Grace for the Race

A long time ago in a place far, far away . . .

We are all familiar with this timeworn opening line from many fairy tale stories.  Today we will look at another story—not a fairy tale, but a fact.  It started off well, went terribly wrong, and is now in the process of becoming the greatest story ever told.

In the beginning, God created all things, including our first parents, Adam and Eve.  They were special and valued above all other created things because they were created in the image of God.  God loved our first parents with all His heart and placed them in the Garden of Eden, the paradise He had prepared for them.  They were made by God for God, and God was the One who would meet their every need and satisfy their every desire.   

Before Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, there were no mixed motives, selfish ambitions, or sinful pride.  They lived in a posture of loving God and serving others, and everything they did was done for the glory of the One who sat upon the throne of their lives.  Then, in one staggering act of cosmic rebellion, Adam and Eve turned all of creation in on themselves by looking for an identity outside of their relationship with God.  They no longer lived for the glory of God, because they were too busy living for their own glory.  They demanded that they occupy the throne of their lives, not God.  Everything they did was done to meet their own needs, accomplish their own agendas, and satisfy their own preferences.  They reduced their existence to a sin-saturated satisfaction of the self, losing all consciousness of God Himself, except for a fearful expectation of judgment.

We are no different; this is the existence we all live before Jesus shows up.  The only antidote for a sin-saturated life is the Gospel.  Only the Gospel has the power to incapacitate the snare of self-satisfaction and the seduction of sin.  Only the Gospel can put Christ back into what has become a Christ-less Christianity for far too many.  The Gospel, in all its glory, puts Christ where He belongs: at the center of our very existence, our Savior, Who is both our Source and our Hope.

SOURCE – Every good gift is from the hands of God (James 1:17).  Every gift, talent, and ability is rooted in our relationship with Jesus.  The source of our opportunities and possibilities is Jesus.  We are able to do what we do, not because of our strength, but because of His strength at work in us (Philippians 2:13).  When we want more out of life, we should want more of Jesus!  We will then invest our time in things that move us further in and further up into our salvation.  

HOPE – As Jesus is our Hope (1 Timothy 1:1), nothing in life is hopeless.  Jesus brings light to our darkness.  Jesus brings peace to our anxiety.  Jesus brings order to our chaos.  Jesus brings life to our death.  When Jesus is our hope, we can trust in His promises and count on His presence.  He will meet us in our place of deepest need and bring us to our place of greatest joy. 

When Jesus is your Source and Hope, He is at the center of your very existence.  This is the place where you live beyond the borders of your goals, your dreams, your desires, your needs, and your preferences.  All that you have, you give over for the glory of God and the expansion of His kingdom.  Your time is His.  Your talent is His.  Your treasure is His.  At this level of living, personal advancement and self-satisfaction are as far from your center as the east is from the west.  Just as Jesus did, you lay down your life and pour yourself out for others. 

We need to remember that what rules our hearts shapes our lives.  For Jesus, the love of the Father ruled His heart and ultimately shaped His life into the shape of a cross.  The vertical love He had for His father spread out horizontally for a multitude of redeemed souls that no man can number.  This is the life we have been called to live.

So is Jesus your source and your hope?  If He is, you will know it, and so will everyone who comes in contact with you.

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

Upon your first glance at the title of this blog, you might be thinking about another kind of “hurling,” like the time when the great fish vomited the prophet Jonah from its belly onto the shoreline.  I think we can leave that topic alone!  In today’s blog, I’d like to discuss holy hurling: one of the most magnificent pictures of the love, grace, and mercy of our heavenly Father, which is provided for us by the prophet Micah.  

You will hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.  (Micah 7:19)

Micah’s magnificent metaphor is a tremendous source of comfort and hope to all Christians.  We can all picture someone tossing something over the side of a boat into the depths of the sea, such as a net or an anchor.  For me, it was my car keys; the hook on the end of my fishing line snagged them just right as I was casting into the sea.  I will never forget watching them slowly descend toward the bottom of the sea and wondering sourly how I would get home that day.   

