Grace for the Race

I would like to close out the year with a two-part message, which will be rooted in these words from the apostle Paul to Timothy:

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

I believe you and I can use three phrases Paul employed to summarize all that God had done in his life after his Damascus Road experience to evaluate how well 2014 went for us. Today we’ll look at the first two of these phrases; on New Year’s Eve, we’ll concentrate on the final one.

I have fought the good fight . . .

If Paul had said “I have fought A good fight” he could have been speaking about any challenge or trial he had encountered. However, the Spirit of God moved him to speak of “THE good fight,” and the only “good fight” for you and me is the one God has called us into. God turned Paul’s life upside-down when He changed Saul into Paul; instead of the violent persecutor of the church, Paul was now the preacher and pastor of the church. Paul did indeed fight the good fight God had called him to fight.

I have finished the race . . .

Paul was fond of comparing his life to a race. Make no mistake: he was not speaking of a short sprint, but rather a marathon. Paul lived a life that was reflective of the truth that He who had begun a good work in him would absolutely complete it. Yet at the same time, Paul knew that he must to continue, by God’s grace, to prayerfully put one foot in front of the other foot every step of the way to the finish line.

So . . . as we draw near to the end of 2014, take some time to consider both of these phrases: “I have fought the good fight . . . I have finished the race.” Can the same be said of you? Was 2014 marked by fighting the good fight? Are you progressing steadily, in the strength of the Almighty, through the race He has set before you?

Please remember, just as Paul did, that we are not talking about fighting the good fight and finishing the 2014 race perfectly. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul freely confessed that he was “the worst” of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). Everything we do we do imperfectly. But here is the question we should honestly ask and answer: Did I make God’s plan in my life my primary passion and pursuit throughout 2014?

Give that some thought . . . and we’ll dig a little deeper on New Year’s Eve.

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

I’ve got to believe that the Number One question asked and answered by kids the day after Christmas is, “So what did you get?” The reason I believe this is because at one time—a long time ago—I was a kid and asked this question. Kim and I have four kids who ask this question and are asked this question by their friends. “So what did you get?”

Theodor Seuss Geisel (whom you and I know as Dr. Seuss) gave young and old alike something to think about in these words from his delightful tale of How The Grinch Stole Christmas:

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so? It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!” And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! “What if Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas . . . perhaps . . . means a little bit more!”

Christmas means a whole lot more than what we get from a store. And every year, as we watch the Grinch Christmas special with the kids, we are reminded anew of that truth. Hopefully we all got a clearer view of the First Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ as we celebrated His birth yesterday among the packages, boxes, and bags. This Babe born in Bethlehem grew in wisdom and stature, lived a sinless life, died a sacrificial death, and was resurrected from the grave. Forty days later He ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. But His story does not end there! He is on the way back.

Hopefully on Christmas Day we also got a clearer vision of the return of our Lord for His Second Advent. This truth brings such great encouragement and hope to all of us who anxiously await His return! In His first Advent, Jesus came as a suffering servant to pay the penalty for our sin by nailing it all to the cross. But in His Second Advent, He will return as the conquering King who will reign forever and ever . . . and we will reign with Him. Think about some of the great implications of this truth!

• No more sin
• No more suffering
• No more sorrow
• No more shame
• No more sickness
• No more pain
• No more tears
• No more death

The old will be gone, but that’s not all. The new will be ushered in. There will be a new heavens and a new earth; everything will be new, including you and me! We will have new bodies and a new, unbroken fellowship with our Lord. “We shall be like him,” the Beloved Apostle promised, “for we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2). All things in heaven and on earth will be brought under one Head, our King, and we will reign with Him as glorified saints in the glorified creation for all eternity.

So . . . what did you get for Christmas? Was it merely packages, boxes, and bags? Or did you get something that means . . . a great deal more?

