LifeLink Devotions (Click here for podcast)

Thursday, March 3, 2022

Magnets are cool. They help me see the invisible. They teach practical lessons of eternal value. I remember playing with two little magnetic dogs in church when I was a little boy. They were mom’s way of keeping her three sons quiet while she sang in the choir and while dad led the service. Little did I know the importance of the lessons about unity I would learn from them. You see, the force of a magnet has the ability to attract an object if it is made of a material that responds to magnetic force. That material can also be influenced to become magnetic itself. If the object is another magnet, it will either attract or repel depending on its position. Let’s draw some spiritual applications from these scientific facts. 

Ephesians 4:3  “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.“

I see the power of the Holy Spirit represented by magnetic force. God has created all human life out of eternal material that is able to respond to the Holy Spirit. We can be influenced sufficiently by the power of the Spirit to become like Him. That’s what happens when we let the power of the Spirit flow through us. But just like magnets, we can also be repelled by the Spirit if our position is wrong. When I played with the two magnetic dogs, they would attract each other if they were facing each other. If I tried to come up from behind one of them with the other, it would be pushed away. The Holy Spirit can only attract those who are facing God and seeking Him. All others will be repelled deeper into their own lives of selfish aspirations.

Once a life is attracted by the Holy Spirit, connection happens. This connection is most powerful and influential when there is nothing between the two. However, things do get between us and God. I used to put one dog underneath the cover of the hymnbook, with the other dog on top. Any movement of the bottom dog would influence the position of the top dog. God’s Spirit influences us constantly, and directs our every move, even when things of the world try to interfere. However, the more pages I would put between the two dogs, the less influence there would be, until finally the top dog was not influenced at all. Continual submission to the things of the world will quench the power and we will be unable to sense the movement of the Spirit.

One of the direct results of continuous magnetic force on an object is that the object itself becomes magnetic. I remember this lesson from a time I was fixing a car. I had dropped a small bolt down into a very tiny opening in the frame of the car, and needed to retrieve it. The magnet I had was too large to fit into the opening. I grabbed a nail, and began stroking the nail with the magnet. The nail became magnetized. I attached a wire to it, and dropped the nail down into the slot, which in turn picked up the bolt. What a great lesson for us. We are constantly being stroked by the Holy Spirit so that our lives with be used to attract others to Jesus.

Another direct result of magnetic force is that it will hold objects together so long as the force is permitted to work. Let me tell you about another experiment I did once in school. On an oak table we placed a pile of nails. Underneath the table we had built a small electromagnet. When the electric current was turned on and the poles of the magnet were brought up under the table, immediately there was a field of magnetic force formed around the nails. So long as this field of force was maintained the loose nails could be built up in various forms, such as a cube, a sphere, or an arch. So long as the current was on, the nails would stay in exactly the form placed, as if they had been soldered together. But the second the current was cut off the nails would fall into a shapeless mass.

Unlike the experiment, where the power could be turned off, the power of the Holy Spirit cannot be cut off. The power to create unity is always on. But picture those nails all being held in a large arch by the magnetic force. Now, remove one of the nails and replace it with one made of a non-magnetic material, and try to build the arch again. It won’t work. Every individual nail has to be connected to the power for true unity to exist.

That’s why the verse says that we are responsible to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit. His power is always creating unity. Our lives sometimes become an obstacle to unity because we are more attracted to the world than we are to Christ. We have turned away, like the magnetic dog, and are no longer facing Jesus. We repel His power rather than connect to it. What that field of magnetic force was to those nails, the Holy Spirit is to all believers. By His power we are held together in a bond of love, a bond that is broken when we grieve and quench the Holy Spirit by our self-willed actions. Make every effort to let the Holy Spirit’s power continue to influence every part of your life, and your life will be used to bring unity to the Body of Christ.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions (Click for Audio Blog)

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Let’s be honest – there are people who bug us. Some bug us with their idiosyncrasies, while others bug us just because we think they’re idiots. Sorry for the bluntness, but that’s the truth of how we think, isn’t it? There are people with whom we lose our patience. There are people we’d just like to smack. There are people who need to be told to shut up, and there are people who need to be encouraged to speak up. There are people who make us mad, and there are people who make us laugh. We laugh with some because they are funny. We laugh at others because we think they are dumb.

Like this woman. I don’t know if hair color has anything to do with it, but she was blond. She was crying her eyes out at work when the boss asked her what was wrong. “I just got off the phone with my mom and she told me my grandmother died.” Being a compassionate man, he told her to take the rest of the day off. She refused, stating that it would be best if she could keep her mind off it by staying busy. Several hours later she was found crying hysterically again. The boss asked if something else had happened. She explained, “I just got off the phone with my sister, and she tells me her grandma died too.”

Smack! It’s what we want to do. But what does Christ say?

