One of the evidences that you have received God’s pardon for your sin is that you are relying on God’s power to fight against your sin.  Forgiveness and freedom are two inseparable aspects of grace.  You don’t get one without the other.  Spiritual growth will vary by person and season, but one thing every genuine Christian has in common is this:  sin no longer holds the same appeal or power as it once did.  We go from loving sin to hating it and from choosing sin to fighting it.  Though we will not be sinless, we will sin less because of this… Our relationship with sin changes because of our relationship with Jesus.

God is good at all times in all ways in all circumstances in all of His being.  It is Who He is.  It is what He does.  All that God approves of as right, true, pure and excellent is considered good.  His nature is good.  His character is good.  His creation is good.  His work is good.  His judgment is good.  His discipline is good.  His plans are good.  His gifts are good.  God even works bad things out for good.  And in the most stunning show of His goodness, God sent the Good Shepherd to die on Good Friday so we might receive Good News. Let us praise Him forever! For truly, God is good all the time and all the time God is good.

What we say, when we say it and how we say it all have an effect on who we say it to.  Our words can both tear down and build up, deceive and enlighten, harm and help.  It is essential we ask God for His help in safeguarding our tongues, because the power they yield can either be life-giving or life-draining.  We never leave others the same.  Our words always make a difference in one way or another.  We speak life to others when we repeat what God says to us in the Bible.  His truth.  His commands. His promises.  His good news.  When we rightly speak of Jesus, the sweet fruit of the gospel can be eaten by all who hear.

When we receive God’s grace, every sin we have committed, are committing and will commit are all forgiven. Fully.  Freely.  Forever.  That doesn’t mean we can knowingly and willfully continue sinning with no remorse or repentance.  True grace is not, “All is forgiven, now you can freely wallow in sin.”  True grace is, “All is forgiven, now you can firmly withstand sin.” Jesus did not pick us up just so we would run back to the same thing that knocked us down. He supplies both pardon for sin and power not to sin. So… We rely on His grace as we strive for holiness, and we rest in His grace when we need forgiveness.

True friendship is marked by a love that endures through all of life’s circumstances from the best of times to the worst of times.  And while a friend loves always, that love is demonstrated in all kinds of ways. Sometimes it comforts.  Sometimes it corrects.  Sometimes it cheers.  At all times, a friend imperfectly loves in whatever way fits the occasion and points to the perfect love of our greatest friend, Jesus.  He knows what is best for us, wants what is best for us and does what is best for us.  We rely on Him to pass on what we receive from Him to the people in our lives. Our love to others flows from His love to us.

The bad news is, we are destitute in our sin.  The good news is, God is rich in His mercy.  When we were unable to save ourselves and undeserving to be saved, God did something so unbelievably gracious it can only be received by faith.  He demonstrated His love for us in sending Jesus to live, die and rise for us.  The cross is the intersection where God’s hatred for sin and God’s love for sinners meet so that we don’t get what we deserve, and we get what we don’t deserve.  Wrath avoided.  Benefits gained.  Mercy extended.  God doesn’t help those who help themselves; God helps those who cannot help themselves.

Faith has a transforming effect upon our lives.  It changes us into risk-takers who are willing to take bold steps of faith to carry out God’s will.  We go where He says go. We do what He says do.  By faith, we rely on God’s grace to prevail against the tribulations, oppositions and distractions that seek to stop us from doing good in the name of Jesus.  This faith isn’t a confidence that God will give us all we want to make us comfortable; it is a confidence that makes us willing to give up our comforts to gain something that is far better.  What emboldens us to keep going is believing that God will keep His promises to us.

God is too righteous to ignore our sin as if it doesn’t matter to Him, and He is too loving to ignore us in our sin as if we don’t matter to Him.  He is both just and justifier.  He both hates sin and loves sinners.  He both punishes evil and pardons evildoers.  How is this possible?  By sending Jesus to die in our place for our sin so we can receive His righteousness by His grace.  When we trust in Him, God forgives us so we get away with past sin, and frees us so we can get away from future sin.  Praise the Lord!  As born-again Christians, God now helps us take sin as seriously as He does so we can flee it or fight it by His grace.

God graciously works through us to accomplish what He intends for us.  We are fearful, but He gives us courage.  We have no weapons, but He provides the armor.  We show up for battle, but He secures the victory.  We grow weary, but He keeps us going.  Anything and everything that we have or are or do which is good comes through God.  We don’t always see this in good times, but in bad times, we realize just how little we can do on our own.  Let us first praise God, not second-guess Him, when we don’t know what He is doing. Because we do know for those who trust in Jesus, He is always doing something good.

God uses many means to accomplish what He purposes. These include people, circumstances and divine intervention.  In some way, all things work together to accomplish what God wants to happen, when God wants it to happen, how God wants it to happen, why God wants it to happen and to whom God wants it to happen. This is not accidental; it is intentional.  Even the sinfulness of people, the brokenness of this world and the maliciousness of Satan which seem to stop God’s work are made to bow down and serve His purposes. All we have in Christ is sure, for God never fails to do what He has determined is best.

