Have you ever felt like you messed up too big or that there’s no coming back from whatever you have done? I’ve got great news, while some people might write you off, God hasn’t! Deuteronomy 30:3 says, “That the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you.”

God knew that Israel was going to go through a vicious cycle where He blessed them, they rebelled, He would discipline, they would confess and turn from their sin, and He would restore them. Then the cycle would essentially start all over. It’s the cycle of pride-fall-humility-restore. To show His all-knowing nature, God told them what they were going to do before they ever did it. He also told them what was going to happen both in the immediate aftermath of their sinful rebellion, but also the result when they humbled themselves and turned back to God.

What was true for Israel, is true for you and I today. The cycle we see them follow in throughout the Old Testament, is the same cycle we often see in our own lives today. One of the greatest blessings we can take from this is that God is willing to forgive and to restore us as we humble ourselves and admit our sin. I love what Paul said in the end of Romans 5:20, “…where sin did abound, grace did abound much more.” This must not be construed as a license to sin and do whatever we want. Rather, it should be seen as a comfort to those who feel like they have messed up too much and gone too far. There is never an excuse for our blatant sinful rebellion against God, but the good news is this, we can never out sin the grace of God.

We must confess our sin, but we can also know that God will forgive our sin as we turn from it and in faith turn to Him. Our sinful nature is one of the biggest reasons why we need accountability in our lives. We always think we are stronger than we are, or that we have it under control when we don’t. You and I need people in our lives who love us enough to call us out when we sin. Do you have that person or those people? Are you that person for someone else? If you don’t have that person or you aren’t that person, pray today about who you can enter into that type of relationship with, and then do it. It just might save you from making that foolish mistake, and it might keep you from having to experience the discipline of the Lord again.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

Have you ever had a time where things seemed to be going so good for you, and then all of the sudden something happens and it all comes to a screeching halt? I won’t speak for you, but oftentimes when that happens to me, it happens right around the time I start thinking “I’ve got this.” In the south at least, that’s what’s called getting too big for your britches. This isn’t something new. It’s something we see over and over in Scripture, including in our text for today in our series, Blogging Through The Bible In 2020. Deuteronomy 8:3 says, “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”

God through Moses is revealing an important truth for us here, we need to learn humility. We need to remember that we are dependent upon God for all things, not just some things. Jesus quotes this verse during His time in the wilderness being tempted in Matthew 4. Later in the New Testament, James reminds us in James 4:6, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” In this situation, we learn that trying times can come to God’s children as a way to keep us humble. They can teach us that we aren’t self-sufficient. They come to remind us of our desperation, and dependence. But they also remind us of the all-sufficiency, all-powerfulness, and the grace of God. Yes, Israel suffered hunger in the wilderness; but God also demonstrated His grace by providing food for them.

I look at what is going on in the world right now, and I can’t help but wonder if God isn’t trying to not only get our attention, but also remind us of who we are and more importantly, who He is. If you look in the Bible, you will see that God had already recorded these “common sense” approaches. The idea of washing our hands, putting other’s needs in front of our own needs, and serving one another are all throughout the Bible. We all know that we need to slow down, but yet we never actually slow down. The Bible reveals that God built into us a steady rhythm of work and rest. He also warned us over and over of the consequences of not doing so. As a whole, the world has been trying to eradicate God from every square of our lives, and yet when we get faced with a crazy pandemic, suddenly people want to call for prayer. Please don’t misunderstand me, a call to prayer is the smartest call we can make. At Westlake this past Sunday, we spent more time in prayer. My heart’s desire in this is that this won’t turn into another September 12th. The day after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, we saw people realizing their own mortality. Our nation became a little kinder and gentler for a while. In many respects, we are seeing it again, except in the political arena and news (which should tell us all something about those who are supposed to be working for us). My prayer is that as God humbles us as a people, we will lovingly surrender and submit to Him not for a season, but for the rest of our lives. We are in a trying time filled with pain right now. I have no idea when it is going to slow down or even come to a halt. But I do know that there is One who knows the answer to that question and much, much more. He is the One who can use all things, including bad things, and turn them around for His glory and our good. He is the Lord. So, let us seek Him and His wisdom. Let’s allow God to humble us, so that in due time He can heal us and restore us.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

Do we ever deserve a gift? Of course not, that’s a silly question. We receive a gift because of the kindness, generosity, and love of the gift-giver. Moses was reminding Israel of this point in our text for today in Blogging Through The Bible In 2020. Deuteronomy 7:7 says, “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all people.”

