Grace for the Race

The Ravi Zacharias International Ministries has a radio broadcast entitled Let My People Think, which is dedicated to helping the thinker believe and helping the believer think. It airs on over 2,000 outlets worldwide. If you have not visited their web site, I highly recommend that you do.

When God said, “Let my people go that they may serve me” (Exodus 5:1), He always intended it to be a service rooted in a transformed mind.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

(Romans 12:2)

Far too many Christians in the church today have renewed hearts but not renewed minds. Their worldview has never been transformed by the truths of the Gospel. They have never become serious students of the Scriptures, which is the primary means God uses to renew the minds of His people. To be sure, God uses the power of the Holy Spirit and the posture of prayer as agents of transformation in the life of the believer, but He has authored a book so that we would read it. The Bible was never meant to collect dust on a bookshelf.

The more we are in the Word of God, the more the Word of God will be in us. And the more the Word of God is in us, the more we will be transformed by it. It was God Himself who said, “Come now, let us reason together” (Isaiah 1:18). In all of the created order, we are the only image-bearers of the Most High God. We have been given the capacity to use our minds as well as our bodies to bring honor and glory to God.

When we come to the Scriptures, we are to come hungry and thirsty for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. We are to marinate in it and meditate on it and begin living out its truths. To be sure, Jesus is in the business of renewing the mind of all those He has raised from death to life, but if we leave our brains in neutral and neglect pursuing the profound truths revealed in the pages of Scripture, we will make very little forward progress. Instead, our lives will be marked by careening from wall to wall all the way into glory.

So . . . how have you been using your mind for the glory of God and the good of others lately? What Paul said to Timothy, he says to us today: “Think over what I say, for the Lord will grant you understanding in everything” (2 Timothy 2:7). That is good advice for those who desire to go from being conformed to this world to being transformed by the renewing of the mind. God has set us free to think His thoughts after Him and to serve others in the love of Christ. These actions together allow us to bring greater glory to God than either one will ever do separately.

As my friend Steve Brown is fond of saying, “You think about that!”

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

In the feeding of the 5,000, which would have actually numbered anywhere between 10,000–20,000 people, because the women and the children were not numbered in those days, Jesus fed the multitude with only five loaves and two fish.

And then we read this:

When they all had enough to eat, [Jesus] said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

(John 6:12-13)

With only five loaves and two fish on hand, Jesus multiplied the meal to feed thousands on the hillside near the Sea of Galilee at Bethsaida. When the meal was done and everyone had eaten all they wanted, there were still leftovers!

So . . . what is the lesson our Lord wants us to learn in the leftovers? God takes our little and makes a lot, giving an abundance of blessings to all of His children.

What “little” do you have to offer Jesus today? Perhaps your thoughts have been much like Andrew’s: “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” With man, such a meager inventory would not have gone far; but in the hands of the Almighty, even among so many, the young boy’s offering went far beyond meeting their needs; his little went all the way to exceeding their needs. And the same is true for us today.

God takes whatever we offer him—our little time . . . our little talent . . . our little treasure—and multiplies it immeasurably beyond all we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). If God can make something out of nothing, which He did in making the universe and everything in it, He can surely take our “little” and make it a lot!

Moses had only a shepherd’s staff, but in the power of God, it swallowed up the staffs of the Egyptian magicians. David had only a sling and five smooth stones, and in the strength of the Almighty, he slew the giant Goliath. Samson had only an ox goad, and in the strength of the Almighty, he slew a thousand Philistines. The woman who was bleeding for twelve years had just a little faith, only enough to reach out and touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, and she was instantly healed by the power of God.

Here is the key to the lesson in the leftovers: we must be willing to offer what God has given us in order for God to bless it. God multiplied the five talents and the two talents that were used in faithful service to Him (Matthew 25:14-22). But He did nothing with the talent that was hidden away. We must be willing to put in whatever we have been given, however insignificant our offering may seem to us, trusting that God will make it work for His glory and the good of all who love Him.

