LifeLink Devotions for Tuesday, September 8, 2026

The older I get the more my memory fails me. My wife is actually beginning to make fun of me because of it. Simple little things that just don’t get remembered. But one thing I will never forget. The day my Lord Jesus Christ saved me from my sin.

As a young child I had broken a rule which caused serious injury to my brother. I could not understand how I could ever be forgiven. But my mother showed me from God’s Word how Jesus Christ had died to cover all of my sin. On that day I became His child forever by placing my faith for my life’s eternal existence in what Jesus did on the cross for me.

But I dare not simply remember that day for my own benefit. My salvation experience with Jesus Christ is to be shared with others as often as possible.

We learn that lesson in another story where the phrase “on that day” is used in scripture. It’s found in Exodus chapter 13 verse 8. God is giving instructions through Moses to the nation of Israel that every year they’re supposed to have a seven day feast to celebrate what God has done. It’s called the feast of unleavened bread where the people were called to eat unleavened bread for seven days and then celebrate with a big feast at the end.

But God, who sees all and knows all, understands that children will wonder what’s going on. They’ll probably even be complaining that they can’t have their regular food. So what’s a parent to do? Here’s what God says to the people.

“You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’”

Built into our lives every day should be events and choices that cause other people to ask us why we’re doing it. That’s our opportunity to tell them that it’s because what the Lord has done for me. He delivered me from the eternal consequences of sin. He delivered me from the everyday bondage of sin. He has set me free and put me on a path to the promised land of eternal life with Jesus Christ. We are to be telling people that story every day.

I wonder how many of us intentionally do things in our lives to create curiosity in the lives of unsaved people. Unfortunately I think most of us live so much like the people of the world that they don’t notice a difference. That should be embarrassing to us. We should seriously be ashamed of how we are not living lives in such a way that people want to know why we’re different. Our lives should cause people to question the choices we make. Is service for Jesus Christ our highest priority? Is the character of Jesus Christ revealed in the choices we make every day?

My friends we have been called by God to represent his son Jesus Christ in every part of our lives. On that day when we stand before Jesus and give an account of our lives and how we served him, will Jesus say, “Well done. You were a good and faithful servant.” Or will Jesus remind us as he reviews our lives of all the days that we had a chance to tell someone about Jesus and we didn’t? Now that’s not meant to shame anyone. It’s just an honest reminder to remember the day that you were saved and remember to tell others how Jesus did it.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Monday, September 7, 2026

I don’t know about you but I want to know more about God. And the best place to gain that knowledge is in his Word the Bible. As we read it we will see the ways God has revealed Himself to us. We will discover his divine attributes. We will come to understand his character. And we will see how his attributes and character influence his activity with mankind.

The book of Exodus in the Bible is a great example. It’s the story of the deliverance of the nation of Israel from the bondage of slavery in the nation of Egypt. Moses has been chosen to reveal God’s deliverance to the people and to the ruler of Egypt. But the Pharoah was a hard sell. So God used Moses to introduce a variety of plagues upon the nation of Egypt. One of the plagues was a swarm of flies that would affect the entire nation. Well almost the entire nation. You see God was going to make a point about who He is and how He works to protect his people. Here’s what we’re told in Exodus chapter 8 starting in verse 22.

“But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. Thus I will put a division between my people and your people.”

God speaks through Moses and tells Pharaoh that the plague of flies will not affect his people. I see one very simple but very profound lesson in what God does here. He declares that the consequences of sin will not be enforced upon his chosen people.

Now obviously when we sin there are consequences and they are enforced to help us to learn not to sin. But the nation of Israel was not guilty of sinning in this case. Only the Egyptians were guilty. And in this practical example of God’s faithfulness to protect his children we can take great comfort in knowing That the ultimate consequence of sin has already been paid for by Jesus Christ and that God will not cause his children to come under His wrath. Our faith in what Jesus did on the cross has brought us under the eternal protection of God so that none of the consequences of sin will ever be eternally experienced by any of us.

