LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

 Psalms 98:1 – 3  Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Ten years ago I arrived at the Bayou DuLarge Baptist Church on the southernmost point of Louisiana as a part of a four person mission team. Randy, the man who would lead worship in church the next day, was inside setting up the platform for worship band practice. He and one of the high school students who plays bass guitar helped us unload the van and get all our stuff inside.

Suddenly there she was, running towards me to give me a big welcome hug. I greeted her with, “Hi, Index.” Everyone else looked at me funny. The members of our team wanted to know if that was her real name. The people from the church started to correct me. I quickly told them that “Index” was the nickname I had given to this freshman in high school the last time I had visited the church. Nicknames help me remember real names, and I gave her that nickname because she has a real name that sounds like another part of a book.

Index came from a difficult family background. She lived three houses up the bayou from the church in a house that was still at ground level and was dilapidated from the hurricanes. She is the only member of her family that knows Jesus. The rest of her family is recognized by the residents of the bayou as the most unlikely family to ever overcome the bondage of drugs, alcohol, and sin. They are, to put it in the words of Jesus, the least of these.

On the last night of our trip, we sat around the table with Pastor Jerry Moser and talked about future project needs for upcoming mission trips. He reminded me that our last group that had been there in June had put up the pillars for a house that needed to be built up off the ground. The next step was to get the beams up so the floor could be built and then the house could be started. I remembered the pictures of Pastor Dennis from our church sitting in the bucket of a Bobcat loader and working on those pillars.

I asked Pastor Jerry where that house was, and he said it was Index’s house. Then Jerry said something that deeply touched my heart. He said, “We’re building a house for the most unlikely family on the Bayou.”  Then he added, “Pray for us that we’ll know who the next unlikely family is that we can help.”

Pastor Jerry is the living example of the point Jesus was making when He told this story:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’  Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’”

I truly believe that it is in activity like this that the words of Psalm 98 are fulfilled in our day. Helping the most unlikely is how the salvation and righteousness of God is revealed to all the people of the world. We are the extensions of the right hand and holy arm of God.

Let’s extend ourselves to the most unlikely person we know, and pour the love of God into their lives. God will do a marvelous thing in them.

It’s easy to minister to people who don’t offend us. Jesus has called us to minister to those who do.

Pray today for God to show you the most unlikely person to ever get saved. He will answer your prayer by first directing you to the mirror. Then, when you fully understand His grace, you will be able to extend His love to those you have previously considered unworthy.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, October 09, 2017

Psalms 97:10 – 12  Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.

The older I get (and believe me there are days I feel very old) the more I understand the direct relationship between the experience of joy and the choice to be righteous.

We live in an age where the predominant philosophy is that joy is self-generated rather than the product of a sacred and holy relationship with Almighty God. We are pressured by our culture to believe that joy is not contingent upon our choices. To even suggest that difficulty, hardship, and suffering may somehow be our own responsibility raises the hair on the back of our necks and stiffens our resolve to justify what we are doing.

As Christians, we have reached a dangerous precipice where we are precariously balanced between preserving our belief in the absolute holy nature of God and pursuing the promotion of self. One more step in the direction of the flesh and we will lose all solid footing and slip into a faithless freefall.

Satan would have us believe that we can balance there forever with an appearance of spiritual life while denying the power of it by continuing to seek self-fulfillment. The holiness of God has been declared irrelevant and has been relegated to a place of insignificance while the desires of the flesh are satisfied. God’s righteousness is being replaced with self-righteousness, which is based on moral relativity so that all of our choices may be justified. We have exchanged the image of God for the golden calf of the flesh, and have sought to explain away the consequences as naturally occurring events that would have happened anyway.

When God led the people of Israel out of their captivity in Egypt, He positioned Himself in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The people were told to only move when God moved, and to keep their eyes fixed solely on Him for direction. In return, He would guide and provide for them. The 97^th Psalm further confirms that God wanted the people to see His holiness and glory and never follow anything else. Without ever using the word holy until the very end, this Psalm declares the holiness of God and the benefits He provides to those who participate in personal holiness.

