Grace for the Race

This week we are looking at a life characterized by overflowing thankfulness.  After the two great commandments of loving God and loving others (Matthew 22:37-40), we find another wonderful and worshipful commandment: to give thanksgiving to God for everything He has done for us.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  (Psalm 100:4)

Today we will briefly unpack two very practical ways we can offer God thanksgiving and praise for His countless blessings that flow freely to us.

1. Acknowledge God

We all know just how easy it is to forget God.  I don’t mean we actually forget that He exists, but we often forget to bring Him into everything we are doing.  I cannot think of a better way to give thanksgiving to God than to acknowledge Him in every area of our lives in thought, word, and deed.

• Acknowledge God in our families
• Acknowledge God in our work
• Acknowledge God in our friendships
• Acknowledge God in our finances
• Acknowledge God in our spending
• Acknowledge God in our recreational pursuits
• Acknowledge God in our goal setting

This is a list that could easily be extended to include ten blogs!  The legendary Confederate general, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, said, “I have so fixed the habit of prayer in my mind that I never raise a glass of water to my lips without asking God’s blessing.”  When we acknowledge God in praise and thanksgiving, we are telling Him just how important He really is to us.  And what Father does not want his children to tell him how much he matters to them?

2. Accept His Providence

We give God thanks and praise when we accept His providence, regardless of what it is.  Unlike the Israelites who whined, grumbled, and complained after having been released from over 400 years in bondage in Egypt—because there wasn’t enough variety in the menu—we are to accept whatever God delivers to us, knowing that not a bird falls to the ground apart from His will (Matthew 10:29).  Nothing happens to us that does not first pass through the nail-scarred hands of our sovereign Savior.

It’s easy for you and me to accept those pleasurable providences that beam down on us when the sky is blue and the clouds are fleecy.  But how willing are we to accept painful providences?  One thing is sure: it would be a whole lot harder to endure the storms without having the Bible to read and reflect on.  After reading so many stories of saints who endured unimaginably painful providences and still blessed God in the midst of them, we can draw strength to face anything that comes our way.

We need only to gaze upon Golgotha’s Hill and see our Lord—broken, bleeding, and nailed to that dirty tree—to be reminded of the ultimate painful providence that you and I will never have to endure.  And through it all, Jesus gave praise and thanksgiving to His Father in heaven: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46).  He took God’s cup of wrath that was meant for you and me . . . so that we would never have to.

Wherever you go tomorrow to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, whether with family or friends or by yourself, remember to enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise.  You’ll be blessed and God will be glorified.

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

Let’s marinate a bit this Thanksgiving week in what it means to live a life that truly offers thanksgiving to the One who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing.

Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.  (Colossians 2:6-7)

The apostle Paul is telling us that an attitude of overflowing thankfulness is to distinguish Gospel-soaked saints, regardless of the cost or circumstance.  Please note that this exhortation came from a man who knew hardship and suffering for the sake of the Gospel.  Paul was no “ivory tower” teacher!  Paul wrote most of the New Testament, and he wrote most of it from behind prison walls.  But regardless of the circumstances he faced, he was marked by overflowing thankfulness because He intimately knew the One to whom he was so thankful.

Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.  He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.  As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  “Who are you, Lord?”  Saul asked.  “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.  “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (Acts 9:1-6)

Here is the man who went from being a persecutor of the Church (Saul) to a pastor in the Church (the apostle Paul).  He went from hating Christians to helping Christians.  He went from murder to ministry . . . and he kept on with that ministry until his very last breath.  And he did it against all odds with a heart that was overflowing with thankfulness.

One of the keys for Paul was found in the fact that he never lost sight of who he was before Jesus showed up.  He never forgot the black condition of his heart prior to his Damascus road experience and how Jesus breathed new life into him.  He knew the radical change that the Lord Jesus Christ made in his heart.

