Down in Your Gut (Radio / Podcast)

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
(1 Peter 1:6-7)

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
(1 Peter 4:12-13)

Q: What's the difference between 1 Peter 4:12-13 and 1 Peter 1:6-7? Is he talking about the same thing in both or are they two different types of trials? Is one like the sufferings you endure because you're a Christian and the other is trials to see if you really love God?

A: Excellent question!

Basically both are speaking of enduring persecution, but 1 Peter 1:6-7 is also talking about how suffering reveals the bottom line nature of your faith, that even through it is like fire your faith remains when tested. For some people and in some situations it may not just be one area of suffering and grief, but it can be like when everything seems to stink. You just want to give up, but you can't. Something at the bottom of your gut won't let you go; you just know that you believe no matter what. You can't get rid of it. That is the Holy Spirit working. That is your faith that has been given to you. Nothing can take it away. It can be shaken and you can be depressed, but you cannot let God of go completely...He has you and you have Him.

So the trial is not really about seeing if you really love God but how God proves to you that you have a love for Him, and you feel His love for you despite the fiery trial, and you are somehow filled with joy (vs.8). It is like our sermons, “A Fresh Touch” and “No Matter How Bad”, from Romans 5:1-6…we go through a difficult time and we get a fresh understanding, a renewed feeling, a touch of the love of God and for God.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

A Fresh Touch

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
(Romans 5:1-5 – ESV)

In this text we see that what happens in you is more important than what happens to you, that even when what happens to you seems bad God uses it for your spiritual good. Through Christ we have been justified by faith, forgiven by God, who has made a lasting peace with us and we can be at peace towards Him. Having been introduced to the grace of God we will stand forever righteous in His sight and can glory in the fact that we have a hope of eternal life in heaven with Him. We now have access to the grace of God and we know that the bad times produce good results, as we stay under God’s hand during the trial and testing it produces patience, which produces proven character, which produces hopeful confidence, which does not disappoint us because once again the Holy Spirit pours the love of God and love for God into our hearts afresh. We see the eternal hope of verse two made manifest as a timely hope in verse four.

This is that initial realization about us having been made at peace with God and having hope for eternity being brought into the temporal circumstances of today. This is the more than that the text speaks of. We know we are children of God in our heads but God brings it home to our hearts in the most trying of circumstances. This is how we once again know in our experience, and not just in our minds, that God is our Father, Jesus our Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit our Comforter. This is made real again by a fresh touch of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This is the difference between staying locked into the tragedy and shining forth in triumph; it is that in the midst of tragedy triumph can come forth in our character.

When the text says we rejoice in trials it doesn’t mean we should say, “Hooray, look at my scars, yes, I am so glad to have this open wound!” No, it means we can still rejoice in God because we know something. We can still exult in God, despite the trials, because we know that whatever happens, we are the children of God, with ultimate hope. We may not understand all of what is going on or all the reasons for our trials, especially when they are “not our fault”, but we can still be “knowing something” about how God is going to mold us into the image of Christ through these situations. The text says “knowing that”; we know something about what is going on. God is redeeming our suffering to His glory, and giving us a fresh touch of hope through the power of the Holy Spirit which we feel in our hearts. This is not theory; this is experience, our justification made sure in our hearts. Can you feel it?

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Yes He Can! (7)

And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
(Romans 4:5 – ESV)

We need grace not grit. People think they can stand together and vote for hope but they won’t all get to vote on which measures to take, and some will disagree, and so some will be left out as always. Just getting everyone into agreement that we can do something doesn’t mean we can actually do it. Especially because not everyone who agrees we can do it will agree on HOW to do it. That is and was and always will be the problem, how to do it, not the resolve to do it. Christ has done it, He knew what to do and did it and when we agree with Him we don’t have any more work to do in order to be saved we just work to proclaim it.

They say, “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for” well the Bible says He is the one we are waiting for. They say theirs is the message for this time but the Bible declares our message is the message for all time. Yes He can.

People want the world to change, but it can change and often does, but not for the better. So people want the world to change for the better, for the good, but what do they see as good? They all have different ideas and God says none actually seeks for the real good, for the real God, and so they may change the word but it won’t be for the good, it won’t be for the glory of God.

Rallying behind some political movement in the guise of some humanistic spirituality that says, “yes we can”? We need to realize that God says no we can’t; but that doesn’t leave us without hope it turns us to the only real hope. Can we save the world, can we save our children, can we save our own souls – no we can’t. But can God save the world, can God save our children, can God save our souls – yes He can!

If you want the world to change you need to have your world changed. People want the world to change and it will change when the people are changed. Don’t look to the power of people look to the power of God, look to Jesus Christ. Can He change the world? Yes He can. For the redeemed the world has changed and the world will be changed. The question is will you be changed? Do you believe God can change you? Yes He can.

Did Christ pay for our sins? Yes He did. Will God deliver on all of His promises? Yes He will. Can God justify the ungodly and still remain perfectly just, righteous, and holy Himself? Can God have perfect mercy, love, and justice, all at the same time? Yes HE Can!