Ephesians 4:2  “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” 

I don’t think we realize how much arrogance we display in our attitudes towards others. Far too often our lives stand in direct contradiction to Christ’s Spirit within us, leading us to be completely humble and gentle. Where is the patience that is one of the fruit of the Spirit? Where is the Christ-like perseverance to bear with one another in love? I know where it is – it’s locked up in the basement of our life’s house. We may have poured the foundation correctly in Christ, but the house itself has been built with faulty materials. The building permit for the house was issued by God, but we have changed the name on the permit from LORD to SELF. We built everything just the way we wanted it, for our use and for our honor. We’ve locked the Spirit of God in the basement, and then have the audacity to proclaim that we built on the right foundation. We are the ones who need to be smacked.

We are proud people. We seem to constantly pursue our personal agenda. We seek approval. We perform to earn value. We make choices based on one main criteria – self-satisfaction. We look at others as competitors for a limited amount of worth that is available. We have succumbed to the lie of Satan that’s there’s only so much good to go around, so we’d better grab all we can while it’s accessible. Even if we can’t keep others from getting some of it, we can at least criticize them in our own minds so they appear to us to not have any, which in some warped way is supposed to make us feel like we do. We have wandered a long way from living humbly.

Humble living involves two things. I don’t intend for these to seem simple – they are not. But they are required. Not just partially, but completely. First, we must have an honest opinion of ourselves in comparison to Almighty and Holy God, not in comparison to others; and second, we must have complete confidence in God to provide all things and work all things out for His good, rather than having to control it all ourselves. That’s a lot to work on. Imagine how bugged with us God must get. Or does He? He does not! He is gentle with us, bearing us up in His arms and sustaining us with His powerful right hand. He is patient with us, which is an amazing thing because we all know how much patience it has taken to stand by us knowing all we have done in the past. He bears with us in love because He is the One of perfect love. He has modeled for us how we are to live with others. 

May I suggest a starting point. Take a piece of clear plastic, and with a permanent marker write the word SMACK! on it. Now, right up at the top of your car’s windshield, on the inside, next to the reminder for your next oil change, stick that piece of plastic. Then ask God to draw your eyes to that spot every time you get frustrated with another driver. It will remind you that you are the one who needs to be smacked for allowing pride to govern your life. It will be the start of learning humility, gentleness, patience, and love.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional (Click Here for Audio Blog)

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

From 1996 to 2000, the New York Yankees were the dominant team in Major League Baseball. They were World Series Champions four out of those five years. Each year, as the rookies would arrive for spring training and receive their new uniforms, Joe Torre, the team manager, would remind them of something a former Yankees manager by the name of Billy Martin used to say to his players when they won two championships in the 1970’s. “Men, you are now members of the greatest team in baseball history. You are New York Yankees. When you put on this uniform, you represent a tradition like no other. You are part of a team like no other. We are champions. I ask only one thing of you – play like you are a champion. Be worthy of this uniform.”

Today’s principle from the book of Ephesians is the same – live like a champion.

Ephesians 4:1  As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 

We are followers of Jesus Christ. We represent a tradition like no other. We are part of a team like no other. We are spiritual champions. Our team manager, Jesus Christ, asks only one thing of us – live life like a champion of God. Be worthy of wearing the uniform of faith.

It’s interesting that Paul makes that statement while a prisoner – under arrest for living like a champion of God. It’s hard to understand his logic. He lived worthy of his spiritual calling, got arrested and thrown in prison, yet tells others to live in the same way. That puts us at risk of the same outcome. Many reject this calling. Many compromise their faith for the sake of secular acceptance. Many keep silent about their faith for the sake of financial peace. Many hide their beliefs for the sake of personal safety and security. But Paul’s logic makes perfect sense to those who truly understand their calling and position in Christ. Paul urges his friends to live like champions because he knows two things from personal experience:

1. That no suffering in this life is worthy to be compared to the glory of seeing Jesus someday; and…
2. That during the suffering, the grace of God is so sufficient that the experience of the peace of God is more satisfying than the suffering is harmful. Paul knew that faithfulness to God brings a fulfillment to life that no suffering can diminish. 

Unfortunately, many of us have never put that to the test. We have avoided suffering and hardship by living a life worthy of the world but unworthy of being a champion of God. We have predetermined that visibly and boldly living out of our faith will cause us to lose relationships, suffer financial loss, and experience social alienation. What we have chosen to idolize human experience above our love for Jesus. We put on the spiritual uniform on Sunday, but on Monday, when game day arrives, and we walk to the plate to take our first at bat, we intentionally strike out to please the other team. When we walk to the mound to throw our first pitch, we throw easy pitches for the opponent to hit so they can win. We bring shame to the name by which we are called when we intentionally live to please the other team. We disgrace the uniform of Christ by living like losers, not champions.

But we are champions. We have been called to not only be on God’s team, but to wear the uniform of Jesus Christ our Lord and King. We are called by His name. We are proud to be identified as one of His followers. There is nothing this world or its people can do that can separate us from His love.

So today, we choose to live a life worthy of our calling. We will proudly wear the lifestyle of holiness. We will proudly tell everyone that we are members of God’s team. We will live in faith and full confidence that strikeouts, hitless streaks, and errors do not bring an end to the game. We will bear down like champions and finish the game, being fully confident of this – we are champions, and we will win!

Pastor John