But Micah’s picture is quite different and much more dramatic. Our God “hurled” our sins—all our sins—overboard into the depths of the sea.  Not dropped . . . not tossed . . . not pitched . . . but “HURLED” overboard, never to be seen or heard from again.  God’s justice was satisfied on the cross by His precious Son, so God finds great delight in putting away our sins forever.  David rejoiced that “As far as the east is from the west, so far does [God] remove our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).

 Jerry Bridges paints a wonderful picture of God’s holy hurling in The Gospel for Real Life.

God is not a reluctant forgiver.  He is a joyous one.  His justice having been satisfied and His wrath having been exhausted, He is now eager to extend His forgiveness to all who trust in His son as their propitiatory sacrifice. 

Because Jesus paid the penalty for all our sins—past, present, and future—God is pictured in a posture of “HOLY HURLING”—forcefully expelling every single transgression to the bottom of the sea . . . all forgiven, all forgotten.  Not because of anything we do, but because of everything Jesus has done on our behalf. 

Corrie ten Boom, that remarkable Christian survivor of the Holocaust, put the exclamation mark to Micah’s declaration of what God, in Christ, has done for us by casting our sins into the depths of the sea.  She wrote, “And then God put up a sign saying, ‘No fishing allowed.’”  God is no longer our Judge.  He judged Jesus for our sins and poured out His wrath on Him.  Clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ, we no longer stand guilty before a Holy God in His heavenly courtroom.

It is Satan, our enemy, the accuser, who wants us to keep dredging up old sins so we can live under the weight of guilt and shame.  And if he can’t get us to do that—if we heed the “No fishing allowed” sign erected by Scripture—Satan will do everything in his power to incite us to dredge up old sins of others.  Does any of this resonate with you?

The more we live in the truths of the Gospel, the better we can see and embrace the holy hurling of our heavenly Father.  The next time you are tempted to live in the paralyzing guilt and shame of past sins, picture your God hurling them overboard and watch them plunging into the bottom of the sea, never to bob to the surface again.  Christian, your sins are forgiven . . . forgotten . . . and you are never forsaken.  What a friend we have in Jesus!

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

One of the great gifts we receive from God, as He leads us further in and further up into the grace of the Gospel, is in going from referee to coach.

A referee is in the position of ultimate authority on the field of competition.  A referee has two primary tasks: the first is to enforce the rules; the second is to enact the consequences for violation of the rules.  A referee is vital for ensuring that the game is played in a way where chaos does not reign supreme.  Everyone can utilize their gifts, talents, and abilities because order is maintained and managed.

But when it comes to the game of life, the Gospel empowers every Christian to go from referee to coach.  The church is in need of more coaches . . . not referees.  Coaches encourage, inspire, and motivate their players to perform at the peak of their God-given abilities.  Coaches remind their players of what they have already learned as they are performing on the field of competition.  And how do they do that?  They get their players to focus on the Gospel and all Jesus has done on their behalf.

In a word, coaches get others to focus on the blessings of redemption:

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

(Galatians 3:13)

God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.  (Galatians 4:4-5)

You were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers.  (1 Peter 1:18)

Jesus gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.  (Titus 2:14)

Those who are truly in love with Jesus receive both the referee and the coach, knowing that God uses both to grow them up in Christ.  To be sure, we all are in need of holy confrontations from time to time, like the one that David received from Nathan.  This was one of God’s great graces in the life of His king.  David was trapped in a season of sin, and his conscience was not bringing appropriate accusations against him.  King David was clearly numb to his own sin and was snared by it.  If you don’t have a Nathan in your life right now, pray that God will send you one!

But I am convinced that we all need more coaching in our lives than we do refereeing.  We need to be continually reminded that we are freed from the curse of the law.  We need to be continually reminded that we have the full rights of sons of the Most High God.  We need to be continually reminded that we have been saved from an empty life and delivered into an abundant life in Christ.  And we need to be continually reminded that Jesus poured His life out on the cross that we might be His very own. 

Coaches provide reminders that stir the heart and strengthen the will to live a life that is pleasing to God . . . not because of what we hope to gain, but because of what we have already been given. 

