Category Archives: General

The Lord gave special strength to Elijah. He tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab’s chariot all the way to the entrance of Jezreel. (1 Kings 18:46 NLT)

Have you ever felt like you were “running on empty”? Maybe it would be better to ask, “When was the last time you felt like you were running on empty?” Perhaps you felt that way just recently. Well, I have a word of great encouragement for you today, so please read on.

The Lord is in the business of giving His saints “special strength” to do what He is calling us to do. I have found over the years that I am most drained of energy and strength when I am pursuing what I want to pursue rather than what God wants me to pursue. In other words, God does not provide me with any special strength when I am seeking to achieve my desires rather than seeking His will for my life.

In our verse today, God gave Elijah more than natural strength; He gave him special, supernatural strength, which enabled Elijah to outrun Ahab’s chariot for many miles all the way to Jezreel. I should point out that Jezreel was known as a city of chariots, which enabled the people there to excel in warfare. In the ancient world, those who had chariots possessed a great advantage over those who did not have them, just as a modern army with tanks possesses a significant advantage over an enemy without them.

Chariots represent the power and strength of man. But God demonstrated through the special strength He gave to His prophet Elijah that even the formidable power of chariots was no match for the power of God. As David wrote decades earlier . . .

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm. (Psalm 20:7-8)

Did you know that God has special strength available for you today? Regardless of the “chariots” you come up against, whether in your personal life or your professional life, God is calling you to stand firm in His strength and not your own. Sure, it may be tempting to climb aboard one of the chariots of this world that seem to offer you a promise of getting you to your desired destination with greater ease and speed. But even if you do reach that destination, you will be left weak and wanting.

Let me encourage you to look past worldly chariots of this life, whether they are enticing you or arrayed against you, and to fix your eyes on Christ. He is ready, willing, and more than able to give you the special strength you need to finish your education, start a new business, expand your ministry of service in your church, or mend any broken relationship in your life.

Scripture promises that those who find their strength in God will “go from strength to strength” (Psalm 84:7). He will always give you everything you need to do all that He is calling you to do.

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

To live is Christ.  (Philippians 1:21)

The Bible provides us with a variety of examples of those God used in His service—some as a discipline and some as a disciple. The difference is dramatic; one is desirable, the other is a dubious distinction.

In the Bible, to be used as a discipline is to serve as a warning to others, not to be like the person being disciplined; but to be used as a disciple is to serve as a witness to others, to be like that person in living life before the face of God.

The prophet Jeremiah tells us that God called Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, “my servant.” This pagan king served God, not as a sold-out disciple, but rather, as a severe discipline sent against the idolatry-racked nation of Israel. Nebuchadnezzar had no love for, or loyalty to God. During the time of his conquest of Israel, Nebuchadnezzar lived only for his own glory, not for the glory of the One True God, but the Lord used Nebuchadnezzar nonetheless as a source of discipline.

And then God’s hand of discipline rested on Nebuchadnezzar himself. One moment he was surveying the kingdom of Babylon, arrogantly congratulating himself, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30); the next moment he was living in the fields like a wild animal, eating grass instead of the sumptuous fare of the palace. 

Throughout the history of Israel, God used many people and nations as instruments of discipline in His mighty right hand. It must be plain to us that it is not enough to simply be used by God. God uses everything and everyone to accomplish His divine purposes.

So how do we know if we are being used by God as a disciple rather than a discipline? We are disciples when our hearts beat for nothing smaller than the Lord Jesus Christ. When we can echo the apostle Paul in saying, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain,” and focus on living for Christ and dying to self, we can be sure we are being used as disciples of Jesus.

Paul lived to preach the Gospel to everyone, everywhere, from priests to philosophers . . . statesmen to slaves . . . Gentiles and Jews . . . men and women. Paul lived to advance the cause of God’s kingdom, not his own. Paul could say without a trace of arrogance, “Follow my example” (1 Corinthians 11:1) because he was a sold-out disciple following the example of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

How have you been living lately?

• Have you been pursuing the expansion of the kingdom of God . . . or your own little kingdom?
• Have you been serving your Savior  . . . or yourself?
• Have you been seeking to accomplish God’s will  . . . or your will?
• Who is sitting upon the throne of your life?

