LifeLink Devotional

Friday, March 16, 2018

Philippians 1:14  And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

1 Thessalonians 2:2  But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.

Today’s Scripture passages remind me of a documentary film about the deaths of five missionaries in the jungle of Ecuador in the mid-1950’s. Jim Elliot, Roger Youderian, Nate Saint, Pete Fleming, and Ed McCully were murdered by the Waoroni tribes people as they attempted to make initial contact with them to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. One of the most miraculous parts of the rest of the story is that two wives of the slain men went back to that tribe and began a mission work that resulted in the salvation of the very men who were responsible for the murders of their husbands. Today that tribe has put down their swords and has become a Christian society.

Most of us would probably stay far away from any group of people who had done something so hurtful to us. But these women, called by God and focused on His purpose, had the courage to step into harm’s way for the sake of the gospel. They chose to follow the example of their husbands, who were following the example of Jesus Christ, who willingly put Himself in harm’s way to bring God’s love to us.

I have been to the island of Mindanao in the Philippines four times, and I still desire to return to minister to the people there. But every time I begin to consider going I question the safety factor. Will I be able to be protected from the terrorists who have set up camps on that island? What are the possibilities of kidnapping and death? Is it safe to travel to the churches in the tribal areas? So, I send an email to a friend there and ask about the political situation. The potential for persecution is very real, and that has become a deterrent to me.

But this morning, as I sat on the couch and connected on Facebook with my Filipino and Indian friends who live in countries that are suppressing the Christian faith, I see pictures of people who live daily in the reality of persecution. I see the joy of the Lord in all their faces and I know the hardships they have endured for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I wonder why I feel I need to be safe. Is my desire to see my grandchildren grow more important to me than my desire to obey God if he asks me to go? What kind of an example am I setting for my family and for all of you if my need for security is greater than my heart for the unsaved, no matter who and where they are?

I do not have a clear sense of God’s leading to go anywhere right now, but today’s testimony of the Apostle Paul really hit me. Is my love for the Lord so strong that obedience to His purpose is not affected by any potential danger or suffering?

That’s a question for all of us to consider. It may not be that you are being called to go overseas to a dangerous country, but it is very probable that you see danger in speaking up for Christ to your neighbor or your boss. The fear is the same. The solution is also the same. Love God, then show people God’s love.

I believe it is time for all of us to step out of our comfort zones for the sake of accomplishing God’s purpose in the world. I believe the church of Jesus Christ needs to see some visible examples of people putting their faith on the line. I believe we need to see Christians living lives of sacrifice for the King rather than living for the safety of the kin. With the help of God, may we courageously and fearlessly speak the word of God without the fear of opposition wherever God sends us – across the sea or across the street.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Philippians 1:12-14 ¹²  I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, ¹³  so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. ¹⁴  And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

In one of the Apostle Paul’s most quoted statements, given to Him by the Holy Spirit, he says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Paul wrote that statement prior to traveling to Rome, where he was eventually imprisoned for his faith in Christ. It was during that incarceration that he had an opportunity to apply the truth of what he had written to his own life. He wrote to the people of Philippi to tell them that even in his imprisonment God was accomplishing His purpose of advancing the gospel.

Paul had an incredible perspective on life. He found the positive in the most negative of situations. We would certainly classify Paul as an optimist. But Paul did much more than just attempt to find the good in a bad circumstance so that he could feel better about what was happening. He went into the circumstance with the expectation of seeing God do something good. He didn’t base his attitude on hindsight, but on foresight motivated by faith.

There are two key elements to having this kind of perspective on life:

1. love for God above all else, and
2. living for God’s purpose and not our own.

Our attitude toward life and its circumstances is dictated by whom we love and the outcomes we expect. We have two main choices when it comes to whom we will love. We will either love self, or we will love God. You may be tempted to add a third choice of “others”, but think about it. We either love others because of our love for God or we love others because of our love for self. When we love others out of our love for God, we do what is best for them. When we love others out of our love for self, we do what brings us a desired result. So essentially there are only two choices for whom we love – God or self.