So, as we approach Thanksgiving Day this week, let us pause for a moment to count our many blessings.  Don’t bother to try to name them “one-by-one,” as the Bible song says, because there are far too many to number.  We simply need to live a life of overflowing thankfulness by sharing the love of Christ with everyone we encounter.

Take a moment this week to tell someone special just how much they mean to you.  Make that long overdue phone call.  Write that note of appreciation you have been meaning to write for as long as you can remember.  God will be glorified and it will be good for your soul!

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

When you think about God, what do you think about?  How do you picture Him as it relates to your relationship with Him?  Do you envision Him with a concerned look on His face?  Do you imagine a bit of sweat forming on His upper lip as He frets over your forgetfulness and faithlessness?  Perhaps He is glaring at you because of your sin?

If that’s the mental picture you have of God—I wish I could say this to you more sweetly—it’s totally wrong!  The cure for these distorted pictures and any other gross misunderstandings of God is to gain a clearer view of the Gospel.

As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you. (Isaiah 62:5)

I remember as if it was yesterday: standing at the altar of the church and seeing my Kim in her wedding gown for the very first time as she prepared to proceed down the aisle toward me.  It was 6:00 pm on Saturday, March 6^th, 1993; we were at the little Church by the Sea in Fort Lauderdale.  The emotions that flooded my mind and heart overwhelmed me to tears—you can see it on our wedding video, which we watch as a family each anniversary.  As our bridegroom, Jesus rejoices over His bride, just as I was rejoicing over my beloved Kim.

How often we need the power of the Gospel simply to believe the Gospel!  Jesus rejoices over His bride . . . and that includes you.  Notice that Isaiah didn’t say the Bridegroom rejoices over His bride when His bride deserves to be rejoiced over.  Scripture doesn’t say Jesus rejoices over us when we prove ourselves worthy of His rejoicing.  It simply says we are the object of God’s rejoicing affection.

Think about it this way: Jesus is totally satisfied in His bride.  He never doubts His choice.  He never questions His sanity in choosing us.  He never gets tired or bored with His bride.  He rejoices over us day and night, night and day.  This good news almost seems too good to be true . . . but it is.  You have His Word on it!

So how should this incredible news impact you today, right where you are, in whatever stations this finds you in?  It should provide you with the greatest source of motivation and inspiration to live the life God has called you to live, knowing you will never live it perfectly until you are received into glory.  You are freed in the Gospel to be who you are: His bride, with all of your imperfections and blemishes and sins, knowing that He will never leave you nor forsake you.

Wow!  This should get you up early and keep you up late, pouring yourself out for the glory of the One who chose you to be His bride forever.  Today is a day for you to rejoice, because the One who paid the price to have you as His bride—a price paid with His own precious blood—rejoices over you.

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

Did you ever believe that the boundaries set forth in sacred Scripture bound you up and left you without a blessing? Many unbelievers regard Christianity as little more than a dour collection of “Thou shalt nots” . . . but what about you? Have you ever slipped into that kind of thinking?

We live in a culture which champions the freedom to do what we want, when we want, and how we want.  If you speak out about the biblical boundaries God has graciously provided us (yes, I said “graciously provided,” not “onerously burdened”), you are viewed as legalistic, narrow-minded, puritanical, and intolerant.  It is not uncommon for someone who is speaking in favor of biblical boundaries to be ruled “OUT OF BOUNDS!”

But this is not for you!

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.  (Psalm 1:1-3)

This same culture which champions “If-it-feels-good-do-it” as an inalienable right is increasingly marked by a haunting sense of meaninglessness and utter despair.  The American College Health Association reports that suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people aged 15-24 and the second leading cause of death among college students.

The answer to this epidemic of emotional emptiness sweeping our country is not found in freedom to do what we want.  The Gospel not only tells us what we have been freed from—the dominion of sin and Satan—but the Gospel tells us we are freed for—to walk in the ways of the Lord and to delight in His law.