The nature and character of God are so perfect and pure that we cannot look on Him and live. When He came to lead the people of Israel, clouds and thick darkness surrounded Him during the day because He would otherwise outshine the sun and destroy everything and everyone. His righteousness and justice are so perfect that all that is unrighteous would be instantly judged with death and destruction. He protected the people He loved and led by shielding them with the clouds and thick darkness.

Unquenchable fire came from His presence at night so that no matter how dark the world became, He could still be seen and followed and the people would know His power to destroy all enemies.

We can rejoice in these two great truths today. First, God is righteous and just, and we are shielded from a justified sentence of death by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, where clouds and thick darkness came upon the world while His life was judged in exchange for ours.

Second, no matter how dark our world becomes with sin and hardship, light is still visible in the fire of God’s glory and is seen by those who are righteous. There is not only a light at the end of the tunnel, but there is light in the tunnel.

However, the benefits of God’s presence are only realized if we choose to hate evil and walk in the light. His presence is found nowhere but in the perfect light. If we say we love the Lord, then we must first and foremost love Him for who He is and not for what He can do for us. He is holy and righteous and just. He hates evil and will at His appointed time destroy it all. He is absolutely holy, and there is no shadow in Him. There is no place of compromise. There is no single particle of anything even remotely related to sin in His being.

Those who love Him not only understand God’s holy nature, but also seek that same holiness. “Be ye holy, for I am holy,” says the Lord. The promises of a guarded life, a directed life, a hopeful life, and a joyful life, are only redeemable in the life of one who is upright in heart. Rejoicing in the reign of God is only possible for those who are being personally reigned by His holiness and righteousness.

Some of you are going to ask some very important questions at this point. Does God guarantee the removal of all suffering if I am holy? Why do holy people still suffer? And so on.

Holiness of heart does not remove us from the consequences of our own previous sins or from the sinfulness of this age. We will suffer and our bodies will still die. God will still discipline those that He loves, and we are all in need of discipline. My point today is not to argue the reason for suffering, but to declare the need for us to live our lives according to the holy nature of God.

Let it not be said of us that we are suffering because we do not honor the holiness of God. Let us not balance any longer on the precipice of personal pursuits at the expense of righteousness. Let us move far away from the slippery slope of sin and onto the Rock of our salvation, and let us stand in faithful righteousness. Then, being filled with the joy of the Lord, we can praise His Holy Name.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, October 06, 2017

Psalms 96:11 – 13  Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.

One of the highlights of my years in ministry has to be the years spent serving the people of Bayou du Large, Louisiana following the devastating effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I specifically remember one trip that was especially meaningful.

We traveled twelve hundred forty-nine miles one way. My wife and I were joined by another couple as we spent four days in the van and five full days ministering to the people. Our primary purpose for going was to help the pastor of the church and his wife relax by sending them on a seven day vacation trip while we did all of his work for the week. We handled the church service on Sunday, then spent Monday through Thursday working on his house so they could get closer to moving into it. The pastor spent all of his time working on other people’s homes, so this trip was to help him get his own home done.

As we drove along the many miles south, the changes in the scenery and topography were very obvious. We went from the rolling hills of Wisconsin covered with multi-colored trees in a spectacular fall display to the deep green forests of Mississippi where magnolia and hibiscus trees were still blooming.

In between we saw flat fields of dried corn and soybeans providing food for deer and turkeys while they waited to be harvested, and miles of dark brown plants covered with white pods of fluffy cotton.

Every state had its own beauty, and each part of nature seemed to unite in songs of praise to the Creator. The full moon rejoiced as it set in the west as the sun rose in the east making the earth glad. The fields were jubilant with the bounty of their harvest while everything in them was filled with joy as they filled themselves with food. The trees, clothed in multi-colored robes, sang in perfect harmony as their leaves and branches were moved by the wind. I am unable to adequately express in words the reality of seeing the diversity of nature unite in resounding songs of joy to the Lord.

