Author Archives: Pastor Tommy

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Oh what a comfort we have in God’s Word today. No matter how much we mess things up, and I mess things up a lot, His mercies are new every morning. God always acts in mercy to His children, all of them, and that includes me and you. I have learned by way of personal experience that God’s mop is bigger than my mess!

The grace and mercy of God are truly amazing. Every bit of it is undeserved. Every bit of it is unearned. Every bit of it is unmerited. Every bit of it is simply a result of God’s gracious nature that predisposes Him to pour out His grace and mercy upon you, not only daily, but moment by moment. And if we are honest with ourselves, we know by way of personal experience, we need it every moment of every day.

Think about the last time you really messed things up. Perhaps it was something you said or something you did whether in your personal or professional life. Was not God merciful to you in the middle of your mess? Of course He was. He loved you the same after you messed things up as He did before. Because you are in Christ, you are absolutely loved. You cannot make God love you anymore and you cannot cause God to love you any less. He loves you as He loves His precious Son Jesus.

Regardless of the mess we make, our God never gets mad at the mess we have created. He simply acts in mercy toward us. And that is because we are covered by the blood of the Lamb of God who has taken away every sin, past, present, and to come. How else could God respond to us when we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ? Our God responds in mercy every time we mess things up and that should be a source of comfort for each of us today.

Let me leave you today with a lasting reminder of this wonderful truth:

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:4-5).

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

If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)

I trust the past two blogs have provided some necessary insight into fighting the battle against worry. In all of sacred Scripture, I cannot find a better verse to help in this fight than the one we have today.

The apostle Paul tells us we are more than conquerors because God is for us and if God is for us, it really doesn’t matter what comes up against us. That is why the key that unlocks the door to a week without worry is keeping our focus on Christ and not our circumstances. Holocaust survivor Corrie Ten Boom knew this truth and put it this way, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” Worry weakens our resolve and our response to whatever it is we are facing.

Think about it this way. If the most important and life altering events are no longer a source of worry for you –

• Being forgiven – 1 John 1:9
• Being forsaken – Hebrews 13:5
• Being forgotten – Isaiah 49:15

. . . and death itself has been overturned by Jesus rising from the grave and becoming the death of death, nothing in your life rises to the level of the need for worry. God’s got you and God’s got “IT” whatever “IT” is. But there is a death that is still required and that is death to the self. The more you die to yourself, the more you can live for your Savior. The apostle Paul put it this way, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Paul trusted completely in Christ and that trust turned any opportunity to worry into an opportunity to witness to the faithfulness of his Lord.

One final point from the pen of the apostle Paul as we close out our week without worry, make sure you are advancing in your life from your knees and not your feet. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).  

If God is for you . . . and He is . . . doesn’t it make sense that He would want to hear from you. Like any good father would want to hear from his children, your Heavenly Father wants to hear from you. And when you go to Him in prayer with whatever it is that is beginning to worry you, what you have done is exchange worry for worship, which is the true mark of the child of God.

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

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you. (Psalms 55:22)

We begin with a verse today that echoes the words of Peter that we closed with in Monday’s blog. The psalmist knew God could be trusted. Peter knew God could be trusted. Do we know this truth and do we live it out in our daily lives?

In the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus gave us the instruction not to worry, He argued from the lesser to the greater. He said if God cared for the flowers of the field and the birds of the air, how much more would He care for us. We need to remember that God cares for everything He created and that includes us and when we do, we will be more than willing to cast our cares on Him.

There is another important point from that sermon we need to keep in view, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life” (Matthew 6:27). In other words, worry is a thief. It captures our time and wastes our energy without the ability to help or change the circumstances we are facing. Worry has no power to prevent anything bad or produce anything good in our lives no matter how much time we spend doing it. Here are just a few of the damaging effects of worry:

• Insomnia
• Daily fatigue
• Ulcers
• High blood pressure
• Indigestion
• Heart palpitations

As a pastor, I have learned the sad truth that on many tombstones could be etched this epitaph: DIED OF WORRY! Worry is having a divided mind and a divided mind is as destructive as it is deadly. So, can you identify any of your “worry” triggers? Does any of the following resonate with you: feelings of powerlessness; when you feel vulnerable; when life seems out of control. When you identify some of the triggers you can be ready to respond appropriately with casting your cares on your Lord before they have time to crush you under the weight of worry.

