Category Archives: General

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure . . . (Philippians 2:14)

From the time you get up until the time you return to your bed, you are engaging in conversation with yourself. Have you ever paused to listen to the kind of conversations you are having? It will either be marked by murmuring against God or magnifying His blessings. The choice is always yours. You have the power deep within you to grow better or bitter, regardless of the circumstances you are facing.

Do you live a life of complaining or blessing? To be sure, it is a mixture for all of us, but what is your primary conversation with yourself? It is all too easy for us to start moaning and groaning when life is not going according to our plan. Like the children of Israel in the wilderness, we whine, grumble, and complain against God when things are not going our way. You see, the sin nature that lies within causes us to make life all about ourselves. When we shrink the size of our lives down to the size of our wants, desires, goals, and feelings — and when our expectations are not met — our internal talk frequently makes it clear that we are not happy with God.

It’s important to keep in mind that the Bible does not minimize the seriousness of murmuring against God. In Deuteronomy, Moses recounted how God’s people continuously murmured against God after having been released from 400 years of bondage in Egypt. What ruled their heart – murmuring – shaped their lives. They continued rebelling against God all the way into the Promised Land.

What is the confession of your life today? Murmuring or magnifying? When we forget God’s goodness and grace in our lives, we murmur. But when we remember just how good and gracious God has been, is now, and will be forevermore, we will magnify His glory in all we think, do, and say.

Christian, you can be assured that God’s plan for your life is always better than yours! The more you magnify God’s blessings in your life, the less you will murmur against Him. Let that truth set you free to replace murmuring with magnifying on those inevitable occasions life is not working out the way you want it to.

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

“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.” (Ezekiel 22:30)

God is always looking for those who will stand in the gap for others, just as He did in the days of the prophet Ezekiel. These people are known as intercessors; I like to call them, “gappers” for God’s glory. Does this describe you today?

I use the term gapper to refer to those times when we know someone is experiencing a gap in their relationship with God for any reason, and we exercise the awesome privilege of praying that God will bridge that gap. Whether it is a physical gap (some particular need) or a spiritual gap (some particular sin), we are called by God to intercede on behalf of that person and cry out to God to bridge that gap for His glory and that person’s ultimate good.

If it is a privilege to pray — and it is — how much greater a privilege it is to be praying for others! When we are praying for others, we focus less on ourselves and more on the Savior, and that is always a good thing for the people of God to do. When we pray for others, our relationship with God is strengthened as well as our relationships with those for whom we are praying.

Interceding for others is an unselfish expression of the love of God in Christ Jesus. We know that Jesus lives to intercede for those who come to God through Him (Hebrews 7:25); when we intercede on behalf of others, we are becoming more like the Savior. It’s one of those “win-win” situations in our walk with Jesus. Scripture tells us to “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). One of the best ways to bear someone’s burden is to lift them to the throne of grace in prayer.

One final thought to encourage you to act as a gapper: When you are praying for others, you are participating in God’s Kingdom work. Because the Gospel meets both spiritual and physical needs, our prayers for others should also cover both spiritual and physical needs.

If you have not been consistently praying for others in your life, why not begin today? They will be blessed and so will you. Be a gapper for God’s glory!

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

You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. (1 Peter 2:9 NLT)

The devil is constantly trying to convince us to find our identity in anything smaller than Jesus. He would have us find our identity in our work, in our relationships, in our gifts, talents, and abilities. Perhaps you are finding your identity in your achievements and accomplishments or on how many people press “like” on your Facebook profile picture. This is what I call “identity theft.” When we place our value in anything smaller than Jesus, we are left weak, weary, and wanting. We have allowed our sinful flesh to steal our true identity from us.

In our verse for today, Peter reminds us that we are called to live in the reality of our royal identity as children of the Most High God. When we are in Christ, we have an identity that nothing in this world can tarnish or take away. The apostle Paul assured us that “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT). This God-breathed truth is intended to strengthen us to rise above looking to the culture around us for our identity and to find it only in Christ.

We are in this world, but not of this world. We are pilgrims passing through this world on our way to glory. Along the way, we are to keep our eyes fixed on the One who laid His life down so that we can live in relationship with Him forever.

