Author Archives: Pastor Tommy

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

We’re going to continue looking at God’s love for you throughout this Valentine’s week. On Monday we saw how God has loved you from eternity past; today we will look at the truth that God loves you in the present.

Loved in the Present

Good news: God is not an angry taskmaster who only demonstrates His love when we are doing what we are supposed to do. God is not a concerned coach who demonstrates His love only when we are succeeding in life. God is love, and He loves us no matter what. And there is no better passage of Scripture to demonstrate that truth than this one from the inspired pen of the apostle Paul.

God demonstrates his own love fur us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

God did not wait for you to get your life cleaned up. God did not wait for you to get right with Him. God the Father sent God the Son to pay the penalty for your sins while you were a rebel on the run away from God and had no love in your heart for Him. If God loved us that much when we were far off from Him — alienated from God and enemies in our minds, as Colossians 1:21 tells us — what would make us think that He does not love us right now, no matter what?

Well . . . there is the accuser of the brethren. The evil one is forever yammering in our minds when we miss the mark in our thoughts, words, deeds, or desires. Satan hisses accusations and insinuations that cause us to doubt God’s love for us. And the only way we can keep from buying into the devil’s slurs is to remember this glorious, divine assertion from Paul’s epistle to the Romans:

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

Jesus took our condemnation and nailed it to that cross. He was condemned in our place. And He walked out of His grave and appeared to hundreds of people (1 Corinthians 15:6) to provide proof positive that God the Father was completely satisfied with God the Son’s atoning sacrifice on our behalf. So now there is nothing we can do that will cause God to stop loving us in the present. We are loved in the past and we are loved in the present.

On Friday, we will take a look at God’s love for us in our promised future. Happy Valentine’s Day!

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

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

This being Valentine’s week, I want to use all three of our articles this week to encourage you with the truth of the deepest need of every human heart: a love that will last . I will present this amazing, unwavering love under these three headings: Loved in the Past; Loved in the Present; Loved in the Promised Future. But before you read on, read John 3:16 above once again, but this time, substitute your name for “the world.” Read it aloud . . . and let that truth set you free. “For God so loved . . .” YOU!

Loved in the Past

Because God is eternal and God is love, His love is eternal. That means God has loved you from eternity past. There has never been a time when God did not love you. Take a look at these passages of Scripture that establish this truth beyond a shadow of a doubt.

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” (Jeremiah 31:3)

From everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children. (Psalm 103:17)

Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever. (Psalm 136:26)

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed. (Isaiah 54:10)

He chose us in [Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will . . . (Ephesians 1:4-5)

The everlasting love that God has lavished on you remains constant throughout every season of life – in good times and in bad . . . for richer and poorer . . . in sickness and in health. And that includes those seasons when you are not demonstrating your love back to God.

Remember, God’s everlasting love loves you always. God’s everlasting love loves you best. God’s everlasting love loves you perfectly. God’s everlasting love loves you most. God’s everlasting love loves you unconditionally. And God’s everlasting love loves you first – “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

I’l tell you more about God’s great love for you on Wednesday!   

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

The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17 NKJV)

When you think about your relationship with Jesus, what comes to mind? Do you see it as Shepherd to sheep . . . King to subject . . . Savior to saint . . . Master to servant? To be sure, there are many different ways to see our relationship with Jesus, but the one I want you to consider today is this: You are precious in His sight (Isaiah 43:4).

When was the last time you saw yourself as precious to Jesus? If it has been a while, take a moment to marinate in and meditate on these biblical truths:

I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. (Isaiah 49:16)

I have loved you with an everlasting love. (Jeremiah 31:3)

God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. (1 John 3:1)

From Genesis to Revelation, the Word of God makes it clear that we not only matter to God as a unique creation, His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10), but we are precious to Him. And there is no greater testimony to this truth than the cross on Calvary’s hill. When Jesus willingly took our place on a cruel cross to pay the penalty for our sins, He made it clear we are precious in His sight. In fact, the Bible tells us we were part of “the joy set before Him” (Hebrews 12:2).