The answers to those questions will provide insight into whether God has been using you as a discipline or a disciple. To be sure, dying will be gain when we are received into glory. But until then, living for Christ is the key to living as a sold-out disciple.

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

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23:6 ESV)

The psalmist has a word of incredible encouragement for all of us today. As we follow the Great Shepherd wherever He leads, even through the valley of the shadow of death, we are being followed every step of the way by both goodness and mercy.

These two supernatural sentinels form our rear guard and meet us in our deepest place of need as we travel through this life into the next. Like two guardian angels who have been sent to minister to us when we need it most, goodness and mercy meet us right where we are and gently guide us to where God wants us to be.

Goodness supplies our needs for the journey, making sure that every one of our needs is met. Please notice that I said needs, not “wants.” We don’t always get what we want, but we always get exactly what we need. God, in His infinite goodness and grace, has promised to supply all our needs in Christ Jesus. Whether it is manna from heaven or water from a rock, the goodness of God sustains and strengthens us.

Once our needs have been met by goodness, mercy steps in and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. God’s mercy—not our merit—blots out our sins. It was mercy that brought Jesus out of heaven and into this world. It was mercy that received our scourging, our crown of thorns, our nine-inch nails, our cross, and our death. Mercy met us when we were far off and brought us back into the loving presence of our good God. To know that goodness and mercy are following us all the days of our lives is to know enough!

But remember, it is only to the degree that we are closely following our Good Shepherd that we will sense the presence of goodness and mercy following us. If we feel distant from goodness and mercy, we can be sure that we have taken our eyes off of Jesus. So follow your Shepherd-Savior closely; keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, regardless of where He is leading you, and you will be confident that you are being followed by goodness and mercy all the way into glory.

“Follow and followed” is the formula of the faithful.

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

What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived – the things God has prepared for those who love him. (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Have you ever given much thought to God’s purpose in your life? Now, I am talking about something much deeper than whether you are to be a butcher, baker, or candlestick maker. To be sure, God is conforming all of His people into the image and likeness of His beloved Son; when that is completed, we will be ushered into the kingdom of the new heavens and the new earth. But when you go deeper still, God’s purpose for every believer is a process . . . not a place. And that process extends on into eternity.

You see, the ultimate goal in our relationship with Jesus is not to simply arrive in the new heavens and the new earth. Rather, the ultimate goal in our relationship with Jesus is our relationship with Jesus. That relationship will continue to grow and deepen from the moment we stand before Him unveiled on the other side of the grave and throughout eternity.

Eternity will be active, not passive. We will not be sitting atop a cloud, strumming a celestial harp for ever and ever and ever. Many mistakenly think the afterlife is like retirement, where we will just sit back and relax—shifting into neutral, if you will. Not true!

Eternal life will present us with the greatest opportunities and possibilities we could ever imagine. It will be one glorious and eternal adventure after another. In eternity, we will not only be worshippers, which would be more than enough, but we will be willing workers too. God has ministry magnified for each one of His children, and we will use all of our God-given gifts, talents, and abilities to continue bringing greater and greater glory to God. We will never grow weary. We will never get discouraged. We will never burn out. We will serve and serve and go from strength to strength, living at a level of significance that just isn’t attainable on this side of the grave.

Paul wrote, “Do you not know that we will judge angels?” (1 Corinthians 6:3). I will confess that I am not exactly sure what that means. But I do know this: as we reign with our Lord Jesus Christ, the angels who were sent to minister to us here on earth will be, in some way, at our disposal to assist us in doing all that God calls us to do. To be sure, eye has not seen and ear has not heard what is in store for us in the Almighty’s adventure that awaits us!

So regardless of where this finds you today, pause and consider what awaits you on the other side of the grave. Be encouraged, knowing that God has not only prepared a place for you, He has ensured a process for you to live out throughout all of eternity.

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

Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. (Luke 8:13)

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “Grow Up!” more than a few times. Perhaps it was directed at us by a frustrated friend or parent; perhaps we have said it to someone else. To grow up is a good thing. To mature in character and in commitment is the way of the Christian life. But, in order to grow up, we must, at the same time, grow down. Let me explain, so that you might be encouraged today.

