Grace for the Race

The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.  (Psalm 145:9)

Our God is in the blessing business and I can assure you He wants to do more than bless your food. Yet, for far too many brothers and sisters in our family of faith, that is as far as they go when it comes to seeking the blessings of God. Because we serve a BIG GOD, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, we ought to be looking to Him each day for BIG BLESSINGS.

You see, God wants us to come to Him with open minds, open hearts, and open hands, ready to receive all that He has in store for us. God wants us to trust more, seek more, believe more, wait more, expect more, pray more, and depend more. God wants us to pour out our lives in service to Him for His glory and the good of all others. As we engage in advancing the cause of His BIG Kingdom rather than our own little kingdom, God will bless our efforts beyond our wildest imaginations.

Now, perhaps you are facing a challenge that seems impossible to overcome. It will serve you well to remember, with God nothing is impossible. Hudson Taylor, a missionary from the 1800’s said this about God doing the impossible in our lives:

“There are three stages to every great work of God; first it is impossible,                        then it is difficult, then it is done.”

Remember, even when circumstances argue against all hope, we are still to have hope. Because Jesus is our Living Hope, we have a hope that nothing in this world can affect.

So, what would you like God to bless in your life right now? Come into His Presence and share what is on your heart and prepare to be “Blessed by the Best” because He who began a good work in you has promised to complete it and there is no greater blessing than that.

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

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  (Matthew 6:26)

In this portion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is teaching about worry. The reason He makes it clear why we are not to worry is the fact that He has promised to meet our every need. Now don’t confuse the word worry with concern. To be concerned is to be moved to action through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Worry, on the other hand, keeps you from moving at all. It simply paralyzes any meaningful forward progress.

Jesus is pointing to the birds and their lack of any worry whatsoever for their daily needs to be met. The birds neither sow, reap, or store away in barns, yet their heavenly Father feeds them and meets their every need. And because we are much more valuable than the birds as image-bearers of the Most-High God, worry simply makes no sense at all. Here is something to think about from an anonymous writer:

“Said the robin to the sparrow,

‘I should really like to know,

Why these anxious human beings

Rush about and worry so.’

Said the sparrow to the robin,

‘Friend, I think that it must be,

That they have no heavenly Father

Such as cares for you and me.’”

Only by pressing into the presence of our Lord Jesus each day, will our lives begin to reflect the attitude of the birds. Worry will be as far as the east is from the west as we look to Jesus knowing that He has promised to meet our ever need and He has always made good on every one of His promises. You have His Word on it! Oh, let the next bird you see be a reminder that God cares for you completely and you will never be left with any unmet need. You have His Word on it.

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

Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13)

The Bible tells us that we play a vital role in deepening our faith. I call it fitness for your faith, or “Faith That Is Fit!” Did you ever wonder why the Word of God contains so many athletic metaphors for growing and maturing in our faith? It’s because our faith is like a muscle, the more we use it the stronger it becomes. And the opposite is also true – the less you use it the weaker it becomes.  

D. L. Moody of the Moody Bible Institute shared profound insight into this truth – “I prayed for faith, and thought that some day faith would come down and strike me like lightning. But faith did not seem to come. One day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans, ‘Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.’ I had closed my Bible and prayed for faith. I now opened my Bible and began to study, and faith has been growing ever since.” Spending time in God’s Word was the key that unlocked the door to Moody’s ever increasing “faith fitness.”

Every time we read a passage of Scripture, we gain greater insight into both the Word of God and the God of the Word. As we read the Word, the Word reads us. This process strengthens our resolve to put into practice what we are learning. Remember, faith without works is dead. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). Fitness for your faith is the desire to do what Jesus wants us to do, when He wants us to do it, and how He wants us to do it. And when we mess things up, we need to remember, we are secure in our relationship with Jesus not because of our faithfulness to Him, but His faithfulness to us.

When the apostle Paul tells us to “work out your salvation” he is not telling us our salvation is in jeopardy. Once saved, always saved. Paul is encouraging us to actively pursue . . . work out . . . our obedience by going to the supernatural source of our salvation and our sanctification – the Word of God. Daily doses will give you a “Faith That Is Fit!” You have His Word on it!

