LifeLink Devotional for Wednesday, July 15, 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

LifeLink Devotional for Tuesday, July 14, 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

LifeLink Devotional for Monday, July 13, 2026

It’s hard to ask for help. We usually live by the motto, “I’d rather do it myself!”  However, the older I get, the more I realize I need help. (If my grandchildren are reading this they are making jokes right now about the kind of help I need.) I find that age has its advantages. One of them is freedom from the embarrassment and shame of asking for help.

Jesus knew the disciples would need help after He ascended back to the Father following His resurrection. But before they could even ask for help, He promised them a Helper. Four times in His discussion with the disciples He promised to send the Holy Spirit as our Helper, and each time He reveals what kind of help would be provided.

1. The Helper brings security to our relationship with Jesus and authority to do the work of Jesus. (John 14:12-16)
2. The Helper teaches us the truth of Scripture and keeps us at peace. (John 14:26-27)
3. The Helper will bear witness about Jesus and empower us to also be witnesses of Jesus. (John 15:26-27)
4. The Helper will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. (John 16:7-9)

I encourage you to study all four of these passages and discover the wonderful help that is available to all who believe in Jesus Christ. But remember, the help comes in a Person, the Holy Spirit. With Him you get strength, peace, knowledge, wisdom, and more, but do not worship the work of the Helper. Rather, we worship the Helper, for He is Jesus Christ.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional for Friday, July 10, 2026

The world is increasingly being governed by hate. No longer do we commend what is good. Instead, we condemn what is different. We seek to destroy anything that contradicts our personal preferences, opinions, viewpoints, and choices. Hatred of others for the sole purpose of personal gain is the systemic problem of the human heart. It’s called pride.

Unfortunately, the hatred by the world of those who follow Christ Jesus is going to grow. Jesus promised it. But He declared that there is only one reason that the world should hate us: it hated Him first.

John 15:18  “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”

This promise of Jesus MUST be understood in the context of His teaching in John 15. Jesus has been teaching His disciples that when He leaves them to go back to the Father in glory, He will come back to us in the Person of the Holy Spirit and dwell in us. The life of Jesus becomes our life. Therefore, the world will hate us because of the life of Jesus in us.

It is true that Christians today are hated by the world. Some are hated for their political views. Some are persecuted for their views on sexuality and family life. Many are hated because they speak of a love for Jesus yet do not love people as Jesus loves them. It is unfortunate that so many Christians take joy in being hated for the wrong reasons.

There is only one reason for the world to hate the followers of Jesus: because they are the visible manifestation of the life of Jesus in them. The world will hate us because it hated Jesus. The world will hate us because when they see us and interact with us they are seeing Jesus.

Oh, my dear friends who call yourselves Christians, is it possible that the world hates you for some other reason than the single fact that your life resembles Christ? Could it be that you are claiming the joy of being persecuted like Christ without actually being like Christ? Is there a chance, any chance, that the suffering you are experiencing is because the world sees the hypocrisy of your claims when they observe your attitudes and actions?

This is heart-wrenching. It should be. The promise of Jesus for peace when we suffer is only so valid as our determination to be like Jesus in thought, in words, and in actions. When we truly learn to love one another the way we are loved by Christ, then we may take joy in knowing that we are suffering as He did. Until then, the suffering you may be experiencing is not because the world hates you, but because the Father hates the sin in you. He is cleansing you so that you will abide in Jesus, and love others as He loves you. Then you will suffer for the right reason – because the world will see Jesus in you.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, July 9, 2026

In the classic 1980 golf movie Caddyshack, one of the characters is a Bishop who is really not very good at the game. But on one particular day he has the game of his life. It is raining as he starts, and every shot he hits is the best shot of his life. The storm gets worse as he continues to make shot after shot. Soon the rain is falling in torrents, the wind is blowing in gales, and the lightning is striking all around him, but he keeps playing, seemingly oblivious to the danger and discomfort of the weather. Finally, on the last hole, with water standing an inch deep on the putting green, he sinks a putt for a new course record. Raising his arms in triumph with his putter still in his hand, he is struck by a bolt of lightning and killed. 

Apart from the stupidity of his choice to keep playing in such a storm, this scene depicts perseverance. No matter what the external obstacle, this golfer was focused on completing his purpose to have the greatest round of golf in his soon-to-be-over life. The joy he was experiencing from accomplishing his purpose overcame any obstacle or suffering. 

