LifeLink Devotions

Friday, August 26, 2022

Let’s play pretend. You are a doctor today. I need a diagnosis. I have a fever. It’s been a low-grade fever for about a week now, but today it has risen to a peak. I have a few other symptoms that go with the fever. I’m sneezing. I’m anxious and jittery. I’m distracted and find it difficult to concentrate. My muscles ache a little. I wonder what I have? Do you have it figured out yet?

Before you get too worried about me, I’m talking about Hunting Fever. It’s an annual event for me, but this year I’ve discovered something very significant about this malady – it’s caused by hope. That’s right – HOPE. You see, the memories of everything that I’ve done in the past when the weather starts to cool form a list of all the things I expect to do again. The list gets rather long, and the reason I get anxious and jittery is because there’s still so much to be done now before I can go hunting. That’s why my muscles ache, from trying to do too much all at once.

My list is so overwhelming that I can’t even decide what goes on the top of the list. Fishing season is still open. This is great golfing weather.  The lawn still needs to be mowed. I have trees to cut down and cut up firewood for next year’s camping season. And there’s still time to go camping this season. So much to do and so little time.

But the truth is I will get to do all those things, unless the Lord comes back today. I hope He does. But if He doesn’t, little by little, I’ll conquer hunting fever by faithfully accomplishing everything that leads towards fulfilling the hope that caused it. One thing I’ve learned is that activity fulfills hope. Hunting fever is simply the anticipation of the activity. It’s faith and hope working together.

1 Peter 1:20-21  “He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God.”

Consider how much faith we demonstrate when we confess to having a fever. Consider the fisherman who spends hours reading about the latest techniques and works in his garage preparing his boat, fishing poles, and lures so that he’s ready when the season opens. Consider how much faith it takes to buy all the garden seeds early and plant them in little cups in the house in anticipation of the growing season when they can be transplanted to the outdoor garden. True hope always results in the activity of faith.

Rubem Alves said it this way in Leadership Magazine – “ Hope is hearing the melody of the future. Faith is to dance to it.”  That’s really cool! He’s really right. Our hope is in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ and the glory that will be revealed in us when He returns. Our faith is the activity of our lives today as we prepare for His return.

The hope of heaven brings a fever of faith. They are inseparable. One cannot claim to have true hope in Christ without backing it up with the activity of faith for Christ. The measure of true hope is found in the activity level of faith. Every day, our faith should be dancing to the music of heaven with good works that glorify God. So start dancing.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, August 25, 2022

Ninety-seven years ago, high school science teacher John Scopes was arrested in Tennessee for teaching the theory of evolution in a public school. It was a contrived attempt to accomplish two goals. First, a few men from Dayton, Tennessee, had decided that their city needed more recognition, and thought that a trial of this magnitude would generate the publicity they wanted.  Second, and more importantly, the American Civil Liberties Union was notified of the plan, and they agreed to pay the legal fees of any teacher who would put the Tennessee law that required teachers to teach creation to the test. They quickly agreed, running a full-page ad in the Chattanooga Times the day before Scopes was arrested.

Scopes was convicted of teaching evolution, something to which he had already admitted. But the trial was not really about Scopes’ guilt or innocence; it was about whether or not God should be the foundation of our educational system. When the verdict was announced, a vocal critic of the trial, who was a reporter named H.L. Mencken, explained to readers of the Baltimore Sun and the American Mercury:

“All that remains of the great cause of the State of Tennessee against the infidel Scopes is the formal business of bumping off the defendant. There may be some legal jousting on Monday and some gaudy oratory on Tuesday, but the main battle is over, with Genesis completely triumphant. Judge Raulston finished the benign business yesterday morning by leaping with soft judicial hosannas into the arms of the prosecution.”

Unfortunately, it was not the end. An appeal was filed. Scopes conviction was overturned by the state Supreme Court on a technicality. However, that same court upheld the constitutionality of the state law forbidding the teaching of evolution. But that started a nationwide battle in multiple states, and eventually the United States Supreme Court, which legalized the teaching evolution, and outlawed the teaching of creation.

On the official Library of Congress web site is this quote about the results of the trial. This would appear to be the official position of our government’s historical records on this subject. “While volumes of scientific evidence support the theory of evolution, many felt that it contradicted the story of creation as described in the Bible and thus did not want evolution taught in schools…The trial did bring Dayton, Tennessee a great deal of publicity, mostly comprised of reinforcements of a stereotype of the south as an intellectual backwater, certainly not the type Daytonians had hoped to attract.”

