LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, May 3, 2023

I begin with a rather obvious and somewhat stupid question. “When you look in the mirror, whose face do you see?”  Of course, we see our own face.

Next question – “When you look at someone else, whose face do you see?” At first that seems stupid and obvious as well, but I want you to think about something. I wish to present the possibility that when we look at other people, we actually see our own face.

How is that possible? Well, if certain things are true about us, and for most of us they are, then it is not only possible but probable.

Many of us are not yet sure of our true identity. We wonder if we have any intrinsic value. We tend to define ourselves with lists of accomplishments or relationships. We ask others to affirm us based on our abilities, many of which are learned for the specific purpose of impressing people. We seek to affirm ourselves with the approval of people who like us because of our personalities, when even our personality can be nothing more than the mimicking of others we define as popular.

In all these things, people become the idol we choose to bring value to our lives. And there it is – when we see their face, we really see our face because we have empowered them to reflect to us our identity. When we see their face, we see what value they bring to us. We use face time with people to enhance our own face, so in essence when we see them, we are really seeing only ourselves.

I apologize if this makes sense only to me, but I believe our Enemy the Devil has us in powerful chains of bondage in this area. The bondage is this – we believe that living as Christians is all about doing rather than being. We believe that our identity is determined by our deeds rather than our deeds motivated by our identity.

One morning I was awakened at 4:30 AM with the sound of thunder. That was rare for a January day in Wisconsin. I tried to go back to sleep, but events from the day before kept running through my mind. As I prayed about those events, the Lord brought this thought to me – “What’s the difference between doing and being?”

I thought about that question at great length and don’t have time to share with you all the ways the Lord broke my heart and started rebuilding it. Then I read this verse in Psalm 119:135.

“Make your face shine upon your servant…”

I saw the answer. When we focus on doing, we are looking at our own face, but when we focus on being we see only God’s face.

Every one of us will apply this truth to different areas of our lives, but the root cause of the issue is the same in all of us: it is an expression of pride that seeks to earn value and establish identity from some source other than God alone. We all, in some form and to some degree, seek our own face.

The truth of the Gospel is this – the pursuit of our own identity ends in eternal death, but the identity of Christ in us gives us eternal life. It matters not how other people or my productivity define me, but only how Christ defines me has bearing on my eternal soul. It is only when we become absolutely content with the Face of our Lord shining on us, in us, and through us that we will find peace.

Numbers 6:24-26  “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”

So it’s a valid question – “Whose face do you see?” Your answer is evidence of the gods or God you have chosen.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

It was an idea we found on Pinterest. Okay, I’ve just lost all the male readers. Stick with me if you can.

It was nearing the time that the grandkid’s parents would be returning home, and they wanted to surprise them. So off to the dollar store we went to buy plastic tablecloths and balloons.

First, blow up all the balloons – two packages.

Second, write a greeting on one of the tablecloths.

Third, secure each side of the greeting tablecloth to each wall beside the back door, forming a barricade.

Fourth, secure the second tablecloth in the same manner but 12-14 inches behind the first one towards the inside of the house.

Finally, fill the space between the tablecloths with the balloons.

We had just finished eating supper when we heard the overhead garage door open.

“They’re here!” came the shouts from the kids, who hadn’t seen their parents in nine days. They all took their places in the kitchen, except the youngest, who wanted to hide.

The door slowly open and the kids could hear their mommy and daddy talking and reading the greeting. They could see the bulges of the balloons and wondered out loud what to do. The kids were quiet.

Suddenly hands appeared through the barrier. Unfortunately, they ripped both tablecloths so the balloons came pouring into the kitchen rather than just onto them. That caused a mad scramble for balloons by the kids, ignoring mom and dad. As Denise and I watched it was kind of funny to see the kids more interested in the balloons than the parents they hadn’t seen for days. The youngest one especially took forever to jump into the arms of his mommy. But once they all did, the balloons didn’t matter anymore. They were in the arms of the ones they loved.

