Grace for the Race

Our Adult Sunday School class is examining the three parts that make up the Scriptures: Creation, Fall, and Redemption.  We have just entered the point in the Genesis narrative where Satan appears in the Garden of Eden and directs his seductive words at our first parents, Adam and Eve.  I want to split Satan’s temptation into two parts: the Laugh and the Lie, in order that you and I can be better prepared for his continual attacks in our lives. We’ll explore the Laugh today and move on to the Lie on Friday.

THE LAUGH

The “laugh” is located in Genesis 3:1, the first recorded question in Scripture: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”  It is as if Satan is laughing, mocking God in the question he asks Eve.  He is not asking Eve to confirm that God actually said what He said; rather, the serpent seems to be asking, “Was God really so foolish as to say such a thing?”     

Satan was not denying what God said; he was sneering at what God said.  And this, my friend, is the spirit of this age.  The Word of God is held up to such ridicule in so many quarters, those who believe it are laughed at and mocked.  Listen to some of the laughing of the lost:

“You don’t really believe a man spent three days and nights in the belly of a great fish and was spit out on the shore alive do you?” 

“You’re not serious about the parting of the Red Sea and the Israelites walking across on dry land are you?” 

“Surely you don’t believe Noah spent more than 100 years building a boat in the middle of dry ground and then proceeded to get two of every kind of animal to join him for the first recorded cruise . . . do you?”

“Do you mean to tell me you actually believe the walls of Jericho—if there even was such a place—came tumbling down because people walked around the city for a week, blew some horns, and yelled at the top of their lungs?” 

What we need to remember is the fact that there is nothing “cutting edge” about mocking and laughing at the truth claims of the Bible and the Christian faith.  That tired act goes all the way back to the Garden!

Nobody likes to be ridiculed for what they believe.  Nobody likes to be the object of scoffing and scorn.  In fact, so deep is our fear of being mocked, whenever we hear people laughing when we are in the same area we immediately wonder if it is directed at us!  Let me give you a great nugget of comfort: you wouldn’t care what others thought of you if you realized how little they did! 

What we need to remember about the laughing of the lost is that our God is in control of all things—and that includes the laughing of the lost!

He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.  (Psalm 2:4)

But you, O Lord, laugh at them; you hold all the nations in derision.  (Psalm 59:8) 

In the process of God making all things new, He is also making all things right, and in the end He will be the one laughing.  When we are on the receiving end of the laughing of the lost, we need to lift them to the throne of grace and pray that God would give them eyes to see, ears to hear, minds to understand, and hearts to beat for the glory of the King. 

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

l to r: Danny Kahr, Joe Shadowens, Scotty Smith, Tullian Tchividjian, Tommy Boland

On September 9, 10, and 11, a group of nearly 150 men gathered in Marco Island for the 2010 Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church Men’s Retreat under the leadership of our pastor, Tullian Tchividjian. Our special guest speaker was Pastor Scotty Smith, the founding pastor of Christ Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee.

I was first exposed to Scotty and his grace-saturated, Christ-centered message when I was invited to be a part of the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA) Men’s Council in 2006. While attending the PCA General Assembly that year, my friend Harvey Kilpatrick told me about Scotty and I was instantly hooked. As raw as he is real, Scotty both encourages and equips us to move “further up and further in” to the soul-stirring, life-changing implications of the Gospel—not only for eternal life, but for everyday life as well. I highly recommend all of his books and especially these two that have not found their way back to my bookshelf; Objects of His Affections and The Reign of Grace.

During out retreat I held two early morning fitness training sessions. Scotty asked me about it on Thursday evening and said he would join us in the morning. Now, many men said they would join us for the training, but because this was a time of relaxation, many chose to return to their slumber after their wake up call. So I was surprised when Scotty showed up at 6:30 am on both Friday and Saturday mornings.

What an incredible blessing for all of us who were there! At the end of each fitness session, I led a short devotion for the men. I brought some of Scotty’s daily blogs as our material, never in a million years thinking he would be in attendance. If you have not visited his blog, I encourage you to do so immediately. You can click on his link, located on the right of this page. Scotty simply takes a Scripture verse and prays through it. And when I say “pray,” I mean pray. You’ll be richly blessed by a heart that has been transformed by the grace of God, pouring forth words that are as penetrating as they are profound, all aimed directly at the reader’s heart. Anyway, as I said, at the end of our training, I read through one of these fabulous blog entries with Scotty sitting among us. Then I simply asked if he had any comments and invited him to close us in prayer.