Biblical boundaries are not burdens to bear; they are blessings to be received.  My friend Steve Brown explained it beautifully: “God’s law (biblical boundaries) tells us where the land mines are buried and keeps us from blowing ourselves and others up.”  The psalmist makes it perfectly clear that we willinevitably step on those land mines when we “walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers.”

Parents, do you put up boundaries for your children because you want to squash their sense of joy and freedom?  No, we set boundaries to protect them from the destructive desires of the world, the flesh, and the devil.  Our great desire is to point our kids to the abundant life that God calls them to live.  We know where many of the land mines are . . . all too often because we stepped squarely on them when we were young!

By outlining for our children what God has already outlined in His Word, we equip and empower them to live a life that truly matters, hopefully picking up less shrapnel than we did along the way!

We are God’s children.  Our heavenly Father never sinned; He never came close to stepping on a land mine!  But He knows where every single one of them is, and He gave us the map to warn us about all of them—that map is called the Bible.  If we will, as much as it is within our power, faithfully live within the framework of the biblical boundaries He has laid out for us, we will stay within the bounds of God’s blessings.

Are God’s boundaries there to frustrate us and spoil our fun? By no means! They are a gracious gift from God, given to us so that we can live—really live—in freedom and joy.

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

We all go through stormy seasons.  Trouble has been promised.  Suffering is simply a part of the Christian life.  But have you considered the reason why?  Today we will briefly look at one reason for a stormy season:

(3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, (4) who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (5) For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. (6) If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. (7) Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.  (2 Corinthians 1:3-7)

You see here that we experience stormy seasons so that we will receive the comfort of our God.  And we receive God’s comfort “so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction.”  What a privilege we have been given, to be vessels that communicate God’s comfort into the lives of others who are currently in the fire of affliction!  This knowledge should empower us to praise God during life’s storms, rather than complain or pity ourselves.

Think about this for a moment: when we are buffeted by stormy winds, our God does not bring cosmic comfort to make us comfortable; He brings it to make us better comforters!  History teaches us that lighthouses have been built by ship-wrecked sailors . . . roads widened after multi-car pileups . . . and traffic lights installed because of the death of a motorist.  It’s an uncomfortable truth that when nobody suffers, nobody really grows.  Suffering makes us sensitive to our own humanity, forces us to reach out to our God for His resources of strength, and equips us to bring comfort to others who are dealing with the same human condition.

In verse 5 we see that we find our comfort through our relationship with Jesus.  He endured the stormiest season that ever blew across the face of this earth, and He endured it without any comfort at all from His Father in heaven.  He endured the full cup of God’s wrath while He hung on the cross on Golgotha’s Hill . . . and He endured it alone.  You remember His despairing cry: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46.)  Why did He experience that?  So that you and I would never have to.

Jesus went without comfort as He secured our salvation for us.  So today, as we live out that so-great salvation, we will never be without the comfort of our God, no matter what stormy season we are facing.  Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).  This Gospel truth should encourage us to encourage others . . . inspire us to inspire others . . . comfort us to comfort others.  Now that’s a grace-filled reason for a stormy season!

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

For over a decade our good friend and Master Karate Instructor, K.C., has been using this phrase as a source of encouragement and strength for all those on their journey to black belt.  Having been in the martial arts for 36 years, I can tell you that journey is both long and hard, regardless of your age and ability.  The obstacles and challenges on the road to black belt can be a source of disappointment and discouragement, which causes some to give up.

The “Team up . . . Never give up” philosophy asserts that if you team up with others who are on the same journey, you are more likely to reach your intended destination.  It worked for me and our two oldest children, Brock and Jenna, and it is currently working for 9-year-old Katie and 8-year-old Zack, who are on their way to earning their black belts.

What is true in the world of martial arts is also true in every area of life, including your faith.  It was certainly true for three young Jewish men who were in captivity in Babylon during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar.