Our love choice then dictates the purpose for all that we do and our attitude towards the outcomes of what we have done. If we love God above self, then we want His purpose accomplished and our attitude toward every situation is determined by that outcome. If we love self more than God, then our outcomes are most important and our attitude is determined by whether or not we get it.

Paul’s secret to joy during terrible circumstances was that he loved God more than self, and he lived his life seeking God’s outcomes so that God’s purpose was fulfilled. My problem is that I choose to live far too many days with a bad attitude because I love myself most and as a result I want my outcomes.

Paul lived in prison with a good attitude because God’s outcomes were being realized. We have the same opportunity to experience life to that level of joy and satisfaction. We have been called to salvation to accomplish God’s purpose. We can enter every situation of life with an expectation that God is at work to advance the gospel and accomplish His purpose. What a difference that will make in our attitudes. Then we will be able to say with Paul, “because of this I rejoice.”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Philippians 1:11  …filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Has anyone else ever been disappointed by the amount of fruit in a Pop Tart? They are advertised as having real fruit filling, but I have yet to find any real fruit in mine. I find a jelly like paste that has a fruit flavor, but when I bite into something that is supposed to have real fruit filling, I want a hunk of fruit. If they are going to tell me that this pastry is made with real strawberries, then they’d better put gobs of real strawberries in it. Don’t mix up a bunch of stuff that has no relationship to fruit and then add a little bit of smashed berries for flavoring; that’s not real fruit filling. Why not label the product correctly? Pop Tarts – Small amounts of smashed and strained real fruit to enhance the flavor of the chemically based filling. My apologies to all of you who work for the company that makes Pop Tarts. I don’t eat them anymore, but when I did, I did it mainly for the frosting. Now I’m even more upset, because they finally put more frosting on them, and I can’t enjoy it.

We have far too many Pop Tart Christians. They advertise themselves as being filled with the real fruit of righteousness, when in fact they have added only small amounts of fruit to a concoction of worldly based activities that have no relationship to righteousness. Then they coat it all with the frosting of self-righteousness, seeking to enhance their image so they will be appealing to the spiritual consumer. They use confection on the outside to cover the concoction on the inside.

In today’s Scripture passage, Paul echoes the words of Jesus when he says that when we are in Jesus Christ, we will be filled with much fruit, and it will be to the praise and glory of the Father. This will prove that we are true disciples of Jesus.

We have been duped by the world’s system into believing that a little goes a long way. If we attend church once a month, or even once a week, that’s enough of God to get us through. There’s no reason to get carried away with religious involvement. There’s life to live and experience. Why would we ignore the immediate pleasures and benefits of the world to participate in spiritual activities that lay up treasures to inherit later? We want our treasures now. A little righteousness will suffice.

I am very concerned about the working definition of the word commitment that has become the reality of the last two generations. Unfortunately, I see it too often in the Christian community called the church. There is a claim of commitment to Christ and His Lordship, but the lifestyle choices don’t validate the claims. Some of the choices are not sinful, but they are self-serving and they interfere with the commitment we supposedly made to Christ and His ministry. We’re so busy with our careers, our relationships, and our kid’s sporting events that we put those things ahead of spiritual activities for personal growth and outreach to a lost and dying world.

What makes this new definition of commitment so dangerous is the sweetness of the frosting. All the opportunities that the world offers can become distractions to being filled the Spirit of God, so that we can be filled with spiritual fruit.  There’s a reason the fruit is called the filling. They are synonymous in Pop Tarts and in Christianity. The filling of the Holy Spirit produces the fruit of righteousness. But we have become so attracted to the  frosting that we want to taste it before we even get to the fruit. And the frosting tastes so good that we don’t even care anymore whether we are fruit filled or not.

My friends, seriously and honestly look at your life today and see if you are a Pop Tart Christian.

• Have you elevated friends, family, career, or recreation to a position of equal priority with bearing real fruit for Jesus?
• Are you satisfied with just a little fruit of church attendance that is easily interrupted and displaced by tiredness, inconvenience, or better frosting in another activity?
• Are you refusing to commit to a life group because it will interfere with personal frosting choices?
• Are you abiding in Christ and remaining in Him in all areas of your life so you can bear much fruit to the glory of the Father?