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Yes He Can! (6)

And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
(Romans 4:5 – ESV)

Do you need a revival in your soul? Then awake again, back to your first love. If your life needs a little life go back and revisit when you first knew you had it. Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now I am found was blind but now I see, ‘twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved, how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.

Sometimes all we need is a little adjustment. We just moved some things around in our living room and the result was indescribable. The room was the same, the furniture basically the same, but we needed to do some rearranging to see more clearly how beautiful it all is. What you need is not novelty but freshness. You need to rearrange your life around God.

Has your experience in Christ changed you for the better? If not you need to check on the source you are drawing from: is it true or is it just you? Emotions (and emotionally moving experiences) can make life beautiful, but they often make lousy guides for determining the direction of our lives. Experience gets its value from the one who has it. Do you value what God has given you? If so then your experience will ripen the fruit of the Spirit in your life, and a little will always go a long way, and you will be growing in God. If not your life will rot and spoil on the vine. Perhaps you need to actually experience being justified by faith. Have you had that decisive moment where you have seen your inability and the availability of His grace? Have you repented from thinking you can do it all yourself and trusted in Christ who has done it all for you?

People want change; well they need to look again at when they were changed. Have you been changed? Then you ought to still be changing into the likeness of the One who changed you. Are you justified? Well then you are going to use your life as if you were forgiven. If all your debts had been paid you would have a different look; people would see that you were a changed man, that the burden had been lifted. Well let me ask you; are you a changed man or woman? Have the burdens been lifted? Are you justified by faith or are you still working it out for yourself? What the world needs, and what you need is not self-confidence, or self-esteem, but confidence in God, and esteem for Christ. Can Christ lift your burdens and give you assurance – yes He can.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Yes He Can! (5)

And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
(Romans 4:5 – ESV)

This truth, justification by faith, is what makes Christianity distinctive among all other religions of the world. The false prophets of the false hope think their cause is righteous but we declare only Christ is righteous. No matter how much good they can do if they do not do it for the glory of God it is unrighteous, it cannot justify them before God.

I don’t want to elevate you. I don’t want to show you how we can do it. I don’t want to simply excite you, because that will wear out. I don’t want to proclaim the power of people I want to proclaim the name of God. You could change the world but only God can change your heart. You could save the planet but only God can save your soul. You could justify yourself in the eyes of the whole world but only through Christ can you be justified before God.

While the rest of the world looks for a political savior or some religious savior that only tells them how they can save themselves, we look to God who through Jesus Christ can justify the ungodly and give them a hope for heaven.

Others make promises they cannot keep. They do not have the power. They could be in control of all humanity and still humanity does not have the power to save itself.

People say that they want to see a world without fear. My Bible says that perfect love drives out fear, and we see that perfect love in our perfect Savior Jesus Christ. Can you see it, if you are a Christian, if you are born again then the answer is – yes you can. We need to see the kingdom of God but unless we are born again we cannot see it. Can you see the kingdom of God?

People are looking for redemption but we do not have that power only God does, only OUR God does. I am redeemed by Christ not by cause. They are all looking in the wrong place because they cannot see any other way because they are spiritually dead to God. They must be born again to be able to see it. Can you see it, are you redeemed, have you been justified by faith?

They say that there is nothing false about hope, but it is nothing but false if you believe in a false hope. And the Scriptures here and everywhere proclaim in no uncertain terms that only through Christ is there any real lasting hope for today, for tomorrow, for eternity.

False hopes fade away and false messiahs come and go but only our Messiah, our hope, our God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the true living hope that we have been born again to, born again to see, born again to be, born again into realizing this and proclaiming this truth, this cause, this hope to a lost and dying world who is always looking to some slight glimmer of hope only to be tricked again into believing that they can muster up hope and have real change by the power of themselves and their unity. This is not hope, friends, this is hell and only Christ can deliver us from it and unite us in a reality and hope that is true for all times, for all nations, for all people. Can Jesus Christ give us a true and living hope – yes He can.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Yes He Can! (4)

And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
(Romans 4:5 – ESV)

This is the truth that anchors us in a real hope. Unlike all other hope it is not dependent on our efforts or other factors, but on God and His own character alone. As we see it demonstrated in the death of Christ we know that it is real, it is sure, it is hope we can count on, the only one. People are getting really excited about the false hopes of humanity but they depend on humanity and its goodness not on God and His. How can they depend on some collective consciousness when they cannot even depend on themselves? If people aren’t as good as them and they have trouble, how can they do this, why would they believe it?

They can say yes they can all they want but their own lives and the lives of the others who have messed things up in the first place (which is who they are depending on) these lives tell the true story that no they can’t. What makes them think they can unless they think they are God? That is the real problem; they think they are God. They won’t say it, but in their hearts they believe in the goodness of mankind, the ability to save ourselves. If they will just open their eyes they will see their demise without the true God. But unless God opens their eyes will they ever see – no, they can’t.

