LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, March 18, 2021

For the past several years we have enjoyed seeing several foxes wander through our back yard. They are attracted to some of the food sources that live near us, like squirrels and rabbits. Each year these foxes raise a litter of kits. The last den was up in the woods behind our house and down the ridge a little. It was fun to see the kits running around and jumping through our yard as they played and explored. It was fascinating to see how much like their parents they were in appearance and behavior.

As we observe creation, we quickly recognize that God expressed His nature in His work. God’s nature is without contradiction. Fox do not give birth to litters of bunnies. Whether in animals or plants, each kind produces only its own kind.

So it is with Jesus, and so it is to be with us. Jesus makes an incredible statement in John 14:11.

“Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.“

The works of Jesus are the perfect expression of His nature, which is also the nature of the Father. Therefore, by observation of His works we can know who God is and believe on Him. We do not have to wonder whether or not the works of Jesus are an honest expression of God, for the Father is in Jesus, and Jesus is in the Father, so no work can ever contradict who they are.

Let’s make that point personal. To whom do your works point? What can people know to be true about Jesus based solely on the work you do for Him? Do any of the works of your life contradict the nature of Christ who is in you through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit?

Think on that today. And every day. Are we producing only the fruit of righteousness and grace and love according to the nature of Jesus Christ, or are there attitudes and actions that contradict the presence of God in our lives?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

In general, I believe we suffer from a massive level of unbelief. Jesus addressed it with the disciples when they asked Him to show them the Father. Jesus confronts the validity of the question by asking them how they could even ask such a thing. “Isn’t it obvious that you already know the Father because you know me? Or do you not believe what I have previously told you, that I and the Father are one?”

Jesus cut right to the heart of the issue. It’s not that the Father hasn’t been revealed to you: the issue is your unbelief in me.

John 14:10-11 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

Jesus patiently reiterates the truth that the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father. Everything Jesus has said and done is the perfect expression of the Father. Jesus says that He and the Father are completely identical while maintaining their individuality. Belief in that truth was the disciple’s problem.

We suffer from the same unbelief today. We acknowledge intellectually that Jesus is the Son of God. We give intellectual assent to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Yet we go on day after day in a battle against unresolved sin and emotional bondage from our past.

“If only I could see the Father. If only Jesus would release me from this bondage. If only there was a way to gain victory over sin.”

The problem is unbelief. Remember the words of Jesus?

• “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”(John 16:7) 
  • Do you fully, unconditionally, and unreservedly believe that the Holy Spirit dwells in you and is your constant Helper?
• “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”(John 14:12-14)
  • Do you fully, unconditionally, and unreservedly believe that in the power of the Holy Spirit we will do the work of Jesus, and even more than He did?
  • Do you fully, unconditionally, and unreservedly believe that when we ask for anything that glorifies the Father, Jesus will do it?
• “…that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”  (John 17:21-23)
  • Do you fully, unconditionally, and unreservedly believe that we are one with each other in the Body of Christ because Jesus is in us?

We do not suffer because God has not promised, but because we have not believed.

The victory over sin and bondage we long for is not lacking because of God’s weakness but because of our unbelief.

The peace and unity we strive for in the church would be realized if we would only believe that the same Savior that dwells in me dwells equally in others who have trusted Jesus for salvation from sin.

I believe we suffer from a massive level of unbelief. May we begin today to take Jesus at His Word and act upon it.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Much can be learned about the character of a man by listening to his children. Offspring are great imitators. A child’s reactions to circumstances is a good indicator of how dad reacts when things go right or wrong. Interactions with other children may reveal how dad treats people. Speech patterns are certainly a reflection of how dad talks in the home. If you really want to know who a man is, just observe and listen to his young children.

People who seek to know God can do the same thing – observe His children. But there is one huge difference. As children of the flesh we only imitate our fathers, giving only a partial representation of who he is. But as children of God we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and live according to His nature, giving others a clear view of who God is. Yet even that is not a perfect representation because we are not God. However, there is one who is.

“Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”  John 14:8-9

There are two challenges for us today. First, we must stop forming our belief system about God around the behavior of people. I consistently hear people say that the reason they don’t believe in God is because of what some “so called Christian” did to them. Let me be the first to confess that even though the Spirit of God dwells in me by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, I fail daily at being a true representation of who God is. There is no chance anyone will ever fully believe in the Father and be saved by simply observing my life. I mess up. So do you. We do not perfectly display the glory of God. 

