Grace for the Race

Elijah said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me to.” (1 Kings 19:10)

God had just used the prophet Elijah to defend His glory by defeating 450 prophets of Baal. But shortly after one of the greatest victories in all the Bible, Elijah had come to the end of his proverbial rope because the pagan queen Jezebel sent word that she had sworn to kill him. Elijah experienced a false sense of failure and wanted his life to simply end and make the pain go away. Scripture tells us, “He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die” (1 Kings 19:4). But God would have none of it; Elijah needed physical refreshment and spiritual restoration, and God met Elijah in his place of deep need and miraculously provided for both. As he slept under the broom tree, the angel of the Lord appeared — not once, but twice — saying, “Arise and eat!”  The Lord recommissioned Elijah for further ministry.

From the mountaintop to the deep valley below, we all experience what the prophet Elijah experienced from time to time: It’s called burnout. Now, I know some Christians are not willing to admit that they are struggling with burnout because they have been taught to “Keep a stiff upper lip” and “Never let anyone see you sweat.” Such platitudes are as sad as they are silly. Because we have not yet been perfected — and we won’t be until we are received into glory — we will all go through “Broom Tree Experiences” from time to time, when we feel . . .

Exhausted

Depressed

Alone

Ready To Give Up

We’ve all been there; we have given our all in the service of God, and our “all” just didn’t seem like enough. We felt drained, depressed, and despairing. Then God shows up. And He keeps right on showing up every time we go through these seasons of struggle. When you find yourself under the broom tree for whatever reason, remember the Lord is with you, He is for you, and He is in you. And the words He spoke to Elijah, He is speaking to you and me today: “Arise and eat!” 

So 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)

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

Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. (Psalm 90:1)

Regardless of where we live — whether in a mansion on a mountain or a tent in the wilderness — our God is our dwelling place. This biblical concept of God as our dwelling place expresses the dependability, reliability, stability, and immovability we have when we are resting in the Creator of the universe.

Nobody understood this better than Moses, who was called by God to deliver His people out of bondage in Egypt. Our passage of Scripture for today comes from the only psalm attributed to Moses, who knew very well what it meant to have God as his dwelling place. You’ll recall that the people of Israel wandered in the desert for forty years with no permanent place to live, and yet their God never left them; in 40 years their clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on their feet (Deuteronomy 29:5).

Check out how other psalmists expressed this truth:

You hide them in the secret place of Your presence (Psalm 31:20)

You are my hiding place (Psalm 32:7)

God is our refuge and strength (Psalm 46:1)

You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance (Psalm 71:3)

I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust!” (Psalm 91:2)

Here is something else to consider about God being your divine dwelling place. You have unbroken fellowship and friendship with Him. When Jesus died on the cross for your sins, it was because He wanted to be in an intimate and loving relationship with you. The Gospel of John tells us that Jesus came to “tabernacle” with us — to encamp with us and dwell with us (John 1:14). When you experience those times in your life when God seems distant, remember that it is you who has moved, not Him. Jesus has promised that He will never leave nor forsake you, no matter what you do. The life, death, and resurrection of our Lord has given all of His followers moment-by-moment access to Him so that we can enjoy the fullness of joy in His presence.

Let’s close with one of the most encouraging verses in all of sacred Scripture, one that should be engraved on your heart and emblazoned in your mind:

Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (Revelation 21:3).

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

God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his.” (2 Timothy 2:19)

Oh, the comfort from this inspired inscription from the pen of the apostle Paul! Our Lord Jesus Christ knows all those who, by grace through faith, are trusting in Christ alone for their salvation. Jesus knows you intimately . . . He knows you savingly . . . He knows you lovingly . . . He knows you eternally!

God’s solid foundation is built upon none other than the chief Cornerstone, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And what is built upon the foundation of the Rock of Ages stands firm forever and ever. Sin cannot shake this foundation. Satan cannot shake this foundation. Death cannot shake this foundation. He who became flesh and dwelt among us, He who took the punishment for our sins in His own body nailed to a tree, He who walked out of the grave on the third day . . . He knows all those who are His, for He is their God and they are His people.

