LifeLink Devotions for Friday, April 3, 2026

This morning while chatting on facebook with an unsaved friend, I was asked how I was. You know, the typical conversation starter. I said I was fantastic, and he asked me why. I responded, “This is the day out of all human history that God chose to solve man’s sin problem.” The friend responded, “I thought this was the day the Easter bunny got his eggs ready for Sunday.”  It opened the door for a time of planting seeds of truth.

“This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” That verse from Psalms directly refers to this day – the day that we traditionally celebrate the crucifixion of Jesus on the cross. It was much more than a horrifying death at the hands of man: it was a substitutionary death at the hands of a loving God. Hard to comprehend, isn’t it? Love forcing suffering doesn’t make sense to our finite minds. But to those of us who are being saved by the blood of Jesus, it is the splendor of the Gospel. Unfortunately to the unsaved it is foolishness.

The payment of sin’s debt of death to a holy and righteous God is required from each one of us. We will either pay it ourselves or we will accept a payment already made and be debt-free. That payment was Jesus Christ who died on the cross. The payment was accepted and eternally validated when God raised Jesus from the dead and restored Him to His position of exalted honor on the throne of Heaven. That’s where those who accept His life in exchange for our own will meet Him and spend eternity with Him.

Here’s what God the Father says about what Jesus will accomplish on the cross in Isaiah 42:6-7.  “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.”

The suffering of Jesus brings us freedom. Blind eyes that cannot see God are opened when the light of God’s love is seen in Jesus. Bondage to sinful behaviors is broken when Jesus takes hold of our hand. Jesus became our sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him!

Isaiah chapter fifty-three has incredible significance and meaning when understood as a prophecy of Christ’s death on the cross. Read it slowly and carefully and let the impact of it bless you and send you into a time of rejoicing, for this is the day the Lord planned for us.

“Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.^ He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the LORD’S will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.”

“Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, April 2, 2026

The earthly ministry of Jesus is almost over. There are just a few more details to teach His disciples about what will be happening in the next few days and beyond. According to the traditional timeline, tonight Jesus will meet with His disciples in the upper room. The things He will tell them will deeply distress them. They will be confused and concerned for their own futures, not only their Lord’s. Each one will respond differently to the things they will hear to try to cover their pain.

Peter will get very vocal and bold, refusing to have his feet washed and claiming that he will endure to the end and suffer death if need be. It was a cover-up for his pain to keep his assumed image intact.

They will all question the sincerity of their hearts and their commitment levels when Jesus announces that one of them will betray Him. They quickly have a meeting and elect John to ask Him who it is so they can hopefully ease their own minds.

When Jesus announces that He is leaving, and that they will join Him someday, Thomas reveals the confusion of all of them when he says that they don’t get it. “Where are you going, and how do we get there?”

Even after answering them and telling them that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that they could arrive at the Father’s home through Him, Philip asked to see the Father. How embarrassing to ask a question for which you should have already known the answer.

Imagine the pain they must have been experiencing. For three years they have followed Jesus based on some cultural and religious presuppositions. Every step of the way Jesus had gently addressed those assumptions and declared to them nuggets of truth that could have changed their perceptions. They didn’t understand. They still thought that the outcome was going to be the installation of a King on the throne of David and that they were going to get to be in the inner circle of leadership in the new Kingdom. Now it was beginning to dawn in the darkness of their minds that there was a different plan. It hurt to see the brightness of the light that began to shine.

Their hearts were wounded. They were bending severely under the weight of their misunderstanding. The fire of their enthusiasm was reduced to a mere smolder of smoke as they struggled with their own identity and worth.

But Jesus – the servant of God in whom He delights – does not cry out or raise His voice. He does not bend them further until they break. He does not extinguish what remains of their fire. Instead, He says, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be^£ in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” 

What comfort that was! What compassion was revealed! Jesus the encourager. Preparing Himself to suffer and die he reached out to help those who were hurting far less than Himself. They could not know the depth of their Lord’s pain, even if they were not so focused on their own. But that did not matter to Jesus. He reached out to them and lifted them out of their gloom and despair and gave them hope.

