LifeLink Devotions for Wednesday, April 16, 2025

God made an offer of forgiveness to the nation of Israel through King Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14  “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 

While the primary application of this well-known and often quoted passage is for the nation of Israel, the fundamental principles of forgiveness that that are expressed apply to each of us today on an individual basis. We all have sinned and fall short of His glory. We are suffering the consequences of that sin. But God has made an offer that says, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will forgive their debt of sin.” It’s an incredible offer, but the conditions attached are difficult.

Humility – We must stand guilty before the One who said he would forgive but who could also demand payment. Humility demands agreement with God about our condition and offers no self-defense. Humility relinquishes all rights and surrenders completely to God’s rulings. Humility trusts God’s grace and mercy. Praise God that the payment has already been made in full by Jesus Christ so that God’s justice guarantees forgiveness

Prayer – We must knock on the throne room door knowing that God will open it, we must renounce all human resources by turning in total dependence upon God, believing that He will do what He promised to do.

Seeking God’s face – We must submit to God’s purpose for our lives and become a witness of God’s grace to others by how we live.  

Turn from wicked ways – We must repent of the sin, turning from it with a sincere heart and desire to not do it again.  

When our hearts truly and sincerely reflect these four conditions, God completely forgives our sin. When we approach the throne of God with humble and broken hearts that cry out to Him in repentance of sin and submission to His will, He will forgive us completely and eternally. Hallelujah! 

As King David prays in Psalms 139, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

You can be completely forgiven if you will turn to Jesus today. 

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Tuesday, April 15, 2025

There’s a story of a father in Spain and his teenage son who had a relationship that had become strained. So the son ran away from home and fell into a life of sin. His father, however, began a journey in search of his rebellious son. Finally, in Madrid, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in the newspaper. The ad read: “Dear Paco, meet me in front of the newspaper office at noon. All is forgiven. I love you. Your father.” The next day at noon in front of the newspaper office 800 “Pacos” showed up. They were all seeking forgiveness and love from their fathers.

Each of us is a Paco. We have rebelled against God. We are afraid of the consequences of our sin, so we try to hide ourselves and run away so we will not be found out.

Following the first sin ever in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve tried to hide themselves from God. They knew their relationship with their Creator was broken. They knew their guilt and felt its shame.

God came looking for them. He called out to them. “Where are you?” Now think about this. Almighty, Eternal, All-knowing God knew where they were. His question was not a fact-finding one. God’s question was an offer of forgiveness and restoration. The humans heard it with fear, but God was providing them an opportunity to respond in faith.

When the Father extends His arms of love in an act of forgiveness, we can run to Him in faith rather than run away from Him in fear. Even though the consequences of our sin may remain, the restoration of our love relationship with the Father completely overshadows any of the pain of our sin.

The human consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin were permanent, but the Father covered all of their shame and guilt with His sacrifice. His offer of forgiveness is so magnificent because the restoration of our relationship with the Father far exceeds any of the lingering effects of our sin.

Imagine the joy you can bring to another person’s life if you saw them the same way. They are suffering in their sin. They need to be forgiven. They need to know that someone will love them even while they are suffering the consequences of their sin.

Years ago I had a young man in my office who confessed to me that he had been stealing from local stores. He even stole a larger item from outside a business and dragged it behind his car to his back yard. He wanted to know what to do. I told him that he must immediately go and confess in person to the people from whom he had stolen and return the merchandise. He was scared. He knew that he could be arrested and charged with theft. He knew it meant paying restitution and possible jail time.

As a part of our conversation, I promised him that I would go through this with him, and that nothing he had done could stop me from loving him and serving him. That was a key turning point. Even though he had not sinned against me personally, I was still tempted to separate myself from him until he got his act together. The Holy Spirit showed me that what he needed was someone to walk with him while he got his act together.

Maybe that’s what God is showing you also. Have you separated yourself from someone because of their sin when God may be calling you to forgive them and walk with them through the restoration process? Sure that takes time and energy, and it’s hard work that may not result in anything but more pain. But remember the cost of our forgiveness.

