Grace for the Race

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

(2 Corinthians 12:7-8 NIV)

The dictionary defines a thorn as any of various sharp, spiny protuberances; a prickle that causes sharp pain, irritation, or great discomfort.  But if you’re older than about age 4 and have spent any time at all outside, you probably have a more “piercing” memory of the definition of thorn!  We have a bush in our yard that, no matter how careful I am when pruning it, sticks me a few times before I’m done.     

Commentaries offer a number of suggestions as to what Paul’s “thorn” in 2 Corinthians 12:7 actually was; the possibilities range from bad eyesight to a physical ailments to severe persecution.  They all agree, however, that whatever this “thorn” actually was, it was extremely painful for Paul.

Paul was no ivory tower preacher.  Throughout his ministry he faced severe persecution and calamities. In this same epistle to the Corinthians, Paul described the dangers and difficulties he faced in bringing the Gospel to the nations. Paul had endured:

 . . . far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

(2 Corinthians 11:23-29)

Paul had suffered in ways that you and I can only imagine—stoned and left for dead in Lystra (Acts 14:19), actually spending a day and a night drifting in the open sea, perhaps clinging to a piece of wreckage, praying for rescue.  For such a man to cry out to God—not once, but three times—that the Lord might remove this “thorn” from him . . . Paul had to be in anguish!  The thorn was, after all, a messenger of Satan, and the cruel adversary of the saints must have hated Paul with a vicious fury that is reserved for very few men.

What about you? Are you experiencing the stabbing pain of a thorn? They come in all shapes and sizes.  Do any of these describe your current existence?

• Regret over the past
• Fear about the future
• Sickness or wasting disease
• Rebellious children
• In-laws who act like outlaws
• Shattered dreams
• Broken promises
• Unpleasant or unreasonable boss
• Unfriendly co-worker
• Unemployment, bankruptcy, or simply “too much month at the end of the money”

 I’m sure you can recall many more thorns that have tested your faith.  They affect us physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually.  They frequently rob us of our joy . . . but this is not for you! This does not have to be the ultimate testimony of the thorns in your life!

The other day I was talking with my friend, the headmaster of Westminster Academy, Dr. Leo Orsino.  He said something that really struck me and inspired today’s blog, “The test you are facing IS your testimony!”

So . . . do you have a thorn? Are you making that trial your testimony about the all-sufficient power of Christ?  Have you taken your pain and laid it before the throne of grace, as Paul did? 

Persistent prayer is a very good thing; Scripture commands us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  But notice that there was a time for Paul to pray and there was also a time for Paul to press on, regardless of the thorn.  The key to Paul’s ability to triumph through his trial was his relationship with Jesus Christ.  Because Paul’s life was shaped by his Savior, he was able to rise above the thorn’s stabbing pain and serve God with freedom, fervor, and faithfulness.   Because his life was oriented around his Savior, he was able to embrace the Lord’s response to his persistent prayers.

I am not a big fan of paraphrased Scriptures, but I do love J. B. Phillips’ rendering of 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.

[God’s] reply has been, “My grace is enough for you: for where there is weakness, my power is shown the more completely.” Therefore, I have cheerfully made up my mind to be proud of my weaknesses, because they mean a deeper experience of the power of Christ. I can even enjoy weaknesses, suffering, privations, persecutions and difficulties for Christ’s sake. For my very weakness makes me strong in him.

Our thorns—our troubles and trials—are designed to dismantle all of our idols, including self-sufficiency and autonomy.  Our thorns weaken us, and in our weakness we are driven to the Cross for the only power that will sustain us.  Christ’s steadfast love, mercy, and power are made manifest in our powerlessness.  Your thorn is one of God’s greatest graces your life!

Do you see it?  The test you are facing is your testimony of God’s power working in your life!  Every thorn is an opportunity to glorify God.  And God’s purpose for Paul’s thorn was the same as it is for yours.  Just like our first parents back in the Garden, we all tend toward self-sufficiency and autonomy.  Whether we are conscious of it or not, we act as if we embrace the lines of the haughty humanist anthem: “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.”  God allows the thorns to remind us that we were made by Him and for Him, and our divine design demands our need of Him.

