LifeLink Devotional for Thursday, December 26, 2024

For many people, the thrill of Christmas continues today because the After Christmas Sales have begun. Stores have opened early to close out all their seasonal merchandise. People are getting up early to get a head start on what they will need for next Christmas. They will find their treasures at greatly reduced prices and store them up in their closets and basements so when the time comes for the next holiday they will be prepared. Just knowing what they bought and how great a bargain they got will sustain them through the shopping lulls caused by regular prices in the days ahead. For me, I wonder what treasures I have to sustain me through the long winter months still ahead?

It helps when I think about Mary, the mother of Jesus. Her Baby has been born, the trip home has been completed, and routine has been established. People have stopped coming over to visit and to see the Baby. Relatives are finally settled down and are acting like they accept this “miraculous” birth. Joseph is back in his carpentry shop, and Mary struggles to fight off the depressing prospect of life in the regular lane.

But she is prepared to fight that battle, and how she fights it is a lesson for all of us. You see, she went After Christmas Shopping also; only she did it in her heart.

Luke 2:19 “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Mary found lots of treasures, filling the shopping cart of her heart with eternally enduring truths and memories.

There were treasures like Gabriel’s announcement to her that she was highly favored by God; his explanation of the power of the Holy Spirit that would come upon her; the visit with Elizabeth and the sharing of a miraculous birth experience with her; the statement of the angel that “nothing is impossible with God;” the description by the shepherds of the glory of God in the sky and the announcement of good news for all the people; and the first time she held the Son of God in her arms and experienced the fullness of God’s grace and truth.

Mary filled her heart with all these things and more, and they sustained her for the next 12 years of regular life until another “holiday” occurred. Jesus was teaching in the temple, and once again Mary found some more treasures to store up in the closet of her heart.

She would need all these treasures because life would be regular for the next 18 years, but when life stopped being routine she was ready. When Jesus was presented by His heavenly Father to the world as the people’s Savior, she was ready because she had done more than just put the treasures in a closet: she put them in a prominent place in the house of her heart where she could look at them every day and be reminded that life with Jesus is not regular. She was sustained because she had polished the art of meditation on God’s truth. The truths she experienced and treasured became her weapons with which she fought the battle of routine.

We have the same opportunity. We too must polish up the art of meditation: not meditation to escape life like the world teaches; but rather meditation on the truths of God to fulfill life.

When Joshua was preparing to lead the people of Israel into the battle for the Promised Land, God gave him these instructions – “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

It’s time to go spiritual shopping for treasures which are found in God’s Word – and they’re FREE! What a bargain – life-sustaining truth at no cost. Fill your cart today.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional for Tuesday, December 24, 2024

The following is a true story: Two weeks before Christmas a nine-year-old girl was walking with her friend down the street, sliding on the ice. The two of them were talking about what they hoped to get for Christmas. They stopped to talk to an old man named Harry, who was on his knees doing his best to pull weeds from the frozen ground around a large oak tree. He wore a frayed, woolen jacket and a pair of worn garden gloves. His fingers were sticking out the ends, blue from the cold.

As Harry responded to the girls, he told them he was getting the yard in shape as a Christmas present to his mother, who had passed away several years before. His eyes brimmed with tears as he patted the old oak. “My mother was all I had. She loved her yard and her trees, so I do this for her at Christmas.”

His words touched the girls and soon they were down on their hands and knees helping him to weed around the trees. It took the three of them the rest of the day to complete the task. When they finished, Harry pressed a quarter into each of their hands. “I wish I could pay you more, but it’s all I’ve got right now,” he said.

The girls had often passed that way before and as they walked on they remembered that the house was shabby, with no wreath, no Christmas tree or other decorations to add cheeriness. Just the lonely figure of Harry sitting by his curtain-less window. The quarter seemed to burn a hole of guilt in the one little girl’s mind as they returned to their homes. The next day she called her friend, and they agreed to put their quarters in a jar marked “Harry’s Christmas Present” and then they began to seek out small jobs to earn more. Every nickel, dime, and quarter they earned went into the jar.

Two days before Christmas, they had enough to buy new gloves and a Christmas card. Christmas Eve found them on Harry’s doorstep singing carols. When he opened the door, they presented him with the gloves wrapped in pretty paper, the card and a pumpkin pie still warm from the oven. With trembling hands, he tore the paper from the gloves, and then to their astonishment, he held them to his face and wept.

As I thought about that story, I began to wonder how low I would stoop to help others. Then I found this quote from author, professor, and clergyman Henry Van Dyke, who asks us some penetrating questions. “Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and desires of little children; to remember the weaknesses and loneliness of people who are growing old; to stop asking how much your friends love you, and to ask yourself whether you love them enough; to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear on their hearts; to trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall behind you; to make a grave for your ugly thoughts and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate open? Are you willing to do these things for a day? How about for lifetime? Then you are ready to keep Christmas!”