Go looking for that person. Call out to them as God calls out to you – not in a spirit of judgment that produces fear, but in a spirit of grace that offers forgiveness.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Monday, April 14, 2025

On Friday we started a short study on forgiveness. The weight of sin in our lives is more than we can lift or carry. Cain, who had killed his brother, admits in Genesis chapter four that the weight is too much for him to carry.

Our attempts to be free from the burden are varied. We may deny that the sin really exists, as Cain did when God rejected his offering, and he became angry at God. God gave Cain a chance to do the right thing, but Cain rejected God’s offer of acceptance.

We sometimes do the same. We choose to believe that our way is right even when God calls it wrong. We try to convince ourselves and others that what we are doing is not sin. We try to earn our acceptance by making ourselves right, even if it means eliminating from our lives those that make us feel guilty for what we are doing.

Sometimes we lie in an attempt to cover our guilt and personal responsibility for our choices. When God asked Cain where his brother was, Cain responded, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”  He lied about what he had done. Denial is of the Devil. Satan is the father of lies. Lying begins in the heart of a self-centered person who requires approval and acceptance from people. Lying is the product of pride. Lies are designed by a deceived person to avoid rejection and protect image. We fail to understand that the lie is yet another sin which adds to the weight of the burden we cannot lift. We quickly fall into the humanly inescapable quicksand of sin. The more we try to struggle against it, the deeper we sink.

Sometimes we seek the comfort of the world to relieve the pain of our sin. When Cain was expelled from the presence of the Lord because of his choice to protect his position rather than repent, he began to build a city. He put all of his energy into finding satisfaction from what the world had to offer. He even named the city after his son. He did not include God in any of his plans. The world became his opiate.

The world offers many empty promises of relief from sin: promises we quickly and easily accept as truth. Financial success, social status, sex, alcohol, drugs, and so on. Each worldly promise proves itself addictive to the process of pursuing more promises. The temporary relief we may experience ultimately compounds the burden of our sin because we have failed to realize that each promise is itself another sin.

But in the middle of all of this was a promise from God to Cain that is made to all of us as well – “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” 

There is a solution to our weight problem. God will carry the total weight of our sin if we release it to Him and do what is right. It is in that moment of repentance that we find forgiveness. Cain was correct when he admitted to God that the weight of his sin was more than he could carry. So is ours. We cannot take it away by ourselves. We must give it to the One who can carry it, and once we do, we NEVER have to carry it again. That means surrendering our rights, telling the truth, and living according to God’s purpose and not the world’s pursuits.

Isn’t it time to have the weight of sin lifted off of your life? God wants to do it, and He can. Turn to Jesus today and sincerely ask for forgiveness. Then accept His forgiveness as a done deal. Then offer the same forgiveness to others. 

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Friday, April 11, 2025

We have a weight problem. We carry far too much weight. I’m not refer to physical weight.  It’s much more serious than that. We carry too much sin and unforgiveness.

In Numbers chapter six Moses is being given some of the laws for community life as the chosen people of Israel. He is specifically addressing the requirements of the Nazarite vow, a vow that could be taken to declare oneself completely separated unto God.

One of the requirements of the separation was that the person making the vow was never allowed to be in the presence of a dead person, not even if his wife, children, or parents died. This would make him unclean, and the vow would be broken.

In verse nine we read an additional requirement concerning the dead. “And if any man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. Even if the Nazarite accidentally came in contact with a dead person, he was declared unclean.

Well that seems harsh. It wasn’t the Nazarite’s fault that someone near him died. He couldn’t help it. But the eternal principle at work here isn’t about whether or not we think we are right, but whether or not we highly respect the righteousness and holiness of God.

The point is this: God’s holiness is not to be taken lightly. We who claim to be in Christ have been called to be separated unto Christ. Therefore, absolutely anything that we do that is contrary to the righteousness of God is sin and places a huge weight on our lives. We need to be forgiven and we need to be people who forgive.