When God in His grace gives us the gift of eternal life, He also extends us grace to grow us up into Christ. But in order to grow up into Christ, we must be growing down and developing a solid root system that is connected to the Rock of our salvation.

In the Parable of the Sower, the seed (the Word of God) fell on four different types of ground: the path, rocky ground, among thorns, and good soil. Jesus said that seed on the rocky ground represents people who receive the Word of God with joy and begin to grow up; but at the first onset of trouble or testing, their faith withers and dies because they had a weak root system. The vast majority of biblical scholars agree that the seed on rocky ground represents an individual who is not a true believer, but the parable also provides a picture of what can happen in the life of the believer if his or her “roots” do not go down deep. When the storm winds blow, we will be tipped over if our faith is not deeply rooted in the soil of the sanctified life.

Make no mistake, godly growth happens in two directions simultaneously: upward and downward. And though it may seem counterintuitive, the key that unlocks the door to downward growth is to first raise our eyes to heaven . . . to Jesus. Jesus came down to us from heaven, but when He arrived, He was not done in His downward direction. Instead of coming as the King of kings and the Lord of lords to be served, He came to serve others. The Creator of the universe got so low that He took a towel and basin and washed the feet of His disciples. But still He was not done. He willingly hung on our cross and took our death upon Himself that we might have eternal life in Him.

We are most like our Lord when we go downward in life by serving others, washing their feet, and willingly laying down our lives for them. The more we do this, the deeper our roots go. And when the storm winds blow our way and the waves of challenge threaten to engulf us, we are not moved, because we are rooted in the Rock of our salvation.

So grow up, Christian, but don’t forget to grow down also!

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

You have said, “I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.” (Genesis 32:12)

Is it right to remind our Redeemer of anything? Does He not know all things and remember all things too? To be sure, God is omniscient, so He does know all things and remember all things, therefore the idea of “reminding” God may seem strange . . . perhaps even sinful. Yet Scripture reveals that we have God’s permission to remind Him of His promises—not to jog His memory, but to strengthen ours. Jacob did just that when he was about to encounter his brother Esau for the first time since Jacob had deceived their father Isaac and wronged Esau. Esau had determined to kill Jacob (Genesis 27:41), and Jacob feared for his life and the lives of his family. So Jacob, in all meekness humility, reminded God of His promise of blessing.

You and I are to do the same whenever we are facing adversity. Reflect on any promise that God has given you and lay hold of it with a humble heart. What is there to fear from angry “Esaus” who come up against you when your God is absolutely and completely for you and has promised to do you good? Notice the word “surely” in today’s verse. I take it as a guarantee from our God. In other words, we can be absolutely certain that God will make good on His promises to us. Our good God has promised to work all things for our good, regardless of what comes up against us. And “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). 

So regardless of what you are up against today, when you take a moment to remind your Redeemer of the promises He has made to you, your faith is strengthened and your hope is renewed. Remember, God’s Word is not for the benefit of God; it is given for our benefit. The better we know it, the better we will be able to recall it, and remind our Redeemer of His promises to do us good. God wants us to come to Him and present our requests and desires to Him. Not only that, He has given us permission to open our prayer with “You have said . . .” knowing that this reminder is for us and not God, that we might be strengthened in knowing that He who has promised can be trusted to make good on every promise He has uttered.

Let me encourage you today to get in the habit of reminding your Redeemer when you are on your knees before the throne of grace. Is there anything in particular that you need to remind your Redeemer (but actually remind yourself) that He has promised? I assure you that this will keep you from ever forgetting that your God is a covenant-keeping God who has promised ultimate good to you as you make your way into glory.

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

The righteous who walks in his integrity—blessed are his children after him! (Proverbs 20:7 ESV)

If you have children, or hope to someday, have you considered what you will leave behind for them when you have passed on into glory? There are many things we can leave behind for our children that would come under the heading of “inheritance.” We can leave them money, property, and the possessions we have accumulated over the years. But in our verse today, God tells us about an inheritance that trumps them all: the “Inheritance of Integrity.” Blessed are the children of those who walk in integrity!