Wow! Those who believe in creation and deny evolution are called stagnant intellectuals. The reason I share all of that with you is very simple yet very profound – we live in a world that seeks to eliminate the need for God’s involvement in human affairs and goes so far as to eliminate the very existence of God. According to most people alive today, all man needs can be found in man. I declare, based on God’s truth, that people living under such a belief system are empty.

1 Peter 1:18-19  “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”  

I remember what Tom Landry said years ago, just after they had won the Super Bowl. “The overwhelming emotion—in a few days, among the players on the Dallas Cowboys football team—was how empty that goal was. There must be something more.”

Everything in this world from which we seek to gain approval, acceptance, or acquisitions, will leave us empty. None of the things the world offers can rescue us from the empty way of life we live. Why do we who have experienced the redeeming power of the blood of Jesus Christ continue to pursue the things of the world to fill the emptiness we claim to still feel.?

I think it’s truly a heart issue. We do not fully believe that Christ is sufficient. There is only one reason for a sense of emptiness in our lives – God doesn’t fill that part of our life. And as long as we don’t let Him completely fill us and we continue to pursue other means of satisfaction, we will continue to be empty.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

1 Peter 1:17  “Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.”

Yesterday’s devotional dealt with holiness, and the call to each of us to be people of integrity. We discovered that holiness means to have a core character that is consistent. Holiness is to be fully separated unto God, from the inside out. It does not allow for cracks through which the flesh might leak.

One crack that might develop is favoritism. Our flesh leans towards partiality because the flesh is self- seeking and self-fulfilling. We not only want what is for our own benefit, but we want what will benefit those whom we love. We reserve the right to play favorites and be partial to our favorite people. We even do it with our kids and grandkids when they model certain characteristics or personality traits that touch us in a special way.

God, however, in true holiness, is never partial. He sees each one of us as equal and will review our lives of service for Him with impartiality. When we stand before Him someday to receive our rewards, we will not be able to claim any privilege. Our family heritage will not matter. Our social standing and success will not be called into account. Even our positions of leadership within the church will be of no consideration. Here’s how one Pastor learned that lesson.

“One evening I stopped by the church just to encourage those who were there rehearsing for the spring musical. I didn’t intend to stay long, so I parked my car next to the entrance. After a few minutes, I ran back to my car and drove home.

“The next morning I found a note in my office mailbox. It read: “A small thing, but Tuesday night when you came to rehearsal, you parked in the ‘No Parking’ area. A reaction from one of my crew (who did not recognize you until after you got out of the car) was, ‘There’s another jerk parking in the “No Parking” area!’ We try hard not to allow people—even workers—to park anywhere other than the parking lots. I would appreciate your cooperation, too.” It was signed by a member of our maintenance staff.

“That worker’s stock went up in my book because he had the courage to write me about what could have been a slippage in my character.

“And he was right on the mark. As I drove up that night, I had thought, “I shouldn’t park here, but after all, I am the pastor.” That translates: I’m an exception to the rules. But that employee wouldn’t allow me to sneak down the road labeled “I’m an exception.”

“I’m not the exception to church rules, nor am I the exception to sexual rules or financial rules or any of God’s rules. As a leader, I am not an exception; I’m to be the example. According to Scripture, I am to live in such a way that I can say, “Follow me. Park where I park. Live as I live.”

None of us are exceptions to the rules. Peter says we are all to be the example of holy living. We are to live our lives in reverent fear of God. He is the one and only judge of our works. According to today’s verses, one principle of God’s review process is this – did we live our lives as strangers in this world or did we live seeking to be connected to this world? Every day we live with the choice to seek our identity from the world or to live out our identity in Christ. With absolute impartiality, showing no favoritism, God will judge His children based on that issue.

Live today as an expression of your identity in Christ. It will make you a stranger to the world, but better that than a friend to the world and a stranger to God.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

1 Peter 1:14-16  “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 

The concept of holiness sometimes scares me. The call of Scripture to match the holiness of God is frightening, because I am so incapable of doing it. But the fear I feel is not from God. It is an attack of the enemy of my soul. And the reason why Satan has been able to bring such fear against me is because I have looked at holiness from the wrong perspective.