Now, if this is your truth today, is it not a source of great encouragement, regardless of where this message finds you? Perhaps you are in the middle of one of life’s inevitable storms; rejoice in the truth that Jesus knows you and is your solid foundation. Perhaps you are facing a very difficult decision; rest in the truth that Jesus knows you and is your solid foundation. Maybe you are just discouraged and you feel like you are facing it all alone; respond in the truth that Jesus knows you and is your solid foundation.

A final word about being sealed with this divine inscription. In the ancient world, the seal was a distinguishing mark that signified several things, including approval, authenticity, and authority. Within the context of this passage, we are to understand the “seal” as the marking of ownership; with ownership comes provision and protection. Think about it this way: Because the Lord knows you as His, you can be certain of His continued provision and protection, no matter what you are facing. Let that truth set you free today to do all God is calling you to do and to be all God is calling you to be.

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

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6 ESV)

It’s not uncommon for members of our congregation to tell me about their prayers being answered. What they mean is the “thing” they have been praying for has come to pass, and thus they say, “God has answered my prayers!” Here’s what we all need to remember: God answers ALL prayers. I pray you will find cosmic comfort in what follows.

All prayers are answered instantly by God with one of three responses: “Yes” … “No” … or “Wait.” Now, we all recognize God’s “Yes” responses, but what about the other two? You may remember the apostle Paul’s prayer about a thorn that was tormenting him. Paul prayed — not once, but three times — that God would take this thorn away from him, and three times God said “No.”

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9)

Was Paul’s prayer answered? Of course it was . . . but not in the way he wanted it to be. God said “‘No” because He had something much better in store for Paul, which was a sufficient amount of grace to help Paul mature and grow with the thorn, not without it.

I will confess to you that “Wait” has often been more difficult for me to deal with than “No.” I don’t do well in waiting rooms! But God, in His perfect providence, is working in our lives, conforming us to the image of His beloved Son so that we can live out His command to “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12). Because our God is so loving and gracious, waiting is His way of growing our joy in hopefulness, growing our patience in our pain, and growing our faithfulness in our prayers.   

So regardless of where this message finds you today, let these words bring you cosmic comfort. You can be sure that God is at work in your life, no matter which answer He has given you to any particular prayer. As you look back over your life, I am sure you can recall some prayers you fervently wanted God to answer with a “Yes,” and today you are deeply grateful that He said “No.” And as for those prayers that God finally did answer with “Yes,” but were preceded by “Wait” for a time — perhaps even a very long time — can you not see how God had to make you ready to receive the answer you were looking for?

The key to living out the truth of our verse for today is to simply trust the infinite wisdom of our God in answering our prayers, even when we cannot trace His hand with our finite understanding. God truly knows what is best, and He will always deliver it to us for His glory and our ultimate good.

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

I will strengthen you and help you. (Isaiah 41:10)

The prophet Isaiah has set before us a wonderful guarantee that is designed to both comfort and challenge every child of God. Let’s take a look.

First, notice Who has given us this guarantee of strengthening: It is none other than God Himself! Omnipotence has promised strength, and who is so foolish to doubt such a guarantee? Herein lies an endless stream of strength that is not diminished in any way when He gives us a portion of it. 

Next, notice that we are not told in which season we will be strengthened. So we must take this promise to mean all of them! God has promised to strengthen us in our seasons of successful service, and He has promised to strengthen us in our seasons of sorrowful service. Regardless of the season we find ourselves in — clear and sunny, gray and gloomy, or stormy and threatening — we have this guarantee from the Lord God Omnipotent: I will strengthen you!

To be sure, this guarantee from God should be a source of unimaginable comfort, but it does not stop there! It goes on to challenge us to rise above any obstacle that stands in our way, because our strength does not come from within, but from above. Human weakness is no impediment for divine strength. In fact, Scripture tells us that when we are weak, our God is strong (2 Corinthians 12:10). Regardless of what we are currently facing, God has promised to strengthen us.  

• The fearful are given courage.
• The doubting are given conviction.
• The lonely are given company.
• The weak are given confidence.
• The broken are given compassion.