Here is where Serendipity intersected with Scotty Smith. Serendipity can be defined as a profound discovery made while looking for something totally unrelated. I was simply looking for a time of devotion with material from a man I have grown to love and respect, without having ever met him, and on this day he was sitting among our group of exhausted early morning exercisers, live and in person! Perhaps you can imagine my excitement. As a martial artist for more than 30 years, it would have been like having Chuck Norris show up!

Scotty has been one of my Gospel heroes for years; he has been discipling me through his books and teachings. And now, for these two mornings, a small group of men and I were sitting on the floor in our designated fitness room, exhausted and excited, listening to a man whose life has been shaped and transformed by the Gospel. During these informal sessions, as well as throughout his scheduled times of teaching, Scotty shared his story as it intersected with God’s story. We all came away from our time with him impacted by his Gospel-saturated authenticity, transparency, and vulnerability.

On Sunday Scotty came to our church to preach the message in our worship service. Our entire congregation caught a glimpse of his passion for proclaiming the Gospel of grace. When the service was over and sanctuary had emptied, Kim and I went up to say hello. As we approached, Scotty spotted us and reached his hand out and said these words: “Good morning Tommy, my new friend.”

Wow! Here was one of the Gospel teachers, who has wrecked me afresh with his message of grace, calling me his friend! I know a man who likes to speak of receiving “hugs from God.” I felt like I got just such a hug that morning—another serendipitous blessing from the hand of God.

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

We have all heard the idiomatic admonition against, “Putting all of your eggs into one basket.”  In essence, this phrase reminds us not to put all of our hope into only one thing.  To be sure, this is wise advice when it comes to our time, talent, and treasure.  It is always best to store our “eggs” in a variety of different baskets, just in case something happens to our basket.  Pinning all of our hopes on one thing and seeing that one thing fail leads to a place of despair.  No more basket.  No more eggs.

As good as this phrase is in matters of time, talent, and treasure, it is NOT good advice when it comes to matters of faith.  There is only one hope in both life and death…there is only one reliable object on which to place your faith…and His name is Jesus Christ.   Jesus is the only solid Rock upon which hope can ever stand.  Make no mistake, all other “hopeful” ground is sinking sand.

When our hope is Christ-centered we no longer have to base our existence on pretending or performing.  In 1 Peter 3:15 we read, “But set apart Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you…”.

Apart from Christ, life is utterly hopeless.  We wander through a never-ending maze of manipulation, pretending and performing our way into God’s approval and acceptance and the applause of man.  When our hope is in anything smaller than God, we shrink the size of our lives down to the size of our lives.  And we were created to live for so much more than ourselves.  Our lives are to be shaped by the hope we have in Jesus.  In a word, this is hope for the hopeless.

• The hope of His presence is to shape our lives
• The hope of His peace is to shape our lives
• The hope of His protection
• The hope of His provision is to shape our lives
• The hope of His punishment

Only when our hope is in Jesus Christ are we liberated from the bondage of self-protection, self-focus, and self-centeredness.  The Gospel frees us to shift our hope from the self to the Savior…from self-rule to Savior-rule.  When the Savior is sitting on the throne of our lives, our hearts are captured and compelled to seek out the only hope we will ever have in both life and death.

Isaiah put it this way in the 18^th verse of the very first chapter, “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”  This is a holy hope that can only be found in Jesus and it is a hope that sings, “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”  That was our punishment He nailed to that dirty tree.  He who knew no sin, became sin for us.  Have you put all of your “eggs” into this one basket of unimaginable blessings?  This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT…AMEN!

Have you ever wondered why there was that one forbidden tree in the center of the Garden of Eden?  It’s not as if God stumbled upon this Garden Paradise and then decided to place man in it.  God was the One who created the Garden and everything in it.  So why in the world would there be that one forbidden tree in the center of Paradise?

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”  (Genesis 2:16-17).

