Grace for the Race

Tomorrow we will celebrate a holiday that has been slowly, steadily shrinking in the hearts and minds of millions of Americans. That day, of course, is called Thanksgiving. Sadly, our culture has, to a large extent, lost sight of what it means to be thankful, simply because we have lost sight of the One to whom we are to be thankful.

Lost in the middle of Halloween and Christmas, the two most commercialized consumer-oriented holidays in America, we find Thanksgiving. Americans have turned Thanksgiving into a day of planning and preparation for the first official day of Christmas shopping, “Black Friday,” which now begins on Thursday, crowding out even more of the little we have left of the day designed to give gratitude to our God for His many blessings.

How did we get here?

It was the autumn 1621, nearly a year since the Pilgrims landed on the shores of America. The original population of Pilgrims had been reduced by more than half due to sickness and starvation. In an act of thanksgiving to God for His gracious provision of the colony’s first successful harvest, the Pilgrims organized the first Thanksgiving Day feast, along with the Wampanoag Indians, the Pilgrims’ newfound friends.

One of the Pilgrims, Edward Winslow, sent a letter to a friend back in England that contained these words:

God be praised, we had a good increase . . . Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling that so we might after a special manner rejoice together . . . These things I thought good to let you understand . . . that you might on our behalf give God thanks who hath dealt so favorably with us.

You and I today have so much to be thankful for because our God has dealt so favorably toward us . . . but it is easy to lose sight of Thanksgiving, that day silently sandwiched between “spooky sights” and “silent nights” along the way to our New Year’s celebrations.

But this is not for you! I encourage you to prayerfully consider, as you advance through this Thanksgiving week, all that you have to be thankful for.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

(Psalm 100:4)

Think about it this way: as Paul asked the Christians at Corinth, “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). The answer to Paul’s rhetorical question, of course, is nothing, “For from [God] and to him and through him are all things” (Romans 11:36). And the more you have been given, the more you are in debt to the One who has given it to you.

Why not take a moment to write out your “Blessing List,” identifying some of the many blessings God has given you throughout this past year? We have been doing this as a family since our first child, Brock, was born in 1996—each member of the family writing out their own list and sharing it with each other. The lists from previous years provide a rich reminder of the many good gifts and answered prayers our God has granted to us over the years; without those lists, we might well have forgotten many of them.

On Wednesday, we will take a look at one of the great “gratitude” stories in all of sacred Scripture. Until then, remember: God blesses us so that we would bless others. May that be the confession of our lives!

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

In a culture of fast foods, microwave meals in a minute, and 30-second sound bites, we have trouble waiting for anything. Indeed, our willingness to wait has become a thing of the past. We are very much like the obnoxious little girl in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; we cry, “Don’t ask how, I want it NOWWWW!”

So . . . how do we wait on the Lord as we have been instructed to do in Scripture?

The Lord is good to those who wait on him, to the one who seeks him.

(Lamentations 3:25)

The Bible tells us to wait on the Lord by seeking Him, and the best way to seek Him is when we are waiting on Him through our prayers. When Jesus said to His disciples, “Watch and pray” He was giving them the formula for the work in waiting on the Lord. As we wait (watch) for our Lord, we are to be on our knees in prayer to Him. We are to stay in constant communication with the One who will guide us and give us exactly what we need, exactly when we need it, and in precisely the way we need it. The Lord truly is good to those who wait in prayer on Him.

How has your prayer life been lately? When it comes to the work in waiting on the Lord, we must always remember that His answer to our prayer is always immediate; it is either . . .

YES

NO

WAIT

No prayer goes unanswered. Unfortunately, we are easily discouraged when our prayer is not answered the way we wanted!

That is what we must keep in view as we walk with Christ through the details of life. Our waiting on the Lord is a work that is performed from our knees. The life of the apostle Paul is a wonderful example of what it means to work while waiting on the Lord. Paul had some kind of affliction (he called it his “thorn”), and he prayed to God three times that it would be removed from him. Clearly, after the first prayer, Paul could conclude the answer was certainly not “Yes.” It was either “No” or “Wait.” The same was true after his second prayer. But after his third prayer to God to remove his “thorn,” he received his answer: a resounding NO!