So, what “little” have you been holding back lately? Surrender control to Jesus, and watch Him multiply what little you have until you discover you have an abundance of leftovers . . . because God Himself supplied the increase.

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

When I first started to drive, my dad would remind me that it was always a good idea to pull into the gas station when the gas gauge showed ¼ tank remaining. His theory was simple: if you fill up with a ¼ tank still remaining, you will never run out of gas on a lonely stretch of highway.

I followed much of the advice my father gave me over the years . . . but not this particular piece of advice, and, sure enough, I did run out of gas once. These days, as soon as I see the “low fuel” warning light come on, I turn into the gas station. This just happened to me this morning, and that suggested the title of today’s message.

How often we all feel like we are running on empty! Our emotional “fuel” supply is low, but the distance to travel is long. Jesus said, “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak” (Matthew 26:41). And mind you, our Lord said this to His disciples on the night He was to be betrayed. Jesus had asked Peter, James, and John to watch and pray while He went alone into the “garden of suffering.” The three disciples could not even stay awake during His hour of deep need. Remember, Peter had said that same night that He would die with His Lord; now he could not even stay awake to pray for Him.

Do you ever feel that way . . . like you’re running on empty spiritually? Where do you go to fill up the tank? Let me urge you to go to the only true power source in the universe that can fill us to overflowing:

Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God.

(Psalm 62:11)

Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?

(Job 26:14)

Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power.

(Psalm 79:11)

Regardless of where this message finds you today—whether you’re on a full tank, ¾, ½, ¼, running on fumes, or actually out of gas and needing a tow to get to the gas station to fill up—here are two steps to take to fill your tank back up.

1} Acknowledge God as your only power source.

I know we all say this is our truth, but we tend to turn to things smaller than God to find the power we need. Some look for it in their work, some in possessions, others in relationships, still others in the applause of man. I could go on and on, but you get the point. As Jesus suggested to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, those who seek strength from the things of the world will soon find themselves running on empty again; but those who fill themselves with Jesus will never see the “low fuel” light come on. As our Lord said, “Everyone who drinks this water [that is, the water the world provides] will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14).

How is it with you? Have you acknowledged God as your only true power source today?

2) Believe God for the seemingly impossible.

The power in you is greater than any power that comes up against you (1 John 4:4). That means you should erase the word “impossible” from your dictionary; as Jesus said, there are many things which are impossible for man, but with God, all things are possible! (Matthew 19:26.)

The same God who sent manna from heaven . . . brought water from a rock . . . turned five loaves and two fish into a meal for thousands . . . and turned a raging storm into a flat calm with just a word is ready, willing, and fully able to meet you in your place of deepest need.

Has your “gas tank” been running low lately? Could it be that you’ve been trying to fill up at the wrong pump? Keep turning to the Everlasting One, and you will have everything you need to do everything He has called you to do.

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

I know from personal experience that this is easier said than done! By nature we tend to focus on the problems we are facing in life, rather than looking to the One who can solve them.

Perhaps you’ve had someone tell you, “Cheer up; things could be worse.” Except that when you cheered up, things got worse! I never really liked such pessimistic advice. It directs our focus to the problems of life rather than toward the Problem Solver.

But this is not for you! Let’s look at the advice from Scripture:

You him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

(Isaiah 26:3 ESV)

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

(Hebrews 12:2)

These are just two of the many verses that encourage our look away from our problems and fix our eyes on our Problem Solver. Regardless of the problems we are facing . . .

• Financial reversal
• Trouble at the office
• Difficulties in our marriage
• Fractured relationships
• Health concerns

. . . Isaiah is telling us God will keep us in perfect peace as we shift our focus away from our problems and put it steadfastly on our Problem Solver. It comes down to trusting in God even when we cannot trace Him. We cannot simply read “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31); we must believe in our hearts that our God really is for us, so it truly doesn’t matter what problems come up against us!

The author of Hebrews tells us to fix our focus on the Author and Perfecter of our faith. In other words, what Jesus began in you He will one day bring to completion (Philippians 1:6). Jesus is perfecting us both in and through our problems. You see, it is often the challenges of life that God has ordained to use to conform us to Christ.