You are not bothering God when you ask Him for more grace.  He isn’t too busy or too disinterested.  He doesn’t need to put something more important on hold to help you.  Listen… There is no sin so big that God won’t forgive it and no sin so small that God will ignore it.  There is no stronghold so powerful that God can’t break it and no stronghold so flimsy that God wants you to get free on your own.  There is no problem so significant that God won’t handle it and no problem so petty that God doesn’t care about it.  He does trillions of things in running the universe.  One of His favorites is hearing from and helping you.

Oftentimes following Jesus in faith will require us to go to hard places, have hard conversations, do hard things, endure hard circumstances and deal with hard people.  But let us remember… The hard stuff will only last a little while.  The hard stuff will end when Jesus comes for us.  The hard stuff will not compare to our reward. As we look around at the struggles we must endure, let us look ahead to the return of Jesus and the end of all struggles.  Don’t give in!  Don’t give out!  Don’t give up!  By faith, keep going and Jesus will ensure that you make it.  We aren’t promised it will be easy; we are only promised it will be worth it.

Encouragement plays a key role in the key responsibility Jesus left for us to complete by His gracious help.  We are to make disciples, and we do so largely by encouraging one another.  We encourage one another to read the Bible. We encourage one another to pray.  We encourage one another to serve God’s kingdom. We encourage one another to lovingly obey. We encourage one another to believe and live out the truths of the gospel.  We encourage one another to trust Jesus more fully in more areas of our lives.  Our faith strengthens and spreads as we stir up each other’s affections for knowing, enjoying and glorifying God.

God is near us when we have broken hearts and broken spirits.  Whether we are struggling with our own sin, the sin of others, or the result of sin’s fracturing of our world, He is never distant even if it seems that way.  He hears our cries.  He comforts our hearts.  He meets our needs.  Though the result will not always be when we want it and how we want it, we have His promise that we will lack no good thing. This is true because God did not spare even His own Son from suffering. Jesus is our ever-near Immanuel, who lived, died and rose so we can taste and see God’s goodness.  Mingled with tears now.  Free from tears later.

If you have to sin to get it, it’s not worth it.  If you have to sin to enjoy it, it’s not worth it.  If you have to sin to keep it, it’s not worth it.   Sin is always too high a price to pay for the treasures of this world.  When the troubles of fear, worry, pride, dissatisfaction, envy, strife, deceit, selfishness, fruitlessness or worldliness are attached, it is no real treasure.  The fear of the LORD brings its own riches. Riches that are freely given.  Riches that will fully satisfy.  Riches that cannot be lost.  The peace, joy, hope, love, freedom, security, rest, strength, provision and satisfaction of Jesus are better than all worldly gains.  He is our treasure to pursue.

God does so many wonderful things for us that they cannot be counted.  He doesn’t just add His blessings, He multiplies them.  He doesn’t just fill our cups, He overflows them.  He doesn’t just give us a few things to talk about, He gives us so much that we cannot tell of them all.  What we can do is sing a new song of worship for our God Who brought us up out of the miry pit of sin and death to place us firmly on Christ the solid rock.  We can praise Him, point to Him and proclaim Him so that others may see and fear and put their trust in Him too.  As He multiplies His good deeds, let us magnify His good Name.

Encouragement has a positive and negative component as we spur on others to do some things and not do other things.  We are to issue both support for and warnings against. Don’t waste your life on trivial things, but do live for things that count for eternity.  Don’t give in to temptation, but do enjoy the blessings and benefits of grace.  Don’t listen to the lies of the enemy, but do believe the words of the Lord.  Encouragement isn’t neutral.  It should repel evil and attract good. Instruction to avoid the world and its ways should always include an invitation to receive the better things of Jesus and His kingdom.

Sooner or later, the things of this world dry up and leave us thirsty and empty.  But the cup God offers to us to drink from is overflowing with soul-satisfying forgiveness, goodness, kindness and blessedness to bear witness to His lavish generosity.  He provides much more than is needed.  He provides much more than is expected. He provides much more than is deserved. This overflowing cup displays His extravagant grace and glory so everyone can see Who He is and all He has and what He does for us.  It cannot be contained! And as we drink from His overflowing cup, our hearts will overflow in contented worship.

Satan hates anything and everything we rightly do in the name of Jesus.  So, it should not surprise us when we have opponents to our Christ-modeling, Christ-proclaiming, Christ-exalting words and actions.  It should also not frighten us.  For while they may cause us trouble or pain, they will not win in the end. Our salvation is secure, and any momentary suffering we endure for our faith is not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed to us.  Therefore, let us keep modeling, keep proclaiming and keep exalting Jesus.  Others will either oppose us or join us but they cannot stop us, since God is for us.

The biblical story is about a God of grace sending His Son to people in need of grace to rescue them from sin by grace so we can be welcomed into His family to live by grace and serve as ambassadors who tell others about His grace so they might also experience His grace.  This beautiful narrative is one in which God repeatedly reaches down to and out for an undeserving people who repeatedly push against and away from Him.  Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more! When you trust in Jesus, you can know this: Your chapter in the story is unfolding, and its end has already been written.  Grace has the final word.