[God] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Paul never stopped praying, and he received God’s answer with great joy, because he knew God is good and would always give him what was best. Paul knew and lived out the truth of the psalmist:

The Lord is near to all them that call on him, to all that call on him in truth.

(Psalm 145:18)

To be sure, the apostle Paul really did want God to take away his thorn. And it was right that he pleaded with God. But when he received God’s answer, he rejoiced! He wrote:

I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

(2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

Remember, the work in waiting on the Lord is a wonderful work when it is performed from our knees, regardless of the answer we receive, simply because of the goodness of the One whom we receive it from!

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

Studies have shown that the happiest people in the world are those who invest their time in helping others. How happy are you?

In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

(Matthew 7:12)

These words from our Jesus Christ’s glorious Sermon on the Mount are frequently referred to as “The Golden Rule.” This teaching of Jesus is rooted in the Old Testament, which makes perfect sense seeing that the Bible is . . .

ONE WORD

from

ONE GOD

to

ONE PEOPLE

More than 1,500 years earlier, the Sovereign Lord had instructed the people of Israel:

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. . . . The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

(Leviticus 19:18, 34)

So, what exactly is this Golden Rule all about? As an authoritative standard, the Golden Rule is above all other rules in both prominence and purity. It is designed to govern our conduct and to grow our capacity to bring ultimate glory to God and incredible good to others . . . all others.

I have heard it said that Jesus was not really teaching anything new here; that all religions teach basically the same principle, since at the core (it is said) all religions are fundamentally the same.

Is that notion true? Let’s take a look:

Hindu Religion – This is the sum of duty: do nothing to others which if it were done to you, would cause you pain.

Buddhist Religion – Hurt not others with that which pains yourself.

Muslim Religion – No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.

Jewish Traditions (Talmud) – What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. That is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary.

Confucianism – What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.

To be sure, these are all good rules to follow, but you can see a major difference: all these other religious rules are primarily negative—Do not do—while Christ’s Golden Rule is positive and proactive—Do! Jesus is calling us to live a life of joyful, intentional, acts of voluntary service.

Living out the Golden Rule tells the world Whose we are. By nature, as children of Adam, we all live self-centered lives. But when we are raised from death to life by the power and grace of the Spirit of God, we are to lay our lives down for others with hearts that beat for nothing smaller than Jesus . . . who, while we were still sinners, laid down His life for us.

So . . . does the Golden Rule rule in your life?

I must add one final point before we close today’s message. I said earlier that “It is said” that all religions are fundamentally the same. No statement could be more fundamentally false! All the other major religions and all the cults require man to strive to ascend to God by living a life of good works that will make him acceptable to God. Only Christianity teaches that God descended to man in gracious love, because we are completely incapable of ascending to a perfectly holy God. Only Christianity teaches that God alone has done all the work required for our salvation, all the work that makes us acceptable to Him—“It is finished!”—and therefore we do our good works because God so loves us, not to try to make God love us.

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

We have all heard the phrase “Never judge a book by its cover.” This old English idiom warns us not to make value judgments about something or someone based merely on its outward appearance.

Today I’d like to share some great news for those of us who may not look quite as slim, athletic, or attractive as we did in our early adult years:

The Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance of his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

(1 Samuel 16:7)

God sent the prophet Samuel to Jesse of Bethlehem to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the new king of Israel who would replace King Saul. The problem, however, was that Samuel was judging the “book” by its cover. Jesse’s son Eliab was tall, dark, and handsome, so Samuel assumed he would be God’s choice for king. But God made it clear to Samuel then, and to you and me today, that He never judges any of us by the way we look on the outside. That is the way of sinful man. God looks beyond the outer appearance to the beating of the heart.

What has your heart been beating for lately?

