Author Archives: Pastor Tommy

When was the last time you said that?  At the grocery store when you picked the shortest check-out line . . . only to discover it was moving the slowest?  In a traffic jam on the way to work . . . when you left home 15 minutes late?  At the office regarding your painfully slow climb up to the top rung on the ladder of success?

One of my seminary professors once said, “Hell, for me, would be one long bank line!” We all lapse into impatience from time to time, but we would deal with waiting much better if we viewed it from God’s perspective:

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage, wait for the Lord!  (Psalm 27:14)

Waiting is one of the means God uses to strengthen us and prepare us for what lies ahead.  God is in control of all things, including check-out lines, traffic, our career advancement . . . even bank lines!  When God causes us to wait, it is not because He has forgotten us or forsaken us; He is forging us into the faithful person He has called us to be.  If we would learn to see delays as part of God’s perfect design in conforming us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29), we could wait in a way that glorifies God and benefits all those with whom we interact while we are waiting.

Impatience is simply unbelief.  It is the not-so-subtle way we question God’s goodness and care for us without actually questioning Him.  To be sure, waiting is generally not a part of our plan—which is why we struggle so much with it!  In our waiting we get angry.  In our waiting we doubt.  In our waiting we envy.  In our waiting we get discouraged.  But waiting is a part of God’s plan for all of us.

• Abraham and Sarah waited beyond the childbearing years before finally bearing the child promised by God.
• Moses waited for 40 years on the back-side of the desert before God called him to deliver the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt.
• While he was building the ark, Noah waited more than 100 years for God to open the heavens and bring the rain.

Because God can see the beginning from the end (Isaiah 46:10), His plans are always better than our plans.  His timing is perfect even when we think His timing is off.  I have learned over the years that waiting is one of God’s best ways to strengthen our faith muscles.  I thought Kim and I would be planting a church long before we planted a church.  At times I grew impatient.  But God continued using Kim to help me see things from God’s perspective (instead of mine), and I learned to wait for the Lord to open the door and usher us through it.  In waiting for the Lord, I learned that the greatest blessing in our waiting was not finally fulfilling the goal of planting a church, but the work God was doing in me along the way.

So . . . where in your life is God causing you to wait?  What might God want you to learn in your waiting?  What might God want you to do in your waiting?  What might God want you to become in your waiting?

God is not finished with you yet!  He is causing you to decrease so Jesus can increase in your life right now.  And He is pleased to do it through waiting.

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

As a pastor, it burdens my soul and breaks my heart to hear so many people tearfully say, “That was the one thing I thought I could never do!”  Whether it was a season of gambling . . . a drinking binge . . . a descent into immorality . . . a time of wandering off into some far country . . . surrendering to the temptation of touch-of-a-button internet pornography . . . or countless other scenarios, the cry is universal: “I never believed I could do that!”

The Bible is full of examples of what happens to broken people living in a broken world with other broken people, especially when they thump their chests and utter the word never.  Here is arguably the most memorable “never” in Scripture, where Jesus foretold Peter’s denial:

When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.  (Matthew 26:30-35)

Peter really did suffer from “foot-in-mouth” disease.  In response to Jesus telling all the disciples that they would all fall away, Peter insisted, “I could never do that!”  But Peter wasn’t content to contradict Jesus—as if that wasn’t bad enough!  He went on to elevate himself and his commitment to Jesus above the other disciples, saying, “Though they all fall away . . . I will never!”  And, of course, Matthew’s gospel shows us the slippery slope we all stand on when we boast loudly of our own strength and resolve.  Peter went on to deny Jesus—not once, but three times . . . just as Jesus had warned him.

When we believe there is something we could never do, we begin to let out guard down.  When we do that, we leave ourselves wide open to the attacks of the devil.  We shift our focus away from Jesus and put in on ourselves.  And when we do that, it’s just a matter of time before we find ourselves doing the very thing we loudly insisted we could never do.

Instead of making our hollow boast about what we will never do, we must cry out every day and ask God to give us grace to withstand the flaming arrows Satan sends our way.  We are never more than one poor decision away from making an appalling mess of everything; the more we focus on what we could never do, we move that much closer to making that poor decision.