For most of us, the word holy is synonymous with sinless. Yet sinlessness is not the definition of holy. God is not holy because He is sinless; He is sinless because He is holy. Freedom from sin is a product of holiness, not the cause. My fear of the call to holiness is because I have been convinced that it is a call to sinlessness. That’s when Satan gets to pile the guilt and shame on me, because I know my sin. His definition of holiness has kept us in bondage and kept us from being holy.

Of course, the more I understand what holiness is, the more I will find victory over sin. But in this life, I will never attain perfection. Yet I can be holy. The key is to understand how God is holy and how He calls me to be holy.

The word holy simply means to separate and carries with it a sense of such perfection of separation that it produces incomprehensible awe. In the context of that definition, God is holy for several reasons:

• He is separate from creation. He is the Creator and sustainer of all that exists. He is not dependent upon anything outside of Himself for His existence or sustenance.
• He is separate from corruption. He has the knowledge of sin, as do we, yet the perfection of His separation from it means there has never been an experience of it.
• He is separate in His character. This is the key for me to understanding how I am to pursue holiness. God’s character is separate from mine. The various aspects of His character can never be categorized. Every aspect of His nature and character are absolutely inseparable. It is the inseparableness of His character that makes Him holy and thus separates Him from us.

My nature and character are divisible. I can in one instance be set apart for God’s purpose, and in the next be pursuing my own interests and desires. God cannot. He is eternally constant. He never wavers. He never ceases to perfectly express His glory. Every thought and action of God is done as an expression of the totality of His nature in perfect integrity. He is without contradiction. His characteristics are never in conflict with one another.

My goal then in pursuing holiness is to become more separated for His purpose and more consistent in living it. The pursuit of holiness is the pursuit of integrity. The call to being holy as God is holy is a call to eliminating the contradictions and conflicts that exist in our character.

Jim Elliot, the martyred missionary to the Aucan Indians in Ecuador, said it this way: “Oh, to be holy! Just to sense for a moment that I have somehow, however small, simulated some measure of Thy character, Lord Jesus.” The simulation of God’s character is to become consistent. It is to become set apart for God’s purpose alone and live that purpose constantly.

When we begin to see holiness as being set apart for God with integrity of character, instead of as sinlessness, we will see it from the positive rather than the negative perspective. Seeking to become sinless is scary because it’s impossible in this life. But striving for consistency of character is stimulating, because it satisfies every longing of our hearts, the primary one being to have integrity of identity. Our identity is inconsistent because in sin it seeks to please self. When we pursue true holiness, the integrity of our identity is restored because it is found in Christ, and thus reflects the character of God.

I pray that the Holy Spirit – called Holy because He is perfectly set apart to fulfill the will of the Father consistently and completely – will increase our understanding of this great truth. We are called to be holy as He is holy. We are called to be separated unto Him and to live consistently for Him. When we pursue that call, we will be holy in all that we do, because we will be doing all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for His glory, not ours.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, August 22, 2022

I remember the first time I ever did it.  I spent a lot of time preparing for it. I watched several videos of the activity, and every chance I got I turned on the TV to the channel that carries such programming so I could learn more. I dug out all the clothing for the activity that has been safely stored since I used it for a similar activity. I planned my location and approach. I watched a few more programs because I wanted to know all I could about what I was going to do so I could be as successful as possible. As I discussed yesterday, I have a need to know.

In this instance, my need to know resulted in activity. I was preparing for action. I was ready to go turkey hunting. I couldn’t wait to see that first big tom turkey come lumbering towards me as I imitated a hen with my call. I was so excited about raising that shotgun to my shoulder and bringing home a family dinner.

Some people may laugh at such preparation. They are the same ones who don’t expect much action. People who expect action get prepared for action. Abraham Lincoln once said, “If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first hour sharpening the ax.”

That principle has a spiritual application as well.  

1 Peter 1:13  “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 

Donald Grey Barnhouse (1895–1960), pastor of the Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1927 until his death in 1960, and founder of Eternity magazine, said, “If I only had three years to serve the Lord, I would spend two of them studying and preparing.”

The Apostle Peter knew well the need to prepare for action. He had entered a spiritual battlefield unprepared once before. His mind had not been ready for real action. He thought he was, but the arrest of the Lord proved that his focus had been more on himself than on his Savior. When the action heated up, he denied even knowing Christ.

Now, with his focus firmly on faith, and his hope fixed on the return of Jesus, his need to know prepares him for action. He prepares his mind so that he thinks spiritually. He prepares his body so that it is self-controlled. He prepares his heart so that his hope is always on the finish line of faith rather than on the present world. He is ready for action.

