Grace for the Race

You might be wondering, “When in the world does adversity turn into advantage?  All of the adversity I am currently facing is absolutely killing me!  From my failing health to my faltering business . . . from distress in my marriage to disconnection with my children . . . you have to be kidding when you suggest there is a time when adversity turns into advantage!”

Well, I didn’t say it; the Book did!

Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.  (Psalm 50:15)

Here we find light in our darkness and calm in our storm.  God says that we can turn every adversity into advantage when we turn toward Him.  We have a tendency to aggravate our problems by turning to countless things smaller than God . . . things that promise deliverance but simply cannot deliver on their promise.  God tells us in the day of trouble that we are to call on Him.

The second half of the passage gives the reason for crying out to God.  He not only wants to hear our cry, He can actually do something about it!  God accepts our plea for help and He answers it with His omnipotent determination to deliver us from adversity.  When we call on the Lord for deliverance, we are doing what every child of God must do: we are to look away from self and toward our Savior.  You see, in times of adversity God is bringing us to the end of ourselves.  He is making us decrease so He can increase.  Adversity turns into advantage when we take our eyes off ourselves and turn to God.

Regardless of the trouble you are facing, call on Jesus.  Not only has He promised to deliver you, He assures you that in your desperation and deliverance, He shall receive the glory.  God is glorified when we cry out to Him, because our cry is a testimony to the sufficiency of the One in whom we trust.

There is something we all need to be reminded of regarding our deliverance: God is not in the business of delivering those who believe they are in no need of it!  Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Matthew 9:12).  If you are not sick, you don’t need healing.  If you are not down, you don’t need to be raised up.  The watching world catches a glimpse of the true composition of our character when we are facing adversity.  As James Allen once said, “Circumstance doesn’t make the man, it reveals him.”

To be sure, adversity turns into advantage when we turn toward Jesus.  Speak this prayer from days of old and prepare for your deliverance.

Lord, thou hast bid me seek thy face,

and shall I seek in vain?

And shall the ear of sovereign grace

be deaf when I complain?

So . . . what is your adversity revealing about you lately?  If in it you are turning to Jesus, then you are turning your adversity into your advantage; and along the way, God is getting all the glory!

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

No doubt you’ve been told, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!”  Not bad advice.  Yet frequently we overlook the rich, God-ordained blessings in the lemons prior to turning them into lemonade.

If you are a disciple of Christ, you will be no stranger to storms and suffering.  God has ordained them for your good and His glory.  Far too many in the church today miss the blessing in the storm because they are so busily engaged doing everything in their power to get out of it!  Paul penned a word of encouragement to believers who were in the middle of the storm.

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  (1 Peter 1:6-8)

After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.  (1 Peter 5:10)

As hard as it is to see when we are in the middle of it, Peter reminds us that our suffering—all of our suffering—is only temporary and for just a little while.  He also reminds us to view our temporary suffering in light of the eternal glory that awaits us on the other side.  In order to get lemonade, you must squeeze the lemons!  In order to receive the promised eternal glory, we have to go through some storms.

Notice that some of the greatest blessings can only be received through the storms of life.  Peter tells us that God Himself will perfect us, which is a great comfort for struggling saints.  We are continually making progress toward that day when we shall be perfected in Jesus.  To be sure, there are many times when our progress feels like one step forward and two, three, or even five steps backwards.  But Scripture assure us that what the God of all grace began in us He will one day complete (Philippians 1:6); and the workshop God often uses is the fiery furnace of affliction.

To be confirmed, strengthened, and established is to be partakers of the infinite grace of the God of all grace.  We shall be preserved.  We shall be protected.  We shall make progress.  And all of this will be worked out to perfection through the storms that we must endure on this side of His finished work and faithful reign.  So let us not be so quick to turn lemons into lemonade!

For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.  (2 Corinthians 4:17)

You see, the storms of life are not simply to be endured, they are to be embraced.  The eternal weight of glory we are being prepared for simply cannot be compared to the momentary and light affliction we must pass through for a season.  The refiner’s fire is, in fact, producing character in us that more and more each day reflects the character of the Beloved Son.  Who of you reading this right now would not gladly embrace the storm winds if it means coming out on the other side more like Jesus?