Think seriously about this today, and may the Holy Spirit touch your heart with His grace to return to a biblical definition of commitment. God wants to see some big hunks of real fruit. It’s in the fruit where the joy is found.

John 15:5, 8  ⁵“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing…⁸This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Philippians 1:10b …and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

I have had the incredible privilege of watching seven grandsons grow up through their first 4 years of life. I am so excited that it’s not done because there’s one more in that process right now. I also have watched three granddaughters go through the same process of growth, but there’s a reason why I am focused on the boys today, and especially on those early years.

You see, boys are different than girls. Oh my, how politically incorrect that is, but it is the truth no matter what culture says. And God created male and female from the moment of conception, and he gave each of them a set of guidelines that would enhance their ability to fulfill their God-given roles.

Every one of my grandsons did something more consistently and enthusiastically than any of the girls. We would build towers with blocks, and then they would knock them over. Each boy would ask me to help him, so I would try my best to demonstrate how to build a good tower. The blocks we used were all different sizes, and of course I knew enough to put the big ones on the bottom. If I didn’t grab those big blocks right away, they would end up in his hands as he attempted to place them on top of the smaller blocks. Sometimes the tower fell over before he had a chance to knock it down. But if not, he would not only knock it down, but knock it across the room. For me, the skill of building exceeded the thrill of falling, but not to him. He didn’t care about the order of the blocks or the design of the tower, he just wanted the excitement of watching it all fall down.

Many Christians live life the same way: they don’t seem to be concerned about the spiritual design of their lives. In fact, they may even get a thrill from watching life fall apart and the attention it brings to them as they ask for help to rebuild it. But life was not supposed to be lived in a constant state of rebuilding after crashes. It was meant to be lived according to the design of the Architect. God has designed a wonderful plan for the building of our lives so that we can withstand any storm and any attack of an enemy who seeks to knock down our tower. We are responsible to build well.

We are currently studying the building blocks of a joyful life as described to us in Paul’s opening prayer for the people in the church at Philippi. The first block we put in place was God’s grace. This is important because it becomes a foundation that cannot be destroyed no matter what happens to the building on top of it. We may have built poorly, but the foundation of grace will never fall.

1 Corinthians 3:10 – 15 (NIV) ¹⁰By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.  ¹¹For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.  ¹²If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,  ¹³his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.  ¹⁴If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.  ¹⁵If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

The second block that must be in place for a strong tower to endure is love, and it is to be abundant love.  We spoke of that last Friday.

On top of love we place the block of moral and ethical excellence so that our lives can be lived inside out.  That was yesterday.

Today Paul adds the next block to the strong tower of joyful living. It is the pure and blameless lifestyle of a morally excellent person.

When grace and love have taken hold of our lives, we become whole, and have no fear of transparency because the excellence of Christ penetrates to the very core of our being. Every decision we make is based on the love of God and the excellence He brings to our minds. Every word we speak models the love of God because it comes from a heart of love that seeks excellence in others. Every lifestyle choice we make honors God because He has taken up permanent residence in our lives and we cannot dishonor His temple with something less than excellence. We build our strong towers with visible integrity. People can see our faith by our works, and our works are pure and blameless.

When the building block of a pure and blameless lifestyle is added to the blocks of grace, love, and transparency, the tower of a joyful life is almost complete. But we must not quickly pass over this block of visible holiness. Take some time this day to make sure this building block of joy is firmly seated in the tower of your life.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Phil. 4:8-9)

Pastor John

1 Thessalonians 3:12 – 13  ¹²May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.  ¹³May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

1 Thessalonians 5:21 – 24 ²¹Test everything. Hold on to the good.  ²²Avoid every kind of evil. ²³May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  ²⁴The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, March 12, 2018

Philippians 1:10 …so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ…

Last Friday we discovered the first of four foundational principles to finding joy – the necessity of growing in God’s love. Today we look at the next progressive step that Paul explains in Philippians 1:10 – growing love produces lifestyles of transparent excellence.

As I was scanning my Bible study software from WordSearch, I saw in my illustration files this anonymous quote from a little girl to her mother. She said, “Mommy, Jesus lived His life inside out, didn’t He?” How Perfect! That’s what it means to live in such a way “so that you may approve what is excellent.”

