LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Isaiah 59:1  Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.

Several years ago my wife and I went on an amazing adventure. For nine years we had been planning this trip, and every year that we thought we would do it something came up. One year our kids said, “Enough! No more excuses!” They put together a little incentive package with contingencies that forced us to make the decision and book the reservations. After all the years of hearing about their wonderful experiences on a cruise, Denise and I finally went on one. It was everything we expected and more.

While we were sitting on a beach on a small atoll called Cococay, I watched as a father took his little girl into the ocean for probably the first time ever. Dad and the girl stood hand in hand for a moment in water only six inches deep. Then the eighteen-month old girl let go of daddy’s hand and took a few steps out into a little deeper water. She turned and smiled at her dad, and he smile back.

Having discovered courage she didn’t know she had, the girl took a few more steps. It was obvious she was not used to the buoyancy of saltwater, and she worked hard to keep her balance. Then she took one more step, and as she turned around to catch her daddy’s eye for approval, she wobbled. She listed heavily to the right. Her left leg came off the white sand on the bottom. She tipped forward, and her face was very near the water. Her short arms could not reach the bottom to stop her descent.

I cringed in my lounge chair. I’m sure I made a visible move to get up. I will never forget the look in the little girl’s eyes. They were as big as they could be, and looked right into her daddy’s eyes and spoke louder than any words could have. “Daddy, help me!” By now her mouth and nose were under the water, but her eyes never stopped looking at her father. She needed rescue, and she knew that dad was the rescuer.

Her steps had taken her out of reach of her father. His arm could not grab her and lift her from where he was. She was unable to get to him. But dad saw her, and from her eyes he heard her cry for help. In two swift steps through the water he had her by the arm and lifted her into his. She threw her arms around his neck and hung on. Her eyes were facing me, and without a single tear they clearly said, “I’m safe and secure.”

That dad did an amazing thing. It may seem so simple and natural that we lose sight of the amazement of it, but it is no less amazing. As his daughter’s eyes cried out to him, he did not speak to her about the consequences of her actions. He did not tell her to deal with the problem because she had put herself in that position. He did not correct her for wandering away from him. He did what any loving father would do, he rescued her.

Surely your Heavenly Father will do the same for you. His arm is not too short to save nor His ear too dull to hear. Cry out to Him, and He will make you safe and secure.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Isaiah 58:13-14 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’S holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” The mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Years ago, a reporter was visiting the Oakland Raiders’ football camp. He had just come from the Jack London Historic Monument. As he interviewed quarterback Ken Stabler, he read a sample of London’s prose to him.

“I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”

After reading this to the quarterback he asked, “What does that mean to you?”

Stabler replied, “Throw deep.”

I am a risk taker in certain areas of my life. Never, and I mean never, does the risk involve tightly closed spaces underground. I have serious issues with claustrophobia. But I do take risks in other areas when there is a perceived or a realistic reward offered. I will invest in the stock market; carry a bow into the woods to hunt deer knowing that there are also bears, cougars, and wolves around; and I will stand and preach in front of a crowd of people that have every right to tear me apart if they reject the truth that is being spoken.

We all take risks every day. Did you get in a car today to travel to work or the gym? You took a huge risk. Did you eat food prepared by someone behind closed doors at a restaurant? Risky. Have you ever taken a 4-iron to try to hit a green 190 yards away over water? Splash!

But each risk had a reward. Retirement income. A big buck. A harvest of souls. Faster time to work than walking. Good food with no personal prep or clean-up. A chance for an eagle. Risks bring rewards as this poem bears out:

Let come what will I mean to bear it out,

And either live with glorious victory

or die with fame, renowned in chivalry.

He is not worthy of the honeycomb

That shuns the hives because the bees have stings.

“If” is a word of risk. God’s Word is full of ifs. In fact, in the English Standard Version of the Bible the word “if” appears 1685 times. Granted many of them are in common sentence structure, but many of them refer to conditions that God places on rewards. The very first time “if” is used is in Genesis when God speaks to Cain after he murdered his brother.

