LifeLink Devotions for Wednesday, April 2, 2025

When our grandchildren were small, Denise and I would take one of them every Tuesday afternoon for grandparent’s day. We played games, did projects, had fun, and ate supper together. We still try to do that now but on a different scale because of their age. I remember one particular Tuesday which was  Liam day.

We finished painting the birdhouse we had been building and then decorated Easter eggs.  After a Swedish pancake supper, we sat down to play a game of attack Uno. After winning the first game, grandpa was already at Uno in the second game after playing his next to last card. Liam, whose hand was loaded with cards, was next to play. A slight smile started in the corner of his mouth as he reached for a card. The smile grew as he laid it on the discard pile. He spoke with excited enthusiasm and said, “I trade hands with grandpa!”

One thing you must know about Liam is that he has never been able to contain his excitement and enthusiasm. It spews out of him resulting in a smile that captures his face and energy expressed in uncontrollable jumping.

After trading hands with me, his energy level started rising. He had just played a trade hands card and now only had one card in his hand while I sat there sorting through 20 of them. On the next turn around the table he played that last card and won the game. He laughed. He jumped. He showed off his contagious smile. His enthusiasm was abundant as he repeated the same phrase over and over again. “I did it! I did it!”

That memory reminds me of how I should respond whenever I hear the Gospel. It’s not a perfect analogy of what happened on the cross, but it will suffice for my heart for a while. Hanging on the cross, Jesus traded hands with us. I had a losing hand which guaranteed my eternal defeat. Jesus had the winning hand. In the game, I would never have initiated the trade, but Jesus did. He took my losing hand as His own and gave me a winning hand I didn’t deserve. My trade with Liam was forced upon me, but Jesus traded willingly. He did it!

As I thought about that trade, I was reminded of its cost from the prophetic twenty-second Psalm. It describes the horror of Christ’s crucifixion. Then at the end we read this.

Psalm 22:27-31 ²⁷ All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. ²⁸ For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations. ²⁹ All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. ³⁰ Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; ³¹ they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.

Here’s how Isaiah says it in 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.”

Shout it. Jump around. Laugh with unspeakable joy. Jesus did it!  Jesus did it!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Tuesday, April 1, 2025

When it comes to finding something that has been misplaced, I am the worst! What’s really upsetting is that I am usually the one who misplaced it. You’d think I’d be able to remember where I put it, but I waste a lot of time looking in all the wrong places.

When we are searching for something we look in a lot of places where it isn’t before we find the place that it is. Sometimes we are fortunate and find it quickly. Other times we search for days. In the midst of the physical search we are also doing a mental search of all the possibilities. We ask ourselves all kinds of questions about what we were doing, where we went, and so on. That is all part of the process of reaching a solution.

I think the same thing is true about our search for the peace of God when we are in trouble or when we are hurting. There is a process that is affirmed in Scripture, and when we accept the fact that God understands the process we can unload a lot of guilt from our hearts.

I find the process illustrated in the life of Asaph, who wrote the seventy-seventh Psalm. I encourage you to read it.

Psalm 77:1-15  
¹ I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. ² In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. ³ When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah ⁴ You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. ⁵ I consider the days of old, the years long ago. ⁶ I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” Then my spirit made a diligent search: ⁷ “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? ⁸ Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? ⁹ Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah ¹⁰ Then I said, “I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.” ¹¹ I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. ¹² I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. ¹³ Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? ¹⁴ You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples. ¹⁵ You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

Check out verses seven through nine. Asaph has just stated that his spirit is making a diligent search to find comfort in time of trouble. His search begins with questions:

• Has God stopped being good?
• Has God stopped loving me?
• Are God’s promises no longer valid for me?
• Do I now have to earn everything from God because He forgot His grace?
• Doesn’t He care about me any more?

Most of us would beat ourselves up over asking such questions. Maybe our well-intentioned Christian friends would advise us to repent of such questions because they show a lack of faith. We certainly feel guilty for even starting down the road of doubt. But look at the process through which Asaph goes. After asking the questions, he indicates he took a break to meditate and contemplate what God would say in response. That’s what I think Selah means. As his mind gets clarity, he identifies where God wants him to find the answers to his questions. He will appeal to the previous faithfulness of God and his work.

• God’s right hand has never failed to uphold me.
• His mighty deeds are consistent throughout history and testify to his faithfulness.
• The path God has chosen for me is in perfect harmony with His holy nature.
• What other option do we have that can give such hope and security as our great God?
• I am one of your redeemed people. You bought me with the price of your Son’s life. I am a child of God.

And Asaph rested! Selah.

Go ahead. Ask your questions. But after asking them, take a break and listen for God’s response. You will find the hope and peace for which you are searching.

Pastor John