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

 I remember as a little boy when my momma read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas to me for the very first time on Christmas Eve. For millions around the world, the reading of the poem by Clement Clarke Moore has become an institution. But I want to speak with you today about a different “night” before Christmas, the night that deeply impacted all of us long before the very first Christmas Day.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5 ESV)

Before the darkness of sin entered the world, there was light. “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). Let’s explore this concept under two headings: the reality of this darkness and the remedy for it.

1. The Reality of this Darkness

Before the darkness enveloped mankind, there was light in the world.

God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. (Genesis 1:3-4)

The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent. (Psalm 104:2)

Adam and Eve were created to be image-bearers of God.

God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

Our first parents were to walk in the light, just as God is light. But sin shrouded that light.

The serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” . . . When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (Genesis 3:1, 6)

Since Adam and Eve’s terrible, treacherous fall in the Garden of Eden, we live in a dark world, a world marred by the stain of sin and the slime of the serpent. The world is darkened by . . .

• Depravity
• Despair
• Dread
• Doubt
• Disappointment
• Defeat
• Death

This is the bitter reality of the darkness that entered into this world when the serpent convinced our first parents to turn away from God. Adam and Eve were not satisfied with being made in the image of God. They wanted to be God, and they chose to do the one thing that God had commanded them not to do. But God did not leave them in their sin! Instead, He proclaimed the remedy—the only remedy, the perfect remedy—for this darkness.

2. The Remedy for this Darkness

God promised to redeem us from the darkness and bring us out into the light.

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. (Genesis 3:15)

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.  (Isaiah 42:16)

You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.  (Psalm 18:28)

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. (Psalm 119:105)

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”(John 8:12)

(Before curing the man born blind, Jesus said,) “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:5)

The light of Jesus Christ, the God-man born in a manger in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago, leads us out of darkness and into God’s wonderful light.

A pillar of fire lit the way for God’s people who were coming out of bondage in Egypt.

A bright star showed the way for the wise men who were coming to find the Savior.

Jesus Christ is the way—the only way—out of the darkness into the light.

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9)

God’s remedy for dispelling the darkness of sin is our Redeemer, God’s precious and beloved Son, Jesus Christ. He is the Child of Promise, who came to take away the sin (darkness) of this world by his perfect life, sacrificial death, and supernatural resurrection.

Is this your truth this Christmas? Is this your celebration? Have you received, by grace through faith, Jesus as the light of your world? Have you trusted Him as your personal Savior? If you aren’t sure, you can be! You need only confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, and salvation comes to you today.

C.S. Lewis’s classic allegory, The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, tells the tale of a land populated by talking animals, mythical beings, and a self-proclaimed queen, the white witch, who controlled Narnia through her magically imposed rule. Her spell made it, as Lewis memorably wrote, “always winter but never Christmas.” This had been the dreary truth in Narnia for one hundred years. Edmund, one of four children who had entered the Narnian world, was captured by the white witch. Yet even as he languished in captivity, Edmund realized that the witch’s spell has been broken:

All around them, though out of sight, there were streams chattering, bubbling, splashing and even (in the distance) roaring. And his heart gave a great leap (though he hardly knew why) when he realized that the frost was over . . . Only five minutes later he noticed a dozen crocuses growing around the foot of an old tree—gold and purple and white.

The melting snow was a sure sign that Aslan, the great lion, was on the move and that the frozen, joyless reign of the white witch would soon end. Aslan, of course represents Christ, the Lion of Judah. His birth, death, burial, and resurrection are the sure and certain sign that the cold winter darkness, which had held man’s heart in its grip for millennia, has been broken. The great Lion is on the move; He has reversed the curse of sin and death, He is shining the light of eternity into our darkened hearts, and there is new life growing all around us!

This is the wonderful promise of Christmas. I pray that this Christmas you will be filled with . . .

The surprise of Mary

The surrender of Joseph

The song of the angels

The strength of the shepherds

The sureness of the Magi

And the salvation of God’s wonderful Remedy that dispels the dreary darkness

May God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit bless you now and forever more.