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

If you have been following this blog, you’ll remember that back on July 6^th we took a look at the idea of shrinking our salvation.  On July 17^th my beloved pastor and friend, Tullian Tchividjian, gave me the privilege of standing in for him in the pulpit at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.  The title of my sermon was “Don’t Shrink Your Salvation.”  I received so much positive feedback from folks at that service that I decided to expand on that message a bit and unpack a little more of our shrink-wrapped salvation and God’s supernatural solution. 

By nature we want life to be all about us.  Just a glance back to the Garden of Eden shows us that this is exactly what Adam and Eve did.  They weren’t satisfied with having been made in the image of God; they wanted to be God.  They wanted to be the center of life.  They wanted to be the focus of life.  They wanted to be the purpose of life.  They wanted to be the ruler of life.  Instead of continuing to enter into their personal relationship with God, they exited out by putting themselves in the place of God.  And we do the very same thing!

We shrink our salvation when we focus the cross-work of Christ on us and the personal concerns of our lives such as . . .

• A better job
• A happier marriage
• Less rebellious children
• Good health
• Great friends

Make no mistake, when Christ is at the center of our lives, we can expect to make progress in all of these areas.  BUT THESE THINGS ARE NOT WHAT OUR SALVATION IS ALL ABOUT.  Our salvation is all about Jesus and what matters most to Him.  We shrink our salvation when we work harder at making our kingdom come, rather than His kingdom come.  We shrink our salvation when the dominating focus of our lives is centered only on those things that directly affect and address us.  We shrink our salvation when we reduce it down to the size of our lives.  We shrink our salvation when the consequences of our sin matter more than the offense against the One we sin against.  We shrink our salvation when the self is at the center of life, rather than our Savior.     

Jesus is on a rescue mission of restoring everything that has been marred so dreadfully by sin.  When Jesus said, “I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5), He was telling us to expand the borders of our salvation beyond the borders of our lives.  If we are disciples of Christ, we must be concerned about the things that concern Him.  And make no mistake; Jesus is concerned about more than making life work out the way we want it to.  The grace of the Gospel is far greater than the good it brings into our individual lives!

The salvation that Jesus won for us brings with it more personal blessings than we could ever imagine.  But we must look beyond our blessings to salvation’s greater goal, which is to align ourselves with the goals of God’s kingdom.  He cares for the lost; we need to care for the lost.  He cares for the broken hearted; we need to care for the broken hearted.  He cares for the widow and the orphan; we need to care for the widow and the orphan.  When we are focused more on what we are getting out of our salvation, we stunt our growth and shrink our salvation. 

Because shrinking our salvation is woven into our sin-stunted DNA, we need to be intentional about expanding the borders of our salvation beyond the borders of our individual lives.  We need to align our goals with His goals . . . our desires with His desires . . . our plans with His plans . . . and our purposes with His purposes.  When we do, we can be assured that we are living for a greater glory than the glory of the self.  We are living for the glory of the One who purchased us with His precious blood and calls us into living a life that truly matters and will live on long after we are gone.   

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

How have you been spending your time lately?  When you have time to do whatever you want to do (as infrequent as that may be), how do you spend it?  Now, let me quickly assure you that this is not an article about time management and three steps to effectively managing your time.  It’s about prayerfully considering how you are investing the 168 hours the Lord gives you each week.

Studies tell us that the average American Christian spends less than ten minutes per day alone with God, while spending nearly four hours each day watching television.  Ten minutes with Truth . . . four hours with trash.  It’s no surprise that the church in the United States is having very little effect on the surrounding culture and failing to impact the world for Christ. 

Before you think you’re “off the hook” because you don’t watch much television, give some thought to the other things you do with your free time.  Is there a hobby or recreation that consumes that time?  Does a sports team consume that time?  Your job?  Is there a relationship that consumes your time?  Anything smaller than God that consumes our time is simply a waste of time!  And we need to remember that for every hour we spend, we have one less hour to spend!

