Category Archives: General

I would like to shift our focus for the next four messages leading up to Christmas Day to our Advent devotional series, in hopes that we might experience afresh the passion and power of waiting on God during these last few days leading up to Christmas Day. In this first message we will look at what Advent is in the life of the Christian.

The word advent simply means the coming or the arrival of something anticipated and important, such as the advent of the electric light bulb . . . the advent of the automobile . . . the advent of the computer . . . the advent of the cell phone. The word Advent, as it relates to the Christian calendar comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming” or “visit.” It generally covers the four Sunday’s leading up to Christmas day. It is the time when Christians prepare to observe the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ through prayer, fasting, and repentance. We remember the hope of the Jewish nation and their longing for the coming of the Messiah.

During the Advent season we celebrate two profound events in the life of one promised person: the promised person, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ; the two things are His first Advent—the birth of the Christ Child in Bethlehem—and His promised second Advent when He returns to consummate His kingdom.

This is our second season as a church plant in Deerfield Beach and our second season of celebrating Advent as a church family. The comments from the congregation truly bless my soul! Everyone, including our many visitors, is incredibly excited to participate in celebrating the Advent season. Some have said it brings back great childhood memories of Advent calendars, Advent wreaths, and Advent candles. Others have said it is something they knew very little or nothing about; they find it both fascinating and faith-building. All of them are affirming that it is quite helpful in shifting our focus away from the “commercialism” of Christmas and on to the “Christ” of Christmas.

As the pastor, I can tell you that the Advent sermons are enriching the worship in our church. Jesus truly is the reason for the season! However, in our increasingly secular society, the Christmas season— with all the “parties we’re hosting and marshmallows for toasting”— has a tendency to “X” Christ out of our hearts and minds if we aren’t careful.

Advent should remind us, not only of the coming of our Savior, but of our continual need of Him day by day. D. James Kennedy said, “God saved you then. Is He saving you now?” God not only saves us from the penalty of our sin; He saves us from the power of sin. God is saving us daily from our old way of living and empowering us to live a new way—with a new heart, new goals, new desires, and a new direction in life. The season of Advent helps us to keep these Gospel truths in clear vision.

It is my prayer that this Advent Devotional Series will help us all to be ready, willing, and able to celebrate—not so much the presents under the tree, but the Present who made the tree and was nailed to it in our place, taking on Himself all our sin and giving us His righteousness, that we might have eternal life.

I hope you find the next three messages a source of encouragement that will strengthen your hope and sharpen your focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, who has come and is coming again. As the Scriptures promise:

He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:20)

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

Change is happening all around us. Everything changes: lawns never stay cut; shelves never stay dusted; babies never stay dry. Amidst all of the ongoing changes in this life—changing relationships, changing careers, changing addresses—there is a great comfort for the Christian in knowing that one thing never changes…GOD!

I the LORD do not change. (Malachi 3:6)

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

There is truly no end to the comfort found in the unchangeable character of our Creator. In a world of ceaseless change, we can depend on our unchanging God. What God was in the beginning, He still is today, and will be forever!

His purpose is unchanged

His plan is unchanged

His power is unchanged

His promise is unchanged

His wisdom is unchanged

His justice is unchanged

His mercy is unchanged

His grace is unchanged

His truth is unchanged

His forgiveness is unchanged

His love is unchanged

How incredibly reassuring to know that our God changes not!

We could never in a lifetime exhaust these precious truths about our God, but I would like to sharpen our focus for a moment on His unchanging love. His love is an everlasting love: he loves us today as much as He did yesterday and as much as He will tomorrow. And this is not because of anything we have done to cause God to love us, but simply because He chose, from before the foundation of the world, to love us.

This truth sets us free from the anxiety and fear of losing a love we did nothing to earn. The love that God in Christ lavishes on us is a gift. It was not gained by our merit, but given by His mercy. And because we did nothing to earn it, we can do nothing to lose it! If we did not gain the affection of the Almighty by being good, we cannot lose His affection by being bad. We are eternally loved . . . even when we are messing it all up. Romans 8:38-39 plainly asserts that nothing can separate us from the love of God . . . nothing . . . period!

