LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, April 16, 2020

There’s a belief problem in the world today. The problem is not due to the lack of belief. The seriousness of the problem lies in the chosen objects of belief. In fact, according to the modern philosophy of belief, belief itself is a sufficient object in which to believe. We have authorized belief in belief.

Matt Carter, in the Christ-Centered Commentary series, states, “It doesn’t matter who you believe or what you believe. All that matters is THAT you believe.” We believe in belief.

A few years ago, on the Oprah show, one guest, an atheist, described the sense of wonder she experienced when she stood at the edge of the ocean. Oprah’s response is eye-opening. “Well, I don’t call you an atheist then…I think if you believe in the awe and the wonder and mystery, then that is what god is…It’s not a bearded guy in the sky.”

We are being taught to believe in belief. After all, belief saves, right? Does it really matter what we believe?

That’s the subject we will address this Sunday as we start our series on the Gospel of John. Every well-written book has a foundational thesis. The Apostle John gives us his thesis – his purpose for writing – in John 20:30-31.

“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

The ONLY way to find life – eternal life – is by believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

I hear so many people make this statement. “I believe in God.” But belief in God DOES NOT SAVE ANYONE FROM SIN. The Scripture says that even the demons believe in God, yet they tremble. They have no connection with eternal life.

ONLY belief in Jesus Christ as the perfect Son of God who sacrificed His life for our sin will save us. Jesus became sin for us and suffered the wrath of God against sin on our behalf, so that we could become the righteousness of God by belief in Jesus Christ.

NO OTHER BELIEF BRINGS LIFE.

What do you believe? It’s a question of eternal consequence. Believe on Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Believe on anything else, including belief itself, and you will be lost in eternal death.

Please consider your belief system today, and choose to believe on the Name of Jesus ONLY!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, 04.15.20

“I’m too old.”

I have started saying that more often than I should. It is my standard response when one of the young grandchildren open the game closet at our house and pull down the game TWISTER.

“I’m too old.”

However, I was encouraged today as I read about the Apostle John. At the age of around 80, as he prepared to write the Gospel he authored, he was the last remaining Apostle. By now, all the others had given their lives for the Gospel. The great persecution of the Christian brothers and sisters in Rome had taken place. Jerusalem had been overthrown and the temple destroyed some ten years earlier. John was most likely living in Ephesus serving in the church that the Apostle Paul had started.

As I read the history, I wondered if John ever said, “I’m too old to be of any further use to the Lord.” If he had ever made that statement, the Holy Spirit clearly answered with another assignment. “John, I want you to write down your understanding of the person of Jesus Christ and His mission to save the world from their sin.”

John ignored his age and took up the assignment.  As a result, we have the Gospel of John.  John was one of the few still living who had seen Jesus in the flesh. It would be easy for young believers—removed from Christ’s life, death, and resurrection by a generation and surrounded by a hostile government and unbelieving neighbors—to have doubts and second thoughts about their faith. Remember, this is after the terrible persecutions by Nero (a.d. 54-68) and the total destruction of Jerusalem (a.d. 70). The church had flourished under persecution, but believers needed reassurance of the truth of Christianity. John, the venerable eyewitness to all that Jesus had done and faithful follower of his Lord, would give that assurance through his personal account of the gospel story. (Life Application Bible Commentary)

Did you catch the incredible description of John’s life in the last sentence?  “…the venerable eyewitness to all that Jesus had done and faithful follower of his Lord…” That’s what I want to be no matter my age. I want to be someone worthy of respect based on faithful, unrelenting service to Jesus.

But wait, John wasn’t done yet. After writing his Gospel, and as it began to spread encouragement to the saints to love Christ above all else and serve Him faithfully, the Roman government banished him to a prison island so his influence would cease. By now John is at least 90 years old. Certainly too old to do anything else meaningful for the Gospel.

Haha. LOL. The Holy Spirit had other plans. Just as John had written His Gospel to explain the redemptive mission of Jesus to save us from our sins, the Holy spirit would now give him another assignment. John, write down how the mission of Christ to save sinners will be concluded in the judgment of sin and the eternal glorification of the saints. I will show you what is to come.

John accepted the assignment, and now we have the book of Revelation, declaring to us the victory we have in Christ because of His resurrection power.

