LifeLink Devotional

Friday, August 3, 2018

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

So far in our study of prayer from Philippians 4:6, we have learned to praise God for who He is, to thank Him for what He does, to confess to Him those things we have done that are not in agreement with Him, and then to repent of those things, turning away from them and moving into agreement with God about our actions. It is at this point of agreement with God that we can engage the next type of prayer – the wonderful privilege of asking God for the desires of our hearts.

The subject of asking God for whatever we wish and expecting to get it has generated many questions. Certain phrases and promises from Scripture seem to capture our attention, and we tend to lock on to them without considering their context or mutual responsibilities. I dare say that the reason we ask about asking is selfish. Deep in our hearts is the desire to get what we want, and to believe that it’s totally right to want it. We partially read God’s Word and see that we can ask whatever we wish, and it will be given to us.

As we mentioned in a devotional last week, we tend to believe that our identity and value are based in the physical, so we naturally apply this promise to the desires of our flesh, and we ask for prosperity and health and blessing on our physical lives. Then, when we don’t always get it, we doubt our faith, or we doubt God’s promise, or we doubt God himself. We then ask questions about asking.

Notice that in each of the following passages where Jesus promised us that we could ask anything of God and He would do it, there is a requirement that we ask from of a position of agreement with God’s perspective of the situation.

• “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:22) We must believe not only that God can do it, but that He wants to do it. Just because I want a mountain moved to benefit me does not require God to oblige me. True faith in God goes beyond knowing what He is capable of and moves into the realm of agreeing with His purpose.

• Do you remember what the disciples James and John asked Jesus for in Mark 10:35? “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” They took the promise of Jesus the way we do most of the time. They wanted Jesus to do whatever they desired. Look how Jesus responded. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. … These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”  We must remember that what we ask for must be in agreement with God’s predetermined purpose.

• In John 14:13 – 14, Jesus said, And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. The requirement here is that we must ask in Jesus’ name. That means we ask according to what we know to be true about the nature, character, and purpose of Jesus. That’s why prayers of praise and thanksgiving are so important before we ask anything, because it puts our hearts in touch with who Jesus is, so that our asking is in agreement with His purpose to bring glory to the Father.

• Jesus adds another qualifier to asking Him for anything in this statement – If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. Here the condition of asking is that we are abiding in Christ and His words are abiding in us. This describes true intimacy with Jesus, and all prayers of request are to be the product of such intimacy. When we ask we should do so in agreement with what He has already said and with a pure heart that is seeking Him in every aspect of our lives.

We can have God answer every prayer the way that we want it to be answered. The key is that we ask according to what we already know God wants to have happen. Every prayer that is asked according to God’s nature, character, and purpose is granted by God. The responsibility we have is to make sure our hearts and minds agree with His. That’s why prayer of praise, confession, and repentance are required before we ask anything, because it is the only way to assure that our minds are in agreement with God.

When I was growing up, I learned very quickly what my dad’s standards were, and how he would respond to different requests. I learned that there were some things I just shouldn’t ask for. The problem I had was even though I knew I couldn’t ask dad, I selfishly pursued those things I wanted anyway. My knowledge of Dad did not change my desires. I had not yet caught His character.

Unfortunately, that is true of how we relate to God. We know that the desires of our hearts are not always in agreement with God’s character, so we simply choose to exclude Him from that pursuit and reach for it on our own. Believe me, life is much more fulfilling when we let the Holy Spirit change our character so that any desire of our heart is in full agreement with God. Then we can ask anything we wish, and He will do it, because it pleases Him to fulfill His purpose in our lives.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Matthew 6:12  Forgive us our trespasses, as we also have forgiven those who trespass against us.

Mark 11:25  And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

In Philippians 4:6, Paul tells us to bring everything in our lives to God in prayer. Prayer is the word used in Scripture to describe all communication with God. Intimate relationships require various forms of communication: terms of endearment, comments of care and concern, expressions of encouragement, words of confession and sorrow, and questions of request are just some of the ways that people who are in love talk to one another. On Tuesday we began a study of the various types of prayers that Scripture encourages us to use as we communicate intimately with God. We started with discussions of praise and thanksgiving.

The next type of prayer that must be a part of an intimate relationship with God is confession and repentance. Consider the importance of this in your most intimate human relationship. True intimacy cannot be experienced without true humility, manifested by taking personal responsibility for wrong and admitting fault. That is what we call confession. But confession alone is not sufficient to bring intimacy to a relationship: there must be repentance as well. Of what value is admission of sin if there is not a turning from the sin and a commitment to not do it again?