Merry Christmas!

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

Only three more days until Christmas, and our “Holiday Hurry” will be over. How has that been going for you? See if any of the following resonate with you and see how many more you can add to this list:

• “Hurry up! We’re running late for the Nutcracker!”
• “Hurry up! We’ve got to finish decorating the tree before all the needles fall off!”
• “Hurry up! We’re going to miss the start of the Christmas pageant!”
• “Hurry up! All the sale items will be sold by the time we get to the store!”
• “Hurry up! We need to get home with these groceries to finish the baking!”
• “Hurry up! We’ll never get all these presents wrapped in time!”
• “Hurry up! We need to leave this party and get to the next one!”

It seems like we spend the entire month of December hurrying from place to place so that we can check off all our Christmas season “things-to-do.” By the time we get to Christmas day, we are so frazzled from this month-long marathon that we find it hard to remember the reason for the season!

[The shepherds] hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. (Luke 2:16)

Those shepherds remind us of the kind of holiday hurry that should mark the lives of God’s people; instead of hurrying to the store we should hurry to our Savior. Instead of hurrying to the party we should hurry to our Prince of Peace. Instead of hurrying to wrap all those gifts we should hurry into the presence of the One who offers the greatest gift of all. When was the last time you hurried off to spend some alone time with Jesus? As my beloved Kim frequently reminds me, “There is more to life than increasing its speed!”

These shepherds understood what kind of hurry would be best. They hurried off, not to the marketplace or the mall, but to a stable where our Lord was to be found, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger next to Mary and Joseph and some animals.

So . . . you slowed down long enough to read this far. That’s good! As you reflect on these thoughts, would you have to admit that you’ve been pressing harder to get your “to-do” list done than to draw near to the Savior? Regardless of the answer, fear not! During these last three days before Christmas, let me encourage you to hurry off to the Holy One, just as those shepherds did. They knew that the only kind of Holiday Hurry that would truly profit their souls would be the one that led them to the Babe in a manger.

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

We hear a lot of talk these days about “self-confidence” and how important it is to have it in order to succeed in life. I used to teach and coach this worldly “wisdom” for years before Jesus showed up. Now, instead of self-confidence, I teach Savior-confidence. It is Christ alone who is worthy of our confidence. When we place our trust in ourselves, we can never be sure of anything! We might have a good day or a bad day. But when we put our confidence in our Savior, regardless of the kind of day we experience, our confidence is in the right place and it need never waver.

Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced.  (Isaiah 50:7)

The psalmist had his confidence in the right place. He looked up instead of in. He looked to his Savior and not himself. This is the key to living a life that truly matters. You see, when we are totally convinced that our God is there to give us strength, there is nothing we will not risk for Him. Why? Because we know we will never be disgraced in His eyes. Oh, we may risk and lose in the eyes of this world; they may even laugh and jeer at us. But in the eyes of the only One who matters, when we place our confidence in Him, we are never disgraced, regardless of the results.

Think about this for a moment; marinate in this truth. If your God is helping you in whatever area of life you need His help, who can actually hinder you? You might even expand on the assurance given us in Romans 8:31; in addition to saying, “If God is for me, who can be against me?” say, “If God is for me, why should I care who is against me?” Make no mistake: no obstacle you face is more powerful than the Omnipotence who has promised to help you.

Where is your confidence today? Are you confident in your strength … your smarts … your success … your significance … your skill … you sincerity … your service … your sacrifice? There is someone better—so much better—to put your confidence in, and His name is Jesus. Trust in the One who took your beating, your nails, your crown of thorns, and your cross. If He did that for you, what do you think He will withhold from you today?

All the way back in the Garden of Eden, the lying serpent convinced Eve to question God’s goodness. Don’t let that happen to you today . . . or any day! God is good and He wants the best for you. Granted, His best for us may not always look like the “best” we were hoping for, but know this: whatever His best is at that time is the very best! Divine support will deliver you from the hollow promise of “self-confidence” and give you a confidence that will never let you down. Trust in Christ alone and know that trust will bring you to the Fount from which all blessings flow.

