Author Archives: Pastor Tommy

He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever. (Psalm 111:5)

What a word of comfort we have before us today. Our God remembers all of His promises to us even when we provoke Him to want to forget! Here is what we all need to remember: it is His faithfulness to us . . . not our faithfulness to Him that causes Him to remember all of His promises.

Our God remembers His promises to us and never regrets making them. He knows we are but dust and drift from time to time from our duties. Yet, He has promised to never forget or forsake us. He remembers to provide for us our daily bread. He remembers to meet us in our place of deepest need. He remembers to forgive us again and again. And He remembers to love us with an everlasting love. When God makes a promise, we can count on it because no weapon formed can cause our faithful Redeemer to let a single Word to fall to the ground.

So, regardless of where this finds you today, remember your God remembers every promise He has made to you. Do you have a need in your personal life – take it to Jesus who remembers. Do you have a need in your professional life – take it to Jesus who remembers. When you fear God, with awe and reverence for His Holy Name, you have nothing else to fear for He has promised to meet all of your needs in the glorious riches of Christ Jesus.

One final word. Your God who remembers His promises to you will accomplish what He has promised but it often will not be in the way we expect. Our God knows the best way to fulfill His promises to us and He will always do for us what is best. And experience has taught me, when God does not meet our expectations, He is getting ready to exceed them. Let that truth set you free.

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

And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.” (Exodus 3:7)

The people Israel were many years in bondage down in Egypt, but their sorrows were never out of sight of their God. What was true for the people of God ages ago is true for the people of God today, and that includes you.

When David was under the fiercest attacks from his enemies, his comfort was in knowing that God not only kept track of his sorrows, but also collected his tears (Psalm 56:8). God is intimately involved in the sorrows of His people to the extent that not a single tear falls to the ground unnoticed or uncollected. But there is even more. David says God records each one of our tears in His book. What an amazing picture that brings the confident assurance that God knows all of our sorrows.

Are you facing any sorrows of Egypt in your personal or professional life today? Remember, it was God who set the time of the deliverance of His people in Egypt. His plan for their exodus out of Egypt was delivered in His time and in His way. And it was delivered to meet them in their deepest place of need. God knows your headaches and your heartaches and He has not left you to fend for yourself for you have a High Priest who is “able to sympathize with our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15).

Many are the sorrows in this life. When you combine a broken world with broken people, sorrows are multiplied. Yet, God knows every sorrow we face and is already working His perfect plan to lift us out of it, but in His time and in His way. We must not question the Captain of our Salvation who is working all things for our good, even when the outward appearance says He is not. God did not forget His people in Egypt centuries ago and He has not forgotten His people in Egypt today.

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

By faith he [Moses] forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. (Hebrews 11:27 – NKJV)

In reading today’s title, it would be easy to formulate the pictures of Moses, the great deliverer of God’s people, delivering the plagues to Pharaoh and leading the Israelites through the Red Sea. But I believe there is an often-missed picture of the might of Moses that can strengthen us in our faith today.

The might of Moses is to be found in the fact that he forsook Egypt – the power of Egypt, the prestige of Egypt, the prosperity of Egypt, the pleasure of Egypt, the popularity of Egypt – all while still in the land of Egypt in the palace of Pharaoh. How was it possible for Moses to do such a mighty thing? It is found in the fact that he feared God far more than he feared the king of Egypt. Moses set his faith and his fear on the only One worthy of our faith and our fear. He knew there was a God and it was not the earthly Pharaoh king.

The question we must ask ourselves is, “Are we willing to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin?” (Hebrews 11:25). What I have learned by painful experience is it is easy to forsake that which is no longer desirable to us for the sake of Christ. But it is far more difficult to forsake what still attracts our attention. Are we willing, like Moses, to forsake that which pleases us for that which pleases God? Are we willing to walk away from the sinful pleasures of this life for the supernatural promises of the next? 

Remember, when our Lord Jesus was offered the kingdoms of this world by Satan without suffering, He chose the way of His Father, a way marked by suffering and sorrow. To be sure, it’s not easy to forsake the things of this life, but it can and it must be done, if we are to be like our Lord in this life and the next.

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

I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm—my great army that I sent among you. (Joel 2:25)

There is great encouragement to be found in the lesson of the locust. God will accomplish His purposes in the lives of His people by any means necessary and along the way, He alone can bring restoration and reversal to all that was lost.

