LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, March 13, 2025

I intentionally do not watch the Grammy’s or the Oscars. After reading what made headlines one morning after one of those awards shows I’m glad I don’t watch them. My response to what happened must come from a heart that totally trusts the Divine purpose of God in all things.

My goal is to not respond to those who are opposed to Christian thought and theology except with a heart of compassion as for a blind man stumbling towards a precipice of certain death. He does not need a reminder of his blindness, or shouts of impending doom. He needs someone to come along side of him and gently redirect his steps.

There is a spiritual darkness that blankets our culture in sins of self-fulfillment. Our response to that darkness must not be directed at the culture, but rather at the one who may be caught up in the swarm who wishes to escape. Our activity should be to enter the culture and rub shoulders with the culture as Jesus did, so that when any one wishes to reach out and touch even the hem of His garment, they will be able to do it by touching us.

In order to do that, we need to be in a place of intimacy with Jesus that provides grace, strength, and wisdom. We need to be alert to the presence of Jesus and His purpose in all things. We will not respond with the heart of Jesus if we have not first captured His heart through intimate friendship and fellowship with Him.

Ours is not the first culture to be caught up in the horrors of self-honoring sin. One such culture was in the days of Abraham around 3500 years ago. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were about to be destroyed by a righteous, loving, and just God. As a culture they had chosen to pursue the sins of self-gratification to such an extent that they stood publicly opposed to God and His truth. God’s judgment was pending.

On His way to announce the verdict and impose the sentence, Jesus and two angels stopped off at the tent of Abraham. He knocked, and Abraham invited Him in for a meal and for intimate fellowship. Jesus draws near to reassure us in the face of judgment. Standing before the Lord, Abraham was prepared for the impending tragedy and was permitted an intimacy in which he seemed possessed by a passion for God’s righteous dealings.

Do not fear the things that are coming, but open to Him who knocks for admission. He has come to spend the dark hours in your fellowship, as a mother runs to her child’s bed when a sudden thunderstorm appears.

May our response to the judgment that is coming on the darkness of the world not be one of fear but of faith that comes from fellowship with the Father. May we not respond with judgment that is not ours to impose. May we respond with compassion to seek out the few who desire deliverance from the darkness as Abraham did for Lot and his family. May we respond with courage to ask the Lord of Judgment to show grace in the midst of it as Abraham did. May we be the ones who extend His arm of rescue to those who desire deliverance. May our focus always be on the one that is prepared to listen rather than the throng that is moving as a mob.

When confronted with the darkness of sin in our culture, let us react with reverence and respond with reason so that it expresses the hope that lies within us, the hope of glory, and the certainty of God’s perfect purpose.

Pastor John