Here is another truth for you to absorb: You are not only precious to Jesus when you are doing well and walking worthy of Him; you are still precious to Jesus when the wheels come off the tracks and you run yourself into a ditch. Nothing can ever separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus – not Satan, not your sin – nothing!

Let that truth strengthen you whenever you are beset by doubts, discouragement, or even despair. Jesus died to live in relationship with you. You are precious in the sight of Jesus. Now, if that doesn’t light the fire of your faith . . . your wood is wet!

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

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)

If you have been walking with the Lord for any length of time, you have learned from personal experience that the theme of risk and reward is central to the Christian life. Jesus reminded His disciples there is a cost to following Him, and He crystallized that message with the following words:

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:39)

When Jesus spoke of risk and reward, He was addressing an audience that fully understood the cost of being His disciple. The disciples risked a lot to follow Jesus – leaving jobs, security, families, and friends. And here is the key that unlocks the door leading to living a life like those early disciples: Because of what the disciples had witnessed in the life of Jesus, both in His words and His works, they knew whatever they risked was worth the reward. And what was their reward? One reward was eternal life, of course, but it was also everyday life — walking, talking, eating, and living with Jesus. For every disciple who chose to follow Jesus, the reward was well worth the risk.

Christian, search your heart: What are you willing to risk to develop a deeper relationship with Jesus? What are you willing to give up or lose for the privilege of walking with Jesus wherever He is leading you? Throughout the rest of your life, God will set before you opportunities that require you to risk personally, professionally, and relationally. You will have to make the decision whether the reward is worth the risk, but when the reward is more of Jesus, the answer is always “YES!”

And when you breathe your last, your greatest reward will be to stand in the presence of the Almighty and hear Him utter those two most meaningful words: “Well Done!” (Matthew 25:23).

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

Jesus told [Thomas], “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)

I remember playing “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” as a child. With a blindfold securely in place, the player had to completely trust the one who was giving him or her directions that would lead the way to the prize. Our faith can be a lot like this: We must totally trust in a God we cannot see, even during those times when we cannot trace His hand.

We aren’t challenged in our trusting when the sky is blue, the clouds are fleecy, and the sun is brightly shining. No, the challenge comes on those days when the storm winds are blowing and the waves of challenge are battering you time and time and time again. Some storms assail us because of foolish things we do, but some storms simply come, catching us completely by surprise. Those are the seasons when we must remember Who is leading us every step of the way through every storm we face, and that is when we call on the One who walked on the water and calmed the winds and the waves simply by saying, “Peace! Be still!” (Mark 4:39).

Regardless of where this message finds you today, no matter what you have been going through lately, continue trusting Jesus even when you cannot trace Him, no matter how severe the storm that is assailing you. Remember, nothing happens to us that does not first pass through His nail-scarred hands. God sends every storm for two reasons: Our eternal good and His eternal glory. Storm winds cause us to deepen our dependence on Jesus, driving the roots of our faith deeper and deeper into the soil of the sanctified life, making us that much stronger for the next storm, which may already be looming on life’s horizon.

You have not seen Him . . . but trust that He loves you. Hold fast to His promise that He will never leave you. Blessed are those who have not seen Him and yet have believed.

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

Every good and perfect gift is from above. (James 1:17)

A sense of entitlement has enslaved our contemporary culture and crippled it from being able to rise above the inevitable waves of challenge that crash against every life. Entitlement is metastasizing like stage four cancer, both in the unbelieving world and within the church.

It never ceases to amaze me how many younger adults I speak to who feel entitled to immediately enjoy the same standard of living that it took their parents decades to attain. This insidious spirit of entitlement has infected the church and wreaked havoc in our spiritual lives. When we don’t receive what we believe we have a right to expect, all too often we look resentfully at God as the One who withheld it from us.

