Grace for the Race

In 1306, while Scotland was at war with England, Robert the Bruce became king of Scotland. Legend says there was a time when Robert took refuge in a cave to hide from the armies of England, and while in the cave he saw a spider trying to attach its web to a ceiling beam. Over and over, the spider tried and failed. Eventually, however, the creature succeeded in its task.

After a number of battles, Robert the Bruce led his men in the Battle of Bannock-burn in 1314. It was there where Scotland won its independence. This story of the spider is captured in the very familiar maxim . . .

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

Christian believer, I want you to carefully consider this: your life is to be defined by getting up one more time than you have been knocked down. It’s as simple as that! To be sure, God has called you into His perfect plan for your life, but make no mistake, along the way—perhaps even today—you will get knocked down. For decades, I have told student athletes I was coaching that falling isn’t failing unless you fail to get up! Proverbs 24:16 exhorts us, “Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again.”

So, regardless of the personal, professional, or relational difficulties you may be facing today—perhaps, like Robert the Bruce, you find yourself in a proverbial “cave” of conflict or confusion—remember the story of the spider. God has called you to be a spider-saint. Never give up and never give in!

The Bible is chock-full of examples of those who did not succeed at first … or on the second attempt … or even the third time. You do remember Peter denying his Lord in the courtyard, don’t you? Yet our Lord would not let him stay down. God helped Peter back up and set him right back into kingdom work by causing Peter to take his focus off his failure and put it back where it belonged—on Jesus.

I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.  (Isaiah 41:13)

Look today to the only One who can bring you both the encouragement and the comfort you need, no matter what “cave” is currently enclosing you. Remember: “If at first … or second … or third … you don’t succeed, try, try again!” God has given you everything you need to be a spider-saint, so keep trying! In the end, you will be glad you did and give God the glory.

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

Regardless of where this finds you today, could you use a little extra strength to get you through everything you are going through? If you could use a word of encouragement, read on!

“They will pass through the sea of trouble; the surging sea will be subdued and all the depths of the Nile will dry up . . . I will strengthen them in the LORD and in his name they will walk,” declares the LORD. (Zechariah 10:11-12)

Notice a few things that God told His people through the prophet Zechariah. First, they would find themselves in the sea of trouble. The people of God were never promised calm seas . . . only safe passage. “They will pass through the sea of trouble,” the Lord said. This means that whatever you are currently going through, you are going through it. You will be brought out on the other side by God’s mighty right hand.

Next, God promises to strengthen His people as they are passing through the sea of trouble. So instead of getting weaker along the way, as we would expect in the economy of this world, God promises that we will go from strength to strength (Psalm 84:7). “How is that possible?” you may be thinking. It is because we go—not in our name—but in His name, and there is power in the name of our God!

Finally, notice that the strength our Lord gives us causes us to walk, which suggests forward progress. It’s true that it is possible for us to walk backwards, and at times we do just that in our proverbial “one step forward and two steps back” mode of growth in the Lord. But here God is assuring us through Zechariah that He will give us the strength to go through everything He is calling us to go through.

So regardless of the “surging sea” you may be facing today, it will be subdued in the name of your Savior. There is a special word of comfort when God says “the depths of the Nile will dry up.” Imagine what power and might would be required to make that happen! Just like the children of Israel who walked along on dry ground, with surging walls of water on both sides as God parted the Red Sea, God will dry up any “surging sea” you may be facing today.

Oh, by the way . . . do you remember the end of the Red Sea story? God caused the waters to swallow up all the pursuing enemies of His people. Exodus 14:28 records that “The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen — the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.”

Call on His name today; He is ready to do the same for you right now!

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

Several years ago, when I was feeling a bit discouraged about not being used by God as much as I thought I should be, one of my best friends would frequently paraphrase Matthew 25:21 and remind me  . . .

“My brother, be faithful in the little things and the Lord will grant you with much!”

Because we serve a BIG GOD, I expect BIG THINGS from all He is calling all of us to do at Cross Community Church. To be sure, a big God does indeed accomplish big things through His people, but I need to be constantly reminded of three things: It will always be done . . .

