Category Archives: General

The Bible tells us that the human heart is the “control-center” of life: “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23).  In other words, what rules your heart shapes your life!

What is ruling your heart and shaping your life these days? 

For some, empty emotions—such as doubt, fear, or anxiety—have taken hold of their hearts and are shaping their lives.  For others, vain pursuits—such as power, prestige, or prosperity—have taken hold of their hearts and are shaping their lives.  Still others find that the applause of man or the affection of another have taken hold of their hearts and ultimately are shaping their lives.  To be sure, the possibilities are as limitless as the depths of our sinful, self-absorbed, and self-centered hearts.

But this is not for you!  Colossians 3:15 gives us the key to penetrating a sinful heart that is ruled by anything smaller than Jesus: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.”  This peace finds its power in one overwhelming Gospel truth: this peace is His peace!

The peace of Jesus is not found in silver and gold . . . not in power and prestige . . . nor in honor and high society.  When Jesus walked this earth on His way to Golgotha’s hill, His estate was one of abject humiliation, for He had no earthly estate to give to His disciples.  He frankly admitted, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58). 

It was the peace of Christ that overcame the temptations of the devil, the betrayal of Judas, the desertion of His disciples, the false accusations of the religious leaders, the denials of Peter, and the taunting of the crowds as He hung on the cross.  This is the peace that we have been given through faith in the Prince of Peace. 

You see, the peace that is to rule our hearts and ultimately shape our lives will never found in the stuff of life.  It will only be found in our Savior.  He warns us all, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal . . . For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:19, 21).

It is only the peace of Christ that is unaffected by the circumstances of life.  Storms cannot disrupt it.  Trials will not disturb it.  Challenges do not dislocate it.  This is the peace that passes all human understanding, and it will guard your heart (Philippians 4:7).  Our natural, sinful nature would rather try to find our peace in something tangible.  But our new nature is empowered by the same peace that propelled the Prince of Peace.  And this is the peace that is to rule our hearts and shape our lives. 

This peace empowers us to care about more than the cares and concerns of our own lives.  This peace allows us to lay our lives down and lift others up.  This peace frees us to come out of hiding—to emerge from behind every flimsy fig leaf, knowing that God has accepted us in His beloved Son.  A heart that is ruled by the peace of Christ is shaped like the cross: loving God (vertical) and reaching out in love to others (horizontal).

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

Are you focused more on yourself . . . or your Savior?  What would those closest to you say about you?  If we watched a video of how you spent this past week, what would we conclude about your focus?  One of the best ways to answer this question is to take an inventory of your thinking during those times when you have nothing much to think about.  I know that sounds contradictory, but it really isn’t.  When you have nothing pressing to think about, where does your mind wander off to? 

By nature we all think far too much about ourselves and far too little about our Savior.  We think about our goals, our desires, our ambitions, our wants, our preferences, our position, our power, our prestige, and our place at the table.  Self-rule is the order of the day as we seek to further our agenda and our kingdom instead of His agenda and His kingdom. 

The cure for slaying this stronghold is found only in the Gospel.  The Gospel is the story of One who was so other-oriented that He willingly set aside all the glory of the King of kings and laid His life down for others.  His life is the model for all those who are children of the Master. 

If there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  (Philippians 2:1-11)

The Gospel tells us that service is the key that unlocks the stronghold of self-focus.  When we are focused on others and looking to their interests, we have no time to focus on ourselves.  Putting others first enables us to go to the back of the line and forego the chief seats.  This is what Jesus has done for us.  Is it not right that we do the same for others?

When we in humility count others more significant than ourselves, we are not thinking less of ourselves; we are simply thinking of ourselves less.  By the power of the Gospel we fulfill the two greatest commandments: loving God and others.  And when we fail—which we do daily—we run to Jesus for the complete cleansing of perfect and pervasive forgiveness that His blood provides.  Daily reminders of our forgiveness in Christ free us to focus more on Him and the countless Gospel benefits we have been given.  And one of the most precious of these benefits is the privilege of serving Him and others!   

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

Throughout Scripture we find “Rock” used as a metaphor for God.  Primarily it conveys His immutability—His inability to change in His essential nature and character.

The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice.  A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.  (Deuteronomy 32:4)

Presbyterian minister and Bible commentator Matthew Henry rightly observed, “God is the rock, for he is in himself unchangeable, immovable, and he is to all that seek him and run to him an impenetrable shelter, and to all who trust in him an everlasting foundation.”  To know that God cannot change should be a source of great comfort to you today.  When everything around us is changing at incredible speeds, God is the same today as He was yesterday and will be forevermore (Hebrews 13:8). 