The Hebrew word translated forgive is used some 650 times in its root form in the Old Testament. The word means to lift, to carry, and to take away.  The first time the word is used in the Bible is in Genesis 4:13, where following the murder of his brother Abel, Cain is punished by God and responds to Him by saying, “My punishment is more than I can bear.” 

But Cain’s problem was that he cared more about the weight of the punishment than He did the weight of the sin. That reflects a prideful condition in our hearts that is more concerned with our own hurts than we are the hurt we caused to God or to others. If our focus is on the consequences we have the wrong understanding of the holiness of God.

Over the next few days we are going to study the subject of forgiveness. But for today, start with this. When you sin, and a consequence for the sin is enforced, what do you care most about? If it’s the pain of the consequence, then take some time to break the spirit of pride that keeps you from seeing the pain of offending the holiness of God. Fall on your knees in prayer and release the weight of your sin and experience the forgiveness of Jesus. Then you will be able to begin to forgive others.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, April 10, 2025

As I drove along one of the main avenues through Eau Claire recently, I was suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of joy. It started with a simple glance at a restaurant. Now before you jump to conclusions about my dysfunctional relationship with food, the joy I was feeling was the product of memories of many experiences with my wife at that restaurant years ago. I haven’t been in that eating establishment for a long time, but the memories of times spent with my wife brought a huge sense of delight to my heart.

Try something right now. Say the word “DELIGHT” out loud.Now say it again…and again. Great word isn’t it? It just rolls off the tongue and produces a smile as you say it. As you say it are there memories and feelings being generated in your mind and heart. You are leaning into those thoughts right now, aren’t you? They feel good. They are a breath of fresh air in the midst of a polluted set of circumstances surrounding you. Enjoy them!

Here’s how the word is used in the opening verses of the book of Psalms.

Psalm 1:1-3  “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”

The Hebrew word for “delight” means “to incline towards.” In its Latin origin it means “to charm.”  In other words, to take delight in something means to be so charmed by it that you lean into it.

That’s what happened to me as I drove. I was so charmed by the memories of time spent with my wife that I leaned into them. I actually called her and thanked her for making my life so delightful.

After my phone conversation ended, I began to wonder why I didn’t experience more delight in my life. The answer was instantly clear. It’s because I am looking for delight in the wrong place. Maybe you are too.

One place we look for delight is in relationships, hoping we can surround ourselves with people who are delightful so it will rub off on us and ease our pain. The trouble is, they tend to only be delightful when they agree with us, so we avoid people who challenge us.

Maybe we look for delight in our work. We think that if we get recognized as successful we can finally have some delight.

It’s possible that we search for delight in possessions. If we can look around at all the stuff we own, and the quality of our home, we can feel delighted.

Or is it the reality that we want the circumstances of our lives to be charming, and if they aren’t, we have no reason to lean into them.

All of the above things can produce a sense of delight, albeit short-lived and unsatisfying. But the Psalmist knew the secret to living a delightful life. “Blessed is the man who…delights in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.”

Imagine this. Something unexpected happens to you. It’s outside the box of your control. It’s painful. It hurts. Would you dare to think that you could respond with a statement like this?

“How delightful is God, who knows my way and what I need. I am a tree planted by streams of water, yielding the fruit of righteousness, and my leaves will not wither in this drought of emotional distress.”

If your delight is in what flows from the heart of God, then you can take delight in Him regardless of what is happening. You can be delightful even when everything around you isn’t. Now that’s good news!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Wednesday, April 9, 2025

Years ago I remodeled our master bath, and it went more slowly than I envisioned.  It seemed I couldn’t find enough time or energy to put in the work necessary to get it done. Every night, when I went to bed, the closed door to that room stared at me. I knew that on the other side of that door was a room in a mess. I knew the plan for that room, and I had all the materials available to complete the room. But unless I actually did the work, it would not get done. I needed to keep my eyes fixed on the finished look and apply myself every day to making it happen.

For many of us, the remodeling project of life proceeds slowly as well. We know there is a plan designed by the Owner of our lives to remodel us into the image of Christ. He has provided all the materials necessary to complete the job through the ministry of the Holy Spirit and His Word. But it is hard and slow work. The demolition of years of previous construction is painful, but it must be torn out. The installation of the new material takes time, but it takes even longer when we don’t invest the time to work on it. It’s easier to shut the door to that room and not look at it. If only we would fix our eyes on the finished look the Master has designed.