In a word, that one forbidden tree was a test for Adam and Eve.  Would they be ruled by their love for God or their love for themselves?  Would they continue to live their “dependent-upon-God-divine-design” or would they choose the way of self-sufficiency and self-rule?

God had graciously given them everything they needed to live lives of unimaginable freedom, joy, and faithfulness to the One who had created them (vertical relationship) and to each other (horizontal relationship).  Life in the Garden was absent of everything bad we experience on this side of their cosmic rebellion.

• Selfish ambition was absent
• Self-centeredness was absent
• Self-focus was absent
• Self-reliance was absent
• Self-rule was absent

Because God had granted Adam and Eve rule and dominion over all of the creation, they needed to be reminded that they were still under the rule and authority of their Creator.  And therein lies the purpose behind that “one forbidden tree” in the center of their Paradise.  They were never meant to live apart from God.  Living a life of autonomous rule was to be as far as from their thinking as the east is from the west.  The great 16^th century theologian John Calvin wrote:

Abstinence from the fruit of one tree was a kind of first lesson of obedience that man might know he had a Director and Lord of his life, on whose will he ought to depend, and in whose commands he ought to acquiesce.  And this truly is the only rule of living well and rationally, that men should exercise themselves in obeying God.

So, where in your life right now has God been testing your obedience?  Who has been directing the areas in your life that matter most?  Whose will have you been depending upon?  We simply were never designed to live our lives apart from God and His life-giving, life-changing Word.  We find our identity in Him; we find our direction in Him; we find our purpose in Him; we find our understanding of everything in Him.  It was only when Adam and Eve chose to find their identity, direction, purpose, and understanding outside of God that Paradise was lost.  But not forever!

You see, a better Paradise was promised through the life and death of Jesus Christ—the Second Adam.  God, in His amazing grace, refused to leave mankind forever trapped in bondage to sin and death.  He promised in Genesis 3:15 to send our Redeemer.

The Lord God told the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”  Our Redeemer lived the perfect life we refused to live and paid the debt we could never pay.  His victory on the cross paid the price for all of our sins—past, present, and to come.  And when Jesus Christ returns, He will make all things new . . . and that includes you!

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

I still vividly remember breaking four toes on my right foot during a karate tournament back in 1984.  I was in a competition and attempted a jump-up front snap kick to break a 4-inch-thick piece of wood.  I either jumped higher than I meant to or the boards were held a little lower than expected.  Either way, I was unable to fully flex my foot prior to hitting the boards with the ball of my foot.  Instead, I hit my intended target with the tips of my toes.  OUCH!  The wood did break, but so did my toes.  The next few months were miserable, as I moved around on crutches and rewound the mental “instant replay” over and over, wishing I had another opportunity to do it over again. 

Years later, when God had raised me from death to life, I was brought up short when I read Psalm 51 for the first time.  My attention fixed on verse 8—“Let the bones that you have broken rejoice.”  I remember thinking how counterintuitive it was to find blessing in broken bones!  But when God is the one doing the bone breaking, we can be assured that it will result in blessings multiplied.  When David speaks of “broken bones,” he is turning our attention to the pain associated with our redemption.  This physical metaphor for the painful process of our salvation is quite instructive.  How self-centered, self-reliant, self-righteous, and self-absorbed David must have been to have painted such a picture of pain as he related his redemption, wrought by the hands of his Redeemer! 

Over the years I have found the secret of being able to receive with great joy this blessing of broken bones.  The key is found in the understanding that David’s story is my story . . . and it’s your story too.  This was very difficult for me to understand and receive early in my Christian life.  I had not committed adultery.  I never fathered a child with a woman who was not my wife.  I never committed murder to try to hide my sin.  How naive I was, until God took the blinders from my eyes so I could see myself for what I truly was—a great sinner in need of an even greater Savior.  This season of David’s life was the proverbial “train wreck,” and my train was moving steadily down the tracks of total truth toward its intended destination. 

There are two reasons why we cannot see ourselves playing the lead role in David’s story.  The first is a distorted self image; we simply think we are better than we actually are!  The second is a distorted image of God and His holiness.  We either raise ourselves up too high or bring God down too low.  Either way, we view ourselves as those looking into a carnival mirror, who see an imprecise reflection that looks nothing like the real person.  But God refuses to leave us this way.  And in the process of our redemption, He often finds it necessary to break a few bones along the way.  As much as we don’t like it, it is better to suffer a broken bone or two than to be left alone to wallow in our distorted unbelief or disillusioned unwillingness. 