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

You also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.  (Ephesians 1:13-14)

Perhaps you have heard the phrase, “The only things in this life that you can count on is death and taxes.” Inasmuch as history seems to suggest Benjamin Franklin is not the first to come up with this phrase, below is quoted from his letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy in 1789, considered by many as his last great quote:

Our new Constitution is now established, everything seems to promise it will be durable; but, in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.

This fatalistic proverb draws on the certain and inevitability of death in this life as the only way to avoid the burden of paying taxes. Inasmuch as I agree about the certainty of death and taxes (unless you live off the grid), there is much more we can be certain about in this life and we need look no further than today’s passage of Scripture. Paul is telling the Ephesians that the Holy Spirit is God’s “seal” of approval, that we in fact, by grace through faith, are members of the family of faith. Believing in Christ means we belong to Christ. The Holy Spirit Jesus promised to believers is like a down payment, a deposit if you will, guaranteeing our inheritance that nothing in both life and death can take away from us.

I like to say it this way – God has “SEALED THE DEAL” by way of His gift of the Holy Spirit. We have the first fruits of a promised future beyond this life that no circumstance can disrupt or dislodge us from. And it’s important to make sure we understand that God’s Revelation contains no fine print that God will spring on us when we come to the end of this life. We can rest assured that the good work God began in us He will bring to completion. No weapon formed including our own sinful rebellion can cause our God to “revoke the warranty” of His Revelation.

So, thinking about your life right now as this finds you, is it not a great encouragement to know that you have been set apart for all eternity and the deal of your divine destiny has been sealed by His Holy Spirit? May our hearts be griped by God’s amazing grace. Because Jesus has “SEALED THE DEAL” of our divine destiny by the shedding of His precious blood, may the lives we live be always and only to the praise of His glory!

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

Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, went around doing good. (Acts 10:38)

To be a disciple of Christ is to know Him, love Him, serve Him, submit and surrender to Him personally. But with that being said, all of this is to be lived out publicly, not privately. We are never to say, “It’s Jesus and ME . . . not Jesus and WE!”

It is important to remember that inasmuch as we are saved individually, we are saved to community. Not only that, the community we are saved to is a community that has been called into a cosmic mission to go into all the world and make disciples of every nation. Salvation and being a disciple of Christ is indeed personal but it is not a private affair. When Jesus shows up on the beach after His resurrection and reinstates Peter for ministry, notice the language Jesus uses.

“Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” (John 21:15)

Now Jesus goes on to ask Peter this question a total of three times. After Peter responds in the affirmative each time, Jesus tells Him to make His love for Him known. The love that Peter had for Jesus that started out personally, was never to be lived out privately. And the same is true for every disciple of Jesus. As the Reformers would say, “We are saved by faith alone, but not a faith that is alone.” When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, He made it clear that loving God was at the top of the list. But He did not stop there. He went on to share the second – to love our neighbor – and we simply cannot live out what Jesus was talking about from a distance.

So, in looking at how you are currently living out your faith today, would it best be described as, “Jesus and ME” or “Jesus and WE?” Now I know the world regards religion as a “private matter” and want Christian’s to keep it that way. But this is not what Jesus had in mind when He said, “Follow me!” Jesus had an intensely personal and private connection with His Father in heaven as we see in the many instances of time alone in prayer. But He lived it out publicly for the glory of God and the good of the people. He went around doing good. May this be the confession of our lives. 

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

God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”  (Genesis 1:28)

If you found out today that a long-lost relative had passed away and left you 10 million dollars, would you be at work tomorrow? For most people, including Christians, the answer is a resounding ‘NO!’ Why? Because these people see work as only a “means to an end” and that end is the end of each week when they can “Thank God It’s Friday.” As the song goes, “Everybody’s working for the weekend” including most Christians.

Now, this was not always the case. The early Christians saw their work as an act of worship to God. It didn’t matter what the work was, they knew if they were doing it to the best of their God-given ability for the glory of God and the good of others, their work was worship. Of course, they understood that work was not a result of the fall into sin in the Garden of Eden. They knew work was a gift from God given to Adam and Eve in the beginning. It was the primary way they, as image-bearers of God, were to bear His image in this world. In her book, Total Truth, Nancy Pearcy puts it this way:

In Genesis, God gives what we might call the first job description: “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.” The first phrase, “be fruitful and multiply” means to develop the social world: build families, churches, schools, cities, governments, laws. The second phrase, “subdue the earth,” means to harness the natural world: plant crops, build bridges, design computers, compose music. This passage is sometimes called the Cultural Mandate because it tells us that our original purpose was to create cultures, build civilizations – nothing less.

