LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Much can be learned about the character of a man by listening to his children. Offspring are great imitators. A child’s reactions to circumstances is a good indicator of how dad reacts when things go right or wrong. Interactions with other children may reveal how dad treats people. Speech patterns are certainly a reflection of how dad talks in the home. If you really want to know who a man is, just observe and listen to his young children.

People who seek to know God can do the same thing – observe His children. But there is one huge difference. As children of the flesh we only imitate our fathers, giving only a partial representation of who he is. But as children of God we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and live according to His nature, giving others a clear view of who God is. Yet even that is not a perfect representation because we are not God. However, there is one who is.

“Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”  John 14:8-9

There are two challenges for us today. First, we must stop forming our belief system about God around the behavior of people. I consistently hear people say that the reason they don’t believe in God is because of what some “so called Christian” did to them. Let me be the first to confess that even though the Spirit of God dwells in me by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, I fail daily at being a true representation of who God is. There is no chance anyone will ever fully believe in the Father and be saved by simply observing my life. I mess up. So do you. We do not perfectly display the glory of God. 

Second, we must daily participate with the Holy Spirit in our own sanctification. To be sanctified is to be fully set apart for a singular purpose. When we were saved from our sin by faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit was given to us by Jesus to bring the very life of Jesus into ours. The work of the Holy Spirit is to set us apart for the singular purpose of God’s glory. God is glorified in our obedience. God is glorified in our service. God is glorified in our behavior, our attitudes, our relationships, and our choices. We must daily participate with the Holy Spirit as He sets us apart, for when we do, we will become more accurate representations of Jesus Christ, who is he perfect representation of the Father.

Jesus is one with the Father. He is the exact representation of the Father’s nature and character. If you desire to know God, look to Jesus. He is fully revealed in the Bible, and you can know Him. And if you need a touchable example, look at His children. We are not perfect examples, but daily we are becoming more like Him and can point you to Him.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, March 11, 2021

“How many times do I have to tell you?”

“Why don’t you ever listen to me?”

I wonder how many times I was asked those questions as a kid? I’m sure it was a lot, and I’m sure it was deserved.

When we are given information, we process it quickly through self-defined filters. There’s the filter of value, where we assign a level of importance to what we are hearing. There’s also the filter of context, where we interpret what is being said through our experiences and preferences.

Such was the case with the disciples. Jesus had been consistently telling them that He was leaving them to return to the Father. Now, in the current conversation, Jesus tells them again that He is returning to the Father to prepare a place for them to join Him later. Jesus then tells them that they should know the way to where He is going.

John 14:4  “And you know the way to where I am going.”

One of the disciples, Thomas, speaks up on behalf of all of them.

John 14:5   “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

It is obvious that what Jesus has been teaching them has been interpreted through a context filter. The disciples have not yet understood the mission or the message of Jesus in spiritual terms, but only in a physical context that had immediate application. The disciples understood what Jesus said in terms of a personal trip He would take to a physical location. Since they had not been told the destination, they also question the way to get there.

How often do we interpret what Jesus said in physical terms only, and thereby limit its application to the context of the immediate?

Jesus, with great patience and grace, simply provides the answer. He does not show frustration. He does not ask them why they haven’t listened. He simply helps them to understand that He is going to His Father, and that He is the Way for them to get to the same destination.

This Sunday is my birthday, and I am going on a short trip to celebrate with certain friends. I know where I am going. I know the way. I’m not telling you. I don’t want you to come with me. Nothing personal. Don’t be offended. It’s simply my time away.

Jesus told the disciples where He was going. He was showing them the way to get there. He gave them specific instructions. Follow me because I am the Way. Believe me for I am the Truth. Abide in me for I am the Life. Jesus did not go away and leave us to question where He went and why we didn’t get invited. He made it possible for us to make the same trip, and He invites you to start the journey with Him.

Will you?

Pastor John

P.S. LifeLink Devotionals will return on Tuesday, March 16.

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Who do you think of when you hear the words, “I’ll be back!” If you have a cultural mindset, you probably thought of a movie star turned governor with a heavy accent who made that promise in a hit movie. His return comes moments later when he terminates the lives of everyone who opposed his mission.

But if you have a spiritual mindset, you thought of Jesus. He also made the promise to return, and like the movie star, His imminent return brings termination of life as we know it.

Jesus said four simple yet powerful words to His disciples to ease their minds as they thought about life without His physical presence.  “I WILL COME BACK!” Immediately prior to these four words Jesus had said four other words that deeply affected them. “I GO TO PREPARE.” The disciple’s focus was on His going. Jesus wanted their focus to be on His return.

