Author Archives: Pastor Tommy

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. (1 Peter 5:5)

When we are facing the storms of life, we always have two choices: We can humble ourselves before the mighty hand of Providence or we can grumble. I have a sinful nature just like you do, and I will readily admit that it is far easier for me to grumble than it is to humble myself. In other words, it is far easier for me to resist the providence of God, especially when it is a painful providence, rather than to humbly receive it. But this will not be the case for those who see God’s sovereign hand behind everything that happens in life

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time. (1 Peter 5:6)

God’s Word is telling us to submit and surrender to God’s providential working in our lives, both the pleasant and the painful. Now, the only way we can possibly begin to do this is to see God’s mighty hand behind everything that is going on in our lives. Paul exulted that “From Him and through Him and to Him are all things” (Romans 11:36 NASB). God’s hand is behind our accomplishments and our adversities. God’s hand is behind our happiness and our heartaches. As my seminary professor Dr. Sproul was fond of saying, “If there is one maverick molecule in the universe, you cannot trust God for anything. Either God is in control of everything or nothing.” The clear testimony of Scripture is that He is in control of everything. “He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?'” (Daniel 4:35).

The Bible is filled with accounts of those who understood and lived out this truth in their lives against all odds. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and spent years in prison in Egypt. But God was with Joseph and blessed everything he did. Eventually, Joseph was raised up to the position of second in authority in all of Egypt. When famine struck the land, his brothers came to Egypt looking for food. When they arrived, they got the food they were looking for and the forgiveness they could have never imagined. Joseph made it clear that he saw God’s hand behind everything that was happening in his life when he told his brothers, “It was not you who sent me here, but God” (Genesis 45:8).

Joseph knew that God had used even the sinful acts of his brothers to accomplish His perfect purposes. Joseph could have grumbled about his misfortune, but he chose to humble himself under the mighty hand of God. And because Joseph chose the way of humility, God did indeed “lift him up in due time,” as 1 Peter 5:6 promises.

What God did for Joseph, He will do for you and me if we will exchange our grumble for humble.

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

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

The great enemy of God and His people is Satan, who is also known as the accuser. Once a holy, beautiful, and righteous angel, Satan rebelled against God and was cast down out of heaven; today he is busily engaged in accusing believers in the hopes of discrediting them before God. But Satan, who prowls around the earth like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8), has no teeth and his accusations are not to be accepted.

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation. (Colossians 1:21-22)

This passage comes under the heading of “The Beautiful BUTS of God.” We were alienated from God — we were actually His enemies . . . BUT God reconciled us! For all those who have, by grace through faith, trusted in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, the assurance of God’s forgiveness and love is absolutely assured. Now, you can’t keep Satan from accusing you and you can’t keep others from accusing you. But never will God accuse you!

For me, the most compelling and complete picture of this truth is the one that was given to the prophet Zechariah.

Then [the angel] showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.” (Zechariah 3:1-4)

Christian, you are clothed in the righteous robes of Christ, and you are totally, completely, and eternally free from accusation. Because God pronounced judgment on Jesus, who took our sin and nailed it all to the cross, there can never be any judgment against us. Because God pronounced the “guilty” verdict over Jesus, who paid the penalty for all our sins in full, He will never make the “guilty” pronouncement over us.

Remember, all our sins have been removed as far as the east is from the west, and that is a distance that simply cannot be measured! We have been cleansed from all our sins by the saving blood of the Lamb of God, and we have been clothed with the rich garments of His righteousness — not because of anything we have done, but because of His mercy. We are accepted by God because of Jesus Christ, and when Satan or anyone else sends an accusation our way, we are to respond, “Accusation unaccepted!” For God has said —

“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,” says the Lord. (Isaiah 54:17 NKJV)

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

“You bless the godly, O Lord; You surround them with Your shield of love.” (Psalm 5:11-12)

When we say that God’s love is unconditional, it is important to understand what unconditional does not mean: It does not mean that we are left unchanged. C. S. Lewis emphasized that truth this way in his book The Problem of Pain:

To ask that God’s love should be content with us as we are is to ask that God should cease to be God; because he is what he is, His love must, in the nature of things, be impeded and repelled by certain stains in our present character, and because He already loves us He must labor to make us lovable. We cannot even wish, in our better moments, that he could reconcile Himself to our present impurities.

Lewis was essentially underscoring God’s goal for us that is expressed in Romans 8:29 – “To conform us to the likeness of his Son.” God’s love is true love because God’s love is at work within us, changing us and conforming us more and more into the image and likeness of Jesus. It has been well said that God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you too much to leave you there. God is making us more and more lovable with each passing day. God’s love for us is growing and maturing us in our faith and making us more like Jesus in thought, word, deed, and desire. This is the ultimate goal for every child of God.

Because God wants what is best for us, He refuses to leave us in the condition He found us in. True love takes us from self-absorption to self-sacrifice. True love takes us from self-centeredness to other-orientation. True love takes us from “My will be done” to “Thy will be done.”

