LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Who am I?

That question plagues people. We have tried to answer it in a variety of humanistic ways, none of which has succeeded nor satisfies. We may think that educational success will identify us as a genius. We may believe that advancement in the work sector will identify us as professionals. We have been led to believe that financial security identifies us as successful. We try to be humorous believing others will identify us as popular. We labor intensely to become accepted by others so that we might identify ourselves as worthy. We spend hours developing our skill at a sport so that we might be identified as a hero. We have granted permission to people and to our performance to identify us as valuable.

That, my friend, is why our lives are broken. But God has a wonderful plan for the restoration of broken lives.

Isaiah 56:4-5 For this is what the LORD says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant—⁵to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.

In Isaiah 56, God proclaims His promises to the broken-down nation of Israel. Here’s some background information. God is speaking directly to eunuchs. A eunuch was a slave or captive that had been castrated for two primary reasons. First, it would make them less manly, thereby making them more manageable servants. Second, it would keep them from ever procreating and becoming a threat.

The practice was so detestable to God that there were laws in the Jewish code concerning it. The law excluded eunuchs from public worship, partly because mutilation was often performed in honor of a heathen god, and partly because a maimed creature of any sort was deemed unfit for the service of Yahweh. Yet during the reign of the kings of Israel there were eunuchs in the nation that served in the palace. However, no eunuch was ever able to worship in the temple, nor were they allowed to own land or inherit property. They had no identity with the nation in which they served.

It is to these men of no importance or identity that God comes in Isaiah 56 and says, “I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.”

WOW! That overwhelms me. Not only does God give these broken-down men a name, but He elevates them to a position that is better than a son or a daughter. He gives them an eternal identity that will never be cut off (Note the play on words).

Doesn’t that restore your hope? Can you now see what grace does? No matter how broken your life; no matter how mutilated your name is; no matter how cut off you seem to be from the rest of humanity; God will give you an eternal identity.

No longer will you have to depend on people or performance to identify you. No longer will you need to ask the question, “Who am I?” Let God tell you who you are.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

My story is not unique. It’s painful for me, just as yours is for you, but it’s a pain that is based on a lie. The pain comes from our belief in the lie that we never fit in. The pain is magnified by circumstances that we interpret as validation of the lie.

My circumstances easily validated my pain. I never had a town that I called home. I never had a friendship that lasted more than 5 years because we moved that often. Every time we moved, I had to try to fit into a new culture and social context. I chose to believe that I was unaccepted and my basic worth deserved nothing but rejection. I chose strange behaviors to compensate, which only made it worse. My wife can verify the reality of my self-destructive behavior. I really believed I didn’t fit in.

We long for someone to accept us. We crave being included. We fear being told we are not welcome. It is so powerful in us that we begin to perceive every word and action of others as a statement of their unwillingness to make us their equal. It becomes a destructive thought pattern.

God knows that about us. When He created Adam and Eve, He perfectly accepted them. But then the Enemy of God entered the scene and convinced those first two humans that God didn’t really accept them because He was holding out on them. There was something He didn’t want them to know, and if that was true then they weren’t fully accepted. They believed the lie, and we do too. We believe it about our friends. We believe it about our family. We believe it about our boss or our co-workers. We even believe it about our church family and our pastor. Pastors even believe it about their congregations. We believe that we don’t fit in and will never really be accepted.

In the days of Isaiah, God was declaring that when the salvation of God appears and His righteousness is revealed, all the people of the world could find a place of acceptance.

Isaiah 56:3 Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely exclude me from his people.” And let not any eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.”

It would not matter if someone was a foreigner or a slave, they would be given an equal place in the Kingdom. Acceptance in God’s Kingdom would not be based on one’s nationality, one’s gender, one’s abilities, or one’s heritage, but rather on one’s acceptance of God’s covenant.

If you are feeling like you don’t fit in anywhere, then the truth of Isaiah 56 is for you. It is time to stop living your life as a response to a lie, and time to start living in response to God’s love. If you read the following Scripture carefully and honestly, you just may discover, as I have, the great truth of God’s grace – we are accepted. When we cry out to God and say, “Include me!”, He does. Hallelujah.