As children, our parents tried to teach this to us. We were not only required to apologize for what we did, but we had to promise not to do it again. As immature children we probably said those things without meaning them. Many of us do the same with God. We may say we’re sorry, but our confession seems to have an accompanying asterisk, with the footnote containing the reasons we want expressed to justify our action. Such rationalization of behavior falls far short of true confession and most certainly does not include repentance. True confession and repentance takes full responsibility for the behavior and sincerely commits to never doing it again.

When we study the word confess in Scripture, as used in 1 John 1:9 which states, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” we discover that it means to come into agreement with God. True confession of sin requires us to see it from God’s perspective and not ours. Our perspective is motivated by self-protection. We attempt to justify our actions to preserve self-worth and protect our image. All such responses require shared responsibility for the behavior.

This is not a new concept – it has been around as long as humans have sinned. When Adam was first confronted by God with his sin, he immediately blamed the woman. He even blamed God who gave him the woman. Eve in turn blamed the serpent. We still try to weasel out of personal responsibility today, blaming our dysfunctional or abusive upbringing, our poverty level social status, racial discrimination, or even God himself for allowing us to be in such situations. We quickly agree with the world’s assessment of our situation and our response to it, but we stop short of considering God’s assessment of our choices. We live in a culture that idolizes choice, and we have chosen to make choice our God.  It is time for us to come into agreement with God about our choices and their consequences. It is time for the people of God to confess their sin.

But if forgiveness is to be offered, repentance is inseparable from confession. God does not extend forgiveness without repentance. (Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out. Acts 3:19) To repent is to turn from the sin and proceed in a different direction, specifically the direction of agreement with God.

When we confess to a sin, we admit that our action was not in agreement with God. When we repent of that sin, we admit that we want to be in agreement with God. But the simple act of admission is not sufficient: there must be an accompanying action, and that action is to make new choices that are in agreement with God. This brings true depth of intimacy to our relationship with God. All dysfunctional issues of self-protection, self-worth and image disappear when we experience the forgiveness of God as a result of our humble confession and repentance of sin. Our fear of rejection that motivates justification of our choices is abolished in the love of God.

We must learn to truly confess sin and repent of it. Every prayer we pray depends upon it. God does not hear the prayers of people who harbor unconfessed and unrepented sin in their hearts. (If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; Psalms 66:18)

Maybe the reason we are not experiencing the power of God in prayer is that we are not praying with pure hearts. Make a specific effort today to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any sin that is hindering the intimacy of your relationship with Christ, and then pray with confession and repentance. God’s presence and power will be revived in you.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

1 Chronicles 16:8, 34 ⁸Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; …Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Our current study of Philippians has brought us to the subject of prayer. The Apostle Paul commands us in Philippians 4:6 to pray about everything. Yesterday we discovered that prayers of praise focus on the nature and character of God. The second type of prayer we want to consider is that of thanksgiving. Prayers of thanksgiving focus on the activity of God.

As we make our way through the day our attitudes are influenced by two different types of activities: those that turn out right and those that don’t. We categorize every event of our lives as either a blessing or a bust. And because we tend to respond most easily to the flesh, our attitudes are more easily affected by the activities that don’t work out for our benefit. That’s why we tend to be anxious and worry. But that response is more serious than just a bad attitude: it really reflects a weak understanding of God’s activity in our lives. When we allow worry to be our response to the circumstances of life, we are really denying the activity of God in that circumstance. That’s why Paul states that we are not to be anxious about anything, but in every situation of life we are to pray with thanksgiving that God is at work to bring about His good.

Thanksgiving is vital in all our prayers. There are so many things that God has done, and it encourages our hearts to think on them and thank Him for them. King David reminded us to make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.

The first thing I am thankful for is my salvation. What event or circumstance of life can possibly take away the joy of being a child of God? Again, David reminds us that we should give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Can anything in this life separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus? Can any trouble you are currently experiencing undo your spiritual birth into the family of God? Of course not! So, in everything you bring to God in prayer, be thankful.

After you have thanked Him for your salvation, the list of things for which to be thankful will be unique to each individual, because God’s activity in your life is unique. But remember this – God is always active and is always working all things out for good.

