I was overcome with despair.  I was profoundly discouraged with myself – with my sin

Feeling myself sliding down the steep slope of hopelessness into the pit of despondency I turned to the only place I could go – Jesus.  I went for an emotional, tear-filled walk around our neighbourhood in Winnipeg.  My prayer was pretty simple,

“Jesus, have mercy on me a wretched sinner.  Forgive me and cleanse me.”

As I was slowly limping down the road with a broken spirit a friend who was driving up the street toward me slowed down to say “hi”.  He was aware, for the most part, of the circumstance in which I now found myself.

“Hey Dave, how ya doin’?”, was his good-natured greeting.

When he saw my face he knew the answer.

“Kelly, I’m doing really bad.  I’m seeing what a terrible person I am.  I’m selfish, self-centered, arrogant, and manipulative.  I have hurt way too many people – especially my wife.  How can God love someone like me?”

My friend Kelly had known me for many years.  He knew the good and the bad.  He was not particularly known for his grace and gentleness.  He calls it the way he sees it.  He’s a straight shooter.  He will say what needs to be said.

On this occasion he simply said,

“Dave, God has known that about you for years.  He’s just letting you see it now.  Gotta go.”

And with that he drove off.

My first thought was, “Jerk!”

But the Lord helped me to see that what Kelly had shared with me was a profound truth.  Yes, God has known the depth of my sin for decades, and He loved me in spite of my sin.  His gift to me now was to enable me to see my sin.

How is seeing the depth of my sin a gift from God?

Because we cannot know Him if we don’t see our sin.  If we don’t see the depth of our sin we cannot experience the depth of His grace, mercy, forgiveness and love.

It actually felt like God was forcing me to look in the mirror to see the blackness of my depravity.  He was not allowing me to look away until I was broken by my own brokenness.  It felt as though He had His hand on the back of my head requiring me to take a long hard look at myself until how I saw myself was forever changed.

You see, my real problem was arrogance.

I thought I was a pretty good guy.  I thought God was pretty lucky to have me on His team.  I brought a lot of horsepower.  People really liked me.  In fact, I fed more on the approval and approbation of people than I did on the Truth of God.  I loved the praise of man more than the praise of my Father.  And, I used my gifts to serve myself instead of serving God.

I was really messed up.  But, I didn’t know it.

At least I didn’t know it until the Lord had mercy on me and began to show me how messed up I was.

I began to dive into scripture to discover the Truth.  The Psalms, Isaiah and Romans came particularly alive to me.  And then it began to dawn on me.  As I was reading Romans I began to discover the grace of God.

Wow.  Nothing I can do can make me holy or right with God.  It’s only by the grace and mercy of God I can be transformed – through the forgiveness of Christ and the redemptive work of the Holy Spirit.  The righteous live by faith – faith in Jesus, not in my own goodness.

By faith in Christ we receive a new heart!  We become a new creation!  We don’t live, but Christ lives in us!  I have nothing to prove because I am made whole in Jesus!

Ask the Lord to have mercy on you and help you see the depth of your sin, so by faith you can experience the depth of His grace, mercy, forgiveness and love.

It’s a gift to see your sin.

Romans 3:22-24

“This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

Galatians 2:20

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Our son Benjamin is in the final year of his nursing degree.  He is very interested in working in the operating room.  In particular he likes orthopedic surgery.  The best day of his clinical training was when he was present for a hip replacement – I’ve never seen him so excited about his schooling.

He also has some interest in volunteering to provide medical care to people in developing countries.  We have a close friend in a global medical NGO who has indicated he could help facilitate a connection for Benjamin to be able to do this.

First things first though, he needs to graduate with his Bachelor of Nursing degree and start caring for people.  His desire to do “bring healing” came about in a very unusual way…

We were in Costa Rica on a special family vacation.  We were staying in an open air bamboo cottage surrounded by the wonders of the Costa Rican rain forest.  On this particular day Anne and I went out for a short walk and left the boys to themselves to seek out whatever adventure any 13 and 14 year old boy could find in an area resplendent with howler monkeys, tamanduas, coatis, poison tree frogs and the like.