We were never created nor intended to find our identity and significance outside of God.  God is always to be the center and circumference of our lives, and He will send as many “thorns” as we need to live out this truth.  When we invite Jesus to sit on the throne of our lives we will be able to say with Paul, “I have cheerfully made up my mind to be proud of my weaknesses, because they mean a deeper experience of the power of Christ.”

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

Here is a question that is not uncommon among Christians: How do I know if I am truly repentant?  To be sure, this is a question that demands an answer—not from man, but from sacred Scripture.  We will use Acts 20:21 as our foundational verse, in which the Apostle Paul declared that he never shrank back from “testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

This verse seems to suggest that there is a repentance that is not toward God.  So before we see what repentance toward God is, let’s see what it is not.  It is most certainly not any of the feelings that spring forth from being found out for our sin.  Some, when they are found out, are overwhelmed with a sense of shame because of the judgment and condemnation they receive from their fellow man.  Others are filled with a sense of regret over the consequences of their sinful behavior, such as divorce or bankruptcy.  Still others are gripped with fear over what might happen to them in the future as a result of sin that has surfaced in their lives. 

In most cases, the individuals who experience these emotions would have gone further in and further down into their sin if they had not been found out.  They are not truly sorry for the sin; they are simply unhappy about the consequences of their transgressions; their sorrow never rises like smoke from the altar to the throne of grace.

Let me make this perfectly clear: writhing under the lash of the wages of sin is not repentance toward God.  It is only repentance toward yourself.  This is a repentance that stings, but it never sings, because there is no corresponding forgiveness from our Father in heaven.  True repentance, which is turning away from sin (180 degrees) and toward the Savior,  is rooted in sorrow for the sin we have committed, which is always an affront to the One against whom we have committed our sin. We cannot simply be sorry about the wages our sin has earned for us.  Repentance that stings and sings is always directed toward God and it always rises toward heaven, far above the earthly, self-centered realm of shame, scandal, and sorrow. 

Jesus painted a portrait of repentance toward God in bold, vivid brush strokes in the Parable of the Prodigal Son returning to his father (Luke 15:11-32).  Because the prodigal knew his sin was primarily directed toward his father, it was his father to whom he must go to seek forgiveness and find peace for his soul.  Listen to the cry of a heart filled with a godly sorrow: “I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son’” (Luke 15:18-19).  Here is the repentance that both stings and sings.  The Prodigal embodies deep soul conviction, and his stinging sorrow was directed toward the One whom he had ultimately committed his sin against—“I have sinned against heaven and before you.”

And yet such repentance will always sing, because of God’s promised response to it. 

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.  And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to celebrate’” (Luke 15:20-24).

David, who knew much of godly sorrow and the forgiveness of God, exulted, “I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O Lord, I will make music” (Psalm 101:1).

True, biblical repentance stings greatly because of the holy perfections of the One whose perfect Law we have violated.  And yet we can sing for joy, because that same perfectly holy God also provided the means for eternal forgiveness and joy: through faith in Jesus Christ.

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

Restlessness is no respecter of persons.  Everyone is born restless.  Since the fall of Adam and Eve, every one of us has been born a sinner at enmity with God, and restlessness is the result of sin in our hearts.  Created by God, for God, we are restless until we find our rest in Him, as St. Augustine so rightly said. 

However, those who are born again are not to be marked by restlessness.  How is this possible?  How do we still the relentlessly restless spirit that indwells all of us?  I’m glad you asked!  The answer is found in Scripture.

And [Jesus] said . . . “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).

Restlessness is replaced by relationship, both with God (vertical) and with others (horizontal).  The more we invest in our vertical relationship with God and our horizontal relationships with others, the less restless we become.  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are in perfect relationship from eternity past to eternity future.  As image bearers of God, we are made for relationship. 

Quickly—can you name the first time in Scripture when the Lord said that something was not good?  Would you say that this surely must have occurred after the Fall?  Throughout the days of creation, we read that “God saw that the light was good,” “And God saw that it was good,” and so on, seven times, “It was good . . . it was good.”

And then, jarringly, in Genesis 2:18, we read of what is not good: “It is not good that the man should be alone,” the Lord announced.  We are made for relationship, and when we fall short in this area for whatever reason—career advancement, social status, achieving and accumulating—we grow restless, because we are denying our divine design. 

