LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, November 16, 2023

For nine years my wife and I had planned a trip, and every year that we thought we would do it something came up. One year our kids said, “Enough! No more excuses!” They put together a little incentive package with contingencies that forced us to make the decision and book the reservations. After all the years of hearing about all their wonderful experiences on a cruise, Denise and I finally went on one. It was everything we expected and more.

While we were sitting on a beach on a small atoll called Cococay, I watched as a father took his little girl into the ocean for probably the first time ever. Dad and the girl stood hand in hand for a moment in water only six inches deep. Then the eighteen-month old girl let go of daddy’s hand and took a few steps out into a little deeper water. She turned and smiled at her dad, and he smile back.

Having discovered courage she didn’t know she had, the girl took a few more steps. It was obvious she was not used to the buoyancy of saltwater, and she worked hard to keep her balance. Then she took one more step, and as she turned around to catch her daddy’s eye for approval, she wobbled. She listed heavily to the right. Her left leg came off the white sand on the bottom. She tipped forward, and her face was very near the water. Her short arms could not reach the bottom to stop her descent.

I cringed in my lounge chair. I’m sure I made a visible move to get up. I will never forget the look in the little girl’s eyes. They were as big as they could be, and looked right into her daddy’s eyes and spoke louder than any words could have. “Daddy, help me!” By now her mouth and nose were under the water, but her eyes never stopped looking at her father. She needed rescue, and she knew that dad was the rescuer.

Her steps had taken her out of reach of her father. His arm could not grab her and lift her from where he was. She was unable to get to him. But dad saw her, and from her eyes he heard her cry for help. In two swift steps through the water he had her by the arm and lifted her into his. She threw her arms around his neck and hung on. Her eyes were facing me, and without a single tear they clearly said, “I’m safe and secure.”

The dad did an amazing thing. It may seem so simple and natural that we lose sight of the amazement of it, but it is no less amazing. As his daughter’s eyes cried out to him, he did not speak to her about the consequences of her actions. He did not tell her to deal with the problem because she had put herself in that position. He did not correct her for wandering away from him. He did what any loving father would do, he rescued her.

Isaiah 59:1 “Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.”

Surely your Heavenly Father will do the same for you. His arm is not too short to save nor His ear too dull to hear. Cry out to Him, and He will make you safe and secure.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Isaiah 58:13-14  “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’S holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” The mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Years ago, a reporter was visiting the Oakland Raiders’ football camp. He had just come from the Jack London Historic Monument. He read a sample of London’s prose to quarterback Ken Stabler:

“I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”

After reading this to the quarterback he asked, “What does that mean to you?”

Stabler replied, “Throw deep.”

I am a risk taker in certain areas of my life. Never, and I mean never, does the risk involve tightly closed spaces underground. I have serious issues with claustrophobia. But I do take risks in other areas when there is a perceived or a realistic reward offered. I will invest in the stock market; carry a bow into the woods to hunt deer knowing that there are also bears, cougars, and wolves around; and I will stand and preach in front of a crowd of people that have every right to tear me apart if they reject the truth that is being spoken.

We all take risks every day. Did you get in a car today to travel to work or the gym? You took a huge risk. Did you eat food prepared by someone behind closed doors at a restaurant? Risky. Have you ever taken a 6-iron to try to hit a green 190 yards away over water? Splash!

But each risk had a reward. Retirement income. A big buck. A harvest of souls. Faster time to work than walking. Good food with no prep or clean-up. A chance for an eagle. Risks bring rewards as this poem bears out:

Let come what will I mean to bear it out,

And either live with glorious victory

or die with fame, renowned in chivalry.

He is not worthy of the honeycomb

That shuns the hives because the bees have stings.

“If” is a word of risk. God’s Word is full of ifs. In fact, in one translation the word “if” appears 1590 times. Granted many of them are in common sentence structure, but many of them refer to conditions that God places on rewards. The very first time “if” is used is in Genesis when God speaks to Cain after he murdered his brother. “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” Cain was told to risk his own way on the altar of God’s will. He was asked to take a risk.