Anne and I were blissfully unaware of what they were up to, probably assuming they were inside the cottage laying low.  However, they did not lie low, but went exploring.  In their explorations they found a ravine.  Over that ravine they found a rope swing.  David tested it out by swinging over the ravine.  The rope broke and he fell to the bottom where he tangled up in some old barbed wire.

Benjamin sprang into action, scrabbled down the ravine, hauled David up, ran back to the cottage to fetch the first aid kit, raced back, and proceeded to patch up David’s wounds like a boss.  His desire to bring healing to others was born that day on edge of an equatorial rain forest ravine.

His medical aspirations have grown and been refined over the years, but that is the story of its genesis.

What would you think if Benjamin said he wanted to provide medical care to healthy people?  You would probably think something was wrong – right?  He doesn’t quite understand.  It’s the sick who need a doctor, not healthy people.

Apparently the religious leaders of Jesus’ day didn’t quite understand this.  They wondered why Jesus was hanging out with “sinners”.  Jesus said that it wasn’t the healthy who need a doctor, it’s the sick.  He came to call “sinners” to repentance.

It is actually our sin that qualifies us for the grace, mercy and forgiveness of God.  If we did not sin we would not need the forgiveness of God.  However, scripture tells us that anyone who thinks they are without sin is in error – everybody sins and falls short of the standards of God.  We are all sick.  We all sin.

Jesus came calling all sinners.  Sin is like a cancer that steals our life – it leads to death.  Sin ensures we live outside of God’s life for us – which is death.  It’s not how we were created to live.  Sin is really choosing to do life my way, not God’s way.

But Jesus came for sinners.  Recognizing we sin; recognizing we fall short of that for which God created us qualifies us to receive the forgiveness Jesus purchased for us on the cross.  Your sin does not disqualify you from the life of God, it actually qualifies you for the forgiveness of God – which leads to new life in Him.

The only thing that will disqualify you is arrogance.  Arrogance will prohibit you from acknowledging your sin and your need for the forgiveness of God.  And, therefore, you will miss the life God has for you and for others through you.

Let’s boldly confess our sin to the Lord and our need for His forgiveness that we may receive the life He offers us.  Jesus came calling all sinners – we qualify!

Mark 2:17

“Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’”

Romans 3:23

^“ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Romans 6:23

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

1 John 1:8, 9

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”  Deuteronomy 31:6

Moses addressed Israel in the wilderness at the cusp of entering the Promised Land.  The Lord had told him he would not be taking the people in.  Joshua was the one the Lord had anointed and appointed to lead Israel into their geographic and spiritual inheritance.

Then, the Lord Himself says to Joshua at the beginning of his leadership of the campaign to take the Promised Land,

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9

Paul, in chains and uncertain of his fate, but believing the Lord had called him to spread the Gospel of the Kingdom to the Gentiles, has the Lord visit him in prison,

“The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, ‘Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.’”  Acts 23:11

Then Paul exhorts the Corinthian Church, in order to take hold of God’s will for them,

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.”

We cannot enter the Promised Land without courage.  We cannot take hold of our inheritance in God without courage.

Courage precedes the Kingdom.

So what is courage?  Is it being fearless?

I don’t think so.  We are all confronted with fear.  We all have to deal with fear on a daily basis.  What separates those who get hold of what God has promised, from those who do not, is what we do with that fear.

I love John Wayne’s definition of courage:

“Courage is being scared spitless, but saddling up anyway.”

Courage is a willingness to push through your fear and move forward.  Cowardice is giving into the fear and letting it stop you.

Courage is not a gift.  Courage is not an ability.  Courage is a decision to move forward in the face of fear.  Fear is actually the prerequisite for courage.  If you aren’t afraid you don’t need courage to move forward.

Courage is an act of your will.  It’s not an ability that some are more endowed with than others.  Courage is simply a decision to keep moving forward when you are afraid.

And, the beauty of it is, when you “take courage” and move forward, the fear dissipates and that which once intimidated you no longer has the same impact on you.  Fear loses its hold on you.

Courage comes by faith – faith in God’s Word.  Why could the nation of Israel be strong and courageous?  Because the Lord said, “…for the Lord your God goes with you, He will never leave you or forsake you.”

Your courage is found in believing the Truth of what God has said.

