Category Archives: General

Did you know that the power of the Gospel frees us from the fear of evil?  Do you know why?  It’s because even in the evil we face day in and day out, our God is with us.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.  (Psalm 23:4)

On the darkest road we travel, we need not fear evil because God is with us.  Even in the shadow of death the Christian heart still beats in time with the Master’s music, because He is not only our comfort but He is our companion.  He is the friend who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24).  And he who has God as his companion has nothing to fear.  What a beautiful promise we have from the psalmist—a promise that propels us further in and further up into our redemption, independent of all outward circumstances, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In fearing no evil, we are to include the evil one—the devil himself.  Satan can do only what God allows, and God only allows what is useful for our sanctification and service to others.  Sure, the devil comes as a roaring lion, seeking to devour anything in his way.  But he comes without teeth and claws, because he comes under the complete control of Christ our companion.  You will remember in the story of Job: the devil was allowed to do only what God allowed him to do, all of which ultimately worked for God’s glory and Job’s good.  And this is true for every child of God born of grace.

To be sure, there are times we find ourselves in dark valleys, deep waters, deserted highways, and desolate places, but we never find ourselves alone . . . which is cause for courage and cheer, not fright and fear.  It’s important to note that Jesus is not only with you, but He has gone before you.  Jesus faced every imaginable evil and conquered it as our King.

• Jesus faced the evil of the religious leaders
• Jesus faced the evil of His neighbors
• Jesus faced the evil of His friends
• Jesus faced the evil of His followers
• Jesus faced the evil of the Roman soldiers
• Jesus faced the evil of the thieves that hung on either side of Him on the cross
• Jesus faced the evil of evil itself in His wilderness experience
• Jesus faced the evil of our imputed sins
• Jesus faced the evil of death
• Jesus faced the evil of hell

Not only is Jesus our companion who has faced every evil, He is our King who has conquered every evil.  Not one evil could stand up against perfect Righteousness.  He sits at the right hand of God the Father (Romans 8:34), which is the place of power in heaven and on earth.  And it is that power that overcame every evil and will one day overthrow it, making everything that is bad good; everything crooked will be made straight; darkness will be turned to light; the dead in Christ will live; and all that was meant for evil will display the glorious righteousness of Christ!

Let the confession of our lives be one that fears no evil, knowing we face it with our conquering King, who has vanquished every foe.

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

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15)

In light of Jesus’ words here, what is the motivating force for new obedience?  For some it is fear.  They are afraid of the consequences of disobedience; they try to obey out of a sense of dread.  They try harder and harder, but it never works for long.  We are simply too weak to obey in our own strength out of a sense of fear.  For others, the motivating force is guilt.  They feel guilty over past disobedience—the problems it caused and the people they hurt—and they resolve to be better in the future.  Their resolve caused them to do more initially, but it never works for long.  We are simply too inconsistent to obey in our own strength out of a sense of guilt.

The motivation for those in whom the truths of the Gospel have taken root is rooted in gratitude.  They look back at all God has done for them in Christ, and out of a heart overflowing with thanksgiving, they desire to walk in new obedience.  Looking back at the grace we have been given is a wonderful motivation for living a life of obedience . . . but if we stop there, we have stopped short of a full understanding of the Gospel and the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Gratitude that looks back on grace received is a powerful motivator for obedience, but it can easily morph into attempting to pay God back for all that He has done, a feat which we could never accomplish.  If we could pay God back, it would not be grace that was given to us in the first place!  For “if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace” (Romans 11:6).  What we need is not only gratitude that looks back on past grace, but faith that looks forward to the future grace promised in the Gospel. This attitude of looking to the past and to the future is beautifully and succinctly expressed in Romans 8:32.

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

The first part of this verse focuses on the grace God has already given to His people; the second half focuses on the grace God will give to His people.  The ultimate motivation for new obedience is the combination of looking back in gratitude for grace given and looking forward in expectation to grace promised.  These are the bookends of living a life of obedience (albeit imperfectly) for every disciple of Christ.  John Piper explains:

The faith in future grace is the power for obedience that preserves the gracious quality of human obedience.  Obedience does not consist in paying God back and thus turning grace into a trade.  Obedience comes from trusting in God for more grace—future grace—and thus magnifying the infinite resources of God’s love and power.