The only strength that will sustain us is His strength.  The only commitment we can count on is His commitment to us.  Let us never say “never,” apart from attaching our confidence to the grace and goodness of God, freely given to us in Jesus Christ.  His power is made perfect in our weakness; when we admit that weakness, we are strong in Him!  (If you have any doubts about that, read 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.)

Blessed be the Lord!

for he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

The Lord is my strength and my shield;

in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;

my heart exults,

and with my song I give thanks to him.  (Psalm 28:6-7)

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

How often we use this statement, tacking on a variety of endings to point the finger of blame at someone else for whatever it is in life that displeases us.  I call this “victim mentality,” because when we point the finger of responsibility at others we play the role of the victim.  Do any of the following statements resonate with you at all?

•         If only you would grow up!

•         If only you would do more around the house!

•         If only you would be more intimate!

•         If only you would get more serious!

•         If only you would lose a little weight!

•         If only you would get a better job!

•         If only you would change!

The list of these statements could fill a book.  The problem with these harsh accusations is that they point us in the wrong direction when trying to identify our problems and challenges in life.  These indictments well up from dissatisfied hearts trying to get through disappointing days; they do great damage in the lives of others.

Adam essentially said this very thing to God back in the Garden of Eden, just after reaching for the forbidden fruit and taking a big bite.  Adam gave birth to victim mentality.

The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”  (Genesis 3:12)

In other words, Adam said to God, “If only you would have given me a different wife; I wouldn’t be in this mess!  Perhaps you picked the wrong rib, Lord!”  Adam was pointing in the wrong direction in identifying his problems.  If he had simplydone what God created him for and commanded him to do—caring for his wife Eve and exercising dominion over all creation—he would have stepped in and protected Eve from theserpent’s deception.  God was not Adam’s problem; Adam wasAdam’s problem!  His self-absorbed living caused Adam to blame everyone else (including God!) for the problems he had created for himself.

And you and I are just as bad.  That is why God calls us to put off our self-focused and self-centered lives that constantly cry, “If only you . . . !”  The grace of the Gospel calls us to stop blaming others for our unhappiness and to rise above our natural desire to compress the size of our lives down to the concerns of our lives.  Only when we understand the truth that life is not about ourselves will we begin to see beyond the borders of our shrunken, self-absorbed lives.  

The Gospel not only rescues us from the penalty of sin, it alsorescues us from the power of sin.  And there is no sin more powerful than the sin of self-focus, which works overtime tocondemn others for the problems we face in life.  

•         Self-focus would rather be served than serve

•         Self-focus would rather get than give

•         Self-focus would rather be right than loving

•         Self-focus would rather live autonomously than in community

•         Self-focus would rather say, “If only you…” instead of accepting responsibility

When all you can see is yourself, you are blind to the needs, hurts, desires, and brokenness of others.  It is easy to point the finger at others and live life as a victim.

So the next time you are ready to shout, “If only you . . . !” pause for a moment and take a closer look and see how your victim mentality might have clouded your view of your Savior.  When you are looking to Jesus, you see yourself as He sees you—as more than a conqueror—and you will begin living like one, regardless of the cost or circumstance. 

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

I cannot tell you how many people in the church today are living with a deep and abiding sense of remorse.  The dictionary defines remorse as a deep and painful regret of wrongdoing; that “painful regret” is exactly what has a death grip on far too many Christians, keeping them from growing into the man or woman God is calling them to be.

Before we go any further, let me make it clear that I believe the Scriptures make it clear that wrongdoing should be followed by a godly sorrow (see 2 Corinthians 7:9-10); and in that godly sorrow we should go directly to God for two reasons: to confess our sin and to be cleansed from it (1 John 1:9).  But when that confession and cleansing has been done, we are to be done with it.  As Paul wrote, “One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).  The goodness of God—not guilt—is to be the mark of the Christian life.  Our loving Lord came to die on the cross to free us from shame and remorse, not to burden us with it!

We all have pasts that are littered with wrongdoing.  We went wrong in our friendships.  We went wrong in our marriages.  We went wrong in our parenting.  We went wrong in our careers.  We went wrong in our finances.  We went wrong in our nutrition.  We went wrong in our exercise program (or lack of it).  We went wrong in our education.  And on and on and on.  With all of this wrongdoing, we might easily think the die is cast and there is no hope in making things right.  But that is simply wrong!

