LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Philippians 4:8  ⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is lovely…think about such things.

Acts 28:1-2 ¹Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta.  ²The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold.

How are you doing so far at transforming your thinking so that it conforms to the nature and character of God? It’s hard work, isn’t it? I know I find myself easily slipping back into the pattern of thinking I learned from the world and my flesh. But the Holy Spirit is active in our hearts and minds, and He is changing us into the image of Jesus Christ – Hallelujah!

So far in Philippians 4:8 we have been challenged to think according to the truth; to think about that which honors God and is noble; to think in terms of righteousness and justice; and to keep our minds pure and holy. Today we are told by Paul to think only about what is lovely.

The Biblical word lovely is not the word we normally use in our culture to describe beauty. Our brains do not need to be trained to think about beauty. God created us with an incredible appreciation of things that are lovely and pleasing to the eye. We by nature find beauty in nature. We enjoy the changing colors of the leaves in the fall. We are in awe of natural wonders like mountains and Grand Canyons. We are amazed at the diversity and splendor of the vivid colors of animals and fish. We do not need to be taught to see beauty.

The word lovely in Philippians 4:8 is a compound word, and this is the only place in the entire Bible where this word is used. One of the parts of the word is the Greek word phileo, which means to love by treating affectionately or kindly, to welcome, to befriend. It is the word from which we get the name of the city Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. The other part of the word means to direct towards another. The full meaning of lovely then is to direct brotherly love towards others. Paul says that we are to be constantly thinking about how we can be friendly to other people.

Late in Paul’s life, on his boat ride to Rome, he is shipwrecked on the island of Malta. When everyone on the boat arrives safely on shore, the natives approach them. They are strangers to one another with no way to communicate because they do not speak the same language. To our knowledge they have never been told about Jesus Christ, and in fact when Paul is healed from the venomous bite of a snake, they believed that he was a god and wanted to worship him. Yet when Paul and his shipmates floated ashore, the natives showed unusual kindness to them. They welcomed them and built them a fire so they could warm up and dry out.

Two very important words are used by Luke when he describes this event – kindness (phileo) and welcomed, which is the word used to describe someone who takes another into their home as a companion. Luke emphasizes that the brotherly love that was shown was unusual in nature, meaning that it was not just a little kindness, but it went far beyond the ordinary.

This is the model of how we are to be thinking when it comes to our relationships with other people. This is the essence of what Jesus taught when He said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:43 – 45) Jesus went on to say in Luke 6:32 – 36, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that.  And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full.  But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

That’s challenging! If it wasn’t, maybe you should read it again. When we think according to the nature and character of God, we do not discriminate when it comes to showing brotherly love to others. As followers of Jesus Christ, we do not have the privilege or the right to choose whom to love or treat with kindness. But we must also understand that we don’t get to stop at a level of kindness that is convenient or socially acceptable: we are to show unusual kindness – the type of kindness modeled by Jesus Himself. The type of kindness that directs good at those who have harmed us or who might harm us. The type of kindness that goes the extra mile and gives the extra garment. This is what will make us lovely.

Unfortunately, we are the victims of fleshly thinking and we do discriminate when it comes to doing good. Our thought process is corrupted by our emotional needs and our predication to self-preservation. We must ask the Holy Spirit to begin to change our thinking so that we truly love all others the way Jesus loved them and loves them still.

We the people of God can be lovely by showing unusual kindness towards others, whoever they are. The ungodly people of Malta had no way of knowing what to expect from Paul and the others who drifted onto their shore, but they directed brotherly love at them anyway. How much more should we who know Jesus do the same!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is pure…think about such things.

James 3:17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure;

1 John 3:2-3 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

The fourth characteristic of God upon which we should focus our intellectual energy is to think about whatever is pure. As temples of the Holy Spirit, our lives are the dwelling place of Christ. He brings to us the wisdom of God so that our thoughts and actions may be honoring to Him.

James describes the wisdom of God as first of all, pure. We cannot claim to be under the influence of the wisdom of God if what we are thinking or doing is not pure.

