Grace for the Race

There is a statement I often heard and used throughout my years in the field of personal development: You miss 100% of the targets you don’t shoot at! In other words, forward progress in life is marked by having a target to aim at and actually pulling the trigger and going after that goal.

Once that truth is firmly established, then the question to ask ourselves is: What target have I been aiming at lately? If Jesus is not the target—the center of our entire life—then we simply are not aiming at the right target.

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

(Romans 11:36)

The Bible makes it clear that everything we have is a gift of God; everything has come to us from Him and through Him. Because of this truth, there is nothing in our lives that does not belong to—and thus come under the authority of—the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about it this way:

• In our single walk Jesus is the target
• In our married life Jesus is the target
• In our parenting Jesus is the target
• In our professions Jesus is the target
• In our possessions Jesus is the target
• In our health Jesus is the target
• In our recreation Jesus is the target
• In our hobbies Jesus is the target

I could go on and on with this list. In everything Jesus is the target, because everything we have today has been given to us by Jesus and is to be stewarded for His glory.

Make no mistake, autonomous living (living without Christ as the target of life), is absolutely antithetical to the Christian life. We have been wired for intimacy, fellowship, and community with our Creator, and we have been given the amazing privilege of being caretakers of everything God created.

Yet the major problem we face as children of Adam is that, by nature, we tend to deify the creation and deny our Creator. We make everything other than Jesus the target of our lives and we move Him to the periphery, seeking to glorify ourselves rather than our Savior. We end up living a Christless Christianity, with the “stuff” of life serving as our functional savior.

The key to keeping this from happening in our lives is by keeping Jesus as the target we aim at in all things. With Jesus at the very center of our lives and hopes, we rise above the mediocrity of living a life marked by self-fulfillment and self-centeredness. Shooting for this Timeless Target in every area of life keeps us busy advancing the cause of the Kingdom of Christ, rather than engaging in the trivial pursuit our own little kingdom. And this is the only place where we find the purpose, meaning, and significance that makes life worth living.

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

Because we are made by God for God, we have a God-sized hole in our soul that can only be filled by God. No matter how hard we try to fill the hole in our soul with everything other than God Himself, nothing else will do the trick. Some try to fill it with their careers, finding their identity in what they do for a living. Others try to fill it with materialism, finding their meaning in the stuff they have accumulated. Still others try to fill it with relationships, finding their fulfillment in family, friendships, or romance. And, of course, there are those who try to fill it with everything from sex to alcohol to drugs.

If you attend Cross Community Church, you’ve probably heard me quote Augustine: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” There is nothing—absolutely nothing smaller than Jesus—that can fill the longings of the soul.

What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?

(Mark 8:36)

We spend far too much time trying to satisfy our natural appetites. And, all too often, we who have trusted in the name of Christ for our salvation miss this vitally important truth: Jesus did not come to earth and come into our lives to satisfy the appetites we already have; He came to transform our appetites so that we would desire things we had never dreamed of! Jesus did not come to fit into our agenda and help us accomplish our goals. He came to give us a whole new agenda and begin working toward the accomplishment of His goals for our lives.

What have you been working toward satisfying lately? Your natural appetites? Or the new ones Jesus came to give you?

When Adam and Eve turned away from God in the Garden of Eden, they denied their very humanity. They were not designed to seek their own truth, their own desires, or their own goals. They were designed to listen to the truth of God, which would lead them to the pursuit of desires God gave them to accomplish His goals for their lives. Adam and Eve were hardwired for intimacy, fellowship, and communion with God, which would forever fill the God-ordained hole in their souls.

Sin changed all that. Now our first parents were running away from God, rather than toward Him. They tried to fill their souls with everything other than God. But God stepped in and gave them—and us—a promise that a Savior would come, One who will fill the hole in our soul once and for all.

So . . . is it well with the hole in your soul? What have you been trying to fill it with lately? One of the quickest ways to check and see what you have been pouring into your soul lately is to measure the amount of time you spend watching television or surfing the Internet, compared to the time you spend in God’s Word. It’s hard to fill the God-shaped hole in your soul when you have one foot in the world and one pinkie toe in the Word!

Your prayer life is another way to measure how well you have been filling your soul lately. If the bulk of your prayer time is spent praying over your food, you are probably close to running on empty . . . if you haven’t already run out of spiritual “gas.” Corporate worship is still another measure. It has been well said that a week without corporate worship makes one weak!