Isaiah 56:3-8 (NLT)

“And my blessings are for Gentiles, too, when they commit themselves to the LORD. Do not let them think that I consider them second-class citizens. And my blessings are also for the eunuchs. They are as much mine as anyone else. ⁴For I say this to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbath days holy, who choose to do what pleases me and commit their lives to me: ⁵I will give them—in my house, within my walls—a memorial and a name far greater than the honor they would have received by having sons and daughters. For the name I give them is an everlasting one. It will never disappear! ⁶“I will also bless the Gentiles who commit themselves to the LORD and serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who have accepted his covenant. ⁷I will bring them also to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations. ⁸For the Sovereign LORD, who brings back the outcasts of Israel, says: I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel.”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

There is a vital skill that every doctor must possess. They must be able to view symptoms and diagnose causes. When I need to go to a doctor, I want more than just symptom confirmation, I want the origin of the symptom to be determined. Don’t just treat the symptom – get rid of the cause.

However, on average we don’t want such diagnostic skill when it comes to our personal lives. We prefer to live with a band aid approach to symptoms so real disease is never exposed.

Busyness with all our stuff and our agendas is one of the symptoms that is visible. It is an indication of the disease that has invaded our spiritual lives. We see the symptoms,  but we are in denial about the disease that causes them. The disease is humanism.

We who are followers of Christ are much of the time followers of self. We have chosen a humanistic approach to life, to goals, to success, to decision-making, and to choices, and then we attempt to satisfy the longing of our soul by adding a little band aid of faith.  We have made a religious choice that we think complements our humanistic choices, when we should be destroying all dependence upon the flesh and living continually in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

What do we think Jesus meant when He said,

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life  will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?”

Deny yourself. Lose your life. Those are the things that mark a follower. But for some reason we have assumed a right of leadership not granted by God. We have arrogantly decided to ask God to fulfill our wishes and desires. We have become the leader of God rather than the follower of Christ.

God will not be led. But He also will not lead against our will. Instead, when we choose to, He lets us go ahead on our own. He never forsakes us, and never leaves us, but He stops listening to our demands for what we want. He stops providing fixes for our failures. In His jealous love for us He allows us to fall on our humanistic faces so we are in the proper position to pick up a cross.

But even when we are on our faces, we tend to justify how we got there, and we develop plans for how we are going to get up. We make resolutions to save more, spend less, eat less, and exercise more. We make commitments to watch television less, study more, pray more, and sin less. But far too often those resolutions are prescriptions for symptom relief, and we do nothing to cure the disease.

The only cure for the disease of humanism is death. The right to self-government of our lives must die. The right to fleshly fulfillment must die. The right to social success must die. The right to financial security must die. In other words, the right to our own rights must die.

Only in death can there be life. We have tried to add life to death. We have attempted to bring eternal life into the context of our humanism and call it salvation, which denies the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. How can we know His resurrection power if we do not die to self?

When we die to self, the life of Jesus can be experienced.

Today, let’s begin a new adventure of self-denial. We will need help from God. We will need to help each other. Let’s choose to be humble enough to let others diagnose the disease rather than put a band aid on the symptom. Together we will die to self and be transformed by the renewing of our minds so we can prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1-2)

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, January 6, 2020

It’s the middle of winter, and in Wisconsin it would be very strange to see someone with an umbrella. We bring them out in the spring. But even when it’s not raining, we tend to carry umbrellas.

The reason we carry an umbrella when it’s raining is so that we won’t get wet. We have big ones attached to our golf bags and little ones stashed in the pocket on the back of our car’s front seat. We have them leaning against the wall next to the door of our house, and we even carry built in umbrellas called hoods attached to the collar of our jacket. We don’t want to get wet. Wet is uncomfortable. Wet is cold. We want to stay dry and warm. Hooray for umbrellas!!!

Unfortunately we have carried our love of umbrellas into the spiritual realm. You see, just as it is impossible to not get wet when you stand unprotected in the rain, it is equally impossible to not get wet when exposed to the Word of God. But that makes us uncomfortable, so we put up our spiritual umbrellas.