I have had too many personal experiences with people who claim to have prayed for wisdom from God about a decision, and then make a choice that directly contradicts the teaching of Scripture on that subject. They claim that they are in the right because they have peace in their heart after praying. Well, I don’t know who they were praying to or what voice they heard, but it wasn’t God’s wisdom. God’s direction and guidance is always pure and holy. I suspect that what they did was to talk themselves into getting what they wanted rather than really listening for the wisdom of God. The reason for this is that their thoughts are on the things of the world and not on the things of God.

The Apostle John deals with this in his short letter he wrote to the churches. He says that the children of God will think about the things of God and the return of Jesus Christ. This will fill us with the hope of glory rather than hope in this world, and as a result we will purify ourselves so that our thoughts and actions are holy, just as God is holy.

We all live every day with two choices – to be like the world or to be like Jesus Christ. Our actions are the visible proof of our choice and the condition of our heart. When we choose to attach ourselves to the world, it is because our thought life is worldly and not pure. However, our minds can be transformed.

What does Paul mean by the word pure? The basic meaning of the word is sacred. It is derived from a word that means physically pure, morally blameless, and ceremonially consecrated. Let’s look at our lives right now in light of those three aspects of purity.

First, are our lives physically pure? One dictionary of the Greek language defines it this way – to be pure from carnality, chaste, and modest. We are bombarded every day with sexual images and messages from a decadent society. Magazine ads and articles, television commercials and programs, movies, and personal friends all use the carnal pleasures of the flesh to influence us or make us laugh. It has become such an accepted part of our lives that we quickly excuse it as being insignificant. We are no longer disgusted by the disrespect and dishonor it displays towards God, but we accept it as a part of life. We even participate in it if it means fitting in to the group of people we are with or if it brings us pleasure. We re-tell the off-color jokes. We silently and secretly lust at the sight of sexual images. We buy into the immodesty of our culture by buying the clothing that shows more skin than is appropriate. We have become far too much like the world in our physical appearance and behavior.

The second part of purity is to be morally blameless. While we may be able to claim that we have not physically committed sexual sin, we probably cannot claim purity in our thought life. Jesus says, ”But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28)

In Romans Paul speaks of the constant battle in our minds between knowing the truth and desiring to please the flesh. A little boy was caught pulling up flowers in his mother’s garden. She placed him in a chair in the house and told him to sit there for 15 minutes. As she walked away she heard him mumble, “I’ll sit here, but I’m going to imagine that I’m still outside pulling up flowers.” That little boy was not morally blameless. We only become morally blameless when we come into agreement with God’s purity. We can desire holiness rather than the satisfaction of the flesh.

Finally, purity means to be ceremonially consecrated. In the Old Testament items for use in the temple were ceremonially consecrated for a sacred purpose, and they were never allowed to be used for anything else. God also asked the people of Israel to consecrate themselves to Himself, and be determined to accomplish His purpose and no other.

In Romans 12:1 we read, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”  It is our privilege to come before God as an act of worship and consecrate ourselves to Him as holy, so that we might serve Him and Him only.

This act of consecration is not just a one-time thing we remember doing years ago, but no longer consider it significant. It is an act of daily submission to the One who gave His life for us on Calvary. When we recognize the purity that has been freely granted to us by God’s grace, and we consecrate ourselves to bringing our lives into conformity with our exalted spiritual position, it is the first step in becoming morally blameless and physically pure. May that process be renewed in all of our lives today.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, …whatever is right…think about such things.

Proverbs 11:1 A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is His delight.

“That’s not fair!”

How many times have parents heard those words from their children? How many times have we used them to describe undesirable conditions in our own lives? When we evaluate the real motivation for those words, we must conclude that we have been given a wonderful gift from God – a desire for justice.

In Scripture, justice and righteousness are inseparable. It is not possible for something to be right and not be just, nor is it possible for something to be just and not be right. But we don’t want that to be true because our personal preferences and desires are not realized in such a black and white world. It may be just to punish every criminal the same for every similar crime, but when we or someone we love is the criminal, we don’t think it’s right to have the sentence imposed. We look hard for various justifications to ask the judge for a reduced sentence. We hire lawyers who give us the best chance of avoiding the most serious consequences. And when the sentence is finally imposed, we claim it is not fair if we get more than we thought we should.