But I was most deeply moved when I saw for the first time ever the cotton fields of Arkansas that were ready to harvest. As far as my eye could see towards the horizon they were white as if it had snowed in Wisconsin. I immediately thought of the words of Jesus in John 4:35 when He said, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

I  know that Jesus was not referring to cotton fields, but it was the most vivid example of that statement I had ever seen. I spent much time considering its importance to my life. I was never so overwhelmed with the desire to be a more effective worker in the harvest field as I was at that moment. The fields of the world are filled with souls that are ready to be harvested for Jesus Christ. And very soon Jesus is coming to collect His harvest.

Some of the cotton fields had already been picked, and around them were large semi-trailer sized bales of cotton waiting to be collected and redeemed for profit. The farmer is rejoicing that very soon he will be rewarded for his labor.

So it is with God’s harvest. The heavens are rejoicing and the earth is glad because the Lord is coming. The sea and everything in it resounds while the fields and everything in them are jubilant because the Lord comes to judge the earth. The trees sing for joy before the Lord because He comes in righteousness and truth to judge the peoples of the earth. Jesus is coming to collect His harvest.

But wait! If He comes today to judge the earth with righteousness and truth, how much of the harvest will be lost because the workers have not entered the fields? The fields are white and ready to be harvested, but the workers are few.

Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

But beware of praying for workers without a willingness to become one. When Jesus made His request for the disciples to pray for workers, He was speaking to men who were already committed to the work. Look at what Jesus says to them in the very next verse in Luke  – Go! I am sending you out…

We are to be praying for additional workers to join us in the fields where we are already working. Every day we live in a harvest field. Unfortunately, we don’t all assume the duties of a harvester. We live in a white field ready to be picked for the Lord but we spend our time on the weeds that meet our own needs. We are working, but we are working to meet our own desires rather than God’s.

We may not believe that the harvest is ready, but Jesus says it is. We may not believe that the people around us want to hear the Gospel, but Jesus says that there are some that are ready to hear.

So, GO!

Jesus has sent us into the fields to collect His harvest. Get busy with His work. It is the only work you can do that has eternal value.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, October 05, 2017

Psalms 95:6-8a  Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;  for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…

I am a dog lover. Dakota was my favorite dog our family ever had. He was a massive Yellow Lab, and he loved and protected our family. He was extremely loyal, except for one thing – he had this insatiable longing for freedom to do his own thing. He could not be kept tied up or penned in.

One day we found his five-stranded steel cable broken and he was two miles away dragging an eight foot portion of it while he had fun with a female friend. As a puppy, I had tried my very best to teach him to respond to my voice commands, and for the most part he would listen. But if he had a better idea or a better offer from someone else, he would do what he wanted and not what I wanted. When he had his heart set on something he would not even respond to the basic command to “come”. As he grew, he listened less to me and followed his own heart more. Eventually, when we moved into the city of Eau Claire from the farm we were renting, we had to sell him. He would not have survived in town, nor would the neighbors have let us keep him.

Many of us have “Dakota” hearts. We hear God saying “come” but we are only listening to the other offers. We follow our own selfish and corrupted hearts running after the fun we can have with other friends. We leave the security and care of the Master’s pasture to try and satisfy the impulses of our flesh. Then, even when the Master finds us in our filth, and lovingly asks us to come, intending to clean us up and restore us, we run again. Every time we hear His voice and choose our own way, our hearts become harder, and before long we find ourselves wandering in a wilderness of sin with no hope of rest.

Just think of how many devotional times you have had with the Lord when you have read His commands and heard His voice in your heart and then chosen not to listen to Him because it didn’t satisfy your personal agenda at that time.

Now think of how many more times you may have missed hearing His voice because your heart has become desensitized and hardened towards Him because of multiplicity of those previous choices. So many of the circumstances and situations in which we find ourselves are likely a direct result of our own choices and the growing hardness of our hearts.

But stop for a moment. Take a break from your business. Kneel down in a quiet place, and listen. Do you hear it? The Master is calling.

“Come.”

Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. Bow down and worship Him as the LORD your Maker. The Good Shepherd is calling you back to His pasture where He will care for you.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, October 04, 2017

Psalms 94:18 – 19 When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your love, O LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.

Jimmy was playing a make-believe game of soccer in the yard. His dad was working on the garden a few feet away. Jimmy would kick the ball against the fence, pretending it was a net, and then leap for joy at the thought of scoring the winning goal.