Rocks and stones are quality building materials because of their solid, unbreakable strength.  They serve as one of the best foundations upon which to build.  God our Rock serves as the absolute ultimate foundation upon which to build, in both life and death. 

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.  And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.  (Matthew 7:24-27) 

To be sure, the stability of a rock speaks to the faithfulness of our God.  In a world marked by deceit and inconstancy, we have a God who is unwavering, unshakeable, and eternally faithful to the promises He has made. 

He has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.  (2 Peter 1:4)

Jesus as our Rock . . . simply rocks!  He rocks by being for us.  He rocks by being with us.  He rocks by being in us.  He rocks because He is the Rock of Ages.  Our Rock laid His life down for us that we might live.  And when Jesus said it was finished, He meant what He said.  He uttered His victory shout from the cross, and the earth shook! There is nothing we can add to the finished work of our Rock.

He has done it all, and all we need do is remember and rest in this Gospel-saturated truth: “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).  Make no mistake, our Rock rocks!!!!!!!!!

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

I am not a supporter of “celebrating” Halloween.  This observance is firmly rooted in pagan tradition and continues to rise in popularity as a festival of the occult.  Our church offers an alternative, called “HarvestFest.”  We invite the community to come and celebrate Jesus through games, rides, candy, and contests . . . and yes, that includes costumes! 

Back in my childhood, Halloween was little more than carving out pumpkins and a night out trick-or-treating with the neighborhood kids.  Today it is big business for adults and kids alike, including horror movies, haunted houses, and Halloween parties and celebrations of all shapes and sizes.  One of the attractions our family never misses in our trips to Walt Disney World is the Haunted Mansion. 

Because today is Halloween and likely we will have young, costumed visitors coming to our homes looking for candy, I thought I would write about the “costumes” we adults like to wear year-round. And I’m not talking about the store-bought ones!

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.  Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”  (Genesis 3:1-13)

Adam and Eve constructed the first-ever “costumes” in the Garden of Eden after they stepped into the serpent’s trap.  When their consciences were seared by their sin, they sewed fig leaves together to cover their nakedness and shame.  And when they heard the sound of God walking in the Garden in the cool of the day, they ran and hid.  This is the primary reason we wear our costumes.  We like to hide ourselves from the view of others.  We don’t want anyone to see what we are really like . . . as if our blemishes are unique to us. 

God confronted Adam and Eve in love and not in anger, but instead of confessing their sin and seeking God’s forgiveness, they attempted to shift blame.  Adam blamed Eve and God Himself (“The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit . . .”); Eve blamed the serpent; and we all have been blaming-shifting ever since.  We wear costumes, seeking to cover our mistakes, shortcomings, and sins—which makes it easier for us to blame others and God for the predicaments we find ourselves in.   

Wearing costumes allows us to keep from confronting the real person underneath the mask.  This, of course, is a great comfort for all those who willing seek after satisfying the desires of the flesh rather than the Spirit.

So . . . what costumes have you been wearing lately?  What would happen if you took yours off?

The Gospel frees us to step out of our costumes, because—regardless of what others think of us—God’s love is as unchanging as it is unconditional.  Costumes enslave us; the Gospel frees us.  Costumes blind to the glories of His kingdom; the Gospel opens our eyes to see with the eyes of faith.  The Gospel liberates us from the need to hide and when we are found out and rids us of the need to blame.  Jesus died to set the captives free, and in Christ we are free indeed to be exactly what we are: great sinners in need of an even greater Savior. 

As fallen, sinful people living in a broken, sin-filled world, we can step out of every costume we wear for creaturely comfort, because the only true source of comfort is found in Christ.

What costume will you wear today?  Why not rest is the reality of being clothed in the righteousness of Christ?  With His robe of righteousness wrapped tightly around you, what else could you possibly need?

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

Have you ever thought yourself to be free from idolatry? Do you believe that idolatry has been reserved only for the most primitive of people on the other side of the world?  If you do . . . think again!

Idolatry, by definition, is simply replacing the worship of anything in creation instead of the One who created it.  It is hardwired into our fallen nature to repeatedly overlook our Creator and grasp at His creation.  Take a look at this list of idols and see if any of them sound like you:

• We seek our identity in our work.
• We seek our power in our position.
• We seek our security in our finances.
• We seek our significance in our peer approval.
• We seek our purpose in our kids.
• We seek our pleasure in our spouses.
• We seek our meaning in our ministry.

Created things were never intended to give you what only your Creator can provide.  Every promise idols make smells like smoke and comes from the pit of hell, as Steve Brown likes to say.  Idols simply cannot deliver on what they promise! 