Wrongdoing is a part of life, because we are broken people living in a broken world.  Instead of living with a sense of remorse, we need to chart a better course, one that is guided by the light of Gospel truths.  Our past does not determine our present.  Broken hearts can be mended.  Distant relationships can be restored.  Unfulfilled promises can be kept.  Dead dreams can be resurrected.  All of this is possible because of the power of the Gospel.

All the mistakes and misdeeds you committed in your past were nailed to that dirty tree on Calvary.  All of them!  Understanding this frees us from the trap of remorse to chart a better course.  Because of the power of the Gospel, the die is not cast and hope is not lost.  We serve a God of second chances . . . and third chances . . . and . . . !  Peter was charting a course of remorse after having fulfilled Jesus’ prophecy and denying Him three times before the rooster crowed.  But Jesus charted a better course than remorse for Peter.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.  (John 21:15-17)

The Bible tells us that after Peter denied his Lord he went outside the courtyard and wept bitterly.  Peter was filled with a godly sorrow for his wrongdoing.  He was broken by his sin, and this is the response that flows from the heart that loves Jesus.  But Jesus did not leave Peter there!  If it were left up to Peter, the course of the rest of his life would likely have been marked by groaning and guilt.  Jesus changed all of that, and He did it by reconnecting Peter with the only thing that could remove his remorse: Jesus!  Jesus reconnected Peter to Himself and the calling He had for him.  And this is the power of the Gospel that is available to every child of God, regardless of the past . . . and that includes you and me.

So . . . where in your life has remorse been altering your course and keeping you from being all God is calling you to be . . . personally?  Professionally?  Relationally?  Jesus is asking you the same question today that He asked Peter over 2000 years ago: “Do you love me?”  And if your answer is “Yes,” then get on with the business of feeding His sheep in whatever capacity God has called you to.

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

Far too many in today’s church believe that the Gospel is only for reaching the lost.  They see the Gospel as a set of truths that must be believed in order to receive eternal life—but nothing more.  The problem with this view is that it limits the Gospel to the door leading into the Christian life, when in fact it is also the floor upon which to build the Christian life.  Regardless of how long we have been walking with Jesus, we are never freed from our need of a daily dose of the Gospel!

After we are saved from the power of sin, we still need the Gospel to save us from the presence of sin.  Sin no longer reigns, but it still remains; because of this we need a daily dose of the Gospel truth about what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross.  The Gospel is not only for the un-believer living in the far country, it is also for believers who wander off into the far country from time to time.  We require daily Gospel-reminders to reach deep into our hearts and reconnect us with our first love, the Lord Jesus Christ.

One of the things we never needed to debate as we were planting Cross Community Church was whether we wanted to gear our services toward believers or unbelievers.  If the service is focused on believers, the message is crafted to strengthen them in their walk with Christ.  On the other hand, a service focused on unbelievers delivers a message designed to win them to Christ.  The reason we do not need to focus specifically on one group or the other is the fact that both groups are sinners in desperate need of God’s grace and rescue . . . DAILY!  The Gospel is needed by everyone every day of every week.

We are not saved by the Gospel and then expected to grow up into Christ by the spiritual sweat of our brow.  We are saved by the Gospel and then we are sanctified as the same Gospel is applied to our hearts daily.  God pursued us with His Gospel when we were first saved, but it didn’t stop there.  God continues to pursue us daily with His Gospel.  Daily doses of grace are a continuing requirement for saved-by-grace sinners who are locked in the ongoing battle against sin.  Without the Gospel applied to our hearts each day, we naturally tend to drift into a performance-based relationship with God.  Without the Gospel applied to our hearts each day, we begin to believe that the more we do and the harder we try, the more God will love us and the more He will bless us.

But this is not for you! Thank God for the freedom we have in the Gospel!  In Christ we already have the love and acceptance we long for.  There is nothing we can do to make God love us any more . . . and there is nothing we can do to cause God to love us any less.  We are loved because of the Beloved.  Because of what He has already done on our behalf, we find rest in the knowledge of our unconditional acceptance and the unwavering assurance that once we are His, we are His forevermore!