Our God of all grace will give us all the grace we need to receive and respond to every trial we face and every storm we must pass through.  As Paul assured us, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13 NKJV).  His grace is not only pardoning, it is empowering; it is not only cleansing, it is character-building; it is not only sustaining, it is strengthening.  Because His grace is as abundant as it is amazing, let us take the lemons of life and lean into the lessons they are designed to teach us.  Do that first, before you work to turn those lemons into lemonade!

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

Are you facing anything in life right now that seems insurmountable?  Trouble at the office?  Loneliness in your single life?  Difficulties in your marriage?  Prodigal child?  Unfaithful friend?  Negative bank balance?  Bad news from the doctor?  I pray that today’s message will be a source of comfort and encouragement to you, making it clear that no rescue is beyond the reach of your Redeemer.

Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See, the place where we dwell under your charge is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan and each of us get there a log, and let us make a place for us to dwell there.” And he answered, “Go.” Then one of them said, “Be pleased to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I will go.” So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. But as one was felling a log, his axe head fell into the water, and he cried out, “Alas, my master! It was borrowed.” Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float. And he said, “Take it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.  (2 Kings 6:1-7)

Can you imagine a situation more hopeless?  The borrowed axe head had fallen into the water, plummeting down to settle on the bottom.  Gone was the axe head, and likely the trust granted to the borrower by the tool’s owner was gone with it.  Or was it?  Once again we see that “with God all things are possible” . . . even making steel swim!

If God can make steel swim, He can turn any situation in your life around in an instant.  He delights in blessing His people and blessing them in ways that make it crystal clear that it was God who did the blessing.

So . . . what steel in your life do you need to swim?  With God on your side you can live with hope, even in the face of what seems hopeless.  The impossible becomes possible in the hands of the Almighty.  God can raise you out of the ashes of defeat and bring you into a new season of success.  He can meet you in your place of darkness and make it so bright that you gotta wear shades!

Now, it’s important to note that God had the man reach out his hand and take back the lost axe head.  Yes, the steel did swim because of the grace of God, but even in that grace God had the man reach out to receive it.  You are not a passive bystander in the life you are living.  You are called to do your part, to get involved, and to play your role.  Yes, the race you are running you run by grace . . . but you are still running it.

Paul questioned the Christians at Corinth, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize?” And then he added this exhortation: “So run that you may obtain it” (1 Corinthians 9:24). Other than our Lord Himself, no one taught the doctrine of salvation by grace alone through faith alone more clearly than the apostle Paul. And yet he too stressed our active role in living the Christian life.

Reach where God instructs you to reach.  Grow where God instructs you to grow.  Stretch where God instructs you to stretch.  Stand still where God instructs you to stand still.  Remember, God will only ask you to do what He has given you the strength to do.  We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).

Every promise God has made to us finds its “Yes!” in Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20) and that includes the promise to make whatever steel you are facing today . . . swim!

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

Did you know that the power of the Gospel frees us from the fear of evil?  Do you know why?  It’s because even in the evil we face day in and day out, our God is with us.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.  (Psalm 23:4)

On the darkest road we travel, we need not fear evil because God is with us.  Even in the shadow of death the Christian heart still beats in time with the Master’s music, because He is not only our comfort but He is our companion.  He is the friend who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24).  And he who has God as his companion has nothing to fear.  What a beautiful promise we have from the psalmist—a promise that propels us further in and further up into our redemption, independent of all outward circumstances, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In fearing no evil, we are to include the evil one—the devil himself.  Satan can do only what God allows, and God only allows what is useful for our sanctification and service to others.  Sure, the devil comes as a roaring lion, seeking to devour anything in his way.  But he comes without teeth and claws, because he comes under the complete control of Christ our companion.  You will remember in the story of Job: the devil was allowed to do only what God allowed him to do, all of which ultimately worked for God’s glory and Job’s good.  And this is true for every child of God born of grace.