Remember, our God is a working God, who created everything, and continues working by sustaining everything. As His image-bearers, we are called to live out the Cultural Mandate in every possible sphere of life. Every kind of job matters to God when we are doing it to expand the cause of His kingdom. Cleaning a house, cultivating a garden, practicing law, digging a ditch, driving an Uber, building a home, baking bread, waiting on tables, stocking store shelves, and on and on. The problem today is the church has lost sight of this biblical truth and has bought in to the sacred/secular split. All the jobs I mentioned are put in the category of “secular” while only those jobs inside the church or para-church organizations are “sacred” and truly doing the work of God. NOT TRUE!

Your work matters to God, no matter what that work is . . . when you are doing it for His glory and to the best of your ability. If we understand the Cultural Mandate rightly, we will see that the fundamental hallmark of authentic Christianity is to do a job, any job, for the glory of God and the expansion of His kingdom. That is when our “Work is Worship.” Remember Jesus came into this world and spent much of His life as a carpenter and Paul was a tentmaker. Only when we understand our work . . . ALL WORK . . . as worship will we begin to influence and impact our culture for the glory of God and the expansion of His Kingdom as we bear His image to everyone who sees our witness in our work. Now how do you see your work?

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

Today is the 4^th of July, a time for family, friends, food, and fireworks. But it is a time for so much more for the Christian. The 4^th of July is a day to reflect on and remember we are a nation that was founded, rooted, and established on Judeo-Christian principles, so say our founding fathers. 

Do not let anyone claim tribute of American patriotism if they even attempt to remove religion from politics.  George Washington

It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religion but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Patrick Henry

The 1^st Amendment has created a wall of separation between church and state, but that wall is a one directional wall, it keeps the government from running the church, but it makes sure that Christian principles will always stay in government.  Thomas Jefferson

Regardless of what we hear our politicians saying today supported by the liberal media or even the history revisionists, our great nation was founded on Christian principles and the freedom not to worship the god we want, but rather, the God who is, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 

Our founding fathers not only pledged allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, they pledged allegiance to their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They echoed the inspired and infallible words of the apostle Paul:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave himself for me . . . Galatians 2:20

Their ultimate allegiance was to the Almighty. They were devoted to Him. They were dedicated to Him.  They were committed to Him. Their entire existence was rooted in their right relationship with their Redeemer. And that is to be the confession of the lives of all those Christians who pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and every other Christian around the world regardless of what flag they pledge allegiance to. 

On the day that we in the United States of America commemorate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, let us meditate on our Declaration of Dependence upon our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His sovereign rule in our lives. Jesus is to be our first priority in both life and death. He is to be our safety in the storm. He is to be our peace in times of trouble. He is to be our portion in times of need. He is to be our All in all.     

There is no greater declaration for the Christian to make and honor than the one made to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. When we declare to be His we declare that we are no longer our own. We have been bought at a price no man can measure. The very Son of God was crucified and nailed to a wooden cross, hung between two thieves to pay our penalty for every one of our sins, past, present, and to come. We are His and no other and He will tolerate no rival. 

So, today as you enjoy your 4^th of July celebration with family and friends, pause to remember to give thanks to the One who purchased your independence from the kingdom of the prince of this world. He has brought you out of darkness and into His marvelous light to remain with Him forever and ever, world without end.    

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

Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. (Mark 8:25)

I find in this story of the blind man in Bethsaida healed by Jesus forcing me to ask a question, “Why does Jesus heal the man in a two-step process?” In the Gospel accounts we have seen Jesus heal with just a word, heal from a distance, and heal instantly. Surely, this is something to think about, wouldn’t you agree? Why the protracted healing of this man, we do not know because we are not told, but we know that this way of healing was both intentional and purposeful. Was Jesus teaching a deeper lesson on healing either physically or spiritually, and that in our lives this can and often does, take time? We simply do not know.  

