Grace for the Race

I love the line from Forrest Gump: “Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get.” It’s a delightful way of echoing the cliché, “Life is full of surprises.” Some of those surprises are good ones; some are not so pleasant. Yet through it all, we are loved and cared for by a God who is never surprised.

God is sovereign! Nothing ever “happens” to you that catches God by surprise. To be sure, we are often surprised, but God never is. There are simply no events in our lives that do not first pass through His outstretched arms and nail-scarred hands.

Isn’t that a comfort to you today? This knowledge sustained Joseph during a most difficult and “surprising” time in his life. He forgave his brothers, who had thrown him down an empty well and then sold him into slavery, saying,

“It was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.” (Genesis 45:8)

From the time he was 17 years old through age 30, Joseph received one “bad” surprise after another: hated by his brothers for telling the truth . . . falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife . . . forgotten by an ungrateful cupbearer. Then came a different kind of surprise: in one day, Joseph was raised from the prison to the palace.

Joseph undoubtedly was surprised by these dramatic changes, but deep down in his heart he knew that God was not. He understood that it was by God’s hand that he experienced both desolation and deliverance. Joseph fully understood the sovereignty of God and recognized that the stuff of life is not a random roll of the dice, but all part of God’s perfect plan.

Can the same be said about you today? Looking back over your life, can you think of a time that stands out as a season of struggle? A time when it seemed like God was either sleeping or on vacation? I certainly remember such times, and that is why, as has been so profoundly said, life needs to be lived backwards. It’s hard to see God in the storms that blow our way sometimes, but when we look back, we can see His handprints all over those trials. God not only sends the storms, He is in the middle of them with us!

The sovereignty of God means there is a gracious purpose for our lives; and that purpose is being rightly accomplished, even in every painful providence. We may not see it at the time, but we can be assured that nothing ever catches our God by surprise. He is working all things together for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28).

Sovereignty means that everything in our lives happens for a reason . . . and that reason has been in the mind of God from all eternity—a God who loved you so deeply that He sent His beloved Son to die on a cross for you.

There are no surprises, because we are secure in God’s sovereignty.

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

Today is Valentine’s Day; regardless of where this message finds you—whether you are in the midst of a storybook romance or sulking in your singleness—it seems like a good time to celebrate a holy love that “so loved” you. The inspired pen of John could find no better way to describe this unimaginable love that sought you, caught you, and bought you than to use the word “so”…

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Decades ago, blues icon BB King wailed, “Nobody loves me but my mother . . . and she could be jivin’ me too.” Have you ever wondered just how loved you really are? I want you to consider what follows here and marinate in it —not just on Valentine’s Day, but every day throughout the coming year.

Jesus did not come because of sin; He came because of love. Sin happened long before Adam and Eve were created. Adam and Eve were the first human sinners, but there was a sinful creature lurking in the Garden of Eden who had embraced a wicked, depraved, and fallen condition long before God breathed life into the first two human beings. Let’s take a look at the prophet Isaiah’s account:

How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High!”(Isaiah 14:12-14)

Satan’s grandiose ambitions ended very badly! The Lord Jesus told His disciples, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18).

Adam and Eve followed the voice of the Serpent (Satan, the fallen angel) and thumbed their noses at God, just as Satan did. They centered their entire existence on the same “I” that inflamed the heart of the fallen angel. Notice that this “I” is in the middle of both SIN and PRIDE! Satan was filled with sinful pride, and he convinced Adam and Eve to focus on “I” rather than the great “I AM.”

Take a look at the fallen angel’s five ‘I WILLS,” as recorded by Isaiah:

• I WILL ascend to the heavens.
• I WILL raise my throne above the stars of God.
• I WILL sit enthroned on the mount of assembly.
• I WILL ascend above the tops of the clouds.
• I WILL make myself like the Most High.

For Lucifer, it was not enough to be in the presence of God; he coveted the position of God. For Adam and Eve, it was not enough for them to be made in the image of God; they too wanted to be in the position of God. And all mankind has been pursuing that same awful ambition ever since.

So if sin already existed before men and women existed, and God did not go after Satan, the first sinner, to redeem him, there had to be something else besides sin that motivated God to pursue those first two human rebels. And that motivation, dear reader, was the “special love,” the “so loved” love that God has for humanity . . . the special love He has for you! For God “so loved” you that He sent His Son to die on a cross so that you would never die, but have eternal life.