But what does the Master’s design look like?

2 Corinthians 3:18 “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

The answer is easy to find, but hard to do; it’s more difficult than we are willing to admit. Over and over the Scriptures teach us one thing and one thing only that sets us apart as having been remodeled by the Master Designer – WE WILL REFLECT THE GLORY OF JESUS CHRIST IN LOVE.  

The fundamental principle of life in the kingdom of God is LOVE. The kingdom is not founded on one’s ability to interpret Scripture, or counsel people, or accomplish great things in the church. It is not founded on the power to heal or cast out demons or take authority over nature or even know and obey the law. The Kingdom of God is founded on the love of God for people who in turn love God and love others. This alone is the foundation of the Kingdom and is to be the focus of our every choice.

When we fail to keep our eyes fixed on the Designer’s intended “look of love”, the remodeling work stops.  That’s when we choose to shut the door to avoid looking at the unfinished mess.

How’s your project going? Is your life reflecting the Designer’s love? Are you being daily remodeled into the image of Jesus Christ?

Here’s a poem I found in one of my devotionals from 20 years ago. It really speaks to the remodeling project of our lives.

When we marvel at the grace

that has given us a place

where we will see His face,

we will by that grace

remember our place

and reflect His face

and not our own.

Today, get back to work on your remodeling project.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Tuesday, April 8, 2025

It was my turn to give a prepared report at the annual Jubilee Celebration in a previous church. As I stood at the podium I was suddenly overpowered by the Holy Spirit. I opened my mouth to speak, and words came out from a place in my heart that erased and replaced what had been prepared in my mind. It was so overwhelming that I almost broke down in tearful speechlessness.

But the Holy Spirit had a message for me, and chose that moment to also deliver it through me to others. The message could be condensed into one statement – “As followers of Christ we are individually empowered to accomplish every aspect of the commission of Christ.”

As I reflect on my own life and the life of the average church I have concluded that we have participated in a disabling dialogue that goes like this – “Some are called and gifted to go; some are called and gifted to witness; and others are called and gifted to disciple.”

We have adopted this dialogue as truth, maybe because it’s more comfortable for us. We all prefer to work within the boundaries of our comfort zones. But there’s a problem with that – a HUGE problem. All the power and provisions for working within our comfort zones are self-generated according to our own strength and knowledge. Comfort zones are the product of sight. Comfort zones don’t require faith. Comfort zones eliminate the need for the Holy Spirit.

The disciples of Jesus were looking to pad their comfort zones after the resurrection of Jesus when they asked Him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” But Jesus refused to give them the knowledge they thought they needed and instead told them that they were about to receive enough power to live by faith and fulfill an eternal purpose. He told them to live by the Spirit and not according to the knowledge found in the flesh.

Acts 1:8  “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 

Jesus simply tells us “You don’t have a need to know, you only need the power to be my witnesses.” We don’t need to know what we are naturally good at – we will become great at what God does in us. We don’t need to live within the confines of our conditional comfort zones – we have the Power to go and make disciples and teach them to observe all things that Jesus has taught us. The Power is promised to do it all, not just part of it.

In the REAL church, knowledge does not produce power; the presence of God produces power. As individuals and as a church we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the fullness of God abides in us. We experience the presence of God, and we are equipped with the power of God to accomplish His eternal purpose of being witnesses to the resurrected Christ. We do not know the answer to how long we have to wait for His return, but we do have the power to do His work until He does. By faith, let’s step out boldly to accomplish God’s purpose. Not just part of it – but ALL of it. 

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Monday, April 7, 2025

I hurt. I know why. I used muscles that have been inactive for too long. In preparation for summer activities I have been walking on the treadmill and lifting some weights, but I can only do it every third day because it takes that long for my body to recover.  It’s hard getting old.