God has given us a variety of ways to keep the hole in our souls filled on a daily basis. But just like the modern gas station, no one comes running out of the gas station to wash your windows, check your oil, and pump your gas. You have to do it yourself! God has given you the grace to grow, but that grace must be appropriated along the way.

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

More than at any previous time in history, we live in a disposable culture. We are surrounded by stuff that we use one day (or for a short period of time) and dispose of the next. The term disposable implies cheapness; from paper products to plastic water bottles . . . from dryer sheets to disposable cameras . . . we toss these items away with little thought because they can be easily and inexpensively replaced.

Sadly, we often allow relationships to be put into the category of disposable when things don’t go our way. We are friends with someone today and strangers the next. Yet there is one relationship that is NOT disposable: your relationship with your Redeemer.

I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Romans 8:38-39)

Because God is unchanging—He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8)—there is nothing in the entire universe that can ever possibly separate you from Jesus Christ. Not even your sin! Earlier in his epistle to the Romans, the apostle Paul gave us this word of unimaginable comfort and encouragement: “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). God does not love you one minute and look for ways to dispose of you the next. God’s love for you in Christ Jesus is . . .

• Immeasurable!
• Inexpressible!
• Inexhaustible!

You see, if you have placed your trust in Christ’s atoning work on your behalf, God has put your sin away, never to be raised up again. Your sins are as far from you as the east is from the west—a distance that is utterly immeasurable. Your sins have been washed away by the blood of the Lamb of God. Every sin—past, present, and future—has been nailed to the cross, which means that His mercy and forgiveness for you is inexhaustible. When Jesus uttered His victory cry of “It is finished,” He meant what He said! As far as God is concerned, your sins have been covered—freely, fully, and forever—by the perfect righteousness of the Lamb of God.

Know this: when Jesus hung on that cross, with spikes driven through His feet and hands and a cruel crown of thorns jammed down into His brow, He was thinking about you. The depth of His love for you is inexpressible . . . He loves you with a divine love that is NOT DISPOSABLE!

What does this truth mean to you today? I pray that you will feel as encouraged as you feel empowered to live for the One who has said, in both word and deed, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. You are not disposable to Me!”

Let that truth set you free to live the perfect plan God has for your life—even though you will surely live it imperfectly—with freedom, joy, and faithfulness to Jesus Christ.

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

Your growth, from infancy to where you are today, was part of a natural process. This process required a variety of resources, from nutrition to nurture. But when it comes to your spiritual growth and development, the process is as supernatural as it is intentional. Your spiritual growth will not happen by accident!

I am not sure where this idea first surfaced, but far too many in the church today simply assume that they will naturally grow up in their faith, just like growing from a child to an adult. Nothing could be further from the truth! There is a marked and noticeable difference between incidental and intentional growth and maturity.

Growth gaps are only closed intentionally. We begin to grow into the person God is calling us to be by practicing small disciplines daily. This is the promise from the writer of Hebrews:

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

(Hebrews 12:11)

The first thing to notice—so as not to be caught off guard—is how unpleasant discipline can be because of the pain associated with it. It takes discipline to get up early and spend concentrated time alone with God before you start your day. And that discipline can be painful. For most of us it is much more comfortable to sleep in than to get up early, but if we push past the pain we are promised a harvest of righteousness and peace.

If you think I am lapsing back into the language I used as a physical trainer when I employ phrases like “push past the pain,” it is because Scripture likens our Christian growth to an athletic contest. The apostle Paul wrote:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 

(1 Corinthians 9:24-25)

Just like the author of Hebrews, Paul emphasized the themes of self-discipline and eternal reward. Nor is this an isolated passage in Paul’s epistles; he wrote to the Christians at Philippi:

I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: 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 3:12-14)

Again, you see Paul urging Christians to exert consistent, concentrated effort to press on toward Christian growth. But we do not work toward this growth simply because God commands it; our loving heavenly Father offers us a rich prize at the end of our race.

So . . . how is it with you? Are there any growth gaps in your life right now? What changes do you need to make to begin closing the gap? What will it cost you if you don’t? Here is a wonderful by-product of living a disciplined Christian life: one discipline impacts another discipline. You start getting up early to spend time alone with God and suddenly, almost without realizing it, you find yourself praying more consistently throughout the day. Then you notice that you have become more consistent with your attendance at church and then your service begins to expand. Every act of discipline returns multiplied rewards!