John 14:2-3   “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

The curse of sin upon each one of us causes us to focus on what’s missing rather than what is promised. It started in the Garden of Eden, when the serpent convinced Eve that something was missing from her life. When sin entered human existence, our perspective was radically changed. The beauty and blessing of intimacy with God was destroyed and we became irreparably fixated on corruption. We see flaws in people before we see the faultlessness of Christ. We notice mistakes before we embrace the majesty of God. We are cranky and critical and ignore the compassion of Jesus. We are focused on what’s missing rather than what’s promised.

Jesus left the disciples with a promise. “I’LL BE BACK!”  He will return to take all His children out of this world prior to terminating all who reject Him. Sin will be terminated. The entire creation, including this world, will be ultimately terminated. It will be the outpouring of God’s wrath against sin and all who reject salvation in Jesus Christ. It will be perfect justice.

The only people to survive will be those who by faith in Jesus Christ have become children of God. On the cross of Calvary, Jesus bore the wrath of God on our behalf. By faith in Christ, based on His death and resurrection, we who can do nothing in oiurselves to avoid eternal death have been forgiven for all eternity. There is no wrath left for those who believe as it was all poured out on Jesus. If you are in Christ, you are free from condemnation.

Jesus is coming to take His children to the place He has prepared, and we will be with Him for all eternity. Life as we know it will be terminated on this earth. In it’s place we will know life as it was intended – sin-free, pain-free, tear-free, sorrow-free, trouble-free, intimate and eternal life in the presence of Christ.

Each day, until Jesus comes back, we have a choice between focusing on what’s missing or fixing our expectations on the return of Jesus. We can see problems or promises. Which do you choose?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, March 09, 2021

We traveled over four thousand miles in five days. We slept in the car. We navigated almost fifteen hundred miles of gravel roads through the mountains. Twice we almost slid off those roads and down the mountainside because of rain. But when we arrived in North Pole, Alaska, the joy of serving the Lord as summer missionary interns at a Christian radio station was more than we expected.

I learned a life lesson from that trip. The promise of what awaits us at the final destination is motivation to continue the journey and endure the hardships we may encounter along the way.

Jesus teaches that principle to His disciples in the upper room the night before His crucifixion. He has informed them that He was leaving them. He told them that they could not go with Him. He predicted that life would get tough. Yet He gave them all the motivation they needed to endure what was ahead by informing them of what was waiting for them at the end.

John 14:2-3 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

The Holy Spirit, in the book of Hebrews, teaches us the same principle of endurance based on being focused on the finish line.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

The finish line is glory. It is glorious. It is promised for those who believe. It motivates those who choose to fix their eyes on it. The joy of what Jesus has prepared far exceeds any hardship we experience on the journey.

The question is this: On what have you fixed your eyes and your heart?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, March 8, 2021

Imagine for a moment that you have just been told you will miserably fail at something you believed you were capable of doing. You even bragged to others about how you were confident in your ability.  Plus, you told the one person you wanted to impress the most that He could count on you. But that person’s response to you predicted your failure to follow through on your promise.

The last thing we would want to hear at that moment is someone telling us to not worry or be troubled. Having just been told that we would fail, our emotions would be raw, and raw emotions generally need to be expressed rather than ignored or denied. Yet the person who predicted your failure now tells you to not let he pending failure bother you. I’m pretty sure we would not respond well.

This is exactly the scenario playing out in the Upper Room as Jesus spends His last night before His crucifixion with His disciples. Peter bragged about his ability to be strong and faithful.  Jesus tells him that he not only won’t be faithful but will deny even knowing Him. Not just one denial, but three. Imagine Peter’s feelings. Imagine the personal conflict going on between his heart and his mind. He believes Jesus speaks truth. Peter also believes he spoke truth when he promised to be faithful.  But the words of Jesus ring loudly in his ears and penetrate to the core of his heart. He is troubled when faced with the truth of his own inabilities.

Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”  John 13:37-14:1

Where can we find comfort when faced with failure? How can we not be troubled when we realize that our commitments are often unfulfilled because of our inability to live up to our own expectations?  Jesus gives us the answer to both questions – believe in God, and believe in Jesus.  But that begs another question. What does belief in God and Jesus have to do with easing the feelings of discouragement and troubled hearts caused by our failures?