On that one day in Egypt God said, “I will protect my people.” On that one day when Jesus died on the cross God said, “I will protect all who trust in my Son as their Savior.” God has put an eternal division between his people and sinners. Never will the consequences of sin be experienced by those who are in Christ. But equally true is the reality that never will those who are separated from Christ ever experience victory over sin, either in this life or in eternal life.

Take heart my friend. You are separated from all the eternal consequences of sin. Now go and help others understand what God has done.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Friday, September 4, 2026

For those of you who remember back to Wednesday you know that there are ninety-two uses of the phrase “on that day” in the Bible. After yesterday’s devotional you may be thinking, “This is going to be a long study if he takes only one verse each day.” While there’s nothing wrong with long studies, and as disciples of Jesus we should want to dig deep into God’s Word, let me assure you that many of the usages of the phrase refer to the same event. The study won’t take nineteen weeks. But we also aren’t going to bypass important principles.

Today is a perfect example of that. In Genesis chapter fifteen we hear from God as He makes an unbreakable, unconditional covenant with Abraham that has powerful significance in today’s world politics. Here’s what God says in verse eighteen:

“On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,”

Here’s the context. Abraham has just rescued Lot from the five kings that had taken him captive. He has met the Priest-King of Salem and honored him with a portion of the spoils of the war, He declares that he is a servant of the LORD God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth.

When Abraham returns home The LORD God speaks to him and tells Him what He is going to do. Abraham will have a son, and from that son will come countless offspring. “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them…So shall your offspring be.” And Abraham believed what God said, and God counted his belief as righteousness.

Abraham then questions God and asks for evidence that the promise will be fulfilled. So God confirms a covenant by asking Abraham to cut three animals in half and separate each half creating a path between them. Then God caused him to sleep in a deep sleep of dreadful darkness. During his sleep, God prophesied what would happen to his descendants, and it all historically came true. Then a smoking firepot and a flaming torch, representing the presence of God, passed through separated animals as God made this unbreakable covenant with Abraham and his descendants.  “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,”

On that day, God declared for all time that the land of the Middle East from the River of Egypt in the Sinai peninsula all the way up to the Euphrates River, originating in Turkey through Syria and Iraq and to the Persian Gulf. All of that territory claimed by other countries has been promised to Israel, and that promise will be fulfilled.

No country can claim what God possesses. No nationality can claim what God has given to Israel. No religion can lay claim to what rightfully belongs to Abraham’s chosen descendants. They may temporarily try to stop God’s purpose, but they can not change the inevitable outcome. The son of Abraham, Jesus Christ, will reign as King on that day!

Rejoice, for on that day, God will bring peace to the world through the Prince of Peace. Until then, don’t be swayed by religious or political theories that deny the authority of God’s Word. Pray for Israel, and pray for the return of Jesus.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, September 3, 2026

Three words deeply impacted me from the song we listened to yesterday. Now many of you will think the three words are “face to face.” But as powerful an image of hope those words create in my mind, three other words became the foundation of this study.

“On that day.”

That phrase is used ninety-two times in the English Standard translation of the Sacred Scriptures. The usages range from proclamations of impending tragedy and judgement to prophecies of coming restorations and glory. We will uncover an abundance of treasure as we dig into all the ways the Holy Spirit uses those three words to tell us what God intends to do. Some of the “days” have already come and gone, but we will learn valuable lessons from what happened. Some of the “days” are still to come, and learning about them will strengthen our resolve to be faithful until the end. And there is “One Day” that will culminate it all when the world sees the glory of God fully revealed.

The very first usage of the phrase “on that day” is found in Genesis chapter seven. It teaches us a principle which helps us understand all the other uses of the phrase. The principle is this. “God has a specific time for each part of His eternal plan to be revealed. Some parts will be judgment while others will bring salvation.”

It is imperative that we seek to know God and  put complete faith in Him as the Creator and Sustainer of all that exists. Everything is under His Sovereign control.