• In His time,
• In His way,
• And it may not look like anything I had pictured it would look like!

Let’s look at the Word of the Lord, as He proclaimed these truths to the prophet Isaiah:

The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the LORD; in its time I will do this swiftly. (Isaiah 60:22)

I am a slow learner, but I am learning that God often begins His work on small scales. God’s plan is always better than our plan. In the Master’s miraculous multiplication, the least—which I certainly am—will become a thousand. The point is, God can do much with little. In fact, God can do much with nothing, which is the way He created the earth and everything in it ex nihilo—out of nothing.

All of Scripture suggests we have been made for more. God has wired us for increase. Problems arise, however, when we begin to seek this increase apart from the One who promised it . . . or in areas where we ought not to be seeking it.

The apostle Paul said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstance” (Philippians 4:11). Paul had learned to be content, but make no mistake, he was never satisfied. He always wanted more of a relationship with Jesus. He always wanted to make more of an impact for Jesus. Paul understood his “more” was to be anchored in his Master . . . and then the result would be miraculous multiplication.

Notice that the Lord told Isaiah that He will do these miraculous multiplications swiftly . . . in its time. God does not delay in delivering good things to His children. He delivers exactly what we need, in the perfect time we need it, and in the perfect way we need to receive it. It’s just that God’s perfect timing may not align with our imperfect understanding of “the right time.”

So . . . how are you doing today in being faithful in the little things? With your family? In your business? At school? In your church service? Remember the encouragement my dear friend gave me: Be faithful in the little things . . .  and the Lord will grant you with much. This is the Master’s miraculous multiplication!

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

You’ll probably recall this humorous exchange, taken from one of my all-time favorite movies, A Charlie Brown Christmas:

Lucy: I know how you feel about all this Christmas business, getting depressed and all that. It happens to me every year. I never get what I really want. I always get a lot of stupid toys or a bicycle or clothes or something like that.

Charlie Brown: What is it you want?

Lucy: Real estate!

Funny thing about Lucy’s response to Charlie Brown . . . that is the one thing that the Christian can truly count on—not on this side of the grave, but on the other side. And on the other side of eternity, our estate will truly be REAL!

You see, everything here is simply a shadow of the substance we will receive when we arrive in glory into the new heavens and the new earth. Drink in these words from our Lord:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1-3)

Now, I don’t know what all that will look like, but I do know Jesus has promised every one of His children real estate in glory! The difference between the real estate we occupy here and the real estate we will occupy there is that what we have here is temporary; what Jesus is preparing for us will be ours for all of eternity. We will leave behind everything we have accumulated on this side of heaven. It’s likely that someone else may drive our car, spend our money, live in our home, perhaps even wear our clothes! But whatever we receive in the new heavens and the new earth will never be lost or given away.

That is why Jesus tells us not to let our hearts be troubled and to trust in God. When we trust in anything smaller than our God, we will always be disappointed. No matter how much we have, we always want more. A better salary . . . a nicer car . . . a better address . . . you get the picture. “Enough” is never enough! We must keep in view what we have been promised, because what we have been promised is the only thing that is truly REAL!

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

There is much on this side of the grave that can bring us to the point of fainting, both in our personal and professional lives. Yet we have the secret of not fainting, even as we are growing faint—that secret is found throughout all of sacred Scripture. Today I’d like to share one of these life-changing, heart-strengthening verses with you.

From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. (Psalm 61:2)

Here is the key that unlocks the door leading to a supernatural strength that will keep us from fainting, regardless of the circumstances we are facing, such as . . .

ü  Family troubles

ü  Marriage difficulties

ü  Parenting challenges

ü  Work stress

ü  Health issues

ü  Financial shortcomings

The list, of course, could go on and on, spotlighting pressures and sorrows that will try our patience and cause our hearts to grow faint. Yet we have a Rock who is higher than what we are, which means we are standing on a Rock who is higher than any challenge we are currently facing. The great challenge is to remember this Gospel truth and call out to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Rock and our Redeemer.

