Category Archives: General

Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, I am always struck by these words:

Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  (Matthew 6:12 KJV).

Really? Do you really want God to forgive you in the same way you forgive others? I didn’t think so; neither do I! But what I do desire is to be able, by God’s grace, to live out this truth in my life. And this should be the desire of every Christian, because Christianity is all about forgiveness.

You see, we are commanded to receive the vertical forgiveness that comes to us through our Lord Jesus Christ . . . and then expand it out horizontally to all those who have offended us. In other words, we are to model—albeit imperfectly—the grace God has shown us so that others may see it.

The key to living this out is to recognize just how much we have been forgiven by God. And the only way to begin to plumb the depths of this truth is to know what the apostle Paul knew about himself:

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. (1 Timothy 1:15)

What did Paul know about himself? First, he knew the truth about who he was: he knew he was a sinner by nature, having been born in trespasses and sins. But he also knew the truth that he was a sinner by habit, repeatedly doing things he did not want to do and not doing the things he knew God was calling him to do. Paul eloquently explained this paradox in Romans 7. And because he understood these twin truths, Paul understood that the forgiveness he had received from Jesus (and that he continued to receive every day) was simply immeasurable. Paul knew he was in need of God’s forgiveness—not only in the moment when he was saved, but every day thereafter on his way to the Celestial City.

Do you know this truth? Only those who truly recognize that even their so-called righteous acts are no more than filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) can “forgive as they have been forgiven.” They can forgive those who slander them. They can forgive those who wrong them. They can forgive those who hurt them.

In addition, those who understand the truth about the depth of their forgiveness know that it is also imperative to forget . . . just as God forgets our sins. “I will forgive their wickedness,” He has declared, “and will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). Now, we know God does not really “forget” anything! But He has deliberately chosen not to recall them. Isaiah exulted to God, “You have cast all my sins behind Your back” (Isaiah 38:17 NKJV). What this means is that God chooses never to remind us of our past sins. He never brings up old trespasses and sins.

To forgive as we have been forgiven is to forgive and forget. We are not to rehash past wrongs that have been done to us. When we forgive, we are to lay the offense down at the foot of the cross and give it to Jesus. We are never to say (as far too many in the church do), “I forgive you, but I will never forget what you did!” That simply is not biblical forgiveness! Is that the way you would want God to forgive you?

God refuses to remember any of our past sins. He tells us that they are as far from us as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). You know how far that is don’t you? It is a distance than can never be bridged! You can travel east forever and never once be headed west.

So . . . is there anyone in your life right now who needs your forgiveness . . . forgiveness as God has forgiven you? One anonymous writer opined that “Every person should have a special cemetery lot in which to bury the faults of friends and loved ones.” The Christian’s “special cemetery lot” needs to be a little larger: it must have room to bury the faults and failings, not of just our “friends and loved ones,” but of all those who have wronged us!

If you’re struggling with this—as so many of us do—let me leave you with one last golden truth from Scripture:

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

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

It never ceases to amaze me how many believers never give much thought to the plan and purpose God has for their lives. Far too many simply seem to be careening from wall to wall along the way to the Celestial City.

BUT THIS IS NOT FOR YOU!

“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Here we see a wonderful promise from God about His plans for our lives. If God has plans for our lives—and His Word clearly reveals that He does—I think it is absolutely critical that we prayerfully consider what those plans might be and get in line with them. Remember, if you are not living according to the plan and purpose God has for your life, you will always be living according to the plan and purpose of someone else. And, make no mistake, the plan and purpose someone else has for you, just might not be the plan and purpose God has for you . . . especially if you are the one making the plans!

This was one of the most important life lessons I had to learn . . . the hard way! I always wanted to follow my plans and my purposes for my life. It wasn’t until I realized (thanks to the help of my beloved wife, Kim, and a few good mentors) that it was not my life, but the life God had given to me to live for Him that I began to follow God’s plan for my life. And that, as the poet said, has made all the difference!

Notice two things the prophet Jeremiah is saying:

#1. God has a plan for your life. Now, that only makes sense. The Creator has a plan for all that He has created . . . and that includes you!