Our underlying problem is this – we are still seeking to serve self rather than honor God. We chose the action that got us in trouble because we thought it would please us and bring us something of value. Then, when we realized that the action itself was unrighteous, we did everything we could to protect our self-value by avoiding the stigma of the consequences.

We seem to apply that philosophy to many parts of our lives. We are constantly making choices based on their immediate benefit to our emotional needs, our physical pleasure, or our financial goals. The author of Proverbs refers to this when he says, a false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is His delight.

When I was in high school, I got a job at a grocery store working in the meat department. My main job was to clean all the equipment, but soon I was also waiting on customers from behind the counter. There was no self-serve in those days, so everything had to be weighed and wrapped following the customer’s selection.

I remember the training process the boss took me through to learn how to weigh meat properly. His main point of emphasis was this – once you have placed the meat on the scale, take both hands away and hold them where the customer can see that you are not touching the scale. “We want the customer to know we are honest,” he said. I was taught to have just (righteous) scales.

That principle applies to every part of our lives. Every decision we make about our goals and activities must be made so that they are in perfect agreement with God’s holy character. That’s Just and fair because He alone is righteous. The temptation to put our thumb on the scale and manipulate the outcomes of our lives is very real and powerful.  We must understand that all our attempts to bring value to our lives at the expense of justice and righteousness do not change the very nature of God, who is just and righteous. His justice will prevail, and the consequences of our unrighteous choices will result in serious consequences to our lives.

It is vital that we not only think about right things, but that we do them. However, be aware of the subtle temptation of Satan to convince us that our definition of right is valid. Our understanding of right and wrong is only accurate when it is based on the unchanging, absolute truth of God’s Word. Truth is not relative, therefore, definitions of right and wrong are unchangeable, regardless of our personal desires and emotional influences.

We have an incomparable gift from God in our salvation – the knowledge of the truth, and it is able to set us free to walk on level paths of righteousness and justice. But that will only happen if we choose to deny our self-validating desires and live according to the way of the Upright One.

Make that choice today!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, August 13, 2018

Philippians 4:8  Finally, brothers, …whatever is noble…think about such things.

What kind of reputation do you have? When people speak of you, are they saying kind things?

The reputation we have is established by the consistency of our behavior. On the negative side, if we consistently lie, we will be known as a liar. If we consistently cheat, we will be known as a cheater. If we consistently steal…well, you get the point.   But on the positive side, if we consistently serve others we will be known as a servant. If we consistently give to others we will be known as generous. And if we consistently do things honestly, we will be called honorable.

In Philippians 4:8 Paul says that we need to live our lives in such a way that it clearly demonstrates that we are thinking about noble things. The Greek word for noble means honorable, and is derived from another Greek word that means to revere. Our lives are to be lived with such honor that we are revered by others.

Recently I heard a true story that illustrates the need for Christians to do all things with honor. The story is about a man and a woman who have finalized their divorce and the settlement has been reached. The woman is very active in her church and claims to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. Her former husband had a business associate who had stored some of his equipment in the husband’s machine shed. When the business associate called the woman to claim his equipment, he was told that she had been awarded his items in the divorce settlement. When he asked her if she knew they were his, she said yes, but that they had chosen not to declare them so they were awarded to her. When he asked her if she would return them, she said no. She is keeping the equipment even though she knows it belongs to him.

How can a true follower of Jesus Christ behave so dishonorably? It is so unlike the example of Paul. In 2 Corinthians 8:16 – 21 Paul tells us another story about a follower of Jesus Christ – a man named Titus. Here it is:

But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you.  For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord. With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. And not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us, for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man. 

Here’s the background to the story: the church at Corinth has a huge offering they want Paul to deliver to the needy people in Jerusalem and to other churches. Titus, Paul’s pastoral trainee, has agreed to go to Corinth and pick up the offering. He is taking with him a fellow pastor who is a famous preacher. He is not named, but we soon discover his reputation. Paul did not want anyone to question his integrity, so he selected a man that had an honorable reputation to handle the finances. All the other churches agreed that this man is so honorable that they trusted him to carry the money and make sure it was used for its intended purpose.

