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Yesterday I shared Acts 9:1-20 and spoke about the zeal of Saul/Paul.  I am sharing part of that reading with you again today so we can consider the other main character in this account, Ananias.

Acts 9:10-20 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered.  The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.  In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.  And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.  I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord– Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here– has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.  At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.

Instead of zeal, Ananias seems have reluctance and misgivings. He wasn’t too sure about God’s call to go down to Straight Street and see this fellow Saul. He asked, “God, are you sure this is the right guy? I’ve heard stories about him, and he is working against us! Don’t you mean someone else?” God assures Ananias that He is not mistaken. He has chosen Saul to be His instrument, just as Ananias was His servant. So Ananias goes to Saul, but it seems as if he is still reluctant. He didn’t really want to go. He found Saul, and simply said, “Jesus told me to come here and do this.” The miracle of Saul’s sight being restored took place in spite of Ananias and his lack of enthusiasm. Later, when Paul recalls this event, he depicts Ananias as being a more forceful person, no doubt the servant he eventually turned out to be.

I would guess we are sometimes like Saul charging in confident that we know God’s will even when we do not. And then there are times we hesitate like Ananias, seeing the danger, questioning God’s plan, or suggesting someone else might be better equipped for the task. But if God is calling you to do something, He will give you the power you need to accomplish the task. It is not your power, but HIS at work in you.

It was grace that God used hesitant Ananias. When Jesus first called, he seemed willing enough. He answered, “Yes, Lord.” He had faith. He knew his Savior. “You want me to go talk to someone? Sure. Who? Saul? I didn’t know you meant him.” But he goes, in spite of his reluctance, and look at the good God does.

Of course it was also God’s grace that empowered and enabled Saul. He was opposed to Jesus. In order to use him, our Lord had to appear in a blazing light, introduced Himself, and blinded Saul for three days. He then provided for Saul’s care in Damascus. That God went to all this trouble to convert Saul into a useful vessel is evidence of His great grace.

All his past was forgiven. And look at the tremendous service he rendered for Christ!

In 1914, Thomas Edison’s manufacturing facility burned down. He lost over a million dollars of equipment, and the record of much of his work. The next day, walking through the remains, he said to his assistant, “There is value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Now we can start anew.”  In His grace, God gave the murderer Saul a chance to start anew as Paul. He gives each of you the same chance. That is why He sent His Son – to die for your sins, pay for your mistakes, wipe the slate clean, and grant you forgiveness. What you may lose in serving Christ does not compare with what you gain.

Acts 9:1-20 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.  As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.  “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.  Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.  In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered.  The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.  In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.  And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.  I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord– Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here– has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.  At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.

Saul was zealous and passionate in his service for the Lord. But Saul started out on the wrong side. He was present at the stoning of Stephen. He worked to destroy the church. He instigated widespread persecution by looking for Christians in Damascus to take back to Jerusalem. But something happened on the way. He was converted by God and led to the truth of Jesus Christ as the Savior. With the same zeal he had used in persecuting the Church, he now worked fervently to serve his Lord.

Sometimes passion is misdirected. Maybe you have heard of Dr. Jean Garton. She was the wife of a Lutheran Pastor, who found herself with an unwanted pregnancy at age 40. This was prior to Roe vs. Wade, so she did not have the legal option of an abortion. This angered her, so she joined a pro-choice activist group. She was convinced that women should have the option of abortion. One day, preparing a presentation for medical students, she viewed a slide of a dissected abortion victim, aged 2 & 1/2 months gestation. All of a sudden she heard her three-year-old son, the one whose pregnancy led her to become an abortion advocate. He had slipped into the room without her knowing it and saw the slide. He asked, “Who broke the baby?” That was her turning point. She was converted. She realized the terrible wrong that abortion is, so much so that she became a leader in the pro-life movement. She was co-founder of Lutherans for Life and a crusader in the cause. The same zeal she once put into abortion advocacy went to work to preserve God’s gift of life. Zeal, pointed in the right direction, is a tremendous asset.