The crops that the locusts had eaten were lost crops and a proverbial picture of all the loses all God’s people face. When the children of Israel were released from bondage in Egypt, they should have been but a few days walk away from the Promised Land. But in their rebellion, they lost 40 years wandering in the desert and many ultimately lost their lives. The prodigal son who rebelled against his father and ran off to the far country, lost his time, his talent, and his treasure choosing to live a life of rebellion. Yet, the Father reversed the seemingly irreversible when the son returned home.

To be sure, there are many armies the Almighty commands and He uses them to correct us when we wander away from Him. The Almighty’s Army is never sent to crush us, but always to correct us. And in the Almighty’s cosmic correction, we find a word of unimaginable comfort – “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.” Our great God can reverse the seemingly irreversible and give to us great gain in spite of our loss. Jesus is in the business of reversing the seemingly irreversible.

• He reversed the lost years of Abraham and Sarah without children
• He reversed the lost years of Moses on the back side of the desert
• He reversed the lost years of the Samaritan woman at the well
• He reversed the lost years of Zacchaeus the despised tax collector
• He reversed the lost years of Saul of Tarsus
• He reversed the lost years of the paralyzed man at the pool Bethesda

So, the question is this: what lost years is our Lord ready to reverse in your life today? The lesson of the locusts is to lift our spirits above all that has been lost knowing that Jesus is ready, willing, and able to turn every loss into our great gain.

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

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead . . . (Philippians 3:13)

Just as fire can be used to both build and destroy, so too memories. What you remember about your past can be used by God to build you up or take you down. Some memories will bring you pleasure and others pain. That is why you must treat your past like a school – learn the lesson, but don’t live there. Use your past like a springboard into your promised future, not a sofa to sleep on. Living in the “If only I had done . . . “ will keep you from living in the moment you have right now and keep you from being what God is calling you to be.

Listen, when you read through the Bible, you can see just how faithful God is to His people, especially when they are not faithful to Him. You see, it is God’s faithfulness to you, not your faithfulness to Him that keeps you secure in your saving relationship. God never failed His people no matter how they treated Him and He will never fail you. When you treat your past as a springboard and not a sofa, you are making it clear that you are trusting fully in God to use even your poor decisions, detours, and dead ends for His glory and your ultimate good.

Listen, your past does not equal your future. It is the devil that wants to remind you of your past to fill you to overflowing with regrets, fears, doubts, and hopelessness. The devil knows he cannot take you out of the hands of your Lord, but he sure can mess up your life along the way into glory, with gnawing guilt and relentless remorse. But this is not for you. Getting you’re your past is a choice we all must make. We need to choose to look to Jesus, listen to Jesus, and lean on Jesus, because He has promised to never leave or forsake us, no matter what we do.

Remember, God is not finished with you yet. You are a work in progress and along the way you will mess things up. Just keep looking to the One who called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light. When your past is a springboard and not a sofa, God will take every set-back and use it as a set-up for your cosmic come-back. Keeping that in view will empower all of us to keep getting past our past!

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

Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.  (Psalm 126:5)

I don’t know where this finds you today. You might be riding the crest of the wave, feeling like you are on top of the world. Or perhaps, you might be crushed under the weight of waves of challenge. But regardless, the psalmist is telling us we must remember to look past our challenges and struggles knowing that the tears we shed today will be like seeds that will grow into a great harvest of joy and thanksgiving tomorrow.

There are only three stations in life: you are either in a storm, coming out of a storm, or heading back into a storm. So if you are riding the crest of the wave today, get ready for the waves of challenge tomorrow. Jesus made it clear that as His disciples, we would encounter trials and tribulations on this side of the grave. The curse of sin and cosmic brokenness in this world will always find its way to our door. Ans when it knocks, even if we don’t open it ourselves, it will come crashing in, especially when we least expect it.

Today’s Word is designed to cause us to rise above the waves of challenge and to see life from God’s perspective. Whatever you are going through, you are going through it. God has promised to get you to the other side. If Jesus does not take you out of your storm, He will take you through it and He will be with you every step of the way. Keeping this truth in view will strengthen us in our faith and grow us up into Christ.

Remember, weeping may indeed endure for a night, but you can be certain that joy will find you in the morning. You have His Word on it.