Now, there are certainly times when you and I are not loving God as we should. But our Cosmic Constant loves us with an everlasting love. We must remember that we love simply He first loved us (1 John 4:19). We are kept by His love for us, not by our love for Him. It is His faithfulness to us, not our faithfulness to Him that keeps us in our faith.

This truth of God’s unchanging, eternal love liberates us from the prison of our past and propels us into the promise of our future with the freedom and joy of knowing we are securely held in the nail-scarred hands of our Cosmic Constant.

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

Self-righteousness is an inner feeling that springs forth from the wicked well of moral superiority. By nature, as children of Adam, we all drink from this well daily. We are like the Pharisee described in Luke’s gospel who thanked God that he was “not like other men” who (he imagined) were far less noble than he.

So if we are all afflicted by this scourge by nature, how will we ever be rescued from it? The answer is found in clearly seeing the portrait Scripture paints of who we truly are:

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

My Greek professor—Dr. Sam Lamerson, who has become my dear friend—unpacked a more literal reading of this verse, explaining that the phrase “what is common to man” is translated from a single Greek word: anthropinos (manlike). The deepest meaning of this verse goes far beyond acknowledging that we are all tempted in ways common to everyone. It actually reveals the awful truth that the seeds of the most sinful man are planted deep within the hearts of every man. In other words, the seeds of the worst sins, sins committed by the most depraved people, are in all of us. When this truth seizes us, we are on the road of being rescued from self-righteousness.

What sin is beyond your reach? When we see sin in others that we believe we could never commit, we become their judge, and self-righteousness drives its roots deeper into the soil of our sinful hearts.

Shortly after trusting in Christ in September of 1995, I told my first spiritual mentor that I simply could not accept the Scriptural assessment of King David as being a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). You will recall that David was the guy who should have been on the battlefield leading his troops instead of in bed with another man’s wife. And if that wasn’t wicked enough, he tried to cover up his sin by arranging for the woman’s husband to be killed in battle! How could this David be a man after God’s own heart? I have never forgotten my mentor’s explanation:

“Tommy, your problem is that you don’t see David’s story as your story.

And until you do, you will not begin to plumb the depths of the truths of the Gospel!”

Well of course, he was right. There was no way I saw my life story as David’s life story. I had not committed adultery. I had not committed murder. I was not what David was. Or was I?

In his book, Holiness By Grace, Bryan Chapell put it this way, “The scandal of Scripture is nothing less than the revelation of our own humanity. However untouched by the world’s corruptions we may believe ourselves to be, the Bible says our humanity makes us no more beyond the most detestable sins than was King David.”

I have been rescued from self-righteousness by coming to understand that I am never more than one poor decision away from damaging my witness, disgracing my family, and disqualifying myself from pastoring the church God called me and my family to plant. That sobering thought protects me from any misguided notion of moral superiority and keeps me focused on this truth: like the apostle Paul, I am the chief sinner, with the seeds of every sin within me. And that is why I need Jesus!

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

Far too many Christians in the contemporary church have exchanged the Almighty for Aladdin, expecting God to grant their daily wishes for wealth and health. To them, Jesus is little more than a genie in a bottle, just waiting to be released to respond to their every desire. They mistakenly believe God has saved them and exists in their lives to give to them the things of this world that will make their Christianity comfortable and convenient.

The problem with a comfortable and convenient Christianity is that it is, more often than not, Christ-less! But this is not for you!

To be sure, God often gives His people wealth and health; these are good gifts from a good and loving God. But these happy providences are not the primary “good” God has ordained to give to His children. God’s good for us may very well include storms and suffering, challenges and conflict . . . all of which accomplishes the purpose of Romans 8:29 —

Those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

I have learned over the years that a comfortable and convenient Christianity is a poor “conformer” to the likeness of Jesus. God did not save you to make you comfortable and to make much of your salvation; He saved you to conform you to Christ so that you would make much of your Savior. God saved you to give you “every spiritual blessing” (Ephesians 1:3), not every temporal blessing. It’s true that our Father has given most Christians in this country tremendous temporal blessings. Like manna from heaven, He rains down blessing upon blessing to His people, but those blessings are not intended to make us comfortable!