God challenges us to take risks every day. We are to risk being rejected by the world as we stand for Jesus. He asks us to risk giving up our lives to find eternal life. He says, “Take up your cross and follow me.” That’s risky. He encourages us to surrender our rights for the benefit of others who need to see God’s love and grace. Huge risks that have great rewards. What are you willing to risk to receive God’s reward?

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out for another is to risk involvement.

To expose feelings is to risk exposing our true self.

To place your ideas, your dreams, before the crowd is to risk loss.

To love is to risk not being loved in return.

To live is to risk dying.

To hope is to risk despair.

To try at all is to risk failure.

But risk we must, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

The man, the woman, who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

I love a buffet line. It is so eye-catching to see a sign on the front of a building that says “All you can eat.” The trouble is that as my eyes get bigger, my stomach grows. I am learning to control those impulses, but years of serving myself at meals have made me gluttonous.

It’s not like the days of my youth when I was served my food by my mother. My mom was an amazing servant. I honestly don’t remember what age I was when I was first told to help myself, but I do know that I was into elementary school already. Until then, all I remember is mom putting the plate of food down in front of me, or me passing my plate to her so she could serve the food to us. Part of it was practicality, and not trusting three little boys to pass the china serving dishes around the table without breaking them. A big part of it was her heart to serve. One reason I’m sure was portion control and teaching little boys how to make good decisions.

Then one day, after giving thanks for the food, mom picked up a dish of food passed it to my brother and said, “Help yourself.” What was this? She was giving us the right to choose how much we wanted to eat. She gave us some rules of course, like “Only take what you can eat,” and “There’s no dessert unless you eat all you take.” Then she gave us the most important rule – “Think about the others around the table that have to eat when you help yourself.”  Then, in a great display of trust in us to truly consider the needs of others, she passed every dish of food around the table before she took any for herself.

Today we live in a world that exalts buffet line lifestyles. The principle of “help yourself” applies to far more than just food. The rule to consider others before helping yourself has been obliterated by the obligation to self. We have very little portion control in most areas of our lives. We take more than we need, and more than we can legitimately use. Years of serving ourselves have made us gluttonous.

That’s why it’s so dark around us. It may even be dark in us. There’s not much light shining in the darkness because the light-bearers have chosen to become like the darkness. The darkness keeps getting darker. So many of those who have been created to worship God are still helping themselves to whatever they want, with little regard for the needs of others. Our buffet line mentality that the food never runs out has deeply influenced our lifestyles. We sit at a huge societal table, and as the materialistic food is passed we take huge scoops without one thought of the person sitting next to us and what they will be able to eat. How rude! How selfish!

It’s easy to help ourselves like this because it’s so dark. Even if someone does see us do it, they don’t care because it’s exactly what they would do if they were sitting so close to the head of the table. When the food does get to them, they are thrilled with whatever is in the bowl because they can’t see how full the bowl was when it started around the table. If only the first person in line would have turned on a light.

Isaiah 58:10 “Feed the hungry and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as day.”

“Please, you go ahead of me.” There’s a flash of light in the room.

“May I share mine with you.” The overhead LED’s turn on.

“I think I will take only what I really need and can use right away and leave a bunch for the people behind me.” Individual table lights are switched on.

“I think I will skip eating today so there’s more for others.” Cue the spotlights.

“Maybe I’ll clean out the freezer and give a bunch of food to some homeless people.” Let the light shine the way God intended it to shine.

Buffet-line lifestyles are not what God intended for His people. That promotes darkness. Sacrifice is what God demands. It’s His eternal light switch. It is to define our lifestyle. It is our reasonable act of service and worship in response to His mercy. (Romans 12:1-2)

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, November 13, 2023

I’m still sitting at the roadblock. I’m contemplating the connection between me and the people of Israel who were offending God by offering Him insincere worship. I wonder how I do that. Am I really guilty of wearing a mask of love for God on Sunday and then removing it to expose a face of love for self on Monday?