His ministry partner Paul said the same thing in Romans 12:2. “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.” (NLT)

It all starts with the need to know. But knowledge is of little value if not put into action. The knowledge of God will change the way you think. As it does, God will give you knowledge of His will and purpose for your life. Get ready. You are being prepared for action. You may not feel like you’re able to do much today but get ready for action. You may feel obscure, but God is preparing you for action.

My favorite preacher, Chuck Swindoll, said it this way – “Learn your lessons well in the schoolroom of obscurity. God is preparing you as his chosen arrow. As yet your shaft is hidden in his quiver, in the shadows . . . but at the precise moment at which it will tell with the greatest effect, he will reach for you and launch you to that place of his appointment.”

Get ready. You’re about to be launched into the action of God’s will.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, August 19, 2022

1 Peter 1:10-12  “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.”

We all have a need to know. It may be more exaggerated in some of us, but as beings created in the image of God, who is all-knowing, we all have a need to know. Someday, in the presence of God, that need will be fulfilled. The apostle Paul said, “Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.”

My need to know can become overwhelming sometimes. When we upgrade software at the church I have to fight to stay focused on important ministry activities because my need to know distracts me and drives me to learn the new systems. Why is it that I think I need to be as proficient as those who are actually going to use it? It’s the need to know overblown by pride.

But pride can also cause us to restrict the need to know. Our need to know can also be controlled by our need for personal benefit. At times, when we have been exposed to something new, we decide not to pursue any additional knowledge because we don’t believe it will bring any practical benefit to us. Our need to know is often restricted by our need to experience.

This can cause serious issues when applied to the way we study the Bible. Our desires can dominate our devotions. We pick and choose the things from Scripture that we want to study because they complement our current attitudes. We choose not to study those things in God’s Word that bring conviction and change. Our need to know all of God is restricted by our fleshly desire for personal benefit.

Imagine if the Old Testament prophets had allowed their need to know to be so restricted.

1 Peter 1:10-12  “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.”

What if, upon receiving the initial word that the Messiah was for a future generation, they had stopped writing what the Holy Spirit was teaching them? What if, when the going got tough and they were persecuted for their words because their message conflicted with society’s choices, they stopped declaring the truth? What if, because they were told that the message did not directly apply to them, they simply stopped studying and exploring the Scriptures to try to understand the truth? What if they were so selfish that they never considered those of us who would live in the age of grace and stopped preparing the way for it for our benefit?

The prophets of the Old Testament were told that the Messiah, Jesus, would bring salvation to the world by grace through faith. They did not understand it. The angels still don’t. But their need to know drove them to study intently all that God had previously told them so they could understand this magnificent truth. They wanted to know all they could about God’s plan to save sinners and bring about the spiritual fulfillment of His kingdom.

We have become complacent about learning the truths of our salvation. We have taken for granted that we know just enough to be content. This complacent contentment that minimizes knowledge has resulted in weak witnesses. One of our biggest hindrances to sharing our faith is that we don’t believe we know enough. Well, whose fault is that? (How’s that for pointing a convicting finger?) We have suppressed the need to know with fleshly needs for acceptance and approval of the world. Yet the longing of the Holy Spirit in us is to teach us all things. He wants to fulfill our need to know.

In Peter’s second letter he writes,  “For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

Don’t stop learning. Don’t stop studying. The Holy Spirit in you is producing the need to know. Don’t stifle His work. Get started today and pursue the need to know God!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, August 18, 2022

Anne Steele was born in 1716. She was the eldest daughter of William Steele, a Baptist pastor at Broughton, England. In her teenage years, Anne demonstrated a beautiful gift for writing. Her teenage years were also the beginning of a hard life that could have turned her into a bitter woman.

First, her mother died. Then a fall from a horse rendered her permanently disabled. Because of her natural beauty and the more important beauty of her spirit, she was able to attract and fall in love with a wonderful young man who proposed marriage. Just hours before their wedding ceremony, her fiance drowned in the river where he was bathing. She spent the rest of her days, until she died at age 63, in the quiet seclusion of her father’s home. But she did not live in despair. In fact, she was described by those who knew her as “cultured, pious, and beautiful.”

From the moment of her fiancés death, she began to write. Her poetry was filled with hope and joy because of her faith in Jesus Christ. Finally, at age 41, she decided to have some of her writing printed. Her father’s diary contained this entry – “Nanny sent part of her composition to London, to be printed. I entreat a gracious God, who enabled, and stirred her up to such a work—to make it useful, and keep her humble.” Perhaps it was this emphasis on humility that compelled “Nanny” to write under a pen name, “Theodosia.” The proceeds of all her works were donated to charity.