That’s the kind of reputation each of us should desire, and it is only achieved through the consistent practice of honesty.

But why don’t we know the man’s name? I think there are two reasons:

1. A person should be known first by their character and not by their name.
2. Paul is emphasizing the characteristic of honor by using Titus as the main character in the story because the name Titus means honorable.

Titus was fortunate to have a name that reflected his character. Paul wanted everyone for all time to know the other pastor by his character as well. The question we must ask is this: when people hear your name, what kind of character do they think of?

We all want to make a name for ourselves – let’s just make sure it’s an honest and honorable one.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, August 10, 2018

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true…

John 7:18  He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.

I recently discovered something rather significant about myself. I have the tendency to shift loyalties based on personal honor. As a young boy I grew up in the state of Michigan, and during my late elementary and middle school years, we lived about three hours north of Detroit. It was the early 1960’s, and because of my grandfather and my mother, I became a huge baseball fan. I remember all the greats of the game from that era, and still have a connection to the old time American League teams like the Indians, Yankees and Red Sox. But one team has been my lifelong favorite – the Detroit Tigers.

Ever since their last World Series victory in 1984, they have been on a serious skid. In the last 34 years, they have one of the worst overall records in baseball. There have been a few years where it looked like they would be champions again, but overall I have become disillusioned with their management and performance. I still keep my memorabilia from the past, but I have lost interest in following them today. In fact, just a few weeks ago I cleaned out my garage and threw away a Tigers baseball cap.

On the other hand, for the last 20 years, I have been somewhat following the Minnesota Twins. I have gained respect for their team because of their philosophy of developing players into champions rather than buying players that may already be champions. I love their style of baseball, and I appreciate their team chemistry and camaraderie.

I find that I am rooting for the Twins more than the Tigers. This causes me great consternation because suddenly I question my loyalties. Am I becoming a fan who shifts loyalties based on which team is winning? I certainly hope not, and I will fight that shallow tendency. I have analyzed my feelings and the logic of all of this and have come to this conclusion – whichever team wins I will take pride in saying I am a fan. I don’t like that about myself, because I don’t personally believe you can be a true fan of two teams. But I’m not ready to make a choice yet.

I’m sure by now you are asking yourself, “What does all of this baseball talk have to do with Scripture?” We all have a choice to make about the truth by which we will live. We will either live by the truth that we have the right to live for the honor of self, or we will live by the truth that we will live for the honor of Jesus Christ. Every day we must make that choice. In every social situation we must make that choice. In every relationship we must make that choice. We choose to either conform to the circumstances of our life so that we can be accepted and fit in, or we choose to live consistently by the unchangeable truth that no matter what happens, Jesus is Lord.

Jesus said that he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. Accordingly, the opposite of that statement must also be true: he who works for the honor of self is not a man of truth, and everything is false about him.

We have all experienced the unpleasantness of being in the company of someone who is constantly changing their position on issues to please the people they are with. But are we willing to evaluate our own lives and see the unpleasantness we cause Jesus when we do the same thing to Him? Can we honestly say that we live every moment of every day according to the truth of Jesus Christ? Are we seeking to honor Him in every part of our day and in every choice we make, with no attempt to honor self?

Our answer to those questions is probably no. For some, it is because we have given up trying. We accept the human limitations of living in perfection. For others, it is just not important. But for God, it is vital. Paul’s challenge is to have our minds so transformed by the saving power of Jesus Christ that we think only in accordance with His truth.

Every day we are bombarded by a Godless culture with man’s attempt to eliminate moral truth and live only to honor self. We must, as the people of God, choose to think and act according to God’s truth.  We must not let emotions and personal rights interfere with our decision to think on the things of God.

We decide every day whether we will honor self or honor God, and that choice makes us either liars or people of truth. Let the truth set you free to live fully for Jesus Christ.