It is also essential that we believe that God has a purpose for everything that happens. He is bringing an eternal plan of redemption to completion so that the whole world will see His glory, even those who reject Him.

With that in mind, here’s the story from Genesis seven where we see the first usage of “on that day.”

“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.”

Two things happen on that day. First, the rains that had been promised for over 100 years finally arrive. Not just a simple ground nourishing rain, but rains that would produce a global flood to destroy almost all life as a result on mankind’s sin. Second, representatives of every kind of animal on the earth and the few remaining people who were still faithful to God were invited into the ark Noah had built. And on that day, God shut them in!

On that day judgment came upon all who rejected the LORD, and salvation was secured for all who followed Him.

One day, maybe soon, all will be brought to completion. Will you stand in judgment before God, or will you stand in victory in the presence of Jesus?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Wednesday, September 2, 2026

A few weeks ago we sang a song in church that blends contemporary verses with the chorus of old hymn. I cried as we sang it.  In a world filled with hopelessness and despair the words softened my spirit and changed my perspective. The Holy Spirit moved in my heart and challenged me to do a devotional study on the hope found in Jesus Christ as reflected in the song. I began thinking about all the passages of Scripture that refer to the coming of Jesus Christ and our forever home with Him. So I decided to return to writing and recording my podcast. I invite you to join me in this study and discover the abundance of hope and joy found in the promise that when we get to heaven it will be a day of rejoicing because we will see Jesus face to face and be with our Savior forever.

For today, let the words of the song touch your heart as they did mine. I’ve included a link so you can listen to it. Here are the lyrics.

One Day (When We All Get to Heaven) by Matt Redman

One day You’ll make everything new, Jesus
One day You will bind every wound
The former things shall all pass away
No more tears

One day You’ll make sense of it all, Jesus
One day every question resolved
Every anxious thought left behind
No more fear

When we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all see Jesus
We’ll sing and shout the victory

One day we will see face to face, Jesus
Is there a greater vision of grace
And in a moment, we shall be changed
On that day

And one day we’ll be free, free indeed, Jesus
One day all this struggle will cease

And we will see Your glory revealed
On that day

And when we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all see Jesus
We’ll sing and shout the victory

Yes, one day we will see face to face, Jesus
Is there a greater vision of grace?
And in a moment, we shall be changed
Yes, in a moment, we shall be changed
In a moment, we shall be changed
On that day

When we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all see Jesus
We’ll sing and shout the victory
We’ll sing and shout the victory

We will weep no more. No more tears, no more shame, no more struggle, no more walking through the valley of the shadow of death. No cancer, no depression.
Just the brightness of Your glory, just the wonder of Your grace.
Everything as it was meant to be.
All of this will change
When we see You face to face Jesus, face to face

REJOICE! JESUS IS COMING SOON!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Tuesday, September 1, 2026

 Many years ago Eugene Ormandy was directing the Philadelphia Orchestra. Suddenly something terrible happened. In his enthusiasm over the music, and his burning desire to bring out the best in the musicians, he dislocated his shoulder. I don’t know what they were playing. Certainly not Mozart. Perhaps Stravinsky. But at any rate, he was giving all of himself to it!  

In the Bible, such burning desire is called zeal. The very word zeal means “to be hot.” It is translated in a variety of ways in the New Testament, but always has to do with strong desire and passion for something or Someone.

Romans 12:11-13  “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

As I read the story of Mr. Ormandy, I asked myself, “Have I ever been so passionate about something that I’ve dislocated anything, even a necktie while preaching?” 

I looked for some examples of zeal this morning, and I think I’m getting a good idea of what it is. My understanding started to grow when I read this prayer from a country preacher in Red Rock, Mississippi. “O Lord, give Thy servant this mornin’ the eyes of the eagle and the wisdom of the owl; connect his soul with the gospel telephone in the central skies; ‘luminate his brow with the Sun of Heaven; possess his mind with love for the people; turpentine his imagination; grease his lips with ’possum oil; loosen his tongue with the sledge hammer of Thy power; ’lectrify his brain with the lightnin’ of the word; put ’petual motion on his arms, fill him plum full of the dynamite of Thy glory; ’noint him all over with the kerosene oil of Thy salvation and set him on fire. Amen!”

