LifeLink Devotions

Friday, September 15, 2023

It was quite a week of testing. Our patience was tested. Our ability to function on less sleep was tested. Our creativity was tested. Our wisdom was tested. I am proud to announce that we not only survived the test but we thoroughly enjoyed it and passed with flying colors. Of course, the flying colors part is just my opinion.

What a joy it was to be surrounded by children for those days. We had five of them for the first three days and then just two of the older ones for the remaining five days. I admit that it felt good to return home alone after dropping them off. But God reminded me of something while they were all here. I thought at first I was teaching this to the kids, but it was me who really needed to learn. That’s God’s plan – to give us the children and grandchildren He knows we need to make us more like Jesus.

When trouble would brew between the kids, or when one would make a decision that turned out poorly, I took the time to try to teach them a lesson in maturity. Every time one of the kids made a bad decision, I would pull them aside and talk to them about what it means to think about the consequences of our choices. Rather than acting impulsively, I would try to lay the foundation for them to consider what might happen if they do it. I knew that they would probably not understand the concept, and that kids that age don’t think that way, but I wanted to start teaching them so that by repetition over the years they will get it and become mature decision-makers. Now, because I have started this, every time I see them I can supplement their parent’s teaching by emphasizing good decision-making skills.

This morning as I was studying Isaiah 47, God highlighted verse 7 for me.

Isaiah 47:7b   …But you did not consider these things or reflect on what might happen.

The Babylonians had been making decisions based solely on their need for immediate gratification. Now God was going to intervene and make some corrections. He starts by telling them that they had been poor decision-makers. I saw myself clearly as I read. When I got to verse seven, I stopped and knew it was for me. The Lord reminded me that I need to consider all the consequences of every choice and reflect on what might happen.

I condensed the principle into three words – consider the consequences. I have renewed my commitment to that principle. Maybe today is the day you do the same.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, September 14, 2023

I have absolutely no idea who Shelia B. is, but she went public with advice to a friend on Twitter recently. Her friend was obviously dating someone that Shelia did not approve of. She told her friend, “Really? Lauren? Not even in the same class as Jacob. He should’ve been gone.”

This simple exchange between two friends illustrates a problem that exists in our hearts. We have been suckered into a game that we should not be playing. We are like unsuspecting tourists at a county fair who are approached by a barker who wants us to play his carnival game. He stands in the main flow of pedestrian traffic and shouts out to us that we are guaranteed winners if we will just try it once. In our innocence and naiveté we agree, and before long our pockets are empty and our self-esteem is destroyed. We walk away believing we are losers.

Such is the game of comparisons we play every day. In our innocence as children, we were convinced by someone that the best way to discover our true worth was to compare ourselves to others. So began a life of criticism, put downs, insults, and sarcasm designed to somehow make us feel good about who we are. In our hearts we know it doesn’t work, and in most cases it makes us feel worse rather than better about who we are, but we are stuck in the bondage of the behavior. How can we be set free?

It starts with our belief in God. That’s not just a simple Sunday School answer. It’s the eternal truth of the matter. If we have established equals to God in our lives, then we will never be free from the comparison chains in our mind. If we believe that there is anyone or anything that is even in the same class as God and worthy of comparison, we will never be free from the bondage in our brains. Our freedom begins with a proper perspective of Almighty God.

Because we are finite, and therefore think from a finite perspective, it is hard for us to imagine anyone so far above everyone else that they are in a totally separate class. From childhood we have been taught that someday we will meet someone better than us. That fact either drives us to excel or holds us back. Either way, our motivation for action or inactivity is the same – comparison.

If we could catch a glimpse of the infinite, we would see that God is beyond comparison. He has no equal. He is in a class all by Himself. He is the one and only standard of perfection. He has the right, and is the only one who has the right, to declare His own worth, because He is the only one who is unbiased and truthful about His status.

Isaiah 46:5   “To whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?”