God had given the pagan king victory over His chosen people Israel as judgment for their continued idolatry and disobedience.  God never abandoned His people though; during their captivity in a foreign land, God protected and provided for His people. One of the ways He did this was to strengthen their unity through community.  In other words, they were to “Team up and never give up,” regardless of the cost or circumstance.

Nebuchadnezzar, no doubt thinking himself a very spiritual man, issued a decree that everyone was to bow down and worship a 90-foot tall gold statue.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused.  They decided to team up and never give up as it related to the most important area in both life and death: their relationship with the one true and living God.  Let’s peer behind the curtain of their commitment.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. ”

Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”

They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”

He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”

So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.”  (Daniel 3:16-28)

So . . . where in your life right now do you need to team up and never give up?  Maybe you need to team up with your spouse to overcome difficulties in your marriage or challenges raising your children.  Perhaps you need to team up at the office with some coworkers to meet the deadline of a current project.  Maybe you need to team up with some friends at school who can be study partners on your way to academic excellence.  Possibly you need to team up with others in your church to accomplish a ministry project.

I could go on, but I think you get the point.  When God saved you from our sin as an individual, He saved you to community, which presupposes the need to always and in every way, “Team up and never give up,” regardless of the cost or circumstance.  Along the way you will reach many more of your goals and God will get all the glory!

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

The terms “small print,” “fine print,” and “mouseprint” all refer to less noticeable print that is dwarfed by the more prominent larger print it accompanies.  Small print is frequently used by advertisers selling a product or service.  Some merchants who hope to deceive the consumer into believing an offer is more advantageous than it really is will sidestep the legal technicality which requires full disclosure of all terms or conditions (even the unfavorable ones) by relegating the “bad news” to the tiny type font at the bottom of the page and trumpeting the “good news” of spectacular sale prices with brightly colored oversize type fonts.

The small print often contradicts what the larger print says.  For example, if the large print says “No Credit? No Problem!” the fine print may murmur “Subject to bank approval.”  You are probably familiar with television advertisements that flash small print text in camouflaged colors, and for the briefest periods of time, making it all but impossible to read.

And when the advertiser reads the small print disclaimer out loud, you’d think you suddenly landed in an auction with the fastest speaking auctioneer in the cosmos!  Sadly, we have all grown cynically accustomed to “small print” advertising designed to mislead us about the price, quality, or content of a particular product.

But make no mistake, there is no small print in sacred Scripture, even though many in the pulpit today preach as if there is.  Far too many preach a “small print Savior,” for fear that people will refuse to “sign up” if they know the truth about what is involved.  They preach blessing without burden.  They preach success without sacrifice.  They preach getting without giving.  They preach living without dying.

The irony in all this is the truth that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation.  The more we water it down to try to make it more palatable, the more we strip it of its supernatural power.

Listen, the Gospel is designed to both repel and attract.  Sadly, many who sit under shallow “small print” preaching, which is crafted to attract by tickling the ears of the listener, are ill-equipped for the promised trouble to come.

Jesus said the day of tribulation will come; and when it does, if all they have built their faith on has been the shifting sand of small print, they will find themselves tipped over when the waves of challenge begin to wash over them.  They will be confused by challenge, surprised by suffering, and derailed by difficulty.  But this is not for you!

[Jesus] said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”  (Luke 9:23-26)

Jesus refused to hide the truth of the Gospel in small print in order to increase His “success rate.”  In fact, it seems as though He went out of His way to make it clear just how difficult it would be for one to follow Him.  If the rich young ruler showed up in the church today he would be at the top of the list of potential elders.  Yet after a conversation with our Savior, who refused to shroud the Gospel in “small print,” the rich young ruler went away sad.