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen!  (Romans 1:25)

The great replacement is the replacement of God with anything smaller than God.  We replace the supernatural with the natural.  We replace the spiritual with the physical.  We replace the eternal with the temporal.  And we all do it far more often than we would like to admit.  Think back over the past week: what have you been pursuing and praying for?  What caused you to get up early and stay up late? 

I’ve said this before: many of the things we go after are, in fact, good things.  Work is good.  Family is good.  Money is good.  Ministry is good.  These good things only become bad things when they become ultimate things and replace the only One worth pursuing: Jesus.  Everything we look for in creation can only be given to us in our Creator.  We are to find our identity in Him and not in our work.  We are to find our power in Him and not in our position.  We must find our security in Him and not in our finances.  We should find our significance in Him and not in the approval of others.  We must find our purpose in Him and not in our kids.  We are to find our pleasure in Him and not in our spouses.  We must find our meaning in Him and not in our ministries.  It’s all about Him!

The Gospel is the cure for putting the Creator back in His rightful place in our lives.  The more we marinate in the truths of the Gospel and the finished work of Christ, the less we move toward created things.  What must always remember that everything we need we already have in Jesus.  As my beloved friend and remarkable pastor likes to remind us: “Jesus plus nothing equals everything.”

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

We are all familiar with the game “Hide and Seek,” where children run and hide themselves and one or more seekers go and look for them.  There is a biblical version of this game that I would like to share with you today.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  (Colossians 3:1-3)

The “hide” part of biblical truth is the understanding that we are hidden with Christ.  God the Father no longer sees our sin, because we are hidden with God the Son and clothed in His righteousness.  In the eyes of God, we not only look as if we had never sinned, we also look like we have always and only done what is right!  To be hidden with Christ in God is to be covered by the finished work of Christ—despite of our continued sins, shortcomings, failures, and faults. 

The “seek” part of biblical truth is the knowledge that because of who we are in Christ positionally, we can seek out and set our minds on the things of God practically.  Our union with Jesus propels us in the direction of what God wants for us; it is precisely because of our union with Jesus that we desire to seek the things that are above. 

Because we are hidden with Christ, in spite of our sin, we no long have to run and hide because of our sin.  We are covered . . . cleansed . . . and commissioned because of what Christ has done for us.  This is a truth that must be recaptured and reclaimed by the church today.  Far too many Christians are hiding from God because of their sin, when they should be running toward Him.  Adam and Eve ran and hid from God because of their sin, yet God pursued them—not to punish them but to cover their sin.  God is in the business of pursuing rebels on the run . . . and that includes you and me. 

So . . . have you been rejoicing in God’s version of “hide and seek” lately?  Or have you been wasting time trying to hide from God?  You and I must always remember that we are great sinners, but we have been eternally loved by an even greater Savior!  Knowing that our lives are hidden with Christ in God, may our days be marked by continually seeking after the One who sought and bought us on Golgotha’s Hill with His precious blood.  Let us pursue God’s promise: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).  

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

Ever wonder why we face so much hardship in this life?  In a word, the answer is sin.  It will not always be this way!  When the church is presented to Christ as His bride, God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and “Death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore” (Revelation 21:4).  However, until that glorious day comes, we can expect to deal with hardship in this life.  And there is something profound lying just beneath the surface of sin that needs be understood by every child born of grace. 

Thanks to the finished cross work of Jesus, hardship is never a punishment, penalty, penance, or pain being exacted by an angry God to make believers “right” with Him.  Because God’s justice has been fully satisfied in Jesus, our hardship is designed to draw God’s children nearer to Him, not push us further away.  Far too many Christians interpret hardship as a sign of God’s displeasure with them, perhaps even of His abandonment—but it is not!  God loves you with an everlasting love; hardship is merely a sign of His sanctifying activity in your life.

Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

(Revelations 3:19)

Hardship in the life of the believer is designed to discipline and to draw, never to discourage and destroy. God uses hardship in the lives of His children for a number of reasons:

• To train us in character
• To teach us in conduct
• To turn us from sin

We must always remember that God’s discipline—which we frequently experience in the form of hardship, trials, storms, and struggles—is never punitive; it is always redemptive, and always intended to cause us to draw nearer to Him.  God is not exacting His “pound of flesh” from us because of our wrongdoing.  Jesus paid the price for our sin—all of our sin—on the cross.  God will not collect a second time on a debt that has been paid in full.  So God is using His holy hardship for His glory and our ultimate good by conforming us to the image and likeness of His beloved Son. 