I hope you will forgive me for being blunt. God has promised to give to us everything we need to live the life He has called us to live (2 Corinthians 9:8). We have been given every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), and God has promised to meet our every need along the way (Philippians 4:19). But we immediately veer off into the muddy ditch of entitlement when we believe that we are entitled to more than God has promised. God never promised to meet our every want. Often what we want is diametrically opposed to what God wants for us, and for good reason. It is not His best for us. But when we feel entitled to whatever that want may be, we may become bitter and begin to shrink back from all God is calling us to in our ministry of service to Him.

We must remember that God owes us nothing, but He has promised us everything in Jesus. The Christian life is to be marked by caring contribution, not covetous consumerism. It is only when we remember this truth that we will begin to break the chains of enslavement to entitlement. We must trust in God’s provision for us and receive with thanksgiving whatever He chooses to give to us.

Entitlement places self on the throne of life rather than the Savior. But by keeping an attitude of gratitude in all circumstances, we keep Jesus enthroned in our lives, and He in turn will dethrone every sense of entitlement.

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

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. (Romans 12:3)

No doubt you’ve heard the phrase, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” That is shorthand for all the reasons and excuses people will offer for not making whatever changes are necessary to their beliefs or behaviors. But make no mistake, the life of the Christian is a life of continual change. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Old dogs can learn “new tricks” when the teacher is our Lord Jesus Christ.

The first step to making positive change in your life is to recognize that a change is actually necessary, whether that means changing a belief or a behavior. To be convinced that you need to change is to acknowledge that something was wrong or deficient, and sinful pride will always rise up against that admission. Sinful pride will do everything in its power to convince you that you are doing fine just the way you are and that change is entirely unnecessary.

Once you push past pride and identify that a change truly is necessary, the second step is to be willing to put in the effort to make the desired change, and that effort must always begin on your knees. Take your desired change to the Throne of Grace. All change begins and ends with God, which is why you must spend time in communion with Him. Add to that time in His Word. Come to the Scriptures and read with the prayerful expectation that God will reveal the path you need to travel to reach your new destination.

Finally, having convinced yourself of the need for change and committing to making the necessary effort, you must be willing to walk the path God has shown you, regardless of cost or circumstance. God has promised to strengthen your resolve so that you will be empowered to do what is necessary to change. But you must be willing to do your part. The process of learning “new tricks” requires your active participation. The gift of God’s grace is available to us without conditions, but we must receive His grace, respond to it, and act accordingly.

Remember, change is at the heart of what it means to be a Christian, because the Gospel changes everything, including you! With that in mind, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). Come to the Lord and ask Him to direct your steps . . . including those steps that will take you in a new direction.

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

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

The devil does everything within his power to keep you from living the life God is calling you to live. Satan can’t mess with your promised eternal life, but he certainly can mess with your present everyday life, if you allow him. And one of the sharpest darts in his arsenal is to weigh you down with the sins of your past. If he can keep you looking over your shoulder at what is behind you, it will hinder you from moving in the direction God is calling you to go.

I want to emphasize that God saying, “I will remember their sins no more” is not the same as God forgetting. God is omniscient. He knows everything all the time, and He simply cannot forget anything. If He actually did forget, he would not be omniscient, because there would be something He didn’t know (because He had forgotten it). However, God, in His mercy, chooses not to call to mind the sins we have committed in our past.

Think about it this way: Rather than treating us as our sins deserve, He chooses to forgive us and to remember our sins no more because of what His Son has done for us. God refuses to hold our sins over our heads by reminding us of our past mistakes. God has intentionally put all our sins behind His back (Isaiah 38:17) . . . removed our transgressions from us as far from us as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12) . . . and hurled all our iniquities into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19), never to be dredged up again. “Out of sight, out of mind,” the old saying goes, and coming from God, that is a promise that is simply out of this world! We do not serve a forgetful God; we serve a forgiving and faithful God, who says He will never bring up our past sins again.

Now, don’t confuse conviction with condemnation. Conviction takes place when the Holy Spirit reminds us that we have rebelled against God, we are filled with a godly sorrow, and we repent of our sins. Condemnation, on the other hand, is of the devil, who keeps bringing up our sins to shame us and water down our witness for Jesus.