The Great Physician knows what is best for His patients and is committed to breaking however many bones as it takes to eradicate every idol our sinful heart manufactures and to bring us back into the loving arms of our Savior.  He will break us free from our comfortable existence.  He will break us free from our addictions.  He will break us free from our self-protection, self-absorption, and self-reliance.  This is the blessing of “broken bones.”  This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!       

Tomorrow is the 9^th anniversary of that infamous day when three planes were intentionally piloted into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. A fourth plane was wrestled to the ground in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, by a group of ordinary individuals who decided to do something extraordinary that day.  19 misguided and lost souls took over those four planes, and their collective actions resulted in the deaths of more than 3,500 people. 

As with the assassination of JFK in 1963, most people remember exactly what they were doing when they heard the appalling news and glued themselves to the television for the next few days.  Over and over again we saw the ghastly images of those planes streaking toward the towers and then disappearing in a ball of flame.  It all seemed so surreal, especially in light of the incredibly beautiful backdrop of a clear, sunny fall day. 

Having served 9 ½ years in the Hollywood Fire Rescue Department prior to my call into ministry, my heart was especially grieved for the New York City Fire Fighters who gave their all that day.  Over the years, many people continue to ask me two penetrating questions:

Why?

Where was God?

The why question can be answered with a single word—SIN!  All of the bad things that happen in this world are the direct result of the cosmic rebellion of Adam and Eve, the first two human beings ever created by God.  When they fell in the Garden, we all fell with them, and we now live in a fallen and broken world filled with fallen and broken people. 

The where question can also be answered with a single word—EVERYWHERE!  Omnipresence was everywhere.  He was on those flights providing strength to passengers in the middle of the unimaginable final moments of their final storm in life.  In all the reports of flight crews and passengers on those doomed planes who were able to call loved ones, not once did we hear about panic-stricken people.  The passengers on Flight 93 had learned about planes that had been turned into flying bombs that morning; instead of going to their graves like sheep led to the slaughter, they decided to make a stand and fight back.  Todd Beamer and other heroes on Flight 93 gave us the battle cry that defined the war on terror for every American: “Let’s roll!” 

God was also busy limiting the number of passengers on those flights.  All four planes could have accommodated more than 1,000 passengers, but there were only 266 aboard.  God likewise limited the number of workers in the Twin Towers from the more than 50,000 who could have been there to just over 20,000.  For those caught in the middle of this incredible tragedy, God sent countless highly trained professionals to rescue those trapped and tend to the injured.  God was in traffic jams, delayed trains, and changed plans.  He was also on every floor and in each stairwell of the Twin Towers. 

In the middle of all that God was doing that day, we found a nation driven to its knees in utter desperation.  Churches across America were filled with hurting, grieving, and confused people, all seeking comfort in the storm.  Countless lives were saved through this incredible tragedy because our God will use all things ultimately for His glory and the good of His children.

So if someone asks you “Where was God?” tell them this:  He was EVERYWHERE, and He still is EVERYWHERE, working all things, even the unspeakably evil acts of man, to accomplish His perfect purposes.  Remember, in God’s economy, desperation always precedes deliverance. 

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

When was the last time you found yourself in the bottom of a pit?  Did you dig the pit for yourself and then jump in?  Or were you thrown into a pit by someone close to you, like Joseph was by his brothers?  There is a plethora of “pits” available to us:

• The pit of debt
• The pit of shattered dreams
• The pit of broken promises
• The pit of failed relationships
• The pit of company layoffs
• The pit of sickness or disease
• The pit of being betrayed
• The pit of persecution—gossip, slander, false accusations

The bad news is that the pits of life are truly endless; the good news is that no pit is too wide or too deep that God cannot rescue you from it.  David penned these lovely words:

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.

(Psalm 40:1-3 NIV)

David had personal experience in going from the pit to the palace.  How was it possible for him?  Two reasons rise to the surface.