Paul’s prayer for the people of the church at Philippi was that their love for God and for others would grow to such a point of maturity that they would always know what is excellent, and then do it. It is important to connect the knowing and the doing, and to connect them correctly.

There are three stages of knowledge: knowing the facts, acknowledging the facts as truth, and choosing to live according to the acknowledged facts. In stage one, we are informed. In stage two, we believe the information. In stage three, the information has affected our lives in some way. When it comes to spiritual things and the truth of salvation, nothing is accomplished until stage three. Millions of people are informed about God, and of those millions are willing to admit the truth of that information. But only a small percentage of those have surrendered to the information and been transformed by it.

When we claim to have the knowledge of God’s love, but have not yet let it change our hearts and our minds so that we do something about it, then we really don’t acknowledge what we claim to know. It is the same with the knowledge of the holiness of God: if we claim to know that He is holy and that we are to be holy, yet we continue to live according to our own standards, then we have not truly acknowledged God’s holiness as truth. When our hearts and minds are offered as living sacrifices to God in an act of worship, then we will not be conformed to the image of this world any longer but will instead be transformed into the very excellence of Christ Himself.

Romans 12:1-2 ¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.  ²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

But there’s more to this: the actions that result from knowledge are more than just learned behaviors that bring about a desired result. That’s infantile. My grandchildren do that when they are only hours old. When they cry, mommy feeds them. The immature motivation for activity is the achieving of a desired result.

But for the mature person, the motivation for activity is the nature of God within us, regardless of the result. This is what the Apostle Paul was getting at when he said, And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. He wanted us all to know the joy of living transparently. This how we live our lives inside out.

What freedom there is in living that way! Every decision, every choice, and every behavior is motivated by the holy character of Christ made possible by the Holy Spirit within us. No longer will we have to analyze situations to discern what might be the best course of action to accomplish a desired result. No longer will we have to evaluate people and their possible responses to what we do so that we choose the correct action. Instead, the indwelling Presence of God in our lives motivates every action. When we surrender our wills to His, we achieve excellence. Our lives become holy and pleasing to God. Our activity becomes good, pleasing, and perfect because it is the activity of God in us. We are free to be completely transparent because there is no flaw in God’s character in us.

Let the world look at us from the inside out. As we grow in God’s love, they will see only one thing – the holiness of God. Let God turn your life inside out. You will be well on your way towards living in constant joy.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, March 9, 2018

Philippians 1:9  ⁹And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more…

2 John 1:5 – 6   I ask that we love one another.  ⁶And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

Last month, American’s spent 19.6 billion dollars on Valentine’s Day. The average American spent $89 on the person they love. I was way below that average. The danger is that some of you will question the love I have for my wife based on that fact. However, it is not the amount that is spent that determines the level of love, but rather it is the motive of the giver that validates or taints the expression of love.  In the best-case scenario, the gifts are well thought out and have been planned for days or even weeks in advance. These gifts are the expression of true love that considers the other person first with no thought for the return benefit. The giver of the gift is stating clearly, “No matter what happens in life or regardless of your response, I will love you and give myself for you because you have captured my heart. Nothing in life can separate me from you.”

But other gifts are designed to elicit a certain response from the recipient, and in varying degrees are manipulative and self-serving. The giver has planned a gift that they know will be meaningful to the recipient, but the purpose of the gift is to have a reciprocation that makes them feel loved. In their mind they are saying, “I know this will make you express your love to me so that I can feel like a valentine to someone.”

Still others are caught scrambling to find that last minute card or gift in an attempt to avoid the appearance of not caring, when in fact the lack of planning to express love proves the self-centered nature of the gift. This person is saying to himself, “Oh no! I had better find something good to cover up for the reality that I didn’t care enough to plan this out. If I can find just the right thing she will never have to know that other events in my life were more important than her.”