That got me thinking about spiritual exercise. 1 Timothy 4:7-8 says, “Exercise yourself toward godliness.  For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”

Daniel Henderson of Strategic Renewal wrote a devotional about the kind of exercise we all need – the exercise of the mind so that it is renewed according to godliness. His four step plan made perfect sense, so I share it with you today giving Pastor Henderson full credit. Thanks Dan.

The Eternal Exercise Plan

First, I can exercise my feet, standing firm, “planted in the house of the Lord.”  I find it sad when people mature physically but shrink into spiritual pygmies because they stop choosing to plant their lives in the place of passionate worship.  I want to keep “pressing on” in my pursuit of God in my everyday practice of His presence.  Someday, I want to be that old dude who the young people laugh at (but secretly admire) because he is unrestrained and cuts loose in worship, even if he looks a little goofy.  I don’t want to stay home and watch “senior citizens’ church” as long as I can stand among the godly with my heart soaring in His presence in the courts of our God.

Second, I can exercise my tongue, “declaring that the Lord is upright.”  When this kind of praise frames the substance of my speech there is little room left to whine about the parts that don’t work and complain about my pain.  

Third, I can exercise my heart, trusting fully that “He is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”  Of course, energy wanes, days get lonely, and the scoreboard of significance becomes blurred – but the Lord is still my security and there is no unrighteousness in Him.  I will trust and obey these great truths – and be happy in Jesus. 

Finally, I can exercise my eyes, focusing on the reality of eternal significance, not just the earthly vapor of this physical life.  Paul says it this way: “Therefore we do not lose heart.  Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.  For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).  As a child I sang, “Be careful, little eyes, what you see.”  As I approach the finish line I must sing, “Be careful, little eyes, HOW you see.”

Now the tough part – being disciplined enough to exercise every day.

No Pain, No Gain!

Know Pain – Know Gain!

Godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6:6)

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Friday, April 4, 2025

Firewalkers fascinate me. How do they not burn their feet? Is it a trick or have they really learned not to focus on the pain of the fire because their eyes are fixed on getting through it?

There are numerous examples of people who have been through the fires of adversity and seem to come out unburned. How do they do it? Are they tricking us, or is it because they have their eyes focused on what’s at the end?

Listen to these words from the prophet Zechariah.

Zechariah 13:8-9 “In the whole land, declares the LORD, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive. And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’ ”

Here are some simple yet profound thoughts about how to be a firewalker.  

• The fire is guaranteed by God.

• The fire is designed by God.
• The fire is controlled by God.
• The fire is a test of my faith in God.
• The fire refines my faith in God.
• The fire motivates me to call upon God.
• The fire produces confidence in God.

Psalm 66:12  ”we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.”

Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”

1 Peter 4:12-13  “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”

My simple goal today is to be a fire-walker.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, April 3, 2025

Cost and care are proportional. That which costs little gets cared for little. That which costs much gets cared for extensively.

Homeowners understand this principle. We know the cost of the home, so we invest even more in its care. I am in the process right now of preparing for an exterior maintenance project including insulation and soffit repair. It’s an investment of time and money that is necessary to maintain the value of the home. I care because I know what it cost.

Many today do not care about their spiritual condition because they don’t understand the price that was paid on their behalf so they could have their sins forgiven. Many don’t even know that they need their sins forgiven.

Isaiah 44:22-23 “I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it.”

But the saddest condition is found in the hearts of those who claim to know their need, have asked for forgiveness, but then walk back into the ways of sin with little regard for Jesus. Equally sad are those who put on a new exterior paint job of righteousness but inside live for the pleasures of the immediate and long for the value of power, possessions, and posterity offered by this world. If only they knew the cost of what they claim to possess in Christ.

God paid an unimaginable price for the forgiveness of our sin. We owed Him our lives, and He gave us His life. Read carefully this well-known passage of God’s Holy Word and try to imagine the emotional and physical pain God suffered as He placed Himself in our deserved position of death. Don’t skim it. Digest it.

Isaiah 53:1-12  “Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.  He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”

Now that we have a little more understanding of the cost of what we possess, maybe we will care about it a little more.

Pastor John