By the way, to be true to who I am, win or lose, GO TIGERS!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, August 9, 2018

Philippians 4:8 ⁸Finally, 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.

Romans 12:2 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.

 Of all the helpful advice I have been given over the years by my parents, my wife, and others who love me and want to help me be the best I can be, the counsel I have not yet mastered is this – You should think before you speak.

I am a man of spontaneous action. I am not defending it; in fact, most of the time it gets me in trouble. There are certain situations which call for quick responses, but in general there needs to be more thought put into responses and decisions. I’m still learning to do that. I am trying to perfect the skill of thinking through things before I act.

But thinking alone is not enough: we must think correctly. The first step in learning to think correctly is to evaluate our motives. When we need to make a decision, plan a course of action, or respond to another person’s communication with us, we usually determine in our minds what we want the outcome to be. Our minds are very powerful and work incredibly quickly, but they always work within the parameters that have been set by previous experiences and decisions. Our brains have been trained to think according to the patterns that have been established through years of practice.

When a decision needs to be made, our brains process previous experiences quickly according to what we have chosen to do in the past. We are presented with choices that fall within those historical contexts. Such decisions are usually based on emotional needs, psychological needs, or self-serving objectives, because apart from Christ that’s how the flesh responds.  We are thinking, but we are not thinking correctly because we are letting the flesh and its needs dictate our goals and objectives. Unless the predetermined outcome of our thought process is to honor God, then the entire thought process only honors self.

Paul teaches this in today’s two Scripture passages. We need to retrain our brain so that it thinks correctly: not according to the pattern of the world, but according to the pattern of Christ. He gives us a list of virtues that are to influence our thought process. When adopted in their entirety, they assure that the outcome of any decision, response, or communication will be honoring to God.

They are not to be applied individually, as if we are picking and choosing which ones to use in any given situation. Each virtue is to be included in each and every decision or response. When God decides to act according to His good will and pleasure, He doesn’t just consider His nature of love, nor does He just consider His nature of justice. Every decision and act of His will is a compilation of all His virtues, and expresses the totality of His nature. That is how we are to learn to think.

Here are the 8 things Paul says must be included in our thought process at all times:

1. Is it true?
2. Is it noble – which means done with honor?
3. Is it right – meaning Righteous and Just?
4. Is it pure – meaning holy?
5. Is it lovely – meaning serving the best interests of another?
6. Is it admirable – meaning highly regarded by others?
7. Is it excellent – meaning morally excellent?
8. Is it praiseworthy – meaning does it bring praise and honor to God?

For the next few days we are going to look at each of these virtues and learn to apply them to our thought process. For today, review the list and begin to evaluate your own thought process in light of these 8 virtues. Let the Holy Spirit convict you of where your mind needs to be renewed, and begin the process of retraining your brain to think correctly.

We are in a war for the control of our minds. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3 that though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Let us renew our minds and bring every thought into conformity to Christ.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Philippians 4:8-9  ⁸Finally, 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.

Memories are important. They bring us strength. They encourage us. They motivate us. They comfort us. They bring us joy. Most of us carry memories around with us in one form or another. Some of us trust our minds to carry them. Others put them on our mobile devices, and maybe in our wallets, pockets, or purses. Some of the memories are printed on small slips of paper, while others may be photographic. I carry both. Tucked away in a tiny slot in my wallet is a card from a man that I led to Christ years ago to remind me of God’s transforming power in his life. On my phone are pictures of family members, especially grandchildren, to remind me of the love I experience when I am with them. Even though I say I love the picture, I love the person infinitely more. The picture is but a reminder of the relationship that is only fully experienced when I am with the person.

In Philippians 4:6-9, I see a similar concept. First, Paul tells us to pray about everything and we will experience the peace of God. I see this as the memories we carry around in our pockets. Throughout our lives we have been given pictures of the faithfulness of God as He worked through all the difficult situations we experienced. We carry those memories around with us in one form or another. Some of us have notes on slips of paper tucked away in significant places like wallets, purses, or Bibles. Some of us have kept detailed journals of our walk with Christ. Some of us trust the storage capacity of our minds to hold the precious memories. We use these memories as the foundations of our prayers of praise, thanksgiving, confession, repentance, request, and surrender. The memories of God’s faithfulness are the fertile soil into which God plants the seed of peace, and we love to walk in the garden of peace and be reminded that we have no reason to worry or fear.

