Grace for the Race

In our high tech / high speed world, we tend to be going so quickly that we can miss the little things that bring big blessings. When was the last time you took in a sunrise? How about a walk along the shore with the waves gently washing over your feet? Perhaps a family meal without any outside distractions, like phones or TV?

The Wise Preacher has a word of wisdom for you and me today.

I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.  (Ecclesiastes 8:15)

Finally! A word of wisdom that tells us there is more to life than increasing its speed! God has given us this gift of life to be enjoyed. Gladness is to fill the heart as much as food and drink fill the stomach. If we don’t take the time, time will take us, and it will take us to a place we never intended to be.

We all know what it is like to be living a life that is demanding, depleting, even incredibly discouraging at times. That is why God has commended the enjoyment of life to everyone who is living it. And that includes you! There is great enjoyment to be found in the mundane moments of life, because there is a great God right in the middle of it. God is in the soothing sound of ocean waves, the refreshing smell of a cool breeze, and the unexpected greeting of an old friend.

Life in Christ is for enjoyment, not enslavement! Joy will accompany us in our toil when our toil is being done for the glory of God. Sure, some days seem like they drag on forever, without any visible signs of fruit. We find ourselves careening from wall to wall . . . and we have countless bumps and bruises to prove it. But through it all, God says we are to enjoy the journey just as much as we look forward to enjoying our promised destination.

Take a moment to think about some of the “little things” you may have been neglecting and missing out on. There really are no mundane and ordinary moments in life. Time is short! Life is fleeting. Eat, drink, and be glad—make the little things big—and joy will accompany you in all your toil throughout all the days of the life God has given to you.

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

Having worked with athletes for the past few decades, I have put a great deal of thought and study into nutrition for peak performance. The term “breakfast of champions” suggests that the athlete is starting the day off right, with proper nutrition that will propel him or her through the day at the highest levels of performance. Did you know that there is a breakfast of champions for Christians, regardless of what athletic prowess they may or may not possess?

Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go for to you I lift up my soul. (Psalm 143:8)

Here the psalmist gives us the formula for the biblical breakfast of champions, and it is found in the Gospel of God alone. What a way to start each day, hearing in the morning of the steadfast love of our splendid Savior! The psalmist rises to begin the day—not with excitement about the daily news or stock market reports—but with the joy and comfort of daily experiencing the love of God. The psalmist puts his trust in this Gospel truth.

Let us acknowledge the Lord;

let us press on to acknowledge him.

As surely as the sun rises,

he will appear;

he will come to us like the winter rains,

like the spring rains that water the earth. (Hosea 6:3)

A breakfast buffet of God’s unfailing and unconditional love is the best way for those who are in Christ to start the day! It is like manna from heaven at the start of a new day. It is like fresh dew in the early morning covering the grass. It is like water from the fountain of Living Water that slakes the thirst for the entire day. Scripture tells us that the only way each day will be what God wants it to be is to begin it in the presence of God.

I know from personal experience the difference it makes starting the day with some “alone time” with God. When I’m too rushed, it’s not long before I am running on empty . . . and empty is not a good place to be! The common response from those who rush headlong into the day is, “I really didn’t have time.” Well, the truth is, none of us has the time NOT to do it.

When we start the day with God, we start the day with the fuel for excellence. We make better decisions and go in better directions. Think about it this way: is it better to start the day with fresh fruit or frozen toaster pastries? Starting the day off on the wrong foot has a tendency to keep us heading in the wrong direction. But when we begin the day reflecting on the grace of God, resting in His steadfast love, and responding to His call in our lives, we are supernaturally charged to live each moment for the glory of God and the good of all others.

How about you? How are you doing in this area? The “breakfast of champions” is the Bread of Life, and He is available to you 24/7. Start each day with the One in whom you trust! And on the days you don’t . . . relax! Jesus will be waiting for you when you return.

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

When was the last time you found yourself in a “hard place,” not knowing which direction to turn? Perhaps you went to work, only to learn that you would be looking for a new job the next day. Maybe your doctor called you to give you bad health news personally . . . because the news was that bad. Possibly your family is in turmoil, with a child headed off to the far country or your spouse headed off to the couch.

To be sure, hard places are hard . . . hence the phrase “hard places.” But for the Christian, those places are not without hope, because whatever hard place you may find yourself in, you will find the Holy One there with you.  He is the friend who loves at all times (Proverbs 17:17), the friend who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24).

God went with Moses into the hard place of Egypt to confront Pharaoh. God went with David into the hard place of taking on Goliath. God went with Peter into the hard place of his courtyard denials of Jesus. God went with the apostle Paul into the hard place of preaching to his pharisaical friends.