So . . . what have you been focusing on lately? Your problems? Or your Problem Solver? Your focus really does make a difference in how you walk through life. Know this: what you focus on tends to get bigger and bigger in your mind’s eye. So if your focus is set on your problems, guess what gets bigger? Your problems! But if you focus on your Problem Solver, He will occupy more space in your heart and in your mind, and you will make better decisions about how to deal most effectively with the problems you are facing.

In the seventh chapter of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus instructs us to ask, seek, and knock; when we do, He assures us that we will receive, we will find, and the door will be opened to us. We have His Word on it!

Focus on the kingdom of God first and His righteousness . . . and watch your problems shrink!

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

When you read the title of today’s word of encouragement, what comes to mind? Did you think this would be a message about you having the circumstances of your life “under control”? If so, you’re right, but perhaps not in the way I have intended.

What I want you to consider today is this: whose control are you under?

Do not let sin control your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.

(Romans 6:12-13)

The Bible makes is clear that we are always under the control of something. Either we are under our Savior’s control or sin’s control. To be sure, sin, Satan, and death were defeated by the cross work of Jesus Christ. Today sin no longer reigns in the life of His disciples, but it most certainly still remains. And the only way we can take sword to this enemy is to recognize that sin still crouches at our door (Genesis 4:6), and that we must always be on guard against it.

Christian, being “under control” is, to an altogether unsuspecting extent, under your control.

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. . . . You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.

(Romans 8:6, 9)

In essence, what Paul is telling us is that the power that is in us (the Holy Spirit), is greater than any power that comes against us. And because God is for us, it really doesn’t matter what comes up against us . . . IF we choose to be under the control of Christ. This begins when we shift our focus away from self and place it on our Savior. The more we focus on Jesus, the more we begin to be controlled by Jesus. And when Christ is in control, everything changes for us, because everything changes in us. We must yield control of the One whose control changes us from the inside out.

So . . . what obstacles stand in the way of you giving total control of your life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Do your possessions possess you? Does the approval of others control what you think, do, and say? Perhaps you fear giving total control of your life to Jesus because of where it might lead you?

Let me assure you that you are not alone in that regard! When Jesus started taking control of our lives, Kim and I were fearful, because He was leading us away from what we wanted and in the direction of what Jesus wanted. It was a very difficult process that took years for us to understand and totally surrender to.

Today we simply cannot imagine being anywhere else than where we are, serving as church planters at Cross Community Church in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Sometimes people ask us, “What does it feel like to being living your dream?”

We answer, “This was not our dream! Our dream was moving us in the opposite direction. This is God’s divine plan, and we only began living it when we gave Jesus total control of our lives.”

Chose today whom you will serve . . . and if it is Jesus, being under HIS control will lead to being overwhelmed and overjoyed with His amazing plan for your life.

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

Today marks the 14^th anniversary of the event Americans refer to simply as “9/11,” a day and date that has been stamped into our national consciousness. The cry of America is, “We will never forget!” For many reasons, this is a date Kim and I will never forget. I’d like to share our story in a way that I hope will encourage you today.

Just like you, we will never forget watching those two jetliners flying into the Twin Towers. We will never forget the pictures of the first responders arriving at the scene to help the victims. (I spent nearly a decade serving on the Hollywood Fire Rescue Department, so those images are particularly poignant for me.) We will never forget the horrific sight of the two towers suddenly collapsing and entombing nearly 3,000 victims. We will never forget how our nation came together to both mourn and mount up against sin and evil in this world.

But there is something else Kim and I will never forget. That day marked the end of one season of life and the beginning of another. God shone His light into our hearts and saved us in 1995, four years after we had opened our wellness center in Fort Lauderdale. After trusting in Christ for our eternal salvation, we saw ourselves as Christian business owners. However, we were still a long way off from understanding what it meant to be fully surrendered to our Savior.