We sit in church listening to the message from the Lord, and whenever the Word of God starts to make us uncomfortable, we pop up an invisible yet very real umbrella to protect us from the conviction.

We put up umbrellas of many styles and colors, representing a variety of personal interests and objectives, but they all have the same purpose – to keep us dry and comfortable in our present little world of experience. We have them stored all over our lives, so that at any moment we can pop one up to protect us from any rain that might fall. Every umbrella is designed to distract us from the reality of the rain that is falling around us. Up it goes and off we go into our own little thought world of self-indulgence, seemingly protected from the shivers of self-examination.

Yet the benefit we think we are receiving by staying dry is leading to our demise. The shivers we are avoiding are making us shrivel. It is when we get wet that we flourish. It is the rain of God’s Word that produces fruit. When we are saturated with the rain of God’s truth, we can see God accomplish His purpose in us.

Isaiah 55:10-11 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

We are stained people. Stained with sin. We must get wet to be washed. That is why Jesus came to earth, to wash us in the water of God’s Word. He uses the Apostle Paul to tell us that in Ephesians 5, where God says,

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

You and I cannot be holy, stainless, unwrinkled, and blameless if we don’t let ourselves get wet. We must take down our umbrellas and let the water of the Word wash us. Every stain needs a good soaking. Every protective covering we have put on or put up to shield us from the rain of God’s Word must be removed. We must do what little children do when it rains – take off all our clothes and run naked in it, letting it soak every part of us. Our shields – our umbrellas – will never do what God’s Word can do.

In my church there is a dear old saint who comes to me consistently after worship and shakes my hand. As she does, she says these words – Thank you for washing me in the Word today.

She has no umbrellas. She’s ready for rain.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, January 3, 2020

We have a family game that I have only played twice. It is a game that doesn’t make sense. Each player is required by chance to do some strange things that are seemingly disconnected from the ultimate goal of winning. I can’t even tell you if there is a way to declare a winner or not. I’m sure there is, but the nonsensical nature of the game detracts from winning. That’s really the point of the game, but it is very hard for me to adjust to that. I am outcome driven, and the process to the outcome must make sense.

How many times have you heard the statement, “That makes no sense?” I’ve said that at times. I’ve had that said to me many more times. I have a very abstract way of thinking. It is especially true when it comes to listening to God. I’ve said it to Him way too much.

God is really working on me in this area. He is filling my mind with tough questions.

• What is it about ‘My grace is sufficient for today’ that you don’t understand?
• What kind of faith do you have if you need to know everything before acting on what I said?
• Why do you think it has to make sense to you?
• Do you really think you can be that much like me?
• Do you really trust me?

That last question is the toughest for me. I know how untrustworthy my heart is, and I transfer that distrust to my heavenly Father. I know how manipulative I can be based on my motivation to serve self. I transfer those qualities onto others and believe they are doing that to me. I know how much pride I take in how many answers I have and how much I can get done. I dare to stand in the presence of Almighty God and demand to know.

I am going to have a tough day today. These thoughts are going to pound on me until I learn to trust the truth of Isaiah 55:8-9.

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Unless I crucify my pride, I will consider my ways to be higher than His ways, and my thoughts to be higher than His thoughts. I will consider myself first and Him last unless I surrender my need to know. I will fall flat into failure when I choose to live according to what makes sense to me. I could fly into fullness of life by following the Father even when it makes no sense.

This is my goal – to use the statement “That makes no sense” as the starting gun to a race of faith, rather than a hurdle over which I stumble. When God speaks, and it makes no sense, then I will know I am exactly where God can use me the most.

To help me trust God more, I’ve written two acrostics for the word trust. Maybe they will help you too.