Remember, worry is a choice. You can choose to worry or you can choose not to worry by trusting in the One who can be trusted and has proven to be trustworthy in the past. In choosing not to worry, you are not suppressing those worrisome thoughts. Rather, you are sharing them with your Lord who has promised to sustain you.

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

Therefore I tell you, do not worry . . . (Matthew 6:25)

For the three blogs this week, I would like to share a word of encouragement that can help you go a week without worry. Worry affects all of us which is why the song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” the title being repeated more than 20 times in the song, sold millions. It resonated within the hearts of many because worry simply messes with our lives and “weighs us down” as the writer of Proverbs tells us. Before going on, let’s be clear about the difference between worry and proper care. We are to have proper care and concern about life and the responsibilities that go with living it. But we are not to be worried anxiously about it having lost sight of our sovereign God who can be trusted in any circumstance we are facing. In a simple statement, concern produces practical steps for the circumstance we are facing and worry paralyzes us.

To be sure, there are many ways to define worry, but perhaps, the best way is simply a lack of trust in God . . . who He is and what He has promised. Each day brings to us a myriad of opportunities to worry from our health to our home life – from our finances to our future. Jesus adds these specifics to our verse today, “. . .  do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.” And what is the reason why we are not to worry? Because God can be trusted!

Jesus goes on to say, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). When we worry, we are not seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness. Rather, we are trapped in the momentary circumstance and it is telling us that God is not big enough to handle whatever it is we are going through. So, how do we keep worry from watering down our witness? We need to remember and respond to these words from the apostle Peter:

“Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 

So, the next time worry begins to grip you remember to cast whatever it is on Jesus because He cares for you and can handle whatever it is you are going through. As Charles Spurgeon once said, “God is so good and gracious that we can trust His heart even when we cannot trace His hand.” Let that truth set you free from worry.

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

Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)

Growing up, I cannot tell you how many times my parents and teachers said to me, “Tommy, sit still!” I was always moving some part of my body whether at the dinner table or at my desk in the classroom. In today’s verse, we are commanded by God to “be still” not “sit still” and there is a world of difference between the two. Read on and be encouraged.

When my parents and teachers told me to “sit still” it was because I was either distracting or disruptive. But when God says, “be still” He is not saying we are distracting or disruptive. Within the context He is telling us to “cease striving” by submitting to His sovereign control and course correction in our lives willingly. You see, to “be still” is so much more than to “sit still.” Obviously, you can and “sit still” and not even be close to “being still.”

To be still and know that He is God is to surrender to His will even before you are in agreement with it. In fact, you may never be in agreement with God’s will, but to “be still” is to follow it anyway regardless of where it might lead. We can be totally still on the outside, and still be completely restless on the inside because we have not yet learned how to “be still.” So, we can only understand the first part of that verse when we understand the last part. To know God is to know the secret of being still.

In the beginning of Psalm 46, the writer tells us God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea . . . (Psalm 46:1-2). We are always busy being busy and that is true even when we are sitting still. There is always something we are working on at least in our minds. But to “be still” is to stop the frantic pace of working in our own strength because we are trusting in the strength of our Savior.

Remember, even if everything around you is coming apart at the seams (mountains falling into the heart of the sea), God is still in complete control of it all. God is orchestrating everything for His glory and your good, but you will never be able to live in that truth if all you do is “sit still.” You must “be still” by surrendering every aspect of your life to God’s design which will provide water to your thirsty soul and rest for your restless spirit.

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

And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ. (1 John 2:1)

An advocate is someone who supports, strengthens and stands in the gap for another. Inasmuch as the Bible identifies the Holy Spirit as our Advocate, it also identifies Jesus in the same capacity. Today I want to encourage you with a word about Jesus, your Almighty Advocate.