Suddenly one of Jimmy’s kicks sailed higher than expected, and it soared over the fence into the neighbor’s yard. Dad gave him permission to go through the gate at the other end of the fence and get his ball. Jimmy, however, had a more direct recovery route in his mind. Even though he knew that his dad had told him not to try and climb the 6-foot-high chain link fence, this 4-year old figured it was quicker to do so. He moved to a position on the fence that was directly behind his dad so he wouldn’t be seen, and started to climb.

His skills were apparent and his caution was commendable, but as he approached the top he stopped to figure out how to get over the sharp point of the fence. As he balanced there for a moment his foot slipped, and he began to fall backwards. At that very instant, his dad, who had been aware of Jimmy’s disobedient attempt to recover his ball, reached out and caught him, rescuing him from landing on the large rock that marked the corner of the garden and had been the launching pad of Jimmy’s climb. When Jimmy begins to cry because of fear, dad held him tight and comforted him before he began any form of correction.

We are so much like Jimmy, and his dad is so much like God. We know God’s will, and we know God’s way, but with our will we choose our own way. How thankful we can be that God is aware of what we are doing, and He is prepared to reach out and catch us when we begin to fall. No matter how many times Jimmy would attempt to climb that fence, every time he would start to fall his dad would spontaneously reach out and catch him. That’s what love does. He wouldn’t stand back and let him fall, hoping it would teach him a lesson. Even if he wanted to, his immediate reaction to seeing his son in danger would be to rescue him. His love would catch him, and then he would find a more appropriate and meaningful way to teach him how to obey. That’s the nature of love, and God is perfect at it!

What joy it brings to our hearts to know that God’s love will catch us, comfort us, and correct us. When we are slipping and about to fall, God’s love supports us. When we are worried and filled with anxiety, God’s comfort brings joy to our souls. Only then will He discipline us, and we will accept it because we now understand the nature of His care for us, and that He wants only good for us.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, October 03, 2017

Psalms 93:5 Your statutes stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days, O LORD.

I am not much of an interior decorator. When you walk into our house and notice the décor, it’s all because of Denise. Except, of course, for the family room in the basement where the head mount of a buck hangs next to a large pheasant, a turkey fan, and another rack of antlers. I’ll gladly add to the décor of that room.

Last week I spent three hours helping Denise redecorate our dining room. For several years there has been a stenciled Bible verse on the wall surrounded by a painted frame. Denise had a fabulous idea to create a grandchild clock on the wall. We have 11 grandchildren, so with a picture of Grandma and Grandpa for the 12, we have a huge clock on the wall signifying the birth order of the grandkids. It really looks great.

The problem was, Denise didn’t want to lose the Bible verse. So in comes Mr. “I love to do fine detail work” husband. I carefully peeled every individual letter off the wall and transferred them to a new location above the four dining room windows, making sure they were perfectly level and evenly spaced. It turned out rather well, if I get a vote.

It is important to us to have a house that reflects our love for Jesus Christ. Knowing that first impressions are important, we wanted visitors to our home to quickly notice that this was a sacred place where God dwelt.

But to just have a home decorated so that it looks like a spiritual place isn’t sufficient. Our verse for today from Psalm 93 reminds us that holiness adorns the house of the Lord forever. In this verse, the house of the Lord can refer to both the holy temple of heaven and the temple in Jerusalem. But I want to point out a significant application of the truth of God’s holiness adorning two other temples.

First, the church is called the temple of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 3:16, which says, Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

Paul is speaking here to the body of believers called the church, and, as a whole, the church is the dwelling place of God. Therefore, our churches are to adorn the holiness of God. Our churches are to be a place where people’s first impression is that the Spirit of God is present and powerfully active, producing the sacred fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23).

Second, each one of us individually is called a temple of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 6:19 Paul says, Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.

Holiness should adorn our lives.

So let’s talk about first impressions again. When people meet you for the first time, what do they quickly notice about you? What is your décor? What adorns your life?

I think for most of us, we would have to humbly admit that we have chosen very worldly and materialistic things to adorn our lives. We wear football jerseys to announce to everyone what team we are on. We polish our possessions so they shine with the pride of our status. We even display our obedience to God’s law as a mark of spiritual superiority.