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

The comfort in today’s message is found in the promise of God, given to the people of God, who believe in the Son of God as the promised Messiah.

Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.  (Acts 16:31)

Last month our congregation saw this promised fulfilled in the Malecki family. Daughter Jane started bringing her father Bill to Cross Community Church when he was 100 years and 4 months old. Bill’s body is weakening, but his mind is still very sharp; he told Jane that there was “something about” the messages he was hearing that intrigued him; he was happy to keep coming back week after week. Two months later, at age 100 years and six months, God fulfilled the promise of Acts 16:31 for Jane and her household by bringing Bill to faith in Jesus. We received him into our family of faith by both profession and baptism. There were a great many tears of joy shed, and not just by Bill’s immediate family!

What a promise to the people of God! “. . . You and your household.” Jane never gave up on that promise as she continued praying, year after year, decade after decade, for her father’s salvation. Should you or I ever give up on praying for anyone? God forbid! Pray for the conversion of parents. Pray for the conversion of wayward children. Pray for the conversion of extended family members. Pray for the conversion of future generations yet to come. Pray for that person you know (or know of) who currently seems so hardened to the things of God. Pray for them daily and by name. God’s arm is not shortened; He can reach anybody . . . at any time in this life.

Here is the promise in a nutshell. We never know when God might move in the lives of those we love. Yet, we know that God’s timing is always perfect and His plan of salvation is far better than our plan. God has given us this promise and we simply need to stay on our knees at His throne of grace . . . just as Jane did so faithfully for so many years.

I simply cannot tell you what an encouragement this “eternal event” was at The Cross. Bill’s conversion encouraged so many people—not only in our congregation but throughout our community. Many of us have been praying for decades for family members who have not yet placed their trust in Christ’s atoning work at Calvary. Never give up! Never give in!

Never lose sight of this promise from God: “You and your household.” Let us never rise from our knees nor give our petitions any rest until we see that our household is firmly rooted in the faith of our loving Lord, Jesus Christ.

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

When was the last time someone told you that you were “full of goodness”? If it’s been a while, cheer up! I have a wonderful word of encouragement for you today.

I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. (Romans 15:14)

The apostle Paul was absolutely convinced that the saints in Rome were full of goodness. Wouldn’t that be well said of all of us! This word “goodness” in the original Greek means to benefit others, and its highest expression is found in sacrificial service. It is living a life that is other-oriented for two reasons: God’s glory and the good of all others. Someone once said, “The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway!”

This goodness is not manufactured by man. It is a gift from God that comes to us by virtue of our union, by faith, with Jesus Christ and is manifested as one of the fruits of His Holy Spirit.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

This heavenly gift, given to those who have trusted in Christ Jesus, is meant to be poured out on all others out of love for God and for the glory of God. We must remember that genuine faith always produces this fruit because “a good tree bears good fruit” (Matthew 7). I have written this here several times, but it bears repeating here: the Christian life is not about perfection on this side of the grave. It is about a change in direction, and that change is produced by our union with Jesus.

When we are united by grace through faith to Jesus, everything changes! Our desires change. Our goals change. Our dreams change. Our plans change. Our ultimate destination changes, and along the way we become more and more like our Master, who “went around doing good” (Acts 10:38).

If Jesus went around doing good, His ambassadors—that means you and me, beloved—should go around doing good also. And it is important to note that Jesus went around personally. He did not send angels or disciples for the work He was here to do. He did not send money so that others could do good. He went personally to the woman at the well. He went personally to the tax collector. He went personally to the tomb of Lazarus. He went personally to the sick, the lame, the blind, the deaf, and the lost.

So . . . is your life marked by going around doing good personally? This is what I call the ministry of the presence. Just showing up is one of the best ways to minister and do good to someone. Let them hear and feel . . .