The world will tell you that your restlessness is rooted in your lack and need.  Fill your lack and satisfy your need and your restlessness will be gone.  As soon as you find the right relationship, get that promotion, land that new job, close the next deal, fit back into the clothes that have been hanging in the back of your closet since graduating high school, or move into a better neighborhood, you will be at peace, the world assures us.  Don’t you believe it! 

Peace is only to be found in a Person, and His name is Jesus Christ.  The closer you grow in your relationship to Him the more you will be at peace.  The more at peace you become the more you will be able to invest your life into the lives of others.  When we look for fulfillment in someone or something other than Christ, we will be forever restless.  Nothing in the created world was designed to do what only Christ can do for us.  Investing in both the vertical and horizontal relationships will bring the deepest kind of fulfillment that can be experienced. 

To love God and others is to love service more than status.  In putting others first, you are filling a “soul hole” that can be filled in no other way.  Give yourself to God.  Give yourself to others.  Relationship is the key that will unlock the chains of restlessness forever. 

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

Have you ever thought of yourself as a coach?  If you’ve ever coached an athletic team, you’ll reply in the affirmative, but what if you never filled that role?  Why would I call every Christian a coach?

• Because David said so under the inspiration of the Spirit: “I will teach transgressors your ways…” (Psalm 51:13).
• Jesus’ Great Commission to the church is a command to be coaches!  “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,” He said, “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).
• The apostle Paul instructed Christians to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom . . .” (Colossians 3:16).

So, Coach . . .  how have you been doing coaching (teaching) others the ways of God?

There is a great disconnect in the church of Jesus Christ today between the pew and the pulpit.  Our pews are filled with people who come to watch a Sunday morning “show,” go out to lunch and enjoy a hearty meal of roast pastor, and then get on with the business of living life, believing that it is the minister’s job to do all the coaching (teaching) to the body of Christ.  They could not be more thoroughly mistaken!  As you’ve seen, Ministry is not a work to be left to the “professional” minister.  Ministry—coaching and instructing and exhorting—is expected for everyone who has been raised from death to life.  This truth is unpacked through the phrase “EVERY MEMBER A MINISTER!”  Every Christian is a coach and is given all the grace he or she needs to fulfill this all-important role in the body of Christ.

You see, before David said, “I will teach transgressors,” he asked God to “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”  David’s words richly reveal that God’s grace and mercy in our lives is the foundation from which our coaching is to be delivered.   The grace we have received in our times of great need qualifies every Christian to teach and encourage others, in turn, during their time of great need.  Our own rescue is the platform upon which we stand as we coach others in how to receive their rescue.  Jesus commanded us to go and tell others what God has done for us; this makes every Christian a coach!   

The best coaches share their life stories as teaching tools of transformation.  My mentor, Clark, has been doing this ever since God brought him into my life twelve years ago.  His stories of God’s rescuing grace have inspired and instructed me to continue to “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).  Clark has done much more than simply teach me about God and His grace, as important as that is; Clark taught me about his personal experience of God and His grace.  He never stopped with providing a definition of grace; he always gave me a demonstration of grace.  

God wants to use your story to shape the lives of those He is calling you to coach.  Your story is worth far more than any kind of formal training.  Please understand me: I am not minimizing the importance of solid training in theology and evangelism.  However, I am maximizing story-telling by every Christian.  Your story fits into His story, and every time you share your story you are sharing His story of love, mercy, and grace. 

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

This Sunday Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church will come together for ONE combined service.  Those who prefer a “contemporary” service and those who favor a “traditional” service will unite as ONE under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  God never designed His demonstration community to be segregated in any way, especially as it relates to particular styles of music.  “There is one body and one Spirit,” Paul explained to the Ephesians, “—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6) . . . and there is to be one demonstration community.  This is the clear teaching of the Scriptures and the vision of my good friend and pastor, Tullian Tchividjian. 

