Author Archives: Pastor Tommy

I am not a supporter of “celebrating” Halloween.  This observance is firmly rooted in pagan tradition and continues to rise in popularity as a festival of the occult.  Our church offers an alternative, called “HarvestFest.”  We invite the community to come and celebrate Jesus through games, rides, candy, and contests . . . and yes, that includes costumes! 

Back in my childhood, Halloween was little more than carving out pumpkins and a night out trick-or-treating with the neighborhood kids.  Today it is big business for adults and kids alike, including horror movies, haunted houses, and Halloween parties and celebrations of all shapes and sizes.  One of the attractions our family never misses in our trips to Walt Disney World is the Haunted Mansion. 

Because today is Halloween and likely we will have young, costumed visitors coming to our homes looking for candy, I thought I would write about the “costumes” we adults like to wear year-round. And I’m not talking about the store-bought ones!

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.  Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”  (Genesis 3:1-13)

Adam and Eve constructed the first-ever “costumes” in the Garden of Eden after they stepped into the serpent’s trap.  When their consciences were seared by their sin, they sewed fig leaves together to cover their nakedness and shame.  And when they heard the sound of God walking in the Garden in the cool of the day, they ran and hid.  This is the primary reason we wear our costumes.  We like to hide ourselves from the view of others.  We don’t want anyone to see what we are really like . . . as if our blemishes are unique to us. 

God confronted Adam and Eve in love and not in anger, but instead of confessing their sin and seeking God’s forgiveness, they attempted to shift blame.  Adam blamed Eve and God Himself (“The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit . . .”); Eve blamed the serpent; and we all have been blaming-shifting ever since.  We wear costumes, seeking to cover our mistakes, shortcomings, and sins—which makes it easier for us to blame others and God for the predicaments we find ourselves in.   

Wearing costumes allows us to keep from confronting the real person underneath the mask.  This, of course, is a great comfort for all those who willing seek after satisfying the desires of the flesh rather than the Spirit.

So . . . what costumes have you been wearing lately?  What would happen if you took yours off?

The Gospel frees us to step out of our costumes, because—regardless of what others think of us—God’s love is as unchanging as it is unconditional.  Costumes enslave us; the Gospel frees us.  Costumes blind to the glories of His kingdom; the Gospel opens our eyes to see with the eyes of faith.  The Gospel liberates us from the need to hide and when we are found out and rids us of the need to blame.  Jesus died to set the captives free, and in Christ we are free indeed to be exactly what we are: great sinners in need of an even greater Savior. 

As fallen, sinful people living in a broken, sin-filled world, we can step out of every costume we wear for creaturely comfort, because the only true source of comfort is found in Christ.

What costume will you wear today?  Why not rest is the reality of being clothed in the righteousness of Christ?  With His robe of righteousness wrapped tightly around you, what else could you possibly need?

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

Have you ever thought yourself to be free from idolatry? Do you believe that idolatry has been reserved only for the most primitive of people on the other side of the world?  If you do . . . think again!

Idolatry, by definition, is simply replacing the worship of anything in creation instead of the One who created it.  It is hardwired into our fallen nature to repeatedly overlook our Creator and grasp at His creation.  Take a look at this list of idols and see if any of them sound like you:

• We seek our identity in our work.
• We seek our power in our position.
• We seek our security in our finances.
• We seek our significance in our peer approval.
• We seek our purpose in our kids.
• We seek our pleasure in our spouses.
• We seek our meaning in our ministry.

Created things were never intended to give you what only your Creator can provide.  Every promise idols make smells like smoke and comes from the pit of hell, as Steve Brown likes to say.  Idols simply cannot deliver on what they promise! 

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen!  (Romans 1:25)

The great replacement is the replacement of God with anything smaller than God.  We replace the supernatural with the natural.  We replace the spiritual with the physical.  We replace the eternal with the temporal.  And we all do it far more often than we would like to admit.  Think back over the past week: what have you been pursuing and praying for?  What caused you to get up early and stay up late? 