“If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

Cain was told to risk his own way on the altar of God’s will. He was asked to take a risk.

God challenges us to take risks every day. We are to risk being rejected by the world as we stand for Jesus. He asks us to risk giving up our lives to find eternal life. He says, “Take up your cross and follow me.” That’s risky. He encourages us to surrender our rights for the benefit of others who need to see God’s love and grace. Huge risks that have great rewards. What are you willing to risk to receive God’s reward?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

I love a buffet line. It shows, doesn’t it? I knew you were thinking that. It is so eye-catching to see a sign on the front of a building that says, “All you can eat.” The trouble is that as my eyes get bigger, my stomach grows. It’s an amazing fact of these wonderfully and fearfully created bodies in which we live. I am learning to control those impulses, but years of serving myself at meals have made me gluttonous.

It was not like that in the days of my youth when I was served my food by my mother. My mom was an amazing servant. I honestly don’t remember what age I was when I was first told to help myself, but I do know that I was into elementary school already. Until then, all I remember is mom putting the plate of food down in front of me, or me passing my plate to her so she could serve the food to us. Part of it was practicality, and not trusting three little boys to pass the china serving dishes around the table without breaking them. A big part of it was her heart to serve. One reason I’m sure was portion control and teaching little boys how to make good decisions.

Then one day, after giving thanks for the food, mom picked up a dish of food, passed it to my brother, and said, “Help yourself.” What was this? She was giving us the right to choose how much we wanted to eat. She gave us some rules of course, like “Only take what you can eat,” and “There’s no dessert unless you eat all you take.” Then she gave us the most important rule – “Think about the others around the table that have to eat when you help yourself.”  Then, in a great display of trust in us to truly consider the needs of others, she passed every dish of food around the table before she took any for herself.

Today we live in a world that exalts buffet line lifestyles. The principle of “help yourself” applies to far more than just food. The rule to consider others before helping yourself has been obliterated by the obligation to self. We have very little portion control in most areas of our lives. We take more than we need, and more than we can legitimately use. Years of serving ourselves have made us gluttonous.

Isaiah 58:10  Feed the hungry and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as day.

It’s dark around us. It may even be dark in us. There’s not much light shining in the darkness because the light-bearers have chosen to become like the darkness. The darkness keeps getting darker. So many of those who have been created to worship God are still helping themselves to whatever they want, with little regard for the needs of others. Our buffet line mentality that the food never runs out has deeply influenced our lifestyles. We sit at a huge societal table, and as the materialistic food is passed to us, we take huge scoops of it without one thought of the person sitting next to us and what they will be able to eat. How rude! How selfish!

It’s easy to help ourselves like this because it’s so dark. Even if someone does see us do it, they don’t care because it’s exactly what they would do if they were sitting so close to the head of the table. When the food does get to them, they are thrilled with whatever is in the bowl because they can’t see how full the bowl was when it started around the table. If only the first person in line would have turned on a light.

“Please, you go ahead of me.” There’s a flash of light in the room.

“May I share mine with you.” The overhead fluorescent lights are turned on.

“I think I will take only what I really need and can use right away, and leave a bunch for the people behind me.” Individual table lights are switched on.

“I think I will skip eating today so there’s more for others.” Cue the spotlights.

“Maybe I’ll clean out the freezer and give a bunch of food to some homeless people.” Let the light shine the way God intended it to shine.

Buffet-line lifestyles are not what God intended for His people. That promotes darkness. Sacrifice is what God demands. It’s His eternal light switch. It is to define our lifestyle. It is our reasonable act of service and worship in response to His mercy. (Romans 12:1-2)

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, January 20, 2020

I’m still sitting at the roadblock I encountered on Friday. I’m contemplating the connection between me and the people of Israel who were offending God by offering Him insincere worship. I wonder how I may be guilty of insincere worship. Do I wear a mask of love for God on Sunday and then remove it to expose a face of love for self on Monday?

Let’s look at the challenges God gave the people of Israel and create a personal check list. After all, that’s how we do it in this day of self-help – we create check lists to validate our growth and accomplishments so we can proclaim worth upon ourselves and move on.