This truth is why we see the need for suffering and evil in the world – to continue to show us that we need the Lord. Can we stop poverty by our purity – no we can’t. Can Jesus Christ give hope to the humble – yes He can.

Ungodliness means not like God, not only in holiness but also in power. We cannot band together and take care of it all. Yes we should love all our neighbors and try and help where we can, and truthfully we would do a lot if people would get together, but it will never be enough. The truth is that we will never band ourselves in unity enough to be able to reach such heights that we can climb our way out of our own hearts. We love Him because He first loved us. We can love others with true love because we have received the true love, the eternal love of Christ.

They are looking to save the world we are looking to the One who saved us

They are looking to the power of unity we are looking to the One who united us

They are looking to the power of humanity we are looking to the power of divinity

They are looking to the divine within we are looking at the divine as Him

We don’t look to ourselves but to our God; we work not for justification but from it. We have the real hope and can we proclaim it in utter confidence, yes we can, but the only reason we say yes we can is not because of we, but because of He. It is not simply yes we can, but yes HE can.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Yes He Can! (3)

And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
(Romans 4:5 – ESV)

This is the truth we ought to be excited about more than any other. If we are not we need to examine ourselves, and indeed, we always need to be examining our lives as to how this truth is affecting us in the here and now. I believe one of the greatest errors to infect the Christian Church is the notion that justification by faith is only a ground level aspect of salvation. Because of this, the believer is told they must have further stages, additional works, or the experience of a "higher Christian life" beyond what was begun in justification. People get all excited about some new fad, some new personality, some new secret, some new way to tackle some old problem, some shortcut to happiness. If someone promises a way to do it other than the way God has laid out before us, we are all too happy to run and get it, to pay for it, to bow to it as we do all our other idols. It is time we reclaim and proclaim this ultimate truth. This is the gospel. Yes He can.

This is the truth that shows our God must be the real God, this truth exalts His holiness while also exalting His justice, mercy and love. It is not just that we don’t have the purity but we also don’t have the power. The power is not the purity, and even if people were untied perfectly around a single cause, humanity doesn’t have the power to stop the forces of nature let alone the fact that they will never achieve perfect unity because they don’t have purity of the heart. We might have some pure motives, perhaps, in a sense, some yearning for good, yearning for true meaning, but they cast it aside when it is right in front of their face in the person of Jesus Christ. How foolish to unite around a flawed notion of a common collective when we have the perfect purity and demonstration of divine power that has rippled down through the centuries still speaking to us of the reality behind the rhetoric of the Bible. Can humanity save itself – no it can’t. Can Jesus Christ save all that come to Him – yes He can.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Yes He Can! (2)

And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
(Romans 4:5 – ESV)

I want you to be enflamed with an important truth. This is the truth that should light the fires of your faith above all others – that we are justified, declared righteous by faith. Now I don’t want to simply inspire you as any good writer or orator can do. It is important to be inspired but more important to be transformed. I don’t want to excite you; I want to exalt God.

When you don’t believe you can be deceived that’s when you already are. People today hear the rhetoric of a human hope, and think that all we need to do is unite. But beyond the rhetoric, what is the record of such things? How has that worked for us in the past? What is different now than then, has the human condition changed; can we actually believe that we have evolved out of our own depravity? People don’t believe that they are simply trusting in themselves but think that they are trusting in some higher cause. They have been fooled in that regard before. Can they be fooled again – yes they can.

I am not saying it is wrong to unite but what is important is what we are uniting around, and the Scriptures declare that there is only one real truth that we should be uniting around as far as changing our world is concerned, and that is the truth of Jesus Christ. They talk about change you can believe in, but they cannot change themselves. I am speaking of a name you can believe in, Jesus Christ. A leopard cannot change its spots but can Christ change a heart – yes He can.

The problems we have are because of who we are, and the answer to who we are is who He is. The only real way we can have lasting peace, lasting hope, lasting joy, lasting change is though the lasting love of Jesus Christ. Can He change our world – yes He can.

They speak of a call that will sound out from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea. They say yes we can. It is all about them. But I speak of a call that will sound out from the heights of heaven to the depths of hell through time and to eternity – yes He can. It’s all about Him.

You may not be the greatest speaker, but as a Christian you have the greatest truth, and you can proclaim it because of who He is – yes you can. They have no real hope, they cannot justify their rhetoric, but God through Jesus Christ justifies the ungodly and we can be justified in our proclamation of Him as our only hope, the only hope for the world. Can He save it? Yes He can.

When the rhetoric is gone the record will remain. Which of the world’s wonder men have risen from the dead, whose words live on, which person, what rhetoric, what record remains? Who has changed the world for the good more than any other, and who can change it for tomorrow and for eternity? Can anyone else – no they can’t. Can Jesus Christ – yes He can.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Yes HE Can!

And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
(Romans 4:5 – ESV)

People are always looking to follow someone, to find a message worth believing, a cause worth living and dying for. Well I am here to tell you today that we have the message the world needs to hear. The message everyone needs to heed. We have the message about the greatest love and of the greatest truth of all time. We have something that anyone and everyone wants. Our message is about truth, love, joy, and lasting peace, for time and for eternity. We have what everyone else is looking for. We have THE message, something money cannot buy, something effort cannot earn, and something unity cannot bring.