Our hearts should be filled with gratitude over the grace we have already been given and brimming with positive anticipation for the grace we have been promised and will experience when we are brought home into glory.  What God began, He will complete (Philippians 1:6) and He will complete it with the grace of the Gospel, poured out in the past, the present, and in the future.  When God promised to never leave or forsake us, He promised us a future grace we can bank on!  The power for new obedience is rooted in the promise of new obedience, because of the One who made the promise.  He is faithful to fulfill His promises even when we are not faithful to them.  As Paul assured us, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).

When we look back in gratitude for the grace we have been given and forward to the grace we have been promised, we are propelled by the unimaginable love and mercy of God, who has given us all we need to live the life He has called us to live—by confident faith in indescribable grace.  Look back in gratitude and look forward by faith and there is no telling what God can do through you!

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

When was the last time you thought about the power of God?  I mean, really thought through just how powerful the God of the Bible actually is?  Well, let today’s message be a source of great comfort to you, regardless of what you might be facing, because whatever you are facing you are facing it in the power of the Almighty!

Power Over Nature

And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.  (Luke 8:24)

Where in your life right now do you need a little calm?  Jesus spoke a word to the wind and the waves and they ceased their raging.  He can speak a word of calm into any circumstance you are currently facing.

In His humanity, Jesus was subject to nature.  Just like you and me, our Lord was drenched by rain, He shivered in the cold, and he perspired in the heat. But in His divinity, He was Sovereign over nature.  The power of Jesus cannot be resisted even by the wind and the waves.  “You rule the raging of the sea,” the psalmist exulted; “when its waves rise, you still them” (Psalm 89:9).  Everything is subject to His authority and under His command.  Think about this for a moment.  Jesus not only desired to stop the storm in order to comfort His terrified disciples, but He had the power to do it.  Now, that is ALL POWERFUL!  And that power is available to you today.

If Jesus is in you, then the power of Jesus is in you, and that power is available to you to do everything He has called you to do.  There is nothing that can thwart the purposes of God, and that includes all that He has purposed to accomplish through you.  God never calls without equipping those whom He has called.  He provides all the power necessary for His people to accomplish all His will.

The wind cannot stand in the way of the power of God.  The waves cannot stand in the way of the power of God.  The wicked cannot stand in the way of the power of God.  And your weakness cannot stand in the way of the power of God. As Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged, “He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:35 NIV.)

God saved you so that you would serve Him.  And your service is not dependent upon your strength.  It is dependent upon His power, and that supernatural power is available at all times.  To be sure, we all serve our God imperfectly.  The Bible is filled with examples of the imperfect service of men.  But even imperfect service was received by our perfect and all-powerful God.  And that, beloved, should comfort you today and cause you to advance confidently in the direction God is calling you to go, in order to do all that He is calling you to do.

Paul prayed that you and I would know “the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might” (Ephesians 1:19).  There is no power in the universe above His power . . . and He has given that power to you!

Fear not, for I am with you;

be not dismayed, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will help you,

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  (Isaiah 41:10)

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

When was the last time you said that?  At the grocery store when you picked the shortest check-out line . . . only to discover it was moving the slowest?  In a traffic jam on the way to work . . . when you left home 15 minutes late?  At the office regarding your painfully slow climb up to the top rung on the ladder of success?

One of my seminary professors once said, “Hell, for me, would be one long bank line!” We all lapse into impatience from time to time, but we would deal with waiting much better if we viewed it from God’s perspective:

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage, wait for the Lord!  (Psalm 27:14)

Waiting is one of the means God uses to strengthen us and prepare us for what lies ahead.  God is in control of all things, including check-out lines, traffic, our career advancement . . . even bank lines!  When God causes us to wait, it is not because He has forgotten us or forsaken us; He is forging us into the faithful person He has called us to be.  If we would learn to see delays as part of God’s perfect design in conforming us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29), we could wait in a way that glorifies God and benefits all those with whom we interact while we are waiting.