Paul goes on and tells us about something even more exciting, fulfilling, and satisfying than having the peace of God in our hearts and minds. He tells us that we can experience the personal presence of the God of peace. So many of us are satisfied just to carry around the memories and be at peace. We have fallen in love with the picture. We miss out on the greatest joy when we do not spend time in personal relationship with the person whose picture we carry. I realized that more than ever after my mother died. I have picture of her accessible from my phone, and for the rest of my life the memories motivated by those pictures are all I will have. Not until heaven will I be able to spend personal time with her. I have the memories of mom, but I would much rather be experiencing the mom who created those memories.

That’s the distinction I see Paul making: we have become satisfied with the peace that comes from the memories of God’s work in our lives, but we may be missing the best part of knowing Jesus – spending time with Him in person. Paul says that the step up from the level of having the peace of God to the level of living in personal relationship with the God of peace is accomplished by putting into practice what we have learned about God. It is a wonderful thing to experience the peace of God by going to Him with our requests and trusting Him with the outcome – but it is not the best thing. There is more that God has for us. He longs for us to experience the wonder of His abiding presence.

We know that at the moment of our salvation we were indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God and He promised to never leave us or forsake us. But what I speak of here is more than that. At my wedding my wife committed to being with me for as long as we both shall live. Her picture reminds me of that commitment. But I am not satisfied to live with the memory of my wedding day. I am not simply in love with the picture or the event. I want to experience the wonder of her presence every chance I get. That’s what Paul is talking about, and that is only possible if we are putting into practice what we know to be true about God.

Paul affirms what James teaches when he says “faith without works is dead.” It is by faith that we are saved, but it is by our works that we abide in the presence of the God of peace. By faith we pray based on our knowledge and memories of God and we trust Him with the outcomes. By our choice to bring our minds, hearts, and actions into conformity with God’s pattern for living we experience the awesome reality of His presence in our lives.

Jesus said it this way – If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  (John 15:10 – 12)

Jesus knew that the fulfillment of joy in life is dependent upon abiding in the love of the Father, and that is only possible through obedience to God’s commands. We are not satisfied to live with pictures of God, but rather we long to experience the presence of God. The reality of that experience depends on our choice to bring our thought life into alignment with God’s holy nature, and to put into practice what we have learned about living holy living.

So, take a look at all the pictures you carry, and assign them into one of two categories – those people you want to spend time with and those whom you don’t. What, you don’t carry pictures of people you don’t want to spend time with? Of course not! We carry memories of relationships in which we are invested. The memories may be good, but the time spent investing in the relationship is better.

Now apply that to your relationship with God.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

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

I saw a Peanuts cartoon with Lucy saying to Charlie Brown, “I hate everything. I hate everybody. I hate the whole wide world!” Charlie says, “But I thought you had inner peace.” Lucy replies, “I do have inner peace. But I still have outer obnoxiousness”

There are times when I fail to live in the full understanding of God’s peace. He has promised that His peace will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. Let’s consider the word guard.

The Greek definition says, to protect by a military guard, either to prevent hostile invasion, or to keep the inhabitants of a besieged city from flight. Think about that carefully. God’s peace provides us with two benefits:

1. Total protection from hostile invasion, like worry or fear;
2. Total confinement of the enemy.

Jesus said that He has accomplished both of those things on our behalf so that we can be at perfect peace. Not partial peace or temporary peace, but perfect and permanent peace. Our hearts and our minds are protected from any hostile invasion, and the enemy himself has been overcome and confined to a besieged city from which he is unable to flee.

We do not need to live like Lucy, claiming the peace of God but living in fear, worry, and disdain of the world. Peace transforms our attitudes and our actions.