To be sure, there are times we find ourselves in dark valleys, deep waters, deserted highways, and desolate places, but we never find ourselves alone . . . which is cause for courage and cheer, not fright and fear.  It’s important to note that Jesus is not only with you, but He has gone before you.  Jesus faced every imaginable evil and conquered it as our King.

• Jesus faced the evil of the religious leaders
• Jesus faced the evil of His neighbors
• Jesus faced the evil of His friends
• Jesus faced the evil of His followers
• Jesus faced the evil of the Roman soldiers
• Jesus faced the evil of the thieves that hung on either side of Him on the cross
• Jesus faced the evil of evil itself in His wilderness experience
• Jesus faced the evil of our imputed sins
• Jesus faced the evil of death
• Jesus faced the evil of hell

Not only is Jesus our companion who has faced every evil, He is our King who has conquered every evil.  Not one evil could stand up against perfect Righteousness.  He sits at the right hand of God the Father (Romans 8:34), which is the place of power in heaven and on earth.  And it is that power that overcame every evil and will one day overthrow it, making everything that is bad good; everything crooked will be made straight; darkness will be turned to light; the dead in Christ will live; and all that was meant for evil will display the glorious righteousness of Christ!

Let the confession of our lives be one that fears no evil, knowing we face it with our conquering King, who has vanquished every foe.

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

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15)

In light of Jesus’ words here, what is the motivating force for new obedience?  For some it is fear.  They are afraid of the consequences of disobedience; they try to obey out of a sense of dread.  They try harder and harder, but it never works for long.  We are simply too weak to obey in our own strength out of a sense of fear.  For others, the motivating force is guilt.  They feel guilty over past disobedience—the problems it caused and the people they hurt—and they resolve to be better in the future.  Their resolve caused them to do more initially, but it never works for long.  We are simply too inconsistent to obey in our own strength out of a sense of guilt.

The motivation for those in whom the truths of the Gospel have taken root is rooted in gratitude.  They look back at all God has done for them in Christ, and out of a heart overflowing with thanksgiving, they desire to walk in new obedience.  Looking back at the grace we have been given is a wonderful motivation for living a life of obedience . . . but if we stop there, we have stopped short of a full understanding of the Gospel and the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Gratitude that looks back on grace received is a powerful motivator for obedience, but it can easily morph into attempting to pay God back for all that He has done, a feat which we could never accomplish.  If we could pay God back, it would not be grace that was given to us in the first place!  For “if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace” (Romans 11:6).  What we need is not only gratitude that looks back on past grace, but faith that looks forward to the future grace promised in the Gospel. This attitude of looking to the past and to the future is beautifully and succinctly expressed in Romans 8:32.

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

The first part of this verse focuses on the grace God has already given to His people; the second half focuses on the grace God will give to His people.  The ultimate motivation for new obedience is the combination of looking back in gratitude for grace given and looking forward in expectation to grace promised.  These are the bookends of living a life of obedience (albeit imperfectly) for every disciple of Christ.  John Piper explains:

The faith in future grace is the power for obedience that preserves the gracious quality of human obedience.  Obedience does not consist in paying God back and thus turning grace into a trade.  Obedience comes from trusting in God for more grace—future grace—and thus magnifying the infinite resources of God’s love and power.

Our hearts should be filled with gratitude over the grace we have already been given and brimming with positive anticipation for the grace we have been promised and will experience when we are brought home into glory.  What God began, He will complete (Philippians 1:6) and He will complete it with the grace of the Gospel, poured out in the past, the present, and in the future.  When God promised to never leave or forsake us, He promised us a future grace we can bank on!  The power for new obedience is rooted in the promise of new obedience, because of the One who made the promise.  He is faithful to fulfill His promises even when we are not faithful to them.  As Paul assured us, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).

When we look back in gratitude for the grace we have been given and forward to the grace we have been promised, we are propelled by the unimaginable love and mercy of God, who has given us all we need to live the life He has called us to live—by confident faith in indescribable grace.  Look back in gratitude and look forward by faith and there is no telling what God can do through you!

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

When was the last time you thought about the power of God?  I mean, really thought through just how powerful the God of the Bible actually is?  Well, let today’s message be a source of great comfort to you, regardless of what you might be facing, because whatever you are facing you are facing it in the power of the Almighty!