Often we are brought into these hard places to wean our hard hearts away from self-love to Savior love. The hard places are designed to teach us to depend more on God than we do on ourselves. Moses had to depend on God when he stood before Pharaoh. David had to depend on God when he took on the giant. Peter had to depend on God to be redeemed out of his denials. And Paul had to depend on God when preaching to those he once persecuted with.

O Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” But you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the Lord I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill.  (Psalm 3:1-4)

These words of the psalmist are words of comfort for all those who find themselves in the hard places of life. The foes of the faithful are many, and they will stop at nothing to turn our hearts away from God. And that is why we need to preach the Gospel to ourselves every day—to be constantly reminded that we are never alone in the hard place. And as we marinate in the truths of the Gospel, we realize that Jesus took the hardest place of all in our place. He willingly and lovingly took our lash . . . our nails . . . our cross . . . our separation from the Father.

So whatever you are facing today, and no matter how high the odds are stacked up against you, remember that Jesus is your Hope in the hard place. Let’s close with these words recorded by the prophet Jeremiah, words which bring great hope in whatever hard place we may find ourselves.

“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  (Jeremiah 29:11)

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

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.  For some, it’s a day of love and romance.  For others, it’s a day of emptiness and loneliness.  And there are those who think of Valentine’s Day and sneer, “I could care less!”  Regardless of where this finds you today, there is a biblical “Be Mine” that I would like to call to mind, and it will meet you in your deepest place of longing and need for intimacy and love.

I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me.  (Song of Solomon 7:10 ESV)

Because we were made by God for God, our deepest longings can only be satisfied when we are in an intimate, personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.  After reading the verse above and marinating in it for a moment, how does it make you feel to know you are your Beloved’s and His desire is for you?  If that doesn’t light the fire of your faith, I can assure you of one thing: your wood is wet!

To be the object of the Almighty’s affection is to be the object of a love that is eternal, unwavering, and unconditional.

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.  (Ephesians 1:4-7)

Before God ever breathed life into Adam and Eve . . . He chose you to be His! He determined before the creation of the world to set His love on you and adopt you as His child. When Jesus told Nicodemus that 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), He was not speaking of some vague, large, indeterminate group of people. God so loved you that He gave Jesus to die . . . for you! And He determined to do so because of His great love for you; He did it freely, “in accordance with his pleasure and will.” Indeed, if you have trusted in Christ’s atoning death on your behalf, you are your Beloved’s and His eternal desire has always been for you!

This stunning Gospel truth is what shatters our worthless idols and lesser loves that attempt to divide the affections of our heart.  Only the Gospel will deliver us from the countless cheap imitations we seek to use as replacements for the “love of God” and the “God of love.”

But this is not for you!

You were sought, caught, and bought by the precious blood of the Lamb, who refused to come down from the cross to save Himself because He wanted to save you.  When God said, “Be Mine” to you through the crosswork of Christ, He not only had already made room for you in heaven, He had made room for you in His heart.  To know that Jesus not only lives in your heart but that you live in His is to know a truth that truly transforms.  It transforms a bad day into a good day; a cold day into a hot day; a rainy day into a sunny day.

If you have a “special someone” to share Valentine’s Day with, praise God for such a good gift.  But whether you’ll be buying flowers and cards this week or not, you should praise God for an even greater gift: the gift of that “special Someone” who will never leave you nor forsake you, no matter what you do or don’t do.

Let these words from the apostle Paul to Timothy bring you a special blessing today: “If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).  When Jesus said to you, “Be Mine,” He meant what He said . . . and He meant it forever!

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

In a world marked by a lack of peace between nations, among countrymen, and even within families, the Gospel gives us the picture of the true peace that passes all understanding.

He himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.  (Ephesians 2:14-18)

Here we see that peace is not a process; peace is a person, and His name is Jesus Christ. Without Christ there can simply be no peace. Conflict will never be ultimately resolved through some prescribed peace process, because peace is more than the mere absence of conflict and outward hostility. Peace is a “oneness,” a wholeness that will only be found through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Without this oneness, every peace process inevitably breaks down and before long we find ourselves in the middle of a new battle.

Peace among nations will not last without the Prince of Peace in the center of it . . . just as peace within families simply cannot last without the Prince of Peace in the center of it.

Why? Because peace without the Person of Jesus Christ it is built upon shadow and not the Substance. Shadows are superficial and short-lived and do not hold up under pressure. Only the Substance of the Savior can support the weight of unrest and conflict that lies deep within the heart of every human being and bring to it permanent peace. It is impossible to live in peace at any level—among nations or within families—without first having peace in the person of Jesus.