I was reminded by God one morning to count my blessings rather than focus on the problems. It was rather funny the way God did it. I had been having problems with my laptop computer, and because I had an appointment out of the office, I planned to write a devotional from home. I turned on the laptop and said a quick prayer that it would work. When I clicked on my word processing program to bring up the devotional I had started the night before, my computer did what I asked it to do – and more. It loaded 57 blank documents before I could get it to stop. A button on my keypad had stuck. At that moment God said to me, Are you going to focus on what’s wrong with your computer or are you going to see that when you ask Me for something I will give you more than you thought you needed. It was a simple reminder that even during a problem, God is actively at work to make all things good. We need to notice the blessings He provides even when things are going bad.

Yesterday I talked to a Godly woman who is having some real difficulties that have affected her ability to rejoice and have brought on some anxiety. I recognized that she seemed to be trying to manage tomorrow’s activities along with today’s. It was obvious that her plate was full, but the problem was that she was already working on filling up tomorrow’s plate as well, and trying to carry them both. I reminded her that God promised to provide sufficient grace for today only, and that His activity in her life would handle everything on today’s plate. She needed to let go of all she hoped God would do tomorrow and start being thankful for what God was doing today. It is a reminder we all need.

To use the words of a great old hymn, “count your many blessings. Name them one by one. Count your many blessings see what God has done.”

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 

In everything be thankful. God has not stopped His activity in your life. 

Pastor John

Lifelink Devotional

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Let’s play a game of word association. When I say a word, think about the first word that pops into your head. Here we go. Pray…So what word did you think of first? Was it the word ask or one of its synonyms? We tend to think that praying is primarily asking God for something. But if that were true, then why does Paul distinguish between praying and petitions or requests in today’s Scripture passages? What are we missing in our understanding of prayer?

One of the greatest joys of being a parent is to spend time communicating with my children. But I remember too well the teenage years when the only communication initiated by the child was asking for something. Dad, can I have the car? Dad, can I have ten dollars? Dad, can I stay out past eleven tonight? Dad, can I go out with my friends to the game? If I wanted more information about their life, I had to ask them for it, and their responses would be short and to the point, forcing the asking of more questions. It was hard to not have a deeper and more intimate relationship with my kids during those years.

Reflecting on that helps me to understand how God must feel about our relationship when it seems all we do is ask for things. What God longs for is intimacy that comes from sharing every aspect of life with us. Paul says in Ephesians 6:18 that we are to pray with all kinds of prayers, indicating that there are many styles of communication with God. There are many styles of communication with God, and we are missing the blessing of intimate fellowship with the Father if our only prayers are those of petition.

Over the next few days I want to look at the various types of prayers we should be praying. I’m sure this list will not be complete, because I cannot claim to know how to be totally intimate with God or even people. But this should give us a good start on building deeper intimacy with God.

One type of prayer is Praise. One of the biggest detriments to learning to praise God is the phrase Praise the Lord! I used to think that when something good happened to me I should say Praise the Lord! When someone else would tell me something God had done for them I would say, Praise the Lord! When I would write a thank you note to someone or would hear of an answered prayer, I would write, PTL!

But saying that phrase is not praising God. For example, I believe a vital part of raising children is to praise them. If every time one of my children or grandchildren did something commendable all I said was “I praise you,” it would mean very little to them. What I must do is tell them why I am praising them, and that means recognizing and acknowledging their character. But this has become hard for us. We are much better at recognizing behavior than character. We acknowledge performance, but don’t seem to do a very good job of acknowledging character. Recognizing deeds is not praise – it is thanksgiving, and we’ll talk about that tomorrow. Praise is the recognition and acknowledgment of the nature and character of God, and we must learn to do it.

I first discovered this was a problem a few years ago when I asked people in church one Sunday following a time of musical worship to spend a moment praising God out loud for who He was. There was silence. First of all, it was unheard of to ask a conservative Baptist congregation to make any noise in church let alone any non-uniform noise. But I also discovered there was a huge problem of not knowing what to say. If I would have asked everyone to thank God for something He had done, there may have been a few who would have spoken. Or if I would have asked them to say, Praise the Lord in unison, they would have done it. But for each person to individually praise God out loud in their own way, that was beyond their capabilities. How sad, I thought to myself, and then I realized that I had trouble doing it also.