Here is what God says about Himself in just a few verses of Isaiah 46 –

• I am God, and there is no other
• I am God, and there is none like me
• I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come
• I say: My purpose will stand
• I will do all that I please
• What I have said, that will I bring about
• What I have planned, that will I do

After you have allowed those truths to sink in, you may still be asking how that solves the comparison game. Here’s how: The God who is incomparable has lavished His love on us and declared us to be His children (1 John 3:1). We have no need to compare ourselves to anyone to determine our worth because our worth has been eternally established and declared by the One who has no comparison. We have become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). We are joint heirs with Jesus with all things eternal (Romans 8:17). We have been granted a seat with Christ in heaven (Ephesians 2:6). God declares us to be incomparable.

With all that affirmation from God and His declaration of our worth, we are free from the bondage of comparisons. Now, instead of spending time trying to earn the approval of people, we can grant them the approval that God gives because we are living in it.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

First things first.

I’m guilty of putting lesser things first.

Today I rejoice that the first things are the first things. They are also the best things. God designed it that way. His first things are always our best things.

As I read through the 45^th chapter of Isaiah again this morning I was reminded of five first things that put every other thing in proper perspective. Here they are:

#1.   God’s salvation is an everlasting salvation. Isaiah 45:17 “But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation.”

#2.   God does not hide Himself from us, and when we seek Him we will find Him. Isaiah 45:19 “I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’”

#3.   One day everyone will bow before Him and acknowledge that He is LORD. Some will bow in despair as they await their sentence. I will join all others who have been saved and bow before Him in adoration and thanksgiving as we enter His eternal presence. Isaiah 45:23   “Before the LORD every knee will bow.”

#4.   Only in the LORD will I discover and embrace righteousness and strength. All other ground is sinking sand. He alone is my solid rock. Isaiah 45:24  “In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.”

#5.   In the LORD I will be found righteous and will glory in Him. God declares me righteous because of the righteousness of Christ in me. Not because of what I did to earn it – I can do NOTHING to earn it. It is all because of the love and grace of God manifested in Jesus Christ my LORD! That makes me rejoice! Isaiah 45:25 “In the LORD all the descendants of Israel will be found righteous and will exult.”

First things first.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

I did a little fishing last weekend. It was fun, but not fulfilling. God has been unrelentingly reminding me that I have been called to fish for men.

The call Jesus issued to His disciples to leave a life of fishing for fish and become fishers of men is monumental. It’s monstrous. It’s motivational.  As these fishermen discover more and more about the Messiah, they are captivated with Him. They are considering investing their lives in His eternal purposes. They have already been called to follow Him, but they had not yet made a permanent commitment. They were balancing their spiritual and their worldly lives, attempting to have both. They would soon learn that the call to follow Jesus isn’t a call that allows us to bring anything with us. It’s a call to complete commitment.

When Jesus issued His call to commitment, He encapsulated in it His purpose for their lives. They would be fishers of men. He did not call them to political or social reform. He called them to one simple objective – spiritual reform. He called them to catch men for the Kingdom of God. He called them to represent the heart of God to people who were lost. He called them to call others to be saved from their sin.

Isaiah 45:22    “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.”

We have digressed from the call. We have become efficient at many commendable spiritual activities but have lost our passion for fishing. The church is missing out on the fullness of God’s blessing because it is minimizing its God-given mission. We as individuals have become adept at balancing our spiritual and worldly lifestyles, but if we would be really honest with God we have tipped the scales in favor of the world. Very little fishing is being done, yet that’s the one thing Jesus called us to do better than anything else.

Fishermen don’t catch fish every day. But they do fish constantly, and when they’re not fishing, they’re thinking about fishing and planning for the next fishing trip. They check their equipment and make every necessary preparation. Even the things they do that are unrelated to fishing are still seen as preparation for fishing. Fishing is their passion. It should be ours. If it’s not, something’s wrong with our connection to the heart of God.