Here’s the answer. GRACE. When things don’t turn out the way we thought they should, there’s GRACE. When we mess up and things get all messed up, there’s GRACE. When we fall flat on our face, there’s GRACE. When our hearts are troubled, the answer is belief in God, and to believe that the grace of God is sufficient for our every need and is best realized when we are our weakest. (2 Corinthians 11:9) When things go wrong, belief in God means that we trust the grace of God to make all things right. 

So no matter where you are, or what you’ve done, believe in God, and believe in Jesus.  GRACE will abound and cover all sin.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, March 5, 2021

My mother gave birth to three sons within thirty-three months. As we grew, she was determined that we would know how to manage everyday household chores. From an early age we washed and dried dishes, cleaned toilets, scrubbed floors, dusted furniture, vacuumed floors, and did laundry, including folding it after it was dry. The second hardest thing I ever learned was to fold a fitted sheet. You may be asking what could be harder than that. The answer is easy. Learning to fold the sheet differently after getting married.

When we learn something, we learn best when we imitate the teacher. However, when we become the teacher, we protect our way of doing it. This can cause conflict when there are multiple acceptable ways of accomplishing a task. Most of the tasks we do in life have a variety of methods for completion. There will be problems in our relationships when we fight to prove that our way is the best way.

But when there is only one way to do something, everyone should do it that way, right? Unfortunately, conflict still arises as we argue about the validity or the value of the one way. Opinion is elevated to an equal position of authority and the truth is manipulated by those opinions.

Such is the case with the subject of love. Jesus declared there is only one way to love. Jesus lived exclusively in that one way of love. Jesus commanded us to love the same way He did since it’s the only way to love.

John 13:34-35  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Jesus stooped to wash the disciple’s feet, even the disciple who hated Him and betrayed Him. He washed the feet of the one who would publicly deny Him. He washed the feet of those who would doubt Him and hide from Him in His greatest hour of need. Jesus showed us the one and only way of love – sacrifice of self for the sake of others.

Why is it that we argue about how to love others? Why do we justify our self-centered motives for love based on benefits we will receive? Why do we exclude from our expressions of love certain people who have hurt us? We do we build walls of self-protection? Did not Jesus command us to love just as He loves us?

That’s a tough challenge for our consideration. However, it is only tough if we do not yet understand the love that has been shown to us. That’s your starting point. Spend time considering the eternal love of God expressed through Jesus Christ for unworthy and undeserving us. Then, with a fresh sense of how much love has been lavished on you that you should be called a child of God, you will be able to love others as you have been loved.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, March 4, 2021

The way I understand the experiences of life is different than the way I expect others to understand me when I speak.

The circumstances of life, especially the difficult ones, are generally observed and understood in a very narrow context. It’s almost as if each event is self-contained and disconnected from all other events. For example, on a long drive home from college many years ago, in the middle of an ice storm, I had a flat tire. I was frustrated and miserable as I changed the tire in freezing rain. I only saw that hardship within the boundaries of that moment and failed to see the bigger picture. More on that later.

Yet when answering questions or explaining events, I want others to see the bigger picture. If I am in the garage working on a project, and my wife asks me what I am doing, I do not answer in literal detail by saying that I am holding a steel rod connected to a plastic handle and using it to turn a small threaded screw into a board to hold it to another board. Instead, in big picture context, I tell her I’m building a birdfeeder.

We need to learn to see the circumstances of life in big picture format. I should have learned that lesson after changing the tire. After returning to the car and driving for 15 minutes, I came upon a serious car accident. As I calculated the estimated time of the accident, I realized that had it not been for my flat tire I could have been involved. The flat tire was a blessing when seen in the context of the big picture.

As Judas rose from the table after being exposed to the Light of Jesus, the disciples all wanted answers to the little picture perspective of where He was going. But when Jesus spoke to them, He at once drew their attention to the big picture.

John 13:31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.”

Our focus tends to be on the current event, and we want it defined in terms that apply only to its specific context. We want to know what it means and how it will be resolved.

But Jesus desires that we interpret all events in the context of the big picture of His glory. Instead of asking how to handle or resolve the current crisis, Jesus declares that all events are working to reveal His glory and the glory of the Father. When we adapt the big picture perspective of life, we will, like Jesus, find peace, hope, and endurance, knowing that every step we take is leading to the full revelation of the glory of God.

Spend some time contemplating that today. Maybe we all need to learn to better focus on the big picture.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, March 3, 2021

On Monday I made a purchase that required careful inspection. Before leaving home, knowing that I would need to be able to see into dark corners, I put into my pocket a small flashlight with brand new batteries. When inspecting anything, flaws hidden in the darkness will be revealed when exposed to the light.