Next time you are tempted to say, “I’m too old,” remember John, and accept whatever assignment the Holy Spirit has for you. Declare with me that you will be a “venerable eyewitness to all that Jesus has done and a faithful follower of the Lord.”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

There are days when I have a very hard time understanding my grandchildren. That statement alone would elicit the response, “OK Boomer.” Just yesterday I was telling a story to a few of them in a video chat, and one of them interrupted me and asked, “When?” I said, “When what?’, to which came the response “When did I ask?”

It seems every time I talk to one of them there’s a new term I have to learn, and then I get it wrong when I use it the first time. I guess I amn’t vibin’ yet. (Yes, amn’t is now an official word in the van Gorkom dictionary.)

The more we hang around with people, the more we begin to adapt their style of communication. We begin using their words, and we may even develop their regional accent. Except with our former Worship Pastor James Alan. I never will talk like him. All Y’all won’t either.

One of the unique qualities of the Gospel of John is that the Apostle John’s personal vocabulary was obviously deeply influenced by his closeness to Jesus. John’s communication style was framed by the influence of his communion with the Lord. As one of my favorite old commentaries puts it, “There can be no doubt that the thoughts of Jesus had interpenetrated him. He was saturated with them, and they gave character to all his own meditations on the meaning of the Lord’s life.” (The Pulpit Commentary, Funk & Wagnalls, Co. 1883)

WOW! There’s a challenging thought for today. When people hear me speak, are they convinced that the thoughts of Jesus have so “interpenetrated” me that I am saturated with them and speak only what relates to Christ?

What would change about the way we communicate if we spent so much time with Jesus that our thoughts and speech were saturated with His words? Are we becoming saturated with Jesus? What would our world be like if the people who follow Jesus truly represented Him in word and deed?

That is only possible if we spend so much time with Him that His Holy Spirit interpenetrates every part of our being. The first thoughts we have in response to the circumstances of life are the thoughts of God’s goodness and sovereign control. The first thoughts we have when our value is attacked by people’s words are thoughts of grace and compassion. The first words out of our mouth when surprised with hurt or frustrated with failure are words of praise and thanksgiving.

What if every single event of life was seen in the light of Christ’s redemptive purpose to bring people to the cross for salvation? Are we willing to become that type of disciple: a disciple in love with the Lord and interpenetrated with His thoughts and words? If so, then begin today by spending intimate time with Him in Bible study and prayer, and decide that you will allow His influence to interpenetrate every part of your mind and soul.

Pastor John

LIFELINK DEVOTIONAL
Monday, April 13, 2020

Yesterday was amazing. The celebration of the resurrection was better than ever because for the first time in a month, Calvary joined together in a separated kind of way and had drive-in church. 35 cars with over 100 people honking their horns in a snow storm to celebrate Jesus Christ. I was extremely blessed.

I think what encouraged me the most was the two families who came with their newborn sons and celebrated their first church service in the car in a snowstorm. What a statement of their love for a Jesus, and their desire to start their child’s adventure of life by teaching them to follow Jesus.

Jesus is always calling people to follow Him. He called fishermen to do follow Him. He called tax collectors. He called those who had no notoriety. He called those who would eventually betray Him. Jesus is always calling people.

Next Sunday, we begin a sermon series on the Gospel of John. It will be a verse-by-verse study how we can know Jesus and follow Him. Each weekday, there will be a LIFELINK devotional to assist you in your study. Here’s the first few thoughts for you to consider.

John’s Gospel is significant because rather than being historical story-telling like Matthew, Mark, and Luke, his is a narrative of the heart of Jesus for people to follow Him.

So who was John? We know that he was one of the fishermen who followed Jesus. We also know that he was the disciple that Jesus loved. Not that he didn’t love all of them, but John and Jesus had a special bond that went beyond duty and activity. They had a relationship that thrived on emotional and spirituality intimacy. That’s why John was chosen to write the Gospel that best describes the heart of our Savior.

Relationships thrive when there is emotional and spiritual intimacy. Think about that in your own life. What qualifies someone to be your best friend? Is it duty? Activity? Or is it deep heart connections of understanding, compassion, forgiveness, and grace?

