Tag Archives: God’s grace

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You Ain’t Seen Nothin Yet!

Overruling Grace

SYNOPSIS: When God took Moses up to the top of a mountain before he was to die, then told him to look over a land that he had anticipated for forty years but could not enter because of his sin, I suspect that God also whispered in Moses’ ear, “buddy, you ain’t seen nothing yet!” Fast forward nearly 1500 years later to Luke 9 and you will see that through God’s grace, Moses actually got to experience the Promised Land after all, and in a way that the original entrance into Canaan could not compare—not by a long shot—when the resurrected Moses, along with Elijah, got to meet with Jesus in Galilee on the Mount of Transfiguration!

The Journey // Focus: Deuteronomy 34:1-4

Then Moses went up to Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab and climbed Pisgah Peak, which is across from Jericho. And the Lord showed him the whole land, from Gilead as far as Dan; all the land of Naphtali; the land of Ephraim and Manasseh; all the land of Judah, extending to the Mediterranean Sea; the Negev; the Jordan Valley with Jericho—the city of palms—as far as Zoar. Then the Lord said to Moses, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have now allowed you to see it with your own eyes, but you will not enter the land.”

I have always felt bad for Moses and, to be honest, a bit miffed at God on this one. I mean, can you name a better, more godly leader in human history than Moses? He was absolutely brilliant in getting two million reluctant Hebrews out of Egypt. He was as patient as the day is long in putting up with their constant, whining, bickering, criticizing and rebelling. He was closer to God than any human being before or after—he spoke with God face to face. He was the most humble man in all the earth. Probably the best summary of his life are contained in the editor’s words (probably Samuel) in Deuteronomy 34:10-11,

There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. The Lord sent him to perform all the miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, and all his servants, and his entire land. With mighty power, Moses performed terrifying acts in the sight of all Israel.

And yet God wouldn’t allow Moses into the Promised Land. For one mistake—he smote the rock from which God brought forth water—instead of speaking to it as the Lord had commanded. In that act of anger and disobedience, God said to Moses, “you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, so you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” (You can read the story in Numbers 20:1-13)

Now I am sure there is more to this story than we read in the text. Likewise, I am just as sure that even though I am trying to “dumb down” the degree of sin in Moses disobedience, all sin his offensive to a holy God. And I am quite sure that my feelings about Moses’ punishment have to do with my own fear of punishment, for if Moses got in trouble for such an understandable mistake, I don’t stand a chance. But still, the punishment here seems disproportionate to the sin. Yet God is God and I am not. And he never makes a mistake; his judgments are right and fair, even though we cannot always comprehend.

However—and this is a big one—when God took Moses up to the top of the mountain that day and told him to look over a land that he had anticipated for forty years but could not enter, I suspect that the Lord also whispered in his ear, “buddy, you ain’t seen nothing yet!”

Here is what I mean: If you fast forward nearly 1500 years from Deuteronomy 34 to Luke 9, you will see that through God’s grace, Moses actually got to experience the Promised Land after all, and in a way that the original entrance into Canaan could not compare—not by a long shot:

Jesus took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his exodus which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. (Luke 9:28-31)

Moses, who had taken God’s glory from himself and received the just punishment for it, now appeared in God’s glorious splendor inside the Promised Land. Moreover, he spoke with God the Son about a true and better Exodus, the deliverance for the entire human race from the ultimate bondage of sin and death through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Moses got to experience the Promised Land in far greater fashion than what he was originally denied. Truly, what he saw on Pisgah Peak wasn’t anything compared to what he saw in Luke 9.

Now how awesome and encouraging is that for you and me! If and when we blow it by failing to trust God or by taking his glory for ourselves, while we will experience the painful consequences that sin always produces, we can, and should, still anticipate God’s grace. No matter how disappointed we may feel as a result of our mistakes, or God’s punishment, the good news is, like Moses, God whispers to our spirit, “you ain’t seen nothing yet!”

Going Deeper: Today, do you need God’s grace to cover your mistakes or to lift you from discouragement? Humble yourself before God, because his Word promises that in response to humility, God gives more grace. (James 4;6)

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You Didn’t Build That!

Your Accomplishments Are By God's Grace

SYNOPSIS: Moses hit the nail on the head when he called the Israelites to never forget that God alone was responsible for their success once they hit easy street in Canaan. He warned that they would start to believe their own press about why they had been able to achieve such an impossible victory. But he reminded them that it was in no way, shape or form because of their brilliance, creativity or worthiness—in fact, it was in spite of severe deficits in all those areas. They were not great people most of the time, not even good, but God loved them like nobody’s business. No, the fact that they were God’s chosen people had nothing to do with them and everything to do with God’s sovereign election, his incomprehensible grace, and his never-ceasing mercy! That would be true of you and me, too! It is God who grants us success. And he alone deserves the credit!