We had one foot in the Word, to be sure, but the other foot was firmly planted in the world. Yes, we loved Jesus, but we also very much loved the stuff He gave us. Sometimes we loved the stuff more than we loved our Savior. As I have said before, even the good gifts God gives us can become bad gifts when they become ultimate gifts. Jesus has clearly called us all to “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Mathew 6:33) and trust that He will supply us with all that we need for our daily sustenance. We were seeking God . . . pretty well . . . but we were also scrambling to store up that sustenance!

God began calling us out of the physical wellness business into the spiritual wellness business very early in our walk with Him, but I simply wasn’t ready to answer His call. Kim was ready and had been ready for some time, but not me. I couldn’t let it go. I believed if the business failed, I was a failure, because my identity was in the business and not in the One who had given us the business.

I was at a Bible study on the morning of 9/11. When I returned home, I sat frozen in front of the television, witnessing the awful events of that fateful day. I remember being overwhelmed with the thought that none of those victims could possibly have known that this day was going to be their last day on earthy. But it was. I also wondered how many of them did not know Jesus.

That day marked the end of the plans Kim and I had for our lives and the beginning of God’s plan for our lives. We closed the business less than two months later, and by the beginning of 2002, we had entered into full-time ministry work, expanding the kingdom of Christ rather than our own little kingdom.

There are many reasons for us to pause and remember 9/11. Perhaps one of the most profound reminders we should cling to is the brevity of life. Job mused that man “springs up like a flower and withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure” (Job 14:2), and the Bible reminds us again and again that our days on this earth are few and fleeting. We are reminded of this truth each and every day by the news of the day and personal experience. Nobody knows when their life will end or how it will happen.

I think of the story Jesus told about a certain rich man who had enjoyed great success with his business. I confess to you today that in those BC (Before Christ) days of the early 90s, I was striving to be like this man! Jesus said this man was so pleased with the wealth he imagined that he had produced that he told himself, “‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’”

And then come these chilling words from our Lord: “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you’” (Luke 12:19-20).

Since the Fall of man in the Garden, death has been the debt we all must pay. When it comes suddenly and unexpectedly, it can rock us to our core. 9/11 did that to Kim and me; God used that awful event to light a fire of faith deep within us that would not go out. We realized that God had saved us to serve Him and to surrender our lives completely to His control. We had always understood the importance of the Good News of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, but after the day America was attacked we also understood the urgency with which we were called to share it—today, because we may not have the opportunity to do it tomorrow.

On Sunday night in 1871, the great evangelist Dwight L. Moody was preaching at Farwell Hall in Chicago. Moody asked his congregation to spend the week thinking over their relationship with Jesus Christ and then return the following week and make their decisions for Him. That crowd never reassembled. As they were singing the closing hymn, the din of fire trucks and church bells scattered them forever; Chicago was on fire! The church and parsonage and much of the city were all destroyed in what you and I call the Great Chicago Fire. The lives of about 300 people were demanded of them that night.

Thinking back to that fateful evening, Moody remarked, “Giving my congregation a week to think over in their minds their decision for Jesus is my greatest regret in life. Never again would I give my listeners time to go home and think about their response to the Gospel.” And he never did.

And so I encourage you to go and do what our Lord has called us all to do: “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2). Wherever you live, wherever you work or go to school, preach Christ! Never forget all that He has done for you, and never stop telling others the Good News He offers them.

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

The Word of God makes it clear that we are all in bondage. Before Jesus shows up, we are in bondage to sin and death; after Jesus raises us from death to life, we are in bondage to Him.

Christian, how well are you wearing your “chains” for Christ?

Thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

(Romans 6:17-18)

We are either slaves to sin or slaves to our Savior. In the passage above, the apostle Paul described the supernatural change in slave masters. And make no mistake, there is absolutely no comparison between masters! The slave master of sin pays wages to his slaves: “The wages of sin is death.” Our new slave Master gives a gracious, glorious gift: “The gift of God is eternal life” (Romans 6:23).

I want to present an idea to you here that is definitely counterintuitive but extremely important for us to understand. The more we are in bondage to our Savior, the greater the freedom we experience in this life. That may sound strange, but it is undeniably true.