Isaiah 58:6,7,9   …the kind of [worship] I want calls you to free those who are wrongly imprisoned and to stop oppressing those who work for you. Treat them fairly and give them what they earn. I want you to share your food with the hungry and to welcome poor wanderers into your homes. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help. Stop oppressing the helpless and stop making false accusations and spreading vicious rumors!

So here we go. God says that sincere worship is identified by the following attitudes and activities:

• Free those who are wrongly imprisoned. Since I’m not a judge or a lawyer, I can’t do this, so this does not apply. CHECK.
• Stop oppressing those who work for you. The church pays them, not me. I asked the church to give them a bigger raise, but it wasn’t in the budget. Not my fault. CHECK.
• Share your food with the hungry. Drove past a guy yesterday who said he was homeless, but I didn’t help him because the police said most of them are scam artists. I believe I did him a favor by not giving him anything so he is forced to get to work. If it was a real need, I think I would have helped. In fact, I bought breakfast for a stranger at a restaurant recently. Never mind the fact that he was fully capable of buying his own, it still helped him, right? CHECK.
• Welcome poor wanderers into your homes. Wait a minute; I have a wife to consider. We have hosted people in the past, but we’ve always known them. We even had missionaries stay with us for three months. We have a ministry person living with us right now. But poor wanderers? We must be careful these days. CHECK.
• Give clothes to those who need them. I’m really good here. I take used clothes to Goodwill and Hope Gospel Mission all the time. I even sent used clothes to orphans in Swaziland and even payed for shipping. BIG CHECK.
• Do not hide from relatives who need your help. Um, this is tough. They just continue to use me and it seems like I am enabling them. They say they will pay it back but never do. The Bible says in Proverbs to not lend money to relatives. I’m choosing to obey that. CHECK.
• Stop oppressing the helpless. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who is helpless, let alone oppress them. CHECK
• Stop making false accusations and spreading vicious rumors. I would never! The things I share are prayer requests or personal hurts on which I need advice. CHECK.

“There, the checklist is done, and I passed. Now Lord, take down the barricade and let me proceed…Lord. Lord. It’s not moving. I’m not able to proceed. Lord. LORD! I’ve done what you asked. I am a true worshipper, right? Then why isn’t the barrier moving?”

Looks like I’ll be here a little longer. I wonder what I’m supposed to see?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, January 17, 2020

I’m stuck. The Lord has put up a roadblock and has asked me to stop for a while. My first reaction to a roadblock is always selfish – “How can I get around it to get where I want to go?” But I have learned that never ends well. So here I sit in my devotional car, stopped at a roadblock at the intersection of Heart Highway and Isaiah 58.

Isaiah 58:6-7  “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Twice in this passage the Holy Spirit emphasizes the condition of our heart as it relates to the worship of God. You see, worship is not external, but rather internal. Outward expressions must originate in a clean and pure heart. Worship is not an event, but a lifestyle.

The other day I saw two worship leaders from different parts of the country promoting their upcoming worship events. Both said it was going to be awesome. They used words like “epic” and “unbridled” – buzz words to create emotional responses. I personally know the hearts of both worship leaders, and I know how their lives are lived as consistent worship offerings to the Lord. But my question is this – “How do we know that worship will be epic if we don’t know the hearts of the people who will be attending the worship service?”  We must not lower worship to the level of musical perfection or emotional enthusiasm. We must always make worship a response to the love of God in our hearts that has transformed our lives.

I desire emotional worship. I want quality sound, good instrumentation, and crisp vocals. I desire excellence in serving the Lord, and that excellence is an act of worship when done unto God and not for self-exaltation. But I also understand that those things do not create a worship atmosphere nor do they capture the attention of God. The condition of our hearts is what gets God’s attention.

It is hypocrisy to believe that we can worship God while we are harboring resentment against other people. It is self-deception to believe that God hears our prayers and expressions of praise while we are harboring sin in our lives. It is offensive to God to come to worship on Sunday or any other time and put on the mask of love for God when in the rest of our life we wear the true face of love for self.