I’ve said this before: many of the things we go after are, in fact, good things.  Work is good.  Family is good.  Money is good.  Ministry is good.  These good things only become bad things when they become ultimate things and replace the only One worth pursuing: Jesus.  Everything we look for in creation can only be given to us in our Creator.  We are to find our identity in Him and not in our work.  We are to find our power in Him and not in our position.  We must find our security in Him and not in our finances.  We should find our significance in Him and not in the approval of others.  We must find our purpose in Him and not in our kids.  We are to find our pleasure in Him and not in our spouses.  We must find our meaning in Him and not in our ministries.  It’s all about Him!

The Gospel is the cure for putting the Creator back in His rightful place in our lives.  The more we marinate in the truths of the Gospel and the finished work of Christ, the less we move toward created things.  What must always remember that everything we need we already have in Jesus.  As my beloved friend and remarkable pastor likes to remind us: “Jesus plus nothing equals everything.”

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

We are all familiar with the game “Hide and Seek,” where children run and hide themselves and one or more seekers go and look for them.  There is a biblical version of this game that I would like to share with you today.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  (Colossians 3:1-3)

The “hide” part of biblical truth is the understanding that we are hidden with Christ.  God the Father no longer sees our sin, because we are hidden with God the Son and clothed in His righteousness.  In the eyes of God, we not only look as if we had never sinned, we also look like we have always and only done what is right!  To be hidden with Christ in God is to be covered by the finished work of Christ—despite of our continued sins, shortcomings, failures, and faults. 

The “seek” part of biblical truth is the knowledge that because of who we are in Christ positionally, we can seek out and set our minds on the things of God practically.  Our union with Jesus propels us in the direction of what God wants for us; it is precisely because of our union with Jesus that we desire to seek the things that are above. 

Because we are hidden with Christ, in spite of our sin, we no long have to run and hide because of our sin.  We are covered . . . cleansed . . . and commissioned because of what Christ has done for us.  This is a truth that must be recaptured and reclaimed by the church today.  Far too many Christians are hiding from God because of their sin, when they should be running toward Him.  Adam and Eve ran and hid from God because of their sin, yet God pursued them—not to punish them but to cover their sin.  God is in the business of pursuing rebels on the run . . . and that includes you and me. 

So . . . have you been rejoicing in God’s version of “hide and seek” lately?  Or have you been wasting time trying to hide from God?  You and I must always remember that we are great sinners, but we have been eternally loved by an even greater Savior!  Knowing that our lives are hidden with Christ in God, may our days be marked by continually seeking after the One who sought and bought us on Golgotha’s Hill with His precious blood.  Let us pursue God’s promise: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).  

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

Ever wonder why we face so much hardship in this life?  In a word, the answer is sin.  It will not always be this way!  When the church is presented to Christ as His bride, God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and “Death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore” (Revelation 21:4).  However, until that glorious day comes, we can expect to deal with hardship in this life.  And there is something profound lying just beneath the surface of sin that needs be understood by every child born of grace. 

Thanks to the finished cross work of Jesus, hardship is never a punishment, penalty, penance, or pain being exacted by an angry God to make believers “right” with Him.  Because God’s justice has been fully satisfied in Jesus, our hardship is designed to draw God’s children nearer to Him, not push us further away.  Far too many Christians interpret hardship as a sign of God’s displeasure with them, perhaps even of His abandonment—but it is not!  God loves you with an everlasting love; hardship is merely a sign of His sanctifying activity in your life.

Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

(Revelations 3:19)

Hardship in the life of the believer is designed to discipline and to draw, never to discourage and destroy. God uses hardship in the lives of His children for a number of reasons:

• To train us in character
• To teach us in conduct
• To turn us from sin

We must always remember that God’s discipline—which we frequently experience in the form of hardship, trials, storms, and struggles—is never punitive; it is always redemptive, and always intended to cause us to draw nearer to Him.  God is not exacting His “pound of flesh” from us because of our wrongdoing.  Jesus paid the price for our sin—all of our sin—on the cross.  God will not collect a second time on a debt that has been paid in full.  So God is using His holy hardship for His glory and our ultimate good by conforming us to the image and likeness of His beloved Son. 

God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.