Why is it so hard to truly praise God when there are over 300 references to praising God in the Bible? If our relationship with God is not based on our recognition of His nature and character, then what kind of a relationship do we really have? Certainly not an intimate one. I have been so blessed in my relationship with God since I started personally acknowledging His character to Him. It is vital to our relationship with God to start each prayer with a statement of praise for who He is. He is holy. He is loving. He is compassionate. He is merciful. He is just. He is sovereign. He is…and the list goes on. Every request we make of God is based on our understanding of some aspect of God’s nature and character, so we should verbalize the basis for our request. Just as in your relationships with people, intimacy with God is accomplished only through recognition, acceptance, and acknowledgment of His nature and character.

Start practicing praise. Tell God what you know to be true about Him, and that you appreciate knowing it. Tell Him you’re glad He’s holy, loving, merciful, just, forgiving, in control, etc. Let Him know that you know Him. That’s what praise is, and that’s what brings intimacy.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, July 30, 2018

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

I grew up in a pastor’s home, and entertaining people was a big part of my dad’s ministry. I especially remember the holiday open house my mom would put on every Christmas. Everyone in the church was invited to a huge spread of Christmas goodies. The house would be decorated to the max and all the best silver and china was used. The old antique dining table was spread out to its full length and every inch of it was covered with platters of cookies or salads or hardtack with meat and cheese. Mom had spent hours, for days, getting everything ready. She put her best efforts into using her spiritual gift of hospitality.

A few weeks before my mom became bedridden with cancer, we went to visit her. We made it clear that when we came we would take care of all of the meals and any other household chores. But when we arrived she had already thought through all the meals and prepared several of them in advance. She was still fulfilling her God-given role as caregiver and the servant of others. It was a role that satisfied her. It was how the Holy Spirit had gifted her. She loved her ministry to people.

There is a story in the life of Jesus of a woman who begged for help with hospitality. It is found in Luke 10.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.  She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.  But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

My mom would never do that. She never begged for help like Martha. In fact, she usually made sure she was so well organized that others could relax and enjoy what they wanted to do. Unlike Martha, she truly thought about what was best for others.

On a later visit, when mom was bedridden, she was still managing to have input into the kitchen from the bedroom. Dad had run out of coffee, and a new can needed to be opened. He was having trouble with the electric can opener because the can was so large. I tried to help him, but I couldn’t get it to work right either, so I ended up using an antique can opener that pried open the lid with a sharp edge. Suddenly my wife appears in the kitchen and says, “Mom said she’s the only one that can open the coffee cans. You have to bring the can opener to the edge of the counter and let the can hang over the edge to release the pressure on the blade and then it will work.” Mom was still taking care of us.

We noticed a transition in her during those last weeks of her life. She was becoming much more like Mary. She stopped asking about the laundry and the meal preparation. She no longer wondered whether the things she put in the freezer for meals were being used. She wasn’t concerned with the dusting and the vacuuming of the house. She didn’t even ask about her flower garden, which she loved to care for. She spent those last weeks simply sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to what He was saying to her. I know that her physical condition forced her into that situation, but you must also understand that my mom always took time to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to Him. Now she was doing it continuously.

There is a huge lesson in this for those of us who are so busy with the details of our lives. Like Martha we are distracted from spending time with God by the work we want to be doing for God. It becomes so serious for some of us that we beg for others to help us with the work just so we can do more work. The work itself may be necessary, it may be spiritual, and it may be an expression of our spiritual gifts, but if it hinders the personal time spent in intimate fellowship with Jesus, then it is not the best thing we could be doing. Sitting at the feet of Jesus is the best thing!

Stop fretting about the details. Stop worrying about the outcomes. Don’t get anxious about what others are doing or not doing. Lighten up and let it go! Give it all to Jesus with thanksgiving that He can and will manage the outcome. Then sit down for a while and listen to Jesus. You’ll be amazed at how everything takes on a new perspective and how much more productive you will be. And make sure its quality time that produces intimacy. I know the temptation to sit down to have devotions and just quickly skim an article in Our Daily Bread or lightly read this devotional. In both cases you probably skipped right over the Scripture readings. What was really on your mind was the next task you had on your to-do list. Come on, sit down at the feet of Jesus and forget everything except what He is going to teach you. Listen to Him, and let it transform you. Fall in love with your time with Him. Make it your priority every day. It is the better thing to do. It will strengthen you for the work you must do and it will stifle the worry you don’t want to do.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, July 27, 2018

Philippians 4:5 The Lord is near.