That’s zeal! To be set on fire. To burn hot with passion for a purpose or cause. And who has a better cause for which to be zealous than the cause of Christ? What other mission can ‘lectrify the brain like sharing the Good News of Jesus? What other outcome can compare to the miracle of rebirth in the life of a sinner as we watch God transform their life before our eyes?

Unfortunately many have never experienced zeal. The nuggets of knowledge they collect about God never become a blazing fire of activity for God. Instead of the unsaved being warmed by the love of God burning in the Christian’s life, they are driven away shivering with the coldness of condemnation. So many Christians live life like Luigi Tarisio, who collected violins.

Luigi Tarisio was found dead one morning with not a comfort in his home. As they looked through his house, they found 246 exquisite violins which he had been collecting all his life. They were crammed into an attic, and the best one was in the bottom drawer of an old rickety bureau. In his very devotion to the violin, he had robbed the world of all that music because he treasured the instrument rather than burning with zeal for the music they make.  His greatest treasure was a Stradivarius that had not been played for 147 years.

Many of Christ’s people are like old Tarisio. In our very love of the church and with a displaced zeal we seek to protect ourselves from the world rather than sing out the Good News to the world. In our zeal for the truth we forget to publish it. When shall we all learn that the Good News needs not just to be cherished, but needs to be told? All people need to hear it.

I challenge you to read carefully again these words from the Apostle Paul:  “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”  Take these words to heart. Let them be the embers that start a raging fire in your heart to bring the love of God to a lost world. Be zealous for Christ!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Monday, August 31, 2026

When I learned to drive a car, I was not living in Wisconsin. I remember distinctly the first time I was told to use an entrance ramp to get on to a freeway. The instructor reminded me of the merge rules we had studied in class. He said, “Use the ramp to accelerate to freeway speed while checking your mirrors for freeway traffic. Signal your intentions, and then merge into the flow of traffic.” There was even a sign at the end of the ramp that said “Merge”. Years later, when we moved to Wisconsin, I noticed the signs on all the freeway entrance ramps said “Yield”. The highway department has updated their laws since those days, but I never figured out the logic of a yield sign at the end of an entrance ramp. It seemed very dangerous as people would slow down rather than speed up to merge.  

The word yield carries a negative connotation for me. It seems like most of the time, when we talk about yielding, it has to do with giving in. None of us really enjoys doing that. That attitude even carries over into our spiritual lives. For example, recently in my Timothy Training class we were talking about the importance of prayer. I had laid out for them the acrostic of the word pray, and we were talking about each element of a powerful prayer life – Praise; Repent; Ask; Yield.

As we got to the last point, the emphasis was on surrendering to the will of God. It is accurate and advisable to pray with such surrender, as Jesus did when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night He was betrayed. Remember what He asked? “Father, if it is possible, don’t make me go through this.” But do you also remember how He finished His prayer? “Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done.” That’s yielding. That’s hard.

But this morning I thought about yielding from a different perspective. I guess I’ve been a city boy too long, because I had almost forgotten the other meaning of the word yield – to produce. In fact, of the 23 times the word yield is used in the Bible, 19 times refer to the produce of crops rather than the surrender of self. It seems to me that I’ve been looking at yielding the wrong way.

Again, yielding to God in surrender is essential, but imagine how our prayer lives would change if we used both definitions of yield at the end of our prayers. How much blessing are we missing when we simply focus on what has become the negative attitude of surrender and forget to embrace the positive attitude of harvest? I am just a little bit excited about this. Every prayer we pray should end with the expectation that God is going to produce a bountiful harvest of glory as He accomplishes His will, and we get to share in the harvest.