What we need to keep in view is that God has called us into the process of growing up into Christ. To be sure, all our growth is all of grace—which is why I named this blog “Grace for the Race”—but we must discipline ourselves to do our part along the way.

One final word of advice: Celebrate your small disciplines along the way! I like to call it celebrating your victories. God will give you many of them along the way. Take time to celebrate your spiritual successes and thank God for getting you past one hurdle . . . which is also preparing you to overcome the next one!

Remember this truth: the pain of discipline weighs ounces; the pain of regret weighs tons!

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

In order to keep the muscles of your body fit, you must exercise them regularly, give them the proper nutrition and hydration, and, of course, give them adequate rest.

But what about the muscle of your faith? How do you keep your faith fit?

In this [salvation] you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 

(1 Peter 1:6-7)

This passage is one of many in Scripture that testifies to the truth that a “fit faith” is a faith that has been tested and refined by all kinds of trials. Affliction is the Almighty’s anvil that forges genuine faith.

Think of some of the great saints in Scripture:

• Abraham’s faith was tried in his willingness to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac.
• Daniel’s faith was tried when he was thrown into the lion’s den for praying to God.
• Mary’s faith was tried when the angel announced that she would be the mother of Jesus.
• Paul’s faith was tried in every possible way as he penned much of the New Testament.

Each one of these saints allowed their faith muscle to be exercised and stretched far beyond the borders of their comfort zone.

An unused muscle is still a muscle, but it atrophies and responds poorly when suddenly summoned to perform. This is just as true for the muscle of our faith. Untested faith is still faith, but how atrophied it can become and how weak in its witness to a watching world!

So . . . how is it with you? How has God been testing your faith in your personal and/or professional life? Let me encourage you to marinate in and meditate on these inspired words from James:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

(James 1:2-4)

James is telling us exactly what we can expect from a tested and tried faith. When James says, “not lacking anything,” he is saying that the tests and trials we experience bring us to the end of ourselves. Remember that John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30 ESV). It is the testing of our faith that causes us to decrease; at the same time, Jesus increases in our lives.

Where has God been decreasing you so that He could increase? Where has He been strengthening the fitness of your faith? Regardless of where this message finds you today, whether you are in the middle of a storm or enjoying a season of calm, perseverance will finish its work in your life. You have His Word on it!

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

Someone once wisely said, “Close your eyes; whatever you see is exactly what you actually possess!” Yet we often live in a way that shouts to the world, “God was the previous owner of my stuff!”

We look at the money we earned . . . the house we bought . . . the car we drive . . . the clothes we wear . . . even the food we eat as if we are the proud owner of it all. In reality, everything we have is on loan to us from God.

Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.

(Deuteronomy 8:18)

Wealth and honor come from you.

(1 Chronicles 29:12)

A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.

(John 3:27)

Who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

(1 Corinthians 4:7)

These verses, two from the Old Testament and two from the New, are only a small sampling of the verses of Scripture which declare that we are owners of NOTHING and stewards of EVERYTHING! When we keep this biblical truth in view, we begin the process of understanding that everything we have is a gift from God, and we are responsible to steward those gifts in such a way as to bring glory to Him and good to others.

So . . . how are you doing with the stuff you have been given? Remember, it not what you possess that becomes the problem; it’s what possesses you. That was the Achilles’ heel of the Rich Young Ruler whom we meet in the eighteenth chapter of Luke’s gospel. This man had great possessions and could have been using them for the glory of the One who had given them to him. But instead, his great possessions possessed him. Jesus knew the young man’s wealth was his functional savior, so He told him to sell it all and follow Him. But the young man went away sad. He could not part with the earthly possessions in which he sought to find his identity, meaning, significance, and purpose. He was unable to trust in Jesus and transfer ownership!

How is it with you? Is there anything you possess that currently possesses you? Wouldn’t this be a great time to “transfer” ownership back to the One who is the rightful owner? Remember, you can’t take any of it with you when you go, so why not begin stewarding all of your stuff for the expansion of the kingdom of Christ rather than your own? The reason God pours out His blessings on His people is so that they will flow through them to others.

When you close your eyes, you see everything you own. And when you open your eyes you see everything God owns and has loaned to you. With that thought in mind, is there anything you would do differently today with your possessions if God were not the “previous owner?” If yes, what are you waiting for?

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

Storms, suffering, and seasons of scarcity have all been promised to the child of God on this side of the grave. Should we not expect to experience what our Master experienced if we truly are His disciples? Why would we expect a crown of glory when the world gave our Lord a crown of thorns?