Power Over Nature

And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.  (Luke 8:24)

Where in your life right now do you need a little calm?  Jesus spoke a word to the wind and the waves and they ceased their raging.  He can speak a word of calm into any circumstance you are currently facing.

In His humanity, Jesus was subject to nature.  Just like you and me, our Lord was drenched by rain, He shivered in the cold, and he perspired in the heat. But in His divinity, He was Sovereign over nature.  The power of Jesus cannot be resisted even by the wind and the waves.  “You rule the raging of the sea,” the psalmist exulted; “when its waves rise, you still them” (Psalm 89:9).  Everything is subject to His authority and under His command.  Think about this for a moment.  Jesus not only desired to stop the storm in order to comfort His terrified disciples, but He had the power to do it.  Now, that is ALL POWERFUL!  And that power is available to you today.

If Jesus is in you, then the power of Jesus is in you, and that power is available to you to do everything He has called you to do.  There is nothing that can thwart the purposes of God, and that includes all that He has purposed to accomplish through you.  God never calls without equipping those whom He has called.  He provides all the power necessary for His people to accomplish all His will.

The wind cannot stand in the way of the power of God.  The waves cannot stand in the way of the power of God.  The wicked cannot stand in the way of the power of God.  And your weakness cannot stand in the way of the power of God. As Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged, “He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:35 NIV.)

God saved you so that you would serve Him.  And your service is not dependent upon your strength.  It is dependent upon His power, and that supernatural power is available at all times.  To be sure, we all serve our God imperfectly.  The Bible is filled with examples of the imperfect service of men.  But even imperfect service was received by our perfect and all-powerful God.  And that, beloved, should comfort you today and cause you to advance confidently in the direction God is calling you to go, in order to do all that He is calling you to do.

Paul prayed that you and I would know “the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might” (Ephesians 1:19).  There is no power in the universe above His power . . . and He has given that power to you!

Fear not, for I am with you;

be not dismayed, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will 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!

When was the last time you said that?  At the grocery store when you picked the shortest check-out line . . . only to discover it was moving the slowest?  In a traffic jam on the way to work . . . when you left home 15 minutes late?  At the office regarding your painfully slow climb up to the top rung on the ladder of success?

One of my seminary professors once said, “Hell, for me, would be one long bank line!” We all lapse into impatience from time to time, but we would deal with waiting much better if we viewed it from God’s perspective:

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage, wait for the Lord!  (Psalm 27:14)

Waiting is one of the means God uses to strengthen us and prepare us for what lies ahead.  God is in control of all things, including check-out lines, traffic, our career advancement . . . even bank lines!  When God causes us to wait, it is not because He has forgotten us or forsaken us; He is forging us into the faithful person He has called us to be.  If we would learn to see delays as part of God’s perfect design in conforming us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29), we could wait in a way that glorifies God and benefits all those with whom we interact while we are waiting.

Impatience is simply unbelief.  It is the not-so-subtle way we question God’s goodness and care for us without actually questioning Him.  To be sure, waiting is generally not a part of our plan—which is why we struggle so much with it!  In our waiting we get angry.  In our waiting we doubt.  In our waiting we envy.  In our waiting we get discouraged.  But waiting is a part of God’s plan for all of us.

• Abraham and Sarah waited beyond the childbearing years before finally bearing the child promised by God.
• Moses waited for 40 years on the back-side of the desert before God called him to deliver the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt.
• While he was building the ark, Noah waited more than 100 years for God to open the heavens and bring the rain.

Because God can see the beginning from the end (Isaiah 46:10), His plans are always better than our plans.  His timing is perfect even when we think His timing is off.  I have learned over the years that waiting is one of God’s best ways to strengthen our faith muscles.  I thought Kim and I would be planting a church long before we planted a church.  At times I grew impatient.  But God continued using Kim to help me see things from God’s perspective (instead of mine), and I learned to wait for the Lord to open the door and usher us through it.  In waiting for the Lord, I learned that the greatest blessing in our waiting was not finally fulfilling the goal of planting a church, but the work God was doing in me along the way.