Where have you been looking to find your identity lately? If it is in anything smaller than Jesus, it will never satisfy. Silence the lies of Satan in your life! Your value is in Christ. Your self-worth is in Christ. Your meaning, significance, and purpose in life are in Christ alone. When you rest in and respond to this truth, you will no longer be subject to the “identity theft” that threatens to disturb your peace and rob your joy.

Remember, you are who Jesus says you are. Even in your mess, you are His masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10). You are His child, even when you are not acting like it. You were created to be exactly what Jesus says you are, nothing more and nothing less.

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

Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. ( John 6:15)

In the story commonly referred to as “The Feeding of the 5,000,” Jesus actually fed closer to 15,000 or 20,000 people, who then were ready to make Him their king. Why did they want to do that? Because Jesus had just met their physical need for food. Jesus had taken a little boy’s lunch and fed the huge crowd that had come to hear him preach. The people had been looking for a king to meet their physical needs, and they believed they had found Him. But Jesus would have nothing to do with their narrow-sightedness and withdrew from the people. When the crowd finally tracked Him down, Jesus admonished them:

“You are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” (John 6:26-27)

You see, the physical blessing of food that Jesus provided was intended to point to the deeper need of every human heart: forgiveness. The deepest need of the people then and of people today is the spiritual provision Jesus provides in order for us to rise above sin, Satan, and death. Jesus was most definitely the promised King, but He was not the king the people wanted. They wanted a king to meet their physical needs, who would remove the yoke of Roman oppression and reestablish the throne of David in Jerusalem. To be sure, when Jesus returns, all of this will come together. But Jesus did not come the first time to do those things; He said very clearly that “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10 ESV). He had come to deal with what separated us from God, which is our sin.

What kind of king have you been looking for lately? Are you expecting Jesus to meet your earthly kingdom expectations? There are times when we think and act very much like those who were miraculously fed by the five loaves and two fish; we feel like Jesus is not the king we want, but we must rest in the truth that He is always the King we need. When Jesus is not meeting our earthly expectations, it is because He is preparing to exceed them. Let that truth set you free to receive Jesus for the King He truly is, the One who has promised to meet all your needs in His glorious riches (Philippians 4:19).

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

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8)

By sinful nature, we all point fingers of blame at others. That started all the way back in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned against God. Eve blamed the serpent, Adam blamed Eve and God, and we have all been blaming ever since! In fact, we have become quite proficient at pointing fingers of blame at others.

The events in the Garden make it clear what the problem is. The sinful slime of the serpent makes us all self-righteous. We do not naturally look within ourselves to identify the cause of our sin; no, we look outside ourselves to blame others and make excuses for our behavior. We all have sinful inner attorneys who are all too willing to rise to our defense and begin pointing fingers at everyone except ourselves. Even when our consciences begin to convict us of our wrongdoing through the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit, we stubbornly rationalize that the problem is outside of us, not within us.

But this is not for you! When we start pointing fingers at others, we must remember that most of the time, those fingers are actually pointing back at us. We must accept the truth that we are sinners in need of a Savior; we needed Him when we came to faith, and we need him every moment since then! We need the transforming power of God’s grace applied to our lives every day in order to come to terms with the fact that we always fall short of God’s goal for our lives. When we do fall, we accept the truth that we are sinful, we repent of our sin, and respond to God’s forgiveness.

Only God’s grace can cause us to stop pointing fingers. Only God’s grace can cause us to forsake our sinful self-righteousness and rest in the righteousness of the One who came to set us free. Only God’s grace can cause us to see the plank in our own eye instead of searching intently for the speck in the eyes of others.

Have you received this grace today? Are you resting in the perfect performance of Christ in your life for all those times you perform imperfectly? Remember, there is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus (Romans 8:1).

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

No one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:11)

I often speak with people who have formed their own opinions of who Jesus is. Some say He was a wonderful teacher. Yes, Jesus is a wonderful teacher. In fact, Jesus is the greatest teacher who ever lived. But Jesus is so much more. Others say Jesus was a tremendous example of right living. Again, yes, Jesus is a tremendous example of right living. In fact, Jesus lived more righteously than anyone who ever lived. But Jesus is so much more. Still others say Jesus was a powerful prophet, mighty in word and deed. Jesus surely is a powerful prophet, mighty in word and deed. In fact, Jesus is the most powerful prophet the world has ever seen. But Jesus is so much more!