Moses is explaining Israel’s role in the world, and the purpose God had for them. God chose Israel, not the other way around. The same is true for us in salvation. It is not that we somehow chose God. Rather, He chose us and in doing so, God gave us the faith necessary to turn from our sin and turn in faith trusting Jesus’ death and resurrection was the only way we could be saved. This was an act of God’s grace. The amazing thing is why God chose Israel instead of another nation. He chose Israel to reveal His power and might. God electing Israel was a demonstration of God’s mercy and grace. It’s not that Israel deserved to be chosen by God. Rather, He did it to show that He is gracious and merciful in saving some. I heard a pastor say before, “The scandal of the cross is not that God would allow some to go to hell. The scandal of the cross is that God would save anyone in the first place.”

We should praise God and thank Him for His mercy and grace in saving a sinner such as us. He does it not because of who we are or what we could do for Him. He did it to reveal His nature and character to us. This grace comes with a great responsibility. Because God chose us, we have a responsibility to Him, to be like Him, and to represent Him to the world. We don’t do these things in order to be saved, but rather we do them because we have been saved. Let’s let our light shine bright to the world to show the amazing grace of our Lord and Savior!

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

Have you ever felt alone? I think we all go through times in which we feel alone. The amazing blessing of God for the child of God is this, you are never alone. In today’s reading, Moses reminds Israel of the great privilege they have because they are God’s people. Deuteronomy 4:7 says, “For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him?”

Moses is reminding Israel of God’s faithfulness to them, as well as reminding them of God’s blessings to them. Even though there were bigger and more powerful nations in existence that were certainly a threat to Israel, no other nation on earth could brag that God was near to them. No other nation could say “we are God’s children.” With that declaration came great responsibility, but also great blessings for Israel. Israel was sovereignly chosen by God to be His people. Israel being selected by God had nothing to do with Israel; it had everything to do with God. However, that also meant that Israel had a major responsibility to play towards the world. Israel was to be a light to the nations by how they lived. Their lives were to be an example of who God is, what it means to live in a right relationship with God, and they would even show the consequences for disobeying God.

If we fast forward into the New Testament, we see something amazing concerning the church. What Israel was supposed to do, but failed to do through their sin; the church is called to do. Romans 12:1-2 tell us that we are to be a living sacrifice that is holy and acceptable to God. 2 Corinthians 5:20 tells us that we are to be ambassadors for Christ to those around us. While as as Christians enjoy the same blessings today that Israel did in the Old Testament, we also bear the same responsibilities. This means that my life is not mine to do as I please. I am to be a living witness to the power of the Gospel and the glory of God. It means that I am to faithfully and accurately live as a representation of who God is to those around me. I am to daily submit myself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Let us remember this, “to whom much is given, much is required.”

The awesome thing about it is this, God doesn’t expect us to do it on our own. He knows that on our own, we would utterly fail. We would fail because of our sin nature. In the Old Testament, God may have delivered Israel out of Egypt, but God spent the next 40 years getting Egypt’s ways out of Israel’s life. The same is true for you and I. While God has saved us from our sin, from the moment He saves us, He spends the rest of our life getting the sin out of us. What a blessing to know that God is committed to this work, and He will be successful in this work! No, we won’t be sinless this side of eternity. But God will use life’s circumstances, trials, and difficulties to mold us and shape us into the men and women He has created us to be. When we surrender to God’s work of transformation in our lives, we become living trophies and testimonies to the person and work of Jesus Christ. Though we often pray for God to remove difficult things from our life so that we can have an easier life, we need to remember that God is near. He has not, nor will He ever leave us alone. When we find ourselves struggling, and we aren’t sure what to do, just remember, God is near. Cry out to Him for help and for strength, and know that He will not turn a deaf hear to the cry of His children. When you feel alone just remember, God is near!

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

On Sunday as part of the message, I made the following statement, “I am convinced that part of the fall of mankind is that we forget what we should remember, and we remember the things that we should forget.” I think this is proven over and over how we can remember the one bad thing that happened during our day, but we often forget to remember and thank God for the nine things that went well. I think we see this statement proven in our Scripture for the day in Blogging Through The Bible In 2020 as well. Deuteronomy 1:32 says, “Yet, for all that, you did not believe the Lord your God.”

Moses is giving a history lesson as the book opens. He is reminding Israel of why they had been wandering in the wilderness for the last 38 years. He also recounted all the ways that God had showed that He was with Israel, and Moses recounted many of the blessings of God towards Israel. Yet, Israel still struggled to believe that God loved them, that He was with them, and that they could trust God even when His plan didn’t seem to make sense to them. Moses wanted Israel to understand that God does everything with a purpose. Nothing is by accident, luck, or coincidence. The events of life are a reminder of the sovereignty of God. Let’s be honest though, we sometimes struggle to trust that God’s plan is best for us. We have our own ideas of what would be best. I heard a pastor say before, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.”