Take heart, my friend. Whatever it is in your life that is bending you to the breaking point or extinguishing all the fires of enthusiasm in your heart, Jesus will not break you or snuff you out. He will respond to your need with compassion and lift you out of your gloom and give you hope. Let Him adjust your perspective!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Wednesday, April 1, 2026

One of the highlights of ministry life for me is to see people from radically different religious backgrounds coming together in Christ and forming a loving, unified body because of the peace provided for them at the cross. I am especially blessed to have experienced this in another culture.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the Philippines lately. It happens every year at this time around my birthday, because friends in Davao City hosted some of my greatest birthday parties. As I watched videos recently of the college graduation and the Pastor’s Conference, I realize how much I miss all of them. I am especially moved by the transforming power of the cross when I think about the tribal churches that have been planted up in the mountains. I have visited many of those churches, and I remember one in particular. The church met in a community shelter in this extremely poverty stricken area. Now you must not visualize a community center according to American standards. This is the Philippines. The building was 8’ x 8’ made of bamboo with a palm branch roof, and a small 15’ x 10’ dirt courtyard surrounded by a broken down bamboo fence. We had church there on Sunday morning in the courtyard, with around 45 people in attendance. They had walked for miles down the mountain trails to get there that morning so that we would not have to try to take the mission vehicle up the muddy trail to their village. We sang some songs to the sounds of a crude guitar played by one of the tribal boys who was learning to praise God with an instrument. No worship band – just worshipping people! It was awesome. I preached that morning on Elijah and the prophets of Baal when they met on the mountain and God’s power conquered the false worshippers.

The reason I had chosen that story was because of the living reality of it in those people. They came from a tribe of false worshippers and spiritism, and they had never heard the truth of Jesus until one of the graduates of our Bible college went there to plant a church. These had been people who had never seen a white man, and who probably would have killed one in their village area if he had gone there unannounced and unescorted. They were dressed as well as their meager means would allow. A few of them still had some teeth. By any American standards they were to be avoided if met on the street. But now, because of the cross, we were worshipping together. We were smiling at each other with a joy that is only shared between family members. In fact, I am crying my eyes out right now as I write this because of the joy in my heart that Jesus saves equally and completely. Just think, in Christ we have equal access to the Father! I receive no preferential treatment from God because I am American or have a home or money or cars or because I dress right, and especially not because I have a particular color of skin. In Christ we are all one!

That’s the power of the cross – it brings peace that passes all human reason. Let’s not draw lines of separation between people when Jesus came to obliterate those lines and make us one!

Ephesians 2:11-18 “Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace…”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Tuesday, March 31, 2026

When I was in high school in the Twin Cities, with a graduating class of 825, I was an unnoticed nerd – or at least I thought I was. I was very insecure, I hated my appearance, and I had nothing that identified me except my trombone, and according to the cool kids, band was for geeks. But one day in English class, one of the most popular girls in school came up to me and said, “I love it when you wear blue because it brings out the color of your eyes. I love blue too.” Well, you can imagine how I felt after they revived me from fainting. I had found a connection point to the cool kids. I wore blue every day. I started to choose my clothing carefully, and I became one of the best-dressed kids in school. No jeans ever. Only dress pants and nice shirts and sweaters. All my clothes had to be the latest fashion. I even wore shirts with French cuffs and cufflinks, and they were always blue, except for one purple one. I was compelled to make a good impression outwardly. No one had ever noticed me for who I was inwardly, and I didn’t believe they ever would. For sure if they saw the real me they would reject me, and there was no way I was about to put myself through that pain. No one wants to be persecuted for who they are.

Now, let’s make an application to our spiritual lives. In Galatians chapter 6 the Apostle Paul makes this point – don’t use an external image of religious conformity to avoid the pain of rejection.

Galatians 6:12-15 “Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh. May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.”

The Judaizers, those Jewish Christians who believed that salvation was only available to those who believed in Jesus and conformed to the Jewish law, were trying to force Gentile Christians to get circumcised. I don’t believe they were doing this because they theologically believed it, but because they socially needed it for their own approval rating. They could remain active in their Jewish sub-culture if they minimized the effect of the cross and kept some of their socially and religiously accepted traditions.

How often are we guilty of this in our lives? We add an external appearance or behavior standard to the message of the cross so that we can stay in our comfort zone and be recognized as superior to others? But let’s be clear about this. The message of the cross is simple and powerful. By the shed blood of Jesus as God’s sacrifice for our sin, all sin is forgiven in the life of any person who repents and receives its cleansing power by faith. At that instant they are made a new creation by the power of the resurrected Christ in them. 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” They are blessed with every spiritual blessing from on high. Ephesians 1:3 – “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” They are made joint heirs of all eternity with all the saints in glory, including you and me. Romans 8:16-17 – “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” Everyone who believes is equally saved!  