God promised He will be with you always, He will never leave you or forsake you.  (Matthew 28:20)  He promised He will complete His work in you.  (Philippians 1:6)  He promised that nothing can separate you from His love.  (Romans 8:37-39)  He promised that He will provide for all your needs according to His riches.  (Philippians 4:19)  In everything God is working for your good!  (Romans 8:27)

Faith, wholehearted conviction, in the promises of God makes us courageous.  God’s Truth makes us brave, but only if we believe it!

You can’t ask God for courage.  Well, you can, but He won’t give it.  He has already given us everything we need to be courageous: we have the Truth of His promises, and we have the free will to choose to believe it.  We must “take” courage.

He makes you brave by putting you in fearful, intimidating situations, then invites you to stand on the truth of His promises and move forward through the fear to find Him.

You cannot take hold of all that God has for you, and for others through you, without courage.  The beauty is, you have it in you to be brave!

Take courage – it’s a choice.  Courage precedes the Kingdom.

Proverbs 28:1

“The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.”

Do you ever want to throw in the towel?

“Throwing in the towel” is actually a boxing expression.  If a trainer saw that his boxer was being severely beaten, he would throw a towel into the ring as a sign of defeat.  It’s now a popular cultural expression meaning to quit or give up.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the stuff of life and want to throw in the towel.  We can throw in the towel on any manner of issues: marriage, faith, your work, friendships, service, your church, God, or anything that feels like it’s gotten too difficult to go on.

I have no doubt that everyone battles giving up.   I know I do.

I believe how easily we give up is one of those foundational issues of life.  Vince Lombardi, one of the most respected and legendary football coaches of all time said, “Winners never quit and quitters never win.”

If you do a search for quotes on giving up you will discover a plethora of inspirational expressions:

“Winners are not those who never fail, but those who never quit.”

“Failure doesn’t come from not falling down, it comes from not getting up.”

“If you feel like quitting, think about why you started.”

“Before you give up, think about why you held on for so long.”

“Anyone can give up, it’s the easiest thing in the world to do.  But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that is true strength.”

“There are only 3 choices in life: give up, give in, or give it all you’ve got.”

You know why there are so many inspirational quotes about not giving up?  Because we all battle it continually.  Life is oftentimes like swimming upstream: it’s hard work, it’s tiring, and it can be overwhelming.

However, to give up is to lose all the ground we’ve already gained.

I recently found myself battling feelings of giving up.  Giving up on what though?  I don’t know.  I just had a general sense of weariness.  Feelings of being on a long, arduous journey; spent, having forgotten why I had started the journey in the first place, wondering how it was all going to end.  I felt like I simply wanted to stop doing what I was doing, to escape.

There are 3 acquaintances I have known throughout the years.  They often visit.  They drop in when I least expect it.  They want to stay, but they’re unwanted guests.  They continually knock on the door of my heart trying to force their way in.

They are discouragement, despair and hopelessness.  I have learned to say no to their repeated requests.  I have learned to force them to leave.  I have learned to get violent with them because they have one objective: to get me to give up.

Their goal is to get me to stop doing good; to stop living the way God has called me to live.

I have a sneaking suspicion that you may know my acquaintances as well.  Their goal with you is the same as with me: to get you to give up, to stop you from doing good.

Like the workers rebuilding the wall in Nehemiah’s day, we need to carry a sword in one hand and work with the other.  We need to fight and work.  We need to exercise our authority and victory in Jesus over the opposition that seeks to intimidate us to give up, and to continue to do the good work God has put in our hands.

And, we need to encourage each other to keep doing the good work each of us is doing.

If you are experiencing feelings of discouragement, despair and hopelessness right now, rebuke them and kick them out.  If you’re feeling like giving up, remind yourself about why you started in the first place.  Remind yourself of the Truth of what God has promised.  Saturate yourself in the Truth.

And, share where you’re at with someone who cares about you so they can remind you why you’re doing what you’re doing.

You make a difference – don’t give up!

Like Winston Churchill said, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”

Galatians 6:9

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Hebrews 10:35, 36

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.  You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”

1 Thessalonians 5:11

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

Nehemiah 4:17-18

“…Those how carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked…”