1. The psalmist cried out

We were not created to go through life alone.  Our divine design in creation is dependence on God.  Everything in creation is dependent upon the Creator.  Made by God, for God, we were never created to live apart from God, whether in seasons of plenty or want, sickness or health, harvest or hard providence.  God not only encourages us to come boldly before the throne of grace, He expects us to cry out to Him along the way.  The writer of Hebrews exhorted, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).  Our God invites and delights in taking us from the pit to the palace. 

2. The psalmist waited patiently

David knew better than to rush through the pit.  He knew that God is working every slimy pit of providence for two reasons: God’s glory and our ultimate good.  He knew the mud and mire, when shaped in the hands of the Master, would eventually be transformed into His masterpiece.  God inspired David to write these words of exalted praise in Psalm 31:3—“You are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me.”

Notice with me that the firm place where the psalmist stood is the same firm place set out for you and me; His name is Jesus Christ.  Christ is the Rock of our salvation.  Paul wrote that during the Exodus the people of Israel “drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them,” and then clearly explained that “the Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). 

Christ is our everything—in both salvation and sanctification.  He is the Author and Finisher of our faith and all points in between.  What God begins He completes, and that means you and me!  He will not leave us in any pit we are currently facing . . . even those we dig with our own sinful hands.  He has promised to deliver us out of every pit and in the process give us a “new song and a hymn of praise to our God.”

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

“The godless in heart harbor resentment . . .” (Job 36:13 NIV).

The dictionary defines resentment as a feeling of indignant displeasure or persistent ill will at something regarded as wrong, insult, or injury.  We’re even provided with a few examples of resentment in action: “He’s filled with resentment at his boss . . . She expressed her resentment of the new policies.”  Scripture tells us that resentment is so destructive that it “kills a fool” (Job 5:2).  So how are we to deal with the reality and reach of resentment when it rears its ugly head in our own lives?

First, we must understand that the Christian life calls us to overcome obstacles.  Jesus said, “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).  Regardless of where you are in your life right now, Christ has promised to take you to the other side of it.

But along the way you have also been promised trials and troubles, struggles and storms.  Paul assured us that “It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him” (Philippians 1:29 NIV).  Scripture is telling us that not only our saving faith in Jesus Christ is a gift from God, but so is much of our suffering!  However, because we have been united to Christ, we can have peace in facing every problem.  In this world we will have trouble, but take heart!  Christ has overcome those troubles . . . even our problem with resentment!

So where in your life have you been feeling resentful?  Know this: complaining and a critical spirit often results in a growing feeling of resentment. 

Here’s one of my personal traps: choosing the “wrong” check-out line at the grocery store.  Even after painstakingly scouring the landscape to make sure I am in the shortest line (even using my children as scouts and/or placeholders), I inevitably find myself stuck behind someone who forgot an item and has to go to the very back of the store to retrieve it, or who feels compelled to summon a manager to dispute a twenty-cent price discrepancy. I immediately feel my blood pressure skyrocketing and I begin to resent this disruption of my careful planning.  In the end, I play the part of the slowly dying fool! 

And I know I’m not the only person who does this!  One of my most beloved seminary professors confessed during a sermon that “Hell, for me, would be one long bank line.”  I could only heartily laugh in complete agreement!

The reach of resentment takes the small stuff of life and blows it up into major matters.  Resentment moves us from being thankful for all we have received into a sinful, poisonous, self-centered spirit of entitlement.  This provides a perfect foothold for Satan to sink comfortably back onto soft pillows on the throne of our lives—a throne that should only and always be inhabited by Christ!  Once Satan is in position, he busily engages in handing us all the wedges we need to drive between our resentment and the relationships that truly matter.  Countless relationships in the church, home, and workplace have been ruined by running aground on the ruinous rocks of resentment.  

• We resent the career advancement of a co-worker as we are passed over once again.
• We resent the marriage proposal to a close friend as we continue walking faithfully in our singleness.
• We resent the birth announcement as our home remains childless.
• We resent the noticeable weight loss of a family member as we waddle into the holidays bigger than ever.
• We resent the anniversary celebration that reminds us of our painful divorce.