(Hebrews 12:10)

The fact that hardship is inevitable should not drive us to despair, because it is a loving Father who delivers it to us.  God only wants what is best for His children; at times, the only way to achieve that “best” is through the holy hardships of life.  God is training us in our character and our conduct, so that we might become ever more useful for the advancement of His kingdom purposes. 

When we are forged in the fire of betrayal, abandonment, loneliness, heartache, false accusations, and denials—just as Jesus was—we are being prepared for greater service in the lives of others who are experiencing the same.  We will be able to empathize with our brothers and sisters in Christ, not merely sympathize.  We will be able to minister from the heart—to “Rejoice with those who rejoice, [and] weep with those who weep,” as Scripture commands us (Romans 12:15).  The more we suffer as Jesus suffered, the more we serve as He served . . . forgive as He forgave . . . minister as He ministered . . . and love as He loved.  Our hardship is holy because it passes through the hands of a holy God.

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

Have you ever been driven in the direction of duty and service to God by the power of guilt?  I am sure we all have experienced this from both ends of the spectrum: having been driven by guilt and driving others by guilt, as well.  There’s no denying the fact that guilt is a very effective motivator for getting others to do what we believe God would have them do. 

• Parents use guilt to drive their children toward duty.
• Teachers use guilt to drive their students toward duty.
• Coaches use guilt to drive their players toward duty.
• Preachers use guilt to drive their flock toward duty.
• Spouses use guilt to drive their partners toward duty.

However, guilt that drives toward duty ultimately leads to dread.  In his book, Holiness by Grace, Bryan Chapell writes, “When it comes to changing people’s behavior, nothing is more efficient than motivating by guilt.  There is nothing more effective than guilt to get people to obey God’s standards, and nothing less efficacious in sanctifying them to God.”

If all we desire is a change in behavior, then guilt will do.  But if we desire a change in the heart, grace is the only lasting cure.  The Bible makes it clear that the liberty Christ purchased for us at Calvary frees us from guilt as a motivator for doing what God requires.  The shed blood of Jesus has washed us clean from the gnawing guilt of sin and the condemning wrath of God.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

(Romans 8:1)

Guilt has its rightful place in the life of the Christian.  The power of the Holy Spirit convicting our conscience with the presence of sin is a good thing, as long as that sense of shame drives us to the cross for cleansing and re-commissioning into the service of our Savior.

Jesus demonstrated this process with Peter by asking about his love three times after Peter’s three denials and then re-commissioning him for fruitful service.  Jesus didn’t condemn Peter for his sin.  He convicted Peter’s conscience regarding his three shameful denials and then cleansed and re-commissioned him. 

Jesus could have used guilt as a motivator in Peter’s life, but He did not.  Jesus knew full well that any behavioral change brought on by guilt never leads to a heart transformation and maturity.  Only the grace of the Gospel can do that.  Make no mistake; the guilt that condemns and crushes us is a very bad thing . . . and it was all nailed to the cross by Jesus.

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.  (Colossians 1:19-20)

“Guilting” others or ourselves into action is not pleasing to God and never moves us toward maturity.  Holiness in the life of the Christian flows out of grace . . . not guilt.  Guilt that drives toward duty always leads to dread, because a guilty conscience is never free to rest in the finished work of Christ.  It is too busy trying to finish the race on its own.  But when Jesus said “It is finished,” He meant what He said!  We have been set free to do what God would have us do—not out of a sense of guilt but out of gratitude, and this makes all the difference in the world.

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

Now that you’re no longer feeling like a freak (see Monday’s blog), let’s make one other thing perfectly clear: there are NO SUPERIOR SAINTS!  I learned a long time ago that the ground is level at the cross; none of us is standing on higher ground and no one is standing on lower ground.  In fact, the only reason we stand at all is because Jesus has raised us from death to life.  Everything we have (except our sin) and everything we are (except being sinners) is because of the grace of God.

My beloved Pastor Tullian often quotes William Temple’s fabulous one-liner: “The only thing we contribute to our salvation is the sin that makes it necessary!” Therefore, there are NO SUPERIOR SAINTS!  And yet the feeling of superiority and the seduction of putting others down is deeply woven into the sinful fabric of our lives. 