Paul tells us that the One who is our Peace preached peace to those who were far away and those who were near. In a word, His promise of peace is offered to EVERYONE! No one is beyond the reach of our Prince of Peace. God doesn’t play favorites; you don’t have to clean up or “get right” before this peace is in your possession. As Jesus said so succinctly, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (Matthew 9:12).

• Did you veer off to the wrong side of the tracks? He will make you right!
•  Dis you wander off into a far country? He will bring you near!
•  Have you fallen down and out? He will lift you up and in!

His peace is available to anyone and everyone who trusts in Jesus, who gives us access to the Father by the Holy Spirit. If this finds you in the middle of a season of great peace, thank Him today! And if this finds you in the middle of a season of great unrest, conflict, or distress, go to Him today and receive His peace. Then go to others whom you know are struggling and tell them about the One who can bring permanent wholeness, regardless of the problems they are facing. You’ll be glad you did. They will be too!

“Peace I leave with you,” Jesus said; “my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

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

We have all experienced that sickly feeling of shame when someone found out something about us that we wanted to keep hidden away in the shadows.  We all have skeletons hanging in our closets which, if exposed, would lead to shame on steroids!

Yet there is One who knows everything about us and still loves us, unconditionally.

Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.  Could this be the Messiah? (John 4:29)

These words from the stunned Samaritan women who met Jesus at the well have been recorded in sacred writ to give us comfort . . . and a dose of Gospel sanity.  Jesus knew everything about this woman who was living a sinful life.  And He knows everything about you.  There is nothing hidden from the view of our Lord (Hebrews 4:13); He even knows the sins you haven’t committed yet!

And yet, in spite of being fully known, we are completely loved.  With every right to condemn the Samaritan woman, Jesus offered her comfort that she could find in no other place.  This woman had been married and divorced . . . married and divorced . . . married and divorced . . . five times! And on the day she met Jesus at the well, she had apparently given up on the institution of marriage altogether and was living with a sixth man out of wedlock.

Jesus could have shamed her in a supernatural way.  But He did not.  Instead of shame He saved her from her sin-filled past.  He spoke to her of the living water that He had to offer. Instead of sending this woman away on a guilt trip, she went away filled with the joyful Gospel grace that transforms.

The Samaritan woman came for water from Jacob’s well; Jesus sent her home with living water that would slake her thirst for all eternity.  And He has done the same for all those who are His.  The Gospel frees us from shame and skeletons and sets us solidly on the Rock of our Salvation.  Think about this Gospel truth for a moment and then marinate in it for the rest of your life!

FULLY KNOWN . . . COMPLETELY LOVED!

Jesus knows our every thought and lustful longing.  He knows our every self-absorbed and self-centered deed.  He knows every gangrenous, gossipy, graceless word we have ever spoken.  And still He loves us in a way that always redeems and never ridicules.

The Samaritan knew for the very first time that she was fully known without the accompanying guilt and shame.  She came to the well at a time when she did not expect to meet anyone who would know her.  What a Gospel surprise she got that day!  She came to draw water and Jesus drew her to Himself.

Her skeletons were finally exposed, but instead of those old bones crackling they were crushed.  Her shame was given room to strike, and instead it was shut up for the rest of her life.  She was free!  There was now no condemnation for her.  Jesus had set her free and she was free indeed.

So to it is for everyone who has trusted in Jesus. Our Savior covers the shame and crushes the skeletons.  Oh what a Savior we have in Jesus! Oh what a Gospel He has given to us!

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

I have heard many sermons and Bible studies over the years that focused on spiritual warfare.  I have taught many of them myself. It’s easy to get caught up in over-spiritualizing our spiritual battle. Some teaching seems to produce more fear about spiritual warfare than it does faith. Other teachings create far more phobias than freedom. And still others shift our focus away from the Light and put it squarely on the darkness.

I’m afraid that sometimes we simply make it harder than it has to be.

God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:6-7)

The Bible tells us that when we resist the devil he will retreat and flee from our presence. The problem is there are times when we simply do not want to resist him!

• We choose being right over being loving.
• We choose making a point instead of ministering to another.
• We choose being winners regardless of the costs.
• We choose being served rather than serving others.

These are just a few of the countless ways we refuse to resist the devil and instead give him a foothold on our faithfulness.  James gives us the key to resisting the devil and watching him flee: submission to God.  We are to submit to God’s purpose in our lives. We are to submit to God’s plan for our lives. We are to submit to God’s power through our lives. When we focus on submitting to God, we are strengthened to resist the devil . . . even when we would rather not!