Let us close with these beautiful words from Isaac Watts’ wonderful hymn, At the Cross:

Was it for crimes that I had done

He groaned upon the tree?

Amazing pity, grace unknown,

And love beyond degree!

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

Trials are not a random roll of the dice.  They are an integral part of God’s providential rescue plan for making all things new.  That plan includes you . . . and that includes you going through trials.  God is on a mission to restore His image in His people, and part of that process is worked out by taking His people through trials.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

(James 1:2-4)

In this [salvation] you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

(1 Peter 1:6-7)

So . . . what trials have you been experiencing lately?  Are you trusting Him for His good plan in your life, even when you’re smack in the middle of the howling storm winds?  Charles Spurgeon is reported to have said, “God is too good to be unkind.  He is too wise to be confused.  If I cannot trace His hand, I can always trust His heart.”

Now, I know that it is far easier to discern the loving and kind purposes of the Almighty in the storms others are going through.  We are quick to quote a few Scriptures, provide godly counsel, and offer up our prayers of comfort and support.  But how well do we do this when we are the ones pitching and plunging into the troughs of the waves in the midst of the storm?  Do we see and accept God’s loving hand as much in our struggles as we do in our successes . . . as much in our valleys as we do in our victories?

The promises of Romans 8 make it clear that our God is using all things—even those things that seem like they will certainly destroy us—to accomplish His glorious purposes and to advance our ultimate good.  We are being conformed to the image of Christ, and often it comes through the fiery furnace of affliction.  The Heidelberg Catechism beautifully describes the providence of our good and gracious God.

The almighty and everywhere present power of God; whereby, as it were by his hand, he upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures; so that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, and all things come, not by chance, but by his fatherly hand.

One of the great blessings in knowing that God is in complete control of all things is found in recognizing that we are not.  There is no such thing as “chance” or “luck” anywhere in the universe.  As Dr. Sproul once told a group of seminarians, “If there is even one maverick molecule floating around in the universe outside of the control of God, we simply cannot trust in any of His promises.”  Either God is in complete control of everything, or He is in complete control of nothing.

So if all things are working together for your good, regardless of how bad they may seem today, how should that impact the way you are living?  Jesus suffered from the cradle to the grave, and He did it so we could be with Him forever in the new heavens and the new earth, where there will be no more tears . . . no more sorrow . . . no more pain . . . no more death . . . because the old will have passed completely away and the new will have come.

May the glorious hope of that day help us all live through this day with a spirit of peace that passes all understanding, regardless of what trials today may bring.  God is restoring His image in every child born of grace, and He is doing it in both the good and seemingly bad providences of life.

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

We live in a culture which makes it easy to forget about those who are poor and in need, simply because most of us are rich, compared to the standards of the rest of the world, and we have far more than we need.  Yet the Scriptures command us never to forget the poor; we are to remember—not just with our minds, but with our hands and our feet too.

John [the Baptist] answered, “The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.”  (Luke 3:11)

Did you ever wonder why God allows many of His children to live in poverty?  If God so wished, He could make them all rich beyond all measure.  When the Israelites were freed from bondage in Egypt, they left with many valuables because God caused the Egyptians to give their wealth to His people.  When the Israelites had no food in the wilderness, the Lord sent manna from heaven and quail on the winds to feed them.  To the amazement of His disciples, Jesus fed 5,000-plus people with only five loaves and two fish.  God could give everyone an abundance of everything, but He chooses not to do this.

W e know by faith that God always knows best . . . so if the poor could be made rich in an instant and they are not, what does God want us to do about it?  We are to remember the poor and respond to them, which Paul said he was “eager to do” (Galatians 2:10).

One of the greatest opportunities we have to demonstrate the love of Christ to a hurting world is to minister to the needs, both spiritual and physical, of the poor.  We have the privilege of sharing Christ with a fallen, hurting, and broken world by meeting their most pressing need: forgiveness.  So we preach the Gospel.  But we also have the privilege of sharing Christ by meeting physical needs.  Charles Spurgeon profoundly put an exclamation on this point:

If there were no sons of need in the world we should lose the sweet privilege of evidencing our love, by ministering in almsgiving to His poorer brethren; He has ordained that thus we should prove that our love standeth not in word only, but in deed and in truth.  If we truly love Christ, we shall care for those who are loved by Him.  Those who are dear to Him will be dear to us.  Let us then look upon it not as a duty but as a privilege to relieve the poor of the Lord’s flock.