Just look at what God said to us in Proverbs 8 – “I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. My fruit is better than fine gold;  what I yield surpasses choice silver. I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, bestowing wealth on those who love me and making their treasuries full.”

Using those truths of God, maybe it’s time we start ending our prays with faith by saying, “Lord, as I yield to your will, let the fruit of your life and your glory be yielded to me in abundance.” Let’s begin praying with the expectation of God’s yield.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Friday, August 28, 2026

It’s not long after our birth before we begin to attempt to copy the actions of people around us. It starts with a smile. Soon the baby is making noises that imitate what the parent is doing to imitate the baby. After a while there will be hand-waving. It’s not long before emotions are able to be expressed in tantrums and thoughts are able to be expressed in words. Suddenly, before our very eyes, stands a mirror image of ourselves. We don’t always like what we see.  

Today is the day for a word that starts with the letter “x”. Tough assignment. There’s not a lot of selection. But there is a word that connects with our Scripture passage today from Romans 12:2. “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world.” It’s a word from which a major copy machine company chose their name, and in my early days of business and church ministry it was synonymous with copiers. The word is “xerographic”, and the company was Xerox.

The definition of xerographic is this – “a process for copying printed material in which the image of the original material is transferred by the action of light to an electrically charged surface to which the image attracts oppositely charged dry ink particles, which are then fused in place on paper, reproducing the original image.” Sounds complicated, but I see it as a spiritual analogy.

Jesus is the original. God is the Light. My life is the electrically charged surface. The Holy Spirit is the ink. Here’s how I see it working.

Babies are born with both a genetic nature that will dictate some behavior, like crying when hungry, and a blank slate of learned behaviors that will become the expression of their thought process. The same is true of newborn Christians. When we come to Christ, we are born into the family of God and are given the genetic nature of Jesus. His nature will dictate some of our behavior, like hunger for the Word of God. But other behaviors remain our choice, and we learn how to choose to express our thoughts in our words and actions. When we choose to expose our thoughts to the nature of Jesus under the light of God, the Holy Spirit duplicates His nature in us. We become a copy of the original.  We’ve been spiritually Xeroxed.

Unfortunately many of us don’t expose ourselves to the light of God. We choose the nature of the world over the nature of Jesus. We become copies of culture rather than Christ. From my own experience that doesn’t work out very well. I think you know that from your experience also. Copying the behaviors and customs of the world will lead to the end result of the world – destruction and death. But transforming our minds so that our lives become the copy of Christ brings the end result of God – the good and pleasing will of God for an abundant life.

Each one of us must decide who or what we will copy. We have all become the behavioral product of our choice to copy someone. If that choice has led you to become the copy of anyone but Christ, then it’s time for you to expose yourself to the transforming light of God and His truth. You can become the copy of Christ. Let the xerography begin today. Let’s copy Christ.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, August 27, 2026

It’s all about winning. Everything in life is about the experience of victory. From sports to business deals, everyone pursues triumph. Even when we diet, losing is really winning. We were created with an undeniable urge to experience the “thrill of victory” and avoid the “agony of defeat.”

Now before you react negatively to this, think about it carefully. It is not wrong that we focus on winning. The Bible speaks of winning, overcoming, and victory almost 100 times. “With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.” (Psalm 60:12)

Sports are one of the Apostle Paul’s favorite metaphors of the Christian experience. “Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.” (2 Timothy 2:5) The passion to win is not a sin. It is only wrong if we think winning defines our worth and if we believe winning in this life is the ultimate victory. An exaggerated emphasis on worldly accomplishments results in ultimate loss, not gain. If a person’s worth is measured by their win/loss percentage, then ultimately at the point of death everything is loss. Even after all of our personal victories in life are counted, death still wins and none of our wins matter: UNLESS death itself can be conquered.