Jesus is overruling all things (Colossians 1:15-18), and that includes the details of every area of our lives. We are to trust not in anything smaller than our Rock . . . not a resource, a relationship, or any religious practice. Our Rock is not only high enough, He is strong enough to bring us safely through to the other side of whatever storm we are currently experiencing.

So . . . what have you been calling on lately? Has it been everything smaller than the One who can actually help you get through whatever you are facing? I talk to so many Christians who confess that they see prayer as a last resort when all else has failed, rather than THE most powerful source of strength available to us! Jesus commanded us to “always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1) and He has assured us that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed (which is a very small seed, Beloved) we can “say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20).

What are you facing in your life today that seems like an impassable mountain looming before you? Call on Jesus, your Rock! He is the only One who will never leave you, forsake you, or fail you. He cannot make a promise to you that He will not keep, because it is impossible for Him to lie (Hebrews 6:18).

Perhaps you’re not feeling faint today; it may be that you are currently enjoying a season of great strength. Well, let me offer this exhortation: Don’t wait for your strength to run low! Call out to Jesus, your Rock, and be recharged by the infinite power source He offers to you. This is the Source that always keeps you from fainting, even when you find yourself feeling faint.

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

Today is Halloween. For 17 years, it was our tradition to go down to Momma’s house in Hollywood to take our children trick-or-treating. It started with Brock . . . two years later adding Jenna . . . four years later adding Katie . . . and two years later the Tank. Grandma couldn’t wait to see the kids dressed up in their costumes and walk with them to the neighbor’s homes. Grandma loved her grandchildren so very much, and she delighted in showing them off to her friends. There’s an ache in my heart as I write that we won’t be making our annual pilgrimage anymore; God called Momma home last December.

As a pastor, I am reminded often about the brevity of life. Today the reminder comes from within my family. I know there are godly men and women who disagree, but I see nothing wrong with dressing up and having a little family fun on Halloween . . . but remember to remove the mask at the end of the day! Life is way too short to go around pretending to be someone we are not.

• Sometimes we pretend because we want to protect ourselves.
• Sometimes we pretend because we want to promote ourselves.
• Sometimes we pretend because we want to please ourselves.
• Sometimes we pretend because we want to prove ourselves.

But this is not for you! As a child of the Most High God, we have a better way of living than pretending to be someone we are not. We don’t need to hide behind any mask, because we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. We don’t need to pretend to be someone we are not, because of the One who loved us enough to lay His life down and save us from our sins. A true friend will always accept you for who you are, not what you pretend to be . . . and Scripture assures us that Jesus is the Friend who will stick closer to us than a brother.

Think about this for a moment: God knew exactly what you were—a sinner in need of a Savior—and He sent His Son to die on a cross for you so that you can be with God for eternity. God came after you when you were on the run from Him; He loved you when you loved only yourself. Remember, when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, God did not leave them in their sin; He went after them! He sought them, caught them, and bought them . . . and He has done the same for you.

If you find yourself wearing a mask after today, take it off and be exactly who you are. Life is way too short to hide behind a mask, and God is quite fond of you just the way you are! The truth is, behind every perfect mask is an imperfect, messed up life that God is in the process of forming into a masterpiece. And if you have trusted in the work Christ did on your behalf, beloved, that process is going on inside of you!

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

The Bible has many warnings about the words that come out of our mouths because of the way they can affect—both positively and negatively—everyone around us, including ourselves. Here is a word of comfort, spoken to Moses long ago and which still speaks to all of us today:

Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say. (Exodus 4:12)

The Bible tells us that Moses was as reluctant as he was fearful to go back to Egypt as the spokesperson for the Almighty. He was not only fearful of facing Pharaoh (Pharaoh had sought to kill Moses after Moses killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrews slave); Moses was fearful of how his own people would receive him . . . or not receive him. Moses did not see himself as one who could speak on God’s behalf and he protested, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue” (Exodus 4:10).

Moses knew his natural limitations in speech. (Some commentators have suggested that he spoke with a stutter.) But what Moses didn’t know was how God would equip him with supernatural ability to do what He was asking Moses to do. God will never call us to do anything without equipping us to get it done. This was as true for Moses a millennia ago as it is for you and me today.