Jesus spent every hour centered on the will of His Father in heaven.  His meat and drink was to do the will of the Father (John 4:34).  In one of His darkest moments, just hours before His crucifixion, sweating drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said, “Not my will, but your will be done.”  Jesus knew what He was here to do, and He refused to let anything distract Him from it—not the devil, not even the religious leaders who dogged His every step.  Every confrontation He had with them was another opportunity to do the will of God by teaching those who had ears to hear what was wrong with the world and what God was doing about it.   

I recognize that none of us will never use all our time as wisely as Jesus did.  I just think a little self-examination will go a long way in helping us use the precious, un-repeatable time we have been given more wisely.  It’s important to note that Jesus never wasted a single moment, and yet we often find Him retreating from the crowds—retreating even from His disciples—to spend time alone with His heavenly Father.

So time well spent is time invested in service to our Lord and sitting before our Lord.  You remember the story of Martha and Mary, don’t you?  Mary, “who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching,” was commended by our Lord for choosing “the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 40:39, 42).  

The only way to begin maximizing our time investments in the things that really matter in life is by keeping the Gospel before us each day.  Remembering what Jesus has done for us is the key that unlocks the door leading to a life of meaning, significance and purpose.  Like Lazarus lying dead in the tomb, we could not see, hear, smell, taste, talk, or walk.  We were dead.  But at the call of Christ, like the one He spoke that day—“Lazarus, come out!”—we too were raised from death to life, a life that is to be lived coram Deo—before the face of God.

Remember, when you spend an hour you have one less hour to spend . . . so spend it wisely!

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

What do you long for?  A better job?  A nicer home?  A happier marriage?  Godlier children?  A longer vacation?  A plusher retirement?  If what we are longing for is not Jesus, then we have substituted a lesser lover in our lives, and it is a lover that will never truly satisfy. 

If Jesus is at the center of our lives, we will live with a sense of deep longing for the day when we will be in His presence forever.  Lesser loves will not have the power to possess our minds, capture our hearts, and direct our wills when we love Jesus more than anything else in life.  When driven and directed by a lovely longing for our Lord, we are able to keep things in their proper perspective.  We understand that there is room for only One on the throne of our lives—and His name is Jesus Christ.  When He occupies His rightful place in our hearts, our lives point to Him and everything we think, do, say, and desire becomes a hymn sung to His glory.  

When we long for Jesus more than anything else, all that we have is viewed in light of eternity.  We see beyond all that we have been given to the One who has given it all for His glory—not ours.  Now, instead of viewing every good gift as a means to “horizontal happiness,” we are captured by His “vertical vision.”  We expand the borders of our lives beyond the borders of our lives.  We hold loosely to . . .

• Our plans
• Our dreams
• Our goals
• Our schedules
• Our agendas
• Our wants
• Our preferences

We hold loosely even to our lives, as we hold tightly to Jesus.  We see our story in the context of His story, and we acknowledge Jesus as the Author and Finisher of our story.  We dare not take the pen to write any portion of our story, because any segment we write will be stained by our sinful desires (see Jeremiah 17:9).  Instead, we are always looking for ways to connect what we are doing with what Jesus is doing—right here and right now, both personally and professionally. 

We were not made and remade to live simply for ourselves.  We were created and given new life that we might live our lives for Jesus, and this is the only way that life will have eternal value—when we live for Him and in Him.  We live in the present moment, but we long for that future moment when we will pass from this world into the next, where every moment will be filled with the presence of our Prince.  As Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.  (2 Corinthians 5:8-10)

So . . . are you living with a lovely longing for the Lord Jesus Christ?  If yes, praise Him.  If no, prayerfully consider what changes you need to make . . . because when you make them, it will make all the difference in the world for you.  Robert Murray M’Cheyne provided great counsel for all of us who long to long more for Jesus, “For one look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ.”   

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

Did you hear the story about the little boy who was standing up on a pew during the church service?  His parents spent much of the service trying to convince the little boy to sit in his seat, so as not to distract those around them.  Finally the parents threatened the boy with a significant consequence for his disobedience and inappropriate behavior that would be delivered to his bottom-side immediately following the service.  Now, sitting and squirming in his seat, the little boy whispered to his parents, “I may be sitting down on the outside, but I’m standing up on the inside!” 