God wants His people, the followers of Jesus, to be zealous in telling others about our Savior. They need to know He died and rose for them, too. It is only through faith in Jesus that people will receive the forgiveness and life that He earned for them. May our zeal be pointed in the right direction!

Acts 5 tells us that the Apostles were busy telling everyone they could about Jesus. The Sadducees became jealous of how many people were listening and believing, so they had them arrested. An angel freed them overnight and told them to keep preaching. The next day they were back at it, so the guards rounded them up and brought them in for trial before the Sanhedrin, the same Jewish tribunal that had found Jesus guilty and sentenced Him to death. They told the Apostles to stop preaching. Here is what happened next.

Acts 5:29-40 Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. Then he addressed them: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

The disciples who just a few months earlier had all abandoned Jesus were now emboldened by having seen Him risen again and also by the power of the Holy Spirit poured out on them at Pentecost. Nothing would stop them from sharing the news of Jesus as Savior for everyone.

What I want you to notice today is the fellow named Gamaliel. He was a Pharisee who was respected as a teacher of the Law. He was an instrument of God in the spread of the Gospel in many ways. In this account, he counseled leniency. If these men were not speaking the truth, nothing would come of it. But if they were speaking God’s truth, nothing would be able to stop them. He was correct. And the disciples were able to go on preaching, albeit after a flogging and instructions not to do so.

Something else notable about Gamaliel is his connection and influence on the Apostle Paul. Saul, as he was previously known, was a student of this respected teacher.

Acts 22:3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city [Jerusalem]. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.

I find it interesting that the teacher who counseled that the followers of Jesus be left alone had a student who made it his mission to eradicate them. He was commissioned to round them up and bring them in for trial and was in the process of doing so when Jesus appeared to him and gave him a new commission, the same one we have as His followers:  go tell the world about our loving Savior.

Gamaliel’s influence should be noted. Paul was welcomed in synagogues as he traveled the world because of his knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures, taught to him by Gamaliel. This opened the door for him to share the Good News, presenting Jesus as the fulfillment of the promises made in the Old Testament, which is exactly who He is.

As Thanksgiving arrives, lots of folks – Cheryl and I included – will be traveling to see family and friends and loved ones. We have two grandchildren celebrating birthdays and we want to be there with them. While we have frequent contact with our children and grandchildren through texts and phone calls and video chats, it is not the same as being there in person. Sitting next to someone, being physically present, allows you to touch and hug and interact in a way not possible otherwise.

During the 2020 lockdown, everyone became acutely aware of the importance of being with other people because that was taken away for a while. I did almost Daily Devotions back then for my congregation in a video format to try to stay in touch with them, and I did one on this very topic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDSC3mvC2yc&t=11s).

I mentioned that while we sometimes have to be separated from each other, we have the assurance that nothing can separate us from God’s love.

Romans 8:31–39 ³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I hope all of you get to spend some time with family and friends over the holidays. And I hope you will also hold onto the Good News that for those who have been brought to faith in Jesus as their Savior from sin and death, nothing can separate you from the love of God in Him. We all need that comforting assurance in our lives on a regular basis.

The setting is the Kingdom of Judah, the southern half of the Promised Land that God gave to the descendants of Abraham. Hundreds of years have passed since then. This was after David, after Solomon. A king named Jehoshaphat sits on the throne of Judah. All of his life, this guy has depended on God. He wasn’t perfect, but He was one of the few kings that was good in God’s eyes. He tried to rule according to God’s will. One day Jehoshaphat gets the message that a vast army was marching against them, and it was coming quickly. This news shook him up. But he didn’t panic and start thinking, “What do I do?” The first thing he did was announce that all the people of Judah should fast and pray to God. People from all across the nation came to Jerusalem to pray with him. (2 Chronicles 20:1-5) When a large crowd had gathered outside the Temple, Jehoshaphat stood up and offered this prayer:

2 Chronicles 20:6-9 “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?  They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, ‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’

1.         Recognize God’s Power

Jehoshaphat had a pretty good grasp of the situation. He understood an enemy army was about to invade his territory, but he also knew that God had given him that territory and that God was strong enough to protect it. “Who can stand against you?” he prayed. He recognized God’s power. Recognizing God’s power means that you take Him more seriously than you do yourselves. When you get up in the morning and think of all the things you’ve got to do and you start to worry “how am I going to get it all done” … do you completely overlook the fact that you got up this morning? It was God’s power working in your lives that let you do so. If you are going to receive God’s help you’ve got to take your eyes off of what you can and can’t do and focus on what God can do and is doing. You need to remember the awesome power of God is at your disposal.