This is the roadblock. Have we learned methods and traditions of worship that allow us to be fakes? Have we chosen religious rituals that offer us temporary satisfaction of our spiritual desires without the true transformation of the heart? Have we chosen to live as the people of Isaiah’s day?

Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.  Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.  Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?

For many people, worship is the beginning of a new week, when they lay down the shortcomings and sins of the past week and look for a fresh start. Yes, that is important. But how different worship would be if we would come together to celebrate victories rather than reviewing defeats. What would our praise sound like if we were living every day as worship to the Lord?  If we want worship to be real, it must be the response to what God is doing in our hearts, not the beginning of what we want God to do.

Let me repeat that with emphasis.

If we want worship to be real, it must be the response to what God is doing in our hearts, not the beginning of what we want God to do.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, January 16, 2020

 “I saw what you did!”

When I was a child and heard that statement directed at me – from anyone – my heart cringed in fear. I must admit that I still feel that way at times. The fear I feel is the product of knowing that I have just done something wrong, and I have been caught. What will happen to me? How bad is the punishment going to be? What will other people think of me? What will this do to my reputation and my potential?

Let’s stop a minute and evaluate those responses, for all of them are wrong responses to sin. We have believed a lie if we think any of them are correct. You see, every one of them reflects the belief that when we sin, we sin mainly against ourselves. Our fear of punishment is self-protection. Our fear of being discredited is pride. Our normal response to the fears of punishment and personal loss is to justify what we did, and, if necessary, lie. Why? Because we are primarily concerned about self.

God doesn’t forgive sin based on how bad it makes us feel, but rather our knowledge of who He is and how our sin stands opposed to Him. God forgives sin based on repentance. Repentance requires the sacrifice of self. Repentance requires turning away from the sin regardless of the consequences. Repentance demands humility which brings us God’s justification, rather than pride which seeks self-justification.

Isaiah 57:18-19    “I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him, creating praise on the lips of the mourners …”

God has promised to forgive, even after He has seen what we have done. He promises to heal our lives. He promises to guide us again, and restore comfort to us. He promises to create praise on our lips where there had been mourning.

Aha! There it is – the mourning over our sin. God cannot bring forgiveness and restoration to a life that is not repentant – a life that is not broken and mourning before Him. Not broken over the pain of the consequences. Not mourning over some form of personal loss. But brokenness and mourning over how we have stood and acted in opposition to God.

Repentance is much more than simply admitting we did it. It involves confession and conformity.  In confession. We come into agreement with God about what happened. In conformity, we choose to reject the sin and take action to conform our thinking and behavior to the holiness of God.

In Luke 3:8 Jesus says, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”

In Acts 26:20 Paul says, “…that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.”

There must be evidence in our lives of true repentance. Here are four ways to know if we are truly repentant:

• The absence of rationalization – we will cease to defend our actions
• Genuine sorrow – a broken heart before God, not just in front of people
• Open confession of our sin – we will no longer seek to hide what we did from the public.
• Restitution – we willingly seek out those hurt and offended by our sin and make it right.

If you are like me, we have defended our actions, justified our choices, and lied to protect ourselves from the pain of the consequences. Have we ever been truly repentant? Have we been more concerned about how we feel than about what we have done in rebellion against the grace of God?

When we repent of sin, the Holy Spirit will come and restore comfort to us. He will assure us of the Lord’s forgiveness and healing. He will bring peace when we no longer defend ourselves and are broken in His presence. He will forgive us, even though He has seen what we have done.

Open your heart and your life to Him. Expose all the sin. Throw yourself helplessly at the mercy of the Judge, for He is ready and willing to forgive you, and lift you into a joyous relationship with the Father.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Have you ever read something from God’s Sacred Word and have it so overwhelm you that you struggle to find words to express what is happening in your heart? That’s me right now. So all I can do is tell you about it and let the Holy Spirit do the same for you as He needs to.

I sat down at my desk and opened my Bible to Isaiah 57 to continue my study of this prophetic book. I got into my devotional vehicle (ask me about this if you don’t know what I mean) and I started my morning journey at verse 14 where I had parked yesterday.