Anne Steele never married, and her already feeble health was aggravated by the shock of her father’s death in 1769. She lived the last 10 years of her life alone. Yet despite her many trials, “Nanny” wrote 144 hymns and 34 psalm versions. She published Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional in two volumes in 1760, and a third was produced after her death. Her hymns received wide acceptance, and her poems were reprinted in America. More than a century after her death, it was written that she “stands at the head” of all Baptist hymn writers.

Her most famous hymn was written right after the death of her fiancé. As you read the words of this poem, even though written in Old English, you will understand what Peter says in today’s Scripture.

1 Peter 1:8-9  “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 

The hymn was entitled “Father: Whate’er of Earthly Bliss.” 

Father, whate’er of earthly bliss
Thy sovereign will denies,
Accepted at Thy throne, let this
My humble prayer, arise:

Give me a calm and thankful heart,
From every murmur free;
The blessing of Thy grace impart,
And make me live to Thee.

Let the sweet hope that Thou art mine
My life and death attend,
Thy presence through my journey shine,
And crown my journey’s end.

May we live our lives in that kind of faith – faith that produces joy. The world chooses to believe only what they can see and what makes them happy. We believe God, even though He is unseen, and as a result, we are filled with true joy. Let His joy overwhelm you, no matter what earthly bliss is denied.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

I know my brain is working because I am both thinking and writing. But I can’t seem to process my thoughts this morning. My mind is filled with ideas but I can’t organize them. I am at once both sharp and dull. I am a living oxymoron. I may be just a moron.

Oxymora are interesting. (Oxymora is the plural form of oxymoron.) The very word itself is a combination of two Greek words – oxy, meaning sharp, and moros, meaning dull.  Thus, even the word oxymoron is an oxymoron.

An oxymoron is a word or combination of words that represent opposing and contradictory ideas. For example, we eat jumbo shrimp. When we are uncomfortable in a social situation, we might try to appear invisible. Women spend millions of dollars on natural makeup. Journalists report that someone was found missing.  

1 Peter 1:6-7  “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”  

It appears that Peter was guilty of using an oxymoron in today’s Scripture reading when he refers to joyful suffering. He is clearly stating that in the life of a Christian there are two opposing emotions constantly intertwined in our lives. We are filled with joy because of our new life in Christ and the hope of glory. At the same time, we are experiencing grief because of all the sufferings of this sinful world in which we live. Joyful suffering. Glorious grief. Christian oxymora.

This may not come as good news to you, but the constant tension of joy and grief is intentionally designed by God for our good. Paul Brand, the missionary surgeon to India wrote a book entitled, Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants. In it he writes, ”I have come to see that pain and pleasure come to us not as opposites but as Siamese twins, strangely joined and intertwined. Nearly all my memories of acute happiness, in fact, involve some element of pain or struggle.”

It would be much more appealing to us if we could just teach that grief and suffering go away when we come to Christ, but that would not be the truth. God intentionally uses the trials and troubles of life and our emotional grief as a means to refine our faith. So much as you rejoice in your salvation now, you will rejoice even more as the joy of your salvation conquers the grief of your troubles. Trials prove the reality of faith.

Be careful when you read this passage. We are not told to rejoice about the suffering – we are told to rejoice about our salvation while we are suffering. The foe of our faith would have us fix our focus on our failures. We tumble into his trap when we tremble in our trials. But there is an alternative – we can choose to be vocal about our victory in Christ.

Each one of us has the right and power to determine our own attitude. Our choice to rejoice or grumble boils down to one determining factor – our focus on long-term rewards or short-term benefits. One is the truth, and the other is a lie. The truth is that we have guaranteed long-term rewards based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The lie is that there are any short-term benefits to wallowing in our grief. Faith is not refined in the fires of grief, but in the praise of God who is greater than the flames. 

Genuine faith rejoices in permanent salvation regardless of temporary trials. Sure things get bad – even unbearable at times. But nothing – “neither trouble nor hardship nor persecution nor famine nor nakedness nor danger nor sword nor death nor life; neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” In this you can rejoice!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

In June of 2008, Deputy Malachi McCoy of Tampa, Florida, was reading the Bible and came upon Psalm 28:7. It reads, “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.” He was immediately drawn to one line in the verse: “The Lord is my shield.” Using a silver paint pen, the son of a preacher inscribed those words on the black steel plate of his bulletproof vest.