I think all of us long for relationships based on grace and truth. John declares grace and truth to be the most significant descriptions of Jesus when He was revealed to us.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
‭‭John‬ ‭1:14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

For today, reflect on your relationship with God your relationships with people. Are they defined by grace and truth? If not, what will you do to begin to develop the intimacy of deep relationships like that of Jesus and John, so that you can be known as a disciple Jesus loves?

Pastor John

LIFELINK DEVOTIONAL

Friday, April 10, 2020

Recently I have heard several people use the phrase, “Well, it’s in God’s hands now.” I have wanted to ask them, “When has it NOT been in God’s hands?” I wonder how many things there are in our lives that we say are in God’s hands, when what we really mean is that they are in our hands until we give up and lose control, and then they’re in God’s hands. I challenge us to consider that even then, we don’t really mean it. We still want to have a say in the solution.

Hanging on the cross, Jesus has completed the work the Father had given Him. He fully carried the weight of the world’s sin to the Judgement Seat of God and endured the full effects of God’s wrath. The payment for mankind’s redemption was almost complete. One thing remained: DEATH. Jesus said,

“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46)

This is the final statement that we have from Jesus on the cross. Everything had been completed and now it was time to dismiss His spirit. What an incredible statement of trust in the love of His Father. Jesus would commend His spirit (deposit for protection) to the Father for safe-keeping. No one took His life from Him. Jesus willingly gave His life for you and me, and He fully trusted the outcome to the Father.

John 10:17-18 “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

That’s quite a lesson of trust for us to learn. Think of all the things that are going wrong in your life today. Now think of how many of them you really trust God to manage? Turn those numbers into a ratio, and discover your trust level. Let’s say you determine you have 6 things wrong, but you have fully trusted only two of them to God. The other four you are still working to resolve in your own wisdom and strength. That’s 2 over six, or one-third. You trust rating is 33%. Are you satisfied with that?

Jesus commended, or deposited for protection, 100% of the outcome of His death to the Father. Not just a sickness, but DEATH. He fully deposited His very life to the hands of the Father. And look what happened. RESURRECTION and GLORY!

I wonder how much of the power of God would be displayed in our midst today if we raised our trust rating?

Thank you Jesus, for dying for our sins, and while you did, for teaching us to be forgiving, compassionate, and trusting.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, April 09, 2020

For me personally, the most significant aspect of studying the Bible is discovering the fulfillment of the Old testament symbols in the New Testament. One such symbol is the Passover. Do you remember the story from Exodus 22?

God is about to set the Israelites free from slavery to the Egyptian nation. The final plague upon Pharaoh and his people would be the death of the firstborn children in the land. This would include the Israelites, except for God’s provision of mercy. If any household sacrificed a lamb, and spread the blood of that lamb on the doorposts of their house, the angel of death would pass over that house and the firstborn child would be saved.

The timing of the death of Jesus was not coincidental. Jesus was crucified at the time of the killing of the Lambs for the Passover celebration in Jerusalem. Christ became the Passover Lamb, as noted by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 5:7.

“For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed”

The innocent Lamb was slain for our sins, so that we might be rescued from certain death.

The sixth statement of Jesus from the cross is His recognition that his suffering is over and his task is completed. He has sufficiently carried the weight of man’s sin and sacrificially suffered the wrath of God against that sin. He cries out,

“It is finished.” John 19:30

What was finished? The redemption of sinful mankind. The sin that had separated every human being from eternal relationship with God could now be removed as a barrier by faith in the “FINISHED” work of Jesus on the cross. Mankind could now, by faith, become eternal children of God, never to be separated from Him again. Sin no longer has any power to separate because the ONE who paid for that sin is eternally accepted and restored to the throne as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. By faith in Jesus Christ, we are brought into a loving and eternal relationship with God, and nothing can ever separate us from Him.

What was finished? My redemption and reconciliation to God. Jesus did it! The Once-For-All Passover Lamb has been slain. His blood has been applied to my life. Death has been conquered. IT IS FINISHED!

Here are some verses to encourage you.

Psalm 109:26-27 Help me, O LORD my God! Save me according to your steadfast love! Let them know that this is your hand; you, O LORD, have done it!

Psalm 22:30-31 It shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.