“It is for freedom that Christ set us free,” Paul wrote to the Christians in Galatia (Galatians 5:1). When Jesus sits upon the throne of our lives, we begin experiencing the freedom we were created for. This freedom can be described as the ability to serve Jesus, for the very first time, in a way that is pleasing and acceptable in His sight and that also satisfies the deepest longings of our souls.

You see, when Adam and Eve listened to the serpent and turned away from God, they denied their very humanity. When you and I believe in the Gospel of redemption and begin serving our Savior, we also begin reclaiming the humanity that was lost in Paradise.

And remember this: our service to our Savior never “earns” wages. Everything we receive is always a gift from God! Even the service itself is a gift from God. God reorients our hearts so that they begin to beat for something other than self. We begin to see life from a perspective other than our own. We desire things we had never desired before and begin to deny some of the things we had always lived for.

So . . . what has you in bondage today? What has a hold on your heart? What have you been living for lately? If it is anything smaller than Jesus, it cannot satisfy and most certainly will not sanctify. You have been made by God for God, and until you are submitted to Him in every area of life, you will never grow into the person God is calling you to be.

I find it remarkable how many times the great apostle Paul identifies himself as “a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ” in the opening remarks to many of his epistles. Paul saw himself as a slave to his Savior . . . and he rejoiced! He was proud of his “believer’s bondage,” because the One he was in bondage to was the One who had set him free from his bondage to the world, the flesh, and the devil. To be sure, sin still remained in Paul’s life, as he freely confessed in Romans 7, but sin no longer reigned. Jesus reigned supreme and set Paul free to serve the only Master who could both truly fulfill him and forgive him all the way into glory.

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

Today is Labor Day, the first Monday in September, when we celebrate the American labor movement. Well, that is the history of Labor Day in the United States. In reality, it is little more than a three-day weekend for many. Labor Day was commemorated and established as an official holiday in 1886, under the presidency of Grover Cleveland. It was intended to pay tribute to the contributions of the American workers, who make this country the greatest country on earth.

It is my prayer that today you are able to rest from your labor, and as you do, that you will meditate upon the One who is laboring on your behalf even now.

Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.”

(John 5:17)

Think about that for a moment. The One who is unparalleled and unprecedented is unrelenting in His gracious work on your behalf.  He blesses the weak and beautifies the meek, working everything for your eternal good. Nothing will stop Him or slow Him down in bringing you all the way home into glory, in His perfect time and in His righteous way. The great “I AM” is for you, with you, and in you.

WOW! Let that truth minister to your heart on this Labor Day!

God is not finished with you yet. So have patience in His process, not only with yourself, but with all others. We are all works in progress; the great good news in that is that “it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13). No matter your age or station in life, no one has “arrived” on this side of the grave. Fruit may ripen and flowers may bloom, but God will not be finished with you until that moment that He has ordained, when you will be brought into glory on the other side of the grave.

So trust in the One who is growing you to maturity and be fully confident that even when you cannot trace Him in your life, He is still there, orchestrating every event that is ultimately working together for your good and His glory. Remember, His yoke is easy and His burden is light; regardless of whatever you are going through right now, He is going through it with you. His reign is as righteous as His rescue of you is relentless!

May you rest in Him on this Labor Day and respond to Him as He takes your mess and turns it into His masterpiece. And remember, He may not always give you what you want, but He will always give you what you need to work out your salvation, step by step, all the way to your eternal rest.

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

Let that truth set you free from the worries and anxieties of daily living, even as the waves of challenge wash over you. Before you were . . . your were His!

May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep . . .

(Hebrews 13:20)

The writer of Hebrews is telling us that before we were even in existence, Jesus was on the way to save and sanctify us. Rightly understood, the truth of God’s eternal covenant—that is, a covenant that was made before the beginning of time or human existence—will provide you with a peace that passes all understanding. You were on the mind and heart of God before you were on this earth.

Our finite minds cannot come close to fully comprehending the eternal encouragement this truth of a covenant as old as eternity has been designed to provide. That is why it requires our attention day and night. We must never lose sight of this unimaginable blessing rooted in the good pleasure of our God.