I need to look at the challenges God gave the people of Israel and create a personal check list. After all, that’s how we do it in this day of self-help – we create check lists to validate our growth and accomplishments so we can proclaim worth upon ourselves and move on.

So let’s read Isaiah 58 verses 6,7, and 9, and then make our tongue-in-cheek list.

“…the kind of [worship] I want calls you to free those who are wrongly imprisoned and to stop oppressing those who work for you. Treat them fairly and give them what they earn. I want you to share your food with the hungry and to welcome poor wanderers into your homes. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help. Stop oppressing the helpless and stop making false accusations and spreading vicious rumors!”

• “Free those who are wrongly imprisoned.” I’m not a judge or a lawyer, so I can’t do this. CHECK.
• “Stop oppressing those who work for you.” I’m not an employer. CHECK.
• “Share your food with the hungry.” Drove past a guy yesterday who said he was homeless, but I didn’t help him because the police said most of them are scam artists. I actually think I did him a favor by not giving him anything, so he is forced to get to work. If it was a real need, I think I would have helped. In fact, I bought breakfast for a stranger at a restaurant one morning. Never mind the fact that he was fully capable of buying his own, it still helped him, right? CHECK.
• “Welcome poor wanderers into your homes.” Wait a minute; I have a wife to consider. We have hosted people in the past, but we’ve always known them. We have to be careful these days. We even had missionaries stay with us for three months. CHECK.
• “Give clothes to those who need them.” I’m really good here. I take clothes to Goodwill and Hope Gospel Mission all the time. I have even sent clothes internationally for orphans, and helped pay for their shipping. BIG CHECK.
• “Do not hide from relatives who need your help.” Um, this is tough. They just continue to use me and it seems like I am enabling them. They say they will pay it back but never do. The Bible says in Proverbs to not lend money to relatives. I’m choosing to obey that. CHECK.
• “Stop oppressing the helpless.” I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who is helpless, let alone oppress them. CHECK
• “Stop making false accusations and spreading vicious rumors.” I would never! The things I share are prayer requests or personal hurts I need advice on. CHECK.

“There, the checklist is done, and I passed. Now Lord, take down the barricade and let me proceed…Lord? Lord? It’s not moving. I’m not able to proceed. Lord. LORD! I’ve done what you asked. I am a true worshipper, right? Then why isn’t the barrier moving?”

Looks like I’ll be here a little longer. I wonder what I’m supposed to see?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, November 10, 2023

I’m stuck. The Lord has put up a roadblock and has asked me to stop for a while. My first reaction to a roadblock is always selfish – “How can I get around it to get where I want to go?” But I have learned that never ends well. So here I sit in my devotional car, stopped at a roadblock at the intersection of Heart Highway and Isaiah 58.

Isaiah 58:6-7  “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”

Twice in this passage the Holy Spirit emphasizes the condition of our heart as it relates to the worship of God. You see, worship is not external, but rather internal. Outward expressions must originate in a clean and pure heart. Worship is not an event, but a lifestyle.

The other day I saw two worship leaders from different parts of the country promoting their upcoming worship events. Both said it was going to be awesome. They used words like “epic” and “unbridled” – buzz words to create emotional responses. Now I know the hearts of both worship leaders, and I know how their lives are lived as consistent worship offerings to the Lord. But my question is this – “How do we know that worship will be epic if we don’t know the hearts of the people who will be attending the worship service?”  We must not lower worship to the level of musical perfection or emotional enthusiasm. We must always make worship a response to the love of God in our hearts that has transformed our lives.