Even a cursory glance through the Scriptures will affirm that God was not concerned about making His children comfortable. Where were the temporal blessings in the lives of the apostles? All but John died a martyr’s death, and John died in exile on the Isle of Patmos. God was not Aladdin to the apostles; He was the Almighty, and they knew He did not exist to give to them possessions. The apostles were His possessions, and they poured themselves out to expand the cause of His Kingdom.

Far from “comfortable and convenient,” Christianity for the apostles was about a sold-out commitment to Christ and His Kingdom. They gave no thought to expanding their own little kingdom. They understood that they had been bought at a price, and that price was the precious blood of their Savior (1 Peter 1:18-19). They also knew their salvation was not primarily about them; it was about the One who saved them. So they lived lives of self-sacrifice, not self-protection. They gave no thought to what they were getting; it was always and only about what they were giving in service to God, for His glory and the good of others.

So . . . are you serving the Almighty or seeking to be served by Aladdin? What does the confession of your life say? What would those closest to you say? Is your greatest goal to be conformed to the likeness of Christ or to be comfortable in your Christianity? Only when our greatest goal is Christlikeness will we be ready, willing, and able to exchange Aladdin for the Almighty, receiving with glad hearts whatever God delivers . . . knowing that its ultimate purpose is to make us more like Jesus.

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

Don’t be! One of the qualifications for being a servant of the Most High God is found, not in your strength, but in your weakness. God will not have His servants seeking success in advancing His kingdom in their own strength; when we head out into service in our own strength, defeat looms in our future.

He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

The apostle Paul was not worried about his weakness, in spite of the “thorn” (some unidentified source of great discomfort) God had given him. Far from it! Paul boasted all the more gladly in his weakness, because he knew he would only advance in the service of his Savior to the extent that he advanced in the power of God.

Kingdom servants must serve the kingdom in His strength, not their own, or God will not receive the fruit of their labor. Make no mistake; Omnipotence does not rely on our feeble efforts to accomplish His purposes in this world. To be sure, God uses our efforts, but our efforts advance and accomplish only in His strength that He imparts to us.

You see, the apostle Paul knew who very well who he was before Jesus showed up: his name was Saul, the vicious persecutor of the early Christian church. Saul held the coats of those who stoned Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and personally dragged Christian believers off to prison (Acts 8:3).

But Jesus stepped in on the road to Damascus, and Saul was forever changed. Saul was renamed Paul and commissioned by God to pen nearly two-thirds of the New Testament under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Paul went from persecutor to preacher, but he knew that none of that happened in his own strength. As a student of Old Testament Scriptures, Paul knew the truth of Zechariah 4:6—“‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

Paul was not worried about his weakness because he knew that where he was weak, God would be strong. He knew that his weaknesses were simply opportunities for God to demonstrate his power: accomplishing His purposes, through His apostle, in His strength.

So . . . what weakness has you worried? Perhaps God has called you to do something for Him that doesn’t seem to play to your strengths? Fear not! If God is calling you to do it, He will provide you all the strength you need to get it done. God’s strength will make you sufficient for any task He has set before you.

Remember, God is not surprised by your weaknesses. He created you with those weaknesses so that you will rely on Him and not on yourself. The years have taught me that weakness has a tendency to keep us on our knees, and it is only from that position that we will ever advance in the Christian life.

One final point: weakness is never an excuse for not doing what God has called us to do, regardless of how we feel about it. In the fourth chapter of Exodus, we read how Moses tried to make an excuse before God when he was called to be the deliverer of the Israelites. God would have none of it, and He sent Moses off to do His work—not in the strength of Moses, but in the strength of the Master.

We want to walk in the faith of Abraham. Paul lifts him us as a model to us in Romans 4:20-21, saying, “[Abraham] did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”

Whatever God is calling you to do, do it with the confident assurance that the One who called is able to complete the task through you, working through your weakness as a witness to His strength and the power of His promise.

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

Robert Murray McCheyne, a 19^th Century minister in the Church of Scotland, once said, “If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.” Did you know that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession for you right now?

Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.  (Romans 8:34)

McCheyne provided great insight into tremendous power in the life of the believer. Even though he could not hear the Lord praying in the room next to him, he knew that Jesus was indeed praying from His throne room in heaven. Regardless of what you might be facing today, you are facing it in the power of His prayer. Jesus is praying for you continually.