The good news of Jesus Christ is that death has been conquered, and everyone who comes to repentance and faith in Him will ultimately win. Paul wrote about this in 1 Corinthians 15 when he said, “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  The only victory worth training for is that one. The only win worth fighting for is eternity with Jesus Christ. The only true motivation to get up after a defeat and continue fighting for the faith is the knowledge that ultimate victory is ours in Christ. Look at these incredible promises from God:

1 John 5:4-5 “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.  Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

Luke 10:19 “I have given you authority…to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” 

John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Life will be filled with lots of losses. We will suffer rejection from our families and friends because of our faith in Jesus Christ. We will be criticized and even persecuted by our culture because of our stand for moral righteousness and God’s justice. We will suffer financial loss. We will experience emotional loss. There will be deaths in our families. Living life faithfully for Jesus is not easy, and we may experience very few personal victories.

Acts 14:19-22 “Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.  But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city…strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.” 

Paul was a great example of how to keep our faith and live it consistently even in the face of death. He was considered dead after the stoning he suffered at Lystra, but he got back up and went right back into the city that had rejected him, putting himself in harm’s way again. Then, after visiting Derbe and winning people to Jesus Christ, he went back to Lystra again to strengthen and encourage the people to remain true to the faith. He modeled to the people how to look beyond the hardships of today to the victory that was coming when Jesus returns.

Death was but the doorway to victory for Paul, and it must be that for us as well. When we see it that way, the fear of worldly loss is consumed in the fire of faith that Jesus Christ has conquered the world. So be encouraged. Do not fear what the world can do to you. Do not fear the loss of worldly gain and worth. Do not fear the people who stand against you because you stand for God. “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) 

And when you do fall down in defeat, even to the point of death, know this: God’s people, the disciples, will gather around you and encourage you so that you will get back up and go back to doing God’s work. And when one of the faithful disciples you know falls down under the weight of persecution and loss, go to them and take your stand around them so they are encouraged to get back up also. We are not in this alone. God is with us, and God’s people stand beside each other. Remain true to the faith, and let’s fight until Jesus comes and we win!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Wednesday, August 26, 2026

1 Corinthians 15:57  “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

I have come to realize that far too much of our time is spent in trying to gain victories over the issues of the world and far too little time is spent living in the victory of eternity. We exhaust ourselves seeking to enhance and extend this life when all effort to do so is futile. All we gain from this world will be lost. Jesus said, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”  There is no ultimate victory that can be gained from the world. Jesus declared this truth to us when He said, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

Victory comes at the end of the race of life to those who have lived by faith, not to those who have gathered the most goods. The Apostle John reminds us of this when he says, “everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”  Our faith is in the God who was victorious over death through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. We have a hope that is sure.

Unfortunately many of us run the race of life with the wrong focus. The track on which we run the race of life is filled with hurdles. Each hurdle has a name. There’s one called financial security. There’s one named success. Others are labeled as family, friends, and acceptance. Each of our races has different hurdles in a different order. But all our races have one final hurdle named death.

We run our races focused on the hurdles. We take a break from running after each hurdle is successfully jumped. We leave the track and spend time soaking up whatever glory we can get from bystanders, as if we have accomplished some great victory. Some never get back on the track and melt into the crowd of those who have no sight of the finish line and will never get past the final hurdle. While they think they are living, they never really do.

Some run the race with faith. Every hurdle is crossed with determination to make it to the next one, and the next one, until finally, with eyes fixed firmly on Jesus at the finish line, the last hurdle of death is navigated, and they cross into eternal victory.

“Dear Lord and Savior, let me run the race with my eyes fixed firmly on you, and not the hurdles. Let me pass each hurdle with a determination to run faithfully to the end. I determine to not be distracted by the temporary joys of hurdle-jumping, but to remain focused on the joy that is set before me at the end of the race, when there are no more hurdles to jump and I will rest in your arms. May I not be tempted to place value on the things I accomplish for myself while running the race, but to rather consider all things a loss compared to the excellency of knowing and serving You. May my life be filled with thanks – not for things, but for the victory I have in You. May I live every day in full confidence of the hope of glory, and that one day You will reward me for having run my race faithfully as Your servant. I pray this in Your Name, Jesus. AMEN!”

Pastor John