James 1:2 – 4  “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

In Thayer’s Greek Dictionary, perseverance is defined as the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings. Perseverance has several synonyms used in the Bible – patience, steadfastness, and endurance are the three main ones. They all express the same truth – stick with it until it’s done. 

Notice in Thayer’s definition the following key points:

1. We have a deliberate purpose. God has prepared for us a divine purpose, and we are privileged to choose to accept it and deliberately obey it.
2. Once we have made the commitment to fulfill our purpose, we are to be loyal to everything that makes the accomplishment of the purpose possible – specifically faith and piety: faith being what we believe and piety being how we live what we believe.
3. Following our deliberate choice to accomplish God’s purpose and our loyalty to faith and piety, we are able to persevere no matter what the trial or suffering.

Now compare those three aspects of perseverance to this passage of Scripture. 

Hebrews 12:1 – 3  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

A deliberate purpose is defined as a race. A loyalty to faith and piety is defined as fixing our eyes on Jesus. Perseverance is defined as running without growing weary or losing heart. That’s what maturity looks like in a follower of Jesus. And when we’ve finished the last hole and accomplished our objective, raise your arms in triumph because Jesus will take you home and say, “Well done!“

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Wednesday, July 8, 2026

So far this week we have been digging a little deeper into the marks of a spiritually mature person. On Monday we talked about sacrificing the immediate for the eternal; and yesterday we grew in our decision-making by considering moral discernment. Today we find the teaching of Scripture in Hebrews that defines maturity as loving service to other people.

Hebrews 6:1, 10  “Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity…God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

I enjoy watching college football. I remember one specific NCAA championship game twenty years ago. We had church that night, so after getting home I sat down to watch what was left of the game. There were 5 minutes left in the second quarter, and Texas, the team for which I was cheering, had the ball and scored a quick touchdown to take the lead. At that moment the phone rang. It was a young man that I had been assisting with his adjustment to society after getting out of jail. He had fallen and sprained his ankle and was on his way to the hospital emergency room. He asked me if I would be able to pick him up later and take him home. I agreed.

Little did I know that he would call back at 10:15 PM to have me come and pick him up. Those of you that know me well know that I am usually in bed by that time, but the game had kept me up. I jumped in the car, hoping to get this all done and return home to see the end of the game. When I arrived at the hospital they were not yet ready to release him, so I watched the game with him in his room. As we were transferring him into the wheel chair to go to my car USC scored a touchdown and went ahead by the score of 38-26 with 6 minutes to play. “Well, it’s over now!“ I said as we walked out of the hospital, forcing myself to feel better about missing the end of the game.

After a 40 minute wait at the pharmacy for his pain medication, I finally returned home at 11:45 PM just in time to see the final moments of the post game show and heard the news that Texas had come back and scored 15 points in the final four minutes and won the game. I couldn’t believe it. I missed it. The greatest college football game ever and I didn’t get to see the best part of it. 

Now for many of us, the temptation might be to think, “If it weren’t for other people’s problems my life would be so simple.” That is NOT what I thought! I was sad that I missed the game, but my heart was blessed to know that I was able to help someone who had nowhere else to turn. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 

Spiritually mature people sacrifice the immediate for the eternal and serve others with the love of God. Try it today!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Another of the marks of spiritual maturity found in the New Testament is that we are able to distinguish good from evil. There is much more to this than just knowing right from wrong. A two-year-old child is able to understand yes and no, but in their heart they are not yet able to discern good from evil. The child responds to benefits and consequences, but does not have the ability to comprehend the nature of the action that brings the reward or punishment. It is in the understanding of the nature of good and evil that maturity occurs.

Hebrews 5:14  “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” 

The author of Hebrews says that this kind of maturity and understanding can only come through constant practice. The mature believer in Christ will evaluate the nature of every activity before participating. Never will a mature Christian simply respond on the basis of benefit or consequence, but will always look deeper at the nature of every choice to determine its intrinsic good or evil.

Look carefully at two key words for us to understand: one is trained and the other is constant practice. The word trained is an athletic term used to describe the intense physical preparations an athlete makes for an event. It literally means to exercise naked. So intense was the exercise that the body heated to the point of removing all clothing. The second word translated constant practice is the noun form of the verb used to describe marriage when we say to have and to hold. It means that we value something so dearly that we are not only glad to have it but we will cherish it and use it to its fullest extent.

Let me illustrate. Many of you were tempted about 2/3’s of the way through the last paragraph to quit reading because it was either boring or too deep or didn’t tell a cute story that was easy to read. Yet every one of you has been given the power of the Holy Spirit to know and understand the deeper things of God. You have been given an incredible gift of spiritual insight but maybe you have not chosen to train yourself through constant practice and exercise of the mind to use the gift to its fullest extent.