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”  (John 17:20-21)

In His earthly ministry, our Lord prayed fervently and specifically for His disciples who would be left behind to continue the ministry of the Gospel Jesus had initiated. But notice that His prayer is not only for them. It is for you and me and all those who would believe in the truths of the Gospel. Knowing that Jesus prayed for us then and is praying for us now is a source of great power for every believer.

What is there to fear with Jesus on the throne? As McCheyne said, distance makes no difference when it comes to the power of prayer from the throne room of grace.

Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.  (Hebrews 7:24-25)

Jesus is praying for you in the middle of your trials, tests, and temptations. Jesus is praying for you in the middle of your storms, sufferings, and sorrows. His prayer is your power, regardless of what you are currently dealing with in this life. Jesus has already conquered every foe we will ever face. Even the last and most fearful enemy was defeated when Jesus became the death of death (2 Timothy 1:10).

So let us advance confidently in the direction our Lord is calling us to go. Our praying Prince has paved the way for us to walk by faith and not by sight, because we know He has walked the path before us and is walking it with us today. His prayer is our power, and that power is greater than any power we will ever encounter in both life and death.

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

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. How will you spend it? Some will spend the day with family and friends, enjoying food, fellowship, and perhaps some football. Others will spend it alone. But regardless of your plans this year, let me encourage you to spend the day marinating a bit in what it means to live a life of thanksgiving to the One who has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.  (Colossians 2:6-7)

The apostle Paul tells us that overflowing thankfulness is the mark of Gospel-soaked saints, regardless of the cost or circumstance. And Paul knew hardship and suffering for the sake of the Gospel! He was no “ivory tower” teacher, comfortably distant from the message he proclaimed. You probably know that Paul wrote most of the New Testament; did you know that he penned most of his inspired epistles from behind prison walls?

Regardless of the circumstances he faced, Paul was marked by overflowing thankfulness because He intimately knew the One to whom he was so thankful.

Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”  (Acts 9:1-6)

Here is the man who was transformed from Saul, persecutor of the Church, to Paul, a pastor in the Church. He who hated Christians became a helper of Christians. The murderer became a minister, and Paul engaged in that ministry until his very last breath. He did it in the face of incredible hardship and opposition, yet his heart always overflowed with thankfulness.

One of the keys to Paul’s consistent thanksgiving and praise was located in the fact that he never lost sight of who he was before Jesus showed up. He never forgot the change that the Lord Jesus Christ made in his heart that day on the road to Damascus—the black condition of his heart prior to his encounter with the risen Savior. Jesus breathed new life into him, and Paul who exulted, “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15.)

So, throughout this Thanksgiving weekend, let us pause and count our many blessings. Don’t bother to try to “name them one-by-one,” as the Bible song says, because there are far too many to number. We simply need to be “Living Thanksgiving,” living a life of heartfelt gratitude, sharing the love of Christ with everyone we encounter. Share the love of Christ by telling someone about the His amazing grace and incomprehensible love. Share that love, with both your lips and your life.

Who can you reach out to this Thanksgiving week and tell them how much they mean to you? Make that long overdue phone call. Share that past-due hug. Write that note of appreciation you have been meaning to write for as long as you can remember. God will be glorified, your soul (and the other person’s) will be enriched, and you will be living Thanksgiving!

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

As we enter into Thanksgiving week, I would like to start it with a word of encouragement for those times when we are feeling a little less than thankful.

At first glance, you might think, “What kind of a Christian could feel ‘less than thankful?’ Are we not commanded to ‘Rejoice in the Lord always’ (Philippians 4:4)?” That’s true; we are even commanded to “Consider it pure joy” whenever we face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2). But please remember that a Christian is still a human being, and thus still a sinner. Even mature Christians may fall prey to feeling a little less than thankful during their struggles with ongoing sin and the various storms of life.

Here is what Scripture says about such times:

He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me. (Psalm 50:23)

If we are honest we all must admit that there are indeed times when we just don’t feel as thankful as we should. Sometimes the storm winds seem to be blowing so hard that the smallest bit of thanksgiving feels like a great sacrifice, especially when we are dealing with loss:

• loss of a job
• loss of money
• loss of a home or car
• loss of health or health insurance
• loss of a friendship or relationship
• loss of a loved one
• loss of hope

To be sure, loss can make even the tiniest bit of thanksgiving feel joyless and dutiful; only those who are deeply rooted in the truths of the Gospel can “offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving,” as Scripture commands.