Remember, Christian, this does not happen in a day, but daily. You are a work in progress, and it will take all the days of your life for True Love to make you perfectly lovable. Let that truth set you free to press on toward the goal every day.

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

I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul. (Jeremiah 32:41)

When was the last time you thought about our Savior Jesus rejoicing? Well, our Redeemer rejoices over us and delights in doing good to us with all His heart and soul. To be sure, with all our imperfections, we can find no reason within ourselves that would cause this to be true. Yet our Redeemer rejoices to meet us in our deepest place of need!

In the beginning, our Redeemer rejoiced over all that He had made in the heavens and in the earth, and He declared with infinite wisdom that is was not just “good,” but “very good” (Genesis 1:31). And of all that He made, He made only mankind in His image. Not even the angels know this blessed gift from God. They are included in the “very good,” but they are not made in the very image of God.

Did you ever stop to think that when a third of the angels rebelled and fell from heaven, followed by the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, it was not the angels that God came after with His redeeming love? As the author of the letter to the Hebrews said —

Surely it is not angels he helps, but Abram’s descendants. (Hebrews 2:16)

Let that truth greatly encourage you today! Let it lift you up above any waves of challenge that are coming against you. Let that truth set you free to rejoice in your Redeemer, because He continually rejoices in doing you good. Now, the “good” you may be hoping for and the good you actually receive from His hand may be two distinctly different things. But is your Redeemer not in the best position to know what is best for you? And does He not know best how to deliver it?

I cannot find a verse in sacred Scripture that describes our Redeemer as rejoicing in the sun, moon, or the stars. But time and time again we read how God rejoices over those who bear His image. I pray that our passage for today and these words from the prophet Zephaniah will act as bookends to strengthen your belief in just how deeply you are loved and how much your Redeemer rejoices over you.

The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

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

“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” (2 Kings 6:16)

The prophet Elisha was in the city of Dothan; the king of Aram sent an army equipped with horses and chariots to capture the prophet of God. They surrounded the city, and Elisha’s servant was gripped with fear. But the prophet could see what his servant could not see, and he spoke today’s word of comfort: “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Surrounding those who had encircled the prophet and his servant were horses and chariots of fire sent by the Most High God (2 Kings 6:17).

What was true for the prophet Elisha back then is true for the people of God today. The adversaries of God’s people – the world, the flesh, and the devil – are many and mighty. But God’s answer to all our adversaries is mightier still. No matter how many unholy horses and corrupt chariots may line up against us to keep us from being all God is calling us to be, they are outnumbered by Omnipotence. Our Master always has the majority. You are protected on all sides, and you will not be overcome by your opposition because “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

Are the forces of fear arrayed against you? Are the armies of anxiety attacking from all sides? Are the powers of the prince of darkness pursuing you? Fear not! Look with eyes of faith today, and you will see past whatever adversary is approaching and see the Almighty, who stands at the ready to give you victory. Remember, not only is it true that those who are with you are more than those who are with your enemies, but the power that is at work within you is infinitely and eternally greater than any power that can ever come against you.

To be sure, the fighting will be fierce and the battle will be brutal, but the outcome will never be in question because the One who fights for you fights with a force that simply cannot be overcome. Remember, the Master and you always makes the majority!

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

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

Be encouraged, Christian! Our Redeemer remembers all of His promises to us, even when we might provoke Him to want to forget! Here is what you and I must remember: It is His faithfulness to us — not not our faithfulness to Him — that causes Him to remember and to keep all of His promises.

Our Redeemer always remembers His promises to us and never regrets making them. He knows that we are but dust, and from time to time we drift from our duties. Yet in spite of all our faults and failings, He has promised that He will never forget us or forsake us. He remembers to provide 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! No weapon formed can cause our faithful Redeemer to let a single Word or promise fall to the ground.

Regardless of where this message finds you today, never lose sight of the glorious truth that your Redeemer remembers every promise He has made to you. Do you have a need in your personal life? Take it to your Redeemer who remembers. Do you have a need in your professional life? Take it to your Redeemer who remembers. Are you struggling in some aspect of your spiritual life? Take it to your Redeemer who remembers. When you fear God, you have nothing else to fear, for He has promised to meet all of your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:13).

One final word: Your Redeemer who remembers all His promises to you will certainly accomplish what He has promised, but it often will not be in the way we expect. Our Redeemer knows the best way to fulfill His promises to us, and He will always do what is best for us . . . in His perfect way and in His perfect time.

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; along the way, He alone can bring restoration and reversal to all that was lost.

The crops that the locusts had eaten are a picture of all the losses all God’s people face. When the children of Israel were released from bondage in Egypt, they were just a few days’ walk from the Promised Land. But their rebellion cost them 38 years and an entire generation wandering in the desert. The prodigal son who rebelled against his father and ran off to the far country lost his time, his talent, and his treasure when he chose to live a life of rebellion.

To be sure, the Almighty commands many armies, and He uses them to correct us when we willfully wander away from Him. However, the Almighty’s Army is never sent to crush us; it is 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 turn our mourning into dancing and bless us with great gain in spite of our crushing 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, the persecutor of the church.
• 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 should lift our spirits above all that has been lost; we can trust 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!