When Jesus came into the world He announced Himself as the Light of the world. However, not everyone wanted their lives to be exposed to the Light. Jesus explained this early on in His ministry when He said:

 “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”(John 3:19-21)

Now, almost three years later, Jesus again reveals that the heart of man prefers hiding sin in the dark rather than exposing it to the Light. While in the upper room with His disciples, Jesus exposes the evil intentions of Judas, who at once hides himself from the Light.

John 13:30  So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he (Judas) immediately went out. And it was night.

Judas preferred the darkness to the Light. He went out into the night, leaving the presence of the Light of the world. Judas preferred the immediate rewards of rebellion to the eternal rewards of repentance.

What about you? Are you insisting on keeping certain parts of your life in the dark, or are you allowing every part of your life to be exposed to the Light of Jesus Christ? Hiding in the dark produces shame unto death, as the suicide of Judas exemplifies. The earthly rewards that entice us to sin in the dark do not settle the account of sin that is owed, thus resulting in hopeless despair.

However, the exposure of sin to the Light of Jesus removes the stain and the shame of all sin, granting hope, joy, and peace.

When the Holy Spirit points to sin in your life, you can choose to leave the Light and go out into the darkness of night. Or you can stand in the Light and let Him cleanse you from all unrighteousness. The choice is yours.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, March 2, 2021

As I write this, I am still rubbing my eyes as I awaken from a vivid dream. The final statement I was making while preaching in a small church is still resounding in my heart and mind.

“Since by faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross we have received the forgiveness of our sins, and have been declared eternally righteous by God, we ought to be constantly growing in faith unto spiritual maturity as measured by the fullness of the stature of Jesus Christ. So why is it, then, that so many self-proclaimed Christians are not mature, and are not visibly daily living by faith and thereby displaying the glory of God to others?

As I completed that question in my dream, I awoke, and immediately grabbed my coffee and wrote it down for all to read. It is the piercing question for all of us to consider for this day. 

The Apostle Paul defines maturity for us.

“He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” Ephesians 4:10-16 

Are you becoming mature in Christ?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, March 1, 2021

I find it almost impossible to begin a day without a shower. Being clean is essential for me to assure you of having a good day. You see, if you were to approach me some morning when I had not bathed adequately, our relationship could be in danger. You would potentially be exposed to the stench of body odor. It would be unpleasant for you.

But when I have showered in the morning, I can go all day and still feel clean at supper, unless I have engage in sufficient physical activity to undo the effects of the soap used that morning. However, no matter how clean I feel, there are multiple times during the day when I wash my hands. Sometimes I even wash my face. Throughout the day, parts of my body are exposed to dirt, and those parts need to be cleaned. I don’t shower my whole body when only my hands are dirty, but I do wash the dirt off my hands.

Jesus uses this same illustration in John chapter thirteen when peter refuses to allow Him to wash his feet. Yet the teaching of Jesus goes much deeper than just having dirty feet. He is addressing the issue of spiritual cleanliness and the need for constant cleansing from the dirt of sin.

John 13:10  Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”

There are two essential truths for us to consider today. First, Jesus declares to His disciples that those who have believed His words are already clean. They do not need to repeat their spiritual bathing. Unfortunately, there are many people if various churches who are being taught that their spiritual cleansing can be nullified by sin. But here, as Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, He assures Peter, and all of us, that by faith we have been cleansed once and for all, and do not need to repeat the bathing of salvation. In other words, when you have been saved by faith, you are permanently saved and eternally clean.

Second, Jesus reminds us that every day we get dirty as we walk through life in this evil world. The sin that we touch and that sticks to us must be washed away so we can fully share in the glory of our relationship with Jesus. However, we must not confuse the need for daily cleansing from the sins we commit with the loss of salvation and the supposed need to be saved all over again. That which is eternal – the life of Christ we have been given – cannot be removed from us. However, sin will interfere with our intimacy with Jesus, and that must be dealt with.

My friends, I have known far too many people who live in fear that they will die after sinning and lose their salvation. Let me assure you that Peter’s words in First Peter 1 are the direct expression of the truth he learned on the day Jesus washed his feet.

1 Peter 1:3-5 ³  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴  to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵  who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Praise God I do not keep myself saved, for if I did I could never stay saved. I am kept by the power of God!

However, when I sin, as the Apostle John wrote in his first letter to believers, I must confess the daily dirt of my sin, and when I do God is faithful and just to forgive me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

By faith we are saved eternally – once and for all. By faith we allow Jesus to wash our feet each day so we can share fully in our relationship with Him. Do not confuse the two, but do not exclude the joy of either.

Pastor John