Regrettably, we see evidences of segregation throughout our culture—race, age, and socioeconomic status being the three most obvious.  But when this “tribal” mind-set, as Tullian has called it, pokes its haughty face into our congregations, we deny God’s divine design for His demonstration community to the world.  God has made us one in Christ, and we do violence to our calling when we erect walls to keep those who are like us in and those who are unlike us out.  Tullian wrote in Unfashionable:

Most churches would agree that any segregation arising from racial or economic bigotry runs contrary to the nature of the gospel and should not be tolerated.  But there’s another segregation, perhaps more subtle, that many churches today have embraced.  Following the lead of the advertising world, many churches and worship services target specific age groups to the exclusion of others.  They forget that, according to the Bible, the church is an all-age community, and instead they organize themselves around distinctives dividing the generations: Busters, Boomers, Millennials, Generations X, Y, and Z. Many churches offer a traditional service for the tribe who prefer older music and a contemporary service for the tribe who prefer newer music. 

I understand the good intentions behind these seemingly harmless efforts, but they evidence a fundamental failure to comprehend the heart of the gospel.  We’re not only feeding toxic tribalism; we’re also saying the gospel can’t successfully bring these two different groups together.  It’s a declaration of doubt about the unifying power of God’s gospel.  Generational appeal in worship is an unintentional admission that the gospel is powerless to join together what man has separated.  Building the church on stylistic preferences or age appeal (whether old or young) is just as contrary to the reconciling effect of the gospel as building it on class, race, or gender distinctions. 

We disregard the divine design of our one demonstration community when we divide our congregations along any arbitrary lines that are drawn by society.  The end result is a functional denial of the unifying power of the gospel, declaring to all who enter our doors that the Word of God has no authority in the church of Jesus Christ!

Only when we see ourselves for what we truly are—undeserving sinners receiving unconditional grace from an unobligated Savior—will we begin dismantling the artificial and ungodly barriers we have erected around our own little kingdoms.  When the gospel is truly instructing and shaping our lives, self-protection will be replaced by self-sacrifice.  We will lift others up by laying our lives down.  We will forsake our atrophied agendas for God’s awesome assignments.  God did not save us and bring us into the body of Christ because of all the good we can gain from it, inasmuch as there is great good to be experienced; He quickened our hard hearts and called us into His community because of all the good we can give to it!

As long as we view our salvation as being all about us, we ignore our calling to live for the benefit and edification of our brother and sisters in Christ.  We will come to church because of what we can get out of it, not looking for what we can pour into it.  We will worship the god we want rather than the God who is.  We will be characterized by a mind-set of consumption rather than a heart of contribution.  The songs we sing will matter more to us than the One to whom we should be singing!    

When God unites us to Christ He unites us to one another.  As Steve Brown said so well, “All those who belong to Jesus belong to all those who belong to Jesus.”  God forbid that societal segregation would characterize our sanctuaries!

In His last prayer with His disciples, just hours before His arrest and execution, Jesus appealed to His Father, “I do not pray for these [the apostles] alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:20-21, NKJV).  And the truth of these words are the focus of this Sunday at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, as we gather to be ONE demonstration community, living out practically what we already are positionally. We will join together to “offer up a sacrifice of praise to God,” as the Scripture commands, “that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” (Hebrews 13:15).

I can’t say it any better than my beloved pastor did in Unfashionable:

As we live together in a way that’s consistent with who we’ve been remade to be, we become a blessing to the world by showing it how sweet life can be in a community of individuals who love one another, care for one another, defer to one another, are patient with one another, and serve one another. The world will take notice of a community of men and women who refreshingly and joyfully bear one another’s burdens and who actively look to lay down their lives for others in need because Jesus laid down his life for them.

This is the DNA of the gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Have you ever heard the term, “The rhythm of life”?  It is a phrase that sums up life on this side of the grave since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden.  The wise preacher put it this way,

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

Prior to the Fall, the cadence of creation did not include all that we find in the valleys of this life.  Life was perfect and lived in paradise.  And one day, when Jesus returns, He will make all things new, and the valleys of a creation that groans, waiting to be set free from its bondage to decay (Romans 8:20-23), will be eliminated forever.  In that day, all who have placed their trust in Christ will enjoy an eternal “mountaintop experience”—rejoicing in living in the presence and the glory of our Redeemer.