For the last several days God has put a question in my mind. It’s my question for fishing, and not meant to be yours. God will give you your own way of fishing if you really want Him to. But maybe it will stimulate you to think about fishing more often as I am doing. I have been trying to figure out a way to ask someone a question to begin a spiritual discussion with them. The response I got from God is bold, and probably won’t work for many of you. But, as D.L. Moody once said, “My method of doing it is better than your method of not doing it.”

Here’s what God has told me to ask people when I have a chance to talk to them personally – “Has anyone ever taken the time to explain to you why Jesus had to die on the cross?”

I’m going fishing today. I’m looking for someone to ask that to. How will you go fishing?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, September 11, 2023

I am a fixer. As such I had a tough day several years ago.  I was in the middle of a fix-it project when I got a call from my son who needed help with a fix-it project of his own. I dropped what I was doing and went to his house where he had a washing machine partially disassembled.  It was leaking water from the bottom of the tub. One of the seals was bad, and we needed to see how to replace it.

With laptop computer propped up in the laundry room so we could see the service manual for the machine, we continued to take it apart. After almost two hours of work we had a solution. Unfortunately, we had reached a point where we knew that to go any further would not be cost effective, so we quit and junked the machine.

On the way home my mind was swimming with questions about the design of the machine that made it so labor intensive to reach one seal. My questions were driven by my need for convenience rather than the engineering needed to produce a water-tight seal on the drum. I questioned the motives of the designer.

When I returned home I took up my project, which was frustrating me because all the easy and cheap solutions weren’t working. I had one more option before I would have to spend a few hundred dollars. Like I said – it was a tough day for a fixer.

As I thought about my attitudes towards product designers, I was hit full in the face this morning with the next verses in our study of Isaiah. It’s all about how we question the Designer. 

Isaiah 45:9-10    “Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’? Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to his mother, ‘What have you brought to birth?’”

The arrogance of our attitudes that makes question the Designer overwhelmed me. Yet we do it. We have figured out ways in our finite minds to justify the questioning of the infinite and not feel guilty about it. We have so rationalized our rights that we claim to have authority in our relationship with the One who created us. We are so driven by our need for convenience that we fail to see the long-term consequences of changing the design.

Sometimes we even use Jesus as our excuse for such questions. After all, He did it in the Garden of Gethsemane. Didn’t He ask God to change His design and not make Him go through death on a cross? We know He ended up surrendering to God’s will, but He still questioned it, didn’t He?

We forget four vitally important  words at the beginning of that prayer – “If it is possible…”  One of the Gospel writers puts it this way – “Father, if you are willing…”

That’s a far cry from how most of us address God when things aren’t being fixed. We demand that God change things. We go to Him with arrogant authority. We tell Him what we want done and then expect Him to do it. We question everything, not from a desire to understand the heart of God but to change the mind of God. That is not what Jesus did.

Jesus went to the Father with a heart already surrendered. He simply wanted to make sure there were no other options. But His first words indicate that He was already settled on the current course and trusted the Father’s final decision. Oh, that we would live with that level of faith. Fixers find that hard to do.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, September 8, 2023

The next few weeks are going to be fantastic, at least from my perspective. The weather is still warm enough to golf and go fishing. The weather is getting cool enough to feed my appetite for sitting on my tree stand waiting for the elusive monster buck. The one thing that affects my participation in any of those activities is rain. It seems like the weather plays a role in many of the decisions we make.  

Often our lives are like a rainy day. Circumstances are cloudy. Our plans and pursuits are put on hold by pouring rain. Our emotions are saturated with negativity. We see only the inconvenience of the present and miss the blessing of seeing the abundance being produced.

God uses Isaiah to remind us of a simple truth – the rains that fall in the form of hardship and suffering are bringing God’s righteousness and salvation.

Isaiah 45:8    “You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the LORD, have created it.”

God reminds us that as the Creator of all things, He has eternally connected the physical and the spiritual. Every element of nature brings God spiritual glory. Jesus said that if we didn’t praise Him, even the rocks would cry out to the glory of God.