The                                                   Total

Rational                                          Reliance

Understanding                               Upon

Surrendered                                   Sovereign

Totally                                              Timing

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, January 2, 2020

In 1969 an entertainer named Joe South recorded a song that became a hit in the world of secular music. It was called The Games People Play, and won two Grammy awards. The lyrics express the idea that we play games with one another and have fallen victim to pride and vanity. It is a protest song against hate, hypocrisy, and intolerance. But there is also a deep current of humanistic thought running through the song. Essentially it says that each of us is to be content with who we are and not let anyone, especially Christians, influence us to change. According to the song, all change is a game we play, and God is only there to grant us the serenity to remember who we are and be content with that.

One of the games we play so well with each other is Hide & Seek. It’s a childhood game that has carried over into adult life. We mostly play the hide part as we seek to be undiscoverable by others. We hide our true feelings. We hide our true intentions. We hide our true thoughts. We hide behind psychological trees we think are big enough to completely protect us from view. We dare not let anyone get too close or we may even try to run to a new hiding spot without being seen. We must not let anyone see us for who we really are.

The motivation for finding a good hiding place as a child is so that we won’t be found first because that would make us “it”, and no one wants to be “it”. No one wants to be the seeker.

It’s no different for adults. We have avoided being the seeker since the very first sin. When Adam and Eve experienced the guilt and shame of sin for the very first time, the game of Hide & Seek began. They first tried to hide behind tree leaves. Then, when they heard the Seeker coming, they hid themselves more thoroughly in and amongst the lush growth of the garden. They did not want to be found.

They had good reason to not want to be found – they were guilty and deserved punishment. It’s that same sense of guilt and deserved punishment that drives us to hide today. We hide our guilt from others, but more significantly we attempt to hide our guilt from God.

I remember a time when I was a child playing this game in the woods of Michigan with a group of friends. The hiding place I found was so good that they never found me. I waited there for a long time, relishing in the pride of my hiding ability, until it started to get dark. So I wandered out of that place, carefully making sure no one saw me to protect the location for future use, and I walked back to my friend’s house. They were all inside playing. They had stopped looking for me. I had to look for them. They had not reported me lost, they just went on with their lives. Ouch! Eventually all hiding ends in loneliness.

It is time for the hider to become the seeker. The days of hiding are done. It is time to be found. The guilt and shame that motivate your hiding can be gone. All you have to do is choose to be “it”.

Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

God wants you to play the seeker role, and find Him. He is not hiding from you. He is not waiting to punish you because He already punished His Son for you. He will have mercy on you. He will pardon you. Open your heart. Expose the darkest parts of your life to the Light of God’s grace. When you find Him, the games are over.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

As I drove on a recent trip to North Dakota for Christmas, I was thinking about the new year, and what would be different in my life. I was reminded by the Holy Spirit that my pride is still far too powerful a force in my life and dictates too many actions and words. It was a sobering time of reflection, but it was necessary for the Holy Spirit to continue His work of refining me and polishing me into a mirror which is able to reflect Christ’s glory.

The older I get, just like an aging mirror, I am more aware of black dots that don’t reflect anything. I decided on the correct course of action to take. It is different than what most people think and do. Usually New Year’s resolutions address specific issues that we want to change. But the effectiveness of such resolutions is totally controlled by the character of one’s heart. Unless the heart has been transformed, the external changes will not last. That’s why we make resolutions over and over and over again. We are resolving to fix the wrong wrong.

The wrong that needs to be fixed is the condition of our heart. Pride has blackened it so it cannot reflect the glory of God’s nature in Jesus Christ. Self must be sacrificed. Everything that connects us to the pursuit of self-fulfillment and self-valuation must be eliminated. We must resolve to know Christ and Christ alone and give Him unequalled and unhindered access to every part of our being. We must crucify our own life on the cross and invite Jesus Christ to reign supreme on the throne of our hearts. All change happens after surrender to Jesus. No change is permanent that is the product of our own initiative. King Solomon knew this:

Ecclesiastes 7:23  All this I tested by wisdom and I said, “I am determined to be wise”— but this was beyond me.

Two songs come to my mind that are significant in my life. One is a very old hymn named I Am Resolved written by Palmer Hartsough. The second is a contemporary song from the 1980’s called I Am Determined by Tim Sheppard. These lyrics reflect the nature of a heart truly making the right resolution. Read them carefully and contemplatively. It’s not too late to change your New Year’s resolutions.