2 Chronicles 20:10-12 “But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.” 

2.         Depending on God means that you ask for God’s help.

Jehoshaphat asked God to help him. He recognized his own helplessness, and asked the One who was able to help him. That sounds pretty obvious. But think about it – when you come up against a difficult situation, what’s the first thought that goes through your head? If you’re like me, it’s usually “what am I going to do?” That’s a self-reliant thought. A God-dependent thought would be “Hey God, what do you want to do?” You know that you are depending on God when that thought comes first. “God, what do you want to do?”  Jehoshaphat didn’t say: “Oh, no, I’m the king! It’s all up to me! What am I going to do?” The first thing he did was say, “Let’s ask God.” And when you ask God, be ready for an answer.

2 Chronicles 20:13-17 All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD. Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly. He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’”

3.         Depending on God means that you listen for His guidance.

You recognize His power, you ask for His help and then you wait until He answers you. This is where it gets hard – waiting for an answer from God. The tendency is to say, “Ok, I’ve asked God to help, now I’m going to get out there and fight” which usually means, “I’ll pray and then I’ll go ahead and do what I had planned. I’ll listen, but only for the answer that I want to hear.” Sometimes God may actually tell you what you want to hear. But His answer may be something far different from what you expect. God’s guidance may be “you will not need to fight. Just wait.” It is waiting for the Lord.

The people of the Old Testament understood about waiting. God had promised a Savior. Those who believed that promise waited in faith until God fulfilled it by sending His Son. He was in control. You have to believe God is in control and then let Him be in control. Don’t try to snatch the reins away from him. Things don’t work well that way. Sometimes God’s guidance comes in ways you don’t expect. But the point is that depending on God means that you wait for His guidance before you act. God told Jehoshaphat, “Don’t worry. It’s not your battle. It belongs to Me and I will take care of it. All you have to do is show up. I’ll take care of the rest.”

2 Chronicles 20:18-19 Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD. Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with very loud voice.

4.         Humble yourself and worship in God’s presence.

Jehoshaphat was so moved that God had answered that he was literally awestruck. How great was this God who would come to help! How often do you do that? How often are you so overwhelmed by God’s goodness that you get down on your knees and thank Him? When you are amazed at what God has done in your family, in your marriage, in your church, in your life, it’s a pretty good indication that you’re depending on Him. When you recognize His goodness, don’t forget to do what Jehoshaphat did: Give thanks and praise to God.

2 Chronicles 20:20-21 Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.”

5.         Follow God’s Guiding

“Have faith in the Lord your God.” Jehoshaphat was telling the people, “We recognize God’s power and He’s on our side! We’ve asked Him to help. He’s given us guidance. We humbled ourselves and worshiped Him. Now it’s time for us to trust in God’s plan. He set the stage. All we’ve got to do is what He told us to do …” … which, in their case, was to go to the battlefield and simply watch.  Watch what God was going to do. Except that it wasn’t that simple. It was pretty risky. It required them to walk into a battle, a deadly conflict, completely vulnerable. If God didn’t come through, they were dead. Literally. That’s what it means to depend on God.

Now, you and I will probably never be told by God to do something that risky or dramatic. But there are areas of your life and mine where God is saying to us in a very specific way “trust my plan and I’ll help you.” That’s the issue. Everyone of us has to make a commitment to our way or a commitment to His way. You can recognize God’s power, ask for his help, listen for his guidance, humble yourself and worship, but in the end you’ve still got to do what he says. Anything less is self-reliance. And we’ve already said that God is not interested helping self-reliant people. Fortunately, for Jehoshaphat and company, they did the risky thing – marched right out on the battlefield, not with swords, but with songs.

