Grace for the Race

Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life. (Romans 6:13)

Take a moment to think of a former boss. If you ran into that person today and he/she said that you are expected to work overtime this weekend, what would you say? My first response would be, “I don’t work for you anymore!” (And I might be tempted to ask, “What’s wrong with you?”)

I think we would all respond in pretty much the same way. When you did work for that former boss, you had to do what you were told to do. You took your marching orders from that individual. But now you have moved on to another position, and you no longer take orders from your previous boss. That person has lost all authority over you.

Once you became a Christian, the very same principle became true in the spiritual realm. Before Jesus raised you from death to life, you were a servant (a slave) to sin. Sin was your boss . . . your master. But after you were given the divine gifts of repentance and faith, you were set free from your old boss; now you are under the authority of your new Boss, the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul set this truth before us beautifully:

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. (Romans 6:16-18)

When was the last time you took orders from your previous boss? When was the last time you marched to the beat of your former employer’s drum? We all do this from time to time; we sin because we are all still sinners in need of a Savior. Paul himself, in the very next chapter of his epistle to the Romans, admitted, “I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out” (Romans 7:18). What we must keep in view is that we have a new Boss now, the One who has come from above. Jesus has complete authority over you; He has every right to ask whatever He wants of you in order to advance the cause of His kingdom and bring honor and glory to His name. He laid down His life in order to become your new Boss; there is nothing He cannot ask of you . . . nothing!

The first thing Jesus is asking you today is this: “Regardless of where you go and what you do, remember Whose you are!” Remembering who our true Boss is will go a long way in helping us to follow His commands and to ignore the malevolent marching orders from our previous boss.

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

. . . [T]he Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world. (Revelation 13:8)

Do you remember the story of the Good Samaritan? A man was beaten and left for dead on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. A priest and a Levite both came to the place where the man lay, naked and bleeding, and both passed by on the other side of the road. But a Samaritan man, who was hated and despised by the Jews solely because of his ethnicity, had compassion on the man, stopped and bandaged his wounds, and took him to an inn. After caring for the man, he paid the innkeeper and asked him to look after the man while he was gone. The good Samaritan promised that he would pay the innkeeper for any additional expense upon his return. In essence, he said, “Charge that man’s debts to my account!” (Luke 10:30-35).

Jesus, like the good Samaritan, has said of each and every one of our sins–past, present, and sins still to come–“Charge them to My account!” The Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world took upon Himself every one of the sins of all those who will place their trust in him. One could spend a lifetime of meditation and still not come close to plumbing the depths of this blessed assurance. Jesus, as our substitute, had laid upon Himself a debt we owed but could never pay, and He did it freely for the unimaginable joy that was set before Him (Hebrews 12:2).

The accuser wants you to forget this truth and live with gnawing guilt, which will keep you from doing all that God has called you to do. Satan wants you to believe that you are so polluted with sin that you are paralyzed from doing the kingdom work God has given you to do. Sadly, far too many in the church have forgotten about their day of deliverance. They do not understand the Lamb’s shout of triumph from the cross: “It is finished!” Our debt was charged to His account and paid in full. Our sins have been forgiven. Eternal life has been secured.

Remember, the devil is a liar, and he will do everything in his power to muddy your mind and wreck your witness for Jesus. The next time you find yourself dealing with a bout of gnawing guilt, remember the story of the good Samaritan, who was willing to pay any debt incurred by the beaten man he brought to the inn. This is a clear picture of your beloved Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is greater than the good Samaritan. He has not only nailed every one of your sins to that cross, but He washed them white as snow with His cleansing blood. Hear Him say, “Charge those sins to my account,” and let that truth strengthen you to go and sin no more. The good Samaritan spent his money to help the dying man, while Jesus spent His precious blood to raise you from death to life!

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

I will strengthen you and help you. (Isaiah 41:10)

As we embark on yet another new year, let these words from the prophet Isaiah both comfort you and challenge you each day as you hold fast to the truth that God will give you all the strength you need to go through every season of life. Let’s take a closer look.

First, notice who has given us this guarantee of strengthening: It is none other than God Himself. Omnipotence has promised us strength, and who would dare doubt such a guarantee? There is an endless, inexhaustible stream of strength in the Sovereign Lord, strength that is not in any way diminished when He gives us a portion of it. 

Next, notice that we are not told that there is a particular season in which we will be strengthened. Therefore, we must take this promise to mean that we will be given strength and help in all of them! God has promised to strengthen us in our seasons of successful service and He has promised to strengthen us in our seasons of sorrowful service. Regardless of the season we find ourselves in, we have this guarantee from the Lord God Omnipotent: I will strengthen you!