1 Corinthians 15:54-57 “Death is swallowed up in victory.”  “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:31-39  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, April 08, 2020

As we draw closer to Good Friday, I am made more aware of my flawed human nature by the fifth statement of Jesus from the cross. My normal response to pain and suffering is quite the opposite of Christ’s. You see, I tend to focus on my needs first, and then, once they are met, maybe I will focus on the needs of others.

Not so with Jesus. He has spoken four times from the cross already, and in the midst of His anguish every statement was of a spiritual nature. Twice He forgave others. He cared for the needs of others. He declared the need for spiritual intimacy with the Father. Until now, He had not asked one thing for relief of His physical needs.

I am deeply convicted by that. How much time is spent seeking the relief of our personal suffering, rather than seeking the strength of the Father to meet the needs of others? Now, finally, after showing compassion to others, Jesus says,

“I thirst.” John 19:28

Jesus is now most likely in shock. The wounds inflicted upon him in the scourging, the crowning with thorns, losing blood on the three-hour walk through the city of Jerusalem on the Via Dolorosa to Golgotha, and the nailing upon the cross are now taking their toll. Dehydration has set in. Jesus asks for a drink of water.

In that request, I am reminded of the time He asked for a drink of water when talking to a woman at a well. That request turned into an explanation by Jesus that He has living water to offer everyone.

“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14).

In answer to His statement of thirst, the guards put a sponge soaked in sour wine (vinegar) to his mouth, and he drank it. Jesus drank what man had to offer. What a symbol of His death. He drank fully the bitterness of man’s attempts to satisfy God. If only those at the cross would have recognized that in His death He was providing them pure water from which springs eternal life.

Jesus took into Himself every form of man-made religion and ritual, and put it to death. Jesus took all of man’s efforts to earn the favor of God and crucified them in His body on the cross. There is nothing man can offer God except sour grapes.

But Jesus replaced all of man’s efforts with His sacrifice, and by faith in Who He is and what He did on the cross, we can be forgiven for any and every sin. Jesus took man’s best efforts and destroyed them by the power of the cross.

Colossians 2:13-15 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Are you thirsty? Come to Jesus for living water, and never thirst again.

Pastor  John

LIFELINK DEVOTIONAL

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

I remember the day I helped someone move a piano. I have the scar to remind me. Four of us were carrying the old upright until we reached the narrow entryway at the front door. There was only room for one man on each end of the piano, and without notice, the guy next to me let go. I was holding up my end all alone. I felt a twinge. Sure enough, two days later I was having hernia surgery.

It’s tough to carry all by yourself a load that was meant for two or more. It’s even tougher when you have had help for a while and then the help is gone. When facing a difficult and seemingly impossible task, no one likes to feel forsaken.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

The fourth saying of Jesus from the cross is probably the most difficult for us to understand. The sinless Son of God, suffering as none can imagine, had been sustained to this point by the constant loving fellowship of the Father. But when the full weight of the sin of mankind was placed onto Jesus, the Father let go. To be clear, Jesus did not cease to be God. But to fully suffer the wrath of God against sin on our behalf, Jesus had to bear, in His full humanity, without His Father’s help, the full weight of our sin. When the sins of the world were put upon Jesus there was, for the first time, a separation between the Father and the Son.

The Bible records something happened between them that we can only understand through the eye of faith. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). Yet figuratively, God did not have a hold on the piano. The piano represents sin – the sin of the world – and Jesus would bear the weight of it and the punishment for it alone. His scars are proof that He did it.

Why would Jesus willingly submit Himself to such a load that would cause so much pain, even to the point of death? Because he fully understood and accepted the Father’s redemptive plan for you and me.

For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus, the sinless son of God, became our sin for us. Everyone’s sin. The full load of sin from all created history and all future sins. Jesus was determined that once the load was placed upon Him, he would not let go, not matter the pain, the agony, the suffering, or the scars. Jesus did not drop the piano when the Father let go.

Try to remember a time when someone you love left you feeling forsaken or abandoned. Add to that multiplied intimacy of an eternal love relationship like the one between the Father and the Son. Imagine the pain of feeling forsaken – left alone to carry the weight that had been previously shared.