#2. God’s plans are good. What a word of encouragement we find in this promise from God! But we must understand what the phrase “plans . . . not to harm you” truly means. It does not mean we will not endure hardship or difficulties and then one day die. What it does mean is, when we do suffer, there is a glorious conclusion to the hardship: eternity with Jesus. To be sure, pain is part of God’s plan. But the pain He sends our way is always for our gain.

So . . . whose plans have you been following lately? Have you been working toward the accomplishment of your agenda . . . or God’s? The only way to find what everyone is looking for—that is, meaning and purpose in life—is to follow the plan and purpose God has for your life. And the only way to discern the plan and purpose God has for your life is by spending adequate amounts of time with God. The more time you spend with God, the more sensitive you will be to His leading. And the more sensitive you are to God’s leading, the more likely you are to be led into the plans God has for your life . . . “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

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

Most readers know that the bulls-eye is the round spot, usually black or outlined in black, at the center of a target, surrounded by concentric circles and used in a variety of target practices. Today I hope to both challenge and encourage you with the concept of the Believer’s Bull’s-Eye and the contemplation of this all-important question:

What target have you been aiming at lately?

Hitting the Believer’s Bull’s-Eye is living a life with Jesus at its center. In other words, it is living a Christo-centric life. There is only one place for Jesus to be in the life of the believer, and that is right at the center . . . at the bull’s-eye. May God always forbid us from moving Jesus to the periphery of our lives because we have brought the things of this world into the center of our existence!

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21)

Remember that this incredible statement came from the pen of a man who persecuted the first century Christians prior to his Damascus Road conversion. Paul (formerly Saul) went from being a passionate persecutor of the church to a powerful preacher to the church. And here he wrote to the Philippians that the reason for the life he was living was nothing smaller than the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ was the absolute center—the bull’s-eye—of Paul’s existence.

In spite of enduring unimaginable hardships in preaching the Gospel—from being beaten and imprisoned to being shipwrecked—Paul kept Christ at the center of his life. He knew that regardless of what the world was doing to him, even if they killed him, he would simply be closer to Jesus and enjoying a deeper relationship with Him. With Christ at the center of his life, outer circumstances could not affect Paul in the least. And remember, Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians while sitting in a Roman prison.

When Christ is at the center of your existence, you will never find yourself crushed under the weight of circumstance . . . regardless of the circumstances you are facing. Philippians is a letter of joy; Paul used the word “rejoice” eight times in his short epistle. And Paul expressed his joy while sitting in chains on a prison floor! Paul powerfully demonstrated that, with Christ as the Believer’s Bull’s-Eye, nothing can get in your way from becoming all God is calling you to be.

Here is the difference between happiness and joy: happiness is based on outer circumstances, whereas joy is based on Christ. And the only way you will experience this kind of joy is when Christ is at the center of your life.

So let me ask you again: What target have you been aiming at lately? If it isn’t Jesus, it doesn’t matter what you are pursuing. As Paul said, “It is rubbish!” (Philippians 3:8). Regardless of what you may be facing today—personally, professionally, or relationally—make it your aim in life to be able to say what Paul said: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Philippians 3:8-10). It is this glorious pursuit—aiming for this bull’s-eye—that will create a life filled with passion and rejoicing.

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

In our word of encouragement today, I want to remind you of something: it is very good to maintain the habit of “Reminding the Redeemer.”

But 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)

Now, we certainly know that reminding the Redeemer is not for His benefit. Our God knows everything and forgets nothing. It might seem a bit silly to say that it is a good thing to be in the habit of reminding God of something He has said. But here in today’s verse, we see Jacob repeating (and applying to himself) the covenant promise God had made to his father Abraham years before (Genesis 22:17).

The prince of preachers, Charles Spurgeon, explained it this way:

This is the sure way of prevailing with the Lord in prayer. We may humbly remind Him of what He has said. Our faithful God will never run back from His word, nor will He leave it unfulfilled; yet he loves to be inquired of by His people and put in mind of His promise. This is refreshing to their memories, reviving to their faith, and renewing to their hope.

Think about it this way. God set His Word down in writing through the inspired writers, not so He would remember it, but so we would remember it. And the only way we will remember it is if we are reading it in the first place. The Word of God cannot be refreshing to the memory if it has not been put in the memory first!