Impatience is simply unbelief.  It is the not-so-subtle way we question God’s goodness and care for us without actually questioning Him.  To be sure, waiting is generally not a part of our plan—which is why we struggle so much with it!  In our waiting we get angry.  In our waiting we doubt.  In our waiting we envy.  In our waiting we get discouraged.  But waiting is a part of God’s plan for all of us.

• Abraham and Sarah waited beyond the childbearing years before finally bearing the child promised by God.
• Moses waited for 40 years on the back-side of the desert before God called him to deliver the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt.
• While he was building the ark, Noah waited more than 100 years for God to open the heavens and bring the rain.

Because God can see the beginning from the end (Isaiah 46:10), His plans are always better than our plans.  His timing is perfect even when we think His timing is off.  I have learned over the years that waiting is one of God’s best ways to strengthen our faith muscles.  I thought Kim and I would be planting a church long before we planted a church.  At times I grew impatient.  But God continued using Kim to help me see things from God’s perspective (instead of mine), and I learned to wait for the Lord to open the door and usher us through it.  In waiting for the Lord, I learned that the greatest blessing in our waiting was not finally fulfilling the goal of planting a church, but the work God was doing in me along the way.

So . . . where in your life is God causing you to wait?  What might God want you to learn in your waiting?  What might God want you to do in your waiting?  What might God want you to become in your waiting?

God is not finished with you yet!  He is causing you to decrease so Jesus can increase in your life right now.  And He is pleased to do it through waiting.

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

As a pastor, it burdens my soul and breaks my heart to hear so many people tearfully say, “That was the one thing I thought I could never do!”  Whether it was a season of gambling . . . a drinking binge . . . a descent into immorality . . . a time of wandering off into some far country . . . surrendering to the temptation of touch-of-a-button internet pornography . . . or countless other scenarios, the cry is universal: “I never believed I could do that!”

The Bible is full of examples of what happens to broken people living in a broken world with other broken people, especially when they thump their chests and utter the word never.  Here is arguably the most memorable “never” in Scripture, where Jesus foretold Peter’s denial:

When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.  (Matthew 26:30-35)

Peter really did suffer from “foot-in-mouth” disease.  In response to Jesus telling all the disciples that they would all fall away, Peter insisted, “I could never do that!”  But Peter wasn’t content to contradict Jesus—as if that wasn’t bad enough!  He went on to elevate himself and his commitment to Jesus above the other disciples, saying, “Though they all fall away . . . I will never!”  And, of course, Matthew’s gospel shows us the slippery slope we all stand on when we boast loudly of our own strength and resolve.  Peter went on to deny Jesus—not once, but three times . . . just as Jesus had warned him.

When we believe there is something we could never do, we begin to let out guard down.  When we do that, we leave ourselves wide open to the attacks of the devil.  We shift our focus away from Jesus and put in on ourselves.  And when we do that, it’s just a matter of time before we find ourselves doing the very thing we loudly insisted we could never do.

Instead of making our hollow boast about what we will never do, we must cry out every day and ask God to give us grace to withstand the flaming arrows Satan sends our way.  We are never more than one poor decision away from making an appalling mess of everything; the more we focus on what we could never do, we move that much closer to making that poor decision.

The only strength that will sustain us is His strength.  The only commitment we can count on is His commitment to us.  Let us never say “never,” apart from attaching our confidence to the grace and goodness of God, freely given to us in Jesus Christ.  His power is made perfect in our weakness; when we admit that weakness, we are strong in Him!  (If you have any doubts about that, read 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.)

Blessed be the Lord!

for he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

The Lord is my strength and my shield;

in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;

my heart exults,

and with my song I give thanks to him.  (Psalm 28:6-7)

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

How often we use this statement, tacking on a variety of endings to point the finger of blame at someone else for whatever it is in life that displeases us.  I call this “victim mentality,” because when we point the finger of responsibility at others we play the role of the victim.  Do any of the following statements resonate with you at all?

•         If only you would grow up!

•         If only you would do more around the house!

•         If only you would be more intimate!

•         If only you would get more serious!

•         If only you would lose a little weight!

•         If only you would get a better job!

•         If only you would change!

The list of these statements could fill a book.  The problem with these harsh accusations is that they point us in the wrong direction when trying to identify our problems and challenges in life.  These indictments well up from dissatisfied hearts trying to get through disappointing days; they do great damage in the lives of others.