The Journey // Focus: Deuteronomy 9:4-6

After the Lord your God has done this for you, don’t say in your hearts, ‘The Lord has given us this land because we are such good people!’ No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way. It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The Lord your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You must recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people…. [You are God’s] special possession, whom you brought out of Egypt by your great strength and powerful arm.

The heading in the New Living Translation of Deuteronomy 9 says, “Victory By God’s Grace.” Doesn’t that sound redundant? Isn’t every victory in the believer’s life because of God’s unmerited favor? Absolutely. There is nothing we can do, although we have a part; there is no success we achieve, although we have to work hard; there is no game we win, although we have to practice hard, that isn’t because God graciously stepped in to lead us to victory.

Years ago a politician took a ton of grief from the other side—that, too, is redundant these days; it’s just what political parties do early and often—for a comment promoting a certain political philosophy: “you didn’t build that!” The president from the same party repeated the line in a speech, using it to shame the other team. Of course, it didn’t shame them—it simply fired them up!

There is a truth to what they were saying, but for reasons they didn’t have in mind. Moses hit the nail on the head when he called the Israelites to never forget that God alone was responsible for their success once they hit easy street in Canaan. He warned that they would start to believe their own press about why they had been able to achieve such an impossible victory. But he reminded them that it was in no way, shape or form because of their brilliance, creativity or worthiness—in fact, it was in spite severe deficits in all those areas. They were not great people most of the time, not even good, but God loved them like nobody’s business. No, the fact that they were God’s chosen people had nothing to do with them and everything to do with God’s sovereign election, his incomprehensible grace, and his never-ceasing mercy!

That is true of my life! I don’t stand a chance apart from God’s sovereign choice, his rich grace and his undeserved mercy. Nothing I achieve of any value is because of me. I had a part—albeit a a bit part—doing what I was supposed to do, working hard, being faithful, stepping out in faith. But even if that sounds like somehow my goodness and effort motivated God, that is simply not true. Most of the time, my badness, lack of sustained effort and skewed motives negated whatever good might have been in play for me. God, early and often, has had to override my fallenness with grace.

That is true for you, too! And we would do well to remember that every single day we take fresh breath, head out the door, and do whatever God has set before us to do, big or small. In fact, God has actually gone before you and done all the heavy lifting. He is simply calling you to go where he already is, and to walk into the success that he has already secured. Moses told the Israelites as much in Deuteronomy 9:3:

Recognize today that the Lord your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy your enemies.

It is God who grants us success. And he alone deserves the credit!

No, you didn’t build that. God did!

Going Deeper: Count your many blessings—name them one by one. Now give God credit for each of them.

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An Explosion of Grace

Not Guilty. Paid in Full. Completely Forgiven.

Not Guilty. Paid in full. Completely forgiven. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound! If by grace you are saved, have you thanked God lately for the grace that has covered all of your sins! Perhaps now would be a great time to do that. And maybe today would be a great day to extend his grace to another undeserving sinner like you.

The Journey: John 8:11

Jesus said to [the adulterous woman], “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

If I were writing this story instead of John, the scene would have called for Jesus to order down fire from heaven to torch this nasty bunch of Pharisees who had brought the adulterous woman before the Lord. At the very least, I would have had Jesus snatching the poor lady from their grasp and beaming over to Galilee to set her free. That would have made a great story—Oscar-worthy, I’m sure!

But as we’ve come to expect of Jesus, he does the unexpected. Instead of special effects and edge-of-your-seat drama, he simply stoops over and writes in the sand. Do you ever wonder what he wrote? “Jesus was here!” or perhaps the Ten Commandments, or better yet, a list of the Pharisees’ secret sins or the names of their mistresses?

Whatever it was, the religious “Nazis” kept pressing until finally he said, “Look, if any of you are without sin, you can be the first one to throw a stone at her.” Then he began to scribble again, and with those words, Jesus lobbed a grenade into their midst that exploded their self-righteousness. Now defenseless, one-by-one the Pharisees, from the oldest to the youngest, walked away, leaving only Jesus and this sinful woman.

Now what would happen to the adulterous woman? Could she expect to get preached at again, some more condemnation, another helping of humiliation and a pile of rejection? That had been the pattern so far. Instead, Jesus gently asks, “Where are your accusers? Has no one judged you guilty?”

She replied, “Sir, they’re gone…they didn’t judge me guilty.”

Then Jesus lobbed another grenade—this one a grace-grenade that utterly exploded this sinful woman’s self-condemnation and turned her sad world right-side up: “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

So just what was it that Jesus wrote in the sand? I think it is highly likely that he bent over and with his finger, etched these words: “Not guilty!”