God could have pursued the fallen angels, but He did not. He chose instead to pursue fallen humanity and to send His precious Son to redeem those who were His special image-bearers (Genesis 1:26). This Gospel truth in all its glory makes it crystal clear that God’s love for us is unparalleled. The love of God has for you in Jesus Christ is as measureless as it is fathomless; truly, it cannot be explained. Paul said the love God has for us in Christ “surpasses knowledge,” and yet he prayed that we would be given the supernatural power “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (Ephesians 3:18-19).

The best we can do is simply acknowledge that we are “so loved” and receive that love by faith and respond to the One who showers it upon us with a heart of adoring gratitude—not only daily, but moment by moment.

He told me to tell you on this Valentine’s Day.

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

That’s a strange question, isn’t it? How do you buy without money? You may be thinking, “I can’t think of anything we can buy without money.” And you’re right; I can’t either . . . but God certainly can!

Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. (Isaiah 55:1)

So how do you buy when you have no money? You can buy when God is providing all of the “cost,” which is the truth of the Gospel as it relates to our salvation. There are many who have perverted the Gospel by saying that God simply “makes up the difference” for those who don’t have enough holiness. They say that God bridges the gap between their good works and His perfect holiness by making up the difference in their merit. But don’t you believe it!

The “good news” of the Gospel wouldn’t be good news if all it did was make up the difference for those who did not have quite enough to get in to heaven. Why? Because we are broke. We are spiritually bankrupt. We have nothing! We are dead in our trespasses and sins, and our only hope is for God to provide His amazing grace to those who have no money but are invited to come, buy, and eat!

What a powerful truth when rightly understood! But it can only be understood by those who know their condition before Jesus shows up. If you are like most people, who feel they are not really that bad, and certainly not as bad as the really bad, then you believe you have what is necessary (the currency) to secure your mansion in heaven. But if you see yourself as the Bible sees you—as a great sinner in need of an even greater Savior—then you are invited to come and buy without any currency because your currency is to be found only in Christ.

We are not, as many people believe, basically good. We are bad, because we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). And the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), which means we have absolutely no hope apart from a Savior who will pay our way, not merely make up any shortfall we are lacking. And that is exactly what Jesus did on a cross on the hill Golgotha: He paid the debt of our sin in full with His precious blood and secured for us our place in heaven.

So . . . how do you buy without money? You simply transfer your trust from your own personal merit to the Master and receive His grace, rather than relying on your good works.

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

The Bible makes it clear that the life of the Christian is to be marked by caring for others. We are called to live an “other-oriented” life. So how do we demonstrate that we care for others? My experiences as a pastor and a husband have taught me that it is more about making contact than finding a cure.

My greatest teacher in the school of life has been Kim, who is my wife and my best friend. I simply can’t count how many times she has come to me to share some situation she was dealing with—whether as a mother, a sister, or a friend—and the only thing I could think of was declaring the appropriate “cure,” so I could cross that issue off my list and get on to the next thing. In other words, I was quick to find the cure without ever taking the time to really connect and make contact! And more often than not, all Kim wanted me to do was simply listen and connect, rather than offering up some lame cure.

Caring is about contact far more than it is about a cure. You see, in God’s economy, we are to be the tangible evidence of His care, and the only way we can be that evidence is by making contact at a heart level with others. I call this the ministry of the presence. Sometimes the best ministry we can ever do is simply by showing up. We demonstrate that we care for others by simply being there for them!

Those of us who are familiar with the book of Job tend to think of Job’s three friends as “miserable comforters” (Job 16:2), who were long on opinions and bereft of any empathy. We often forget that immediately after Job lost everything, his friends were there for him—they simply showed up and shut up and let God use their contact as a ministry of caring.

When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was. (Job 2:11-13)

In their seven days of silence, Job’s friends were wonderful comforters! I think many of us hesitate to go visit a Christian brother or sister who has just experienced some personal disaster, such as a death in the family, because we feel like we wouldn’t know what to say that would be wise and godly and comforting. Here’s the thing: you don’t have to say anything! Just sit there and listen and love them with Christ’s love. Job’s three friends were doing great until they started to speak!

Kim will tell you that early in our marriage I was very much like Job’s friends . . . after their seven days of silence. I had an answer to every question she wasn’t asking and a cure for every ill that needed no cure. I have learned the hard way—and through my wife’s gracious, patient ministry—that we can express our caring far more powerfully by making contact rather than finding a cure!

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

The more we understand what God in Christ has done for us, the more we will be willing to do for others.