Have we taken the King at His word? Maybe not. We have not always lived in perfect peace. We have not always trusted the protection of God and the conquering of the enemy. We have claimed to be at peace with God, but have not lived in the confidence that we have the peace of God. We are walking through life as a foot soldier of low rank when we have been designated by the King as officers.

The Emperor Napoleon was reviewing some troops in Paris; and while giving an order he thoughtlessly dropped the bridle upon his horse’s neck, kicking the horse into a gallop. The emperor was forced to cling to the saddle. At that moment, a common soldier of low rank sprang before the horse, seized the bridle and handed it to the emperor. “Much obliged to you, captain,” said the Emperor, and by this statement he made the soldier a captain.

The man believed the emperor, and saluting him, asked, “Of what regiment am I a captain, sire?” Napoleon was charmed with his faith, and replied, “Of my guards,” and he galloped off. As soon as the emperor left, the soldier laid down his gun, saying, “He may take it who will,” and instead of returning to his comrades, he approached the group of staff officers. On seeing him, one of the generals scornfully said, “What does that fellow want here?”

“This fellow,” replied the soldier proudly, “is a captain of the guard.”

“You, my poor friend! You are mad to say so!”

“But the Emperor said it,” replied the soldier, pointing to Napoleon, who was still in sight.

“I ask your pardon, sir,” said the general respectfully, “I was not aware of it.”

We may be sure that God gives peace by believing His Word, just as the soldier believed the word of the emperor. He may have still been wearing the uniform of a foot soldier, but in his heart and mind he was already acting like an officer. He was taking steps to bring the external into conformity with the internal.

That is what we need to do. We are at peace with God and have been given the peace of God in Christ Jesus. We are protected from hostile invasion and the enemy has been conquered. We should live like those things are true.

Lighten up! Let it go! Don’t worry! Live a life of peace!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, August 6, 2018

Philippians 4:7  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Isaiah 26:3 – 4 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.

There is one more significant part of prayer that we must discuss, and it is something God taught me experientially during the week following my mother’s death years ago. So many times, when we pray, even when we pray properly using prayers of praise, thanksgiving, confession, repentance, and request, we tend to stop before we pray for the peace of God. We miss such a great blessing when we fail to wait on the Lord to fill us with His peace that passes all understanding.

When my wife and I arrived in South Dakota the day after my mother was transferred to glory, I knew that in two days I would be standing in front of all of our family and friends and officiating at her memorial service. I knew that I should be stressed and uneasy as I considered the possibilities of emotional breakdowns during the service. I knew that in my flesh I should be worried that I would adequately represent the beauty of my mom’s life to everyone present. I expected that walking into my mom’s room for the first time without her present would be excruciating. I thought that reflecting on all the ways that I missed her would bring a constant flow of tears to my eyes. I believed that we would have to try and put up a good front of strength when in reality we were crushed by this loss.

But none of that happened. I do not claim to understand what the Bible says transcends all understanding: all I know is that I experienced the peace of God! It was a powerful experience to stand in front of several hundred people and lead a memorial service to the woman who gave me life, and to do it with joy and celebration rather than grieving and loss.

The experience of God’s peace was the product of prayer that ended in total trust and surrender to God’s outcome. Whenever I would shift my focus from the eternal to the earthly, the tears would start and the experience of loss would overwhelm me. At those moments, only one thing was necessary for me – to think of the glory of heaven and the perfection of the saints in God’s presence. Immediately the tears would end and the joy of the Lord would restore my spirit. His peace guarded my heart and my mind because I had chosen to trust Him.

One morning, while my brother Paul and I took dad around town to finish up some necessary business, we stopped at the grave of my mom to see the marker that had been placed there by the funeral home. I wanted to see the place from which my mom’s body would someday rise incorruptible. When I thought of her body in that grave, I cried. When I heard my dad say, “She isn’t here,” my heart leaped for joy. I can trust the Eternal Father to bring His glorious conclusion to all of earth’s suffering. No matter what the circumstances, my mind remains steadfast and at peace, because I trust Him.