To offer thanksgiving as a sacrifice is a demonstration of trusting God’s perfect plan even when we cannot trace His hand. Only the truths of the Gospel can lift us above the waves of challenge and discouragement that roll over us from time to time and empower us to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving that honors God.

We must always keep the promise of Romans 8:28-29 in view: that all things—and that includes the things we don’t like—are working together for our good and God’s glory. Everything in the universe is being directed toward God’s great purpose of conforming us into the image of His Beloved Son.

Now, keep in mind that the Bible does not say “All things are good.” There is a lot of bad in this world; Scripture warns us that “The devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). But the Bible also promises that even those things that appear to have been delivered for our own destruction will prove to be for our benefit in the end.

Regardless of where this finds you as we begin this Thanksgiving week, remember that God is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving even when we don’t feel thankful! Our loving, heavenly Father delights in a heart that beats for the praise and the glory of His name . . . even during those times that praise is offered sacrificially through the storms of life.

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

You’re probably familiar with the phrase “X marks the spot,” which means an “X” has been used to mark the exact spot of something—where to find something, put something, or where something happened. Well, today I have a word of great encouragement for you, offered by Mary, who “marks the spot” for all Christians to find.

[Martha] had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.  (Luke 10:39)

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:32)

Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. (John 12:3)

Not just once, but three times Mary of Bethany marks the spot. She models perfectly the place where every Christian should be found: at the feet of Jesus.

Notice that Mary had three different experiences at the feet of Jesus . . .

1. She was taught by Him.

2. She was comforted by Him.

3. She worshipped Him.

That about covers it wouldn’t you say? To be sure, we cannot take the position of Mary at the actual feet of Jesus, but we can assume the posture this position represents: both in submission to and dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ. Mary submitted to Jesus as the Supreme teacher; Mary depended upon Jesus for comfort in crisis; Mary worshipped Jesus sacrificially as she poured out expensive perfume on His feet.

What a wonderful testimony Mary recorded at the feet of Jesus! What a wonderful testimony you and I would have if the same thing could be said about us. Bible study and church attendance is time spent at the feet of Jesus. Prayer is time spent at the feet of Jesus. Giving sacrificially of our time, talent, and treasure is time spent at the feet of Jesus. Serving others is time spent at the feet of Jesus. Sharing the Gospel with others is time spent at the feet of Jesus.

So . . . what is your primary posture? What would those closest to you say? Mary marked the spot that matters most: at the feet of Jesus. How well are you acquainted with it? What changes do you need to make to begin spending more time there? Remember, when you spend an hour, you have one less hour to spend. So spend it wisely! And there is no wiser investment of time than to invest it at the feet of Jesus.

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

Have you ever thought God was so busy that He simply did not have time to connect with you as you were going through a difficult time? Well, you are not alone; we have all felt like that from time to time! But I have a word of great comfort for you today—what I call “inspired irony,” taken from the encounter between Jesus and two men on the road to Emmaus.

Behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.  (Luke 24:13-27)

How ironic for these men to ask Omniscience, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” And Jesus played right along with them for a while, responding innocently, “What things?”

Now, a moment of honest reflection should cause us to admit that we have been in the very same place on our own road to Emmaus, convinced that our Lord is simply out of touch with what is currently going on in our lives. We seem to be hearing the very same words He spoke to these men (“What things?”) in the middle of the storm winds that are blowing in our lives:

• Miscommunication things in our marriage … “What things?”
• Prodigal things in our parenting … “What things?”
• Stressful things in our singleness … “What things?”
• Fruitless things in our finances … “What things?”

The list could fill several pages. We feel at times that every thing we are going through we are going through alone. Yet nothing could be further from the truth! God not only knows what things we are dealing with in life, He is right there with us . . . every step of the way, just as He was with the two on the road to Emmaus.

God has promised His children, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). The next time you think you are dealing with the tough things of life alone, remember who is walking alongside you. His name is Jesus, and He will never leave your side. You have His Word on it!

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