There is the very real possibility that within your family or your circle of friends, or even in your church, that you will be rejected and persecuted for living this way. Yet Paul was so convinced of the power of the cross that he said he would never boast about anything else in his life except that. He did not take pride in his pattern of behavior or in his theology and use those things as a means of gaining acceptance with anyone. He simply loved what Jesus did on the cross. He simply loved people who love what Jesus did on the cross. He knew that the power to affect the external had to come from the power of the eternal in them. 

When the Holy Spirit brings the new creation of Christ into a spiritually dead person, His ministry is just beginning. He will bring the external changes necessary to complete His work. He uses all of us to help influence that development, but we must be willing to let the finished work be unique, not cloned. What we do for Christ must be for the glory of the cross, not for the approval of people.

 Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Monday, March 30, 2026

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ must remain the central focus of all that we are and all that we do. That is the conclusion to which Paul attempts to bring the church at Corinth as he opens his first letter to them. You may remember that this church was going through a lot of difficulties, and the first major issue that Paul addresses is the tendency churchgoers have to be people-followers. There were divisions in the church because some people liked Apollos better than Paul or Peter, and some were even taking pride in the fact that they had stayed true to Jesus. They were arguing and bickering about who taught better, who led better, and who gave them the best spiritual benefits.

In addressing these divisions, Paul makes it clear that the following of any human wisdom diminishes the power of the cross in our personal lives and in the life of the church.

1 Corinthians 1:17-18 “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel – not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

When the focus and form of our teaching and preaching becomes self-centered rather than Christ-centered, we lose power. Let me illustrate.  Once there was a professional football team that had incredible talent but couldn’t win the big games, primarily because the focus of the team was on an individual rather than the purpose of the team. It was so bad that free agents from other teams were refusing to even consider becoming a part of this team. Then it happened – the team changed its focus from the problems caused by an individual to the goal of accomplishing their purpose, and a huge change occurred. Weaknesses in the team were suddenly made strengths. Free agents from other teams were anxious to become a part of the organization. Franchise players from other teams are begging to be traded to this team. Why? Because the self-centered focus has been replaced with a team spirit based on a unified purpose.

That’s what must happen in the church. People must move from a self-centered, people-following, people-pleasing lifestyle to one of surrendered, sacrificial commitment to Christ and His purpose. When it does, people who are not part of the body of Christ will want to be. They will ask to join us because that is the power of the cross.

We hear a lot today about the progressive church, and one of the characteristics of such churches is a non-offensive presentation of the Gospel. I have a very serious question in that regard: How can the Gospel message of the cross of Christ be non-offensive to an unbeliever when Paul states here in today’s Scripture that the cross is considered foolishness to the unsaved, and in Galatians 5:11 he states that if the Gospel is compromised in any way the cross loses its offense to the unsaved?

So many churches today are avoiding the real issue of people’s lives by speaking only to the perceived or surface issues because they believe it will attract more people and offend fewer people. My friends, I do not wish to purposely offend anyone, but I most definitely will not offend my Lord and Savior by turning the church or the ministry to which He has called me into an effort of human wisdom. I will preach the cross of Jesus Christ, and those who respond will be transformed by the power of God and not by human reason. And they will respond, because the power of God will draw them to the place where their spiritual need can be truly met in Christ. May we all, in the power of the resurrected Christ, boldly tell others about the power of the cross to save people from sin and death. 

Pastor John

https://anchor.fm/pastor-john-van-gorkom/episodes/Overcoming-Sorrow-evom5l

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, March 27, 2026

I had a lot of time to prepare, but it didn’t help. When the day finally came, I was overwhelmed with sorrow.

It was the summer of 1967, and my parents informed us that we had to pack all our belongings and move into a small cabin beside a lake. That part was fun, but nothing else about what was happening provided any pleasure for me. I was told we would be living in that cabin until my dad could find another job.

When September came, and school started, we were still in the cabin. It was not heated, and it was getting cold, especially at night. Then the day arrived that I was informed that we were moving in two weeks.  The next day I had to tell all my friends at school that I was leaving. I will never forget the pain of those days.

I cried myself to sleep the night before we got in the car for the long drive from Oscoda, Michigan to St. Paul, Minnesota. If not for time and a backward look at what happened later, I might never have recovered emotionally. But now, looking back, I can see the things God did in my life. And with social media, I am reconnected with many of those friends.

But when it was happening, I was so overwhelmed with sorrow that I couldn’t see anything else. I should have asked more questions about the decisions that were being made. I especially wish I would have asked the why and where questions. But sorrow clouded my judgment.

As He discusses the future with His disciples, Jesus seems a little surprised that they are not asking Him more questions about what He is telling them. He recognizes that sorrow has filled their hearts. In John sixteen Jesus says, “But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.”(John 16:5-6)

The sorrows of life can be overwhelming. They can limit or even eliminate our ability to see the good that God has designed to come from them.