When we pray about anything, it is imperative that we conclude our prayers with a time of listening and waiting – listening for God’s response and waiting for God’s peace. When we do not, we are as foolish as the person who walks into a fast food restaurant, orders his food, pays for it, and then leaves before receiving it. He goes away hungry and penniless. When we don’t wait for God to fill the order for peace, we are still spiritually hungry because we have not received God’s nourishment. We must wait for His assuring voice that He has it under control and His Spirit of peace that passes all understanding.

Don’t rush through your prayer time and then hurry on to the next event on your calendar. Take time to be still, and know that He is God. He will keep you in perfect peace.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, August 3, 2018

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

So far in our study of prayer from Philippians 4:6, we have learned to praise God for who He is, to thank Him for what He does, to confess to Him those things we have done that are not in agreement with Him, and then to repent of those things, turning away from them and moving into agreement with God about our actions. It is at this point of agreement with God that we can engage the next type of prayer – the wonderful privilege of asking God for the desires of our hearts.

The subject of asking God for whatever we wish and expecting to get it has generated many questions. Certain phrases and promises from Scripture seem to capture our attention, and we tend to lock on to them without considering their context or mutual responsibilities. I dare say that the reason we ask about asking is selfish. Deep in our hearts is the desire to get what we want, and to believe that it’s totally right to want it. We partially read God’s Word and see that we can ask whatever we wish, and it will be given to us.

As we mentioned in a devotional last week, we tend to believe that our identity and value are based in the physical, so we naturally apply this promise to the desires of our flesh, and we ask for prosperity and health and blessing on our physical lives. Then, when we don’t always get it, we doubt our faith, or we doubt God’s promise, or we doubt God himself. We then ask questions about asking.

Notice that in each of the following passages where Jesus promised us that we could ask anything of God and He would do it, there is a requirement that we ask from of a position of agreement with God’s perspective of the situation.

• “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:22) We must believe not only that God can do it, but that He wants to do it. Just because I want a mountain moved to benefit me does not require God to oblige me. True faith in God goes beyond knowing what He is capable of and moves into the realm of agreeing with His purpose.

• Do you remember what the disciples James and John asked Jesus for in Mark 10:35? “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” They took the promise of Jesus the way we do most of the time. They wanted Jesus to do whatever they desired. Look how Jesus responded. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. … These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”  We must remember that what we ask for must be in agreement with God’s predetermined purpose.

• In John 14:13 – 14, Jesus said, And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. The requirement here is that we must ask in Jesus’ name. That means we ask according to what we know to be true about the nature, character, and purpose of Jesus. That’s why prayers of praise and thanksgiving are so important before we ask anything, because it puts our hearts in touch with who Jesus is, so that our asking is in agreement with His purpose to bring glory to the Father.

• Jesus adds another qualifier to asking Him for anything in this statement – If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. Here the condition of asking is that we are abiding in Christ and His words are abiding in us. This describes true intimacy with Jesus, and all prayers of request are to be the product of such intimacy. When we ask we should do so in agreement with what He has already said and with a pure heart that is seeking Him in every aspect of our lives.

We can have God answer every prayer the way that we want it to be answered. The key is that we ask according to what we already know God wants to have happen. Every prayer that is asked according to God’s nature, character, and purpose is granted by God. The responsibility we have is to make sure our hearts and minds agree with His. That’s why prayer of praise, confession, and repentance are required before we ask anything, because it is the only way to assure that our minds are in agreement with God.

When I was growing up, I learned very quickly what my dad’s standards were, and how he would respond to different requests. I learned that there were some things I just shouldn’t ask for. The problem I had was even though I knew I couldn’t ask dad, I selfishly pursued those things I wanted anyway. My knowledge of Dad did not change my desires. I had not yet caught His character.

Unfortunately, that is true of how we relate to God. We know that the desires of our hearts are not always in agreement with God’s character, so we simply choose to exclude Him from that pursuit and reach for it on our own. Believe me, life is much more fulfilling when we let the Holy Spirit change our character so that any desire of our heart is in full agreement with God. Then we can ask anything we wish, and He will do it, because it pleases Him to fulfill His purpose in our lives.

Pastor John