Grace for the Race

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:5)

All great stories, whether they are presented on the big screen or little screen, on stage or in print, are designed to move the audience to a great ending. Sometimes when we are telling someone about one of these great stories, we’ we’ll say something like, “Wait till you get to the end. You won’t believe it!” Inasmuch as we all love great stories with climactic, unforgettable endings, the greatest story ever told is found on the pages of sacred Scripture . . . and this story has no ending!

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)

A story with no ending is promised to all those who trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Jesus came to earth and conquered sin, Satan, and death through His sinless life, sacrificial death, and supernatural resurrection from the grave. And don’t miss this: YOU are in this story, and you were cast in it by the Divine Director of the universe before the foundation of the world. You did not go to a casting call to earn, achieve, or deserve the part because of your great attitude or abilities. No! You were simply cast into your part by God, who loved you enough to send His Son to take your place on a cross so that you can be with Him forever.

Here is how C. S. Lewis described this never-ending story in The Chronicles of Narnia, The Last Battle:

All their life in this world and all their adventures had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.  

Have you joined in this greatest story ever told? Do you want to be part of it? You must decide. You can choose a thousand other stories . . . but all those will come to an end. Or you can chose this one story, which goes on forever and ever. Like the characters in The Last Battle, all those who, by grace through faith, place their trust in Jesus Christ alone will live happily ever after in the new heavens and the new earth with the Lord Jesus and all the people of God, world without end.

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

If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)

Because God is for us, it truly doesn’t matter who or what is against us. This truth is designed to set us free to know that God is always working on our behalf as we make our way through this life and on into glory. The apostle Paul solidified his argument for this truth as he continued through his letter to the Christians at Rome, reminding us, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

This type of prose is an example of what is called arguing from the greater to the lesser. God directed everything throughout history in order to bring forth His Son Jesus in the fullness of time to bring us into eternal relationship with Him. If God did not spare His own beloved Son from a horrific death on the cross for our salvation, why would we ever think He might withhold anything else we need in this life?

The sacrifice of the Son of God is not only the surety of our salvation, but also of our sanctification along the way to glory. Because God’s ultimate goal is to conform us into the image of His Son, we can be assured that He will grace us with every good thing that is needed for that process, and that includes even those things we would rather not experience.

God is using everything that is necessary for making us more and more like Jesus. He is using the good and the bad. He is using the storms and the sunlight. He is using the highs and the lows. God will not — God cannot — let us down in this process. The gift of His Son is ironclad proof of this promise. No matter what comes up against you, remember that God is for you. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus makes that clear. Rest in your redemption, Christian, regardless of the circumstances you face in life, knowing that He who began the good work in you will bring it to completion, and nothing and no one will stand in His way.

You have been graced with every good thing because you have been given the greatest gift the world has ever seen: Jesus Christ. Do you have Jesus? Then you have every good thing!

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

I come that they may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)

Let’s clear up one thing right from the start: It is good and right and biblical to pursue the abundant life – not as the world defines it, but as God’s Word does. The world says the abundant life is a life that consists of our stuff; the Word of God says the abundant life is a life that consists of our Savior. You see, God has placed the cosmic quest for the abundant life in the heart of every one of us, but that quest must be rooted in our relationship with Jesus Christ. As image-bearers of God, we were made by Him for Him and for the abundant life that can only be found in Him.

Far too many people, including many in the church, are seeking the abundant life apart from Jesus. They seek it in their professions. They seek it in their status. They seek it in a romantic relationship. They seek it in their wealth and health. They are seeking the abundant life on a horizontal plane, where they exalt what is created above the Creator. Only when we are seeking the abundant life on a vertical plane — that is, looking up to our Lord — will we satisfy the deepest needs of our heart. Only when we are surrendered to our Savior will we begin to enjoy the abundant life we were created to experience. We must surrender our hopes and dreams and goals to Jesus. When we do that, we will be set on a course that gives us the freedom, joy, and faithfulness our Lord has promised us.

How is it with you these days? Have you been seeking the abundant life horizontally? Or vertically? Have you been pursuing “the good life” or the godly life? Has Jesus been the source of your supreme satisfaction? Or are you seeking it in something smaller?

Think about it this way: If you have everything this life offers but don’t have Jesus, you have nothing. And if you have nothing this life offers and have Jesus, you have everything! To be sure, there is much to be enjoyed and celebrated on the horizontal plane of life, but it must never take the place of what can only be found vertically in our Lord, our Savior, and our best friend in all the world – Jesus Christ.