To be sure, this guarantee from God is a source of unimaginable comfort, but that’s not all! God’s promise is also a challenge to rise above any obstacle that stands in our way, since our strength does not come from within, but rather from above. Human weakness is no obstacle for divine strength. In fact, Paul tells us that when we are weak, our God is strong (2 Corinthians 12:10).

Regardless of what we are currently facing, God has promised to strengthen us.  

• The fearful are given courage.
• The doubting are given conviction.
• The lonely are given company.
• The weak are given confidence.
• The broken are given compassion.

These are just a few of the challenges we will face throughout life; through them all, God has promised to give us the strength we need to see them through.

So let me ask you a very important question right now: “What strength are you in short supply of today that would help you get through another year of life?” Fear not! Go to your Savior and cry out to Him . . .

Lord, please strengthen me supernaturally according to your Word!

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

Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9)

On Wednesday we took a moment in our “backward glance” to ponder the wonders God had done throughout 2023. Today we will pause to consider our “forward march” as we prepare to launch out into 2024.

Over the course of the next few days, a common greeting from people you encounter will be, “Happy New Year!” Yet if that was all we had as Christian believers setting out into a new year, it would be a scant portion indeed. As Christians, we have much more than a “hopeful greeting” given to us by the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. In our verse for today, we have the promise given to Joshua — and to us — by God: I will be with you wherever you go.

You may remember that Joshua was preparing to lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land after Moses had completed his ministry of service to the Lord. Joshua knew quite well the challenges he would inevitably face in leading God’s people. He had learned from serving with Moses just how difficult the task would be. But he also knew that, just like Moses, he would not be alone in the work God had called him to.

The very same thing is true for you and me as we begin our march forward into this new year. To be sure, the new year brings with it questions and concerns . . . doubts and fears . . . obstacles and opportunities. Will we get a less than positive report from the doctor? Will we be confronted by professional challenges? Will our marriage of many years march on for many more? Will we suffer the loss of a loved one? Will the world erupt into war? The list of uncertainties is almost endless. Yet we can hold on to something infinitely greater than a hopeful, “Happy New Year!” Why? Because we have the promise from God that wherever we go, He will go with us.

I want you to remember something in that lovely promise: This “going with God” is not a going by chance. It is not a random roll of the dice. God is guiding, governing, and directing your every step. He is in sovereign control of everything; nothing is a matter of “luck” or “chance.” So do not be discouraged! This promise is given to cause us set aside every fear and confidently march forward into God’s perfect plan and purpose for our lives.

One final point: Approximately 3,400 years after God told Joshua that He would be with him wherever he went, Jesus reaffirmed that promise before He ascended back to heaven: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

Forward, march! You have nothing to fear. Your Master marches by your side!

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

Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced. (Psalm 105:4-5)

Today and Friday we close out yet another year of Grace for Your Race. Today I want to encourage you to take a backward glance over the past year — to remember and reflect on the many and multiplied wonders God has done in your life. On Friday we will look forward to the starting line of another year . . . and crossing the finish line of 2024, if God is so pleased to give us that time here.

Someone once wisely said, “It is difficult to climb to the summit of the mountain when you are always looking over your shoulder.” Yet the backward glance is extremely beneficial for the believer to be reminded of all that God has done. Yes, that look back must be brief if we are going to make forward progress throughout 2024. But make no mistake, it is the best way to close out another year of blessings that God has bestowed upon us. 

A backward glance is not the same as walking backward. We cannot go back, nor should we want to. God is moving us forward into His perfect plan and purpose for our lives, inasmuch as we live that plan out imperfectly. I have said it here before, but it bears repeating: We must always treat the past as a school. We are to learn the lessons from our past, but not live there. Far too many live in the past, which prohibits any measurable forward progress. But this is not for you!

Take some time this week to reflect on the past year. Make sure your backward glance includes both your successes and your storms. There is much to glean from both life experiences, because God has delivered both to us in order to conform us into the image and likeness of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Let your backward glance bring to mind God’s . . .

• Faithfulness and Friendship
• Discipline and Devotion
• Mercy and Ministry
• Love and Leading

Your brief backward glance will encourage you and strengthen you to set out on another year, with Jesus sitting on the throne of your life, guiding you through every twist and turn and growing you through every up and down . . . every step of the way.