In all of Scripture, no one—other than the Lord Himself—experienced such terrible storm winds as did Job. God gave Satan permission to afflict Job, and his affliction was almost unimaginable; Job lost all of his children, his health, and his considerable wealth. How did Job get through such a terrible storm with his broken heart still beating for his beloved God?

If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling.

(Job 23:3)

It the midst of such a terrible storm, Job desired to see His God. His friends meant well when they came to comfort him. And for the first seven days, they did meet Job in his deepest place of need. They spoke not a word to Job, and he was indeed comforted simply by their presence. But on that eighth day, they opened their mouths, and comfort turned into condemnation. Even Job’s wife refused to be the comfort God had ordained her to be as his helpmeet. Instead, she told her husband to curse his God and die! But Job did not give up or give in; instead, he sought the presence of God.

Job knew where to turn in times of trouble. Do we? The place for the afflicted child of God is at the feet of the Almighty. The first prayer is to be in the presence of God. Job did not ask for relief from his sick body; he did not ask for a restoration of his wealth; he did not cry out for the return of his children. No doubt his broken heart ached for those things, but it ached even more for the presence of God.

Job acted very much like a child who is playing down the street with friends and falls and scrapes a knee; crying, bleeding, and in pain, he immediately seeks the comfort of home, because no other comfort compares.

So . . . where do you turn when you’re in pain? What is your first prayer to God? When we remember that nothing happens to us that first doesn’t pass through His nail-scarred hands, we can be assured of two things: it is happening for God’s glory and our good. As difficult as that may be for us to see in the middle of the storm, we know it is true.

You see, we serve and love a God who came into this world and willingly walked straight into the most horrific storm in the history of mankind. Jesus lost everything . . . even His relationship with His Father while He hung on that cross in our place, bleeding and in terrible pain, paying the penalty for our sin and drinking our cup of God’s wrath.

Job did not have a complete understanding of this price that God Himself would pay to redeem Job’s soul, yet he still ran to God in his most desperate hour of need. We do have the complete understanding of the price paid by Jesus Christ. Why would we ever run to anything smaller than Jesus to find comfort?

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

When was the last time you were anxious? For most, anxiety rears its ugly head when we find ourselves lying awake at night, tossing and turning over the challenges of daily living, counting sheep (or tubs of ice cream or whatever it is you count) . . . which gives us something new to worry about: how tired we’ll be the next morning!

So how do we rid ourselves of this “respectable sin,” as Jerry Bridges calls it, knowing that this is a battle we will anxiously fight all the way into glory? The key is to keep preaching the Gospel to ourselves—not only daily, but moment by moment.

The Gospel tells us that Jesus came and took away our sin, the wrath of God, and our death through His sinless life, sacrificial death, and supernatural resurrection. If Jesus did all this for us, surely He can handle our anxiety when it comes calling.

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

(Luke 12:6-7)

If Jesus knows the number of hairs on your head, He knows all about the anxiety that is attacking you at every moment. And for those of you who are losing much of your hair, Jesus also knows the number of them left behind in your brush!

The Bible tells us, time and time again, not to be anxious . . .

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

(Joshua 1:9)

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.

(Psalm 55:22)

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

(Isaiah 41:10)

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

(Matthew 11:28-29)

Do not be anxious about anything

(Philippians 4:6)

Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you

(1 Peter 5:7)

Why is it that we should not be anxious? Because God can be trusted. If we trust Him for our eternal life, we should have no trouble at all trusting Him for our everyday life. We must continually transfer our anxiety to the Almighty, who cares for us moment by moment.

A missionary was teaching a Hindu woman who had just become a Christian how to pray through the Lord’s Prayer. The woman prayed, “Our Father, who art in heaven . . .” Then she suddenly said, “Stop!” She asked, “Do you mean to tell me that God is our Father—my Father in heaven?

“Yes!” the missionary replied.

“That’s enough for me!” the Hindu Christian woman said. “If God is our Father, there is nothing for me to worry about!”

To be sure, anxiety is one of the great temptations we all face. But we have been given a way over, under, around, and if necessary, through our fears. We are never to simply accept anxiety as part of the fabric of daily living. We must shift our focus away from our circumstances and put it on our Savior.

The Gospel tells us we have been sought, caught, bought, and are currently being taught by the Spirit of Christ. Remember, Christian, that you are so deeply loved that Jesus shed His blood on a cross to have you as His bride for all eternity.