The same principle applies to our everyday lifestyle choices – we look only at the benefit or consequence of the choice and respond on that basis alone, rather than training ourselves through the constant practice of spiritual discernment to see the moral nature of the choice or activity.

When that two-year-old child begins to reach the age of understanding, we as mature parents move them from the reward and consequence stage of training to the stage of asking them to know why they made the choice they did. We begin to train the child to make moral decisions, not self-centered decisions. We want our children to know the moral difference between good and evil rather than simply choosing based on personal gratification.

That is what mature people do, and that is what mature Christians do. Is it easy? If it were then we wouldn’t be told to exercise naked. It’s hard work to move from the routine of going along with the flow to swimming upstream against the current of popular opinion. So strip down to the bare essence of who you are and train yourself to identify anything that will harm you. Set your mind firmly on the goal of righteousness in Christ, and start exercising your right and privilege to know the moral nature of all things. Constant practice will perfect the skill of distinguishing good from evil.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Monday, July 6, 2026

Yesterday I had to stop at the gas station and fill my car’s tank. If I had not done that I would have run out of gas. I wanted to avoid that scenario because it could lead to a period of insecurity and depression. Here’s how: I would have had to call someone on the phone and ask for help, which puts me at risk of appearing like a fool for not planning better. This inconvenience would cause stress to me and to the person helping me, and could possibly stress our relationship. Valuable time has been spent correcting an avoidable situation and there is the possibility that I will have to listen to a speech by someone about how to manage my life better, which in turn will make me feel inadequate and devalued as a person. That will feed my insecurities and cause me to feel depressed about who I am and to question the true value of my life. That would have caused me to go to a sporting goods store and look for something to purchase, because if I am capable of buying a new item to enhance my life then I must be ok as a person. To avoid all of that, I filled my car’s gas tank.

Now that’s a little over-stated, but there is a truth I want to draw out of it – every one of us has an emotional filling station we use to make us feel good about who we are and to avoid the devaluation of our lives. When our emotional gas tanks start to get empty we head for the activity that has always brought us comfort in the past so we can feel good about ourselves again. One of mine is shopping. When I get down on myself I buy things. 

What do you use as a filling station for your self-worth? It could be that you escape into books or movies because fantasy is far better than reality. Maybe it’s drugs or alcohol to relieve pain. It might be sex so you can prove your manhood or womanhood. Maybe it’s a hobby you use to gain a sense of accomplishment. It could be gossip or criticism to build yourself up at the expense of others.  Maybe you dive deeper into work to prove your worth through performance. Whatever it is, it needs to be addressed. It is immature to use the world and its values as a basis for determining our value. It is childish to put all of our energy into the immediate rather than to press on toward the eternal.

Philippians 3:7-9, 15 “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith…Let those of us who are mature think this way…”

In the Apostle Paul’s past he took pride in all of the things he accomplished as a Pharisee because it earned him a place in society and a sense of security and worth. When he got down on himself he just obeyed a few more laws or persecuted a few more Christians. He filled his emotional tank with activities that earned him acceptance with his peers. But when he met Jesus, he sacrificed all of that immediate gratification for the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ. Whatever profited his pride he now considered garbage so that he could find his true worth and value in Jesus Christ. He wanted nothing to do with a self-imposed or socially acceptable value system, but rather wanted only the righteousness of God through an intimate relationship with Jesus. He gave up visiting the world’s filling stations and replaced them all with the filling station of God’s grace. The prize he pursued in life was no longer one of immediate gratification, but one of eternal fulfillment.

Isn’t it time for us to put all of the world’s pursuits on the Wonderful Counselor’s couch and let Him evaluate the real reason why we focus on those activities? And isn’t it time for us to honestly admit that many, if not all of them, are done for personal gain and emotional gratification? If that is true, then this is the start of maturity for us, because we will, like Paul, consider those things to be rubbish compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ intimately and having Him fill our tanks with His grace.

So the next time you see me shopping, ask me why I’m there. I hope I never have to answer that it’s because I need to replenish my worth. 

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Friday, July 3, 2026

Social media has made it convenient for us to spout off anything we feel like saying. We feel enabled to speak our minds on any subject without fear of hurting anyone’s feelings because we don’t have to face them. We can even delete their comments when the argument gets too heated. Unfortunately, many people don’t delete the arguments, and they get rather embarrassing. But what hurts the most is when followers of Christ engage in such arguments and bring dishonor to the Gospel of grace. Such behavior is foolish. It is a direct contradiction to God’s wisdom.