Second, we must daily participate with the Holy Spirit in our own sanctification. To be sanctified is to be fully set apart for a singular purpose. When we were saved from our sin by faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit was given to us by Jesus to bring the very life of Jesus into ours. The work of the Holy Spirit is to set us apart for the singular purpose of God’s glory. God is glorified in our obedience. God is glorified in our service. God is glorified in our behavior, our attitudes, our relationships, and our choices. We must daily participate with the Holy Spirit as He sets us apart, for when we do, we will become more accurate representations of Jesus Christ, who is he perfect representation of the Father.

Jesus is one with the Father. He is the exact representation of the Father’s nature and character. If you desire to know God, look to Jesus. He is fully revealed in the Bible, and you can know Him. And if you need a touchable example, look at His children. We are not perfect examples, but daily we are becoming more like Him and can point you to Him.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, March 11, 2021

“How many times do I have to tell you?”

“Why don’t you ever listen to me?”

I wonder how many times I was asked those questions as a kid? I’m sure it was a lot, and I’m sure it was deserved.

When we are given information, we process it quickly through self-defined filters. There’s the filter of value, where we assign a level of importance to what we are hearing. There’s also the filter of context, where we interpret what is being said through our experiences and preferences.

Such was the case with the disciples. Jesus had been consistently telling them that He was leaving them to return to the Father. Now, in the current conversation, Jesus tells them again that He is returning to the Father to prepare a place for them to join Him later. Jesus then tells them that they should know the way to where He is going.

John 14:4  “And you know the way to where I am going.”

One of the disciples, Thomas, speaks up on behalf of all of them.

John 14:5   “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

It is obvious that what Jesus has been teaching them has been interpreted through a context filter. The disciples have not yet understood the mission or the message of Jesus in spiritual terms, but only in a physical context that had immediate application. The disciples understood what Jesus said in terms of a personal trip He would take to a physical location. Since they had not been told the destination, they also question the way to get there.

How often do we interpret what Jesus said in physical terms only, and thereby limit its application to the context of the immediate?

Jesus, with great patience and grace, simply provides the answer. He does not show frustration. He does not ask them why they haven’t listened. He simply helps them to understand that He is going to His Father, and that He is the Way for them to get to the same destination.

This Sunday is my birthday, and I am going on a short trip to celebrate with certain friends. I know where I am going. I know the way. I’m not telling you. I don’t want you to come with me. Nothing personal. Don’t be offended. It’s simply my time away.

Jesus told the disciples where He was going. He was showing them the way to get there. He gave them specific instructions. Follow me because I am the Way. Believe me for I am the Truth. Abide in me for I am the Life. Jesus did not go away and leave us to question where He went and why we didn’t get invited. He made it possible for us to make the same trip, and He invites you to start the journey with Him.

Will you?

Pastor John

P.S. LifeLink Devotionals will return on Tuesday, March 16.

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Who do you think of when you hear the words, “I’ll be back!” If you have a cultural mindset, you probably thought of a movie star turned governor with a heavy accent who made that promise in a hit movie. His return comes moments later when he terminates the lives of everyone who opposed his mission.

But if you have a spiritual mindset, you thought of Jesus. He also made the promise to return, and like the movie star, His imminent return brings termination of life as we know it.

Jesus said four simple yet powerful words to His disciples to ease their minds as they thought about life without His physical presence.  “I WILL COME BACK!” Immediately prior to these four words Jesus had said four other words that deeply affected them. “I GO TO PREPARE.” The disciple’s focus was on His going. Jesus wanted their focus to be on His return.

John 14:2-3   “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

The curse of sin upon each one of us causes us to focus on what’s missing rather than what is promised. It started in the Garden of Eden, when the serpent convinced Eve that something was missing from her life. When sin entered human existence, our perspective was radically changed. The beauty and blessing of intimacy with God was destroyed and we became irreparably fixated on corruption. We see flaws in people before we see the faultlessness of Christ. We notice mistakes before we embrace the majesty of God. We are cranky and critical and ignore the compassion of Jesus. We are focused on what’s missing rather than what’s promised.

Jesus left the disciples with a promise. “I’LL BE BACK!”  He will return to take all His children out of this world prior to terminating all who reject Him. Sin will be terminated. The entire creation, including this world, will be ultimately terminated. It will be the outpouring of God’s wrath against sin and all who reject salvation in Jesus Christ. It will be perfect justice.

The only people to survive will be those who by faith in Jesus Christ have become children of God. On the cross of Calvary, Jesus bore the wrath of God on our behalf. By faith in Christ, based on His death and resurrection, we who can do nothing in oiurselves to avoid eternal death have been forgiven for all eternity. There is no wrath left for those who believe as it was all poured out on Jesus. If you are in Christ, you are free from condemnation.