Now I don’t say these words lightly, I don’t want to engage in empty rhetoric. The message we bring isn’t steeped in empty rhetoric; it is breathed by a God given reality. Before we engage in rhetoric we need to be equipped with reality. So many voices in the world today, as in every previous day, are giving the false hopes of a false belief that we can indeed save our children, our world, our souls, and ourselves just by banding together around that very cause – the salvation of humanity by humanity.

The rally cry today is the same as it was back in years following the Flood of Noah’s day, at the tower of Babel (Genesis 11) – yes we can. However, all the power of the people is of no effect if the people have no power to change their own hearts. Despite all of the rhetoric the Bible tells us the reality of the situation. Can we change our hearts – no we can’t.

When words and actions are in conflict, it's always the actions that carry the day. For most, indeed for all, including me, their rhetoric doesn’t match their record. If you look to some person to save you, people will always let you down, including yourself. That is why we cannot look to our own experience, but we must look to God and His Word for assurance. All men have sinned; all have come short of the glory of God. They are not God, they do not have the purity, and even if they did, they do not have the power. They all must rely on other flawed persons, and no amount of flawed build up can lead to pure ends. Man cannot climb his way out of his own heart.

I am not going to give you my personal testimony, my experience is not the reason I am justified, but in my experience I live out the fact that I am. I won’t trumpet my own righteousness now or as compared to how I used to be before I knew Christ, no matter how far I have come or how far I will go, and I hope to go very far, it will mean nothing compared to Christ. It is Christ whose righteousness I depend on. It is through Christ that I have been declared righteous. It is because of Christ that I can claim to be justified. It is because of Christ that I have peace with God. It is because of Christ that I am changed and it is because of Christ that I have inherited a home in heaven. That rhetoric is based in reality and the record of Christ backs it all up.

I am not simply relying on rhetoric of my own making. I am not relying on a record I have achieved. I am not relying on some false hope. I am relying on the Word of God and on the record of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He doesn’t have to rely on anyone to achieve perfection, purity, and power, and we can rely on Him to save us. Can He do it? Yes He can.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Greater than our Failure

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
(1 Corinthians 15:58 – ESV)

Christians should not be known primarily for what we don’t do, but what we will do. The ministry of helps is just as valuable as all the other ministries God calls us to. 1 Corinthians 12:27-28 – He has appointed and so He has anointed. It is tremendously important that is why we have and need so many with these gifts. In all the little things you do it may seem like no one cares, but believe me, God’s secret service men and women will be highly paid in heaven. The unnoticed things God notices, He will appreciate all your unappreciated work, it is not in vain.

As a pastor I struggle. Understanding this promise changes our perspective and motivation. If we believe and act in accordance with this promise it helps keep us from compromising the truth.

The proper motivation is God’s glory, we need to change our ideas, and we need to leave the results to God. Don’t compromise to get results; your labor is not in vain. It is worth it, in heaven you will see that it was but you need to realize that now and be more concerned for Jesus and His glory than for people and your glory. Are you aiming to please the crowd or the Crown?

Without a proper esteem and love for Christ Himself, and an understanding of His covenant love for His church, we will lack the motive and power to serve Him in the world. If our ultimate motivation for service for God is simply because we love people, we will never be able to sustain the call to service that God has given to us because the very people we are called to serve will break our hearts. It is only the grace of Christ that enables us to persevere. Jesus had His heart broken but His love for His Father kept Him on course.

All of the hardships our missionaries have to suffer, the demonically inspired ethnic cleansing, the killing of hundreds of Christians, burning churches, burning people, all in the name of lies, but the truth is that all of this is not in vain. Hebrews 13:3 – Their destiny is tied up with our destiny (1 Corinthians 6:17). Their hope is our hope. Their God is our God, and their labor is not in vain!

Even though we have our trials, and our tribulations, we face a difficult life, pressure and persecution are always near, and death knocks on every doorstep, still we can know in no uncertain terms that our labor in the Lord is worth it all, it is not ever in vain. I know that one day in eternity I will see members of the congregation that the Lord has given me, members who have lost loved ones, members who have had cancer and died, members who lost their jobs, their homes, their health, their spouse, their children, their minds, that found themselves the enemies of the world, and our friends overseas who have gone to jail and given their very lives for the sake of the gospel, I know that one day in heaven we will all be glad, grateful, and glorifying the great God of our salvation in eternal bliss together, forever. We will sit down and feast at the great marriage supper of the Lamb and we will know it was all worth it.