But until that blessed day arrives, we will all plod through numerous valleys on the journey to the Celestial City.  The peaks of peace and planting, love and laughter, dancing and embracing are always welcome.  Quite naturally, we prefer the peaks to the valleys.  But in a creation that has been subjected to futility because of the willful, flagrant rebellion of our ancestors, valleys are inevitable.  Indeed, those valleys have been ordained! So the question we must continually ask and answer is: “How well do I deal with the valleys of life?”  What kind of God do those around you see when you’re in the valley? Do they see a God of grace? A God of humility and worship?

Job, after experiencing catastrophe that was more difficult to endure than his own death, fell on the ground and worshipped the Sovereign Lord of all. “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away,” Job rightly acknowledged; “blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21). Is that what others see in you during your valley experience? Or . . . is it something much less?

We sin our way into some of life’s valleys.  The cosmic rebellion of Adam and Eve plunged all of creation into darkness and decay.  Our parents were designed for peak living only.  However, when they believed Satan’s lie that they were missing out on something better, times of trial and trouble entered into the seasons of life.  We can all recall those valleys that we willfully entered, and the accompanying pain and sorrow that left vivid impressions on the canvas of our lives. 

There are other valleys that are the hard providences delivered by a good and gracious God.  These trials are designed to bring us to the end of ourselves and grow us up in our faith.  God ordains these valleys for our good and His glory.  God knows that continually living on the mountaintops would only encourage our natural desire for autonomy and self sufficiency.  Mountaintops can seduce us into removing the Master from the throne of our lives and believing that our satisfaction, meaning, and purpose is located in a place, rather than in the person of Christ.

God leads us into valleys, not because He is unable to protect us from them, but because He knows we need to walk in them!  God knows that mountaintop joy is fleeting, and He wants to give us real, lasting joy.  Mountaintops were never designed to provide us with that which only the Master can ultimately give.  And because this is true, God will inevitably intervene whenever we seek to construct our own personal Towers of Babel, which we would regard as monuments to our personal excellence and worth.

Do you recall Nebuchadnezzar’s great fall? He looked out from the roof of his royal palace and his heart was moved to worship . . . himself! “Is not this great Babylon,” he exulted, “which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” WHAM! “While the words were still in the king’s mouth,” the Lord announced that Nebuchadnezzar would be munching on grass like a cow! Was God simply “getting even” with Nebuchadnezzar for his self-glorification? No, this humiliation would last for a season of time, until the king knew “that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” And when Nebuchadnezzar raised his eyes to heaven and gave glory to God, both his sanity and his kingdom were restored to him. You can read all about it in the fourth chapter of Daniel.

Valleys are not delivered by a vengeful God.  They are delivered by a loving, merciful God who knows that we are prone to continue to believe the lie of the Garden—that we can find fulfillment apart from our relationship with Him.  We need to be rescued from our mountaintops by any and all means necessary, so God sends us down into valleys.

One final thought: regardless of the valley you may be experiencing, you do not walk it alone.  God is with you every step of the way.  “Where shall I go from your Spirit?” David cried. “Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!” (Psalm 139:7-8). That, beloved, is the ultimate mountaintop experience for anyone! 

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

Who hasn’t experienced the pain of a broken heart?  Unfulfilled promises . . . unmet goals . . . shattered dreams . . . fractured families . . . rebellious children . . . broken relationships . . . passed over for promotion . . . lost job . . . loss of health . . . loss of a loved one . . . The list goes on and on.  If this wasn’t bad enough, in a fallen and sinful world, it is hard wired into our DNA to be heart breakers.  We are characterized by seeking what we want rather than seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33).  We pursue our own good and not the good of others.  We strive to satisfy our desires and our needs, to accomplish our goals and our dreams, regardless of the cost or circumstance . . . and we leave a trail of broken hearts in our wake.

So how could I possibly come up with the idea that a broken heart is the result of God’s grace?  I’m glad you asked!

If we truly believe Scripture’s assertion that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28, NASB), we must then confess that even broken hearts are ultimately a grace of God.  Broken hearts remind us that life does not consist of the stuff of this world.  Sooner or later, everything on this side of the grave will fall short of our expectations and disappoint us.  But this heartbreak should drive us back to the Cross, where broken hearts are made whole by the Master’s touch.

But there is another aspect of the grace of a broken heart that I would like to call to your attention.  David acknowledged that “A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17).  David understood at the deepest level that a heart that is broken under the weight of sin is a grace of gargantuan proportions from the hand of Almighty God.  When God breaks our heart, it is the best break we could ever experience!