Every event of life has spiritual implications. The circumstances of our lives that we pray to end are the very events God planned to bring us the water of life. The clouds of despair that we believe stop us from seeing the sun are the very clouds that God is using to deliver His righteousness so we can see the Son. The cracks in the ground that shake the foundations of our lives are the evidence that God is preparing to grow something new and wonderful in us.

Life can be hard, especially if we believe that this life is all we get. But for those who see the spiritual in the physical – the supernatural in the natural – there can be joy even in the storms. The clouds that roll into our lives are to be embraced and enjoyed, because God is delivering righteousness in the rain. Open up wide and receive it, and let salvation spring up in your heart.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, September 7, 2023

Isaiah 45:4  “For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me.”

We all have different ideas of how things should get done. Not one of us has a corner on the solutions market. The process market is up for grabs as well. Our experience has taught us some lessons we can pass along, but anything we have learned from experience is confined to the scope of our experiences, and that scope is limited.

When committees or teams are formed to initiate programs they can be either productive or problematic, depending on the attitudes of those involved. It only takes one person in a meeting who believes that their solution is the only solution to cause a major problem. The assumption that their experience exceeds the experience of anyone else, and that their wisdom demands recognition puts them near the top of the arrogance scale.

One key element of truth that is ignored by such prideful people is that there is only One who has complete knowledge, experience, and wisdom – Almighty God. And whether we agree with His methods or not, He is in control and He is getting it done. (By “it” I mean His divine will and eternal purpose.)

Let’s put ourselves in Isaiah’s time for a moment. God is revealing to him and then through him to the nation of Israel that there is a time of political unrest coming. Babylon will invade and the people will be taken captive. I’m sure as they heard this news that their minds were spinning with possible solutions. They had been given the one and only solution from God – repent of your sin and submit to God’s control. They didn’t like the crimp that would put in their lifestyle choices, so they rejected that possibility and turned to their human wisdom instead.

• Are there political alliances we can form that will protect us?
• Are there resources we can use to buy our way into peace?
• Are there other gods we can worship that will save us?

I wonder what Isaiah was thinking. His human mind had to consider all sorts of options. Then God gave him His solution – He will anoint the ruler of Persia, Cyrus, who doesn’t acknowledge God as God, to bring restoration to the people.

WHAT!?!

God is going to use a pagan to accomplish His purpose? What a crazy idea. Why is God on this team anyway? We can come up with better solutions than that, can’t we?

No, there are no better solutions than God’s. He will do it!

Not only will God bring about the restoration of His people, but He will show the pagans that He is in control and that He alone is worthy of worship. (Read verses 5-6) God is getting it done.

So next time you are in the human mindset to demonstrate against the political powers that be, or proclaim your dislike for decisions that are being made, stop and evaluate your trust level in God and whether or not you really believe that He is getting it done according to His divine will and eternal purpose. It may not look like the way we would have done it, but we must humbly admit that our way has failed far more than it has succeeded, and God’s way NEVER has.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, September 6, 2023

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of Nehemiah as he leads the people of Jerusalem in the rebuilding of the city walls. In fact, that story became the basis for the leadership training program I developed in my ministry. It is a story of redemption – from ruins to restoration. It is the story of our lives.

Isaiah prophesied the literal restoration of Jerusalem some two hundred years before it happened.

Isaiah 44:24, 26  “I am the LORD, who has made all things,  who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself…who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited,’ of the towns of Judah, ‘They shall be built,’ and of their ruins, ‘I will restore them,’”

He named King Cyrus by name in verse 28 and again in chapter 45, about 150 years before he took office in Persia. Many scholars believe that Cyrus read this prophecy when He was in office and was so moved by it that he chose to fulfill it. We know that it was God who moved Him.

When Isaiah wrote this, Jerusalem had not even fallen captive to Babylon yet, so the people must have thought Isaiah’s prophecy of their flourishing city standing in ruins to be absurd. But God was revealing His plan to Isaiah, and it has implications to our lives today.