The only way to endure such emotional and physical pain is to have our eyes fixed on a higher goal than the removal of immediate pain. That goal is the glory of God to save sinners. Let us fix our eyes on the salvation of sinners. Let us join Jesus in the ministry of the Gospel to reconcile the world to God. Only then will we be able to endure the pain and suffering of this life, and keep carrying our pianos.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, April 6,2020

When we are suffering, we have the tendency to become so focused on how we are hurting that we fail to see the needs of others around us. Our pain can cause us to feel incapable of reaching out to meet the needs of others. We can become bitter towards life and people because we believe others should be helping us.

When we see Jesus on the cross, in excruciating agony, we might assume that He is only focused on getting out of it, or at the minimum ending it quickly by dying. And yet, in His third statement from the cross, Jesus models true compassion for us. He shows us that we are capable, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to care about others when we ourselves are in need of care.

Woman, behold your son” (John 19:26).

As Jesus suffered on the cross His mind was still on others. He saw His mother standing near the Apostle John and said, “Woman, behold your son.” He then looked at John and said, “Behold your mother!” By doing this He was entrusting the care of His mother to John.

The law of God required the firstborn son to take care of his parents, and Jesus was obeying the law of God up until the end. Never once did Jesus fail to uphold the spiritual principles of the law. It was a part of His obedience to the redemptive purpose of God. The spotless Lamb of God would remain spotless, even while bearing our sin on the cross.

We all tend to get self-absorbed with our own troubles. We get so focused on the pain, and seeking solutions, that we fail to notice the people around us to whom God has called us to minister grace in their time of need.

Years ago my wife and I had a dear friend who was dying of cancer. She was confined to a hospital bed in her living room. She was so weak she needed help with every basic necessity of life. Yet she found the strength to send us a card of encouragement, and she even wrote out a story of her Journey for me, which I still have in my files. Up until the day she died, she saw the needs of others and did whatever she could to help those people.

How about you? Can you see beyond your own inconveniences right now, and reach out to others who are also in need? Can we all join together in a commitment to what the Holy Spirit says in Philippians 2:3-5?

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, April 3, 2020

Human nature makes a mess of forgiveness. We even validate how we forgive with the excuse, ”But I’m not God.” Let me explain.

We tend to drag out the stages of forgiveness. We spend time contemplating the hurt, and discovering every area of our life affected by the hurt. After a period of time, we decide we don’t want the hurt anymore, so we forgive the person who hurt us – or at least we say we do – all the while establishing boundaries to protect us from additional hurt. As time passes, we loosen the boundaries based on varying levels of trust that have been re-established. Finally, after what could be years, we feel safe in fully restoring our relationship with the person who hurt us.

I speak from experience. This is our natural process of forgiveness. We are human, and memories combine with the need for self-preservation. We choose to protect both.

Not so with Jesus. His actions are to be our model of forgiveness. His love is to be the guide for how we forgive. Look at what He did on the cross. Not only did Jesus pray for the Father to forgive those who crucified Him, He also specifically forgave one of the thieves crucified next to Him.

When the thieves were put on the cross, both of them cursed Jesus. Both of them hurt Him. But later, one of the thieves had a change of heart.

Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed him, saying, ‘If you are the Christ, save yourself and us.’ But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom’ (Luke 23:39-42).

It was at this juncture that Jesus made His second statement from the cross.

“Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43)

When Jesus forgave, He immediately restored relationship. He didn’t take time to process and evaluate and force perpetrator to earn trust. Repentance – true repentance – requires total forgiveness.

Now, many of you right now would love to remind me of human nature, and that we aren’t God. But before you do, remember Who lives in you, and Who’s love is able to motivate your thoughts and actions. We are either motivated by the need to gratify the needs of the flesh, or we are living according to the Holy Spirit so that we do not gratify the flesh.

While I understand that we all have a long way to go to approach the incredible grace displayed by Jesus, I also know that I am challenged by the Holy Spirit from His Word to “Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.” Every time I’m hurt, do I get better at moving through the process of forgiveness to reach the conclusion of restored relationship? Or am I satisfied to respond the way I always have and deal with hurt within my comfort zones? By the power of Christ’s forgiveness for me, I can also forgive others. Not according to human standards, but in the same way He forgave me.

Maybe today will be the day we can say with Jesus, “Today, you will be with me in relationship again.”

Pastor John