And it will be said: “Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.”  For this is what the high and lofty One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

I slammed on the brakes. I put the car into reverse. I backed all the way up to verse seven.

You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill; there you went up to offer your sacrifices.

There it was. I thought I had seen it when I had traveled past that verse yesterday. But now a fresh look brought conviction to my heart. My pride is an obstacle to the work of the Lord in my life. I have been pursuing a high and lofty hill in opposition to the One who is High and Lofty.

I spent a few moments considering the ways I continue to offer sacrifices to the god of self-fulfillment.

I put the car back in drive and moved forward again to verse fifteen. I slammed on the brakes again.

“I live in a high and holy place…”

God lives in a high and holy place, not on a hill. Holy means set apart. I can’t reach Him. No matter how hard I try or how high I climb, I can’t get to His place. No matter how high I seek to make myself, I fall short of achieving the presence of God if I seek it in prideful effort.

Carefully I took my foot off the brake and proceeded.

“…but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit.”

From His high and lofty place the High and Holy One has come down to me! I could not get to Him by going up to a high and lofty place, but He would come to me if I would go down to a place of humility. The lower into the dust of contriteness I go the more accessible I become to the High and Holy One.

I think I will park here for a while and enjoy His presence.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Isaiah 57:2   Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.

We have a natural instinct to be inquisitive about what lies beyond death. It is our nature. God says in Ecclesiastes 3:11 that “He has also set eternity in the hearts of men.” People have written numerous books about their near-death experiences, and they quickly become best sellers because we want to know what’s out there. Stories are told about people who have made statements on their deathbeds that seem to indicate that they see a vision of what’s ahead.

The Scriptures are clear on what happens after death. There are two possibilities – an eternal separation from the God who created us, or an eternal fellowship with that same God. Every person who has ever lived knows this deep in their heart. They may be covering the truth up with false teaching and self-centered pursuits, but given the right moment of meditation and honesty they will discover that God has placed the truth of eternity in their heart.

The Bible also make it clear that all of us were destined for eternal separation from God from the moment of our conception in our mother’s womb. We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We are by nature the enemies of God (see Romans 5:6-21). But in His eternal and inconceivable love, He sought us. He sent His Son Jesus to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). God has granted us sufficient faith to believe that Jesus is Lord, that He died on the cross to save us from our sins, and that He rose from the dead to conquer eternal death (see Romans 10:9-10). It is only through faith in Jesus that we are saved, and can enter into eternal fellowship with the Father (Ephesians 2:8-9). There is NO OTHER WAY! (John 14:6)

When by the grace of God we are translated from the realm of sin and death into the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, our eternal fellowship with God begins (Colossians 1:12-14). That fellowship produces indescribable peace and joy. No longer do we fear death and judgment like those who continue to live in their sin. The author of Hebrews describes the emotional state of those who reject the truth of Scripture.

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. (Hebrews 10:26-27)

But we who are in Christ are not like them. When we experience the death of someone we love who was in fellowship with God, we do not grieve like the rest of the general population (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). We know that based on their faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin that they are moving into the presence of the Lord. Scripture says that to be absent from this body means that we are present with Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:6-8). In this we express joy rather than sorrow, peace rather than pain, and rest rather than resistance.

It will be the same for us personally when we reach that moment of death. The words of the Lord through Isaiah will be the description of our last days on earth. We who have walked uprightly will enter into peace. We will find rest as we lie in death. There is nothing to fear. Our eternal spiritual fellowship that began on earth is about to culminate in eternal physical fellowship in person.

We are about to see Jesus face to face (see Titus 2:11-14). Let us live like it might be today!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, January 13, 2020

At the risk of being called weird, I enjoy this time of the year. There is something strikingly beautiful about the moon glistening on the snow. The full moon this past weekend was magnificent. I am amazed at how God created a lifeless orb of rock that could reflect light so brilliantly. It has no light within itself. It only reflects the light it receives from the sun. God placed it in the perfect position to reflect just the right amount of light.