So . . . where is God calling you to go and speak His words of life today? Perhaps someone at the office needs to hear God speak through you today. Maybe someone in your classroom needs to hear God speak through you today. Is it possible someone in your own family needs to hear God speak through you today?

God never enlists us into His service without equipping us to do it. God gives us everything we need to do all He is calling us to do. He takes an apparent natural weakness and turns it into a supernatural strength. In whatever areas we lack, God fills us with His abundance. Where we are weak, God is strong; He will demonstrate to the watching world that He alone will accomplish His purposes in this world through broken people.

In closing, remember this: God placed a call on Moses’ life, but He also met Moses in his place of deepest need. God sent Moses’ brother Aaron to speak the Word of God for Moses. Moses still had to go as the deliverer of God’s people, but God gave him a helper. God knew exactly what Moses needed to lead the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. And God knows exactly what you need today to go and speak His Word into the hearts and lives of others.

Will you go? If not you . . . who? If not now . . . when? This is one time we are not to be “slow to speak,” as James 1:19 cautions us—when we are called to be the Master’s mouthpiece. Remember, you do not speak your own words and you do not go alone. You go in the strength of Omnipotence. Go!

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

Imagine that you’re heading out on a journey. At the beginning you find three different paths you can take: one turns to the left, one turns to the right, and one goes straight ahead. Which one would you take? You might be thinking, “Pastor Tommy, that depends on where I am going!” What if you saw this passage inscribed on the sign post?

Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. (Joshua 1:7)

Now which road would you take? Joshua is telling us that the path of obedience is the pathway to success . . . and success is always straight ahead. Success for the saints of God depends upon their obedience to God. Turning to the right or to the left will take us off the course God has set before us and is calling is to travel.

Notice that Joshua warned us to “be careful to obey,” which seems to suggest it is easy for us to get a bit careless when it comes to our walk with the Lord. How easy it is to neglect the things of God when we are working through the challenges of daily living!

• We neglect Scripture.
• We neglect prayer.
• We neglect worship.
• We neglect fellowship.
• We neglect serving.
• We neglect giving.

By nature, we turn this way and that way, to the right and to the left. Sometimes we are distracted by things smaller than Jesus. Other times we are simply looking for the path of least resistance. Yet our God has often ordained a rough road for the redeemed to take. This is the straight way to our Savior; it is the way He has ordained to bring us to the end of ourselves, which is the greatest success He has promised. As we decrease, He increases and we are conformed more and more into the image and likeness of Christ . . . the place where both our strength and courage grow. To be sure, this is the only kind of success that truly matters!

Oh, by the way, Moses did not start out looking straight ahead at his Savior. When he was in the court of Pharaoh and saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, one of his own people, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. But how instructive the text is when we read just prior to this sinful, man-centered act of salvation that Moses looked “this way and that way” (Exodus 2:12 NKJV), cutting him off from any measure of success in the eyes of God. You see, there is only one path to success as God has defined it—and that path is straight ahead!

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

A big part of a pastor’s job involves sitting at a table, coaching and counseling others. I am continually confronted by situations where it becomes painfully clear that the root cause of a person’s distress is what he or she is trusting in—and I’ve found that far too many people are trusting in their own personal might. The result is less than what we’d hoped for at best . . . and a train wreck at worst.

You see, we always have two choices in life: we can trust in our own might . . . or we can trust in the Mighty One!

The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets. From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages. He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people: “Gather to me my consecrated ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for God himself is judge. (Psalm 50:1-6)

After reading a passage like that, it seems kind of silly to trust in our own might, doesn’t it? The psalmist began his exaltation with three splendid divine names: Mighty One, God, and Lord. How mighty is this Mighty One? First, we see that from east to west, God rules over the whole earth. Next we see that our Mighty One has fire at His disposal, a fire of righteous judgment that devours before Him, while a tempest rages around Him.

We know from the Book of Psalms that none of these things are random or beyond God’s sovereign hand; lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds, all these do his bidding (Psalm 148:8). He makes flames of fire His servants and rides on the wings of the wind (Psalm 104:3-4). He, and He alone, can command the lightning bolt precisely where it should strike (Job 36:32). Indeed, He is a Mighty One!