Did you know there is an obedience that is odious to Omnipotence?  It is obedience that is done simply for the sake of obedience.  It is done out of fear of the consequences of not doing it.  It’s done out of guilt and obligation and duty.  It’s done out of a desire to receive some reward in return.  This is not the kind of obedience Jesus rendered to His Father, and it is not the kind of obedience we are to render either. 

I desire (delight) to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.

(Psalm 40:8)

Because Jesus was perfect, we see perfect obedience as an obedience that is desired—obedience that is delighted in.  Jesus did what He did because He both desired and delighted in pleasing His Father.  It was never enough for Jesus simply to do the right thing.  His obedience was never rooted in fear, guilt or a desire to gain some reward.  He did the right thing for the right reasons.  His outward obedience was firmly rooted in an inward desire and delight to do His Father’s will.  It sprang from a heart that was beating with a desire and delight to please His Father in heaven.

I always please the Father.  (John 8:29)

All too often, you and I are like the little boy, sitting down in outward obedience but standing up in internal rebellion.  Our obedience is stained with mixed motives and selfish desires.  And that is why we must continually preach the Gospel to ourselves.  Jesus delighted in His obedience, even His obedience on the cross, and that should make all the difference in the world to us.  Jesus delighted in taking our sin.  He delighted in taking our guilt.  He delighted in taking our punishment.  (Can you truly wrap your mind around that?  He delighted in taking God’s wrath!)  He delighted in taking our death. 

Viewed in that indescribable light, is there anything too hard for us to do for Jesus?  When we keep the truths of the Gospel front and center in our lives, our hearts will beat with desire and delight to do His will!  Remembering not only what Jesus has done for us, but why He did it—from birth to death—empowers us to live like Jesus lived: obedient to the will of the Father out of a heart filled with delightful desire.  And when we fall short of the mark, we rest in the truth that we are clothed in His righteousness . . . not only forgiven by the Father, but delighted in too! 

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

Who is the story of your life about?  Is it all about you? Or is it about God?  Are you the central figure of your story or is God?  Are you the supporting cast or is God?

If it is you who is the “star” of your story, your story is MUCH too small and will always leave you dissatisfied and unfulfilled.  When you think about it, it really is silly to view ourselves as the star of our story.  From beginning to end, Jesus Christ is the star of our story, because our story is wrapped up in His story.  Our lives begin and end with Him, He who is the Creator of all things (John 1:3) and the Judge of all men (2 Corinthians 5:10). Jesus showed up as the Star; He saved us as the Star; and He calls us into His story to acknowledge Him for who He is and what He has done as the Star.

Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.  But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.  (Matthew 10:32-33)

We acknowledge Jesus before men when we make Him the Star of our story.  And as the Star, He gets top billing, He receives the headlines, and He gets all of the accolades.  We need to remember that if it wasn’t for Jesus there would be no glory in our story!  It would be a story only of total depravity, terrible destruction, and a timeless, terrifying death. 

Regardless of where this finds you—whether you are riding the crest of the wave or the waves of challenge are crashing over you—it’s all about Him.  Every success is about Him, and every season of struggle is about Him . . . whether we like it or not! 

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)

God does what He wants and He does it right well! And as the Star of our story, He does not need to explain Himself to us.  Our story is written by Him and for Him and He knows best what the individuals scenes should look like in order that He would be glorified. 

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable his judgments,

and his paths beyond tracing out!

“Who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been his counselor?”

“Who has ever given to God,

that God should repay him?”

For from him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be the glory forever! Amen.  (Romans 11:33-36)

So . . . who is the star of your story?  Who is writing the final few chapters?  When all we do is done for His glory, Jesus is the Star who stands at the center of our story, a story that can be summed up in a word: GLORY!

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

Most of us are blessed to have people in our lives who accept us with loving and open arms.  Yet not one of them really knows us like God knows us.  Even if our acceptance is found in the holy covenant of marriage, our spouse does not know us like God knows us.  “Even before a word is on my tongue,” David marveled, “behold, O Lord, you know it altogether” (Psalm 139:4).

Yet the Bible tells us that in spite of being fully known, we have the assurance of being fully accepted by God. 