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

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

What begins with waiting, advances through preparation, and results in the experience of great joy, is rooted in the love of God in Christ Jesus. God is love (1 John 4:16). God created love. And God loves us!

How much does God love us? He sent His Son — His beloved Son, His one and only Son — to die for us on a cross to pay the penalty for our sins so that we could live with Him forever. “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8).

Notice: “While we were still sinners.” God did not wait for us to get right with Him. He did not wait for us to get cleaned up. He did not wait for us to get our act together. He demonstrated His love for us while we were still sinners. Now, if that doesn’t light the fire of your faith on Christmas day . . . your wood is wet!

So what are we to do with the knowledge of a love so deep on Christmas day? We are to rest in it and respond to it. First, to rest in this love is to rest assured that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39). When Jesus said “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20), He meant what He said! Nothing – not storms, not Satan, not even our sin — can come between us and the love that Jesus has for us.

Second, to respond to this kind of love is to share it with others. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). God loved us when we were incapable of loving Him . . . while we were still sinners and separated from Him. But because God has poured out His love upon us, we can now share that love with others. This is what is called the Greatest Commandment: To love God and love others.

This Christmas season, take some time to share the love of God with those around you. Invite a neighbor to your church. Bake someone some cookies. Write a note of encouragement to someone. Visit someone you haven’t seen in a long while. Remember, love is the primary way we are to be recognized by others: Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).

The question that needs to be answered by all of us this Christmas season is this: Does everyone know that we are disciples of Jesus by our love? May this be the confession of our lives.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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

The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” (Luke 2:10)

As we continue with our series of Advent articles, we will see today that what begins with waiting and advances through preparation ultimately results in the experience of great joy.

At the deepest level, joy from a biblical perspective is something altogether different from happiness. Where happiness is based on circumstances and what is going on around us, joy is based on Christ and what is going on within us. While we wait and prepare for Christmas, we must remember that joy is an inside job, and it is always a choice for the Christian.

What was the “great joy” the angel promised to the shepherds? It was the coming of Jesus. Jesus is our joy. And knowing that He has promised to never leave nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), we can be assured that joy will be a continual experience. Joy sees problems as possibilities. Joy see obstacles as opportunities. Joy sees life from God’s perspective, not our own; when it does, we can exult with David, “I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy” (Psalm 34:4).

When the Bible speaks of the joy of the Lord, we are to understand it as something much more than simply a feeling. If that were not so, how in the world would we ever be able to experience joy during storms of loss and grief? Only when we understand joy as being Jesus, with we the branches living in union with the Jesus the Vine, will we be able to experience unspeakable joy. And as we saw on Wednesday, we will increase our joy by means of preparation, which is accomplished through both time in prayer and time in the Word.

Here is one more thing to think about: When we consider the character of Christ, we make deposits in our joy bank. Jesus lived a sinless life for us. Jesus died a sacrificial death for us. Jesus rose supernaturally from the dead for us. Jesus is coming back from heaven for us. Jesus has loved us unconditionally and forgiven us completely. The more we consider His character, the more joy we will experience in this life, regardless of the circumstances we are currently facing.

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

A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” (Isaiah 40:3)

Today is the second installment of our Advent messages. Advent means “coming” – that time of expectant waiting and preparation for the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ as a baby in a manger and the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Conquering King. Most churches use the four weeks leading up to Christmas Day to focus on the real meaning of the season.

On Monday we looked at waiting; today we will focus on preparing. It makes sense, does it not? While we are waiting, we are preparing for what we are waiting for. No one just plants seeds in the garden and waits for the harvest to come in. They plant, water, nurture, and prepare in order to maximize the harvest that will come in the fall.

So how are we to prepare for all we are waiting on from our Lord? There are two ways.

SIMPLIFY

Life if full of distractions, with countless voices vying for our attention. And those voices amp up during the Christmas season, with one advertisement after another hawking the latest products purporting to enhance our lives. It is easy to forget the reason for the season when we are so busy being busy. So how do we simplify as we are preparing in our waiting for Christmas? We learn the way of our Lord in two vital areas of our lives.

Prayer

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35)

No one lived a busier life than our Lord Jesus Christ, yet His days were saturated in communion with His Father in heaven. Jesus continually retreated to pray, and we read that there were times when He would spend an entire night on His knees. Notice too that Jesus would go to prayer early in the morning, before the demands of the day engulfed Him, and He would find a solitary place to pray, so as to minimize distractions. Is this the confession of your life?