James 5:7 – 8  ⁷Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming…be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.

Across the street from my house in Wisconsin is a field that usually produces corn and soybeans for a farmer who lives down the road. But one year there was a different kind of farming taking place in that dirt. The highway construction that took place adjacent to that field needed tons of fill dirt to build the road, and the farmer has allowed the highway department to get it from his field.

First, the crews stripped off all the valuable black dirt and piled it up on one end of the field. Then they started stripping away the sandy soil from underneath and transporting it to the road site. All summer long there were huge bulldozers and graders working on the land. Finally, they had their fill of fill, and they began replacing the black dirt. The hill that was once beside our road is no longer there, but the newly leveled topsoil looks ready to plant crops in again. Depending on what he decides to plant, the farmer may get to work preparing that soil yet this fall so that in the spring it may produce a crop.

I wonder how the farmer felt having his normal routine interrupted for a season? He stood by and watched as someone totally transformed the contours of his land. He was forced to look for feed for the cows from sources other than his own productivity. He had to adjust. Granted, he had chosen to enter into this contract and was probably paid well for it, but he still had to change his routine and step out of his comfort zone.

I think we can understand it to a degree because it happens to us in our lives as well. Our normal routines are constantly being interrupted. Outside influences are stripping away our productivity. Sometimes we make the choice to do it, but other times we are forced out of our comfort zones. Let me suggest to you that most of the time it is God who has initiated the disruption of our routine. God knows all about our dirt. God loves to dig around in the dirt of our lives. But He never destroys the productivity of the topsoil. He may need to strip away some of the fill we have underneath, but His purpose is always to create a greater harvest.

When the farmer prepared his land for the highway department, he decided that this would be a great opportunity to make his field more productive by increase the size of his harvest. A large portion of the hill that was to be removed along the road was covered with trees. He hired a crew to come in and harvest the lumber. After the trees were removed, the highway department dug out more fill for the road, and the farmer was left with a few extra acres of level tillable land.

That’s what God does with our lives. He sees potential for areas we think are nice enough as they are. We may like the trees we have planted, a greater reward in cutting them down and re-purposing that part of our life. But it takes a total transformation of the topography. God may not ever change, but He sure knows that we need to. It may feel like the shelter of your trees is being removed and the topsoil of your life is being stripped away, but God is doing it to transform you into a more productive person.

There’s one more lesson. When the work on the land was completed, I was awakened one morning by a terrible smell coming through the window. As the wind started to blow lightly out of the north, the strong smell of freshly spread cow manure came rudely into the room. It really stunk. In preparation for next year’s growing season, on his newly leveled land, the farmer was spreading natural fertilizer.

Maybe today your life stinks because someone is spreading manure all over you. Remember, God is using that to prepare your life to yield a greater harvest than ever. Be patient. The Lord is near, and He knows what He is doing. Let Him plow up your dirt, because when the rains come and mix the manure with your soil, you will produce a harvest of righteousness.

Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you. Hosea 10:12 (NIV)

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, July 26, 2018

Philippians 4:5 The Lord is near.

1 Peter 4:7 The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.

I awoke early this morning to the sound of birds welcoming the new day with their beautiful songs. There was cheering in their chirping as they announced to me that the sun was about to rise. As I lay in bed and watched the sky begin to brighten I thought of the beautiful songs my mom used to sing. I wish I could be there to hear her singing before the throne of God as she praises her Savior. She always sang songs for her Savior, but now she is doing it face to face.

In the last few years of my mom’s life, she learned a new song that became her favorite. It was the theme of her life. I had the wonderful privilege of introducing this song to her when I sang it in her church while she was in the audience. She asked me for the words and music so she could adopt it as her favorite expression of her love for Jesus.  It was our common bond of praise and adoration of our Lord. I will always cherish it. Here are the words:

He promised us that He would be a counselor
A Mighty God and the Prince of Peace
He promised us that He would be a Father
And that He would love us with a love that would not cease.

For He’s more wonderful than my mind can conceive
He’s more wonderful than my heart can believe
He goes beyond my highest hopes and fondest dreams.
He’s everything that my soul ever longed for
Everything He’s promised and so much more
More than amazing, more than marvelous,
More than miraculous could ever be
He’s more than wonderful, that’s what Jesus is to me.

We should all have a song that we sing every morning to announce the beginning of a new day and the soon approaching rising of the Son. He is near, and when He returns there will be no more night. What song of praise to your Savior will you sing to begin your eternal day?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Philippians 4:5 The Lord is near.