A few weeks later, Jesus again wrote those very same words in the sand. This time it was not with his finger, but with blood that dripped from his nail-pierced hands and feet, leaving an indelible stain on the ground at the foot of the cross. This time it wasn’t just meant for an adulterous woman, it was meant for you unfaithful, guilty people like you and me:

“Not Guilty. Paid in full. Completely forgiven.”

I don’t know what that grace-explosion does for you, but it makes me want to “go and sin no more.”

Have you thanked the Lord lately for his grace—grace that has covered all of your sins! Perhaps now would be a great time to do that. And maybe today would be a great day to extend his grace to another undeserving sinner like you.

“This is the mystery of the riches of divine grace for sinners, for by a wonderful exchange our sins are now not ours but Christ’s, and Christ’s righteousness is not Christ’s, but ours.” ~Martin Luther

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, thank you for you grace. Please give me more. And help me to rightly understand it so that I want to go and sin no more.
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God Is Still Watching

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

“He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.” The book of 1 Kings repeats that phrase in describing every king who ruled in the northern kingdom of Israel. In the Lord’s sight—God was watching! Do you think God has changed? Does he not watch what presidents do in their inner chambers, or what they think in their hearts, or what they do to lead a nation either toward or away from him? Of course he does! Thomas Jefferson wrote, “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.” Perhaps today we should tremble before God in repentant prayer for our country.

Going Deep // Focus: 1 Kings 16:30

But Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, even more than any of the kings before him.

1 Kings 16 is not a fun chapter to read, unless you are a history addict. Otherwise, it paints a pretty bleak picture of what is going on in Israel during the run of kings described in this chronological narrative. While Israel’s cousin to the south, Judah, was concurrently enjoying forty-one years of godly reign under good King Asa, the northern nation had a succession of five very nasty kings that covered a span of sixty years. To make matters worse, there were evil kings before this chapter, and evil kings after—in fact, the northern kingdom did not have one single righteous ruler. But at the top of the heap of evil was King Ahab, the final king described in this chapter.

Each of the kings—Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri, and Ahab are each described with the same exact phrase: But he did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.” For Ahab, the writer adds, the evil was “even more than any of the kings before him.” Literally, things were going from bad to worse for Israel—with both king and people willingly participating in increasingly blatant, unspeakable sinful practices that caught the eye of God.

And therein lies the operative phrase in this chapter: “in the Lord’s sight.” The persistent, in-your-face-sinfulness against God could not be ignored, and divine judgment was building in the counsel of the righteous Godhead. Judgment would come to each of these wicked kings, who would all die an ignominious death; and a day of reckoning like no other was building that would ultimately take the nation of Israel into exile from the land of promise God had given their ancestors, a homeland to which they would not return.

God was watching! Do you think God has changed? Does he not watch over the earth today like he did back then? Does he not watch what kings and presidents do in their inner chambers, or what they think in their hearts, or what they do to lead a nation either toward or away from him? Of course he does! And while it took two hundred years for devastating judgment to come to sinful Israel, it came. It will come to nations today, as well. It may take similar lengths of time, but there will a payday someday. Perhaps the next day of reckoning will be the final payday, the Day of the Lord, but judgment comes to nations that deliberately rebel against the rightful ruler of all the earth.

What is true for nations is true for persistently sinful people, too. While modern people do not want to hear of it, God is a just and holy God. He never winks at sin. He will not withhold judgment, for to do so would impugn the very character that makes him God. It is a sobering reality, but it is reality. And those who embrace the reality of judgment are the ones who will escape it.

But what is equally true about this just and holy God is that he also longs to forgive the sins of people. He lives to offer reprieve for our sin. And he has made a way for total forgiveness through our acceptance of the propitiatory sacrifice of his Son, who died on the cross to take away our sins. And the thing that he has built into our existence to continually and powerful remind us of this is his patient delay in executing judgment and his daily kindness in providing us with life. Romans 2:4 says,

Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?

Every time you read a harsh chapter like 1 Kings 16, I hope you will remember that. God is “being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” (2 Peter 3:9) It is true: God’s certain judgment reminds us of God’s patient kindness.

So remember, God is watching. That is what a loving God does!

Going Deeper With God: Make sure you offer your life to God for cleansing today. And pray for your nation, that God’s patience will lead it to repentance!

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My Sin Is Gone—I’ve Been Set Free!

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

Some Christians tend to make sexual immorality the unforgivable sin, but it is not. For sure, sexual sin has dire consequences, and that’s what makes it so destructive. However, as Francis Schaeffer pointed out, “The Bible does not minimize sexual sin, but neither does it make it different from any other sin.” John Newton wrote, “we serve a gracious Master who knows how to overrule even our mistakes to His glory and our own advantage.” I so treasure that about our merciful God, don’t you?