• Your high five
• Your helping hand
• Your holy hug
• Your healing hope
• Your heavy heart
• Your hallelujah

Ecclesiastes 9:10 tell us, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” In other words, do what you can do while there is still time to do it. Perhaps someday someone will say that you are full of goodness!

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

When Jesus spoke with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, He made it clear that there are two different “wells” we can drink from: one will sustain everyday life . . . the other will sustain eternal life.

Jesus was returning to Galilee from Judea, and John’s gospel tells us our Lord “had to go through Samaria,” which means He had a divine appointment with the woman at the well. Around noon, the woman came to the well to draw water to meet her physical needs. But Jesus engaged her in a conversation about a different kind of water than what she had come looking for, a “living water.” And after Jesus reviewed her past for her, she realized that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. Notice what she did next:

Leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”  (John 4:28-29)

After her encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, the woman abandoned the very reason she came to the well in the first place! She forgot all about her water jar and ran back to town to tell everyone about the Messiah. For the very first time in her life, this sinful woman knew the truth that there was something greater than meeting physical needs. Everything this woman had been looking to in order to meet her in her deepest place of need was now met in her Messiah.

So . . . the question we must ask ourselves is this: What water jar are we willing to abandon in order to embrace Jesus and drink from His well of living water?

• Climbing the ladder of success
• Applause of man
• Acceptance of others
• Financial security
• Physical pleasure

The list could go on and on. When we are looking to meet our needs in anything smaller than Jesus, we are looking to fill our “water jar.” Like the Samaritan woman at the well, we must be willing to leave it behind in order to have the deep thirst of our soul slaked by the living water that only our Savior can offer.

Some readers may be worrying about the jar the woman left behind at the well. You might well ask, “She does need the physical water to sustain life, doesn’t she?” Don’t worry about that; Jesus has promised to meet all of our physical needs too!

“So do not worry,” He tells us, “saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:31-33). Our loving Lord promises to meet us at our every point of need, in this world and the next.

Truly, when we drink from His well, we will never grow thirsty again!

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

I’ll often ask members of our congregation this question: “How many extra Christians has God made?” How would you answer? The answer, of course, is NONE! Every Christian is both needed and valuable in order for the body of Christ to become all God is calling it to be. In other words, every member matters . . . and that includes you!

Is the name Edward Kimball familiar to you? Don’t feel badly; not many people do. Edward taught Sunday school at Boston’s Mount Vernon Congregational Church in the mid-1800’s. One day an 18-year-old boy entered Edward’s Sunday school class; this is what Edward Kimball recalled about that first meeting:

I can truly say, and in saying it I magnify the infinite grace of God as bestowed upon him, that I have seen few persons whose minds were spiritually darker than was this boy’s when he came into my Sunday school class, and I think that the committee of Mount Vernon Church seldom met an applicant for membership more unlikely ever to become a Christian of clear and decided views of Gospel truth, still less to fill any extended sphere of public usefulness.

Not long after this encounter, Edward went to this young man’s workplace, a shoe store. He hesitated outside; Edward later admitted that he almost passed by the store altogether. But he went in, determined to share Christ’s love, and found the young man in the back wrapping shoes. Edward Kimball put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and asked, “Will you not give your heart to Jesus?” Moments later, the young man gave his life to Christ. His name was Dwight L. Moody, and he went on to become one of the greatest evangelists of that century, a man who led thousands to Christ.

Moody befriended F.B. Meyer and is often credited with encouraging Meyer to fully commit himself to evangelistic ministry. Meyer, in turn, had a profound influence on the Presbyterian evangelist John Wilbur Chapman. Chapman declared that F. B. Meyer’s teaching changed his entire ministry, saying, “I shall never be able to express in words my appreciation of what this man of God . . . did for me by personal influence.”