1 Peter 4:7  The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.

It has long been a passion of mine to study the prophecies of Scripture concerning the end of this world’s present system and the coming of Jesus Christ to establish His kingdom on earth. I was motivated by my grandfather, who taught on it for years in churches all across the country. I don’t claim to have figured it all out, but there are some things that make perfect sense to me according to the Bible.

Probably the most significant and irrefutable fact that needs to be considered is this – Jesus is near! We cannot neglect the abundance of evidence based on the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. All Christians are to be looking up for the return of Jesus at any moment. The Apostles believed it would happen before they died. The early church at Thessalonica believed it to the extent that they even quit their jobs and huddled together in homes waiting for it. The imminent return of Christ was prominently taught in the early church, and it motivated their evangelism efforts.

As the years have passed, many have lost the urgency of living Godly lives in preparation for Christ’s return. We have fallen into a spiritually lethargic lifestyle while seeking to be energized by worldly pursuits. We have traded the desire to be with Christ forever for a desire to have everything this world offers.

Go back in time with me to the early church era and let’s see what they believed. In Romans 16:14 Paul greets a man by the name of Hermas. It is believed by most scholars and the early church historians that Hermas wrote the book Pastor of Hermas.  The Pastor of Hermas was one of the most popular books, if not the most popular book, in the Christian Church during the second, third, and fourth centuries. It occupied a position in that time similar to that of Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress in modern times. Some of the early church historians report that there was an effort to include this book as one of the inspired books of Scripture. Here is a quote from the book concerning the urgency of living for the return of Jesus.

 “You know that you who are the servants of God dwell in a strange land; for your city is far away from this one. If, then, you know your city in which you are to dwell, why do ye here provide lands, and make expensive preparations, and accumulate dwellings and useless buildings? He who makes such preparations for this city cannot return again to his own. Oh foolish, and unstable, and miserable man! Dost thou not understand that all these things belong to another, and are under the power of another? … Have a care, then, ye who serve the Lord, and have Him in your heart, that ye work the works of God, remembering His commandments and promises which He promised, and believe that He will bring them to pass if His commandments be observed. Instead of lands, therefore, buy afflicted souls, according as each one is able, and visit widows and orphans, and do not overlook them; and spend your wealth and all your preparations, which ye received from the Lord, upon such lands and houses. For to this end did the Master make you rich, that you might perform these services unto Him; and it is much better to purchase such lands, and possessions, and houses, as you will find in your own city, when you come to reside in it.”

I know, the language is old, but read it again. It is rich with meaning and application.

Times haven’t changed much have they? People’s propensity to pursue possessions and provide permanence on this planet was the same 2000 years ago as it is today. If only we would fix our eyes on preparing for Christ’s return to take us to our true permanent home He is preparing for us. It is unfortunate that while Jesus is preparing a place for us to dwell with Him for all eternity, we are spending our time and resources preparing to live here as long as possible. We are pilgrims here, and the plan is for Jesus to come back at any moment and take us to our permanent home. Let’s start living like pilgrims, and that process begins with a renewed passion for the return of Jesus.

I will not make predictions about when that will happen. I will not attempt to read more into current events than the Bible does, although much of what is happening today can be viewed as a sign of His imminent return. What I will do is to live in the expectation that Jesus Christ will return at any moment to take us into His presence forever. And knowing that He could return at any moment, I will do whatever I can to help as many as possible prepare for His return.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Philippians 4:5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

Another facet of being a gentle person is to be charitable. One of the Greek definitions of gentleness is being satisfied with less than one’s due. If we are to live so that our gentleness is evident to other people, then we will be charitable, and charity is motivated by being willing to be satisfied with less than we think we deserve. I believe there are three specific areas of application for our lives where we need to be satisfied with less than we think we need.

First, recognition. A gentle person is satisfied with less recognition than they may think they are entitled to. Jesus modeled this, and also taught it to His disciples. In fact, He not only was not recognized for who He was, but He was actually recognized as the opposite, and then killed for it. Jesus allowed Himself to be recognized as a sinner when He was sinless. The reason He did this was that He was living for the glory of another. That’s what gentleness does – it makes us charitable. Stop working so hard for recognition, and start letting God be recognized in you.