Adam essentially said this very thing to God back in the Garden of Eden, just after reaching for the forbidden fruit and taking a big bite.  Adam gave birth to victim mentality.

The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”  (Genesis 3:12)

In other words, Adam said to God, “If only you would have given me a different wife; I wouldn’t be in this mess!  Perhaps you picked the wrong rib, Lord!”  Adam was pointing in the wrong direction in identifying his problems.  If he had simplydone what God created him for and commanded him to do—caring for his wife Eve and exercising dominion over all creation—he would have stepped in and protected Eve from theserpent’s deception.  God was not Adam’s problem; Adam wasAdam’s problem!  His self-absorbed living caused Adam to blame everyone else (including God!) for the problems he had created for himself.

And you and I are just as bad.  That is why God calls us to put off our self-focused and self-centered lives that constantly cry, “If only you . . . !”  The grace of the Gospel calls us to stop blaming others for our unhappiness and to rise above our natural desire to compress the size of our lives down to the concerns of our lives.  Only when we understand the truth that life is not about ourselves will we begin to see beyond the borders of our shrunken, self-absorbed lives.  

The Gospel not only rescues us from the penalty of sin, it alsorescues us from the power of sin.  And there is no sin more powerful than the sin of self-focus, which works overtime tocondemn others for the problems we face in life.  

•         Self-focus would rather be served than serve

•         Self-focus would rather get than give

•         Self-focus would rather be right than loving

•         Self-focus would rather live autonomously than in community

•         Self-focus would rather say, “If only you…” instead of accepting responsibility

When all you can see is yourself, you are blind to the needs, hurts, desires, and brokenness of others.  It is easy to point the finger at others and live life as a victim.

So the next time you are ready to shout, “If only you . . . !” pause for a moment and take a closer look and see how your victim mentality might have clouded your view of your Savior.  When you are looking to Jesus, you see yourself as He sees you—as more than a conqueror—and you will begin living like one, regardless of the cost or circumstance. 

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

I cannot tell you how many people in the church today are living with a deep and abiding sense of remorse.  The dictionary defines remorse as a deep and painful regret of wrongdoing; that “painful regret” is exactly what has a death grip on far too many Christians, keeping them from growing into the man or woman God is calling them to be.

Before we go any further, let me make it clear that I believe the Scriptures make it clear that wrongdoing should be followed by a godly sorrow (see 2 Corinthians 7:9-10); and in that godly sorrow we should go directly to God for two reasons: to confess our sin and to be cleansed from it (1 John 1:9).  But when that confession and cleansing has been done, we are to be done with it.  As Paul wrote, “One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).  The goodness of God—not guilt—is to be the mark of the Christian life.  Our loving Lord came to die on the cross to free us from shame and remorse, not to burden us with it!

We all have pasts that are littered with wrongdoing.  We went wrong in our friendships.  We went wrong in our marriages.  We went wrong in our parenting.  We went wrong in our careers.  We went wrong in our finances.  We went wrong in our nutrition.  We went wrong in our exercise program (or lack of it).  We went wrong in our education.  And on and on and on.  With all of this wrongdoing, we might easily think the die is cast and there is no hope in making things right.  But that is simply wrong!

Wrongdoing is a part of life, because we are broken people living in a broken world.  Instead of living with a sense of remorse, we need to chart a better course, one that is guided by the light of Gospel truths.  Our past does not determine our present.  Broken hearts can be mended.  Distant relationships can be restored.  Unfulfilled promises can be kept.  Dead dreams can be resurrected.  All of this is possible because of the power of the Gospel.