Chapman hired a former baseball player named Billy Sunday to work in his evangelistic outreach. In 1924 Billy Sunday conducted a series of revival meetings in Charlotte, North Carolina. A group of citizens, inspired by Sunday’s impassioned oratory, formed the Billy Sunday Layman’s Evangelistic Club, later renamed the Christian Men’s Evangelistic Club. Ten years later, this group was instrumental in inviting another evangelist, Mordecai Ham, to conduct a series of meetings in Charlotte in November of 1934. A sixteen-year-old boy was persuaded to attend one of those meetings, and that boy went forward to give his life to Jesus Christ. His name was Billy Graham.

You probably never heard of Edward Kimball . . . but you very likely heard of D.L. Moody, and who hasn’t heard of Billy Graham? And it all began with the faithfulness of one man: Edward Kimball.

So . . . what about you? You name may not be known by many, but God wants to use you, right where you are, to expand the cause of His kingdom. God has called, equipped, and empowered you to do His work in this world. But He won’t force you to do it. Perhaps God is calling you to lead a Bible study . . . a prayer group . . . a service project . . . or to speak the love of God into the life of someone who does not know this truth today.

Remember, there are no extra Christians! God has put you in the perfect place to do His work right now. Perhaps years from now, someone will tell the story of their conversion . . . the day you shined the light of Christ into their darkness. I cannot imagine anything better than that!

One last thought: years later after that day in the shoe store, as Dwight L. Moody was concluding one of his evangelistic outreaches, a young man came up to Mr. Moody and introduced himself as the son of Edward Kimball, Moody’s old Sunday school teacher. Moody inquired as to the young man’s spiritual condition, and finding no evidence of faith in Christ, led him to the throne of grace, where God converted his soul.

You just never know what God can do with a heart yielded to His will. If not you . . . who? If not now . . . when?

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

As a pastor, I spend a great deal of time reading through the Bible over and over again, yet it never ceases to amaze me just how much God cares for us. You are likely familiar with the oft-quoted text that God even knows the number of hairs on our head (Matthew 10:30), which reveals that He cares about even the most infinitesimal details of our lives!

I’d like to offer you another word of incredible comfort today from the one of David’s psalms:

You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book? (Psalm 56:8 NKJV)

David knew how intimately God cared for him. Before David was crowned king of Israel, he spent years on the run from King Saul, who wanted to kill David because he burned with jealousy over David’s success and popularity. David was comforted in the knowledge that God had kept a detailed list of his years of wanderings. In other words, God kept track of David’s tracks! But that’s not all . . . God tracked David’s tears as well.

The Holy Spirit moved David to offer this lovely image of God collecting his tears in His bottle, a reference to an ancient custom among the Greeks and Romans, who would collect their tears shed for the death of a loved one in a bottle or container of remembrance and then place the bottle in the tomb of the deceased. Clearly, David was greatly encouraged by the knowledge that God cares so much for us that He keeps track of our tears. Christian, if that doesn’t light the fire of your faith, your wood is wet!

You and I have shed our share of tears in this lifetime, have we not?

• Tears of sorrow
• Tears of pain
• Tears of grief
• Tears of frustration
• Tears of joy
• Tears of laughter
• Tears of loneliness

God is not some distant, disconnected deity who is indifferent to the trials and tears of His people. God cares for every one of us, and that includes you! God cares about even the smallest details of your life, and He is with you every step of the way.

I know there are times when it seems like God is distant, heaven is silent, and the weight of the world is pressing down on your shoulders. But remember this: Jesus came into this world and God the Father collected His tears in His bottle also . . . tears that Jesus shed for you.

Regardless of where this finds you today, whether you are shedding tears of joy or tears of pain, God is tracking your tears. He cares so much for you that He took your place on a cruel cross and paid the penalty for your every sin . . . past, present, and still to come. Christ’s cry of unimaginable anguish from the cross—“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”—is your cry of cosmic comfort. You can be utterly and eternally assured that because Jesus was forsaken, you never will be!

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