The second way to be charitable is in rewards. As I helped my parents get through the difficult days of my mom’s cancer, I was blessed beyond measure to be able to use my skills to accomplish the tasks that needed to be done. During my last trip to their home, on the day I was scheduled to meet a very good friend for a time of recreation on the golf course, I went into the basement and stepped on a water-soaked rug. Upon investigation I discovered the bottom of the gas water heater had rusted out and was spraying water all over the furnace room. I immediately called my friend and cancelled our time together so I could spend the rest of the afternoon installing a new water heater. Of course, the new one was a different design so all of the gas and water lines had to be re-plumbed, but I was up to the task because of previous experience in such matters. When I was all done, my dad tried to give me a check for my work, which I refused. It was nice to be recognized and rewarded, but I was more satisfied with the opportunity to help than with the reward.

Too many times the motivation for our service is the reward. This may even be the case spiritually. It is easy to pump ourselves up to do something for God when we remember that it earns us a reward in heaven, but it should be sufficient motivation to remember His awesome gift of salvation. If God never did another thing for us, what He did on the cross is more than adequate motivation for lifelong service. Stop working so hard for additional rewards when God has already blessed you with every spiritual blessing from heaven.

The third way to be charitable has to do with responsibility. The marketplace of society teaches us that when we are recognized for the work we do, one of the rewards is additional responsibility. We work hard to achieve additional responsibility because we know it will bring additional rewards. Responsibility brings rewards, which bring recognition and greater responsibility – it’s the world’s unbreakable circle of success.

But God has a better and more fulfilling plan. It’s the plan my mother followed. She was given the reward first in her salvation, being recognized by God but having done nothing to deserve it. She accepted the responsibility that went with the recognition and became a servant of Jesus Christ, humbly doing His work without any need for public recognition. She served faithfully alongside dad in small churches, struggling to survive financially raising four children, yet continually sacrificing her own desires for the sake of others. She was a true servant, and deserves to be recognized. But for her, the only recognition that will matter will be when she sees her Savior face to face and He greets her with a heaven-sized hug and the words, “Well done!” Nothing my mom ever did was for earthly rewards or recognition, because she had accepted the responsibility of being a servant who worked for the honor and glory of another. She was satisfied with less than her due in this life because she had her heart and mind fixed on the rewards of heaven.

That’s what it means to let your gentleness be evident to all. But it’s not our gentleness; it’s the fruit of the Holy Spirit in us. (Galatians 5:22-23) We have no gentleness except the character of Christ in us. Let His gentleness be seen in how you live charitably towards others as an offering to your Savior.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, July 23, 2018

Philippians 4:5 (NIV) Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

Twelve years ago, during a difficult time in my life, God taught me an important lesson about gentleness. He showed me how faith in His faithfulness facilitates my gentle response to life’s circumstances. Here’s how it happened.

In August of 2006, I made a trip to South Dakota to move into my mom and dad’s house so I could help out during the last days of my mom’s life. Her pancreatic cancer was getting much worse and she was getting very weak. At the time my dad was 81 years of age, and while he was doing a great job of being a caregiver, he needed help. I was so blessed to have the support of my church family to allow me to leave and be with my parents as mom’s coronation day approached.

On the way over to South Dakota, I stopped in Rochester, Minnesota to visit a young couple from our church who have a 4-month-old daughter who was born with some serious heart defects. She had to be taken into emergency open-heart surgery to try to repair a serious condition that had developed. As I sat in the hospital with the parents, I shared with them the truth that God is still on the throne.

I needed to hear that as much as they did.

It is the confidence we have in the absolute sovereignty and goodness of God that gives us hope no matter what the circumstances of life. Whether it be the critical health conditions of a baby or a mother who has lived a full and faithful life, God knows their every need and will not fail to bring glory to His name through the results.

Faith in the faithfulness of God. That’s what we need to carry with us an attitude of gentleness that is evident to all. When we have such faith, the attitude of gentleness will manifest itself in three specific ways as we encounter the diversity of life’s circumstances.

First, our faith in God allows us to lighten up about things that are happening in the present.

Second, our faith in God allows us to let go of the things that have happened in the past.

And third, our faith in God allows us to be free from worry about things that might happen in the future.

Our faith in the faithfulness of God gives us victory over the past, the present, and the future.

So, let your gentleness be evident to all by doing three things:

1. 1. Lighten up
   2. Let it go
   3. Don’t worry

God is in control, and He never fails!

Pastor John