God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.

(Hebrews 12:10)

The fact that hardship is inevitable should not drive us to despair, because it is a loving Father who delivers it to us.  God only wants what is best for His children; at times, the only way to achieve that “best” is through the holy hardships of life.  God is training us in our character and our conduct, so that we might become ever more useful for the advancement of His kingdom purposes. 

When we are forged in the fire of betrayal, abandonment, loneliness, heartache, false accusations, and denials—just as Jesus was—we are being prepared for greater service in the lives of others who are experiencing the same.  We will be able to empathize with our brothers and sisters in Christ, not merely sympathize.  We will be able to minister from the heart—to “Rejoice with those who rejoice, [and] weep with those who weep,” as Scripture commands us (Romans 12:15).  The more we suffer as Jesus suffered, the more we serve as He served . . . forgive as He forgave . . . minister as He ministered . . . and love as He loved.  Our hardship is holy because it passes through the hands of a holy God.

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

Have you ever been driven in the direction of duty and service to God by the power of guilt?  I am sure we all have experienced this from both ends of the spectrum: having been driven by guilt and driving others by guilt, as well.  There’s no denying the fact that guilt is a very effective motivator for getting others to do what we believe God would have them do. 

• Parents use guilt to drive their children toward duty.
• Teachers use guilt to drive their students toward duty.
• Coaches use guilt to drive their players toward duty.
• Preachers use guilt to drive their flock toward duty.
• Spouses use guilt to drive their partners toward duty.

However, guilt that drives toward duty ultimately leads to dread.  In his book, Holiness by Grace, Bryan Chapell writes, “When it comes to changing people’s behavior, nothing is more efficient than motivating by guilt.  There is nothing more effective than guilt to get people to obey God’s standards, and nothing less efficacious in sanctifying them to God.”

If all we desire is a change in behavior, then guilt will do.  But if we desire a change in the heart, grace is the only lasting cure.  The Bible makes it clear that the liberty Christ purchased for us at Calvary frees us from guilt as a motivator for doing what God requires.  The shed blood of Jesus has washed us clean from the gnawing guilt of sin and the condemning wrath of God.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

(Romans 8:1)

Guilt has its rightful place in the life of the Christian.  The power of the Holy Spirit convicting our conscience with the presence of sin is a good thing, as long as that sense of shame drives us to the cross for cleansing and re-commissioning into the service of our Savior.

Jesus demonstrated this process with Peter by asking about his love three times after Peter’s three denials and then re-commissioning him for fruitful service.  Jesus didn’t condemn Peter for his sin.  He convicted Peter’s conscience regarding his three shameful denials and then cleansed and re-commissioned him. 

Jesus could have used guilt as a motivator in Peter’s life, but He did not.  Jesus knew full well that any behavioral change brought on by guilt never leads to a heart transformation and maturity.  Only the grace of the Gospel can do that.  Make no mistake; the guilt that condemns and crushes us is a very bad thing . . . and it was all nailed to the cross by Jesus.

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.  (Colossians 1:19-20)

“Guilting” others or ourselves into action is not pleasing to God and never moves us toward maturity.  Holiness in the life of the Christian flows out of grace . . . not guilt.  Guilt that drives toward duty always leads to dread, because a guilty conscience is never free to rest in the finished work of Christ.  It is too busy trying to finish the race on its own.  But when Jesus said “It is finished,” He meant what He said!  We have been set free to do what God would have us do—not out of a sense of guilt but out of gratitude, and this makes all the difference in the world.

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

Now that you’re no longer feeling like a freak (see Monday’s blog), let’s make one other thing perfectly clear: there are NO SUPERIOR SAINTS!  I learned a long time ago that the ground is level at the cross; none of us is standing on higher ground and no one is standing on lower ground.  In fact, the only reason we stand at all is because Jesus has raised us from death to life.  Everything we have (except our sin) and everything we are (except being sinners) is because of the grace of God.

My beloved Pastor Tullian often quotes William Temple’s fabulous one-liner: “The only thing we contribute to our salvation is the sin that makes it necessary!” Therefore, there are NO SUPERIOR SAINTS!  And yet the feeling of superiority and the seduction of putting others down is deeply woven into the sinful fabric of our lives. 

Steve Brown has a great suggestion for those of us who have a tendency to feel superior to our brothers and sisters in Christ.  He suggests, “I think it would be a great gift to the church if God was to make us all wear neon signs listing our ten greatest sins for all-the world to see. You say, ‘You’ve got to be kidding!  Everyone would know.  It would be horrible for people to look at me and see all my sins!’  No, as a matter of fact, they wouldn’t even be looking at your neon sign.  They would be too busy trying to hide theirs!  And then we would finally get honest.  That wouldn’t be half bad.” 

