LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, August 3, 2022

1 Corinthians 15:57  “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

I have come to realize that far too much of our time is spent in trying to gain victories over the issues of the world and far too little time is spent living in the victory of eternity. We exhaust ourselves seeking to enhance and extend this life when all effort to do so is futile. All we gain from this world will be lost. Jesus said, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”  There is no ultimate victory that can be gained from the world. Jesus declared this truth to us when He said, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

Victory comes at the end of the race of life to those who have lived by faith, not to those who have gathered the most goods. The Apostle John reminds us of this when he says, “everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”  Our faith is in the God who was victorious over death through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. We have a hope that is sure.

Unfortunately many of us run the race of life with the wrong focus. The track on which we run the race of life is filled with hurdles. Each hurdle has a name. There’s one called financial security. There’s one named success. Others are labeled as family, friends, and acceptance. Each of our races has different hurdles in a different order. But all our races have one final hurdle named death.

We run our races focused on the hurdles. We take a break from running after each hurdle is successfully jumped. We leave the track and spend time soaking up whatever glory we can get from bystanders, as if we have accomplished some great victory. Some never get back on the track and melt into the crowd of those who have no sight of the finish line and will never get past the final hurdle. While they think they are living, they never really do.

Some run the race with faith. Every hurdle is crossed with determination to make it to the next one, and the next one, until finally, with eyes fixed firmly on Jesus at the finish line, the last hurdle of death is navigated, and they cross into eternal victory.

“Dear Lord and Savior, let me run the race with my eyes fixed firmly on you, and not the hurdles. Let me pass each hurdle with a determination to run faithfully to the end. I determine to not be distracted by the temporary joys of hurdle-jumping, but to remain focused on the joy that is set before me at the end of the race, when there are no more hurdles to jump and I will rest in your arms. May I not be tempted to place value on the things I accomplish for myself while running the race, but to rather consider all things a loss compared to the excellency of knowing and serving You. May my life be filled with thanks – not for things, but for the victory I have in You. May I live every day in full confidence of the hope of glory, and that one day You will reward me for having run my race faithfully as Your servant. I pray this in Your Name, Jesus. AMEN!”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, August 2, 2022

 A story in a magazine caught my eye. A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. “If Jesus were sitting here, he would say, ‘Let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait.’” Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, “Ryan, you be Jesus!”

Psalms 133:1-3 “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.” 

Our word for today is unity, which requires personal sacrifice. In Exodus 28 and 29 we read the historical account of Aaron being ordained as the first high priest of Israel. This required a great sacrifice on Aaron’s part. He was giving up his rights to herds and flocks and personal wealth. He was giving up his right to ownership of land. He was surrendering his entire life to the service of God in the tabernacle. He was doing the same for each of his descendants as well. Why would he make such concessions? Because he saw the bigger picture of God’s plan for personal relationship with His people. He was willing to do whatever God asked him to do to bring unity between God and man. At the end of Exodus 29, after all has been accomplished and the precious oil has been poured on Aaron’s head, God says, “So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.“

If unity is to be accomplished in the church of Jesus Christ today, it must begin with the precious oil of sacrifice. Unity with God is possible because of Christ’s sacrifice for us.  It is at the point of His sacrifice where God bestows His blessing, even life forevermore. Unity is only possible among people if they are first united with Jesus in His sacrifice. We must be in tune with Christ to be in harmony with one another.

God’s Spirit is quenched where people are divided. A bone of contention has no place in the body of Christ. We are called to cooperate in a higher purpose than our own personal pursuits. Opinions are not options. Personal preferences are not mandates. Anything that satisfies self must be sacrificed to the singular purpose of God. True unity is found only in surrender to His Spirit.

Unity, however, does not necessarily mean uniformity. By that I mean this – unity focuses on goals while uniformity focuses on methods. We must all have the same goals – those given to us by our King. We are united in our passion to accomplish God’s goals. We must not demand uniformity of methodology. Just look around the world and take notice of all the examples we have, like team sports. Every team is made up of individuals with a common goal – win a championship. Each individual is united with his teammates in his pursuit of the goal. However, each individual has a specific function on the team. How many football games have been won by a kicker who comes off the bench as a David among Goliaths and becomes the hero? While all the giants are out there play after play banging heads and battering their bodies, a little guy does one thing and gets all the glory. But they won, and that’s all that mattered.