So . . . where in your life is God causing you to wait?  What might God want you to learn in your waiting?  What might God want you to do in your waiting?  What might God want you to become in your waiting?

God is not finished with you yet!  He is causing you to decrease so Jesus can increase in your life right now.  And He is pleased to do it through waiting.

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

As a pastor, it burdens my soul and breaks my heart to hear so many people tearfully say, “That was the one thing I thought I could never do!”  Whether it was a season of gambling . . . a drinking binge . . . a descent into immorality . . . a time of wandering off into some far country . . . surrendering to the temptation of touch-of-a-button internet pornography . . . or countless other scenarios, the cry is universal: “I never believed I could do that!”

The Bible is full of examples of what happens to broken people living in a broken world with other broken people, especially when they thump their chests and utter the word never.  Here is arguably the most memorable “never” in Scripture, where Jesus foretold Peter’s denial:

When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.  (Matthew 26:30-35)

Peter really did suffer from “foot-in-mouth” disease.  In response to Jesus telling all the disciples that they would all fall away, Peter insisted, “I could never do that!”  But Peter wasn’t content to contradict Jesus—as if that wasn’t bad enough!  He went on to elevate himself and his commitment to Jesus above the other disciples, saying, “Though they all fall away . . . I will never!”  And, of course, Matthew’s gospel shows us the slippery slope we all stand on when we boast loudly of our own strength and resolve.  Peter went on to deny Jesus—not once, but three times . . . just as Jesus had warned him.

When we believe there is something we could never do, we begin to let out guard down.  When we do that, we leave ourselves wide open to the attacks of the devil.  We shift our focus away from Jesus and put in on ourselves.  And when we do that, it’s just a matter of time before we find ourselves doing the very thing we loudly insisted we could never do.

Instead of making our hollow boast about what we will never do, we must cry out every day and ask God to give us grace to withstand the flaming arrows Satan sends our way.  We are never more than one poor decision away from making an appalling mess of everything; the more we focus on what we could never do, we move that much closer to making that poor decision.

The only strength that will sustain us is His strength.  The only commitment we can count on is His commitment to us.  Let us never say “never,” apart from attaching our confidence to the grace and goodness of God, freely given to us in Jesus Christ.  His power is made perfect in our weakness; when we admit that weakness, we are strong in Him!  (If you have any doubts about that, read 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.)

Blessed be the Lord!

for he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

The Lord is my strength and my shield;

in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;

my heart exults,

and with my song I give thanks to him.  (Psalm 28:6-7)

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

How often we use this statement, tacking on a variety of endings to point the finger of blame at someone else for whatever it is in life that displeases us.  I call this “victim mentality,” because when we point the finger of responsibility at others we play the role of the victim.  Do any of the following statements resonate with you at all?

•         If only you would grow up!

•         If only you would do more around the house!

•         If only you would be more intimate!

•         If only you would get more serious!

•         If only you would lose a little weight!

•         If only you would get a better job!

•         If only you would change!

The list of these statements could fill a book.  The problem with these harsh accusations is that they point us in the wrong direction when trying to identify our problems and challenges in life.  These indictments well up from dissatisfied hearts trying to get through disappointing days; they do great damage in the lives of others.

Adam essentially said this very thing to God back in the Garden of Eden, just after reaching for the forbidden fruit and taking a big bite.  Adam gave birth to victim mentality.

The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”  (Genesis 3:12)

In other words, Adam said to God, “If only you would have given me a different wife; I wouldn’t be in this mess!  Perhaps you picked the wrong rib, Lord!”  Adam was pointing in the wrong direction in identifying his problems.  If he had simplydone what God created him for and commanded him to do—caring for his wife Eve and exercising dominion over all creation—he would have stepped in and protected Eve from theserpent’s deception.  God was not Adam’s problem; Adam wasAdam’s problem!  His self-absorbed living caused Adam to blame everyone else (including God!) for the problems he had created for himself.