Steve’s on to something there!  If we were each wearing our own personal neon sin-sign, we’d be just like Adam and Eve in the Garden after they sinned: we would all feel so naked and ashamed that we would not be so focused on making others feel so naked and ashamed.  And that would indeed be a good thing!  The plank in our own eye would really bother us; the speck in others’ eyes would not.  We could devote our time to coming alongside our brothers and sisters, instead of judging them and trying to get them to conform to our image and our expectations. 

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.  (Romans 12:3)

God has made us all different—one body with many parts—so we can fit perfectly into His plan and purpose for the advancement of His kingdom.  It’s only when we are advancing the atrophied agenda of our own little kingdom that we find ourselves thanking God that we are not like other people.  When it’s about our little kingdom, we have an insatiable need to be sitting in the chief seats and we will do whatever it takes to get there.  But when we are focused on expanding God’s kingdom, superiority goes out the window. 

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.  Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.  (Romans 12:4-6)

Paul is telling us that each one of us is both needed and valuable to God’s kingdom.  Everyone has a place in God’s kingdom to carry out their God-given assignments.  When we understand this, we begin serving alongside the family of faith rather than feeling superior to them. 

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

Have you ever felt freakish because of the trials and temptations you’ve been facing in your life, as if you are the only one going through what you are going through?  I have a word of comfort for you today . . . and it’s a word of comfort for me too!

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)

A quick check for definitions of the word freak yields, “A person on exhibition as an example of a strange deviation from nature; monster.”  A “freak” is so far removed from “ordinary” that we are tempted to turn and gape in astonishment when we see one, as we might stare at the “bearded lady” displayed at a circus. A freak is in a special category.

Let me assure you that our struggles with temptation do not make us freaks!  The Bible makes it clear that because of our indwelling sin nature, we all wrestle with temptation.  No temptation has seized us except what is common to all men. 

Most of us have heard sermons preached on this verse. We tend to confine our focus to the last portion of the text.  We know God will provide a way for us to stand and have victory over our temptations.  But the first thing we need to understand—if we are ever going to find the strength to resist temptation—is the commonness of it.

Bryan Chapell writes, “The knowledge that others struggle as we do rescues us from the weakening despair of thinking that we are unique and strange when we feel tempted.”  In other words, you should no longer feel like a freak because of the temptations you are struggling with.  You are not alone! 

Temptation is a common life experience for everyone.  And a temptation is not a sin.  Yielding to it is sin, not the presence of it.  Remember, even Jesus Himself was tempted by the devil: “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1). Yet we know there was no sin in His perfect life. Hebrews 4:15 confirms that Jesus was “tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin.”

When we understand that others did and do struggle against the same temptations and trials we encounter, we feel less isolated and freakish.  Knowing we are all confronting temptation in one form or another is a source of strength in the battle.  If we feel we are abnormal and alone, we may easily give up and give in to the temptations that plague us.  And this is the place of abject surrender to which Satan wants to drive all of us. 

The Bible makes it clear we are not alone in our fight against temptation, and the Gospel gives us the power to resist.  And when we fail to resist, the Gospel gives us the grace to come running to the throne of grace, where we find unending forgiveness and unconditional love, which empowers us to go further in and further up into our salvation.  The less freakish we feel about our individual temptations the more we will desire to be faithful, knowing we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who struggled mightily, just as we do.

Most of us can repeat 1 John 1:9 from memory: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” But have you looked at that verse in context lately? See how the Holy Spirit bookended that marvelous promise of God’s grace and forgiveness! I’m going to highlight verses 8 and 10 of 1 John to emphasize Scripture’s matter-of-fact appraisal of our fallen nature:

(8) If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (10) If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Do you see that?  Scripture is, in essence, telling us: “Don’t even think about trying to pass yourself off as someone who wins all your battles against temptation.  If you do, you’re a liar.  Worse still, you’re calling God a liar!”

Remember, there was only One who walked this earth and never once surrendered to temptation! Because of His victory, we can look forward to the day we too shall live in victory, a day when there will be no more temptation . . . no more tears . . . no more cries of “O wretched man that I am!” (Romans 7:24).

Until that glorious day, let’s fight in the strength of the Lord, knowing we are all in the battle together.  Know that He is there to battle with you!  “Because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted (Hebrews 2:18).

Therefore, let us “Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (Hebrews 3:13). We’re all in the same leaky, sinful boat together. So let’s pray without ceasing and paddle like crazy!

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