I desire emotional worship. I want quality sound, good instrumentation, and crisp vocals. I desire excellence in serving the Lord, and that excellence is an act of worship when done unto God and not for self-exaltation. But I also understand that those things do not create a worship atmosphere, nor do they capture the attention of God. The condition of our hearts is what gets God’s attention.

It is hypocrisy to believe that we can worship God while we are harboring resentment against other people. It is self-deception to believe that God hears our prayers and expressions of praise while we are entertaining sin in our lives. It is exceptionally offensive to God to enter into His presence under false pretenses, and we do it all the time when we come to worship on Sunday or any other time and put on the mask of love for God when in the rest of our life we wear the true face of love for self.

This is the roadblock. Have we learned methods and traditions of worship that allow us to be fakes? Have we chosen religious rituals that offer us temporary satisfaction of our spiritual desires without the true transformation of the heart? Have we chosen to live as the people of Isaiah’s day?

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.  Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.  Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?”

For many people, worship is the beginning of a new week, when they lay at the altar of the Lord the shortcomings and sins of the past week and look for a fresh start. How different worship would be if we would come together to celebrate the victories over the flesh that we experienced in the previous week by living every day as worship to the Lord. If worship is to be real, it is to be the response to what God is doing in our hearts, not the beginning of what we want God to do.

Think on these things, and review Isaiah 58 again.  Let us reflect on what God desires from a life that worships Him.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, November 09, 2023

“I saw what you did!”

When I was a child and heard that statement directed at me – from anyone – my heart cringed in fear. I must admit that I still feel that way at times. The fear I feel is the product of knowing that I have just done something wrong, and I have been caught. What will happen to me? How bad is the punishment going to be? What will other people think of me? What will this do to my reputation and my potential?

Let’s stop a minute and evaluate those responses, for all of them are wrong responses to sin. We have been fed a huge lie if we believe that any of them are correct. You see, those responses  reflect the belief that when we sin we sin mainly against ourselves. Our fear of punishment is self-protection. Our fear of being discredited is pride. Our normal response to the fears of punishment and personal loss is to justify what we did, and, if necessary, lie. Why? Because we are primarily concerned about self.

God doesn’t forgive sin based on how bad it makes us feel, but rather our knowledge of who He is and how our sin stands so opposed to Him. God forgives sin based on repentance. Repentance requires the sacrifice of self. Repentance requires turning away from sin regardless of the consequences. Repentance demands humility which brings us God’s justification, rather than pride which seeks self-justification.

Yet God has promised to forgive, even after He has seen what we have done.

Isaiah 57:18-19    “I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him, creating praise on the lips of the mourners in Israel. Peace, peace, to those far and near,” says the LORD. “And I will heal them.”

He promises to heal our lives. He promises to guide us again and restore comfort to us. He promises to create praise on our lips where there had been mourning. Aha! There it is – the mourning over our sin. God cannot bring forgiveness and restoration to a life that is not repentant – a life that is not broken and mourning before Him. Not broken over the pain of the consequences. Not mourning over some form of personal loss. But brokenness and mourning over how we have stood and acted in opposition to God.

In Luke 3:8 Jesus says, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” In Acts 26:20 Paul says, “that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.” There must be evidence in our lives of true repentance. There are four ways to know if we are truly repentant:

• The absence of rationalization – we will cease all defending of our actions
• Genuine sorrow – a broken heart before God, not men
• Open confession of our sin – we will no longer seek to hide what we did from the public.
• Restitution – we willingly seek out those hurt and offended by our sin and make it right.

We tend to defend our actions, justify our choices, and lie to protect ourselves from the pain of the consequences. Have we ever been truly repentant? Are we more concerned about how we feel than about what we have done in rebellion against the grace of God?

The Holy Spirit is ready to come and restore comfort to us. He will assure us of the Lord’s forgiveness and healing. He will bring peace, when we no longer defend ourselves and are genuinely broken before Him.