Later that same week, during a gunman’s rampage in northwest Tampa that left three people shot dead and two county sheriff’s deputies wounded, his “shield” did its job. McCoy said his faith — and perhaps the Bible verse he wrote on his vest — has helped him through the ordeal. “I just thought it would be kind of neat to write that on the steel plate,” he said.

Deputy McCoy serves as an example of having the proper object for our faith. Ultimately, his faith is in the power of God, who is His eternal shield. Practically, in everyday life, he wears a bulletproof vest.

1 Peter 1:3-5  “…through faith [we] are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”

There is a great battle going on all around us, and we are in it. Bullets are flying fast and furiously from the number one criminal of the universe, and they are aimed at those whose faith is in Christ. But this one thing is guaranteed – none of those bullets can end our spiritual lives. Through faith in Christ’s redeeming sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection from the dead, we are shielded by God’s power. We are eternally His!

However, we can be wounded. The two other deputies in the Florida shooting spree were wearing vests, but the bullets struck them in unprotected areas. Fortunately, their wounds were not lethal.

Every day we walk into a world that is filled with flying bullets and flaming arrows of temptation and sin. It is our choice whether to walk into it fully protected or not. In the case of police officers, they have chosen to protect the vital organs, hoping to survive a wound to a non-vital part of their body. But sin is not like bullets, which damage only the part they hit. Sin is progressive and behaves more like a deadly virus. It spreads to areas we thought were protected because it gets in behind the shield. While it can’t end our eternal life, it can and will destroy our physical life.

God has given us all the armor we need to be fully protected from the deadly effects of sin. His Word is filled with instructions about putting on our armor, and with warnings about what will happen to us if we don’t. Here’s an example. Paul is writing to Timothy and says, “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.”

Later He writes again and says, “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”

Those are just two of the admonitions to live behind the shield and be protected from Satan’s traps. He will trap us with money, and he will trap us with pride in our position. Every day our enemy is setting traps for us to destroy our faith in Christ and our public witness for Him. We must take action. We must guard against complacency we are satisfied with the security we have in Christ for eternity. We must be on guard continually against the attacks of the enemy. It should not be enough to simply wait for the day when we will be rescued from this sinful world – we should be living the joys of heavenly victory today, and every day.

So take up your shield of faith and get every part of your life behind it. Don’t let down your guard for a minute. Any and every part of your life you allow to be exposed to the enemy will be wounded. It will become infected. It will spread. If it already has, then repent and ask for God’s forgiveness. You will be restored. Then trust in Him and not the world. He is your strength and your shield!

Pastor John 

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, August 15, 2022

Several years ago I was interrupted by a phone call from my wife. She sounded a little bit frantic. “What are you doing for the next hour or so? I really need you to come home and help. I have to take one of the grandchildren to Urgent Care.” Denise was the daycare provider for the kids, and our youngest grandson was sick with a virus that produced a lot of congestion. He was having trouble breathing.

I jumped in the car, raced home, and helped get the baby and his older brother ready to go to the doctor. Now any of you who know me know that I can get pretty focused when an emergency arises. I go into serious problem-solving mode. Not just normal serious mode, but extreme, high energy, tension-filled, hurry up and let’s get moving mode. I would not have been a good ER doctor.

Just as we were preparing to leave, another daughter-in-law called, and when she heard what was going on she volunteered to watch the older brother at her house. That was a blessing. So I took off in one direction with one boy, and Denise took off to the doctor with the baby. After I dropped my boy off at his cousin’s house, and as I drove back to the office, a song from Chris Tomlin came on the radio and brought me back to a place of emotional balance. The Holy Spirit’s timing was perfect, not only for this morning, but also for the application of the truth I would present in this devotional.

1 Peter 1:3-5  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” 

Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, we have been guaranteed an inheritance that can never be taken from us, no matter what the circumstances of life and how hectic they get. We have been born again into a living hope that is being shielded by God’s power, and that fact brings us to a place of unfathomable peace.

That’s what the song reminded me – the anchor for my soul found in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. I hope the words to “I Will Rise” will be just what you need for today as well.

There’s a peace I’ve come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There’s an anchor for my soul
I can say “It is well”

There’s a day that’s drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles’ wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
“Worthy is the Lamb”
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
“Worthy is the Lamb”

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles’ wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

Pastor John