These are just a few of the seasons we face throughout life; through them all, God has promised to give us the strength we need to see them all through. So let me ask you a very important question right now: What strength are you in short supply of today? Fear not! Go to your Savior and say to Him . . .

“Strengthen me supernaturally according to your Word!“

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

Trust . . . Delight . . . Commit . . . Be Still . . . (Psalm 37:3, 4, 5, 7)

The psalmist gives us a word of inspired instruction as we launch out into 2025 that can encourage, empower, and equip us to rise above our natural tendency to fret.

There are many ways to define the verb to fret: to worry; to eat away at; to gnaw at. Fretting is something that plagues every one of us from time to time, and the results can be devastating in the life of a believer — emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Fretting can start as an infection and wind up a disease if we do not heed the inspired instruction the psalmist has set before us today.

The first instruction is to trust. To trust is to place your problem in the hands of your Savior. Simply give it all over to your Lord. A good place to start is with prayer, which leads to casting your cares upon the Lord because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).

The second instruction is to delight. To delight is to enjoy the Lord — not for what He has done for you, but simply because He is God. True delight comes from focusing on the Giver of all good gifts, not the gifts themselves.

The third instruction is to commit. To commit to the Lord is to be “all in” with every aspect of your life. Do not withhold anything from Him, but surrender every area of your life to His wisdom, His will, and His way.

Finally, the fourth instruction is to be still. To be still is to center your heart on home and remember Who is in charge of everything. God is on the throne of your life every moment of every day, “for in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). He is in complete control of the entire universe, and that includes whatever it is you are going through.

Many have been blessed over the years by following these inspired instructions. What about you? Are you ready to forsake fretting in 2025? Regardless of what you are facing, are you ready to trust, delight, commit, and be still? Know that He is not just God, He is your God, and He has promised to bring you safely through any storm you are currently facing or will face in the future.

Happy New Year! Happy New You!!

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

“Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

On Friday we took a moment for a “backward glance” to ponder the wonders God had done throughout 2025. Today we will pause to consider our “forward march” as we prepare to launch out into 2025.

Over the course of the next few days, a common greeting from people you encounter will be, “Happy New Year!” Yet if that was all we had as Christian believers setting out into a new year, it would be a scant portion indeed. As Christians, we have much more than a “hopeful greeting” given to us by the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. In our verse for today, we have the promise given to Joshua — and to us — by God: I will be with you wherever you go.

You may remember that Joshua was preparing to lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land after Moses had completed his ministry of service to the Lord. Joshua knew quite well the challenges he would inevitably face in leading God’s people. He had learned from serving with Moses just how difficult the task would be. But he also knew that, just like Moses, he would not be alone in the work God had called him to.

The very same thing is true for you and me as we begin our march forward into this new year. To be sure, the new year brings with it questions and concerns . . . doubts and fears . . . obstacles and opportunities. Will we get a less than positive report from the doctor? Will we be confronted by professional challenges? Will our marriage of many years march on for many more? Will we suffer the loss of a loved one? Will the world erupt into war? The list of uncertainties is almost endless. Yet we can hold on to something infinitely greater than a hopeful, “Happy New Year.” Why? Because we have the promise from God that wherever we go, He will go with us.

I want you to remember something in that lovely promise: This “going with God” is not a going by chance. It is not a random roll of the dice. God is guiding, governing, and directing your every step. He is in sovereign control of everything; nothing is a matter of “luck” or “chance.” So don’t be discouraged! This promise is given to cause us set aside every fear and confidently march forward into God’s perfect plan and purpose for our lives.

One final point: Approximately 3,400 years after God told Joshua that He would be with him wherever he went, Jesus reaffirmed that promise before He ascended back to heaven: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

Forward, march! You have nothing to fear. Your Master marches by your side!

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

Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced. (Psalm 105:4-5)

Today and Monday we will close out yet another year of Grace for Your Race. Today I want to encourage you to take a backward glance over the past year — to remember and reflect on the many and multiplied wonders God has done in your life. On Monday we will look forward to the starting line of another year . . . and crossing the finish line of 2025, if God is so pleased to give us that time here.