People leaving and leaving people causes heartache that keeps us from seeing the potential for personal growth through new relationships.

Terminal illnesses overwhelm us with grief so we lose sight of the eternal healing that is ahead.

Personal failures drive us into depression and self-condemnation, keeping us from embracing the power of recovery and future success.

When we focus only on the loss we are experiencing, we are desperately sad. But when we see past the sorrow by asking the right questions, we begin to hope again, and hope brings healing.

If the disciples had only asked Jesus why He was leaving and where He was going, He would have told them. But they didn’t, and their hearts were overwhelmed with sorrow. It is not wrong to ask Jesus questions. He wants to provide you the comfort and hope you need to keep going.

Pastor John

https://anchor.fm/pastor-john-van-gorkom/episodes/FALLING-evm8lo

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, March 26, 2026

Many years ago, when the kids were young, our family went roller skating with some good friends. We had a blast skating as fast as we could around the oval.  Some of us were even good enough to go backwards. And nobody crashed. That is until they turned the lights off and shined spotlights on a big ball in the ceiling. The ball was covered in tiny mirrors, all placed at different angles, so tiny beams of light shined all over the skating rink. Then they spun the ball.

As I skated around the circle, my best friend was behind me. My eyes were focused on the moving dots of light on the floor.  My head started spinning with the dots. It only took about fifteen seconds and I crashed to the floor. I had totally lost my sense of equilibrium. I could not stand up.  It was as if the music had stopped and all I could hear was my friend laughing hysterically.  All I could do was laugh with him as I crawled to the carpeted sitting area and sat out the rest of that song.

No one told me to keep my eyes up and not watch the spinning lights on the floor.  No one gave me the information I needed to keep me from falling.

I am so thankful that Jesus has given us the information we need to keep us from falling. The sixteenth chapter of the Gospel of John starts with these words of Jesus.

“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.”  John 16:1

Isn’t that amazing? Jesus has told us everything we need to know to keep us from falling?  

He told us that He’s going to prepare a place for us and will come and get us and take us there.  We have an eternal treasure waiting for us so we don’t fall into the pit of materialism. 

Jesus informed us that He would come and live inside of us in the power of the Holy Spirit. With His presence in us we won’t fall flat on our faces in despair but will have the Peace of God that passes all understanding. 

We learned from Jesus that when we abide in Him we will bear much fruit that brings glory to God. Knowing that we a producing fruit for Jesus keeps us from falling into the pothole of pity where we question our purpose for living.

Jesus also told us that His presence in our lives will keep us from being discouraged when we are misunderstood, rejected, and hated by the world. With our eyes fixed on Him we will not become disillusioned or disoriented by the world spinning around us, and we will not fall. 

Jesus does not want us to fall. His Words have given us everything we need to stay standing, even when the world around us seems to be spinning out of control.

One of my favorite Bible verse applies very well to what Jesus said.  It’s found in Jude’s little letter to us. 

“Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”  Jude 1:24-25

Keep your eyes on Jesus.  Don’t focus on what’s spinning around you. Jesus won’t let you fall.

Pastor John

https://anchor.fm/pastor-john-van-gorkom/episodes/LEVEL-AND-PACKED-evg9rd

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lifelink-devotions/id1559931973

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Years ago on a Wednesday afternoon I enjoyed four hours of relaxation driving a piece of machinery. I was working to level off a sloped parking area next to my driveway so my camper could be parked there. I used the skid steer to dig into the high spots and move the dirt to the low spots while still maintaining access to the area from my driveway.  To my surprise, when I got done, it looked pretty good. It was even level.

But it’s not ready for use yet. The repositioned fill is now soft and needs to be compacted. So today I will use another piece of equipment and pack it down so it stays in place when I drive on it. For the spot to stay level, the gravel must stay in place.

Here’s a simple lesson I learned from this project. God is constantly reshaping my life so it is level. But for it to remain level, He must pack down what has been moved. He does so by going over and over and over the spots that were repaired until they don’t move anymore. He turns what was once shifting sand into solid rock.

Having my life stomped on is not fun. But God isn’t really stomping. He’s pressing into place the things necessary to give me a solid foundation upon which to park the other aspects of my life. But if the foundation isn’t secure, everything I park there will become unlevel and unstable. So I embrace the Holy Spirit’s leveling off of truth and packing it into my life.