First, Jesus in your Advocate at the moment of your salvation when God the Father accepts you as His own, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). Here is what the conversation might sound like between Jesus and His Father:

Father, this one is mine. Yes, he was guilty as charged. Yes, he was dead in trespasses and sins. But you said my death would pay the penalty for his sins and now my blood has cleansed him from all unrighteousness. You put your stamp of approval on my work being totally sufficient for his salvation when you raised me from the dead. Not only now, but forever more, there is no condemnation because I was condemned in his place.

Second, this imaginary last statement tells us that Jesus remains our Almighty Advocate forever and ever. We were not only sinners in need of a Savior when we got saved. But we are sinners in need of a Savior every moment of every day thereafter. We still sin and when we confess our sin, Jesus is faithful to forgive us, over and over again. And don’t forget this. Because Jesus was fully man as well as fully God, He knows exactly what you have gone through, what you are currently going through, and what you will go through in the future. He knows your suffering and your sorrow. He lived it Himself, yet without sin, and can sympathize with you every step of the way into glory.

Remember, regardless of where this finds you today, your Almighty Advocate is not only for you, He is with you, and He is in you. Pray that God would open the eyes of your heart today, as he did for Stephen when the religious leaders were stoning him to death, when he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at His Mighty Right Hand (Acts 7:55) . . .  AND HE WILL . . . because Jesus is your Almighty Advocate.

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

One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. (Proverbs 11:24-25)

The simplicity in this proverb is simply supernatural in its impact. Read on and be greatly refreshed today.

So, what does it mean to refresh? The dictionary uses a variety of words to describe what the word refresh means:

• Restore
• Revive
• Renovate
• Replenish

Perhaps the best way I can explain the biblical meaning of what it means to be a refresher would be – making the lives of others better! A refresher is being the kind of person other people want to be around. Here is one of the best ways to sharpen your understanding of being a refresher: who in your life right now would you describe as a refresher . . . someone who lifts you up whenever they get around you . . . someone who shoulders your burdens with you . . .  someone who’s glass is always have full rather than half empty.

Refreshers shine their light into the darkness and help you see the way forward. They are quick to listen, slow to speak, and always ready to serve. They have a tendency to make your world not only brighter, but better and even bigger. They help to enlarge your vision of yourself and the call God has placed in your life. Their encouragement empowers you to get up every time you fall down and to keep going even when you would rather not. So, does this describe the kind of person you are in the lives of others?

Oh, don’t forget the promise in this proverb. All those you have identified in your life as refreshers, are themselves refreshed everything they refresh others. And the same will be true for you. You simply cannot refresh others without being refreshed yourself. Remember, the greatest Refresher the world has ever seen is Jesus, “He makes me line down in green pastures, and leads me beside quiet waters and refreshes my soul” (Psalm 23:2-3). The more we refresh others, the more we are like our Lord.

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

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  (Matthew 22:37)

Here is a great question that every Christian should be able to answer: Is Christianity a “reasonable” faith? Or is it a “blind” faith? What is your answer? Let’s take a brief look and be both comforted and challenged. As Francis Bacon once said, “God has given us two books as sources of truth: the book of God’s works (creation) and the book of God’s word (the Bible).

Within the pages of the Bible, we see the inspired importance of the pathway to reason as we pursue truth, for ourselves and for others. For the person who is willing to look through clear lenses, God has revealed Himself in every aspect of creation. And for the person who is willing to look through clear lenses, God has revealed Himself on every page of the Bible. And within the pages of sacred Scripture, we find God driving us to study both of these books:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2).

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correc5tly handles the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

In our verse today, we are reminded to be thinking Christians. We are to love God with every fiber of our being, including our mind. Sadly, for many who profess the name of Christ, their minds have not been transformed through consistent and diligent study. They have the same basic worldview they had before becoming Christians. But this is not for you. Make no mistake, the proper use of reason is essential if we are going to share the truths of the gospel in ways that connect deeply with our audience and this will only happen when the mind is renewed.