Jesus is coming to take His children to the place He has prepared, and we will be with Him for all eternity. Life as we know it will be terminated on this earth. In it’s place we will know life as it was intended – sin-free, pain-free, tear-free, sorrow-free, trouble-free, intimate and eternal life in the presence of Christ.

Each day, until Jesus comes back, we have a choice between focusing on what’s missing or fixing our expectations on the return of Jesus. We can see problems or promises. Which do you choose?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, March 09, 2021

We traveled over four thousand miles in five days. We slept in the car. We navigated almost fifteen hundred miles of gravel roads through the mountains. Twice we almost slid off those roads and down the mountainside because of rain. But when we arrived in North Pole, Alaska, the joy of serving the Lord as summer missionary interns at a Christian radio station was more than we expected.

I learned a life lesson from that trip. The promise of what awaits us at the final destination is motivation to continue the journey and endure the hardships we may encounter along the way.

Jesus teaches that principle to His disciples in the upper room the night before His crucifixion. He has informed them that He was leaving them. He told them that they could not go with Him. He predicted that life would get tough. Yet He gave them all the motivation they needed to endure what was ahead by informing them of what was waiting for them at the end.

John 14:2-3 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

The Holy Spirit, in the book of Hebrews, teaches us the same principle of endurance based on being focused on the finish line.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

The finish line is glory. It is glorious. It is promised for those who believe. It motivates those who choose to fix their eyes on it. The joy of what Jesus has prepared far exceeds any hardship we experience on the journey.

The question is this: On what have you fixed your eyes and your heart?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, March 8, 2021

Imagine for a moment that you have just been told you will miserably fail at something you believed you were capable of doing. You even bragged to others about how you were confident in your ability.  Plus, you told the one person you wanted to impress the most that He could count on you. But that person’s response to you predicted your failure to follow through on your promise.

The last thing we would want to hear at that moment is someone telling us to not worry or be troubled. Having just been told that we would fail, our emotions would be raw, and raw emotions generally need to be expressed rather than ignored or denied. Yet the person who predicted your failure now tells you to not let he pending failure bother you. I’m pretty sure we would not respond well.

This is exactly the scenario playing out in the Upper Room as Jesus spends His last night before His crucifixion with His disciples. Peter bragged about his ability to be strong and faithful.  Jesus tells him that he not only won’t be faithful but will deny even knowing Him. Not just one denial, but three. Imagine Peter’s feelings. Imagine the personal conflict going on between his heart and his mind. He believes Jesus speaks truth. Peter also believes he spoke truth when he promised to be faithful.  But the words of Jesus ring loudly in his ears and penetrate to the core of his heart. He is troubled when faced with the truth of his own inabilities.

Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”  John 13:37-14:1

Where can we find comfort when faced with failure? How can we not be troubled when we realize that our commitments are often unfulfilled because of our inability to live up to our own expectations?  Jesus gives us the answer to both questions – believe in God, and believe in Jesus.  But that begs another question. What does belief in God and Jesus have to do with easing the feelings of discouragement and troubled hearts caused by our failures?

Here’s the answer. GRACE. When things don’t turn out the way we thought they should, there’s GRACE. When we mess up and things get all messed up, there’s GRACE. When we fall flat on our face, there’s GRACE. When our hearts are troubled, the answer is belief in God, and to believe that the grace of God is sufficient for our every need and is best realized when we are our weakest. (2 Corinthians 11:9) When things go wrong, belief in God means that we trust the grace of God to make all things right. 

So no matter where you are, or what you’ve done, believe in God, and believe in Jesus.  GRACE will abound and cover all sin.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, March 5, 2021

My mother gave birth to three sons within thirty-three months. As we grew, she was determined that we would know how to manage everyday household chores. From an early age we washed and dried dishes, cleaned toilets, scrubbed floors, dusted furniture, vacuumed floors, and did laundry, including folding it after it was dry. The second hardest thing I ever learned was to fold a fitted sheet. You may be asking what could be harder than that. The answer is easy. Learning to fold the sheet differently after getting married.

When we learn something, we learn best when we imitate the teacher. However, when we become the teacher, we protect our way of doing it. This can cause conflict when there are multiple acceptable ways of accomplishing a task. Most of the tasks we do in life have a variety of methods for completion. There will be problems in our relationships when we fight to prove that our way is the best way.

But when there is only one way to do something, everyone should do it that way, right? Unfortunately, conflict still arises as we argue about the validity or the value of the one way. Opinion is elevated to an equal position of authority and the truth is manipulated by those opinions.