The next time you sense those ugly stirrings of resentment, pause and focus on Jesus.  Allow Him to replace your resentment with His gift of repentance, and remember that His grace is indeed sufficient to meet our every need . . . even overcoming the reach of resentment!

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

Who is Number One in your life?  Now, before you say God, take a moment to prayerfully consider who is actually on the throne of your life in every area.  There are of course, only two choices: Jesus or you.  So how do you know who you are looking out for in every area of life?  1 John 3:16 provides the answer:

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

When Jesus is on the throne of our lives, we live lay-down-your-life-for-others lives, regardless of the cost or circumstance.  When self is on the throne of our lives, we never rise above looking out for number one and wanting to be first.  This was the problem with Diotrehpes.

I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us.  So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us.  Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers.  He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.  (3 John 9-10)

Pastor Scotty Smith wrote, “To have one’s name recorded in the Bible is one thing.  But to be chronicled there as someone who loved to be first isn’t a very attractive proposition at all.  I have no clue what was going on in Diotrephes’ life that made him disrespectful of the apostle John and so divisive in the community.  But his story certainly invites me to look at mine.” 

When was the last time you took a close look at your life?  The Bible makes it clear that this is something we must do on a regular basis.  If we are to live lives modeled after our Master, looking out for Number One will mark our lives . . . and His name is Jesus Christ!

If Jesus had desired to be first, He never would have left heaven to come to earth.  He never would have given up continual praise for constant persecution.  He never would have accepted the cross when He had the crown from all eternity.  In laying down His life for others, Jesus has given us the perfect model of how we are to live as His disciples.  He never sought the chief seats, the front of the line, or the head of the class.  Paul put it this way: 

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  (Philippians 2:5-8)

Jesus Christ, God incarnate, refused to consider equality with God something He needed to hold on to tightly.  He was driven by His mission of laying down His life for His people.  Because He focused so much on glorifying the Father, He was never concerned with glorifying Himself.  May God forbid that we would seek a crown of glory when the King of kings and Lord of lords chose a crown of thorns on our behalf!

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

In prayerfully considering how to start off September, I thought a little encouragement regarding trusting in God would serve us all well.  If you are a regular reader, you know that I often quote Charles Spurgeon who is one of my all-time favorite teachers.  I generally read through his Morning and Evening devotional and found his September 1^st devotional really ministered to me.  I pray it will do the same for you.  By the way, if you do not have this devotional, I highly recommend it.  My version is based on the King James Version of the Bible, “Trust in Him at all times” Psalm 62:8.

Faith is as much the rule of temporal as of spiritual life; we ought to have faith in God for our earthly affairs as well as for our heavenly business.  It is only as we learn to trust in God for the supply of all our daily need that we shall live above the world.  We are not to be idle, that would show we did not trust in God, who worketh hiteherto, but in the devil who is the father of idleness.  We are not to be imprudent or rash; that were to trust chance, and not the living God, who is a God of economy and order.  Acting in all prudence and uprightness, we are to rely simply and entirely upon the Lord at all times. 

Let me commend to you a life of trust in God in temporal things.  Trusting in God, you will not be compelled to mourn because you have used sinful means to grow rich.  Serve God with integrity, and if you achieve no success, at least no sin will lie upon your conscience.  Trusting God, you will not be guilty of self-contradiction.  He who trusts in craft, sails this way to-day, and that way the next, like a vessel tossed about by the fickle wind; but he that trusteth in the Lord is like a vessel propelled by steam, she cuts through the waves, defies the wind, and makes one bright silvery straightforward track to her destined haven. 

Be you a man with living principles within; never bow to the varying customs of worldly wisdom.  Walk in your path of integrity with steadfast steps, and show that you are invincibly strong in the strength which confidence in God alone can confer.  Thus you will be delivered from anxious care, you will not be troubled with evil tidings, your heart will be fixed, trusting in the Lord.  How pleasant to float along the stream of providence!  There is no more blessed way of living than a life of dependence upon a covenant-keeping God.  We have no care, for He careth for us; we have no troubles, because we cast our burdens upon the Lord. 

I think you will agree that there was no way for me to improve on that devotional.  There is no better way to begin another month than to cast all of our cares upon our Lord.  So much did He care for us that He refused to save Himself so that He could by dying, save us.  This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT…AMEN!