All the mistakes and misdeeds you committed in your past were nailed to that dirty tree on Calvary.  All of them!  Understanding this frees us from the trap of remorse to chart a better course.  Because of the power of the Gospel, the die is not cast and hope is not lost.  We serve a God of second chances . . . and third chances . . . and . . . !  Peter was charting a course of remorse after having fulfilled Jesus’ prophecy and denying Him three times before the rooster crowed.  But Jesus charted a better course than remorse for Peter.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.  (John 21:15-17)

The Bible tells us that after Peter denied his Lord he went outside the courtyard and wept bitterly.  Peter was filled with a godly sorrow for his wrongdoing.  He was broken by his sin, and this is the response that flows from the heart that loves Jesus.  But Jesus did not leave Peter there!  If it were left up to Peter, the course of the rest of his life would likely have been marked by groaning and guilt.  Jesus changed all of that, and He did it by reconnecting Peter with the only thing that could remove his remorse: Jesus!  Jesus reconnected Peter to Himself and the calling He had for him.  And this is the power of the Gospel that is available to every child of God, regardless of the past . . . and that includes you and me.

So . . . where in your life has remorse been altering your course and keeping you from being all God is calling you to be . . . personally?  Professionally?  Relationally?  Jesus is asking you the same question today that He asked Peter over 2000 years ago: “Do you love me?”  And if your answer is “Yes,” then get on with the business of feeding His sheep in whatever capacity God has called you to.

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

Far too many in today’s church believe that the Gospel is only for reaching the lost.  They see the Gospel as a set of truths that must be believed in order to receive eternal life—but nothing more.  The problem with this view is that it limits the Gospel to the door leading into the Christian life, when in fact it is also the floor upon which to build the Christian life.  Regardless of how long we have been walking with Jesus, we are never freed from our need of a daily dose of the Gospel!

After we are saved from the power of sin, we still need the Gospel to save us from the presence of sin.  Sin no longer reigns, but it still remains; because of this we need a daily dose of the Gospel truth about what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross.  The Gospel is not only for the un-believer living in the far country, it is also for believers who wander off into the far country from time to time.  We require daily Gospel-reminders to reach deep into our hearts and reconnect us with our first love, the Lord Jesus Christ.

One of the things we never needed to debate as we were planting Cross Community Church was whether we wanted to gear our services toward believers or unbelievers.  If the service is focused on believers, the message is crafted to strengthen them in their walk with Christ.  On the other hand, a service focused on unbelievers delivers a message designed to win them to Christ.  The reason we do not need to focus specifically on one group or the other is the fact that both groups are sinners in desperate need of God’s grace and rescue . . . DAILY!  The Gospel is needed by everyone every day of every week.

We are not saved by the Gospel and then expected to grow up into Christ by the spiritual sweat of our brow.  We are saved by the Gospel and then we are sanctified as the same Gospel is applied to our hearts daily.  God pursued us with His Gospel when we were first saved, but it didn’t stop there.  God continues to pursue us daily with His Gospel.  Daily doses of grace are a continuing requirement for saved-by-grace sinners who are locked in the ongoing battle against sin.  Without the Gospel applied to our hearts each day, we naturally tend to drift into a performance-based relationship with God.  Without the Gospel applied to our hearts each day, we begin to believe that the more we do and the harder we try, the more God will love us and the more He will bless us.

But this is not for you! Thank God for the freedom we have in the Gospel!  In Christ we already have the love and acceptance we long for.  There is nothing we can do to make God love us any more . . . and there is nothing we can do to cause God to love us any less.  We are loved because of the Beloved.  Because of what He has already done on our behalf, we find rest in the knowledge of our unconditional acceptance and the unwavering assurance that once we are His, we are His forevermore!

Let us close with these beautiful words from Isaac Watts’ wonderful hymn, At the Cross:

Was it for crimes that I had done

He groaned upon the tree?

Amazing pity, grace unknown,

And love beyond degree!

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

Trials are not a random roll of the dice.  They are an integral part of God’s providential rescue plan for making all things new.  That plan includes you . . . and that includes you going through trials.  God is on a mission to restore His image in His people, and part of that process is worked out by taking His people through trials.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

(James 1:2-4)

In this [salvation] you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

(1 Peter 1:6-7)

So . . . what trials have you been experiencing lately?  Are you trusting Him for His good plan in your life, even when you’re smack in the middle of the howling storm winds?  Charles Spurgeon is reported to have said, “God is too good to be unkind.  He is too wise to be confused.  If I cannot trace His hand, I can always trust His heart.”