You will notice the intentional use of the male personal pronouns in the last example, because my informed guess is that men fall into this category far more than women do. But to be fair, selfishness affects us all. But it has never affected God. His gift of love to us in the person of Jesus Christ was planned before the foundations of the world. Read with joy the following passage from the heart of God:

Ephesians 1:3 – 8 (NIV) ³Praise 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.  ⁴For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.  ⁷In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

He gave His gift with no strings attached and no need for reciprocation. John 3:16 quotes Jesus when He says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  God’s gift was an expression of His heart and His unconditional love. Paul says in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

God’s perfect gift of love makes the experience of real love possible. And now that we know God’s love, we are filled with joy when we share His love in relationship with others.

So today, love others in such a way that it is an accurate expression of God’s love – unselfish, undemanding, and with no need for reciprocity. Let your actions towards others show a commitment to loving them regardless of their response. Let God’s love be lavished on that person just as it was lavished on you by Jesus Christ. You will become the joy of someone’s life.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Philippians 1:9-11  And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰  so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹  filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Wristwatches have sure come a long way. They not only keep track of the time of day, but you can get them with stopwatches, calculators, and games. There is a watch that tracks the weather for you. It features a barometer, thermometer, time and date function, stopwatch, compass, altimeter, two daily alarms and an hourly chime. Its raised impeller fin is magnetized so it always points north, making it easy to determine wind direction. And now there are watches that track your physical fitness and medical condition, and are connected to the internet.

But I need a watch that does something even more phenomenal than that – I want it to chime with joybells. It will ring loudly every time God does something in my life that reveals He is working all things out for His glory and my good. I know if I had such a watch, I would be annoyed at first by the constant chiming. I would be tempted to turn it off so I could enjoy my moments of complaining about circumstances that aren’t working out according to my desires. But in the long run, if I endure the initial annoyance, it will be good for me to learn to look at things through God’s eyes and learn to celebrate the joybells, rather than be annoyed at them because I am looking at circumstances from my own skewed perspective.

God has given us such a watch – He is the Holy Spirit, and He dwells within us to constantly remind us that God is in the process of completing His work in each of us, and it is a work worthy of joyous celebration.

There is a term used in boxing to describe what happens when a punch lands squarely and makes the opponent unstable – it is called “getting your bell rung.” People who attempt to live life without Christ are constantly getting their bells rung. The situations of life make them unstable. But for those who are in Christ Jesus, every situation of life is used by the Holy Spirit to ring our bells – our joybells. We have been brought into an affectionate relationship with God through the blood of Jesus Christ and the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, and God is completing His work in each of us. Every circumstance is a part of that work, and we have a choice to either believe our bell has been rung or that the joybells are ringing.

The people in the church at Philippi understood this truth. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul says that he is justified in feeling the joy of the Lord for the people of the church. No matter how good or bad the circumstances of life, they stood by him. They shared an affectionate relationship that was not affected even by prison. They remained a constant support and encouragement to Paul through the good times and the bad. They had a perspective on life that looked beyond the immediate to the eternal. These people had discovered the freedom to ring the joybells, even when circumstances indicated that their bells had been rung.

What was it about their faith that brought them to this point of trust in God and love for one another? What had the Holy Spirit built into them that gave them such a positive attitude?

Paul’s prayer for the people in Philippians 1:9-11 gives us the 4 principles upon which a life of joy is to be built.  Here they are:

1. A growing love for God and for people, which will produce…
2. …the pursuit of transparent excellence, which will produce…
3. …a life of verifiable integrity, which will produce…
4. …a life of good works pleasing and glorifying to God and filled with the fruits of righteousness.

Each day beginning tomorrow we will look at one of these principles and discover that God is ringing the joybells in our lives. Read today’s Scripture passage again, and then pray Paul’s prayer for the Philippians as your own – that God’s love would abound, producing excellence to the core, resulting in a life of visible integrity and good works that honor God.

Then let the joybells ring.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Our joy principle for today is this – God designed joy to grow best in the fertile soil of fellowship.

Philippians 1:7-8  ⁷  It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸  For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Several days ago I met with a pastor who is on staff at a church that has the appearance of fellowship, but is filled with friction. Friction and fellowship can’t coexist. Warren Wiersbe relates a story in his commentary on Philippians about a woman who is counselling with her pastor because of marital tension.