We need the Gospel as much now as we did when we first believed. The Gospel is the power of God and it is only God’s power that renders the devil powerless. Because of the cross work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the devil is a lion without teeth . . . a bear without claws . . . a snake without a slithering tongue. We have victory because Jesus had victory. We need only tap into the power that is available to us moment by moment in the Gospel and watch the devil flee from our presence!

What a wonderful picture of the power of the Gospel: to see a fleeing devil on the run from the people of God! The devil’s schemes are nothing to be laughed at. They are real and they are relentless. But our God is on the throne of the universe and nothing happens to us that doesn’t first pass through His nail-scarred hands. And that, beloved, is the comfort we have in knowing that our God never gives to us more than we can handle. And He always provides us with a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13).

We need only submit to God and resist the devil. God has promised to send Satan into retreat!

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

Last month I took my son, Brock, to the fishing pier on his 16^th birthday.  Brock doesn’t care if he catches anything; he simply loves to fish.  While we were out on the pier, I was struck by the gentle breeze, cool air, and the calmness of the water.  It was a beautiful day.  As a sailboat went by I thought about how effortlessly it sailed across the calm water.

To be sure, calm seas make for smooth sailing, but in the life of the Christian, the seas are not always calm.

[Jesus] got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.  The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”  (Matthew 8:23-27)

I’m sure the seas were calm when Jesus and the disciples got into the boat.  But suddenly a furious storm came up.  Often the storms of life come up “suddenly,” bringing with them furious waves of challenge that sweep over us.  Storms in our student lives . . . Storms in our family lives . . . Storms in our professional lives . . . Storms in our personal lives.  You will remember that storms were promised by our Savior:

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.  (John 16:33)

Here we see God’s promise of both storms and a secure landing.  Because Jesus has overcome the world, all those who are in Christ have overcome the world too.  Our future is both promised and secure.  This Gospel truth is the fuel that is to ignite the fire of our faith.  Knowing that Jesus has overcome the world by His sinless life, sacrificial death, and supernatural resurrection is the comfort we need in every storm we face, especially those He chooses not to calm instantly.

Storms in the hands of our Savior are used to sanctify us and grow our faith.  Our storm experiences prepare us to walk alongside others who are in the midst of storms similar to the ones we have experienced.  Think about the last time someone came alongside of you when you were going through a particular storm.  They were able to bring comfort and clarity because they had gone through the same kind of storm.

This is one of the rich fruits of weathering storms: sharing our experience with others who are going through the same thing.  A friend of mine who went through addiction recovery likes to talk about sharing our “experience, strength, and hope.” We empathize through our common experience; we stand on the strength given us by the Spirit of God; and we rejoice together in the hope held out to us in the Gospel!

Regardless of what you are facing today, remember that Jesus is with you in your storm and has promised to get you on the other side of it.  Experience has taught me that there are some blessings that can only be found on the other side of storms.  God does not promise smooth sailing . . . but He does promise a secure landing!

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

The term weed is used in a variety of senses, usually centering around an undesirable plant that is considered to be a nuisance. In the spiritual sense, weeds are thoughts, words, deeds, or desires that disrupt or distort our Christian walk.

Let’s take a brief look at the weeds of worry.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  (Matthew 6:25-34)

Worry is a weed that waters down our witness and weakens our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is why He makes it crystal clear that, for the Christian, worry is to be removed as far as the east is from the west. If God feeds the birds of the air and clothes the flowers of the field, and we are much more valuable to God than they are, what is there to worry about? Absolutely nothing! Besides, each day has more than enough trouble to send our way without our adding to it by worry!

Worry robs us of our intimacy with Jesus because it puts our focus on ourselves, rather than on the One on whom we should focus: Jesus. Worry is a lack of trust in God. We worry because we don’t trust God to make good on His Word. He has promised to meet all of our needs in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19); but instead of resting in that promise we become restless in our worry.

God has never broken a promise in the past. Why would we worry about Him breaking one in the present or future?

The key that keeps us from watering the weeds of worry is the Gospel. Standing in the shadow of the cross and fixing our eyes on our bleeding Savior cures us of all worry. If Jesus was willing to suffer and die in our place, will He not provide for our every need? Of course He will!

Let me close with a quote from Billy Sunday:

You can’t love right unless you hate wrong.

You can’t love good unless you hate evil.

You can’t love flowers unless you hate weeds.

Hate those wicked weeds of worry and refuse to water them! Pull them out by the root and rest in the reality of your redemption, knowing that your Redeemer lives—and He lives for you.

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