God bypassed the likely candidate for king (“likely” based on human standards) and instead chose the lowly shepherd boy David. God knew that David was a man after God’s own heart. That doesn’t mean that David’s heart always beat for God alone. We all remember his horrible sin with Bathsheba and how his adultery led ultimately to murder. It wasn’t until God sent the prophet Nathan to rebuke David that he came to his senses. God does not expect perfection from us on this side of the grave. But what He does expect—indeed, what He commands—is a heart that primarily beats for Him, even though it will beat for things smaller than Him at times.

God looks at our hearts, not our height. For God, what is on the inside matters most. Remember, only God knows what is going on inside of us. God knows what we desire most in this life, what treasures we are seeking.

Remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.” Our first priority in this life must be Jesus and the expansion of His kingdom. When our heart is beating for Jesus, it is beating in a way that glorifies God and benefits all whom we come in contact with.

Remember, God never judges a book by its cover . . . and we shouldn’t either!

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

Today is the official holiday that Americans observe every year to honor all the men and women who served in the United States Armed Forces. The date coincides with other memorial days, including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, which are celebrated in other parts of the world to mark the anniversary of the end of the First World War. The major hostilities of World War One were formally ended at the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month of 1918, when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. The United States originally observed Armistice Day; the name was altered to the current Veterans Day holiday in 1954.

Today is a day to give thanks to God for everyone who has served our nation . . . but it is not Thanksgiving Day. Today is a day to celebrate the freedom their commitment and sacrifice provided to us . . . but it is not Independence Day. Today is Veterans Day, a day to pause and offer God a prayer of thanksgiving for the freedom we have been given. We live in the greatest nation in the world, but we must never forget that the freedom we enjoy isn’t free. It has been given to us at great cost, a cost for which all veterans paid some . . . and some veterans paid all.

This past weekend we played a special video tribute at Cross Community Church to honor all of our veterans. Far too many churches today seem to have forgotten those brave men and women who served our nation to protect our freedoms, including our religious liberty. We worship each week under the banner of freedom their great sacrifice provided. Since we planted The Cross in 2012, we make time every year to honor the men and women who served and are serving in our Armed Forces. Every time we do, families come up after the service to say thank you. Many come with tears in their eyes, and some of those who come do not even have a family member who is a veteran.

So to all of you veterans who are reading this today . . . THANK YOU! Thank you for your commitment to answer the call. Thank you for your willingness to leave your family and friends behind to serve us. Thank you for your faithfulness to stand a post for all of us. Thank you for your bravery and courage to face our enemies on behalf of us.

Thank you for being a true superhero—not because you have some kind of supernatural power that makes you faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, or able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. No, those are the qualities of the cartoon character Superman, who could not ultimately be overcome by the enemies he faced. But for you, your “super” in hero is found in the fact that you could be overcome. You could be hurt. You could be wounded. You could be captured. You could be scarred for life. You could die. And yet you faced the enemy with no guarantee of the final outcome. You stood up for all those who could not stand up for themselves—even for those who would not—and for that, I say thank you and God bless you!

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

(John 15:12-13}

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

After finishing high school, I spent three years as an ocean lifeguard, serving the city of Hollywood, Florida. Despite all the lifesaving and water safety training we received, you are never quite prepared for the challenge of physically controlling and calming a struggling swimmer in order to get them and you to safety. The rescuer is taught to approach from behind, in order to keep the panicked swimmer from grabbing the rescuer and pulling him or her down. If this “stealth approach” was impossible, we learned to approach from the front, always keeping a flotation device between the victim and the rescuer. To be sure, the victim does not desire to be “reluctantly rescued,” but their fear causes them to fight against the rescuer all the way to the shore.

I believe this serves as a marvelous picture of the Christian’s redemption.

As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

(Romans 3:10-12)

The apostle Paul echoed the Old Testament to precisely describe what happened to you and me as a result of the fall of Adam and Eve. Our first parents sinned by eating the forbidden fruit; when they heard the sound of God approaching in the Garden of Eden, they ran and hid . . . and we have been on the run ever since. We are rebels on the run, hiding from the only One who can help us! Because of our unrighteousness, we are both reluctant and resistant to the things of God. We are seeking everything other than God, and in the process, we shrink the size of our lives down to the size of our lives.