God is in control of all things, and uses all things for His glory and to accomplish His purposes. But there is more! We see that this Mighty One has made a covenant with His people. A covenant is a solemn agreement between persons; when one of those persons is the Mighty One, you can take that agreement to the bank. And so we should never trust in our own might but always trust in our Mighty One!

• In your weakness He is your strength.
• In your brokenness He is your healing.
• In your restlessness He is your peace.
• In your pain He is your comfort.
• In your doubt He is your truth.
• In your fear He is your faith.
• In your darkness He is your light.
• And in your death He is your life.

Your Mighty One is your everything; He is the answer to every question . . . the solution to every problem. As a father of four children, I can tell you that there is nothing that blesses me more than when they come to me for advice, help, or simply just to talk. It blesses me, and I hope I am able to provide a blessing for them. But how much MORE is our mighty, heavenly Father able to bless us when we come to Him! And yet . . . all too often we trust in our own might and neglect coming to our Mighty One. Or we think of coming to Him as the last resort, when all else has failed, rather than coming to Him right at the outset and then waiting confidently for His promised deliverance.

I pray that today’s message will remind you—and me!—to reach out to the only true Source of might: our Mighty One. Because God is a covenant-keeping God, you can trust in every promise He has made, including the one to never leave nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).

Now, that is a “might” worth trusting in!

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

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:2)

Who is “this Man” who welcomes sinners and eats with them? He is, of course, none other than God incarnate, fully divine and fully man—the Word who was with God and who was God and who became flesh (John 1:1, 14). He is Jesus, who left the throne room of heaven, took on the flesh of man in the form of a servant, and willingly went to a rough wooden cross to pay the penalty of sin. This Man is Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who suffered the tortures of the damned so that you and I might know the eternal bliss of angels.

In the words of Charles Spurgeon, “It needs an angel’s tongue to describe such a mighty stoop of love.” Yet this “stoop of love” was done for people like you and me, sinners who are desperately in need of a Savior. How tragic that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law grumbled about this ineffable stoop of love, which they themselves needed so badly! But, blinded by their own self-righteousness, they could not see themselves as they truly were: sinners, separated from God—“dead men walking,” if you will—in need of This Man, the heaven-sent Savior.

Even the very best of men are only men at best, but not this Man. This Man is a man like no other. This Man is the supreme man, the God-man, before whom one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord of all. This Man is the greatest man in every way, and He is the supreme revelation of God.

This Man is greater than the first man. Adam was promised life if he obeyed . . . but disobeyed. This Man was promised death if He obeyed . . . and He obeyed completely and died on a cross for those He welcomed and ate with—sinners like you and me!

This Man is greater than the man Moses. Moses delivered the people of God out of bondage and into their earthly and temporal Promised Land. But this Man delivers the people of God out of bondage into their heavenly and eternal Promised Land. To be sure, all of the Old Testament prophets were great men, but this Man was greater in rank, power, and authority. The prophets were used by God to speak the Word of God; this Man was, is, and forever shall be the very Word of God who has always existed.

This Man is greater than even the high priest of Israel, who offered sacrifices for the sins of God’s people. These sacrifices were mere shadows of the Substance that was to come. And in the fullness of time, this Man came and offered Himself and as the supreme sacrifice, offered once for all, for the sins of God’s people.

As incredible as this all is, there is even more. When this Man welcomes sinners, He welcomes them with a promise that one day they will be sinners no more. Reader, if you have trusted in His atoning work on your behalf, that promise includes you!

That’s right; this Man, who began a good and perfect work in you, will one day complete what He has started. This Man, who has brought you out of the grave, will one day soon bring you into glory. This Man loved you just as you were—a vile, depraved, corrupted sinner, an enemy of God. But Jesus Christ loved you so much that He would not leave you in that condition. When you breathe your last and are received into glory, you will be the exact image and likeness of This Man.

So . . . have you received this Man as your Savior and Lord? If not, He is still welcoming sinners today. Make these glorious promises yours this day!

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