A life well-lived before the face of God is a rich inheritance indeed for our children. A rich inheritance cannot be measured by the stuff we leave behind, especially when those who have left that stuff left their integrity in order to acquire it. But the parent who has, by God’s grace, walked in integrity—even though it was done imperfectly—has left a lasting legacy under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, a legacy whose value simply cannot be measured.

• Noah walked in integrity imperfectly
• Abraham walked in integrity imperfectly
• Rahab walked in integrity imperfectly
• David walked in integrity imperfectly
• Peter walked in integrity imperfectly

You see, it is not the perfection of integrity that God blesses in our lives to our children. It is the continued practice of it in spite of its imperfection. Even in our imperfection, when our heart is beating for nothing smaller than Jesus, it blesses all those who come in contact with us. Make no mistake, the life we live will affect all those we live with. A godly example left behind is an inheritance that is rich beyond comparison. A righteous reputation left behind is an inheritance that is worth its weight in gold. We read in Proverbs 22:1 that “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.”

So . . . what kind of inheritance will you be leaving behind? When all is said and done, what will be said about all you have done? Remember, regardless of where this finds you today, the fact that you are reading this right now means that God is not finished with you yet! He who began a good work in you has promised to complete it; but along the way, you must decide what inheritance you will choose to leave behind. Will it be an inheritance of integrity?

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

The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” (Numbers 21:8)

What a Gospel shadow we have been given to both encourage and equip us! The Israelites, who had grumbled against both Moses and God, were judged by God when He sent venomous snakes in their midst as punishment. Moses intervened by praying for the people. In His mercy, God instructed Moses to make a serpent and set it upon a pole so that when the people would look upon it in faith as the only provision for their problem, they would be healed and live.

The same principle holds true today. One who realizes that he or she is a sinner and that “the soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20), need only look to Jesus in faith, and that person shall be raised from death to life. When we look to Christ alone as the source of salvation, not thinking that there is some “antivenom” of good works that we must add to His finished cross work, we will be healed from the deadly bite of the serpent and receive new life in Christ.

But there is more to this promise for the Christian: Every day after that gracious salvation, we are commanded to “Look and live!” Jesus promised to give us the abundant life, but we will only find it by looking to Him. The abundant life will not be found in our jobs . . . or our finances . . . or our possessions . . . or our relationships. The abundant life will only be found in Jesus Christ. If we are to “look and live,” we must be looking to our Lord alone.

If you are dealing with a bite from the serpent, fear not! Look to Jesus and live. You may be filled with the venom of sin running through the veins of your life and believe your condition is beyond hope. Fear not! Look to Jesus and live. The Israelites were utterly beyond hope until God graciously created a provision for their critical condition.

Perhaps you already have, by grace through faith, received new life in Christ. You understand that the serpent on the pole was a shadow; you have the Substance of that shadow in Jesus. So look to Him, regardless of what you are dealing with today, and live! Jesus brings life to miserable marriages, fractured families, derailed dreams, sadness in your singleness, and joyless jobs, just to name a few areas where He can and will bring new life.

One final point: those Israelites who did not look by faith did not live. Perhaps the cure seemed too simple or too silly, and they refused to believe in the promise. Those who did not look died in their sin. If there is anything obstructing your view of your Savior—if you have any doubts about the promise of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ—ask God to remove that barrier at once. Then look and live!

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

Before I was afflicted I went astray, buy now I obey your word. (Psalm 119:67)

Is our sickness always an attack by the spiritual forces of evil in this world? If we are looking for the root cause, then the answer is a resounding “YES,” taking us all the way back to the encounter between Satan and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

But now that sin and sickness and suffering has entered this world through the fall, we must decide: Is sickness always an attack on us? Are we to assume, as the faith healers tell us, that God wants us to remain healthy every day, all the way into glory? When you put the question into this light, the answer is a resounding “NO!” Sickness is a servant of our Savior.