This is the image we have in today’s Scripture. Look with special interest at the word “unfolding.”  

Psalm 119:130 “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.”

This is the only place in the Bible this word is used in this form, and its simple definition is “a doorway.”  But it is so much more than just a doorway, for it also bears the meaning of opening and unfolding. The more the door is opened, the more the light will shine. The more the door is opened, the greater the understanding of the truths of God’s love.

Think back to the balloon story. When the door – the tablecloths – was opened, the simple thrill of balloons appeared and captured the fancy of the kids. But as the doorway of tablecloths opened wider so that the parents could pass through, the greater thrill of relationship was revealed, replacing the simple joy of a toy with the more fulfilling joy of hugs and kisses.

So it is to be with our devotional study of God’s Word. The smallest opening reveals light, but we are not to be content to see only a sliver of the Sonshine. We must press on through the initial joys of the first light of dawn and push open the door wider and wider to reveal the full brightness of the Son’s glory. Let us not be satisfied to see dimly and play only on the floor with balloons but let us unfold the Word of God so that we are lifted up and embraced by the arms of our Father.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, May 1, 2023

Psalm 119:124  “Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love, and teach me your statutes.”

We are performance-based people. At the core of our sinful flesh we believe we earn everything we receive, either good or bad. We have perfected the entitlement mentality. Yet today, based on the words of the Psalmist, my spirit cries out to the Spirit of God with cries of brokenness and repentance. I have so often demanded from God and from people what I believe I am owed because of what I have done. I have become dependent upon what I have done to validate my life. I have stood in front of and beside people with the expectation that I will be recognized for my abilities and accomplishments. I have come before the Lord Jesus Christ with sacrifices that offend Him – sacrifices of my own doing designed for my own benefit. I have said to God, “Look at what I have done, now here’s what I need you to do for me.”

I have attempted to justify my self-centered core with visible coverings of righteous obedience. But I know my heart, and it so frequently demands my own priorities even while perfecting the pose of surrender. What appears before men to be humility is in fact pride at its worst.

Brothers and sisters, we must each come before the throne of grace with nothing to offer, and ask the Lord to deal with us according to His steadfast love, not according to our works. Who of us could stand before God and be declared righteous based on what we have done? Which one of us has done so much good that the Holy One of Heaven should declare us holy? Where is there one person in the whole of human history who can ask God for anything based on their own merit?

But wait, there is One. The Righteous One of Heaven who Himself lived here as one of us. He alone was truly holy, and yet He refused to ask anything from the Father based on His own merit. He only asked based on the Father’s love. In His great prayer of John 17, after asking the Father to meet the needs of His disciples, Jesus asks only one thing for Himself – that the followers given to Him by the Father would be with Him where He is and see His glory. He offers no work as the basis for His request. He does no bargaining. His request is not self-serving, but totally God-centered. He simply appeals to the love of the Father.

“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”John 17:24

There are so many ways we have negotiated with God because we felt deserving of His attention. In the recesses of our minds we think that God owes us His help to get us out of the current predicaments we are in, when in reality the predicament may be the most complete expression of His love to us right now. We believe, even if it be minutely, that if we have served Him well enough in one area of our lives that He owes us His help in areas where we have omitted Him. In our prideful attempt to validate ourselves we have even turned to seeking the approval of like-minded people who will encourage us rather than confront us about our sin. We come before the throne of grace with what we determine to be offerings of value, when grace is only granted to those who come empty-handed.

“Oh God, my heart cries out to you in repentance that I and your people have become blinded to the reality of our own pride. We have become people who demand payment for services rendered. We are guilty of asking you to fulfill your promises to us based on our own abilities to earn them. We fall on our faces before you today and receive your forgiveness, and we invite you to deal with us according to your steadfast love and no longer according to our own good. It is grace that we seek, because we are empty. And when we receive it, we will remain empty of all of self so that only You will be seen in us.”

Pastor John