Word

“It is written . . .” “It is also written . . .” “For it is written . . .” (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10)

When Jesus was engaged in His battle with the devil during His wilderness experience, He fought back and conquered Satan with the Old Testament Scriptures (which was all that was available at that time). In order for Jesus to continually quote the Scriptures, He had to know the Scriptures; and to know the Scriptures, He had to be meditating on and marinating in them. Is this the confession of your life?

One of the best ways to prepare for Christmas is to simplify our lives, and the best way to simplify is to be on our knees with the Bible in hand. May that be the confession of all our lives!

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

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14)

During the next four articles, leading up to Christmas Day, I would like to direct our focus to Advent, which means “coming” – that time of expectant waiting and preparation for the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ as a baby in a manger and the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Conquering King. Most churches use the four weeks leading up to Christmas Day to focus on the real meaning of the season.

Today we will sharpen our focus on waiting. As a child, the hardest thing for me was waiting for Christmas Eve, when we would be allowed to open one of our Christmas presents. After we had finished that annual family tradition, I had to endure the long night of counting sheep — on those nights I was probably counting reindeer — and waiting for what seemed like interminable hours until the sun came up and I could finally enjoy the one day that I waited every day of the year to arrive.

I’m much older now, but waiting is just as difficult for me today as it was a child, for a variety of reasons. And so I have to keep reminding myself that waiting is part of God’s perfect plan to mature each one of us and grow us up in our faith.

What have you been waiting for this year? Have you been waiting for God to do something in your life? The prophet Isaiah says, “They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31 ESV). Isaiah gave us a beautiful picture of the source of our power. When you picture the eagle in flight, you see that this magnificent creature is completely dependent on the Lord, who gave the eagle its wings and provides the unseen currents of air on which it soars.

To wait upon the Lord is to live a life of dependence and trust in a power infinitely greater than our own. It is to trust God even when we cannot trace Him. It is to know that God’s will often requires waiting, because it is one of God’s great graces in our lives. And how are we to wait? We are to wait expectantly . . . hopefully . . . confidently . . . knowing that whatever we receive from the hand of our God is always what is best for us, and God’s best always does its best work in our lives when it comes to us in His perfect timing.

So as you are waiting for Christmas this year and waiting for God to answer your prayers, let the unseen currents of life’s pressures and pleasures, its challenges and charms, and its difficulties and delights lift you up higher and higher, trusting that your strength will be renewed by your Redeemer, moment by moment and day by day. 

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

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

The verse before us today is a powerful word from God about the importance of being a builder. As you can see, builder is another word for being an encourager. There are only two things we can do in the lives of others: We can either build them up or break them down. Which of these activities best describes you?

Let’s be clear on what biblical encouragement is not. You don’t build others up with trite statements like, “Well, it could be worse!” or “Hang in there!” or “This too shall pass!” The list of these banalities is almost endless; such phrases do little to bring any measure of encouragement to the listener, and frequently they produce discouragement and disgust.

Now let’s see what true encouragement actually is, as given us in the pages of Scripture. Here is perhaps the most encouraging statement from our Savior that was ever recorded by the gospel writers. It has been a source of eternal encouragement to all those whom I have shared it with over the years. Before Jesus ascended to be reunited with His Father in heaven, He gave this glorious promise to His disciples . . . and to you and me:

“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

Pause for just a moment and let that truth sink in. Jesus is with you when things are going well and when things are going badly. Jesus is with you with the sky is blue and the clouds are fleecy and when dark clouds roll in and storm winds begin to howl. No matter what you are going through, you are not going through it alone. Jesus has promised to be with you every step of the way — always, to the very end of the age. If you remember the poem “Footprints,” know that whenever you look back and see only one set of footprints on the path you have been traveling, that was the time when Jesus was carrying you.

No matter where this message finds you, it finds you with Jesus by your side. There is no place you can go and there is nothing you can do to cause Jesus to walk away from you. Romans 8:38-39 emphatically states that nothing–no power of hell, no scheme of man–can ever separate us from the love God has for us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Are you encouraged to know that you are always in the presence of your Savior? I mean, really encouraged? Think about it this way; when you love someone, you want to be in their presence, and you will do whatever it takes to be with that person. Well, the very same thing is true for Jesus. He loves you so much that He did whatever it took to be with you: He died on a cross so you could be with Him forever simply by trusting in Him alone for salvation.

Let these words from Jesus close out our time together today and remind you that to be a builder in the lives of others, you need only bring them into the presence of Jesus:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29)

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