Such is the case with the subject of love. Jesus declared there is only one way to love. Jesus lived exclusively in that one way of love. Jesus commanded us to love the same way He did since it’s the only way to love.

John 13:34-35  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Jesus stooped to wash the disciple’s feet, even the disciple who hated Him and betrayed Him. He washed the feet of the one who would publicly deny Him. He washed the feet of those who would doubt Him and hide from Him in His greatest hour of need. Jesus showed us the one and only way of love – sacrifice of self for the sake of others.

Why is it that we argue about how to love others? Why do we justify our self-centered motives for love based on benefits we will receive? Why do we exclude from our expressions of love certain people who have hurt us? We do we build walls of self-protection? Did not Jesus command us to love just as He loves us?

That’s a tough challenge for our consideration. However, it is only tough if we do not yet understand the love that has been shown to us. That’s your starting point. Spend time considering the eternal love of God expressed through Jesus Christ for unworthy and undeserving us. Then, with a fresh sense of how much love has been lavished on you that you should be called a child of God, you will be able to love others as you have been loved.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, March 4, 2021

The way I understand the experiences of life is different than the way I expect others to understand me when I speak.

The circumstances of life, especially the difficult ones, are generally observed and understood in a very narrow context. It’s almost as if each event is self-contained and disconnected from all other events. For example, on a long drive home from college many years ago, in the middle of an ice storm, I had a flat tire. I was frustrated and miserable as I changed the tire in freezing rain. I only saw that hardship within the boundaries of that moment and failed to see the bigger picture. More on that later.

Yet when answering questions or explaining events, I want others to see the bigger picture. If I am in the garage working on a project, and my wife asks me what I am doing, I do not answer in literal detail by saying that I am holding a steel rod connected to a plastic handle and using it to turn a small threaded screw into a board to hold it to another board. Instead, in big picture context, I tell her I’m building a birdfeeder.

We need to learn to see the circumstances of life in big picture format. I should have learned that lesson after changing the tire. After returning to the car and driving for 15 minutes, I came upon a serious car accident. As I calculated the estimated time of the accident, I realized that had it not been for my flat tire I could have been involved. The flat tire was a blessing when seen in the context of the big picture.

As Judas rose from the table after being exposed to the Light of Jesus, the disciples all wanted answers to the little picture perspective of where He was going. But when Jesus spoke to them, He at once drew their attention to the big picture.

John 13:31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.”

Our focus tends to be on the current event, and we want it defined in terms that apply only to its specific context. We want to know what it means and how it will be resolved.

But Jesus desires that we interpret all events in the context of the big picture of His glory. Instead of asking how to handle or resolve the current crisis, Jesus declares that all events are working to reveal His glory and the glory of the Father. When we adapt the big picture perspective of life, we will, like Jesus, find peace, hope, and endurance, knowing that every step we take is leading to the full revelation of the glory of God.

Spend some time contemplating that today. Maybe we all need to learn to better focus on the big picture.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, March 3, 2021

On Monday I made a purchase that required careful inspection. Before leaving home, knowing that I would need to be able to see into dark corners, I put into my pocket a small flashlight with brand new batteries. When inspecting anything, flaws hidden in the darkness will be revealed when exposed to the light.

When Jesus came into the world He announced Himself as the Light of the world. However, not everyone wanted their lives to be exposed to the Light. Jesus explained this early on in His ministry when He said:

 “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”(John 3:19-21)

Now, almost three years later, Jesus again reveals that the heart of man prefers hiding sin in the dark rather than exposing it to the Light. While in the upper room with His disciples, Jesus exposes the evil intentions of Judas, who at once hides himself from the Light.

John 13:30  So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he (Judas) immediately went out. And it was night.

Judas preferred the darkness to the Light. He went out into the night, leaving the presence of the Light of the world. Judas preferred the immediate rewards of rebellion to the eternal rewards of repentance.

What about you? Are you insisting on keeping certain parts of your life in the dark, or are you allowing every part of your life to be exposed to the Light of Jesus Christ? Hiding in the dark produces shame unto death, as the suicide of Judas exemplifies. The earthly rewards that entice us to sin in the dark do not settle the account of sin that is owed, thus resulting in hopeless despair.

However, the exposure of sin to the Light of Jesus removes the stain and the shame of all sin, granting hope, joy, and peace.

When the Holy Spirit points to sin in your life, you can choose to leave the Light and go out into the darkness of night. Or you can stand in the Light and let Him cleanse you from all unrighteousness. The choice is yours.

Pastor John