These things may be above and beyond our understanding but they are not above and beyond our God, and He says that all our struggles, our hurts, our losses, and our work will not be in vain. He sent His Son to make that promise sure. He has made provision for our every mistake. We can look to Christ, we can look to the Cross, and we can know that God will make it all right (Acts 2:23 / Romans 8:28). He is greater than our failures. It is all by His grace, and that grace is not given in vain. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Corinthians 13:14). Amen.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Worthy of the Work

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
(1 Corinthians 15:58 – ESV)

Why bother to labor? It is worth the work, because He is worth the work; even if it doesn’t seem to work out it is worth it. God says your labor is NOT in vain! If we pray and nothing seems to happen (Habakkuk 3:17-19), having to put up with a bad boss (1 Peter 2:19-21), etc., it was still not in vain.

To continue on in the fight means that you have faith, you rest assured that Christ has won the fight, that is why you soldier on, even amidst disappointment and failure, struggle and battle. Jesus has won the war, and in faith we carry out the fight. To give up the fight is to give up the faith. Your struggle with trying to read your Bible / study your Bible / learn your Bible / your struggle with witnessing / prayer / giving to the church / people in the church / sin / doubt / depression / pain / suffering / your health / your family / your finances / your marriage / with loneliness, lack, life, and love / when everything is a mess / when nothing is working / with God’s will, none of it is in vain in the Lord.

“Just one glimpse of Him in glory will the toils of life repay.”

We aim to please God, not to get something from Him, but because we have already received something, His love. We try to imitate Him because it is the right thing to do, because it glorifies God, because we love Him, and because we want to, or at least we want to want to...but even when we fail, we look to Him with faith and realize the reason we can or want to do any of this anyway is because He has already done it for us, and it is His righteousness, His glory, His love, His "want to", and His perfect life that counts for us. Our labor is not in vain, why, because His labor was and is not in vain.

All my eggs are in this one basket, I am “all in” based on His promise, His life, His death, His resurrection; it shows His character, and I am banking my life, my soul, my all on it! He is worthy of the work! I am not holding anything back; He is worth the work! Our work does not save us, but it does praise Him, and it is not in vain.

Every little thing you did for God’s glory you will be eternally grateful for. He is so wonderful; He gives you the power to do it! He lives through you that you might give glory to Him. The more you treasure Him here the more treasure you lay up in heaven. You may not see it now, but the exchange rate is very well worth it (Romans 8:18).

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

I Have a Promise

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
(1 Corinthians 15:58 – ESV)

There is so much uncertainty in the world today, and we often strive for things with no apparent or failing results. There seems to be vanity today and everyday. So much that we do seems to be in vain. What’s the use? When everything around us seems to be crumbling, why bother? If we are saved, why go the extra mile? Why do anything more if no one is going to appreciate it, what good will it do anyway, how will this one little thing make any difference? All this is going to do is cause me more trouble than it is worth. In the big scheme of things, why go through all the trouble when it really doesn’t make that big of a difference?

Here’s why. Paul says therefore. In other words, because Christ has risen from the dead, we as Christians will also rise, and all of our work here on this earth in the Lord will not be in vain.

I want you to seize on this one promise, a promise that is as big as you want it to be, a promise that is as good as the character of our God, a promise that is built upon nothing less than the person and work of Our Lord Jesus Christ, a promise that cannot fail. A promise that will undergird you, motivate and inspire you, guide you and grace you for whatever may lie ahead in this life, no matter how great or how small, how difficult or how exciting, this one promise stands as a towering reminder of the promise of God to all His children. That promise is the reason for our practice.

· We should be convicted by this promise (steadfast)
· We should be controlled of this promise (immovable)
· We should be compelled by this promise (always abounding in the work of the Lord)
· We should be convinced by this promise (knowing that)
· We should be comforted by this promise (in the Lord your labor is not in vain)

I love being inspired. Inspiring men, with inspired dreams, and inspired words, and with inspiring ideas, this has always inspired me. Dr. Martin Luther King, Martin Luther, and Patrick Henry have inspired me. I appreciate the imagination to inspire, the will to win, the courage to convict and convince, and the desire to see men and women rise up to their potential.

But men and women are all a part of this fallen human race, and no amount of inspiration, imagination, vision, hard work, and unity of purpose will truly carry us to the Promised Land. We need something more, something sure.

I have found it.

This is about more than a man who has been to the top of the mountain, but about the One who has been to the heights of heaven, down to the depths of hell, and He can lift us up, and help us to see God Himself. It is about the One who was anointed to proclaim good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, and liberty to those who are oppressed.

I have more than a dream, more than a hope, more than a potential, more than an inspiring idea. I have a promise from God and so do you. I have more than inspiration, I have empowerment, the grace of God that adorns this promise; our work in the Lord is not in vain. Even when we do not rise, but when we fall, and when we fail, this promise still stands for it is based on our Lord’s work, it is His grace that saves us and allows us to do anything good anyway. Our hope, our destiny, our dream and our faith is not dependent upon our own power but it is rooted in God’s power. He cannot fail even if we fail. We cannot lose because He cannot lose. I have more than a dream; I have a promise.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Sharpen the Sword

and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
(Ephesians 6:17 – ESV)

When we “mess up”, it isn’t as if Jesus leaves us because we sin. We may grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) and thus lose the joy of our salvation, and feel He is far away, but as we draw near (James 4:8), in repentance, He is right there with us. We need to remember the difference between relationship and fellowship, judicial (Romans 5:1 / 2 Corinthians 5:21) and parental forgiveness (1 John 1:9). Things like keeping in your Word are what sharpen the sword, so to speak, and keeping in repentance and prayer keeps the armor feeling snug, in a sense. It doesn’t fall off; it just needs to be refastened. We let it sag, not realizing we are wearing it and utilizing it in defense.