God has placed each of us as individuals on His team with unique skills and responsibilities. Unity requires that we share a common goal. Unity requires understanding of distinct methods. Unity is accomplished through sacrificial cooperation. Unity is not possible in a group of one. Remember the banana? Every time it leaves the bunch it gets skinned.

How good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters in Christ live together in unity – all made possible by one sacrifice, which becomes the model for each one of us. When we turn our focus from self to Savior, the LORD will bless us with unity.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, August 1, 2022

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY PRECIOUS WIFE DENISE

I remember a birthday party thirteen years ago. I was sitting around our dining room table with my entire family and a birthday cake in front of me. Five of the six grandkids gathered around me (one wasn’t old enough yet) to help blow out the candles that had been arranged in two groups of five and six to represent my age. Then the kids delivered presents to me. They were all very well thought out and met a need I had mentioned in the past. One of them was especially fascinating. It was a rectangular box about ten inches long and three inches wide. I wondered what it was.

When I peeled off the wrapping paper I found something inside I had never needed before. I had previously talked about doing it, but had never really thought seriously about it because I didn’t have all of the equipment necessary, some of which costs hundreds of dollars. But thanks to my favorite hunting buddy – my son – I was now set up with the first piece of equipment. I took it out of the box and tried it right away. I was incredibly attracted to it. The sound it made resonated in my heart. For the first time in my life I owned a wild turkey call. Thanks to another hunting friend who will loan me a shotgun, and my son who has arranged for us to hunt together on a friend’s land, I was able to try my luck calling in one of those big Toms and having deep fried turkey in the spring. I was overwhelmed with a spirit of thanksgiving.

1 Chronicles 16:8-10   “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.”

It’s never the wrong part of the year to be thankful. In fact, expressions of thanks are to be a prominent part of our communication. Why isn’t it? I’ve discovered a severe lack of thanksgiving in my personal life. Getting a turkey call for my birthday made me realize that. As I’ve learned the meaning of all the different sounds turkeys make, I’ve discovered that I’ve not even been a very good turkey. I’ve done a lot of cackling out warnings and I’ve gobbled in pride about my position in the flock, but I’ve done very little clucking of contentment. Even when others around me are softly purring their satisfaction with group life, I interrupt them with gobbles that draw attention to me.

The spirit of thanks is destroyed by the philosophy that everything is about us. I think that philosophy started with the very way in which we are taught as children to be thankful. I’m a victim of it, and I know I’ve done it with my kids and grandkids. We require them to say “thank-you” when they receive something, but we don’t take the time to teach them how to be thankful. We have taught them to say thank- you because it pleases us, gets us off their backs, and gets them what they want. But it doesn’t do anything to teach them the attitude of thankfulness. Maybe instead of telling them to say thank-you, we need to ask them how the gift made them feel. The attitude of thankfulness and its verbal response of thanks is generated only by a sincere appreciation for what was done. We’ve learned to say thanks without really being appreciative.

Thank-less-ness is an indicator of what we know about grace. We only really appreciate what we know we didn’t deserve. We are only truly thankful for what we never expected. That’s why we should be overwhelmed with thanksgiving for God’s unmerited gift of salvation. That’s why when I arrived at the office this morning and unlocked the door, it took me five minutes to enter because I was so overwhelmed with the beauty of the day. I stood outside and looked into the blue sky and praised God for the birds singing. I thanked Him for the wonder of forgiveness. I cried tears of joy as I recalled all the expressions of grace in my own life that have brought me undeservedly to this point of ministry. I gave thanks unto the Lord.

As I entered the door, I found myself singing an old, old chorus. “Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to me; Thy great salvation so rich and free.”

That’s the call I want this turkey to make all day every day.

Pastor John