2 Chronicles 20:22-24 As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another. When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.

That’s hard to believe, isn’t it? But God was in control. The invading armies turned on each other, and God’s people were spared. It is hard for us to receive God’s help because we often don’t believe it can happen. But it does. God comes through in the most unbelievable ways. Like He did at Calvary. Letting His Son take your place, die your death, and earn your forgiveness. God had a plan, and He carried it out for the helpless.

6.         Give God the Glory

The story of Jehoshaphat ends with a victory. The Bible says that for three days the people of Judah gathered up the spoils of the battle. Then on the fourth day, They had a great assembly for the purpose of praising God. And they returned to Jerusalem still rejoicing. It was pretty obvious to Jehoshaphat and his army that they didn’t do anything. God did it. So they gave the Glory to God. Giving God the glory means that you just say so – to Him and to everybody else. God did it. He deserves the credit. He deserves the praise.

That is true in our lives as well, especially when it comes to our salvation. God did it. He did what we could not do. He had a plan, carried it out, and told us to just show up and collect the spoils, which are forgiveness of sins and eternal life for Jesus’ sake. Don’t we owe Him unending praise for what He has done for us through Jesus? And what about all the ways He continues to help us in our lives as His disciples? Give God the glory.

The help you need been provided through Jesus.

Over the years I have received a phone call that goes something like this: “Pastor, I’m having trouble finding a passage in the Bible. I know it is in there, but I just can’t find it. Can you tell me where in the Bible it says, ‘God helps those who help themselves’”?

Do any of you know the answer? People are usually shocked when I tell them it is not in there. A nationwide poll by Barna Research Institute found that 82% of Americans believed that phrase “God helps those who help themselves” is a direct quote from the Bible. (George Barna, 1996) It is not. It has been attributed to many sources, one of which is Aesop’s Fables. The story goes something like this:

“A man is driving a wagon with a heavy load along a very muddy road. He came to a part of the road where the wheels sank half-way into the mire, and the more the horses pulled, the deeper the wheels sank. So the man threw down his whip, and knelt down and prayed to Hercules: ‘O Hercules, help me in this my hour of distress.” But Hercules appeared to him, and said: ‘Man, don’t just sit there praying. Get up and put your shoulder to the wheel. The gods help them that help themselves.'”   

Now, there is an element of truth in that. You can’t just sit around and expect God to miraculously do everything for you. That is kind of what the Apostle Paul once wrote to a group of people with a lay-back-and-let-God-do-it-all attitude.

2 Thessalonians 3:10-12  For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.

In other words, “Put your shoulder to the wheel. God isn’t pleased with laziness.” In that sense, Paul is saying, “God helps those who help themselves.” But that’s different from what most of us mean by that phrase. What most people mean when they say “God helps those who help themselves” is that God expects us to be self-reliant: do your best, be your own person, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, only call upon God when you absolutely need him.

Is that how you live your life? Lots of people do. More importantly, is that what you believe God really wants you to do? If you answered yes to either of those questions, then you need to know something. God says again and again in the Bible that He’s not interested in helping those who are self-reliant. God wants to help those who rely on Him instead of themselves.

Isaiah 40:29-31   He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. 

Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. 

Psalm 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. 

The ones who wait on the Lord, the ones who trust in His power, the ones who hope in Him – they are the ones who receive God’s help. A very important lesson that God wants all of you to learn is to rely on His power instead of our own. That’s a hard lesson to learn. I struggle with it everyday. It’s so easy to convince myself that “It’s all up to me – family, church, personal life. Everything depends on my ability to get it done.” When I fall into that trap, when I get into that mode, do you know what God does? He says, “Go ahead. Try it on your own. See how far you get.”

Let me make something clear: As far as your forgiveness is concerned, you have nothing to offer, nothing to contribute. You cannot help God; you do not assist Him in even the smallest way. Jesus took care of all that for you. God is the one who accomplished your forgiveness and salvation all by Himself. After you come to faith, as you strive to live the new life, you do have a responsibility to live a certain way. Yet even that is not your own doing. It is dependent on God’s power. God doesn’t help those who help themselves. He helps those who are helpless. He helps those who come to Him for mercy. He helps those who depend on Him. He helps those who cannot do it on their own, which is all of us.