David had plenty of personal experience with this grace of God.  The king knew that his sin prevented him from breaking his own heart.  Sin had seduced David into thinking that he was entitled to have anything he wanted, whenever he wanted it, without regard for what his actions might do to others.  David was the ultimate heartbreaker, until the Lord sent Nathan to confront him.  The grace of confrontation, which I have discussed in a previous article, forced David to face himself.  For the first time, David saw himself just as he was: a great sinner in need of an even greater Savior.  God mercifully gave David the grace of a broken heart, which drove David to the throne of grace . . . the only place where he could find healing and restoration.

Years ago, Dr. Kennedy addressed a group at the seminary, and he said something I have never forgotten: “You cannot break the law of God.  You can only break yourself upon it.”  Think about that for a moment; what might seem on the surface like breaking the law of God is really only breaking ourselves on it.  We are the ones who are ultimately broken, not God’s law.  “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8). 

Yet despite our willful rejection of God’s law and our stubborn denial of God’s authority over our lives, He is gracious to give to us a broken and contrite heart that can sense the wickedness of our sin and drive us to the only place we can find healing.

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

Have you ever been encouraged to feel better about your life by comparing your lot with those who have less?  Many well-meaning family members and friends, even counselors, suggest this without ever realizing what is happening at the deepest level.  Comparing ourselves with others generally leads to two sins: pride or covetousness. 

When we compare ourselves with those who have more, our sin nature rises up within us and begins coveting. 

You are content with your job . . . until your friend gets a promotion.

You are content with your home . . . until your friend buys a bigger home.

You are content with your vacation . . . until your friend shows you pictures of his vacation.

Our natural defense mechanism to keep from coveting what others have is to compare ourselves with those who have less, and once again our sin nature rears its ugly head—this time in pride. 

I may not have the job I studied, planned, and trained for, but look at Joe; he’s been out of work for months! At least I’m working!

I may only have a cramped little house, but look at John; he’s renting a mobile home! At least I own a house!

My marriage may be a little rocky—OK, very rocky—but look at Jim; His wife left him last month! At least I’m still married!

The Bible does not teach us to find our contentment in what others lack.  Our comparisons are never to be horizontal; they are always to be vertical.  Paul never compared himself with any of the other apostles.  In fact, when he did get into comparisons, he always saw himself as “the very least of all the saints” (Ephesians 3:8) and “the foremost” of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15).    Horizontal comparisons never shaped Paul’s life; Christ did.  Paul never denied the reality of difficulty, struggle, or need.  He simply determined to live above the circumstances of his life by relying on the power of Jesus.  Paul wrote, “I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:12-13). Paul always looked vertically in life, which was the secret to his contentment.

It’s important to remember that Paul said he had learned contentment, which means he was not content by nature . . . and neither are we! We are restless.  We are dissatisfied.  We are unfulfilled.  Only when we fix our eyes on Jesus will we begin the lifelong process of learning contentment.  It is all of grace, yet it takes time and effort.  God gives us the grace to accept our lot in life, whether it is filled with abundance or lack and scarcity.  To live a life of contentment in the midst of shattered dreams and broken promises is only possible through our relationship with Christ.  Christ is our contentment, not our current condition in life. 

When we make horizontal comparisons in life, we are building upon sand.  Is there anything you have in this physical world that the storms of life cannot take away?  The only thing that can never be taken away is your relationship with Christ.  When we fix our eyes on Him we build a life upon the Rock of ultimate contentment.  We can run the race with endurance and joy.

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

We have all heard the phrase “the apple of his eye.”  But do we know what it means from a biblical perspective?  We find it a number of times in the Scriptures with the basic meaning of favorite, desired, or beloved. 

“He shielded them and cared for them, guarding them as the apple of his eye.” (Deuteronomy 32:10)

“Keep me as the apple of your eye.” (Psalms 17:8)

“Keep my commands and live, my teaching as the apple of your eye.” (Proverbs 7:2)

When the Scriptures identify God’s Word as “the apple of our eye,” we are to understand that the Scriptures are to be the object of our desire.  When the Scriptures identify us as “the apple of His eye” we are to understand that we are the object of God’s desire.  Have you ever thought of yourself as the object of His desire?  Omnipotence cares for you, guards you, and desires you!  You are the most cherished in the eyes of your Creator.  You are His favorite, His beloved. 