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

(1 Corinthians 2:14)

However, in spite of our reluctance and rebellion, just like the struggling swimmer in the open ocean, our Rescuer grabs hold of us and brings us safely to the shore of our salvation. And just like the struggling swimmer, without the divine rescue operation, we will inevitably sink into the depths of despair and ultimate destruction.

It is important to note that God’s rescue doesn’t end the day we are saved. It continues every day until He brings us home into glory. As Dr. D. James Kennedy often said, “God saved you then, and He is saving you now!”

God is constantly rescuing us from ourselves, because, deep within, the battle rages between the old and the new nature. Paul makes this truth abundantly clear in the seventh chapter of Romans. He closes that remarkable passage with this passionate cry:

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!

(Romans 7:24-25)

What an encouragement it is to know that God will never stop rescuing rebels on the run!

Jonah knew this truth personally; after he ran from God’s call on his life, God rescued him from the stormy seas and the belly of a great fish. David knew this truth personally; God used the prophet Nathan to rescue him from his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband.

I can find no greater comfort than to know God will never let me go. We talk a lot about faithfulness in the church today, and well we should; but if the whole counsel of God is declared, we know that we are secure in our redemption, not because of our faithfulness to Jesus, but because of His faithfulness to us!

God’s mercy, grace, and love will overcome our resistance and reluctance and carry us all the way into glory!

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

Science tells us that all babies have two inborn fears incorporated into their human DNA and their immature nervous systems: the fear of loud noises and fear of falling.

Other than these two fears, every fear we experience throughout life is acquired, from the fear of closed spaces to fear of open spaces . . . from the fear of being abandoned to the fear of public speaking . . . from fear of darkness to fear of death. Some of these fears protect us and others paralyze us.

So . . . how do we effectively deal with those fears that can paralyze us and prevent us from growing into the person God is calling us to be? Here are two steps you can take toward victory in the ongoing battle between faith and fear.

Step #1 Remember the promises of God

Now, we cannot remember the promises of God if we don’t know the promises of God, and the only way to know the promises of God is to immerse ourselves in the Word of God.

How much time have you been spending God’s Word lately? How many promises can you recite from memory?

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

(Psalm 23:4)

The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?

(Psalm 27:1)

God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

(2 Timothy 1:7)

There simply is no substitute for spending time in the Scriptures if we are ever going to conquer our fears by faith in Jesus Christ.

Step #2 Keep your focus on Christ, not your circumstances

I know this is easier said than done, which is why Step #1 is so critical in this process. The single common denominator for those who focus more on Christ than on their circumstances is their knowledge and understanding of the Word of God. Like the psalmist, they know that the best defense against fear is a good offense.

Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.

(Psalm 34:5)

When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?

(Psalm 56:3-4)

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

(Psalm 119:11)

Alexander MacLaren, an English minister of the late 1800s, put it this way:

Faith, which is trust, and fear are opposite poles. If a man has the one, he can scarcely have the other in vigorous operation. He that has his trust set upon God does not need to dread anything except the weakening or the paralyzing of that trust.

With a mind and heart filled with the Word of God, and with our focus fixed firmly on Christ (rather than our circumstances), faith will conquer any fear we face. We have His Word on it!

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

When was the last time you considered just how loved you are by the Lord God Omnipotent? Well, today I offer a word of unimaginable comfort: Look up . . . your God is looking down upon you at this very moment.

From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. . . .The eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.

(Psalm 33:13-15, 18-19)

If this passage doesn’t light the fire of your faith . . . your wood is wet! God is looking down from heaven, mindful of all mankind. This truth tells us that God is attending to both our spiritual and physical needs. God meets us in our place of need, moment by moment. He knows the number of hairs on our head and knows exactly what we need, when we need it, and how we need it to be given to us.

To be sure, we do not know the distance from heaven to earth. But one thing we do know: we know we are loved on, led on, and looked on from on high. Not a moment goes by where God is not upholding us with His amazing grace.