Steve Brown has a great suggestion for those of us who have a tendency to feel superior to our brothers and sisters in Christ.  He suggests, “I think it would be a great gift to the church if God was to make us all wear neon signs listing our ten greatest sins for all-the world to see. You say, ‘You’ve got to be kidding!  Everyone would know.  It would be horrible for people to look at me and see all my sins!’  No, as a matter of fact, they wouldn’t even be looking at your neon sign.  They would be too busy trying to hide theirs!  And then we would finally get honest.  That wouldn’t be half bad.” 

Steve’s on to something there!  If we were each wearing our own personal neon sin-sign, we’d be just like Adam and Eve in the Garden after they sinned: we would all feel so naked and ashamed that we would not be so focused on making others feel so naked and ashamed.  And that would indeed be a good thing!  The plank in our own eye would really bother us; the speck in others’ eyes would not.  We could devote our time to coming alongside our brothers and sisters, instead of judging them and trying to get them to conform to our image and our expectations. 

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.  (Romans 12:3)

God has made us all different—one body with many parts—so we can fit perfectly into His plan and purpose for the advancement of His kingdom.  It’s only when we are advancing the atrophied agenda of our own little kingdom that we find ourselves thanking God that we are not like other people.  When it’s about our little kingdom, we have an insatiable need to be sitting in the chief seats and we will do whatever it takes to get there.  But when we are focused on expanding God’s kingdom, superiority goes out the window. 

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.  Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.  (Romans 12:4-6)

Paul is telling us that each one of us is both needed and valuable to God’s kingdom.  Everyone has a place in God’s kingdom to carry out their God-given assignments.  When we understand this, we begin serving alongside the family of faith rather than feeling superior to them. 

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

Have you ever felt freakish because of the trials and temptations you’ve been facing in your life, as if you are the only one going through what you are going through?  I have a word of comfort for you today . . . and it’s a word of comfort for me too!

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. 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 stand up under it.

(1 Corinthians 10:13)

A quick check for definitions of the word freak yields, “A person on exhibition as an example of a strange deviation from nature; monster.”  A “freak” is so far removed from “ordinary” that we are tempted to turn and gape in astonishment when we see one, as we might stare at the “bearded lady” displayed at a circus. A freak is in a special category.

Let me assure you that our struggles with temptation do not make us freaks!  The Bible makes it clear that because of our indwelling sin nature, we all wrestle with temptation.  No temptation has seized us except what is common to all men. 

Most of us have heard sermons preached on this verse. We tend to confine our focus to the last portion of the text.  We know God will provide a way for us to stand and have victory over our temptations.  But the first thing we need to understand—if we are ever going to find the strength to resist temptation—is the commonness of it.

Bryan Chapell writes, “The knowledge that others struggle as we do rescues us from the weakening despair of thinking that we are unique and strange when we feel tempted.”  In other words, you should no longer feel like a freak because of the temptations you are struggling with.  You are not alone! 

Temptation is a common life experience for everyone.  And a temptation is not a sin.  Yielding to it is sin, not the presence of it.  Remember, even Jesus Himself was tempted by the devil: “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1). Yet we know there was no sin in His perfect life. Hebrews 4:15 confirms that Jesus was “tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin.”

When we understand that others did and do struggle against the same temptations and trials we encounter, we feel less isolated and freakish.  Knowing we are all confronting temptation in one form or another is a source of strength in the battle.  If we feel we are abnormal and alone, we may easily give up and give in to the temptations that plague us.  And this is the place of abject surrender to which Satan wants to drive all of us. 

The Bible makes it clear we are not alone in our fight against temptation, and the Gospel gives us the power to resist.  And when we fail to resist, the Gospel gives us the grace to come running to the throne of grace, where we find unending forgiveness and unconditional love, which empowers us to go further in and further up into our salvation.  The less freakish we feel about our individual temptations the more we will desire to be faithful, knowing we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who struggled mightily, just as we do.