Here is the single most important key to renewing the mind: KNOWLEDGE – “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds” (Hebrews 10:16). A. W. Tozer once said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Our love for God grows as our knowledge of Him grows. The more we grow in our understanding of God, the more our heart beats for Him.

Remember, the Bible makes it clear that faith in God is built upon substance rooted in real evidence, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible” (Hebrews 11:3). Our faith is indeed a “reasonable” faith that, while renewing the mind, it also recalibrates the heart, and realigns the will. Let that truth comfort and challenge you to pursue God’s call in your life regardless of the cost or circumstance.

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

To the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.  (Romans 4:5)

Seems like a strange statement having grown up in a culture that says if you want anything in this life, you have to “earn it!” Well, there is a work that doesn’t work and knowing that truth brings with it a deep peace that can be found in no other way.

The work I am speaking about is the work of salvation. Today, in the church of Jesus Christ, there are millions who are trying to work themselves into God’s favor. They believe God is keeping score in their lives and the ultimate goal is to have more points under the heading of “good” than “bad.” They have sat under the preaching of a false gospel that says salvation comes to those who “earn it” by the spiritual sweat of their own brow.

Listen, in this life, we do indeed need to work for what we get. You work a job and you get paid. You exercise and you get fit. You invest in a relationship and it grows. But when it comes to eternal life, there is no amount of work that can gain anything. When Jesus hung on the cross and said, “It is finished!” He meant what He said. To be sure, we are saved by works, but not our works. It was the cross work of Christ, His sinless life, His sacrificial death, and His supernatural resurrection that has earned for us the pathway to Paradise.

Paul tells us in our verse today that God the Father credits to us the righteousness of God the Son. This is not a righteousness we possess. Rather, it is a righteousness that is alien and must be given to us from above. On the cross our sin was imputed to Jesus and His righteousness was imputed to all those who trust in Him.

So, the question is this: in what are you trusting? Do you believe you were saved by grace but need to stay in that grace by your good works? Remember, the Scriptures tell us that He who began this good work, will complete it Himself. What God began in you He will finish. Instead of trying to work yourself into God’s favor, simply rest in your redemption and you will experience that peace that passes all understanding, now and forever more.

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

God is love.  (1 John 4:16)

There is someone who knows you fully and still loves you completely. This, of course, is our Lord Jesus Christ, so read on and be greatly encouraged today.

The term used for God’s all-knowing power is omniscience. God knows everything . . . the past, the present, and the future. And that includes your past, your present, and your future and in knowing you fully, He still loves you completely. Only when we have a sense of just how broken and sinful we are does a truth like this begin to change our lives. Think about it this way: God knows your every thought, past, present, and the ones that you will think in the future. You may have secret thoughts that you keep to yourself, but they are not kept from God.

Not only does God know our every thought, He knows our every word before we can say them, “Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord” (Psalm 139:4). God knows what you ate for breakfast today and what you will eat for dinner tonight. He knows where you were last night and who you were with. He knows every aspect of your coming and going and that includes every part of your life story . . . the good, the bad, and the ugly. Now that would be reason for despair would it not, except for the fact that in spite of being fully known, God still completely love us.

I often speak with people who have a hard time getting over something in the past. They say, “I just can’t forgive myself.” Listen, we have all done things we wish we had not done. But through it all, God has never once withheld His unconditional love from us. And the best way for you to be convinced of that truth the next time your past tries to paralyze you from doing what God is calling you to do in the present, picture the cross. Jesus hung on that cross and died for your sins because He loves you.

Do you know this truth? Now I am not asking if you know it intellectually. I am asking if you know it deep down in your heart in such a way that it transforms the way you see yourself and live your life. Remember, back in the Garden of Eden, before sin, Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed. Well, after Jesus shows up in your life and covers every sin, past, present, and those still to come, with His precious blood, you are to experience that incredible feeling of being naked and unashamed because you are fully known and still completely loved.

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