Before you were . . . your were His! That means before you did anything worthy of God’s favor, His favor was already yours. Before you did anything commendable of His blessing, His blessing was already yours. Before you did anything to warrant His love, His love was already poured out upon you.

God has always dealt with you based on His mercy, not your merit. God has always related with you based on His grace, not your good works. So if you did nothing to earn God’s favor, blessing, or love, it is secure forevermore! And this amazing grace is yours regardless of what you do in this life! No matter how good your good works, God will not love you any more than He already does; no matter how dreadful your failures, God will not love you any less.

Perhaps you should read that last sentence again. You already have everything you need because of the eternal covenant of God! You have His forgiveness, His pardon, His adoption, His acceptance, and His promise to finish what He determined from all eternity and what He began in time with your rescue (Philippians 1:6).

How your heart should swell with joy unspeakable! God has given you a well-spring of life and a storehouse of love. How good—how loving, how kind, how gracious—must our God truly be to have established this covenant in eternity past and extended it throughout eternity future? Surely we cannot begin to plumb the depths of our good God!

So regardless of where this finds you today, pause a moment to feast upon its fullness: Before you were . . . you were His! Before the world was . . . you were His! Christian, there never was a time when you were not His. And remember, what God has joined together shall stay joined together forever and ever. And this eternal security is not rooted in your faithfulness to Him (because we are so often unfaithful), but in His unwavering, eternal faithfulness to us.

May the lives we live be a holy hymn that sings of this eternal truth with every breath we take and every step we make.

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

If you have been walking with the Lord long enough, you’ll recall times when He has seemed distant from you. Perhaps you’re in one of those periods now; you can remember a time when your load was light, your burden was easy, and your heart beat for nothing smaller than Jesus. But today you find yourself in something of a spiritual wasteland . . . just like Job. God seemed utterly silent and far away, and Job ached for a bygone time. He told his friends:

How l long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me, when his lamp shone upon my head and by his light I walked through darkness! Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house.

(Job 29:1-4)

If you are familiar with the book of Job, you know about the terrible tragedies he endured. And here we see him doing something entirely natural and human: he longed for the “good ol’ days,” when his intimacy with God was the anchor of his soul. But now, after so much suffering, it seemed to Job that God was a stranger and heaven’s door was shut tightly. Because we know the whole story, we know that Job did not bring these difficulties on himself because of any unrighteous behavior. But today you and I often find ourselves longing for the good ol’ days because we have been bad today!

Now, “bad” has many different shades. Sometimes we simply neglect the wonderful means of grace God has given to us that bring us into the presence of God in a very special way. Missing church, neglecting prayer, and inconsistent Bible study will always leave us feeling empty, wanting, and longing for that feeling we once had when we were diligent and disciplined in our spiritual disciplines. For some, it is simply a matter of idolatry; we have removed Jesus from the throne of our lives and something smaller than Him sits upon it.

The prophet Jeremiah hit the proverbial nail squarely on the head.

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

(Jeremiah 17:9)

One minute our heart is beating for Jesus; the next, it is beating for a thousand others things. We are in a constant battle with divided affections. As Paul wrote to the Galatians:

The sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

(Galatians 5:17)

Spiritual pride will also give us a sense of separation from the presence of our God. Self-love always casts a shadow over our Savior. To be sure, Jesus is as bright as ever, but our pride has made our spiritual eyes grow dim.

Whatever the cause for our divided affections, God will eventually step in and give us what we need to reorient our hearts back toward Him. Often He will give us a glimpse of the good ol’ days to make us feel “homesick” and help us get our lives back on track.

If you currently find yourself in this condition, what should you do? Don’t be satisfied with recalling the good ol’ days! Run to Jesus and seek His face, knowing that He has never left your side. Remember that when God feels distant, we can be sure of one thing: WE moved, not our God! So cry out to Jesus, and know that no matter how good those ol’ days might have been, the best is yet to come. For . . .

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.

(1 Corinthians 2:9)

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