Christian, never forget that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). The next time the devil whispers in your ear, “Look at what you did,” you can respond, “Away from me, Satan! Yes, I did do that, but I am forgiven, completely and eternally, because of Jesus Christ.”

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

“Let my people go, so that they may serve me.” (Exodus 8:1)

These words from the Lord were delivered by Moses to Pharaoh when God was preparing to free His people from bondage in Egypt. God was setting His people free from slavery in order that they would worship and serve Him. Now, you and I may never go anywhere near the nation of Egypt at any point in our lives, but the same principle holds true: We have been saved to serve.

Many in the church today have lost sight of this biblical truth. Instead of understanding that we have been saved for service, they believe they are saved by service. This, of course, is a false gospel rooted in our merit, not God’s mercy. Salvation is all of God. “Salvation belongs to our God,” as the great multitude in heaven declares (Revelation 7:10). There is nothing we do to “get” saved. But after God saves us, we are called to serve the One who died to set us free from our bondage to sin, Satan, and death. We are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God through service. We are to live lives of sacrificial service to others – all others – regardless of the cost or circumstance.

We have been blessed to be a blessing. We have been healed to help. We have been redeemed to preach the Gospel of redemption. We have been saved to serve. This is the call for every child of God, not just those who are in vocational ministry, such as pastors and missionaries. Every Christian is in “full-time Christian ministry,” regardless of what profession they have chosen. The butcher, baker, and candlestick maker . . . all are called to serve their Savior. A “non-serving Christian” is a contradiction in terms of gargantuan proportions.

As you continue growing and maturing in your faith, keep in mind that your maturity is always meant for ministry. Jesus declared that He “did not come to be served, but to serve” (Matthew 20:28), and the same must be said of those who are His disciples.

So . . . Can that be said about you? Does your life reflect the truth that you have been saved to serve?

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

My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:2-3)

I recognize that the title of today’s message may seem counterintuitive. How are we possibly going to find treasure in our trials? We do it by seeing our trials from God’s perspective and not our own. When we do that, we will understand how God is using all our difficulties for our eternal good and His glory.

The very first thing God is doing when He sends us trials is shaking us free from our shackles to the earthly and the temporal. Make no mistake, God never says, “Oops!” when opposition comes our way. God is in control of all things–not a bird falls to the ground apart from His will (Matthew 10:29)–and He is not sitting on His throne, wondering how things will work out. The Sovereign Lord “works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:11), and He wants us to loosen our white-knuckle grip on our earth-bound treasures and reach for all things above.

The next thing God is doing when He sends us trials is putting His omnipotent power on display. When trials come against us that we find ourselves powerless to endure, we must depend totally on God, who alone will get the glory when we do overcome.

The Bible is filled with examples of this principle in action. One of my favorites is the story of Gideon. God called Gideon to lead Israel into battle against the Midianite army of 135,000 warriors. After a lot of hemming and hawing and “fleecing,” Gideon finally accepted God’s call, at which point God promptly told Gideon that he had too many warriors to take into battle. I’m sure most military commanders would scoff at the notion that you can ever have too many warriors to engage the enemy, but they would be thinking from man’s perspective, not God’s. Gideon started out with 32,000 warriors, and God whittled that force down to a band of only 300. Israel was outnumbered 450 to 1, but God promised Gideon, “With the three hundred men . . . I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands.” The Lord left no doubt about why He was doing this: “In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her” (Judges 7:2, 7).

What God did for Gideon more than 3,000 years ago, He is still doing for you and me today. Regardless of what has come against you, you are guaranteed victory with God on your side, but you must be willing to depend totally on Him. Remember, the greatest opposition you will ever face will never come from outside of you; it will always come from within you. Our sin nature stubbornly refuses to relinquish control and rely totally upon God. But that is exactly how we will find the treasure in any trial we face. When we shift from self-dependence to Savior-dependence, we will discover the treasure that is available to us moment by moment in our trials. And what is that treasure? The glory of the Lord! When we live for His glory and experience His presence . . . there can be no greater treasure.

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