It is always the season to sharpen your skills. You need to remind your mind of these truths everyday, and then they will begin to sink in, talk to your self about God before your self talks to you about you. 1 Thessalonians 5:8 helps to clarify the meaning here, “and for a helmet the hope of salvation”. We have absolute assurance of our salvation no matter how fierce the battle becomes.

When you don’t believe you can be deceived, that’s when you already are. By this I mean that we are not as invulnerable as we think we are, not if we think we can slack in the spiritual life. Even Peter, after receiving the revelation of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the greatest revelation of all time, which Jesus said was given to Peter by God the Father (Matthew 16:16-19), apparently just moments later (vs.22-23), Jesus rebukes him as if Peter was being led by Satan. At any given moment we can be deceived so we always need to be on guard. “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

This also points us back to the armor of God; we look to God and His Word as our defense, not our own feelings of wisdom and invulnerability. We are to be wise in God’s ways, not wise in our own eyes (Isaiah 5:21).

You need to keep renewing your mind around the truth. It is unbelief that is hindering you. Pray as the man in Mark 9:24, “I believe; help my unbelief!” You may be carrying the sword of the Spirit, which is already sharp (Hebrews 4:12), but it is your duty to learn to wield it properly.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

The Quiet Place?

"Be still, and know that I am God...”
(Psalm 46:10 – ESV)

We don’t need to go to some quiet place, empty our minds, and wait for God to speak. We need to find our quiet place, when we open our Bible, and hear Him talk. This Psalm, like many others, is not about the sound of silence but of the voice of the Lord, the mighty power from the mouth of God (Psalm 29)! He is not asking us to do something; He is telling us that He is going to do something.

Who is God talking to in this verse? What does stillness mean, and what does it mean that we will know God? Does it mean we will know God through it, in other words that we will know God by practicing stillness? How will we know God through it? Does this verse imply that we will know God through voices in our head, or spirit? Or does this verse mean we will know God is still in control through our tempests if we will stop striving to save ourselves in our own ways against the storms and instead look to the Lord, and then we will realize His ways?

This Psalm teaches us, not that we must be still to hear Him, but that God’s creation and God’s enemies will be still when THEY hear Him! God will protect His children from ultimate calamity and catastrophe. When the environment is unstable and the atmosphere is unsettling our God is our refuge. In this Psalm God is giving comfort to His people but in this particular verse He is declaring something about those things that cause trouble in our lives. God is telling us that He will silence all the storms with His own voice.

When the turbulence mounts, when the turmoil boils over, whatever your troubles in life are, you can look to the Lord. Whatever is causing you unrest, God is the place to find rest. Whatever is causing you to turn away, the key is to be still and remember, reflect upon the fact that God is in control. Look at the verses prior to this one within this Psalm, and realize God is Almighty. No matter how hard the once steady ground beneath you now shakes, or how many strong mountains are crumbling down around you, no matter how high the waves are, and how hot the battles become, no earthquake, volcano, hurricane, or war can stop God from being in charge.

It isn’t simply that we become still and hear God some other way, but that if we are still we can reflect on who He has revealed Himself to be already. It is not that when you make time you make God speak, but when you will be still and listen to what He says in the scripture, then you will hear Him more clearly through life’s turmoil and trials. In this life there will always be turbulence and tempests; will you always have trust?

This is a call to worship Him for who He is and marvel at what He has done, and will do, not a call to listen for new sounds. It is a call to hear His majesty even when everything else is shouting as loud as it can. This is not about us being silent; this is about God making the loud noises of negativity be silenced before Him and His people.

He is not telling us what to do, He is telling us what He will do. This is like the Lord Jesus calming the raging waters (Mark 4:39). When God wants to make them quiet He will, and nothing can stop Him, for He is invincible.

The world screams and shouts, but all the sounds of violence He can silence. This is not about some secret power you can have, but about reflecting on the power He has. This isn’t about some secret encounter you can enter into, but about the open demonstration when something encounters Him. You want to see God work? Stop and take a look around, be still for a moment, and reflect on Him.

Meditation is about reflecting on things God is, and things He has already said and done, not expecting Him to speak to us afresh with new revelation just because we are being still and quietly waiting. He has already spoken and we don’t seem to want to be still and hear that, so why would He “reward” us for doing what we are supposed to be doing already? Just who is God in this relationship? You want to hear something from God? Listen to what He is saying here in this Psalm.