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

We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5:3-5)

I recognize that the title to today’s word of encouragement may seem counterintuitive at first, but the Bible teaches that joy and suffering do indeed go together. First, let’s distinguish between joy and happiness from a biblical perspective. Happiness is an emotional state of contentment that is usually dependent on our circumstances. Joy, on the other hand, is an inner state of contentment that exists regardless of external circumstances. Biblical joy, therefore, is not contingent upon what we are experiencing, but rather Who we are experiencing it with. With Jesus at our side every step of the way, and knowing that He is using everything for our ultimate good, we can have joy in every circumstance. We actually can obey the biblical commands to “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4) and “Consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials” (James 1:2 NET).

Our Lord Jesus provides the best example of this through His sinless life, sacrificial death, and supernatural resurrection. The writer of Hebrews tells us, “For the joy set before him [Jesus] endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus endured the agony of the cross and unimaginable suffering under the judgment of God the Father, and yet He felt the deep joy that circumstances could not destroy. Jesus knew what was on the other side of His cosmic suffering: sin, Satan, and death would be destroyed, and He would be forever seated at the right hand of the Father, sharing a joy-filled eternity with all those who placed their trust in Him for eternal life.

Biblical joy is an inside job because of the One who is on the inside: the Holy Spirit. Since nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, no circumstance can separate us from our joy . . . unless we allow it to. Paul wrote about “the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part” (2 Corinthians 8:1-2). Did you see that? Their joy abounded in the midst of “a severe test of infliction” and “extreme poverty.” There was no safety, no security . . . only suffering. Yet they rejoiced! You see, joy is not the absence of hardship, but the presence of Christ.

Trusting in Christ certainly did not exempt the Macedonians from poverty, pain, and suffering. As I’ve noted here many times, our Lord told us that “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). It wasn’t the absence of trouble that kept these Christ-followers in a state of joy that their circumstances could not affect, but rather the fact they were Christians by the grace of God .

The lesson that the Macedonians have to teach you and me is clear and glorious. We can lose everything and still have joy, because there is one thing we can never lose: the One who purchased us with His blood on a cross, the Lord Jesus Christ. Joy and suffering are not oil and water. They are the opposite sides of the same coin of consolation and comfort for every child of God.

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

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)

Scripture repeatedly presents the unequivocal truth that God created all of us to live our lives in the context of community. We see the Word of the Lord pronounced in the creation account: “It is not good that man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18 NKJV), and in the recreation account we read, “The body does not consist of one member but of many” (1 Corinthians 12:14 ESV) and “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing” (Hebrews 10:25).

Make no mistake, we were saved individually, but we were saved to community. There is no such thing as “Jesus and me” in the body of Christ; rather, we sing with the saints “Jesus and we!” Sadly, a great many believers live in intentional isolation from the family of faith. And this is one of the greatest goals of our enemy: to get us to live outside of the context of community. The devil delights when we live at the level of “news, weather, and sports” within the church. Far too many Christians refuse to move past the casual into a committed relationship within the family of faith.

You see, at the surface we believe we are “safe.” We don’t have to share what is going on in our lives and in our hearts. We certainly don’t have to share anything about discouragement or spiritual struggles or besetting sins. We add insulation to our isolation and end up living only a fraction of the faith-filled life that Jesus died to set us free to live.

The bottom line is this: We each need each other. We need each other to encourage and equip. We need each other to motivate and minister. We need each other to strengthen and support. We need each other to rebuke and restore. We need each other to learn from and lean on. We need each other for our happiness and our holiness. Jesus set the perfect example of the importance of community. For three-plus years, our Lord walked, talked, ate, served, partied, prayed, ministered, and rested with His twelve disciples and many others who were part of His ministry.

And don’t forget this: Living in community is not primarily about you; it is about Jesus and others. Community empowers you to see the burdens of others with “Gospel eyes” and work together as a family of faith to meet those needs and carry those burdens. Remember, Jesus does not need any of us; He wants us, and He died to make us His. But we need each other. Let that truth set you free to live faithfully in community with fellow believers.  

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

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

One of the things that encourages me most when I am reading the Bible is all of the brokenness that is seen in the lives of the men and women who are central to God’s unfolding story of redemption. If there was only one reason to believe in the truth of the Bible — and there are a great many more reasons, to be sure — the fact that the Bible makes no attempt to hide all the flaws, faithlessness, and failures of God’s people would be enough for me. Who would ever put such unflinching accounts of brokenness into a story other than God?