Now, one thing we can be assured of through revelation is Jesus did not need to heal this man with a two-step process. And we can be assured the first part of the healing Jesus administered did not fall short of the intended goal of a total restoration of the man’s sight. So, again, why the two-step process in healing this blind man when all Jesus needed to do was simply speak sight back into this man? Well, I think this is just another wonderful example of the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. This is simply what happened. This is another historical account in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we read biblical narratives like this, we are to be strengthened in our faith that what we are reading are faithfully true historical accounts of what happened. For those skeptics who write the Bible off as mere myth, these kinds of stories remove any possibility of mythology.

In closing, let me give you something else to think about. When Jesus asked the man what he saw after his first stage of healing and the man responded, “I see people; they look like trees walking around” (Mark 8:24), perhaps Jesus wants us to understand that until we are completely healed of our spiritual blindness, which will not happen on this side of the grave, none of us can see with absolute perfect clarity. As I have said often from the pulpit, “No one speaks from Sinai. We all have some of our theology wrong and we will find out this biblical truth only when we cross the Jordan.” Until then, we need to remember we are all afflicted with spiritual nearsightedness, seeing people like trees walking around, and that includes us. Keeping this in view we are more likely to be kind, compassionate, and loving to those who just might not see things just like we see them, and that my friend, is something to think about.

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

Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) (Mark 9:5-6)

We find today’s Word in the account of the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus, when he took Peter, James, and John (His inner circle), up on a mountain. While there, Jesus is transfigured as His personal appearance was instantly changed into a heavenly and glorified form, giving Peter, James, John, and us, a glimpse of His divine glory and nature. Then all of a sudden, appearing with transfigured Jesus is Moses and Elijah. Why?

In order to begin to plumb the depths of this profound moment in the life of Jesus, we need to understand a little something about both of these great saints of God. Moses represents the Law and Elijah represents the Prophets. Now, when we read they are “talking with Jesus,” we are to understand this majestic moment on that mountain as a picture of the greater Moses and Elijah in Jesus, who fulfills both the Old Testament Law and the prophetic promises.

Peter is overwhelmed by this experience and once again, speaks before thinking, this time out of fear, as he suggests building three shelters (or booths used for the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles), one for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. The implication in the mind of Peter is that he sees all three on the same level and desires to prolong the experience. But then a voice comes from heaven to set things straight:

Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” (Mark 9:7)

Any confusion in comparing these three figures was suddenly corrected by God the Father from heaven. Both the Law and the Prophets were to be understood as pointing to Jesus and finding their fulfillment in Him. And we know that the three disciples eventually understood the truth of the transfiguration, that Jesus is the One and Only, as we read in what Peter wrote:

We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. (2 Peter 1:16-18).

The Transfiguration of Jesus demonstrated both audibly and visibly that Jesus is the Son of God. And as the Son of God, He is the fulfillment of both the Law and the Prophets. If we desire to live a life of meaning, significance, and purpose, we must listen to Jesus. Is this the confession of your life? Are you listening to the Voice of Truth . . . the One and Only?

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

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

Tough times and trials have been promised to the disciple of Christ. So too, the presence of Christ during those tough times and trials. Today’s word of encouragement comes under the heading of “resilience” – the ability to adapt to the adversities of life and to keep moving forward in faith. The Bible is full of examples of resilience in action like Job in the Old Testament and Paul in the New Testament, and many admonitions to keep pressing on even when we find ourselves in the pressure cooker of challenge. Here are a few:

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, the person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12)

Because the believer is united to Christ, resilience is the only right response to the waves of challenge in life. The same power that raised Jesus from death to life, is the same power that is at work inside every child of God. Resurrection power is not the power to “return” to something . . . bouncing back. Rather, it is the power to breakthrough to a better and brighter future. Because we are new creations in Christ, there is nothing to bounce back to. Everything is in front of us. To be sure, we are to treat the past as a school, and take the lessons from it. But bouncing back has a tendency to keep us living in the past rather than learning from the past.

So, the next time the waves of challenge begin to wash over you and you are facing the fiery furnace of affliction, or simply dealing with the increasing pace of change, know that God has promised to bring you through it all and cause you to bounce forward not back. Remember, because the best is always yet to come, we are to be bounding forward not backward, knowing God is bringing us to the end of ourselves and that only happens while we are moving forward in faith. Let these words of Paul encourage you to keep bouncing forward regardless of the circumstances you are facing:

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but no in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

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