So let me ask you: When was the last time you entered the throne room of grace with the words “But you have said . . .”?

God loves when we approach Him in humility and He has invited us to do so. He has even provided us this reminder for our minds: “But you have said!” God has said so much in His Word that is intended to be a fountain overflowing to refresh and strengthen our faith. Promise after promise, given freely to all those who are in Christ Jesus, and not one of them will fall by the wayside. Every one of God’s promises is YES and AMEN in Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20). And notice these divinely inspired words from the Genesis 32:12 passage above:

I WILL SURELY MAKE YOU PROSPER!

God has planned prosperity for you, but not as the world defines it. God has promised to prosper you in things above, not things below. Yes, there are those Christians who find themselves enjoying great prosperity in all things below. God blesses us to be a blessing to others, but remember, it was once wisely said:

He who has God and everything else, has no more than He who has God and nothing else!

So . . . what promise do you need to remind God of today? When Jacob was reminding God of His promise to his father Abraham, he was in fear of his angry brother Esau. Is anything causing you anxiety today? Take it to God, being fully confident that He will surely do you good, in His perfect time and in His perfect way.

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

In the 15^th chapter of John’s gospel, we read a remarkable verse about our Lord Jesus Christ. On the night He would be betrayed, He said . . .

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  (John 15:13)

There are two aspects to this powerful proclamation. The first, of course, is the fact that Jesus did indeed “lay down His life” for others. Years later after that Good Friday, John would write to us about this truth:

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. (1 John 3:16)

The Old Testament prophesied about this “dying love” time and time again, and Jesus foretold it in all four gospel accounts. But clearly there is something more here than just His atoning death, as magnificent as that is. Jesus was not just talking about dying; He was also talking about living!

There is a sense of “laying down one’s life” when we are living for another. Our Lord Jesus came and lived for us before He died for us. He laid down His glorious, perfect life in heaven, took on flesh, and lived a sinless life. He was tempted in every way, just like us, and yet He sinned not—not one time—because of His love for us.

So the question I want to ask you today is: Are you laying down your life for our Lord Jesus Christ? Are you laying down . . .

• Your Agenda?
• Your Goals?
• Your Desires?
• Your Dreams?
• Your Vision?
• Your Plans?

It really comes down to a single word: SURRENDER! When Jesus raises us from death to life, He calls us to surrender everything to Him, including our lives. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart . . .” the inspired Proverb commands. “In all your ways acknowledge him . . .” (Proverbs 3:5-6). Jesus didn’t save us so we could have more of the life we were currently living; He saved us so we could have a new and different life, a life fully rooted in Him. It will only be when Jesus is seated on the throne of our lives that it can truly be said we are laying down our life for Him.

The only place we will ever find meaning, significance, and purpose is when we are living for nothing smaller than Jesus. This is what it means to lay down our lives for Him. And perhaps . . . if He calls us to lay it all the way down one day, we will say with Paul, “To live is Christ, but to die is gain . . . great gain!”

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

There is a lot of talk these days about starting something . . . a new business venture; a new exercise program; a new relationship; a new course of study . . . there are any number of “new starts” that we announce we’re going to make. But as important as it is to begin something, it is equally important to finish it. Let this word today encourage you to that end and remind you that your God is always a Faithful Finisher.

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)

Inasmuch as each one of us is a work in progress—“unfinished business” in the hands of the Almighty—we can be fully confident that God will not leave any of His work undone. We have His Word on it! Our heavenly Father always finishes what He has started, and that includes His work in you! However much good God has worked, both in you and through you, none of it is perfect yet, and God will not stop short of perfection. He will not stop until His ultimate purpose for us has been completed . . . when we have been conformed to the likeness of His Son. This, beloved, should be a source of great encouragement to you today and every day on this side of the grave.

Make no mistake, none of us can perfect the work of grace in our lives in any way. We constantly fall short in our thoughts, words, deeds, and desires each day. But that cannot be said about our God. God is perfecting us as we advance toward the Celestial City. God is perfecting our . . .