Consider the “character” of some of these biblical characters:

• Adam – The first man blamed God and Eve for his own sin
• Abraham – The “father of the faithful” claimed that his wife was his sister to save his own skin
• Jacob – Stole his brother’s birthright
• Moses – Murdered an Egyptian taskmaster, hid the body, and then fled the country
• Aaron – Helped the Israelites create a golden calf to be worshiped in place of God
• David – Committed adultery and murder
• Jonah – Ran away from God’s call in his life
• Matthew – Worked as a despised tax collector for Rome before Jesus called him
• Mary Magdalene — Was possessed by seven demons
• James and John – Wanted the chief seats in God’s kingdom
• Martha – Was so encumbered by her service that she got angry at her sister and snapped at Jesus
• Peter – Denied that he knew Jesus three times on the night the Lord was betrayed
• Paul – Arrested, jailed, and murdered early Christians before Jesus called him into service

The Word of God is unabashedly honest about the reality of the human condition and all its brokenness. God does not hide it. God does not minimize it. God simply shows us that we are all broken in more ways than we would care to admit. The Bible’s depiction of the reality of life in a fallen and broken world is as accurate as it is encouraging.

Why is this so encouraging? Because these inspired accounts teach us that we do not need to shy away from our brokenness and let the enemy convince us that God cannot use us. God uses broken people. God uses flawed people. God uses really messed up people, because they are all He has to use in this world! We are all misfits for our Master.

Where has your brokenness kept you from doing what God is calling you to do? Be encouraged by all the broken people in the Bible! Know that God uses broken people to make His world whole once again . . . and He wants to use you!

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

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:16-17)

Many Christians labor under the misconception that once we have received the grace of God for salvation, we can move on to higher education in God’s economy. Not true! The grace that saves us is the same grace that sanctifies us — not just daily, but moment by moment. We never graduate from our need for God’s eternal, redeeming, rescuing, forgiving, transforming, and life-changing grace throughout every moment of our existence.  

We never graduate from our need for God’s grace because we never graduate from our need to be delivered from ourselves. God’s grace is continually poured out into our lives to renew the mind, recalibrate the heart, and realign the will as we make our way into glory. And please do not confine this need of God’s grace for those seasons of sin and struggle that we all experience in life. We need God’s grace every bit as much during the seasons of success.

God’s grace is either enough or it is not. There is no middle ground. It is never God’s grace “plus” something else. It is God’s grace that fuels our worship and focuses our witness. It is God’s grace that strengthens our resolve and surrenders our resources to be used for God’s glory. It is God’s grace that humbles us and holds us accountable to God. It is God’s grace that comforts us and challenges us. It is God’s grace that encourages us and equips us to answer God’s call in our lives. We never, never, never outgrow our need for God’s grace!

How is it with you? Is your life a living testimony of your need of God’s rescuing grace? Are you living in the power of God’s grace or your own strength? The grace of God is not just the beginning of your walk with Jesus, it is the beating heart of your forward progress every step of the way. May it never be said of you and me what Paul said to the Galatians: “Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3).  In God’s school of life, there are no grace graduates. Stay in your Savior’s school of grace!

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

When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. (Mark 6:47-48)

Have you ever wondered why Jesus walked on the water toward His disciples who were out in a boat that was being buffeted by high winds on the Sea of Galilee? The reason could not have been to calm the wind and the waves; Jesus could have done that from the shoreline with a thought or a word. I believe Jesus took that walk on the water simply to be in the presence of His disciples in the midst of their storm. Yes, by walking on the water, Jesus made it clear that He was no ordinary man, but God incarnate. But we must not miss what I believe is the great comfort in this gospel account for His disciples then and for you and me today: Jesus wants to be with us in every storm and every difficulty we are facing on this side of the grave.

Jesus walked out on the water toward His disciples, not to calm the winds that were roiling up the water, but to calm the storm that was roiling up inside of them. They were filled with the fear, and Jesus was teaching them how to replace fear with faith. Jesus was teaching them to see life from His perspective, not their own. As He drew near to the boat, Jesus said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid” (Mark 6:50). The Great I AM was in their presence, the same One who spoke to Moses from within the burning bush. Jesus was not there to still the storm around them, but to still the storm within them. And He is doing the same for each one of us every day of our lives.

I’ve said it here before, but it bears repeating: The disciples were in the center of God’s will. They were out on the water in obedience to God’s command to go to the other side. Their difficulty in making the crossing was not due to their disobedience. No, it came because of their obedience. God does not send trials to destroy us; He sends storms to deliver us from ourselves and to teach us to depend more and more on Him.

We must learn how to trust God’s painful providences in this life, even when we cannot trace their purposes. Never let the storms of life sink you! Take courage! Jesus is with you, He is for you, and He is in you. Let that truth set you free to serve Him with confidence and joy.  