When of the greatest helps in strengthening our faith today is to remember God’s faithfulness to us in the past. God has promised that He will be present with us as His children at all times. As believers today, we have the Spirit of God living inside of us (see 1 Cor. 6:19). The Holy Spirit living inside of us is the proof and fulfillment of David’s words in the Old Testament when he wrote, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I feel from Your presence” (Psa. 139:7)? It’s not that we should deny our present struggles, it is that we should remember the power of God and the presence of God in our struggles. As the saying goes, “I may not know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds my tomorrows.” Pray, give your joys and your sorrows over to the Lord, and trust that He will work things out for His glory and your good as He promised to.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

Something that has been in the news off and on for the past couple of years is what is known as sanctuary cities. What is a sanctuary city? Where did this idea come from? The answer to the question, where did they come from, might actually surprise you. Numbers 35:15 says, “These six cities shall be for refuge for the children of Israel, for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills a person accidentally may flee there.” The idea of a sanctuary city originates in the Bible! Surprised? Now, a word of caution here, how the idea of a sanctuary city is being used around our country is not how the Bible lays out the use for a sanctuary city.

The biblical use of a sanctuary city was for a person who accidentally killed someone else. If you accidentally killed someone, you could flee to one of these six cities before their family avenged the murder. You would be put on trial in the sanctuary city you fled to, and it would be decided whether or not what you did was murder or what our law considers manslaughter. The difference between the two is very simple, what was the intent of the person who took the life of another? If you were found to be innocent from malice or lacked intent to murder, you were allowed to live in the sanctuary city. That doesn’t mean that you got off without any consequences. You had to remain in that city as long as the high priest who was alive at the time was still alive. If you stepped foot out of the city, and the avenger for the family of the one you killed saw you, they could avenge the person’s death. So you lost a decent amount of freedom, and can you imagine the whispers you would see as you walked down the streets of the sanctuary city? Not to mention, you had to uproot your life and start all over in a new city. This was another way that God built into Israel’s law the expectation of extending grace and mercy to someone. As you can see, this has nothing to do with coming in illegally to a country, and that city protecting the lawbreaker from answering for their crimes. Everyone accused of a crime, deserves their day in court, and until that day and even after, they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect because they are a co-bearer of the image of God, just as we are.

I believe something that we need to get back to practicing is giving grace and mercy to others. Instead of of getting upset about everything, we should seek to learn the intent behind what was said or what was done. Maybe, just maybe, the person didn’t intend for it to come out the way it did or what happened to happen. It doesn’t take away the hurt, and it doesn’t take away consequences for their actions. Rather, it is a reminder to us and to them, that we are all sinful, and we all need to experience grace and mercy. After all, if it wasn’t for the grace and mercy of God, where would we be? I’ll tell you, we would still be separated from God by our sin except we would be hopeless and helpless, and on our way to eternal condemnation; that’s where we would be if it wasn’t for the mercy and grace of God. So the next time someone says something that hurts you, or does something that harms you; stop, take a breath, and have a conversation with them. Find out the intent behind the words or the actions. You just might discover, this is a great opportunity to extend grace and mercy to them as God did to you.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

Have you ever sat down and thought about the fact that one day you won’t be here anymore? As a believer, I am looking forward to the day that I graduate this life. But I am also a little nervous, because I often wonder if I have done the job I was tasked with as a father and as a pastor. Part of leading well is leading with the person who is going to take your place in mind. We are all one moment from no longer being here. In today’s text, we see God preparing Moses and the nation of Israel for what is to come next. Numbers 27:22-23 says, “So Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation. And he laid his hands on him and inaugurated him, just as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses.”

In today’s Bible reading, we read both Numbers chapter 20, and then the last half of Numbers 27. Both of these chapters are about passing the torch. Moses and Aaron are getting ready to die, and there are going to be new people rising to take their place. Joshua is going to be called to lead the nation of Israel, and Eleazar is going to be the new priest in Aaron’s place. Israel was about to undergo some major changes, yet the most important aspect of their life wasn’t ever going to change. This is the joy and hope of parents and churches, as long as we raise our children and lead the church to know and follow the Lord, He will always be with them. While the physical leaders of the nation were about to change, their ultimate leader, the Lord, will never change. This is why it is so vital as parents and/or church leaders, that we teach those under our care to lean on and look to Jesus. A lot of times, as a parent, we want to raise strong, independent children. In reality, what we need to raise are children who are wholly dependent upon the Lord, and not us.

This text is a reminder that one day we will no longer be here. The Lord is going to appoint someone to take our place, because as Pastor Matt Chandler says, “The man goes into the ground, but the mission goes on.” It is important that we are parents teach and train our children to know how to depend upon the Lord. It’s important as church leaders that we pray about who will be raised up to take our place, and to train them while we can. Don’t wait until you are at the end of your life to care about those who will come after you. Invest in them now, teach them now for the moment that you will no longer be here. That’s a great retirement investment strategy!

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin