondage to our sinful past.

So, how well is your forgettery working? Are you letting your past sins and failures drag you down into the mudflats of life? Look to the cross and rise above Satan’s strategy to keep you remembering your sins. Remember, God has chosen to forget them, all of them. This is to be the confession of our lives.

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

This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. (1 John 4:13)

Like Adam and Eve who chose fig leaves to hid behind rather than face God for forgiveness, healing, and restoration, we must stop trying to hide behind “fig leave” statements like, “That’s just the way I am” or “I have always been that way.” Statements like these express a refusal to change and a defense of one’s habits. These phrases can often indicate a “take it or leave it” kind of attitude. But know this – what you were yesterday matters not to God because He has given you His Spirit to make you something you have never been as a new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Excuses are like camouflage we try to hide behind when we would rather not do the hard work of getting in step with the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. It is far easier to simply settle into our old self and live in the flesh rather than His Spirit. But this so dishonors our Lord who paid the ultimate price to have us in relationship with Him. He died that we might live, not anyway we like. But to live like Him.

Think about it this way. When we say to someone, “I’m just not a patient, kind, or loving person,” we are denying the work of the Holy Spirit in us. We are that kind of person because we are indwelt by the power of the Holy Spirit. We just need to simply begin acting out practically, what we already are positionally, as a child of the Most-High God.

So, what camouflage have you been hiding behind lately? By God’s grace, let us all get rid of our fig leaves and face the One who has promised to make all things new, including you.

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

Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29)

During the time of wilderness wandering, God made His presence known in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. When the cloud moved, the people of God were to move with it. When the cloud stopped, they were to stay put. The problem was the people kept looking away from the cloud and on to the crowd.

The crowd complained about the leadership. The crowd complained about the menu. The crowd even wanted to go back to Egypt where they were slaves for the previous 450 years. They were a people who were rumbling, stumbling, and grumbling all the way into the Promised Land. They sought to satisfy their will rather than the will of God. In losing sight of God’s perfect plan for their imperfect lives, they shifted their focus away from the cloud and where God was leading them, and put it on the crowd.

Today, we face the same challenges God’s people faced back then. There are countless crowd voices and noises, that are calling us to walk in their way. We are constantly being bombarded by social media voices that are enticing us and encouraging us to look away from the cloud and follow the crowd. But this is not for you.

We can be sure many of the Israelites were telling Moses what to do, where to go, and how to get there. But Moses, stayed faithful to God and in his humility and obedience to God’s instructions, followed the cloud no matter where it led. So, how is it with you today? Are you following the cloud or the crowd? The more time you spend each day sitting at the feet of Jesus, the better you will be able to follow wherever He is leading you.  

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