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

“‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit’ says the Lord Almighty.” (Zechariah 4:6)

Excuses! Excuses! Excuses! The Bible is filled with stories of people whom God used for His glory, people who started out making every excuse imaginable in order to keep from answering God’s call in their lives. Some rationalized their disobedience; others flat-out refused to obey; in each case God eliminated every excuse and used these people as inspired instruments in His Mighty Right Hand. Here are just three of those stories.

Moses – When Moses was 40 years old, he tried to free his people from their bondage in Egypt. The people of Israel did not receive him, and he spent the next 40 years on the back side of the desert. When Moses was 80, he turned aside to look more closely at a bush that was burning but not consumed. There God called Moses to deliver His people out of their slavery. Did Moses jump for joy and exclaim, “At last! Let’s DO this”? Far from it! Moses responded to God with every excuse in the book: “I don’t know who I am! I don’t know who You are! The people won’t believe me! I have a speech impediment!” And when God had resolved all those objections, Moses finally spluttered, “Please send someone else!” But God, who is the Eternal Excuse Eliminator, replaced Moses’ fear with faith. The rest is His-story.

Jonah – God called Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and preach His Word. “Nope,” Jonah thought. “No way.” The Ninevites were brutal, barbaric enemies of God’s people; Jonah hated them with a passion, and he could not conceive how God could possibly want to be gracious to them in any way. So God’s recalcitrant prophet boarded a ship that would take him to Tarshish — the opposite direction of God’s call on his life. But God canceled Jonah’s trip to Tarshish by sending a violent storm; when Jonah essentially insisted that “I would rather drown than go to Nineveh” and asked the sailors to throw him overboard, God appointed a great fish to act as a lifeguard. In the end, God had eliminated all of Jonah’s “avenues of excuse.” He brought Jonah to Nineveh, and the entire city of pagan people — more than 120,000 people — repented of their sin and believed in God.

Gideon – Gideon was threshing grain secretly in a winepress, hiding from the Midianites, who were oppressing God’s people. God planned to use Gideon to free his people from the Midianites, who had injected much of their pagan culture into the way God’s people were living. Much like Moses, Gideon offered up one fearful excuse after another, from family obligations to time constraints, hoping that God would release him from this call. Gideon even had the temerity to put God to a “fleece test” — twice! Patiently, graciously, God eliminated every excuse that Gideon could devise, and He ultimately used Gideon and only 300 men to defeat the Midianite army of 135,000 men.

The end of every excuse can be found in one faithful fact: God is with His servants. You see, God does not call the equipped; God simply equips those He calls and promises to be with them every step of the way in order to live out their call for His glory and the expansion of His Kingdom in this world.

Are you ready to answer God’s call on your life today? Are there any excuses still standing in your way? Bring them to the External Excuse Eliminator and lay them at His feet. Nothing is impossible with God!

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

A heart of peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones. (Proverbs 14:30)

In the most basic sense of the word, envy is the sin of harboring jealousy over the blessings of others. There are many examples of this in the Bible. Cain was envious of Able and God’s blessing in his life. Joseph’s brothers were envious of him and God’s blessings in his life. King Saul was envious of David and God’s blessings in his life. The religious leaders were envious of Jesus and God’s blessings in His life.

Throughout the pages of Scripture, we see the destructive nature of envy; we also learn how we can end it for good in our own lives. Here are four simple steps:

Step #1 – Confess this sin.

We will never end envy until we begin confessing this sin to God. James says, “If you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth” (James 3:14). Confession is good for the soul and an absolute necessity for ending envy–and every other sin.

Step # 2 – Shift your focus away from yourself and put in on your Savior.

When we focus on ourselves, we have a tendency to compare ourselves with others. When we do that, we always find areas where we believe we are falling short and envy begins to take root. But when we keep our focus on Jesus, we realize we already have everything we need. We can rest in our relationship with the One who loves us unreservedly and unconditionally, knowing we are blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).

Step #3 – Maintain an attitude of gratitude.

The more grateful we are, the less envious we will be. Proverbs 17:22 assures us that “A joyful heart is good medicine.” Everything we have is a gift from God. Regardless of how hard we have worked, every good gift has come to us from the hand of God (James 1:17). The more we have, the more we are in debt to the One who has given it to us. An attitude of gratitude and the bitter spirit of envy simply cannot coexist.  

Step #4 – Develop a spirit of generosity.

When we are focused on giving to others, envy is as far from us as the east is from the west. The more you give to others, the less you think about what you don’t have. When we are engaged in giving to others, gladness grows and envy flees.

Remember, resting in God’s goodness and grace is the key that unlocks the chains of bondage to envy. The four steps I have outlined here will help you in this life-long process . . . and it is a process! We will never reach perfection on this side of the grave.  

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