Open your heart and your life to Him. Expose all the sin. Throw yourself helplessly at the mercy of the Judge, for He is ready and willing to forgive you, and lift you out of the slime of sin into a joyous relationship with the Father.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Have you ever read something from God’s Sacred Word and have it so overwhelm you that you struggle to find words to express what is happening in your heart? That’s me right now. So, all I can do is tell you about it and let the Holy Spirit do the same for you as He needs to.

I sat down at my desk and opened my Bible to Isaiah 57 to continue my study of this prophetic book. I got into my devotional vehicle (ask me about this if you don’t know what I mean) and I started my morning journey at verse 14 where I had parked yesterday.

“And it will be said: “Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.”  For this is what the high and lofty One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” Isaiah 57:14-15

I slammed on the brakes. I put the car into reverse. I backed all the way up to verse seven.

“You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill; there you went up to offer your sacrifices.”

There it was. I thought I had seen it when I had traveled that way before. My pride is an obstacle to the work of the Lord in my life. I have been pursuing a high and lofty hill in opposition to the One who is High and Lofty.

I spent a few moments considering the ways I continue to offer sacrifices to the god of self-fulfillment.

I put the car back in drive and moved forward again to verse fifteen. I slammed on the brakes again.

“I live in a high and holy place…”

God lives in a high and holy place, not on a hill. Holy means set apart. I can’t reach Him. No matter how hard I try or how high I climb, I can’t get to His place.

Carefully I took my foot off the brake and proceeded.

“…but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit.”

From His high and lofty place, the High and Holy One has come down to me! I could not get to Him by going up to a high and lofty place, but He would come to me if I went down to a place of humility. The lower into the dust of contriteness I go the more accessible I become to the High and Holy One.

I think I will park here for a while and enjoy His presence.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, November 7, 2023

As I read through Isaiah 57:3-13, I was personally convicted by verse 12.

Isaiah 57:12  “I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you.”

As a result, I was inspired to put down my thoughts in the form of poetry. I know I am not nearly the poet that some of you are, especially my friend Linn, but I trust what I wrote will touch your heart and move you towards a deeper understanding of trusting God.

I sit and ponder, at the break of day,

            How much of life is lived my way.

Choices are made that bring me rewards;

            People are hurt by my sneers and my words.

The lust of the flesh and a life of pride,

            Are waging a war with the Spirit inside.

It’s easy to worship the world and its things,

            Seeking contentment in sin’s offerings.

Hiding in secret the things that bring shame,

            Rejecting the honor that’s due to Your Name.

My sin saps my strength and makes me so weary,

            But still I am not repentantly teary.

I find worldly ways to get my strength back,

            Without bended knee I’m back on my track.

In fear of rejection I’ve chosen this course,

            Seeking man’s approval to cover my remorse.

It doesn’t make sense, but it seems to be true,

             That I fear man’s responses more than You.

Expose all the ways that I seek good to do,

            While knowing full well it’s for me and not You. 

Teach me that my ways will bring no return,

            See that for You does my heart truly yearn.

After all has been said, I choose this today,

            To make You my refuge, to live in Your way.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, November 6, 2023

There’s something about a full moon.  The last one we just had was magnificent, probably because I saw it from my tree stand. It was literally possible to drive the car without headlights on. I was amazed again at how God created a lifeless orb of rock that could reflect light so brilliantly. It has no light within itself. It only reflects the light it receives from the sun. God placed it in the perfect position to reflect just the right amount of light. 

Night has fallen upon our world. It is morally dark. Isaiah describes the condition in verses ten through twelve of chapter fifty-six.

• Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge;
• they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark;
• they lie around and dream, they love to sleep.
• They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough.
• They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, each seeks his own gain.
• “Come,” each one cries, “let me get wine! Let us drink our fill of beer! And tomorrow will be like today, or even far better.”