Let this truth set you free; when anxiety comes knocking, let Jesus answer the door!

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

It never ceases to amaze me how many objections I hear regarding the truths of the Gospel which simply spring from lack of the intellect to understand it. Well, I want to offer a word of great comfort to you today contained in this truth: WHAT YOU CANNOT GLEAN BY INTELLECT . . . GAIN BY AFFECTION!

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever. (Deuteronomy 29:29)

Right there, in those 21 Spirit-inspired words, there is a Gospel truth that should ease our mind and comfort our hearts. The secret things belong to the Lord . . . which means there are secret things. Everything is not revealed to us, simply because we are not able to take it all in. God is infinite, but we are finite; our capacity for understanding is limited. Omniscience is reserved for God alone.

This limitation was true for Adam and Eve, even before their catastrophic fall in the Garden. How much more is it true of you and I, after sin has corrupted everything, including our minds?

Job was instructed in this truth by the Almighty:

Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness? Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?

(Job 38:16-18)

There are countless things in creation that will forever remain a mystery to the creature. And if this is true of the temporal creation that can be seen, how much more for all that is eternal and cannot be seen? We are no more able to plumb the depths of understanding when it comes to the “springs of the sea” and the “recesses of the deep” than we are able to comprehend the spiritual springs of our so-great salvation.

Mystery is simply part of God’s plan for us. If we could grasp everything and have all knowledge . . . we would be God!

For years I struggled to understand where and how divine sovereignty and human responsibility intersected with each other. I don’t struggle with that anymore. God said it . . . and that settles it! I understand that God is sovereign and we are responsible to Him. I keep those two truths in view, and what I cannot glean by intellect . . . I gain by affection. You see, when our hearts beat for nothing smaller than Jesus, we can take Him at His Word and receive the deep truths of Scripture without knowing everything there is to know about them.

“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror . . .” (1 Corinthians 13:12). God gives us the exact amount of understanding we need in order to do all He is calling us to do with everything He has given us to do it with. And He has equipped us for service through the life, death, and resurrection of His beloved Son. Jesus lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died. What cannot be gained by affection rooted in this truth is not worth gaining! Understanding that we have been purchased by the precious blood of the Lamb should bring us to such a place of affection that mystery no longer matters . . . because we have our Master.

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

I’m hoping that this biblical account of an event that took place well over 3,000 years ago will both comfort and strengthen you today, regardless of where this message finds you.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and throw it down before Pharaoh’ and it will become a snake.”

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his rod down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his rod and it became a snake. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.

(Exodus 7:8-12)

The rods of Pharaoh’s wise men and sorcerers and the Egyptian magicians were simply no match for Aaron’s rod. Why? Because Aaron’s rod was in the hand of Almighty God! Aaron trusted God and did what he was instructed to do; when he threw his rod down before Pharaoh, he lifted up his God before the watching world.

Make no mistake, our God is victorious over every opponent and swallows up every adversary that attempts to stand in His way. To be sure, the enemy has his counterfeits, rooted in the incomplete joys of this world, that will oppose us at every turn. The world would have us find our pleasure in everything other than Jesus; but in the end, God will tolerate no rival and will swallow up everything that attempts to divide our affections from Him.

Charles Spurgeon said it beautifully:

If God’s grace takes possession of a man, the world’s magicians may throw down all their rods, and every rod may be as cunning and poisonous as a serpent; but Aaron’s rod will swallow them up! The sweet attractions of the cross will woo and win the man’s heart, and he who lived only for this deceitful earth will now have an eye for the upper spheres, and a wing to mount into celestial heights . . . What multitudes of foes has our faith had to meet! Our old sins—the devil threw them down before us, and they turned to serpents. What hosts of them! Ah, but the cross of Jesus destroys them all.

You must remember that the power that God has given you is greater than any power that will ever come up against you. There is nothing we face in our lives today that the power of the cross has not already defeated. We are confronted by toothless lions and fangless snakes that can do little more than startle us when they show up.

I’m sure there was a moment when Aaron was startled by the snakes that slithered out of the Egyptians’ secret arts and converged around his single snake . . . but only for a moment. A few moments later, there was only one snake still in their midst, and that snake would return to the hand of Aaron, once again, as God’s rod.

Remember, if God is for you, it really doesn’t matter what comes up against you! Trust in God and lean not on your own understanding. As you do, you will see your God swallow up every snake Satan sends your way. You have His Word on it!

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