You see, the Gospel Jesus preached—and the one we are to be preaching with both our lips and our lives—is a Gospel of self-denial and self-sacrifice.  He refused to tell people what they wanted to hear just so He could get someone to sign on the dotted line.  He spoke the truth and the truth was this: to follow Jesus is to follow Him to the cross on the Hill Golgotha, where dying to self is the only way to live for the Savior.

We know the apostles fully understood there was to be no “small print” in sacred Scripture when they spoke these words, which were “strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith.” The words were: “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

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

Many Christians are being held hostage to a failure to forgive.  They simply refuse to get past hurts and wrongs; they trade their liberty in Christ for the prison of the past.  But there is a Gospel solution to this all-too-common problem:

Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?  Up to seven times?”  Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”  (Matthew 18:21-22)

So what’s in a number?  When it comes to forgiveness . . . absolutely nothing!  Jesus made it clear to Peter that asking how many times he should forgive someone who has wronged him is the wrong question to ask.  Peter probably thought he was being extra-gracious, that by proposing a seven-times forgiveness plan he was far surpassing the righteousness of the Pharisees and teachers of the law.  In that day, Jewish tradition limited forgiveness to just three times and then you could write the offender off.

It’s important to point out that Jesus phrase, “seventy-seven times,” can also be translated “seventy times seven.” In fact, the ESV, NASB, and NKJV versions of the Bible all render it that way. The point Jesus was making to Peter and to us was this:

When it comes to forgiveness, there is no number!

In God’s economy, there simply is no limit to the number of times we are to forgive others.  That is because there is no limit to how many times God forgives us.  He is not keeping score and neither should we!

Peter had a hard time getting past the number.  How about you?  Those who are keeping track of forgiveness simply do not understand; they do not fully comprehend the forgiveness they have received in Christ.  When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He said: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”  Really?  Is that what we really want God to do?  To forgive us as we forgive others?  The answer is yes . . . but only if the power of the Gospel has freed us to live a life of unconditional forgiveness.

Now, I don’t want to minimize the pain that the wrongs of another can cause.  Some scars last a lifetime.  And that is why it is so critical to pursue a deeper understanding of the Gospel, so that we can be freed to forgive.  The Gospel accounts describe in excruciating detail what happened to Jesus on our behalf. And yet, while hanging on that dirty tree, Jesus prayed: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

I once heard a man say that “Refusing to forgive is like drinking poison and waiting for your enemy to die.”  Jesus knew the damage of an unforgiving heart, and He set the model before us that gives us the power to offer up forgiveness and thus free ourselves from the prison of the past.

To be sure, we can pray for God to deal with every injustice, which He has promised that He will do.  God-centered anger is an appropriate response to injustice, because it is rooted in a concern for God and His Kingdom rather than our own.  And yet it is the power of the Gospel that frees us to leave our righteous indignation at the foot of the cross.

When you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.  (Mark 11:25)

It has been said, “Unforgiveness does more damage to the vessel in which it is stored than the object upon which it is poured.”  To forgive as we have been forgiven is to freely forgive, no matter how many times someone has wronged us or hurt us.  And remember: God never asks us to do anything without giving us the grace to get it done.

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

As we walk further up and further into the truths of the Gospel, the Good News almost seems too good to be true.  The more I walk in the truths of the Gospel, the more I am convinced that I need more of the truths of the Gospel . . . simply to believe the truths of the Gospel!  There are days when I echo the cry of the father of the demon-possessed boy in Mark 9:24, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

The cross shouts many things to us.  It shouts that Jesus is committed to saving His people.  It shouts that His people are accepted in the Beloved.  It shouts that the entire work of our salvation has been perfectly completed by our Savior.  But did you know it shouts that He rejoices over you?

As the bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

(Isaiah 62:5)

Jesus, our bridegroom, has made a choice to rejoice over you His bride.  This is not because you have matured over time, like a fine wine.  And it isn’t because you redoubled your efforts and strengthened your commitment to be more faithful.  His choice to rejoice over you is simply that: His choice.  And because His choice doesn’t have its beginnings in you, it won’t have its continuance or its completion in you either.