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.  (Romans 15:7)

Think and meditate on this truth: that God knows everything about us and still delights in accepting us fully and completely.  He knows all our . . .

• Defeats and distractions
• Failures and faithlessness
• Blemishes and brokenness
• Self-righteousness and self-centeredness
• Idols and insecurities

And He knows every one of our sins, each one an affront to His holy, righteous, just, and perfect character.  Yet in spite of being fully known for the broken sinners we really are, God has accepted us in Christ without placing any conditions upon His acceptance.  WOW!  Can you think of anyone in your life right now who, if they knew everything about you, would accept you as freely and fully as God does?

Imagine a video of your last 30 days being played before your closest friends and family members—every action . . . every word . . . every thought . . . every desire . . . being played on the big screen for all to see.  Now that’s a thought to make your stomach turn over, isn’t it?  What would everyone think about you after watching that video?  What would they do with you?  Yet the God of the universe knows all the details of your life—the good, the bad, and the downright ugly—and still accepts you fully and completely.  What a friend we have in Jesus!

Think about the times you’ve debated with God like Job, denied God like Peter, and doubted God like Thomas.  And yet even in your debate, denial, and doubt, God never stopped accepting you with a love that is as total as it is transforming.  “Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,” David wrote, “your faithfulness to the clouds” (Psalm 36:5).

But it doesn’t end there!  Because we are fully accepted, we are to accept others even those we consider unacceptable.  Those we dislike we are to accept.  Those we judge we are to accept.  Those we avoid we are to accept.  Those we condemn we are to accept.  Those we disagree with we are to accept.  Jesus told us, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?” (Matt 5:44-46).

To be sure, we cannot do any of this in our own strength.  That is why we need the power of the Gospel pumping through our veins.  As we deepen our understanding of the acceptance God grants us in Christ—in spite of how unacceptable we really are—we are empowered to accept others . . . all others.   

We must remember God is at work in every one of His children, no matter what we might think about them!  And what God began in each one of us He will one day complete (Philippians 1:6).  God is not finished with any of us yet, and He won’t be until we pass into glory; so let us accept others even as we have been accepted . . . if for no other reason than to bring praise and glory to God.

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

I don’t know about you, but far too often my answer to that question is, “Not very much!”  Comfort zones have been and continue to be problem areas in my life.  Yet this is not the faith Jesus has called us to.  He wants us to pursue Him with abandon, press into Him with affection, and proclaim Him with conviction.  The call of Christ is a call to a real and radical faith.

Without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

(Hebrews 11:6)

The faith we are to exhibit is a faith that transforms everything it touches.  It is a faith that has no fear in being in a place of absolute failure and utter defeat if God doesn’t show up in a supernatural way to get us through.  As my beloved Pastor Tullian once said, “When the only way out is up [to and through the Lord God Almighty], that’s not a bad place to be!”

We are called to a faith that leads us to do what is uncomfortable until it becomes comfortable.  It is a faith that causes us to love the unlovable.  It is a faith that causes us to reach out into the unknown rather than retreat to a place of safety and security.

How different would your life be right now if you didn’t have Jesus in your life?  Did Jesus come into your life and turn your whole world upside-down?  Or would those who know you say they haven’t seen much change in you since you trusted in Christ?

Please understand that I don’t ask you these questions to make you feel guilty or discouraged.  I ask them of you because I ask them of myself.  I hope they will cause both you and me to examine ourselves and see if our hearts are beating for the Savior . . . or the self.

Do you remember the story of Jesus sending out His disciples without any supplies for the journey (Luke 9:3)?  What do you think Jesus was teaching His disciples—and us?  We are to be living in a way that requires—even demands—faith, so that we can live totally unto God and not ourselves. 

If God doesn’t have to come through for us in what we are doing, is it worth doing at all?  If the task is simply not big enough for our God, then we ought not to be doing it!  We must be willing to surrender all—our security, our satisfaction, our success—for the cause of His kingdom and simply trust and rely on the One who has raised us from death to life. 

So what are you doing right now that requires faith?  Living in this place is the only place where life has true meaning, significance, and purpose. 

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