First, the things you say to people today on behalf of the Lord are the very words that God will use later in their lives to restore them when they have made a mess of things. It took two hundred years for Isaiah’s words to come true, but at just the right time in God’s plan his words were used to move Cyrus to action. Your words today will either hurt or help others. May what we say be words God can use to move them to action according to His will.

Second, even though everything seems great with your life today, there may be a time coming when it’s not. It may be the consequence of your own choices, or it may be the result of unforeseen circumstances, but either way a time is coming when you will consider your life to be in ruins. When that moment hits, and it will hit hard, remember the word of the Lord. Fill your mind with it right now so you are prepared. God said of your ruins, “I will restore them.”

Third, maybe everything is already in ruins. Trust the God who loves you and sent His son to die for you. He will restore you. Already there is a Cyrus in your life who is the agent of change. God has sent an Ezra and a Nehemiah to facilitate the rebuilding. God does not intend for you to fix your own life by yourself. He has sent you an incredible gift – people who love Him and serve Him – and they are there to help you rebuild and to experience God’s restoration. Let them help you.

“God, we acknowledge that you are LORD, and have made all things. By your mighty power that brought everything out of nothing, you are also able to restore our ruins. Let the rebuilding begin. Amen.”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

During our greatest joys there can be heartbreak. That is how we tend to look at life. But what if we turned that around and so that our first thought was that during our greatest heartbreaks there can be joy?

I was overwhelmed with that thought as I read from Isaiah 44 and saw these words:

Isaiah 44:2-3   “This is what the LORD says—he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Do not be afraid… For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.”

The God who made me will help me, so I do not need to be afraid.

When I am thirsty for relief from the anguish of my trials, God will pour water on me.

When my emotions are drying up because of the heartbreaks of life, God soften my heart again with streams of grace and mercy.

When I tend to worry about the outcome of my offspring, I hear the promise of God that He will pour out His Spirit upon them.

He knows what I need and when I need it. What an awesome God He is.

Now I must trust Him.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, September 4, 2023

Psalm 145:1   “I will praise you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.”

Several years ago, my brother gave me a Bible. It had been our mom’s personal study Bible. It had been given to him as one of the personal items we divided up after mom died. He handed it to me and said that he would like me to have it and use it. I accepted and said that I would.

As I opened the Bible one morning I was immediately taken to Psalm 145, where my mom had written some extensive notes on praise. There is an old outline of the chapter written in the margins of her Bible, and then there were notes on paper expanding on the outline. The notes in the Bible were old.  I can tell from the quality of the paper notes that they were made not long before her death, probably after she had been diagnosed with her terminal cancer. That’s what makes them so meaningful. The notes are entitled “Reasons to Praise.”

Imagine that – my mom’s focus during her dying days was on praising God. I started to cry. They were tears of loss mixed with tears of shame. I am embarrassed that I don’t praise God more, especially when according to my expectations things are going wrong. I suppose you can relate. We have an expectation about how the circumstances of our lives should result in good, and we get discouraged and annoyed when they turn out wrong. Yet from God’s perspective there is nothing wrong. There is only the expression of His grace as He trains us to have more faith and to be more faithful.

Here’s my challenge to you today. Read Psalm 145. Use my mom’s outline as a tool to let the Lord teach you how and why to praise God. Then consider this – how bad do things have to get before we let go of our need to control and complain? When will we start praising God who is in control of all things and working them out for His glory and our good?

Reasons for Praise (by Ruth A. van Gorkom)

1. God’s Greatness – vs. 1-3
2. God’s Majesty – vs. 4-6
3. God’s Mercy – vs. 7-9
4. God’s Kingdom – vs. 10-13
5. God’s Grace – vs. 14-16
6. God’s Holiness – vs. 17-20
7. God’s Name (His Character) – vs. 21

I will praise His holy name for ever and ever! Thanks for modeling that to me, Mom, even when in my opinion everything was wrong.

Pastor John