Most of us can repeat 1 John 1:9 from memory: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” But have you looked at that verse in context lately? See how the Holy Spirit bookended that marvelous promise of God’s grace and forgiveness! I’m going to highlight verses 8 and 10 of 1 John to emphasize Scripture’s matter-of-fact appraisal of our fallen nature:

(8) If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (10) If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Do you see that?  Scripture is, in essence, telling us: “Don’t even think about trying to pass yourself off as someone who wins all your battles against temptation.  If you do, you’re a liar.  Worse still, you’re calling God a liar!”

Remember, there was only One who walked this earth and never once surrendered to temptation! Because of His victory, we can look forward to the day we too shall live in victory, a day when there will be no more temptation . . . no more tears . . . no more cries of “O wretched man that I am!” (Romans 7:24).

Until that glorious day, let’s fight in the strength of the Lord, knowing we are all in the battle together.  Know that He is there to battle with you!  “Because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted (Hebrews 2:18).

Therefore, let us “Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (Hebrews 3:13). We’re all in the same leaky, sinful boat together. So let’s pray without ceasing and paddle like crazy!

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

Has your hope ever disappointed you?  Perhaps something did not work out the way you were hoping: a business deal fell through; a relationship headed south; perhaps sickness started testing the outer edges of your fitness plan.  When our hope disappoints us, we can be sure of one thing: we have the wrong hope.

Hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.  (Romans 5:5)

This “holy hope” never disappoints because God never disappoints.  God never disappoints because He is not only the giver of this hope, He is the God of hope.  Now, we need to be careful in our understanding of a hope that does not disappoint, because we sometimes do not get what we are hoping for and we find ourselves disappointed.  When we do, we can be assured of this: our hope was not a holy hope, rooted in what God wants for us.  It was rooted in what we wanted, when we wanted it, and God was gracious to halt our hope. 

Perhaps what we were hoping for was God’s purpose and plan for our lives . . . but just not within the time frame we were hoping for it to occur.  Sometimes a holy hope requires patience and perseverance—trusting in God’s timing and not ours.  God knows what is best for us and when is the best time for the realization of our hope.

Here are just a few examples of a holy hope that could not disappoint:

• Abraham hoped for decades for a son; God knew best when to deliver him.
• Moses hoped for decades for the Israelites to be freed; God knew best when to free them.
• Simeon hoped for decades for the Savior to arrive; God knew best when to send Him.

God always knows what is best for His people and His plan is always perfect.  That is why His hope never disappoints, because His hope cannot be denied or derailed.  When our hope is in Him, our hope is certain to happen.  The writer of Lamentations knew this well: “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,” he wrote, “to the one who seeks him” (Lamentations 3:25). 

When we are seeking God, our hope is a holy hope and we can be assured it will one day happen exactly as God has planned it to happen.  Think back to something you were hoping for that God finally made happen.  How did you feel?  Did you think that the time of waiting was wasted?  Of course not!  God’s timing is perfect, and He is perfecting our patience and perseverance.  Hope is not merely a good thing; it is absolutely necessary for one to live on this side of the grave. 

Years ago I read something that stuck with me: a man can live a few weeks without food . . . a few days without water . . . a few minutes without air . . . but not for a single second without hope!

What have you been hoping for lately?  If it is a holy hope—rooted in Jesus regardless of what your current circumstances may look like—the darkness of your seemingly hopeless night will, in God’s perfect timing and in God’s generous way, be followed by the hope-filled light of day. 

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

Ever curse your Creator?  We all do it from time to time; most people don’t even know they are doing it!  Now that I have your attention, consider the following thoughts within the church today:

• If only I had a better body . . .
• If only I had better looks . . .
• If only my teeth were straighter . . .
• If only I had a different personality . . .
• If only I could carry a tune . . .
• If only I had more hair . . .
• If only I had curly hair . . .
• If only my hair was a different color . . .
• If only I was more athletic . . .
• If only I was smarter . . .
• If only I was taller . . .
• If only I was shorter . . .
• If only my eyes were a different color . . .
• If only I was born into a different family . . .