That is really good news, isn’t it?

• We are accepted because He chooses to accept us.
• We are adopted because He chooses to adopt us.
• We are cared for because He chooses to care for us.
• We are loved because He chooses to love us.

It would be impossible to accept just how much we mean to our Lord if it hadn’t been written down for us in the sacred Scriptures.  And even when we read it in the Gospel over and over, we still need to ask Jesus to help our unbelief.

I think one of the reasons His choice to rejoice over me is so hard to accept is the fact that I know just how bad I really am!  I know my divided affections . . . my idolatry . . . my sinful pride . . . my self-righteousness.  I know that I remove Jesus from the throne of my life and replace Him with a thousand things smaller than Him.  And yet, in spite of all that—in spite of the wretched man that I am—He has made a choice to rejoice over me!

Regardless of where this message finds you today, I encourage you to pause for a moment and receive a good dose of Gospel medication.  Our heavenly Father’s choice to rejoice over you was sealed with Christ’s blood staining a rough cross on Golgotha’s hill.

Still not convinced?  God confirmed the sacrifice of His Son for you by raising Him from the dead on the third day.

Still struggling with doubts?  Today Jesus sits in the position of power, authority, and glory at the right hand of the Father, always making intercession for you, and waiting for that day when He will receive you into glory.

These Gospel truths are the key to rising above the challenges of daily living.  These truths provide the necessary fuel to face every obstacle and overcome every failure, knowing that we wear the spotless wedding garments of His grace.  And that is enough to get us home safely!

One final point: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).  His choice to rejoice over you as His bride never grows cold, never diminishes, and never fades.

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

You hear a lot of talk in the church about “self-esteem” these days.  Self-esteem is a term used in psychology to reflect someone’s overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth.  Self-esteem, also known as self-concept, encompasses both beliefs and emotions. A self-concept based on the truth (“I am a great sinner in need of an even greater Savior”) is good.  A self-concept based on a lie (“I’m a pretty good person; certainly not as bad as most”) is bad.

Only the power of the Gospel frees us to live in the light of the truth with freedom, laughter, joy, and faithfulness to Jesus.  You see, the Gospel frees us from shading the truth about ourselves.  We don’t have to make ourselves out to be better than we actually are, because God loved us while we were sinners and He still loves us while we are sinners.

The power of the Gospel allows us to take off our masks and stop pretending we are holy and pious.  We were sinners when we were first saved and we are still sinners today.  The difference is that we are now saved from our sins.  Knowing this truth, believing this truth, and understanding this truth allows us to accept who we are: fully accepted and blessed in the Beloved.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.  (Ephesians 1:3-6)

How incredibly loved you really are! God the Father sent God His Son to die on a cross for you!  There is no greater blessing in the Beloved than to know that you are now forever accepted, because you were bought with His precious blood on Golgotha’s Hill.

You cannot lose your acceptance.  You cannot diminish His love for you.  You cannot make Him angry with you.  The right way for you to view yourself is clothed in the righteousness of Christ, perfectly pleasing in the sight of God.

Now, note that I did not say “perfect.”  None of us is perfect, and we won’t be until we get to the other side of the grave.  But along the way, because of the finished work of Christ, we are perfectly pleasing in the sight of God.  And that truth should impact the way we view ourselves and feel about ourselves, even in the light of our next sin.

Yes, we hate sin.  Yes, we are filled with a godly sorrow when we sin and recognize our own unworthiness.  But we are still sinners saved by grace; the more unworthy we feel ourselves to be, the more evidence we have for the unconditional and unending love of God in Christ.

People may doubt your salvation.  Satan may whisper in your ear that you are far too unworthy to be an object of God’s love.  But don’t you listen to it for a moment!  Remember, “He that spared not His own son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).  A right view of you is you are His today, tomorrow, and forever more.

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