I Am Resolved

I am resolved no longer to linger, Charmed by the world’s delight,
Things that are higher, things that are nobler, These have allured my sight.

I am resolved to go to the Savior, Leaving my sin and strife;
He is the true One, He is the just One, He hath the words of life.

I am resolved to follow the Savior, Faithful and true each day;
Heed what He sayeth, do what He willeth, He is the living Way.

I am resolved to enter the kingdom Leaving the paths of sin;
Friends may oppose me, foes may beset me, Still will I enter in.

I will hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free; Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee.
I will hasten, hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free; Jesus, Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee.

I Am Determined

Darkness around me, sorrow surrounds me;  Though there be trials, still I can sing.
For I have this treasure – my God reigns within me,  And I am determined to live for the King.

Hell’s gates are trembling from our prayers ascending Darkness is crumbling from praises we sing.
Our Sovereign, Victorious is marching before us, And we are determined to live for the King.

When I am weary – I’ll look to His face; And when I am tempted, I’ll trust in His grace —
Yes, I’ll trust in His grace —–

I am determined to be invincible
‘Til He has finished His purpose in me.
And nothing shall shake me  For He’ll never forsake me
And I am determined – I am determined — I am determined to live for My King.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

In yesterday’s devotional we discussed how to navigate the stormy waters of rejection and emotional distress by having an eternal perspective on life. Mary had such a perspective through her constant meditation on God and His divine purpose. Her perspective was also enriched through the ministry of people who encouraged her. The ministry of encouragement is incredibly significant to each one of us.

 Luke 2:36-38  There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,  ³⁷and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.  ³⁸Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

At the very moment that Mary is being told by Simeon that the life of her Son Jesus would result in the piercing of her soul, a prophetess named Anna comes to her side and gives thanks to God. Anna saw the eternal perspective that Jesus would be the Redeemer, and she encouraged Mary to look at everything from that vantage point.

We all need encouragers like that every now and then; probably more often than we recognize. There is nothing quite so comforting in times of emotional distress than to have a shoulder to cry on and an ear that will listen. We need people who can step back from the negative and pour on the positive – not in a sappy and insincere way, but with words that reflect God’s perspective on things. Anna did that for Mary simply by giving thanks to God.

Not only do we need people like that, we need to be people like that. The world is a depressing place to live for those who have no hope. There are billions of people trying to make sense of life. We who have God’s eternal perspective need to come along side of them at the very moment of their distress and give them a reason to be thankful. We need to be like Anna, constantly living in the presence of God, walking through life in an attitude of prayer and relationship with Jesus Christ, so that at any moment we will be prepared to give thanks to God, showing others the hope of redemption. We do not live for this world, but we are looking forward to the total redemption of this world when Jesus returns. Paul says in First Thessalonians that we are to encourage one another with this hope.

Be on the lookout today for people who need hope, and then come alongside them and be thankful. They need an encourager, and you are just the one to do it.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, December 30, 2019

One of the most enjoyable experiences of my life is to purchase a car. It’s been a long time since I bought a brand new one (1976 to be exact), but getting a nice used car is still a thrill. I used to do it fairly often, and got quite a reputation as a negotiator. If I were to go looking for a different vehicle right now, I would go to a couple of places that I trust and start to check over their used car selection. I would find the one that I wanted in the price range I could afford, and after bargaining for the best possible price I would sign the papers and drive it home. One thing I would not expect from the car dealer is to have the salesman pull me aside as I head for my “new” vehicle and tell me that I can expect it to cause me all kinds of problems and cost me a lot of money to maintain. Why would he wait until after the sale to tell me this, and why would he sell a car like that in the first place?

I wonder if Mary felt a little bit like that when Simeon told her that Jesus would cause a lot of heartache for her?

Luke 2:33 – 35  The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him.  ³⁴Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,  ³⁵so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Here was Mary, just 8 days after the birth of the Son of God, being told that there was a time coming when the tide of public opinion would be against Him and her heart would be broken by that. The very people that Jesus had come to save would reject Him and she would not be able to do anything about it.