Sometimes I make it hard for Him because I like the high spots I’ve built. I resist letting them be torn down. But He is faithful, and patiently, inch by inch, cuts away the surface and exposes solid rock. He is improving me and making me more useful.

Now, every time I see an earth mover, whether it be a small skid steer or a massive digger, I will think of how the Lord is shaping and leveling my life to form a firm foundation of truth.

Pastor John

https://anchor.fm/pastor-john-van-gorkom/episodes/Idolatry-eve2s9

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lifelink-devotions/id1559931973

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

We are all fixers. We all believe, to varying degrees, that we have the answers. We seek to influence people with our understanding because we believe our way is the best way. We take public stands on issues and become vocal about the correctness of our views, even to the point of condemning the views of others. We invest massive amounts of intellectual energy into proving our positions. There is a deep need in all of us to validate ourselves, and we do it by making sure that others know we are right. In essence, we have declared ourselves to be God.

The prophet Hosea in the Old Testament spoke to this very issue. It was during an historical period in Israel when the nation was deeply distressed. They were spiritually and morally bankrupt. Four kings had been assassinated by their successors. Sin was rampant, and people had turned to worshipping false gods. Yet Hosea told the people that restoration was possible if the people would repent and turn back to God.

In Hosea’s final message to the people, he reminds us of the biggest idol we all have. It is the hardest idol to tear down. It is the idol of trusting ourselves. Here are God’s words to His people.

Hosea 14:3  “…we will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands.”

Recently I had the opportunity to help someone recognize this idol in their own life. He made it clear that he could not accept a gift from anyone. Anything of lasting value in his life had to be done by the work of his own hands. I praise God that he recognized this as an idol that kept him from the gift of salvation, and he repented.

Then I wondered, for myself and for all of you, what works of our hands do we still worshipped as a god?

Have your political views and activism become the way you validate yourself? Then they are your god.

Has your career become the way you earn acceptance with others and declare yourself good? Then it is your god.

Are your financial resources and your possessions the way you measure success? Then they are your god.

Is your pursuit of pleasure the way you compensate for your sense of worthlessness? Then it is your god.

Do you seek to control every aspect of your life because you are the master of your own destiny? Then you are your own god.

It’s no wonder our nation is decaying. The people who make up the nation have replaced the One True God with the work of their own hands. So long as we believe that we can fix it, we will continue to decay and eventually die. Our only hope is that each of us repents of our idolatry and returns to God through Jesus Christ.

No longer will we call the works of our hands our god. We repent of self-fulfillment, self-validation, self-acceptance, and self-worth. No longer will they be our gods. And when we repent, God will restore. He says, “I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.”  (Hosea 14:4)

Pastor John

https://anchor.fm/pastor-john-van-gorkom/episodes/BREATH-OF-LIFE-evbbfn

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lifelink-devotions/id1559931973

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, March 23, 2026

It was the scariest thing I ever did. I had visions of being a champion, but ended up gasping for breath and nearly drowning.

It all happened at Trout Lake Bible Camp in Minnesota when I was a freshman in High School. The music director for the week had issued a challenge. As a professional singer he could hold his breath for a long time. He proved it by diving off the large raft in the deep water and swimming under water toward shore. Then he posted a flag where he had surfaced for air. He would award five dollars to any camper who could pass his flag.

I took the challenge. I knew I could beat it. In fact, I practiced two times and beat it both times. Then came the official race. The music director stood on the dock near his flag, and I swam out to the raft. After a short rest, I started my deep breathing exercises. When I was ready, I took a large breath and dove in.

I was doing very well until I realized I had drifted left too far and came up against another large raft that was halfway to my goal. I made a decision. A very poor decision. I saw that the support braces were sufficiently high off the bottom of the lake to allow me to swim underneath, so I did. After two more strokes I came to the raft’s center braces. There was less clearance. The lake was getting shallower. I went under again. But when I got to the final braces, there was not enough room for me to exit. I was trapped.

I turned around and went back the way I came. I made it under the center braces. When I got to the deep end braces my lungs were pounding. I wondered if I would pass out. As I struggled upward, and my head broke the surface I expelled all the built-up carbon dioxide from my lungs and gasped for a breath of air. I was alive. Then, over to my right, I heard the music director shout, “Nice try, John.”

I never told him what happened. I asked for another chance and he refused. I was heartbroken. But I was glad to be alive.

I will never forget the feeling of desperately needing a breath of air. Every part of my being was focused on getting it. When it was finally available to me, I expelled everything I could that kept me from taking in what I needed.

What would our lives be like if that’s how we pursued the filling of the Holy Spirit?

Pastor John