“There seems to be friction in our home,” she said. “I really don’t know what the trouble is.”

“Friction is caused by one of two things,” said the pastor, and to illustrate he picked up two blocks of wood from his desk. “If one block is moving and one is standing still, there’s friction. Or, if both are moving but in opposite directions, there’s friction. Now, which is it?”

“I’ll have to admit that I’ve been going backward in my Christian life, and Joe has really been growing,” the wife admitted. “What I need is to get back to fellowship with the Lord.”

This woman knew that the way to reduce friction, and to improve fellowship, was to travel in the same direction with her husband.

The Apostle Paul declares his fellowship with the people of the Philippian church because they were moving in the same direction. He tells them that it is right for him to be experiencing joy because his fellowship with them is based on their mutual participation in God’s grace. Even when the circumstances became hard and harmful, they stuck with him as a confirmation of the Gospel. Their fellowship was so fulfilling that his heart yearned for them.

There are three ways that we categorize our relationships with others. First, they can be on our mind. We think about them, but that is all we do. Second, they can get on our nerves. Third, they can be in our hearts. This is what Paul says about his relationship with the church at Philippi. He held them in his heart. They were not just on his mind, nor did they get on his nerves. Rather, as he thought about them, his heart was filled with affection for them, and as a result he was filled with joy.

God designed joy to grow best in the fertile soil of fellowship. But the affection necessary for such joyful fellowship is not of human origin – it is only available in Christ Jesus. We cannot love others in such a way that they never get on our nerves. But Jesus can, and He does. His love in us is what gives us the affection we have for others. We do not channel our love through Christ to others. God channels His love through us to others.

We are guilty of trying to love others. We wonder why our nerves are on edge. When we stop trying to love, and experience God’s love, He will overflow from us onto others, and joy will grow in the fertile soil of Godly fellowship.

How do we know if we really have God’s love for other Christians? For one thing, we will be concerned about them, and that concern will result in activity. The believers at Philippi were concerned about Paul and did something about it. They sent Epaphroditus to minister to him. The Apostle Joh said it this way – “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18).

Another evidence of Christian love is a willingness to forgive one another. 1 Peter 4:8 says, “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

One day a man responded to a radio quiz program. The radio host asked him, “What are some of the blunders your wife has made.”

“I can’t remember any,” the man replied.

“Oh, surely you can remember something!” the announcer said.

“No, I really can’t,” said the contestant. “I love my wife very much, and I just don’t remember things like that.”

First Corinthians 13:5 states that “love keeps no record of wrongs”.

The fertile soil of fellowship consists of two elements – love in action, and forgiveness. Christians who are in this type of frictionless fellowship will always experience the growth of joy.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Have you ever heard of joy-suckers? They can be people, who constantly suck the joy right out of your life. They can be circumstances that become problems and deplete your delight with life. Maybe at times the to-do list is so overwhelming that the enjoyment of simple things escapes you. Having to face things that aren’t done yet can easily exhaust your energy.

It can be that way in our spiritual lives as well. One of the joy-suckers of our relationship with Christ is worry, and we tend to worry most about what isn’t done yet. The apostle Paul address that in our next lesson on the pursuit of joy. Read his words in Philippians 1:6.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

How many unfinished projects are there around your home or office right now? I know I have quite a few. In fact, I am working on a big project right now at my house. I pray that it will not become a joy-sucker, because if it does, I know what will happen: when it is finished, I will lose all interest in beginning the next one, and things will remain undone.

I am so glad that God’s work on me is not a joy-sucker to Him. In fact, God doesn’t even put me on a “To Do” list, but rather keeps me on His “Being Done” list. He is always actively working on my life.

Grandchildren provide wonderful opportunities to illustrate spiritual principles. I remember the day we sent our daughter Rochelle and her husband Brad off to the hospital to deliver her second child. When they left, Denise and I were given the wonderful task of watching our grandson Caleb until went to the hospital to see the baby.

For the first 90 minutes I devoted my entire attention to Caleb as we ate breakfast together, played with Play Dough, and he showed me his incredible computer skills at playing games. He was only 2 at the time and had better hand-eye coordination on the mouse than I did.