Maybe before we go on we should take a moment and review that list, and prayerfully consider under the influence of the Holy Spirit which of those things might be true of our own hearts. Please do that. You see, we are God’s watchmen of our day. We do not want the darkness to invade us. Don’t read on until you have sought the Lord on each of these items…………………………………………………..

Now, having dealt with the darkness in our own hearts, we are prepared to penetrate the darkness around us. I’m sure the Holy Spirit has already shown you the application. God created us in Christ Jesus to be the reflection of His Light to the world around us. We have been placed in the perfect position in relationship to the world so that we bring the light of the Son to those in darkness.

But unlike the moon, we are not mere reflectors of the Light – we are the Light. We have the Son that the world needs to see. Jesus, the Light of the world, lives in us. The issue we must deal with is why the Light doesn’t shine better. We seem to be stuck in the new moon phase of life when the world needs us to be in full moon phase. We are participating in the darkness rather than illuminating it.

The solution is simple – “Lord Jesus, illuminate me!  I turn my face towards you so that I am no longer in the shadow of the world. Then will you be able to use me to illuminate the darkness around me.”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, November 3, 2023

Prior to any of my international mission trips, I meet with the travel nurse at my medical clinic. It is necessary to review my inoculation records so that I will be sufficiently protected from any potential tropical disease to which I might be exposed. We look at maps that display the regional diseases and discussed the exact itinerary of my trip. After careful consideration of the risks, vaccines are chosen and I get inoculated. Some of them require a second dose, and one requires a third dose. The third dose makes it permanent soi I never have to be inoculated for that disease again.

There is much debate in our day about the value of vaccines. I can see where that same debate takes place in our spiritual lives. One such debate is addressed in Isaiah 56:6-7.

Isaiah 56:6-7 “And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

In this encouraging chapter of hope, God is informing those who are on the outside that they will be fully accepted into the Kingdom of the Messiah with full benefits. Those who had been excluded will now be included. In the past they had felt like sub-standard people who weren’t good enough to be invited to an exclusive club. They saw the power and provision of the One True God but had no access to Him. They had been left without hope and without joy.

Suddenly word comes down from the CEO that the membership policy has been revised so that now anyone was welcome. I imagine that when God invited all the excluded to be included in His Kingdom with full benefits that there was some enthusiasm. The house of God was being opened to everyone, regardless of race, creed, nationality, political preference, financial status, or physical disability. The weak, the hurting, the guilty, and the untouchable would have equal access to the altar of God. Their hopelessness would be replaced with joy.

JOY! That inner peace and contentment of knowing that regardless of our circumstances or feelings, our Sovereign God is working out His eternal purpose independent of us, yet beneficial to us. JOY! That inexpressible quality that supersedes the feeling of happiness because it is not based on what is happening but rather on what has happened when we were welcomed into the House of God. JOY! It is “peace dancing in our lives.” (F.B. Meyer)

But here’s the hard part – at least it’s hard from the standpoint of maintaining the dedication needed to experiencing joy. God connects joy with prayer. Outsiders will be granted joy not just by having access to the House of God, but to the house of prayer. God declares that His house will be a house of prayer. That’s the vaccine. If we want to be inoculated against hopelessness and despair, we must be determined to pray. If we will avoid the downfalls of discouragement, we must pray. If we are to overcome the deepening feelings of fear based on the political and social condition of the world, we must pray. Prayer is the vaccine against all the diseases of the heart and mind that destroy joy.

But in our minds, we debate the need for prayer. We turn to our own remedies first. We consider the risks of prayer and let them influence us: risks like time commitment that will affect our schedule of events, or the hurtful words of others who will accuse us of being overly spiritual when they see the power of God being lived out in our lives. So powerful are those arguments in the hands of our enemy that we dare to even consider not being inoculated. We even ask why joy is really all that big of a deal. Really?

Today, I cry out to my Lord – “Inoculate Me!” In response, God says “Come into my clinic. You will recognize it by the sign out front. It says, House of Prayer.”     

Pastor John