The apostle Paul hit the proverbial nail right on the head when he said that Jesus is our foundation. Because Jesus is God incarnate, “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), He is the foundation upon which our lives are to be built. As the old hymn tells us, “On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.”

What have you been building your life on lately? Have you been building on sand or the Rock? Have you been following the wisdom of the world or the wisdom of the Word of God? Remember, the best confession of our lives is to be able to say with David, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer . . .  my shield . . .  my stronghold, my refuge” (2 Samuel 22:2-3).

Is this the confession of your life? It is if you are living according to God’s plan and purpose for your life in His strength and for His glory. The foundation is the most fundamental part of a building; if the foundation is good, the building will stand the test of time. When you build your life upon the firm, unshakable foundation of Jesus, you will be able to weather any storm and survive all the waves of challenge that wash over you. You have His Word on it!

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

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)

A perfectionist is someone who believes that a task must be done in a flawless manner. Setting this unrealistically high standard inevitably sets one up for frustration and failure. The constant pressure to be perfect is exhausting and leads to burnout.

The problem with perfectionism should be obvious: We are not perfect, so nothing we do on this side of the grave will ever be perfect. To wit, perfectionism paralyzes our potential. It leads to harsh self-criticism, which in turn leads to low self-esteem. Procrastination sets in; we hesitate and delay because we know that won’t get things done perfectly, and our potential for serving our Lord is paralyzed.

But this is not for you! Let me make one thing clear: perfectionism is not the same thing as pursuing excellence. The pursuit of excellence is doing the very best we can with the resources God has given us to do it with. Our time, talents, and treasure are offered up to God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, but we leave the results up to Him.

Here is where Satan loves to muddy the waters. He hisses at us urgently, “Do more! Try harder! Be perfect!” Excellence is not enough if perfection is our goal. We misapply Jesus’ words, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48), and our forward progress is paralyzed. The truth is that Jesus was not talking about our service to God, but our salvation before God; only Jesus could satisfy God’s demand for perfection through His perfect life, death, and resurrection.

I have learned over the years that the best way to keep from sliding into perfectionism is to continue reading through the stories of the heroes of the Bible. Other than Jesus, every one of them was stained with sin and did everything imperfectly. They all demonstrated their “clay feet.” Abraham tried to short-circuit God’s promise and slept with Hagar, his wife’s servant. Moses murdered an Egyptian taskmaster. Moses’ brother Aaron fashioned a golden calf after the exodus out of Egypt. Rahab was a prostitute. David committed adultery and murder. Martha was distracted and irritable in her hospitality. Peter denied Jesus three times. Paul persecuted the church. Imperfect people always produce imperfect results.

Because God knows our perfectionistic tendencies and temptations, His Story recounts people just like you and me, shining the light of truth on all their blemishes and warts for all the world to see. No matter how hard we try, perfection is beyond our reach until we reach the other side. For now, we must simply be committed to doing the best we can for God’s glory and the good of others; if we do that, our potential will not be paralyzed by our perfectionism.

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

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:17)

If our faith is real, it will be evident for all the world to see. Now, I am not saying we will live perfect lives; far from it! But the way we live is on display for all the world to see; therefore our faith must be a practical faith. Notice the “lived-out faith” in the verbs linked to these biblical characters in the “Hall of Fame of Faith” section in the book of Hebrews:

• By faith Abel brought . . .
• By faith Noah built . . .
• By faith Abraham went and offered . . .
• By faith Isaac blessed . . .
• By faith Joseph gave instructions . . .
• By faith Moses chose to be mistreated along with the people of God . . .
• By faith the people passed through the Red Sea . . .
• By faith the prostitute Rahab welcomed . . .

In all these lives and so many more that are chronicled throughout the pages of Scripture, we see how actions speak louder than words. It has been well said that, “What you do speaks so loudly that I can’t hear what you say.” To be sure, we are to walk by faith and not by sight, but we can also be sure that the watching world will judge us by what they see us do. If our faith is a true faith, it will be lived out, alive and well, even though it will always be lived out imperfectly.