God put this truth on display in the life of the apostle Paul. Paul was given a “thorn,” and he prayed three times that God might take it away. But Paul’s sickness was his Savior’s servant, keeping Paul from becoming conceited because of the incredible ministry God had given him. Whatever this thorn was, it was not the picture of health in the life of Paul; indeed, Paul said that it caused him torment. God could have taken the thorn away in an instant. God could have prevented it from ever afflicting Paul. But He did not. Instead, God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

When we understand this truth, we change our perspective on sickness. Instead of first crying out for healing, we look for God’s purpose in it. It is certainly right and biblical to pray for a restoration of our good health, but we must not miss the deeper truth: that God sends sickness as His servant to draw us closer to Him. Perhaps it was sent because of some sin in our lives (see 1 Corinthians 11:30); or because of Satan (Paul said his thorn was “a messenger of Satan” in 2 Corinthians 12:7); or for some other purpose of God altogether (John 9:3). But regardless of the reason, all sickness becomes a servant in our Savior’s hand. If God allows it to continue, you can be sure it is for His glory and your ultimate good.

Has sickness been testing the outer edges of your health plan lately? Cry out to God, but pay close attention to His response. It may be for you like it was for Paul, that God has a far greater purpose in your life, one better accomplished with this sickness than without it. When this is the case, submitting to the servant of sickness for the glory of our Savior is the pathway to blessing.

We must remember that we are not our own; we have been bought at a price (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)—that price being the precious blood of the Lamb of God shed for us on Calvary’s cruel cross. God has every right to do with us as He pleases to accomplish His purpose in our lives. He is the Potter; we are His clay. If He has ordained sickness to be His servant in our lives, may we receive it, knowing that His grace is sufficient for us and His power is being made perfect in our weakness. And may we give all glory to our God, knowing that when we get to the other side of the grave, there will be no more sickness, suffering, or sorrow.

And may Paul’s response to God’s message about the thorn encourage you today to rejoice in the Lord always!

I have cheerfully made up my mind to be proud of my weaknesses, because they mean a deeper experience of the power of Christ. I can even enjoy weaknesses, suffering, privations, persecutions and difficulties for Christ’s sake. For my very weakness makes me strong in him. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 J.B. Phillips)

May you be strong in Him this day, and every day—in sickness and in health.

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

He who has seen me has seen the Father.  (John 14:9)

When God raised you from death to life, it was not so that He could simply add another Christian to His family of faith. Rather, He was adding another “congruent Christian” to His family of faith who would put the love and grace and faithfulness of God on display before a watching world. This is what I call the “Currency of Congruency.”

When Jesus said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father,” He was telling us to look at Him to see what the Father was like. Why? Because the life of Christ was completely congruent to the Father. Having taken on human flesh, Jesus lived a life that displayed exactly what His Father in heaven was like. When someone saw Jesus, they saw the Father also, because of the cosmic congruency in which Jesus lived out His life here on earth. As John wrote in the unforgettable introduction to his gospel, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known” (John 1:18).

Congruency is God’s currency in the Christian life. As it has been said, “You are the only Bible some people will ever read!” When the unbelieving world is watching us, what do they learn about the truths of the Gospel and our God? This was the admonition Paul gave to the Philippian church: “Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Philippians 1:27). When we are living incongruent lives, the world has no idea what our God is like. Worse still, the world gets a false impression of what God is like. To fail in our lives to do what we profess with our lips is to paint a distorted picture of the Divine.

Now, I am not suggesting in any way that you and I can live a perfect life of congruency. Only one Man—Jesus Christ—has ever done that. But I am saying that we should desire to live a perfect life of congruency like Jesus lived. Knowing that we will frequently fall short of that goal should in no way keep us from pursuing the kind of life that is pleasing to God, because it puts on display the truths of the Gospel.

I remember being brought up short the first time I was asked, “How attractive do you make God?” I understand that God is already attractive; but the point of the question is, am I living in such a way that others see a reflection of who God truly is and how He relates to us? I’ve said it here many times before, but it bears repeating: You are the only Bible that some people will ever read. Do your attitudes and actions proclaim the love and grace of God to others?

Let me ask you: “How attractive do you make God?” What kind of God do others see when they see you living out your life? Make no mistake, there should be a clear connection between the Gospel we preach and the Gospel we put into practice. Remember, God told us about His Gospel in the Scriptures, but He showed us His Gospel on the hill Golgotha. The Son was the Father’s Currency of Congruency on Calvary, and it is the call of every Christian to live congruent lives. May God help us to do just that!

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