Someone wisely observed that “It is difficult to climb to the summit of the mountain when you are always looking over your shoulder.” Yet the backward glance is extremely beneficial for the believer, so as to be reminded of all that God has done. Yes, that look back must be brief if we are going to make forward progress throughout 2025. But make no mistake, it is the best way to close out another year of blessings that God has bestowed upon us. 

A backward glance is not the same as walking backward. We cannot go back, nor should we want to. God is moving us forward into His perfect plan and purpose for our lives, even though we live that plan out imperfectly. I have said it here before, but it bears repeating: We must always treat the past as a school. We are to learn the lessons from our past, but not live there. Far too many live in the past, which prohibits any measurable forward progress. But this is not for you!

Take some time this weekend to reflect on the past year. Make sure your backward glance includes both your successes and your storms. There is much to glean from both life experiences, because God has given us both in order to conform us into the image and likeness of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Let your backward glance bring to mind God’s . . .

• Faithfulness and friendship
• Discipline and devotion
• Mercy and ministry
• Love and leading

Your brief backward glance will encourage you and strengthen you to set out on another year with Jesus sitting on the throne of your life, guiding you through every twist and turn and growing you through every up and down . . . every step of the way.

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

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)

Today is Christmas day, and one of the most oft-asked questions is, “What did you get?”

How would you answer?

The most important gift you could ever receive is the gift of eternal life. So . . . I’ve got to ask you: Has this Savior been born to you? If He has, then you are born again. If He has not, let’s take care of that right now. You need only to trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord. He died to pay the penalty for your sins on a cross and rose from the dead on that first Easter morning. Simply confess that you are a sinner in need of that Savior because you cannot save yourself. Repent of your sins and surrender control of your life to the Lord Jesus right now and salvation is yours!

Here is the question that every one of us who have trusted in Jesus for eternal life should ask ourselves: What did we give to Jesus as we celebrate His birthday today? The most important gift any of us can give to Jesus is simply ourselves — our entire self, heart, soul, and mind. I frequently tell our congregation at Cross Community Church, “Jesus didn’t die to make you good; He died to make you His. And in making you His, He is making you good!”

Jesus wants you. He wants to be in an intimate and personal relationship with Him, in which you trust Him with every aspect of your life. He wants you to come to Him when things are going well and when things are going sideways. He wants you to look to Him to meet your every need, always remembering that it will be done in His timing and in His way.

So, what are you going to give to Jesus — not just today, but every day for the rest of your life?

Merry Christmas!

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

There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. (Hebrews 4:9 ESV)

Christian believers know full well the promise of the Sabbath rest that awaits us on the other side of the grave. But is there any rest for us now – especially with all the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season? Does the writer of Hebrews have a promise for us in the present day? Read on, and be encouraged this Christmas!

The Sabbath rest discussed in the fourth chapter of Hebrews will find its complete fulfillment when we are living with our God and His people in the new heavens and the new earth. But before we experience that fulfillment, we will experience the first installment. So great a salvation have we been given that we can rest from trying to save ourselves. When Jesus shows up, He puts an end to our self-salvation projects. When He cried out “It is finished” from the cross, He meant what He said! The work of salvation has been completed. We can cease from trying to earn God’s favor through our good works — which, the Bible tells us, aren’t really “good” at all (Isaiah 64:6).

There is no more wearying a work than trying to earn our way into God’s continued favor and blessing. And there are millions who are burdened under this great weight, week after week, month after month, year after year. The joy of the Lord is as far from them as the east is from the west, because they are buried under the weight of working for a blessing, rather than resting in the blessings they have already received in Christ. You see, it is only by trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ that we will experience a Sabbath rest in a world marked by restlessness.

Remember this truth: Jesus Christ not only earned this perfect rest for us, He is this perfect rest. And by resting in Him, we begin to experience in part what we will one day experience in full: that Sabbath rest that remains for the people of God.

So if you need a little rest this Christmas season, rest in the shadow of the cross, where your Lord paid the penalty for all your sins, satisfying all the demands of God’s justice. Living in the light of this truth will set you free to enjoy the fruits of your labor, rather than laboring for the fruit that Jesus gives you freely and without cost.

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