Five years ago, over Spring break, Cheryl and I were able to go to Belize for a relaxing vacation getaway. When we started traveling more internationally, my brother, who has traveled extensively, suggested that we get something called “Global Entry.” You make an appointment with the TSA and go through a background check and pay $100 and you get cleared for “Global Entry.” When you fly domestically, you get to go in the TSA Precheck security line, which means you don’t have to take off your shoes and you can leave your computer in your bag. That is usually a pretty good thing. But the real advantage of Global Entry is when you come back into the US after having been abroad. Instead of waiting in the long customs line, you go to a little computer kiosk, scan your passport, answer a few questions, then go to a separate line reserved only for people who have global entry. It is like a fast pass at Six Flags or Disneyworld. You go right to the front of the line. And it has saved us a lot of time and frustration in our travels.

When we came back from Belize, we landed in Houston, got off the plane and waited for our bags. We had already scanned our passports and were ready to go. We got our bags and headed for the line marked “Global Entry.” The regular customs line had about 40-50 people in it. There was no one in the line marked “Global Entry.”

Cheryl was a few steps ahead of me, and just before we entered the “Global Entry” line, the pilot from our flight rushed in front of me and cut me off. He was now walking between Cheryl and myself. Cheryl didn’t see him, so I called out to her and said to let him go ahead, which she did. He was obviously in a hurry and did not even acknowledge that she let him go in front of her. When this pilot got to the front of the line, the customs officer, who was this large, sturdy, fierce looking gentleman, asked the pilot, “Do you have global entry?” The pilot said he did not. The officer instructed him to go to the end of the other line. The pilot was incredulous. He said, “really?” The officer did not budge. He said, “Go to the end of the other line.” The Pilot was visibly upset, but he did step aside so that we could get past him. At this point, the customs officer looked at Cheryl and I and asked, “Do you have global entry?” To which I respectfully replied, “Yes sir, we do.”  He called us forward, looked at our credentials, and quickly motioned us through. As we started to walk away, I heard the officer say, “I told you to go to the back of the line.”  I turned around to see the pilot standing in the front of the other line. He had simply stepped in front of about 40 people who were following the rules. And I remember thinking about the officer: I like this guy. He has a strong sense of justice and fairness. But the conversation was not yet over. Again, the pilot stood his ground and said, “No, I’m not going to the end of the line.” The officer said, “Oh yes you are.”  “No, I’m not.”  The last thing I heard as the officer was walking toward the pilot was, “Why don’t you step into my office so I can explain the situation to you.” Cheryl and I both wished we could have heard the rest of the conversation.

My initial reaction was a bit of satisfaction that this arrogant, entitled-feeling little pilot was going to get what was coming to him. But almost immediately after that, I thought of how that is what it will be like for many when Christ returns to be our judge. They will arrogantly stand before the judge thinking they deserve something because of who they are or what they have done. They will be standing there with the wrong credentials, and in fairness a righteous judge will condemn them.

“Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.” (Malachi 4:1–2, NIV84)

For those who stand before the judge on their own, judgment day will not be a good thing. It will result in tragic consequences for all eternity. However, there is an escape clause. It is not about us or who we are or what we have done. It is about what Jesus has done for us. He paid for sin. He conquered death. He won the victory. And He gives that victory freely to any and all who put their faith in Him. He gives us the credentials we need to stand before Him and be welcomed into heaven.

We have that certainty not just because Jesus died, but because He rose from the dead as well. Easter is a glorious day and a wonderful celebration. However, Easter does not negate the reality that Jesus is coming again to judge the world. He is coming again and He will judge all people. But the Resurrection of Jesus assures us that the judgment that stood against us has been removed for those who have put their faith in Jesus.

God’s grace makes a difference in your lives. It makes all the difference in the world. It is the difference between standing before God to be condemned and being declared “not guilty” for Jesus’ sake. Grace makes that difference.