• Character
• Calling
• Faith
• Love

As I’ve said, God is conforming us to the image of Christ and it would shroud His glory if He stopped short of that mark in our lives. God is using all things as part of the process of perfecting us . . . in spite of everything that is against Him. The world is against Him. Our flesh is against Him. The devil is against Him. And yet God has promised to overcome everything the evil one can set up as an obstacle to our perfection.

David knew this truth and built his life upon its foundation:

The Lord will perfect that which concerns me. (Psalm 138:8 NKJV)

David knew by way of personal and, at times, excruciating experience that God was in the process of perfecting him. David knew his own flaws, but he also knew his Faithful Finisher. He knew God would not abandon him, no matter what he did. Remember, it was God who sent the prophet Nathan to confront David about his sin with Bathsheba, because God refused to let David stay the way David was. David knew that God was for him, so it didn’t matter what came up against him; God would ultimately get the victory.

So . . . how is God working in your life right now as He is conforming you to the image of His Son? Are you in need of a “Nathan-like” rebuke in order to continue advancing in the conforming process? God is faithful to finish what He started and He will use any means necessary.

May our faith be strengthened this day as we contemplate the love and grace of our Faithful Finisher!

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

Alfred Lord Tennyson once said, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dares to dream of.” So, the question I must ask you today is this: When you find yourself in need, where do you turn?

Oh, what a word of encouragement I have for you today!

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. (Jeremiah 33:3)

Here the prophet Jeremiah, who had cried to the Lord on behalf of God’s people, is directed to call on the Lord—who would bring restoration to His people in His perfect time. Here too, we find the Creator of the universe providing us with an “inspired invitation” to ask Him to meet us in our deepest place of need.

Sadly, far too many call on the Lord as a last resort, not as a first priority. Whether due to unbelief or feelings of unworthiness, we have a tendency to call on everything else except God.

But this is not for you! The key to developing confident assurance in prayer is the Lord’s word to Jeremiah: “I will answer you.” Not only are we invited to call on the Lord, but we are given this great, unfathomable promise that He will answer us. Our God not only hears our prayers, He responds also responds to them!

Do we always get the answer we want? No, as I have often discussed here, there are times when God says NO to the things we ask for; at other times, God tells us to WAIT. But we are never without an answer, because God has promised to give us one, and if we have placed our trust in Jesus Christ, that answer is always the one that is best for us!

This promise of God should empower us to pray more frequently and more fervently, knowing that our prayer does not fall on deaf or indifferent ears. Heaven is never silent. Our God is working all things for our good, and that includes all of those things that you and I perceive to be “bad.”

To call on God is to trust in God. It does not matter how helpless you might feel or how hopeless the situation might seem, God is standing at the ready to hear and respond to your cry. Just as those who lived in the Old Testament days, we can trust that our Lord will hear our cries to Him.

I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. (Zechariah 12:10)

There is no need our God cannot meet . . . no obstacle our God cannot overcome . . . no problem our God cannot solve. Omnipotence is always available for the people of God. We need only call on Him, believing that the answer is already on the way.

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

Have you ever heard the phrase “Beatific Vision?” Well, I have a word of encouragement for you today that I pray will bless your soul.

Beatific Vision—visio beatific—is the ultimate, direct self-communication of God to us, which will happen when God reveals Himself to us in heaven . . . when we will see him face to face:

Now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)

Today we see God imperfectly; we see Him through the eyes of faith. But the one great quest and longing of every child of God is to see God unveiled, to know Him exactly as He is, which is the promise to the redeemed on the other side of the grave.

No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. (Revelation 22:3-4)

Not only has this been the desire of theologians, but even scientists have launched out with this goal in mind. Through the observation and examination of the cosmos, scientists sought to see more clearly the Creator of the universe. Sadly, as we know, the wheels came off the track for those scientists who separated the creation from the Creator.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us that this Beatific Vision is reserved for those who are “pure in heart” (Matthew 5:8), which will be the condition of every child of God when he or she is received into glory. But before that day, we can see the face of God in our Lord Jesus Christ. As we read the Gospel accounts, we get a clear vision of what God is like.

Jesus Himself confirms this truth.