The list, of course, is endless.  Did any of these resonate with you or is your curse something else not listed here?  Every time we think something like this, we are demonstrating our dissatisfaction with God’s creation of us.  Far too many in the church today worship God on Sunday and curse Him the rest of the week because they are not happy with the way He created them.  Working with the youth as much as I do, I am constantly confronted with short kids who want to be taller; bigger kids who want to be smaller; smart kids who want to be athletic; mechanical kids who want to be musical; geeky kids who want to be popular. 

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful.  I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  (Psalm 139:134-16a)

David wrote this passage in the full understanding that He was made by God just the way God wanted to make him.  When Samuel came to the house of Jesse to anoint the new king, the Scriptures suggest David might have been as handsome as his older brother, Eliab, but he was not as tall.  But the Lord admonished Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature” (1 Samuel 16:7).  It was not an accident that David looked the way he looked, because God created him that way.  Nowhere in Scripture can we find David looking to be remade by his Creator. 

So . . . what about you?  Are you dissatisfied with your Creator’s work in you?  Do you secretly wish God had made you more like someone else?  To be sure, we all struggle with this from time to time.  But the answer to rising above this kind of thinking is to be fully immersed in the truths of the Gospel.  Only the Gospel frees us to accept the way we have been fearfully and wonderfully made.  Only the Gospel frees us to embrace the way we have been knit together. 

Because we already have everything we need in Jesus, we don’t have to go looking outside of ourselves for the one thing we all crave: acceptance.  We have been made accepted in the Beloved; we are His masterpiece and fully loved just the way we are regardless of what others think about us.  The Gospel empowers us to no longer curse our Creator because we are not satisfied with the way we were made.  Made by God—for God—we fit perfectly into His plan and purpose for our lives.  And His plan and purpose for our lives transcends our plan and purpose for our lives.     

There is one added benefit to accepting the way God made us.  Resting in this truth also allows us to receive others just the way they are because they too have been made in His image.  One body, many members, all uniquely made as one-of-a-kind masterpieces in the hand of the Master!!! 

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

Ever wonder why God the Father would use flawed people to accomplish His perfect purposes in this world?  I did, and the answer God gave me was pretty simple: that’s all that’s available to Him!  “Wait a minute,” some of you might object.  “What about the heroes of the faith in the Bible—giants like Abraham and Sarah, Moses, David, Peter, and Paul?  How do they fit into this ‘flawed’ picture?”  Let’s see.

• Abraham offered his wife to two different men in order to secure safe passage.
• Sarah offered her female servant to Abraham to conceive a son.
• Moses was a murderer.
• David was an adulterer and murderer.
• Peter was willing to deny Jesus to save his own skin.
• Paul was contentious and frankly admitted that he kept on doing “the evil I do not want to do” (Romans 7:19).

These are just a few of the examples in sacred Scripture where the word “flawed” seems like an understatement of gargantuan proportions.  Yet God choose to use them all in the advancement of His kingdom in this world.  Why?  Because that’s all that’s available to Him!  A few weeks ago, I wrote that there is only hero in the Bible: His name is Jesus Christ.  Everyone else we read about in Scripture is just like all those we don’t read about—great sinners in need of an even greater Savior.

This should give you great comfort today for two reasons: first, you can take anyone you have placed on a pedestal off it and set them right back on the ground where they belong (remember, the ground is always level at the foot of the cross).  And second, you are just as qualified as anyone else to be used by God because you are no more flawed than they are.  God has been using flawed individuals since the fall in spite of their failures, and His eternal purposes are being accomplished. 

In addition to the fact that the only people available to God are flawed people, there is another reason too: God delights in working through the kind of people the world could never imagine He would pick to be on His team.

Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

(1 Corinthians 1:26-31)

I don’t know about you, but I am reassured when I read the stories of the people who struggled with self-protection, selfish ambition, and other kinds of sin—just like I do—and yet were still used of God.  If Scripture only offered stories of those who walked on water and spoke from Sinai, it would be pretty discouraging!  Far from being inspired to excellence and a drive to serve God, I would be driven into the dust of despair.  Thank God He uses the flawed . . . of whom I am the foremost.

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