And you and I are just as bad.  That is why God calls us to put off our self-focused and self-centered lives that constantly cry, “If only you . . . !”  The grace of the Gospel calls us to stop blaming others for our unhappiness and to rise above our natural desire to compress the size of our lives down to the concerns of our lives.  Only when we understand the truth that life is not about ourselves will we begin to see beyond the borders of our shrunken, self-absorbed lives.  

The Gospel not only rescues us from the penalty of sin, it alsorescues us from the power of sin.  And there is no sin more powerful than the sin of self-focus, which works overtime tocondemn others for the problems we face in life.  

•         Self-focus would rather be served than serve

•         Self-focus would rather get than give

•         Self-focus would rather be right than loving

•         Self-focus would rather live autonomously than in community

•         Self-focus would rather say, “If only you…” instead of accepting responsibility

When all you can see is yourself, you are blind to the needs, hurts, desires, and brokenness of others.  It is easy to point the finger at others and live life as a victim.

So the next time you are ready to shout, “If only you . . . !” pause for a moment and take a closer look and see how your victim mentality might have clouded your view of your Savior.  When you are looking to Jesus, you see yourself as He sees you—as more than a conqueror—and you will begin living like one, regardless of the cost or circumstance. 

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

I cannot tell you how many people in the church today are living with a deep and abiding sense of remorse.  The dictionary defines remorse as a deep and painful regret of wrongdoing; that “painful regret” is exactly what has a death grip on far too many Christians, keeping them from growing into the man or woman God is calling them to be.

Before we go any further, let me make it clear that I believe the Scriptures make it clear that wrongdoing should be followed by a godly sorrow (see 2 Corinthians 7:9-10); and in that godly sorrow we should go directly to God for two reasons: to confess our sin and to be cleansed from it (1 John 1:9).  But when that confession and cleansing has been done, we are to be done with it.  As Paul wrote, “One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).  The goodness of God—not guilt—is to be the mark of the Christian life.  Our loving Lord came to die on the cross to free us from shame and remorse, not to burden us with it!

We all have pasts that are littered with wrongdoing.  We went wrong in our friendships.  We went wrong in our marriages.  We went wrong in our parenting.  We went wrong in our careers.  We went wrong in our finances.  We went wrong in our nutrition.  We went wrong in our exercise program (or lack of it).  We went wrong in our education.  And on and on and on.  With all of this wrongdoing, we might easily think the die is cast and there is no hope in making things right.  But that is simply wrong!

Wrongdoing is a part of life, because we are broken people living in a broken world.  Instead of living with a sense of remorse, we need to chart a better course, one that is guided by the light of Gospel truths.  Our past does not determine our present.  Broken hearts can be mended.  Distant relationships can be restored.  Unfulfilled promises can be kept.  Dead dreams can be resurrected.  All of this is possible because of the power of the Gospel.

All the mistakes and misdeeds you committed in your past were nailed to that dirty tree on Calvary.  All of them!  Understanding this frees us from the trap of remorse to chart a better course.  Because of the power of the Gospel, the die is not cast and hope is not lost.  We serve a God of second chances . . . and third chances . . . and . . . !  Peter was charting a course of remorse after having fulfilled Jesus’ prophecy and denying Him three times before the rooster crowed.  But Jesus charted a better course than remorse for Peter.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.  (John 21:15-17)

The Bible tells us that after Peter denied his Lord he went outside the courtyard and wept bitterly.  Peter was filled with a godly sorrow for his wrongdoing.  He was broken by his sin, and this is the response that flows from the heart that loves Jesus.  But Jesus did not leave Peter there!  If it were left up to Peter, the course of the rest of his life would likely have been marked by groaning and guilt.  Jesus changed all of that, and He did it by reconnecting Peter with the only thing that could remove his remorse: Jesus!  Jesus reconnected Peter to Himself and the calling He had for him.  And this is the power of the Gospel that is available to every child of God, regardless of the past . . . and that includes you and me.

So . . . where in your life has remorse been altering your course and keeping you from being all God is calling you to be . . . personally?  Professionally?  Relationally?  Jesus is asking you the same question today that He asked Peter over 2000 years ago: “Do you love me?”  And if your answer is “Yes,” then get on with the business of feeding His sheep in whatever capacity God has called you to.

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