Now in the first place, this is God speaking to the storms, but it also applies to us. This is God calming the chaos and we are stilled with wonder and worship. Now He often does it in our own situations, but no matter what we have to go through, it is only temporary. We can rest assured because God will raise His voice one day and we will rejoice in that day.

Just one word from God can silence any commotion; even in the midst of the Great Tribulation His Word will silence the raging war of Satan (Isaiah 11:4, 30:33 / 2 Thessalonians 2:8 / Revelation 19:15, 21). He is the One who will eventually, in His timing, say “enough!”

When our earthly father shouts, “quiet!” the whole house calms down. When our Heavenly Father shouts, the whole earth stands still!

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Remind Your Mind

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
(Ephesians 6:11 – ESV)

The armor of God is a state of a renewed mind because of truth. It is not something we must put on as if we have taken it off, so much as it is something God has put on us, and we put it on by reminding ourselves of it. It is imperative only in the fact that it is indicative. We remind our mind that we have been initiated in the Truth and accepted into the beloved by praying to God. God knows the Truth and we are calling on God to fulfill His word, that we believe in what He says about us as the redeemed. Prayer using scripture is powerful in that it relays our confidence in God's word, our faith in His promises, our trust in what He says.

The breastplate of righteousness, for example, is the fact that our righteousness is the righteousness of Christ. We are justified, declared righteous by faith, and the shield of faith protects us from attacks by the enemy, and the breastplate is a covering over our heart. This is not so much like a literal thing, but in essence. We know what the scripture says, and we are renewed in our minds to believe it. This protects us from losing the battle when we are under attack and strengthens us to be reminded of that as we claim the truth in prayer, as we go into each daily battle recognizing that we ARE wearing it. It isn’t a matter of having to put it on in the sense of, “oh no we forgot it, were doomed” but, “yes we can survive the attack because we have been clothed”. We remind our mind and are renewed in hope once again. Talk to your self about what God has done before your self talks to you about what you have done.

The schemes of the devil revolve around trying to get the Christian to turn from the righteousness of God and to look at their own righteousness, and then to have the believer realize that they have failed God. This is true, we have all fallen short of the glory of God, but when the devil comes calling, when he tries to fire the flaming arrows of condemnation at us, when he tries to talk us out of it, we need to remind our mind of what God has done, and talk ourselves right back into it (Romans 8:1).

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Depression and Destiny

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
(Matthew 27:46 – ESV)

Because Christ suffered the penalty of sin for us, we can be assured that we will never be forsaken (Hebrews 13:5). God has not forsaken you no matter how far down in the pit you have sunk. His arm is not so short it can’t save; He can bring you out of the miry clay and stand you on the Solid Rock. He can do for you as He did for the imprisoned prophet Jeremiah and bring someone to pad the ropes as He pulls you up from despair (Jeremiah 38:6-14).

We may know this truth in our heads, but we need to have it in our hearts. We may have the conception, but we need to make the connection. The bridge from conception to connection is compassion. This is the way for His reality to become our reality. Jesus really suffered and He knows that we suffer, and we can call to Him in faith. Our cry to Him is not in vain; it is a very certain call.

For those of you have already called to God to save you, but you are living in a daily despair, let me make this connection even more real to you today. In this life we will have tears on our face and tears in our armor. It is no disgrace to cry out to God when bearing the cross and feeling the pain. God knows we live in an imperfect world. He understands our difficulties. He realizes that we will have complaints, but we have a right way and a wrong way to complain. We need to be honest with ourselves that we may be honest before God, and we need to learn to bring our case before Him in the right way. We should make our complaints with honesty, trust, and hope.

It is good to feel emotion. Sometimes it is good to feel bad; look at the Psalms, depressed feelings are often a legitimate part of our relationship with God, as strange as that may sound. We often think of Psalms as a book of praise (which it certainly is), but laments and grievances to the Lord make up more than 60 of the 150 psalms. God can interact with us through the context of our depression. He has wise and loving motives although we may not see them.

Christians can and do get depressed, to varying degrees, and for varying durations. This is not always about a lack of faith or a direct result of personal sin or some symptom of a problem with the spiritual life. Depression is not a punishment from God; it may be instructive to you and certainly for others. The truth is that it is in some sense compatible with Christianity.

We seem to sell the Christian life in America today with too much triumphalism and denial of feelings, but look at the Psalms, look at our text today and Psalm 22, and see that we as Christians need to embrace and realize a more fully orbed biblical dealing with feelings. This is not to excuse and embrace wrong thinking, but to deal with depression and emotion in the way we see demonstrated as correct in scripture. Not all of this in scripture is correct; we see both the right and the wrong way. The Jews in the wilderness complained in the wrong way (cf. Psalm 78:41) but also in the Psalms we see that you can complain to Him in a way that indicates you are trusting Him, instead of grumbling in a way that amounts to an unbelieving accusation. Take a close look a Psalms 42-43 to get a feel for what I am talking about. Remember, Jesus cried out to God, not against God.