Going Deep // Focus: 2 Samuel 12:13-14

The prophet Nathan said to King David, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the son born to you will die.”

Where do you go to get your integrity back after you’ve failed? How do you find the way forward after the personal devastation and the public humiliation of a financial, professional, relational or especially after a moral failure of the sexual kind? What can you do to get your heart restored?

I’ll bet David asked those questions after his confession to Nathan, “Where do I go to restore my integrity? What do I do to regain my reputation? How can I get my life back on track with God when I’ve sinned so badly?” God had forgiven David; now David just needed to find a way forward.

The good news from David’s story is that failure doesn’t have to define your future nor does it have to be the fatal blow to God’s plans for you. Sin doesn’t have be the final word in your story; an insurmountable barrier to moving on to a satisfying, successful and even a deeply spiritual life. What David discovered was that as enormous as his sin was, it was wildly outdone by God’s grace. That is not to minimize his sin: he was an adulterer and a murderer—and there would be excruciatingly painful consequences throughout the rest of his life—but David’s sin—and your sin for that matter—will always be miniscule compared to God’s salvation from it. In David’s story, we have been left with a roadmap for recovery, and we can note four essential elements about the way forward to restoration:

The first thing you’ll see is that the road to a restored heart begins with honesty. In 2 Samuel 12:13, David says to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” There’s no explanation, no excuse, no blaming Bathsheba for her seductive exhibitionism, no promise to never do it again. David just simply and sincerely confessed his sin, even when there’s no indication yet that God will have him back, or even allow him to live. Honest confession is what releases Divine compassion and repentance always precedes restoration.

The second thing you’ll see is the road to recovery is paved with healing grace. Verse 13 continues, “Nathan replied, ‘The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.’” Now the Mosaic Law said David had to die. It required death by stoning for adultery—even for a guilty king. Countless adulterers throughout Israel’s history have already died for adultery. So God has to suspend his own law just for David. Sounds unfair and inconsistent of God, doesn’t it? But what we’re getting here is a sneak peak of what God’s grace is all about. Now you’ll notice in the next verse that the son born to David and Bathsheba out of their adulterous affair will have to die. Sadly, the son pays the price for their sin. Sound familiar? God’s Son paid the price for our sin so we wouldn’t have to. He died so we could live! That’s grace: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. That grace is absolutely fundamental to the restored heart.

The third thing you’ll see is that the journey to recovery is fueled by humility. 2 Samuel 12:16 shows David humbling himself before God: “David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground.” He humbled himself and prayed for a crop failure, putting his hope in God’s mercy because he knew that was his only chance. If you’ve repented of sin, it’s okay to pray for a crop failure. Why? God in his mercy just may restrain his discipline. That’s his character, so why not tap into it? Micah 7:18 says, “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgressions of the remnant? You do not stay angry forever, but delight to show mercy.”

The fourth thing you’ll see is that the road to recovery requires staying the course. David determined to get on with life when I’m sure he felt like giving up, unworthy to go on. He just began to practice a long obedience in the same direction.

As you skim over the last few verses of 2 Samuel 12, here’s what you’ll see: Verse 20 says, “Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.” Verse 24 says, “Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba [over the death of their baby], and he slept with her. She gave birth to [another] son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved him…” Verses 29-30 say, “David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it. He took the crown from the head of their king—its weight was a talent of gold [75lbs.], and it was set with precious stones—and it was placed on David’s head.”

It’s no accident that these details are connected to this story of David’s restoration. It’s showing that David is getting on with life, he’s doing what husbands do, he’s doing what kings do. David is just getting back to practical faithfulness in the daily ordinariness of life. That’s where recovery happens!

Then something very cool happens at this point of the story: 2 Samuel 12:25 says that Nathan, the man who had announced God’s judgment on David for his sin, now comes and delivers a message of God’s love. That message comes in the form of a name that God has for the second child born to David and Bathsheba—Jedidiah, which means, “loved by God.” God is showing David that He isn’t finished with him yet. His failure has not been the final word on his life. God is revealing plans to prosper and not to harm David, to give him a hope and a future.

Now restoration doesn’t mean there won’t be scars. The record suggests that David was never again as great a king as he once was. Yet he kept moving forward, and though David may not have become a greater king, but he became a deeper man. And that was a far more important thing.

Going Deeper With God: Some Christians tend to make sexual immorality the unforgivable sin, but it is not. For sure, sexual sin has dire consequences, and that’s what makes it so destructive. Let us remember, as Francis Schaeffer pointed out, “The Bible does not minimize sexual sin, but neither does it make it different from any other sin.” What I treasure so much about our merciful God, like John Newton wrote, is that he is “a gracious Master who knows how to overrule even our mistakes to His glory and our own advantage.”