Faith in Christ is belief in Christ and His atoning death on our behalf, but it does not stop there! Belief must be evidenced by behavior, and what we believe will determine how we behave. We are saved to serve our Lord for His glory and the good of others.

So . . . what verbs are putting on display to express the faith you have in Jesus? Are your actions speaking louder than your words? Far too many believers have reduced their faith to what they don’t do. “I don’t do this and I don’t do that. Some wag has expressed it as, “I don’t drink or smoke or chew, and I don’t go with girls who do.”

The real question that each of us must ask and answer is, What am I doing for the glory of Jesus?  True faith is faith that is acted upon and used by God to expand the cause of His Kingdom in this world – on earth as it is in heaven.

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

Elijah said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” (1 Kings 19:10)

From the mountain peak to the deep valley below, we all experience what the prophet Elijah experienced from time to time. It’s called burnout. I know some Christians are not willing to admit it, because they have been taught to “Keep a stiff upper lip” and “Never let anyone see you sweat.” But clinging to such platitudes is as sad as it is silly. Because we have not yet been perfected — and we won’t be until we are received into glory — we will all go through “Broom Tree Experiences” from time to time. We will . . .

Become exhausted

Feel alone

Get depressed

Believe that we’re ready to give up

God had just used the prophet Elijah to defend His glory by defeating 450 prophets of Baal. But after taking part in one of the greatest victories in all of the Bible, Elijah came to the end of his proverbial rope because the pagan queen Jezebel sent word that she was going to have Elijah killed within 24 hours. Elijah fell into a false sense of failure and wanted to simply end it all and make the pain go away, “He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die” (1 Kings 19:4).

God was having none of that! God met Elijah in his place of deep need and miraculously provided for his needs. Elijah needed refreshment and restoration, and God provided food — both physical and spiritual. As he slept under the broom tree, an angel of the Lord appeared and said, “Arise and eat!”  

We have all had broom tree experiences. We have given our all in the service of God, and our “all” just didn’t seem like enough. We felt drained and depressed, and we lapsed into despair. Then God showed up! And He keeps on showing up every time we go through these seasons of struggle. When you find yourself sitting under the broom tree for whatever reason, remember that the Lord is with you, He is for you, and He is in you. And He is speaking the same words to you today that He spoke to Elijah: “Arise and eat!”  

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

Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. (Psalm 90:1)

Regardless of where we live, whether in a mansion on a mountain or in a tent in the wilderness, God is to be our divine dwelling place. This biblical concept of God as our dwelling place expresses the dependability, reliability, stability, and security we have when we are resting in the Creator of the universe.

Nobody understood this better than Moses, who was called by God to deliver His people out of bondage in Egypt and who led the people of Israel in the desert for forty years with no permanent place to live. Today’s passage of Scripture, Psalm 90:1, is taken from the only psalm that is attributed to Moses, who knew well what it meant to have God as his dwelling place.

Let’s look at how other psalmists expressed this truth:

You hide them in the secret place of Your presence. (Psalm 31:20)

You are my hiding place. (Psalm 32:7)

God is our refuge and strength. (Psalm 46:1)

You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. (Psalm 71:3)

I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” (Psalm 91:2)

Here is something else to consider about having God as your divine dwelling place: You will never be evicted. You have unbroken fellowship and friendship with Him. When Jesus died on the cross for your sins, it was because He wanted to be in an intimate and loving relationship with you for all of eternity. John’s gospel tells us that Jesus came to “tabernacle” with us — that is, to make His dwelling among us (John 1:14). When you are experiencing those times when God seems distant, remember that it was you who moved, not Him. Jesus has promised to never leave nor forsake you, no matter what you do. (If you have trusted in Jesus Christ for your salvation and have even the slightest doubt about the sentence you just read, stop reading this blog and open your Bible to read Hebrews 13:5, Romans 8:38-39, and John 10: 27-30.) The life, death, and resurrection of our Lord has given us access to Him, moment by moment, in order to enjoy fullness of joy in His presence.

I’d like to close today’s message with one of the most encouraging verses in all of sacred Scripture, one that should be written on your heart and emblazoned on your mind:

Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. (Revelation 21:3)

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