Christ was forsaken that we might never be. His wasn’t an uncertain cry but a very certain call. Jesus cried this out so that we will never have to. He cried this out to show that even in the darkest moments we could have utter assurance of our final victory in God. Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:39). We can have real pain and suffering, and real tears as we cry out in seeming despair, but we can also know God in the midst of it all, and through it all, and through to the other side of despair to declare His victory.

We are not forsaken. Let us adore the One who endured for us. Amen.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

A Very Certain Call

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
(Matthew 27:46 – ESV)

This cry from Jesus illustrates the depth of His suffering as He felt Himself regarded as sin though He was sinless (2 Corinthians 5:21). We are reminded of John 3:16, Isaiah 53, and 1 Peter 2:24 as we see the Son of God bearing the sin of the world. This cry of desolation comes at the close of the three hours of darkness. However, it was not only a seeming cry of desolation but also a declaration. Jesus was not simply playing a role, not only acting out a part. No, His pain and suffering were very real, but even amidst this agony He knew what the conclusion would be.

Still, Jesus suffered the ultimate loneliness. Some of the people that had shouted “hosanna” were now shouting, “crucify Him”. Some of the disciples who had stayed with Him had now denied, deserted, and betrayed Him. But much worse than all of this, as bad as it was, much worse, more worse than we can possibly imagine, was the forsaking by the Father of His Son. The Father had spoken words such as, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” but now was silent. The Father had let the Son be beaten, spit upon, mocked and mangled at the hands of men, finally to be hung on a cross, a tree, a curse to a Jew, which Jesus was.

But He was more than a Jew, He was the Son of God, and all this other pain and suffering was nothing compared to the absence of that sweet communion Christ had always known. Jesus’ faith did not fail. He cried out “My God, My God”, and He cried out to God, not against God, but the Father did not answer Him in tenderness, but with wrath (Isaiah 53:10). Even when Jesus had poured out His own blood in the prayers at Gethsemane, God the Father was still with Him, and He had the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, as He had always known. But He had known nothing of the pain of desertion and the suffering of damnation He endured on the cross.

Yet this wasn’t an uncertain cry but a very certain call. When Christ called out to God in this manner, clearly He was consciously quoting this part of Psalm 22 as an illustration of the fact that He was fulfilling all of this Old Testament prophecy. Jesus drew the attention of the Jews to this scripture while He was hanging on the cross. Psalm 22 was a Messianic Psalm, and the second half is hymn of victory (v.22-31).

Certainly Jesus was in a real sense “forsaken”, yet He also knew the final outcome of all this, and so therefore endured the greatest suffering of all time. Jesus’ cry was about suffering the world’s penalty due to sin, but it was signifying more than just that. It was the voice of the eternal victor who proclaimed the eternal victory of the Messiah to His people who were the victims of their own sin. He was supremely confident of the Father's ultimate deliverance of Him through the resurrection of His body before it had even seen decay (Psalm 16 – Acts 2:24-31).

Every person who has ever been born has felt alone and forsaken and wonders if God is real and if He cares, even Christians go through these sorts of things. But only Christians, those born again to a living hope can also cry, “it is finished” (John 19:30), and thereby know that God will never leave nor forsake them (Hebrews 13:5), on account of Christ. When you do that it is not an uncertain cry but a very certain call.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Rising to Truth

Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication.
(Micah 7:8-9 – ESV)

When we mess up real bad, and we lack an assurance of our salvation, we need to focus on the more complete truth, which includes the primacy of Christ’s sacrifice for the payment of our sins. The current truth is that you are guilty, you have sinned, but the ongoing truth, the complete truth is that you are also forgiven, and that you will rise up again. You may feel His righteous chastisement, but He will always bring you back into His loving arms once again. Indeed, because He chastises you, this is the indication that you never left. Repent, and be restored to the joy of God’s salvation with a blessed assurance.

Of course, our sin is personal and we cannot simply expect theological ramblings to help us if they remain cold, sterile, and impersonal. These things must be lived out in community. Often what we need is to do a better job modeling brokenness and forgiveness in church. Somehow, we don't trust grace; we think we need to shame people into repentance first. I disagree with that. God's way is love; we draw people to repentance by showing them how much more beautiful life is when we are free from sin and free to love.

We think freedom from sin means an absence of desire, but it doesn’t. What it does mean is that I am free to not sin, not that I am never going to have sinful desires. I have a choice; I can enter in, or fall back into sin. Our flesh is not cured by God it is killed by God, and we live that out by faith. We are able to rise up again. Whatever the issues may be, the single issue has been forever settled in your favor. Rise up to Him in faith.

When you are able to see this beautiful truth of the gospel more and more clearly you will sin less and less, because Christ will become more and more what you treasure. We have this great treasure and a down payment in our lowly bodies, these jars of clay hold the power of God. We have nothing of ourselves to boast about, but we can always be boasting of the cross, what God has done for us in Christ. That is something worth being thankful for. It is the reason we come to church, and why we can rejoice in Christ with one another. It means that I can believe in God and I can believe in you because you believe in God. We are justified by faith, and we can live by that same faith. Amen.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©