This is the number one reason we are to understand our faith as a relationship and not a religion.  The Christian life is not about what we do.  It is not bound up in a list of do’s and don’ts, despite the fact that Scripture outlines many things we are to do and not do.  Nevertheless, the Christian life is about who we are in Christ.  It is about a relationship with the living God.  The Creator of the universe desires you—your trust, your devotion, your love—above everything else in all of creation.  Now if that doesn’t light the fire of your faith . . . your wood’s wet!   

Even after Adam and Eve turned away from God and gave their hearts to another in the Garden, God made it clear that man was still “the apple of His eye” when He announced His intention to rescue fallen mankind: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15).  God’s promise to destroy the works of the devil would be accomplished through the death of His Son, the Captain of our salvation.

Think about what that really means.  The righteousness of God demanded payment for sin.  If God simply waived the just punishment for our sins, He would be guilty of a miscarriage of justice—a contradiction of the very nature of God.  So, in an expression of incredible mercy and grace, God accepted that payment, not from those who had sinned, but from the only One who knew no sin (2 Cor. 5:21).  The blood that was demanded in payment for our high treason against God was the blood of His precious Son . . . not the blood of “the apple of His eye.”

The righteous Judge of all the earth (Genesis 18:25) is also a forgiving Judge.  The righteousness of God demanded justice, not forgiveness. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5).

To be “the apple of His eye” is to be loved beyond all human comprehension.  God’s eternally beloved Son was sacrificed on the cross for sinful, selfish, self-absorbed people who desired to live outside of their divine design.  “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).  Truly His grace is amazing, in that God would pursue and rescue rebels like you and me and make us “the apple of His eye.”

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

In 1965 the Rolling Stones released “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” a Number One hit that is now ranked at the top of at least one list of the 100 Greatest Rock Songs of All Time.  The song was one of the 1960’s anthems of rebellion, but I believe that the reason for the song’s enduring popularity is that it is rooted in the reality of the human condition. 

I can’t get no satisfaction,

I can’t get no satisfaction.

‘Cause I try and I try and I try and I try,

I can’t get no, I can’t get no.

Every child of Adam is born into the condition of dissatisfaction because of one simple reason: sin.  Sin separates us from God, and we remain restless in our endless search for satisfaction.  Not until a person is born again by the power of the Holy Spirit will real and meaningful satisfaction ever be experienced. 

Pastor Tullian frequently quotes Augustine: “God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.” We are made by God for God, and there is a God-sized void within every individual that can only be filled by God.  Work cannot fill it.  Money cannot fill it.  Success cannot fill it.  Relationships cannot fill it.  Alcohol and drugs cannot fill it.  Pleasure cannot fill it.  Recreation and hobbies cannot fill it.  We try and we try and we try, but we can never get the satisfaction we crave for at the deepest level.  Only God can fill the space inside every individual that was meant solely for Him.  The things of this world might temporarily make us feel filled and satisfied, but eventually they all turn to dust, leaving us empty and wanting.

So . . . is your life defined more by the Rolling Stones or the Righteous Rock?  Where do you look for satisfaction?

If you are looking for it in anything smaller than God you will never be fully satisfied.  Augustine was 100% right: the desire for satisfaction has been given to us by God.  God created us to be fulfilled and satisfied, but that fulfillment will be found in only one place: a right relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.  When we hunger and thirst for the things of this world, we will never be filled.  The Wise Preacher of Ecclesiastes said it is like chasing the wind.  It is only when we hunger and thirst after righteousness that we will be filled.  God has promised it! “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). 

The righteousness Jesus calls us to hunger and thirst after is not a list of rules.  Far too many in the church believe this is the way to satisfaction and fulfillment, but it is not.  The righteousness Jesus calls us to hunger and thirst after is a relationship with Him as our righteousness; a living, vital, intimate, loving relationship with the King of kings and Lord of lords.  When we are pursuing Jesus, we are promised to be both filled and fulfilled. We will be truly satisfied!

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