When I was done, Denise gave him her attention, and she followed him from one thing to the next as he showed her all the things he knows and enjoys. But every now and then there would be a cry for help.  He would admit he needed our assistance to complete a task, correct a problem, or ease a pain. There were also teachable moments where we would talk to him and show him something new. He would listen and learn intently. That was not a joy-sucking experience, but rather the exact opposite, as we were filled with the joy of relationship.

Our relationship with God is to be like that as well. Every moment of every day God devotes his complete attention to us. We spend most of our day moving from one thing to the next, showing God all the things we love about our life and the things we enjoy doing. But then come those moments when we admit that we need His help, or when He wants to show us something that He knows we need to learn. Because we know that He loves us and wants what’s best for us, we listen to Him and humbly accept his help and teaching. God is at work to perfect us just as a parent or grandparent is at work to perfect a child as they grow.

Jesus Christ not only began the work of salvation in our lives, but He authored it before He began it. As the Divine Writer of the plan of humanity’s salvation, every word is absolutely trustworthy. When we were regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God based on faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross, Jesus began the good work of perfecting His truth in our lives. Nothing can stop that work. There is no reason to be weary and lose heart. There is only reason for rejoicing, because Jesus Christ is with us every moment of every day and is perfecting His life in ours. Someday, when Jesus returns to earth to take us into His presence forever, we will experience perfect joy. With that guarantee from God, we can endure whatever the journey brings us today, and we can do so with joy. Nothing will go unfinished in God’s plan, and that includes the perfection of our lives. With our eyes fixed on Jesus, all joy-suckers can be eliminated.

Hebrews 12:2 – 3 (NIV) ²Let 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.  ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, March 5, 2018

Philippians 1:5 …because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

I know it’s the middle of winter, but I’m starting to get the urge to go golfing again, especially when friends from warm climates post their daily golf adventures on Facebook.

Bear with me, as I tie that urge to today’s principle of finding joy in life. Great joy is to be found in partnership with other people who are serving Jesus.

When I think about partnership, my mind immediately goes to the golf course and the wonderful experiences I’ve had on four-man teams playing in best-shot tournaments. They are called scrambles, and there is a good reason for that. On every hole, every man on the team hits a first shot, and then the team decides who hit the best one. The other three players scramble around the hole picking up their balls and bringing them to the spot of the best shot. From that place, all four golfers hit again, and the process continues until the ball is in the hole. The final total score of the round of golf is far superior to the score any one individual could have made. Bad shots are immediately forgiven and forgotten, because one of the partners has stepped up and hit a good shot. Every partner is essential. Each partner’s strengths are identifiable, yet they never demand individual recognition. The total focus is on the team and the glory of the outcome is shared equally.

What a beautiful picture of our partnership with one another in the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit has given us all individual gifts and strengths, but in humility no one partner demands individual recognition. When one of the partners hits a good shot toward the target of fulfilling the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, the other partners join him at that spot. The partner who did the good work for God doesn’t stand and gloat, but rather immediately melts back into the team, and together they continue the process.

It’s just like Henry Blackaby says in his book Experiencing God, “See where God is working and then join Him there.” That’s what partners do – come together to accomplish God’s purpose.

Partners also recognize that the final outcome of the team is far greater than what any one individual could have accomplished on their own. Not one of the partners is capable of perfection, and when one of them hits a bad shot, the rest of the partners are there to quickly encourage and help bear the burden. The next partner picks up a club and takes a swing at the problem, not the person. Partners immediately forgive the erroneous shot because they know the heart of the partner, and that he did not intentionally hit poorly. They encourage and build up the person who messed up, and get personally involved in correcting the problem. That’s what partners do – they forgive and forge ahead.

Partners also share equally in the final reward for the team’s efforts. When one of the ministry teams in your church accomplishes a task that glorifies Jesus Christ, no one team member is honored above the others and no team member is excluded from the celebration. In fact, according to 1 Corinthians 12:24 – 26, “God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” That’s what partners do – they share the sorrows and the joys equally.

Paul was filled with joy because the Philippian church understood partnership. I am filled with joy because you do too. You will be filled with joy when you become such a partner in your church.

Pastor John