There are many blessings to be found in ministering to the poor, but there is no greater blessing than the truth of these words of Jesus:

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.  Then the righteous will answer him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?”  And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”  (Matthew 25:35-40)

To be sure, it brings great joy to God’s people to minister and meet the needs of others.  God has changed our nature to begin looking for opportunities to lay our lives down for others—all others, including the poor and marginalized.  And as we do so to the least of these, our King accepts our service as if it was done unto Him.  Wow!  What a great and gracious God we serve, who gives us the privilege of serving Him by serving others.

In 2 Corinthians 8:9, we see how strongly our God identifies with the poor, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”  May we, by His grace, never forget the poor and the privilege we have in meeting them in their place of need.  In meeting with them there, we also meet with our God.

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

Have you ever felt the sting of rejection? Perhaps you are carrying some deep wounds from past rejections that are negatively impacting your life today. We have all felt the sting of rejection at one time or another, and it is for this reason that today’s message should be a source of great comfort and healing.

At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34)

When we plumb the depths of the price Jesus paid for our sins on the cross, we are numbed at what happened from the sixth to the ninth hour. As awful as it was for Jesus to endure the beating, the scourging, the crown of thorns, and the metal spikes driven through His wrists and feet, the excruciating physical pain was nothing compared to what happened during the darkest time in the history of the world: those terrible moments when the Father rejected His beloved Son. And because of the rejection Jesus endured on the cross—the rejection we deserved—we will never have to face God’s rejection. Rejection has been rejected, and that Gospel truth is both the power and comfort we need to deal with all of life’s many rejections.

The life of our Lord was a life marked with rejection:

• The inn where He was born rejected Him
• Friends rejected Him
• Disciples rejected Him
• Religious leaders rejected Him
• His home-town synagogue rejected Him
• Roman authorities rejected Him
• Roman law rejected Him
• Crowds rejected Him
• Roman soldiers rejected Him
• One thief on the cross rejected Him

Some of those He healed seemingly rejected Him when they did not return to thank Him. Even some in His own family rejected Him, believing Him to be “out of His mind” (Mark 3:21). The prophet Isaiah perhaps put it best when he said of Jesus, “He was despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). And Jesus took the ultimate rejection of His Father in heaven so that we would never have to experience that.

So . . . what rejection have you been facing lately? Personally? Professionally? Relationally?

The devil loves to use rejection in the lives of believers because it wounds so deeply. The ultimate goal for the devil is to see the pain of rejection grow abundantly in the lives of believers, bearing malignant fruit through emotional baggage, negative feelings, and the desire to get a little “pay-back,” regardless of the cost.

But this is not for you! Keeping the rejection Jesus endured in both life and death in view will help us to rise above the rejections we encounter in our daily lives, resting in the inconceivable love and acceptance we have because of our union with Jesus. God loves us so much that He sent His Son to endure every imaginable rejection and one that is unimaginable—God’s rejection of His very own Son—all for us!

May the Gospel truth of “rejection rejected” reach deep into our hearts to heal old wounds, jettison emotional baggage, and strengthen our resolve to live with freedom, joy, and faithfulness to our Savior . . . even in the face of rejection.

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

There is a great deal of confusion today regarding the Christian life.  Some say it is all about abstaining from sin.  Don’t do this and don’t do that.  Others say it is about advancing into righteousness.  Do this and do that.  To be sure, we are to be putting off the old and putting on the new.  Scripture commands us “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness”  (Ephesians 4:22-24).

However, even more than what we are to do and not do, the Christian life is rooted in the why behind the what.  Gospel-rich reminders of why we are to abstain from sin and advance into holiness can be found throughout Scripture; they form a common theme of encouragement.  Today we will plumb the depths of one of these messages from the pen of the Apostle Paul.