Jesus stooped down from glory and became lower than the angels He created, so that He might personally relate to us and rescue us. He didn’t just put on the appearance of man for a time. According to Philippians 2:4-8, His very nature became that of a servant.

It’s easy for us to put on the decorations of Christmas once a year and act like we are givers. But is giving in your nature?

I love this quote from John Stott, who said, “The Christian should resemble a fruit tree, not a Christmas tree! For the gaudy decorations of a Christmas tree are only tied on, whereas fruit grows on a fruit tree.”

Make it your intention this year to let giving and serving be your nature, not just your decoration. When the Christ of Christmas abides in you, and you abide in Him, you will bear fruit that looks like Him, and that starts with stooping down for others.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional for Monday, December 23, 2024

A fast food chain that had previously been relatively unknown became nationally popular years ago by choosing a slogan that caught on quickly – “Have it your way!” To appear helpful and serving, what they were really doing was capitalizing on the self-centered nature of the customer. We are constantly bombarded from secular society with the “right” we have to please ourselves by either having it or doing it our way.

In stark contrast to that philosophy stands the statement of Mary in response to the angel’s announcement of God’s purpose for her life. After asking how this miraculous event would happen to her, she fully surrenders self and accepts the role of a servant. With an attitude of total humility Mary says in Luke one verse thirty-eight, “May it be to me as you have said.”

No debate. No suggested changes or adaptations to the plan. No looking around to see who’s watching this great example of humility. Just quiet and complete surrender to what God said. “Have it your way, God!”

We may be tempted to think that her surrender was easy because she was being asked to do something so wonderful. She got to be pregnant – the dream of most women. She got to bear a son – the fulfillment of her cultural responsibility as a wife. She got to participate in the eternal purpose of Jehovah to save the world from its sin. That choice seems like a no-brainer, right? But what about all the problems she would encounter by making that choice to surrender? There would be the possibility of losing her fiancé. She would be considered an adulteress by her society. Her son would have to grow up as an illegitimate child, scorned by his youthful friends. She had to know all those things, and yet she considered the call of God to be more significant than the opinion of people.

The same call of God goes out to us today. He has called us to be a part of His incredible plan to bring His grace to a lost world? He has sent His Holy Spirit upon us to overshadow self and the flesh and empower us to accomplish God’s eternal purpose. We have the choice of two responses: we can look up to God in anticipation that the King will tell us “Have it your way,” or we can look up to the King and tell Him, “Have it your way.”

In the first response there appears to be safety because we believe we can control the social fallout of our choice. But in the second response there is incomparable fulfillment, knowing that we are participating with Almighty God in His glorious plan of salvation.

Asking God to do it my way elevates self and society over God: submitting to God’s way shows our faith in God to meet the needs of self and society.

Asking God to do it my way leaves us at the mercy of man and destined to the world’s destruction. Submitting to God’s way puts us in the merciful and gracious hand of God and guarantees us eternal life.

Seems like a no-brainer to me!

“Have it your way, God!”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional for Friday, December 20, 2024

As I was leaving one of our larger department stores in Eau Claire, I passed by a couple of teenage girls who were ringing a bell to invite contributions for the poor. I dropped some money in their collection bucket and one of the girls said, “Thank you, and happy holidays.” I responded with “Merry Christmas to you.” As I turned to walk away I heard her say to her friend, “Oh man! That’s another one I could have said ‘Merry Christmas’ to.”

My heart is gripped with sadness when I stop to realize that the sharing of the Good News of great joy is no longer for all people, but only for those who will not be offended by it. Even Christian organizations have caved in to the public notion of political correctness. We pre-qualify our audience and pre-determine our words, and the consequence is that the world doesn’t know in whom to believe. They do not call on Jesus because they have not heard of Jesus – at least not in the way they should hear about Him. They have not heard of Jesus as Savior because many who know Him have stopped sharing the Good News. Have we forgotten our commission from Christ? 

I know that we know that Jesus sent us to share the Gospel when He gave us the great commission, but do we truly understand the authority behind the sending? Not authority as in the power to enforce a command, but rather the authority to be set apart for a purpose and be supported while we do it.

God did not use His authority to issue a decree and then demand obedience. He used His authority to completely satisfy our need so that we need nothing from the world. He did not leave us to fend for ourselves and suffer the consequences alone. He did not under-equip us for the task. He did not demand our obedience but rather inspired our cooperation.

When God sent us to preach the good news of great joy He did not intend for that to be a joyless experience. How convincing is our message of joy when delivered with voices of fear coming from faces of obligation?

Yet that is how many of us respond to the opportunities to share the good news: we fear the consequences of people’s responses more than we rejoice in the promises of God’s salvation.

The telling of the good news is an outpouring of the love and joy we have personally experienced from God through our Savior Jesus Christ. His authority has fully equipped us with security and strength so that the people of the world can have no effect on our status before God. His authority has already conquered the enemy, so we need not fear.