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

Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor. (Matthew 27:13-14)

Pilate presses our Lord to speak on His behalf and we read to our amazement that Jesus made “no reply.” Yet, in another passage of Scripture we read, “No one ever spoke the way this man spoke” (John 7:46). To be sure, there is, in the life of every disciple of Christ, a time to speak and a time to be silent. The key is to have the wisdom and discernment to know the time.

So much can be said about these two words that can bring great encouragement into the life of the Christian. Jesus made “no reply” when words might have brought a blessing to Himself. But never did He withhold His words when He could bless others. 

Jesus said to the fishermen He found down by the shore, “Come” and they became fishers of men. 

Jesus said to the man up in a tree, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately” and he rose up into the ministry of the gospel alongside of His Master. 

Jesus said to the woman at the well, “Will you give me a drink?” and she was given “living water” and became the first evangelist in her town of Samaria, and many became believers. 

Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery, “Woman, where are your accusers?  Has no one condemned you?” and she left His presence forgiven and faithful to Her Lord. 

These are just a few of the many examples of the words of Jesus blessing others. He gave “no reply” to Pilate, refusing to provide a defense against the false accusations, but He never missed the opportunity to defend and bless others. So where has Jesus spoken in your life that brought to you great blessing? Remember, Jesus made no reply because He chose to take our place and die on a cross. Jesus made no reply so He could drink the full cup of God’s wrath. This was the time for Jesus to be silent because His silence testified to Him being the True Lamb of God who was silent “as a sheep before its shearers is silent.” But regarding your relationship with Him, He has not stopped speaking life to you and will not all the way into glory.

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

Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)

Today’s title might sound strange to you, but oh, how needed it is in the body of Christ today, for we all tend to lean toward self-sufficiency. A dependent spirit is a despised spirit, because the self wants to sit upon the throne of life. But God in His grace will strip away all the resources that we cling to in order to cause us to cry out to Him for the help we so desperately need.

I learned this remarkable truth a long time ago: You will never know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have!  This was the truth that Peter expressed in our verse for today.

I think that one of the best ways to fully grasp this biblical truth about what it means to be a begging believer is to contrast it with the very opposite of this mindset. One of the best pictures of this comes from the church at Laodicea.

To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. (Revelation 3:14-17)

In the eyes of the watching world, the church at Laodicea was the place to be. They were rich. They had acquired wealth. They were the picture of self-sufficiency. A beggar’s spirit was as far from them as the east is from the west. But from God’s perspective, there was no church in a worse condition than the Laodicean congregation, and they received His indictment: “You are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.” In their sense of self-sufficiency, they were neither hot nor cold, and the Lord was preparing to spit them out of His mouth.

Where in your life right now are you leaning toward self-sufficiency? What do you need to do in order to move back in the direction of being a believer who begs? What will it cost you if you don’t move? Remember, Jesus has promised to never leave you nor forsake you. He has also promised to meet your every need . . . not want. And He will meet it in His way and in His perfect timing.

May we all be like the apostle Peter and say, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

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

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9)

Inasmuch as we simply cannot imagine how much higher the heavens are than the earth, we cannot imagine how much higher God’s thoughts toward us are than our thoughts toward Him. Beloved, let the truth of this verse comfort you today, not only are God’s thoughts higher than your thoughts, but also His plans, His purposes, His wisdom and His ways. Because they are God’s thoughts, they are better than our thoughts and working toward our good.

Think about it this way. God’s plans and purposes for your life are beyond what you could ever imagined them to be for yourself. They will take you to places you have never dreamed you could go because they come from the One who is in control of all things. They will often surprise you along the way and meet you in your deepest place of need. God can do this because He is God and delights in working all things together for the good of those who love Him.

Does this describe you today? Do you love your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength . . . as much as it is within your power to do so? Remember this: We love God, but His love is higher love and is able to lift us above all the waves of challenge that confront us each day. Nothing can stand in the way of the will of God and that includes His will for your life. His ways are higher. His thoughts are higher. His love is higher. Why? Because He is God, and He has a love so high for all those who are His and that includes you.

Let that truth set you free today to live out His perfect plan and purpose for your imperfect life, even when what you are currently experiencing you cannot fully understand. Isaiah tells us that we can trust our God even when we cannot trace Him because we know that we are the object of HIS LOVE SO HIGH!

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