There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. (Deuteronomy 15:11)

A closed-handed Christian is an oxymoron—a contradiction of terms. Think about this for a moment: what does a closed hand represent? It is either a fist or a grasping hand. Either way, white knuckles are not a picture of the hands of those whose hope is in Christ.

An open hand is a hand that welcomes others. It invites them into our presence and meets them in their place of need. An open hand lets go of things rather than holding on for dear life. Picturing the open hands of our Lord nailed to that cruel cross opens our hearts. . . which in turn opens our hands.

The presence of poverty must propel us to open our hands and let the many blessings God has bestowed flow through us the. We ourselves cannot receive anything with closed hands; we must open our hands to receive. And so we open our hands to others and let flow through us that which has flowed to us!

Simply stated, opportunities to give are opportunities to grow. And it is God’s will for the Christian to continue to grow up into Christ and put the Gospel on display for all the world to see.

So . . . do your hands reflect an open heart by generously, joyfully giving to those in need? Or is there something you are holding on to so tightly that it is stunting your growth and keeping you from being all that God is calling you to be?

Remember, all that you have first passed through nail-scarred hands to come to you. That truth alone should open our hearts and compel us to cheerfully give to others what God has so graciously given to us. The presence of the poor is a picture of what we all are in the sight of God. We are poor, blind, naked paupers . . . until Jesus shows up. May the confession of our lives be one of open hearts that open hands that point to our Prince!

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

Today is our third and final installment of encouragement from the Scriptures relating to sin in the life of the Christian. On Monday, we saw that God has removed our sin as far as the east is from the west. On Wednesday we looked at su

pernatural “holy hurling” and saw how God was pleased to plunge our sins into the depths of the sea. Today we will see THE REDEEMER WHO WILL NOT REMEMBER.

I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sin no more. (Isaiah 43:25)

Notice that God uses some supernatural “white-out” in blotting out our transgressions from the record. Think about that for a moment! We once had a record that was filled with transgressions . . . but no more. In what we would call a legal act, God has blotted all of our sins out from our record. We have been pardoned by the
Supreme Judge. He has wiped the slate clean.

And as if that was not enough, God does something even greater: He chooses to no longer remember our sins. This is a relational act. It is putting away the sense of having ever being offended, harmed, wronged, or injured.

We all know what it means to forget something. I constantly forget where I put both my keys and phone. It is a passive act that you and I engage in on a regular basis. But “not remembering” is something much more than forgetting; it is active and intentional.

Let me encourage you to print the three blogs in this series and keep them in your Bible or put them up next to your computer. And every time you start thinking about all of the mistakes you have made in your past, read through these articles again. We all need daily Gospel reminders that our sins have been removed as far as the east is from the west . . . they have been hurled into the depths of the sea . . . they have been blotted out and remembered no more.

“Though your sins are like scarlet,” our Loving Lord reassures us, “they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). God requires no penance, nor does He put us on probation to see how well we will behave. Because God the Father has dealt with our sins in God the Son, we have been liberated to live a life that is pleasing to God and beneficial to others, living in the joy of the Lord, which is our strength!

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

Today is the second installment of encouragement from the Scriptures relating to sin in the life of the Christian. On Monday we saw that God has removed our sin as far as the east is from the west. Today we will see some supernatural HOLY HURLING!

Have you ever been in a boat out on the water and had something fall overboard? I watched a set of keys sink out of sight one day; it was a horrible feeling! Well, today God has a word of unimaginable comfort as it relates to our sin and His forgiveness.

You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl our iniquities into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19)

Unlike something that “falls” overboard, to “hurl” something is to do it intentionally. Because of the cross work of Christ, God has hurled our sins into the depths of the sea, never to be seen again. Imagine what that really means! Our sins are gone forever and ever and ever. God’s forgiveness of our sins is as complete as it is irreversible. Once forgiven . . . always forgiven!

God has dealt with our sins through the sinless life and sacrificial death of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. If you have placed your trust in Christ’s atoning work on your behalf, God the Father loves you unconditionally and completely forgives you. He will never punish you for any of your past sins. They are gone, hurled overboard, never to resurface again.

As I wrote in Monday’s blog, if you are being reminded of your past sins—sins that have been removed from you as far as the east is from the west and hurled overboard into the depths of the sea—it is not God who is reminding you. It is Satan, the liar and the accuser of the brethren who wants you to live looking back instead of looking up.

HOLY HURLING is a Gospel truth that frees us up to advance confidently in the direction God is calling us to go.