Night has fallen upon our world. It is morally dark.

Isaiah 56:10  Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge;

Isaiah describes the condition of the world:

• Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge;
• they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark;
• they lie around and dream, they love to sleep.
• They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough.
• They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, each seeks his own gain.
• “Come,” each one cries, “let me get wine! Let us drink our fill of beer! And tomorrow will be like today, or even far better.”

Maybe before we proceed we should take a moment and review that list, and prayerfully consider, with the help of the Holy Spirit, which of those things might be true of our own heart. Please do that. You see, we are God’s watchmen in this day. We do not want the darkness to invade us. Please take some time right now for personal reflection and repentance.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Now, having dealt with the darkness in our own hearts, we are prepared to penetrate the darkness around us. God created us in Christ Jesus to be the reflection of His Light to the world around us. We have been placed in perfect position in relationship to the world so that we bring the light of the Son to those in darkness.

But unlike the moon, we are not mere reflectors of the Light – we are the Light. We have the Son that the world needs to see. Jesus, the Light of the world, lives in us. The issue we must deal with is why the Light doesn’t shine better. We seem to be stuck in the new moon phase of life, when the world needs us to be in full moon phase. We are participating in the darkness rather than illuminating it.

The solution is simple – “Lord Jesus, illuminate me!  I turn my face towards you so that I am no longer in the shadow of the world. Then will you be able to use me to illuminate the darkness around me.”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, January 10, 2020

Prior to trips overseas to the Philippines, India, Haiti, and Swaziland, I met with the travel nurse at my medical clinic. It was necessary to review my inoculation records so that I would be sufficiently protected from any potential tropical disease to which I might be exposed. We looked at maps that displayed the regional diseases and discussed the exact itinerary of my trip. After careful consideration of the risks, vaccines were chosen and I was inoculated. Some vaccines required more than one dose.

I think there’s a spiritual vaccine analogy in the 56^th chapter of Isaiah.

Isaiah 56:6-7 And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant—⁷ these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.

In this encouraging chapter of hope, God is informing those who are on the outside that they will be fully accepted into the Kingdom of the Messiah with full benefits. Those who had been excluded will now be included. In the past they had felt like sub-standard people who weren’t good enough to be invited to an exclusive club. They saw the power and provision of the One True God, but had no access to Him. They had been left without hope and without joy.

Suddenly word comes that the membership policy has been revised so that now anyone is welcome. My mind is visualizing a scenario like this in America at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. If you know anything about that place and its history, you know that if word got out that they were making the course public, there would be lines starting at every airport in America as men and women raced to get there to play just one round of golf. I would be in one of those lines.

An even greater level of enthusiasm should be evident when we realize that God invited all the excluded to be included in His Kingdom with full benefits.  The house of God is open to everyone, regardless of race, creed, nationality, political preference, financial status, or physical disability. The weak, the hurting, the guilty, and the untouchable have equal access to the altar of God. Their hopelessness is replaced with joy.

In Isaiah’s words, God connects joy with prayer. Outsiders will be granted joy by having access to the house of prayer. Prayer is the vaccine with which we are inoculated. If we want to be inoculated against hopelessness and despair, we must be determined to pray. If we will avoid the downfalls of discouragement, we must pray. If we are to overcome the deepening feelings of fear based on the political and social condition of the world, we must pray. Prayer is the vaccine against all the diseases of the heart and mind that destroy joy.

However, we tend to debate the need for prayer. Just like our culture debates the value and risks of vaccines, we also turn to our own remedies first. We consider the risks of prayer and let them influence us: risks like time commitment that will affect our schedule of events, or the hurtful words of others who will accuse us of being overly spiritual when they see the power of God being lived out in our lives. So powerful are those arguments in the hands of our enemy that we dare to even consider not being inoculated. We even ask why joy is really all that big of a deal. Really?

Today, I cry out to my Lord – “Inoculate Me!” In response, God says “Come into my clinic. You will recognize it by the sign out front. It says,

House of Prayer.”                             

Pastor John