Death has been conquered. Fear has been destroyed. We have been set free by the authority of Jesus so that we need not fear the responses and reactions of the world.

With God’s authority the angel announced to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” The shepherds spread the word about what they had seen and heard, and they did it with authority. Anna, the prophetess, told everyone she could about the arrival of the Messiah, and she did it with authority.

Everyone who has a personal encounter with Jesus receives the power and authority of the Holy Spirit to share the good news.

Start sharing.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional for Thursday, December 19, 2024

Life can be routine and even mundane most of the time. There are occasional high points of energy and enthusiasm, and low points of pain and disappointment, but overall, as time passes, life levels off. We want our lives to be level because we find security in the predictable and the known. We don’t like the fear of the unknown, and we certainly don’t like anything that threatens our comfort zones.

We accept the reality that mountaintop experiences don’t last. We work hard to get life back in order after we’ve been in the deep valley of desperation. We protect everything that makes life seem normal. We have adopted the philosophy that saneness is achieved through sameness, so we resist change. Change will invalidate our past and force us to redefine who we are and what we believe. Our prayer is, “Please Lord, just for today, can everything stay the same, so I can feel safe?”

Within the Christmas story we see lots of change. Let’s look at some people that were deeply affected by Christ’s birth.

Matthew 2:1-3 “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.”

If the wise men from the east had wanted to stay safe they would never have come searching for Jesus the King. These scientists, probably astrologers, had done well for themselves in their professions. They were obviously wealthy and very intelligent. They had studied a wide variety of writings, including the prophets of Israel, because they knew that when the star appeared in the sky it meant that Jesus was born. But unlike so many people who would seek to protect the security of their positions and possessions, these men were willing to sacrifice it all to find the One True King.

What a contrast to King Herod and the citizens of Jerusalem who were disturbed by the news announced by the wise men. Why? Because it threatened the status quo of their lives.

King Herod’s position was being threatened. All he had worked so hard to accomplish for himself could be lost. I can imagine his thoughts. “All of my power will be stripped away. Everything I own will be given to someone else. I will become a person of no value. I must destroy this threat.”

What about the people of Jerusalem? Were they disturbed because they feared Herod’s response to the news or because they feared the changes that a new King would bring to their lives? Would a new King change their economic condition? What about the political ramifications with Rome? The fears were real, and they forced action – actions to eliminate what they perceived to be the source of their fears.

On the one hand, we have a king and his followers who seek Jesus to destroy Him because they think it will eliminate their fear. On the other hand, we have a group of wise men who seek Jesus to worship Him and thereby have all their fears eliminated.

All of us fall into one of those two categories. The fear of change drives people to eliminate Jesus from their lives. Sinners in the bondage of fear don’t want their motives questioned, their pursuits invalidated, their possessions devalued, or their position threatened. They may claim to want to worship Jesus but are really motivated by worship of self.

But saints, acting in faith, leave the security of all they have in the world to seek the true King and worship Him.

In which group are you?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional for Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Luke 1:35  “The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”

I had the wonderful experience of watching my wife go through three pregnancies. I watched as my daughter and my two daughters-in-law have each had babies. I marvel at the wonder of conception and birth, as God uniquely creates from His infinite mind the precious baby that we love and cherish. 

But no matter how much it means to me it cannot compare with what it means to the mother who carries that life within her for those nine months before birth. To watch the expressions on their faces as they feel the baby move is only a glimpse of the awe they are feeling in their hearts. As a man, we cannot know what it is like to give birth to a new life.

Or can we?

The angel’s statement to Mary declares the details of the miraculous birth of Jesus – God Himself in the flesh. But Mary is not the only one who gets to experience that. His statements are true for all of us who experience the spiritual birth of Jesus Christ in our lives.

Mary understood the problem of sin and her unworthiness to bear the Holy One. She also understood her physical limitations to be pregnant, for she had not been in an intimate relationship with a man.

Like Mary, we also need to understand our unworthiness and inability to physically bear the likeness of Christ. Our sin has kept us from an intimate relationship with God. We are not able to produce any seed capable of birthing salvation. But God has an answer for Mary and for us – the Holy Spirit will come upon us and the power of the Most High will overshadow our sinfulness so that the Holy One can be born within us.

When Jesus was talking to Nicodemus in John chapter 3 He said, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”

Paul says it this way in Titus 3:5-7, “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”

The Apostle John describes it this way, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

The same power of the Holy Spirit that came upon Mary and created the physical life of Jesus Christ in her womb is the power that each of us experiences when by faith we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. The power of the Most High overshadows all our sin, and the Holy Spirit creates in us the spiritual life of Jesus.

Paul calls this an explained mystery in Colossians 1, where he says, “God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Jesus Christ has been birthed in us, and that experience is to be more precious to us than any physical birth.

So the next time a woman says to you men that you don’t know what it’s like to give birth, use it as an opportunity to witness. Tell her that you have given birth, and that the wonder of spiritual birth far exceeds the wonder of natural birth.

Pastor John