I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. (Isaiah 65:19)

Let these words comfort you in your every affliction, because the day is coming when the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard no more. As a pastor, I live in a world marked by weeping and crying as I move from one storm into another with the saints God has entrusted to my care. But there is a day coming when every storm shall be stilled. This, beloved, is the promise that is designed to propel us forward through every dark night of the soul.

The promise is as profound as it is personal. The day is coming in the not-so-distant future when we will be taken on the wings of eagles into the presence of our Lord . . . or He will return to us on the clouds of heaven. Either way, we will have received the promise of perfection, and there will be nothing to hinder our joy and satisfaction. We will be with our Lord, and we will weep no more because every desire of the heart will be eternally filled. There will be no more sorrow. There will be no more suffering. There will be no more storm winds blowing our way. Mourning will be exchanged for rejoicing that will continue forevermore.

Perhaps you find yourself in the midst of mourning today because of some loss in your life: the loss of a job prospect . . . the loss of a relationship . . . the loss of your health . . . the loss of an opportunity . . . the loss of a loved one. This is the reality of living as broken people in a broken world. But the time is coming when all that is broken will be made whole. Every tear will be wiped away and every wound healed.

Look to that promise and let it strengthen you every step of the way toward the paradise that awaits you! Eye has not seen and ear has not heard the infinite joys that await the saints of God, who will glory in the eternal presence of Jesus Christ. This is our propelling promise!  

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

The Lord examines the righteous. (Psalm 11:5)

The Lord examines us — not because He wants to hurt us, but because He loves us. We are precious in His sight, and He will refine us in His fires of affliction so that we come out more pure than when we went in. This is true for all God’s children. None of us escape His examination.

Our God tries and tests us out of a heart of eternal love. There is simply no better way to remove the dross of self than through the examinations of our Savior. If Jesus did not love you, He would not examine you; if we really understood just how much He loves us, we would cry out for His continual examinations, as David did —

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24)

Never forget that the examinations we are taken through by our Lord are not conducted so that He can gain a deeper knowledge of our commitment to Him; rather, they are conducted so that we will grow in our understanding of what our heart beats for and how deep our own love is for Him. God knows all things (1 John 3:20). God knew Abraham’s heart when He asked him to sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22:1-15), but Abraham did not fully know his own heart of love for God until he was examined. God proved to Abraham that he should indeed be known for all eternity as the father of the faithful (Romans 4:16).

The examinations we go through are the proving grounds of our faith. Only when we have passed through the furnace of affliction and come out the other side of suffering do we know how genuine our faith truly is. Do you need more proof? We need look no further than the story of Job; God allowed Satan to subject Job to unimaginable trials. And what was the result? Job never rejected God’s right to examine him. He trusted God throughout every trial, even when he could not trace Him in them. “Though he slay me, yet I will hope in him,” Job declared (Job 13:15).

Know this: Whatever depth of faith you have today is a result of the examinations you have been given by God in the past. If you have been seeking worldly ease, examinations will surely come. Growth does not happen when we are secure within our comfort zones. But when God forces us into places where we are uncomfortable, He is conforming us more and more to the image of His beloved Son. And that is the purpose for every examination we encounter.

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

Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar! (Psalm 120:5)

When Jesus prayed His high priestly prayer for His people, He did not pray that we would be taken out of this world, but that we would be protected from the evil one (John 17:15). We must embrace this truth today: What Jesus did not pray for us we must never pray for ourselves.

It is wrong to cry “Woe is me!” and wish to be received into glory. We have been left here to carry out God’s work in this world, just as our Lord did when He walked the streets of Palestine. We are in this world, but we are not of this world, and we are called to impact this world for the glory of our God. Jesus has sent us out into this world to be salt and light, and we are to prayerfully do everything we can, relying on His wisdom and strength, to preserve what good there is in the world around us and to shine His light into every dark place.

Where would you expect to find a doctor except where you find the sick in need of his or her care? Where would you expect to find a soldier expect where you find the battle raging? So too with the saints of God. We are to be found wherever Jesus is needed — and that, beloved, is everywhere on this side of the grave. To be sure, we dwell in Meshech and live among the tents of Kedar; our world is filled with the powers of darkness and the forces of evil at every turn. But this is the very reason that our Savior did not ask for us to be taken out of the world, but rather that we would be strengthened and protected to live in it.

Remember, God has not commissioned us to expand His kingdom in this world in our own strength. We have been given the power of the Holy Spirit to do all that He has called us to do; when we do that, we are bringing glory to God and eternal good to all those we come in contact with. So if you find yourself weary in your witness, remember it is wrong to cry “Woe!” when you know that your Savior has commanded you to “Go!”

Let these words from Paul encourage you and propel you forward in your ministry of service to God. The apostle Paul knew what it meant to transform the confession of our lives from “Woe” to “G0!”

I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. (Philippians 1:23-24)

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