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?” (John 14:9-10)

Today we are making our way to the Celestial City, living as pilgrims passing through this sin-filled world, looking forward to the greatest sight we will ever see. But we can still see our God in two ways: first, we can see Him with the eye of faith as we experience His love, peace, mercy, and grace. We can also see Him in both the words and works of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Spend time meditating on and marinating in the life of Christ in the Gospels, and you will be filled with a vision of God that will bless your soul and strengthen your heart to face every challenge the world sends your way.

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

Readers who are familiar with the process of pruning trees and bushes know that it involves cutting back (or away) the useless shoots and branches that will slow growth. Today I’d like to offer you a word of encouragement concerning the pruning God does in our lives.

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. (John 15:1-2)

Here we see that pruning is promised to the people of God—those who are faithful and fruitful—because of their union with Christ. The “branches” that the Great Gardner cuts off are those that were never truly in Christ. They looked like it from the outside, but on the inside, where it counts, their hearts were never in Christ by grace through faith.

In this context, Jesus was referring to Judas Iscariot, who appeared to be one of the disciples outwardly, but was never truly a disciple inwardly.

So, the question we must ask is: “Why does God promise to prune His people?” We see the answer at the end of the second verse . . .

SO THAT WE WILL BE EVEN MORE FRUITFUL!

Every branch that is in Christ is already fruitful, because the same grace that saves an individual also sanctifies an individual. As Martin Luther once said, “We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.” We are fruitful branches simply by virtue of our connection to the Vine. But, as we all know, we can always be more fruitful, and this is the ultimate goal of God in our lives. And He helps us in this process by pruning us along the way.

Paul gives us two wonderfully encouraging verses that will help to sustain us when we are in seasons of providential pruning.

We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

Live a life worthy of the Lord, bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:10)

Remember, the alternative to pruning is to be cut off; so pruning—which is admittedly painful at times—is a very good thing! And the primary tool God uses in His pruning is the Bible.

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17)

God uses His Word to cut away everything that would hinder out growth, maturity, and fruitfulness. If those who are truly in Christ resist what the Word is speaking into their lives, God will use other tools for pruning, such as affliction. Charles Spurgeon observed, “It is because the first knife (God’s Word) does not always produce the desired result that another sharp tool (affliction), is used by which we are effectually pruned.”

Either way, our God loves us too much to leave us like we are . . . and for that we are eternally grateful.

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

How confident are you that God will do all that He has promised to do in your life—right now, today, right where this finds you? Regardless of your response, after reading from the Word of God, I promise that your confidence will soar!

I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. But the Lord God helps me, therefore I have not been disgraced, therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. (Isaiah 50:6-8)

These are the prophetic words of Isaiah, written some 700 years before our Lord Jesus Christ lived them out in His obedience unto death, even death on a cross. Oh, the complete confidence our Lord Jesus had in His Father, in spite of the crushing abuse He would endure! He willingly gave His back to the whip and His beard to the wicked who would smite His cheeks. Then He offered His brow to receive the crown of thorns and His hands and feet to the nails. Yet through every act of torturous cruelty, His cosmic confidence in His Father sustained Him. “Father,” He cried at the very end, “into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46).

So . . . where in your life have you been lacking confidence? In your profession? In a relationship? In your schooling? In your health? In your finances? Remember these words of our Lord:

But the Lord God helps me!

If the Lord God helped Jesus, the Lord God will help you also, because He has adopted you as His son or daughter. As a child of God, you can have the same confidence Jesus had, because the Lord God loves all those who are His. You, too, can “set your face like a flint,” regardless of the fiery furnace you are facing today. Go boldly before the throne of grace and cry out to your God, knowing you have already been heard before the first word was spoken. When you know with utter certainty that you have omnipotence on your side, is there anything too hard to face?

God is not only for you, He is with you and in you. He has called you into His perfect plan and has given you everything you need to do all He has called you to do. Let not doubt delay you. Let not fear freak you out. Jesus faced something none of us will ever face when He cried out to His Father, “Why has thou forsaken me?” Remember, Jesus was forsaken because of you and me and all those who will put their trust in Him by grace through faith.

Let this truth strengthen your resolve to rise above the storm winds that might be blowing today, and know you shall not be put to shame. Your Savior has secured every spiritual blessing for you. You need only walk with the “cosmic confidence” of Jesus Christ, knowing that the Lord God who helps you will never leave you nor forsake you. You have His Word on it!

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