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)

One thing we must remember is the fact that God is looking down on us . . . even when we are not looking up at Him. When we are looking hither, thither, and yon at a thousand things smaller than God, He never takes His eyes off of us. When we are thinking about a thousand things other than God, He never stops thinking about us. When we are desperately desiring a thousand things lesser than God, He never stops desiring us. What a wonderful truth of comfort that is for us today! God is totally for us . . . even when we are not partly focused on Him!

The Bible is full of stories that confirm that truth. Abraham stopped looking up for a moment when He tried to pass off his wife to Pharaoh as his sister in order to save his skin, yet God never turned His gaze away from His fearful servant. Moses stopped looking up for a moment when he struck the rock in the wilderness after God instructed him to simply speak to it, yet God never turned His gaze away from His faithless servant. Peter stopped looking up for a moment on the night Jesus was betrayed. Terrified by the questioning of a lowly servant girl, Peter denied his Lord, yet God never turned His gaze away from His foolish, fearful servant. In fact, Jesus stared right at him!

The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.”

(Luke 22:61)

I cannot find any condemnation in this look from Jesus. Rather, it is a look of compassion and comfort for a hurting and convicted disciple. This, of course, is proven on the beach after the Christ’s resurrection, when He restored Peter with His question, “Peter do you love me?” Not once did our Lord ask, but three times, making abundantly clear to Peter that his three denials had all been washed clean by the blood of the Lamb.

If you will remember that God is continually looking down upon you from on High, you will spend more time looking up at Him.

So . . . what have you been looking at lately? What captures your attention and your affection? If it is anything smaller than God, it will always let you down.

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

Those of us who came to faith in Christ later in life remember well the change that took place in our hearts. Please understand that I am not talking about a change that led us to a life of perfection; rather, I am talking about a change that led us in a new direction, a divine direction that was paved for us by the sinless life, sacrificial death, and supernatural resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, with Jesus on the throne of our lives, for the very first time we had . . .

• New desires
• New goals
• New visions
• New plans
• New thoughts
• New agendas
• New purposes
• New meaning
• New significance
• New love

The list, of course, could go on for several pages. The apostle Paul exulted that:

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

(2 Corinthians 5:17)

Truly, nothing compares to the very first time we were captivated by the mercy, grace, and love of God in Christ Jesus. To be fully forgiven and unconditionally loved was to experience something like the weight of the world lifting off of our shoulders. We were running on all cylinders, making our way through life with freedom, joy, and faithfulness to Jesus.

But, as all too often happens, we have on occasion lost that loving feeling!

Life seems to get in the way of our love for Jesus. We remove Jesus from the throne of our lives and begin living for self rather than the Savior. We drift back into our own plans and purposes, our dreams and desires, and before we know it we find ourselves once again living for something much, much smaller than Jesus. Often it takes a storm to send us reeling back to our Savior, so that we can once again plant our feet firmly on the Rock of Ages.

Regardless of where this message finds you today, the goal of the Christian life is to keep Christ at the center. May it never be said of us what was said about the church at Ephesus: “You have lost your first love” (Revelation 2:4).

When we find ourselves drifting in the wrong direction, there are two things we must do: repent and return to our Redeemer. The life of the disciple of Christ is marked by repentance and returning. When we realize that we have left our first love, we are to cry out to Jesus with a heart filled with a godly sorrow and return Him to His rightful place—at the center of our lives—looking once again, to the Author and Finisher (Hebrews 12:2 NKJV) of our faith, who has promised to complete in us what He began (Philippians 1:6).

Some Christians who realize that they have drifted badly are afraid to turn back to God. They think things like, “I’ve blown it! How could He possibly want anything more to do with me? I’ll just go back to my old life.” When you stop to think about it, this reasoning is just as silly as Adam hiding from God in the Garden or Jonah running away from God by taking the ship to Tarshish. Recall the words of King David:

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

(Psalm 139:7-8 NKJV)

God knows you’ve blown it . . . he knows where you are . . . He is there with you . . . and His message to you is this: “I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you” (Isaiah 44:22). In Jesus Christ is all the love and forgiveness you will ever need. Return to your first love!

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