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

This week I would like to give you a word of encouragement from the Scriptures relating to sin in the life of the Christian. To be sure, sin was the ruin of mankind, but God had a remedy for our ruin: He sent our Redeemer, who does something quite radical to what was once our ruin. When we trust in Christ alone for our salvation, all of our sins—past, present, and those still to come—are freely, fully, and immediately forgiven. They are taken away and nailed to the cross of Christ.

Today we will look at one remarkable way the Word of God explains this Gospel truth. On Wednesday and Friday we will unpack two others.

A DIVINE DISTANCE

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:12)

You might well ask, “How far is the east from the west actually?” Well, if you start heading due north at any point on the map you would eventually get to the North Pole and begin heading south. But if you start going west and continue going west you keep going west. East and west never meet!

WOW! Think about that truth for a moment. God is saying that your sins have been completely forgiven and removed from you by an infinite distance—A DIVINE DISTANCE—never to meet up with you ever again.

Now, it may very well be that you will find yourself meeting back up with the memory of your sins. If and when that happens, know this: it is not God who is reminding you of your transgressions. It is the devil who wants you to focus on your past sins so that you will not advance into your promised future. Don’t let him do it! Refuse to relive your past sins. God has removed them as far as the east is from the west. They are gone; the sin debt was paid in full at Calvary. Let those old sins go and get on with living the life God is calling you to live today.

Wait until you read Wednesday’s blog and see what God has done with your sins! These Gospel truths empower you to press on . . . in spite of a past stained with sin.

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

God has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light to engage in the process of expanding His kingdom in this world (1 Peter 2:9, 11). How have you responded? What has been the confession of your life? Let’s take a brief look at the life of Moses and see what we can glean.

After Moses killed an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew slave (Exodus 2:11-12), he fled Egypt and lived on the back side of the desert for 40 years. While tending sheep near the mountain of God, Moses saw a bush that was burning . . . yet would not burn up. When he drew near to see this strange, supernatural event, the Lord God spoke to him, which must have seemed even more strange and supernatural than the burning bush! God called Moses to deliver God’s people out of their bondage in Egypt.

And what was the response of Moses to the Almighty?

Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11)

Moses said to the LORD, “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.” . . . Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.” (Exodus 4:10, 13)

Moses was full of excuses for not answering the call of God in his life. “Who am I” . . . “I am slow of speech” . . . and “Send someone else to do it” were his ways of saying “I CAN’T!” and “I WON’T!”

And how did God answer His troubled deliverer?

The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” (Exodus 4:11-12)

God answered Moses then the same way He answers us today. When God calls us into service, He equips us for that service. The calling of God presupposes the equipping and preparing of God; we simply need to answer His call and go in His strength. God gave Moses everything he needed to get the job done. From providing Moses with his staff to enlisting the service of his brother Aaron, God sent Moses off into Egypt in His strength to complete the service He had called Moses to perform.

So . . . what is God calling you to today? What excuses have you made for not answering that call? Trusting in God and leaning not on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5) will turn every “I CAN’T” into “I CAN” and every “I WON’T” into “Here am I. SEND ME!” This is the only appropriate response to the Almighty.

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

Did you know that it is God’s desire to dwell in the midst of His people? The Bible makes this clear both before and after the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. God walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day before they sinned, and pursued those two rebels on the run after they sinned.

God has said, “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (2 Corinthians 6:16)

Isn’t that simply amazing? God has said He will live with us and walk among us. What an encouragement that should be to all of us today! God is in our midst, no matter where He finds us. Whether we are celebrating at the summit or wavering under the waves of challenge, God is in our midst.

But that’s not all! God is not only with us and for us . . . He is in us.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.  (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

God is with us . . . for us . . . and in us. Is there anything we cannot overcome with the Master in our midst? I think not! As Jesus told His disciples, “With God all things are possible!” (Matthew 19:26).

We must hold fast to these Gospel truths! God’s presence is abiding in His people . . . and that includes you. In the Old Testament, God’s presence was abundantly visible in both the tabernacle and in the temple (Exodus 40:34-38; 2 Chronicles 7:1-3).

So . . . let me ask you a question: “Is it as plain to see God dwelling within you right now?”

The goal of Christian living is to make every part of our lives a showcase for our Savior, as we declare and demonstrate the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. From the boardroom to the locker room to the school room to the family room, our lives should point to the One who loved us enough to die for us . . . the One who desires nothing more than to be with us for all eternity.

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