She got her first taste of that rejection when Jesus was about two years old. The reigning king of Israel tried to have Jesus killed, and the family had to flee to Egypt. Imagine what it must have been like for Mary. She knew the truth about her Son and yet everyone else rejected the truth about Him. Imagine the nights of loneliness and hopelessness that must have come upon her. Maybe you don’t have to imagine them because you are experiencing them. You find yourself asking the question, “What can be done?”

It is our human nature to want to fix what’s wrong and fulfill what’s right. Jump ahead in the life of Christ to a wedding Jesus was attending when He was 30 years old. The host of the wedding did not plan for enough wine and has run out. Mary seizes this opportunity to introduce the truth about her Son to the world and suggests to Him that He can fix the problem. It was not the responsibility of Jesus to get more wine, but mom was looking for a way to show off her Son. For 30 years she has remained faithful to the truth about who He was and His purpose in coming to the earth. The things she had treasured in her heart about Jesus had sustained her for all of those years and had equipped her to take a step that would result in the piercing of her soul and the breaking of her heart. She told the servants to do whatever Jesus said, not what she wanted. She had learned the wisdom of living by an eternal perspective and not an earthly one.

My friends, the world will reject us when we live holy lives that honor God. Our hearts will be broken by the rejection of our spouses and children and those we love. But remember the words of Simeon – there will be those who will rise because of Jesus just as there will be those who will fall. That was obviously Mary’s focus. That is to be our focus as well. The sword of the world will pierce our hearts with rejection and tragedy. Our defense is the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of Truth. It will give us an eternal perspective.

Then we will be able to say with Mary, “Do whatever He tells you.”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, December 27, 2019

Yesterday my devotional dealt with the issue of returning to the routine of life. Life can mundane at times, probably more often than we wish. There are occasional high points of energy and enthusiasm, and low points of pain and disappointment, but overall, as time passes, life levels off. We want our lives to be level because we find security in the predictable and the known. We don’t like the fear of the unknown or anything that threatens the status quo. We know that mountaintop experiences don’t last, and we work hard to get life back in order after we’ve been in the deep valley of desperation. We protect everything that makes life normal. We have adopted the philosophy that saneness is achieved through sameness, so we resist change. Please Lord, just for today, can everything stay the same so I can feel safe?

If that had been true of the wise men from the east they would never have come searching for Jesus the King.

Matthew 2:1 – 3  After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem  ²and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” ³When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

These scientists, probably astrologers, had done well for themselves in their professions. They were obviously wealthy and very intelligent. They had obviously studied a wide variety of writings, including the prophets of Israel, because they knew that when the star appeared in the sky it meant that Jesus was born. But unlike so many people who would seek to protect the security of their positions and possessions, these men were willing to sacrifice it all to find the One True King.

What a contrast to King Herod and the citizens of Jerusalem, who were disturbed by the news announced by the wise men. Why? Because it threatened the status quo of their lives. King Herod’s position was being threatened. All he had worked so hard to accomplish for himself could be lost.

I can imagine his thoughts. “All of my power will be stripped away. Everything I own will be given to someone else. I will become a person of no value. I must destroy this threat.”

And what about the people of Jerusalem? Were they disturbed because they feared Herod’s response to the news or because they feared the changes that a new King would bring to their lives? Would a new King change their economic condition? What about the political ramifications with Rome? The fears were real, and they forced action – actions to eliminate what they perceived to be the source of their fears.

Two distinct camps of people exist in this drama. There’s a king and his followers who seek Jesus to destroy Him because they think that will eliminate their fear.  There’s also a group of wise men who seek Jesus to worship Him and have all their fears eliminated. People today still gravitate to one of these camps.

The fear of change drives people to eliminate Jesus from their lives. Sinners in the bondage of fear don’t want their motives questioned, their pursuits invalidated, their possessions devalued, or their position threatened. They may claim to want to worship Jesus, but are really motivated by worship of self.

Others, saints acting in faith, leave the security of all they have in the world to seek the true King and worship Him.

In which group are you?

Pastor John