Now, I know that it is far easier to discern the loving and kind purposes of the Almighty in the storms others are going through.  We are quick to quote a few Scriptures, provide godly counsel, and offer up our prayers of comfort and support.  But how well do we do this when we are the ones pitching and plunging into the troughs of the waves in the midst of the storm?  Do we see and accept God’s loving hand as much in our struggles as we do in our successes . . . as much in our valleys as we do in our victories?

The promises of Romans 8 make it clear that our God is using all things—even those things that seem like they will certainly destroy us—to accomplish His glorious purposes and to advance our ultimate good.  We are being conformed to the image of Christ, and often it comes through the fiery furnace of affliction.  The Heidelberg Catechism beautifully describes the providence of our good and gracious God.

The almighty and everywhere present power of God; whereby, as it were by his hand, he upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures; so that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, and all things come, not by chance, but by his fatherly hand.

One of the great blessings in knowing that God is in complete control of all things is found in recognizing that we are not.  There is no such thing as “chance” or “luck” anywhere in the universe.  As Dr. Sproul once told a group of seminarians, “If there is even one maverick molecule floating around in the universe outside of the control of God, we simply cannot trust in any of His promises.”  Either God is in complete control of everything, or He is in complete control of nothing.

So if all things are working together for your good, regardless of how bad they may seem today, how should that impact the way you are living?  Jesus suffered from the cradle to the grave, and He did it so we could be with Him forever in the new heavens and the new earth, where there will be no more tears . . . no more sorrow . . . no more pain . . . no more death . . . because the old will have passed completely away and the new will have come.

May the glorious hope of that day help us all live through this day with a spirit of peace that passes all understanding, regardless of what trials today may bring.  God is restoring His image in every child born of grace, and He is doing it in both the good and seemingly bad providences of life.

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

We live in a culture which makes it easy to forget about those who are poor and in need, simply because most of us are rich, compared to the standards of the rest of the world, and we have far more than we need.  Yet the Scriptures command us never to forget the poor; we are to remember—not just with our minds, but with our hands and our feet too.

John [the Baptist] answered, “The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.”  (Luke 3:11)

Did you ever wonder why God allows many of His children to live in poverty?  If God so wished, He could make them all rich beyond all measure.  When the Israelites were freed from bondage in Egypt, they left with many valuables because God caused the Egyptians to give their wealth to His people.  When the Israelites had no food in the wilderness, the Lord sent manna from heaven and quail on the winds to feed them.  To the amazement of His disciples, Jesus fed 5,000-plus people with only five loaves and two fish.  God could give everyone an abundance of everything, but He chooses not to do this.

W e know by faith that God always knows best . . . so if the poor could be made rich in an instant and they are not, what does God want us to do about it?  We are to remember the poor and respond to them, which Paul said he was “eager to do” (Galatians 2:10).

One of the greatest opportunities we have to demonstrate the love of Christ to a hurting world is to minister to the needs, both spiritual and physical, of the poor.  We have the privilege of sharing Christ with a fallen, hurting, and broken world by meeting their most pressing need: forgiveness.  So we preach the Gospel.  But we also have the privilege of sharing Christ by meeting physical needs.  Charles Spurgeon profoundly put an exclamation on this point:

If there were no sons of need in the world we should lose the sweet privilege of evidencing our love, by ministering in almsgiving to His poorer brethren; He has ordained that thus we should prove that our love standeth not in word only, but in deed and in truth.  If we truly love Christ, we shall care for those who are loved by Him.  Those who are dear to Him will be dear to us.  Let us then look upon it not as a duty but as a privilege to relieve the poor of the Lord’s flock.

There are many blessings to be found in ministering to the poor, but there is no greater blessing than the truth of these words of Jesus:

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.  Then the righteous will answer him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?”  And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”  (Matthew 25:35-40)

To be sure, it brings great joy to God’s people to minister and meet the needs of others.  God has changed our nature to begin looking for opportunities to lay our lives down for others—all others, including the poor and marginalized.  And as we do so to the least of these, our King accepts our service as if it was done unto Him.  Wow!  What a great and gracious God we serve, who gives us the privilege of serving Him by serving others.

In 2 Corinthians 8:9, we see how strongly our God identifies with the poor, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”  May we, by His grace, never forget the poor and the privilege we have in meeting them in their place of need.  In meeting with them there, we also meet with our God.

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