Carefully read these sacred words from Scripture.

James 3:13  “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.

James tells us that the proof of wisdom in action is by our good conduct. But how do we define good conduct. Thankfully the context of this verse tells us. The previous twelve verses all speak about control of the tongue. The tongue is described as a blazing fire of conflict and confrontation. It reveals the foolishness and imperfections of our lives. Those who can control their tongues have good conduct and are determined to be wise.

The conduct of unwise people is further defined in the next few verses.

James 3:14-16  “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. ¹⁵  This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶  For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”

Far too many of the words we speak and social media posts we make are rooted in bitter jealousy and selfish ambition, and all such speech and posts have no relationship with the wisdom of God. In fact, it is all rooted in the spirit world of demons. I speak boldly and bluntly on purpose because it has to stop. We must be wise, and we are most unwise in how we talk.

James encourages us that our tongues can reveal the wisdom of God.

James 3:17-18  “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸  And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”

Wise people have pure motives that honor Jesus. Wise people don’t contradict themselves. Wise people are peaceable and gentle. Wise people embrace reasonable debate. Wise people are merciful, impartial, and sincere. Wise people produce the good fruit of righteousness. Wise people use their words to do all of these things.

As we bring to a conclusion our study of wisdom, let me leave you with this one thought. Many times we have heard it said, “Show me your love by what you do not by what you say.” That is true. I think it’s also true to say, “Show me your wisdom by what you say and by what you choose not to say.”  Let’s all prove that the wisdom of God is in us by controlling our tongues.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, July 2, 2026

I get afraid when I’m up high in an unsteady position. I don’t like to fall. I’m sure none of us enjoys the thought of falling from any height. But for me, it’s more than just a fear. I get unnerved. I doubt my ability to make good decisions. I go into a mild panic attack. My heart races: I really am afraid. I’m afraid that the ladder I am about to climb will fall over. I am convinced before I even get part way up that if I go any higher it will tip over and I will fall. I get down and I look at the ladder. I check its stability. I know it is solid. I know the ladder has held me before, and that if I remain inside its boundaries it will hold me again. If I use it correctly it can be trusted. When I focus on the trustworthiness of the ladder my fears are somewhat relieved and I can do the job. So I climb again.

One of the scariest Bible stories for me as a child was the story of Jacob’s dream of the ladder going up into heaven with all the angels on it. Now you know why it scared me so much. I thought my journey to heaven had to be like that, and I couldn’t stand to think about going up that high on a ladder. But at the top of the ladder stands Jesus, and when my eyes are focused on Him and how trustworthy and faithful He is, my fears are relieved. My fear has increased my trust.

Solomon ends his discourse to his son in the same way he started it – with a challenge to fear God.

Proverbs 24:21 “Fear the LORD and the king, my son…” 

Let’s go back and review how this study on wisdom started:

Proverbs 22:17-21 “Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach,for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips.So that your trust may be in the LORD, I teach you today, even you. Have I not written thirty sayings for you, sayings of counsel and knowledge, teaching you true and reliable words, so that you can give sound answers to him who sent you?”

The purpose for Solomon’s teaching was to develop trust in the Lord, which is based on a healthy fear of the Lord. 

Solomon says at the beginning, “So that your trust may be in the LORD, I teach you today.” Solomon says at the end, “Fear the LORD.” Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom; trust in God is the application of wisdom. In between we discovered many practical ways to grow in wisdom. Now at the end we are put to the test – how well will we trust in God’s wisdom? Before you answer that, think carefully about the rest of today’s wisdom verse.

“Fear the Lord and the king, my son, and do not join with rebellious officials,” Proverbs 24:21

Trust in God is measured against our complacency to and complicity with rebellious people. We may not participate in rebellious actions, but what about our attitudes and conversations? Do our minds still conform to the rebellious world’s system in the ways we think? How influenced are we by our political and social environments? How have we, as the Apostle John puts it, “taken the mark of the beast” by becoming dependent upon the world’s system and not on God alone?

Fear God. Trust God. It is the circle of wisdom, and it goes on. Biblical wisdom takes us from fear to trust to fear to trust. Let the circle grow, but keep it intact. Stay within the boundaries of wisdom. It is far better to fear the LORD in a trusting relationship than to fear the destruction of the LORD based on our rebellion. 

Pastor John