Having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.  (Ephesians 4:25-32)

Paul begins his why by reminding us to turn away from falsehood and advance in speaking the truth because of our status as members one of another in the kingdom of God (v. 25).  Next Paul instructs us to steer clear of man-centered, sinful anger, so as not to give the devil a foothold (vv. 26-27).  Former thieves are reminded not to steal and instead advance into becoming faithful givers to those in need (v. 28).  Next Paul reminds us that our words will give life to others when we remember we are sealed for the day of redemption (vv. 29-30).  He closes out his Gospel-reminders by telling us to be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving.  Why?  Because this is how God in Christ has treated . . . is treating . . . and will continue to treat us.

When we begin to be seized by the truth of the Gospel about the importance of the why behind what we do, we truly begin to sense the freedom and joy our union with Christ has given us.  It is never enough to do what is right and refrain from doing what is wrong; the Pharisees were experts at that!  We must understand the motivation behind our behavior.  If what we do or don’t do is motivated by what we will receive (blessing) or avoid (cursing), then we are not living in the strength and liberty of the Gospel.

When our motivation for doing what we do flows from a heart that is overflowing with thanksgiving for what Christ has already done for us, then we are living the kind of Christian life that is pleasing to God and beneficial to others.

“For freedom Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1). We have been set free to live a life of holiness—not because of what we will get by living it, but because of what we have already been given.  In the words of John Owen, “Holiness is nothing but the implanting, writing, and realizing of the gospel in our souls.”  The more we rest in the reality of our redemption and the finished work of Christ, the more we are transformed by the renewing power of the Gospel. At this level of living we both abstain and advance practically, simply because of our ever-increasing understanding of what we are positionally: a child of the Most High God.

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

When was the last time you had the odds stacked so high against you that the possibility of coming out on top seemed to be, well, impossible?  Today we will take a lesson from a man whose name means “Mighty Warrior.”  His story is recorded in the Book of Judges and he is also mentioned in the Hebrews 11 “Faith Hall of Fame.”  You may remember his name: Gideon, one of the twelve Judges selected by God to act as a temporary leader for the Israelites.

Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.

And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.  (Judges 7:1-8)

The Almighty is in the business of snatching victory out of the jaws of certain defeat—more accurately, you could say creating victory.  The Bible is replete with stories where God’s people faced odds that were stacked so highly against them that when victory was achieved, the only possible explanation was that God was responsible for it.  He did it when the Israelites were trapped between Pharaoh’s approaching army and the Red Sea.  He did it when the shepherd boy David agreed to do something the entire Israelite army refused to do: fight the giant Goliath.  And God did it again here.  Gideon started with 32,000 men to battle against the Midianite army of 135,000 men (Judges 8:10), but God told him he had too many soldiers!

I’d say the odds were already stacked steeply against Gideon (135,000 to 32,000—roughly 4-to-1), but God didn’t see it that way.  God instructed Gideon to find out who was “fearful and trembling” and send them home.  As soon as he did, 22,000 men scurried away, leaving Gideon with 10,000 troops.  Now the odds were much worse, roughly 13-to-1, but God still wasn’t finished stacking the odds against Gideon.  The Lord informed Gideon that He would test the men at the water.  When the test was over, only 300 men were left in Gideon’s “army.”  God had whittled Gideon’s force down from 32,000 to 300 and was preparing to send them into battle against a Midianite army that was 135,000 strong—unimaginable odds of roughly 450-to-1.  When the dust settled, God settled any question as to the cause of victory for Gideon: it was all of God! As the Lord of hosts said to Zerubbabel, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit” (Zechariah 4:6).

So . . . where in your life do the odds seem to be stacked high against you?  College acceptance?  Job promotion?  Too much month at the end of the money?  A prodigal child who has been a long time off in a far country?  A marriage on the rocks because you spent more time planning for the wedding than you did working on the marriage?  Your doctor wants to see you for consultation after receiving the test results?  There are many more examples, but the point is the same: God is in the business of bringing victory out of defeat—not because we deserve it or have earned it in any way, but simply because we are His.

Bought by the blood of the Lamb, you are precious in the sight of God.  Whatever you are facing today, you are not facing it alone.  Jesus said He would never leave you nor forsake you, regardless of the odds that are stacked against you.  Remember, God may simply be stacking those odds to make it clear to you and to the watching world that it is only God who could have achieved the victory.

As the Lord would say to Jehoshaphat: “Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s” (2 Chronicles 20:15-16). He has already won your eternal victory; Christ announced it with a victory cry that split the rocks open!

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