Maybe it is time to consider the following questions and evaluate the décor of our house of life.

• Do people see you primarily as the dwelling place of God, or the dwelling place of self?
• Does the holiness of the Lord shine through in your actions and your speech from the moment they meet you?
• What have you chosen to be in the prominent place of visibility in your life that will dictate how the rest of your house is decorated?
• When people meet you, do they have to work their way through all of the hallways and rooms of your house filled with sports, job success, or family issues before they finally find the place where God is obvious? Or are they able to see Him clearly displayed in every part of your life beginning with the entrance point?

The décor of our homes is the reflection of who we are and what we love. Our lives and lifestyles are to be no different: they are to be the reflection of who God is.

Maybe it’s time to do a little redecorating.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, October 2, 2017

 Psalm 92:12-15 ¹²  The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. ¹³  They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God. ¹⁴  They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, ¹⁵  to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

As a fisherman, I have become very aware of the significance of colors. Colors have meaning. For example, a fad that developed a few years ago is to use red hooks, because supposedly it simulates the bleeding of the bait, indicating an easy meal for the fish. Artificial lures are now being painted with red dots behind the gills for the same reason. In crystal clear water this may work, but overall this is a marketing gimmick, because anyone with any knowledge of color and water knows that as depth increases and light diminishes, the first color to become invisible is red. What good will a red hook do in 30 feet of murky water? But the stores are sure selling a lot of them.

Colors have significant meaning in our lives as well. When we are feeling down we are _______. Right, blue. That makes no sense to me because blue is the color of the sky and how can anyone be down when looking up. Grey would make more sense to me because it’s the color of clouds that hide the beauty of the blue sky.

We use colors to control traffic at intersections, and their meanings have carried over into other areas of our lives as well. Red means danger or warning, do not proceed. We use it to signify emergency vehicles. Yellow means caution and grabs our attention. It is used in advertising and marketing to get us to notice something. We have combined red and yellow to produce orange, which is used for hunting clothing because of its extreme visibility. We use green to signify that all things are good and we may proceed. Green is the color of life and vitality. It is the color God chose to display life in His creation.

As we get older, the meaningfulness and usefulness of our lives is brought into question, sometimes by society and sometimes by friends and family. As our hair turns grey, so do our emotions. As our physical abilities diminish, people put up red lights for us to stop us from participating in activities we still long to do. The realization of potential danger causes us to become more grey. Society has begun to devalue old age. We try everything we can to avoid getting older, feeling older, and especially looking older. What happened to the days when grey hair was considered a sign of wisdom and maturity, and it garnered respect from others?

But in the social strata of God’s kingdom the color of old age is green. God has chosen to provide continuing nourishment for the aging and produce the sweetest harvests from the aged. It is in old age that God promises we will continue to bear fruit and we will stay fresh and green.

There is some significance, I believe, to God using the fruit of the vine as a metaphor for our spiritual lives. Throughout Scripture grapes and wine are used to indicate bounty and vitality. And it is the oldest and best kept vines that produce the best grapes. In fact, until the vines are fully mature and have been sufficiently pruned and shaped, the grapes aren’t even used.

So it is with our lives. As we grow older, we become more productive in bearing fruit that really matters – the fruit of eternal significance. We become less distracted by the things of the world. Its weeds can no longer choke us out. All the things that competed for our time and energy and disrupted our priority system have lost their significance compared to knowing God and bearing eternal fruit for the Master Gardener of our souls. We now see with eyes of wisdom that all we called green in our youth was not green at all, but really yellow, orange, and red. If only the youth would listen to the wisdom of the aged, rather than pushing them aside as those who interfere with their fun.

Take heart, you who are aged. You are still green. You are still bearing fruit. In fact, these are to be your best and most productive years in preparation for God’s eternal kingdom. Let the young see you stand tall like a palm tree during the worst storms of life. Let the young see your true strength which is the result of growing in God like a cedar tree. Stay involved. Be a leader. Take on a ministry. Become a mentor. Teach the young. They need to see what real green looks like.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Psalms 91:14 – 16 (NIV) ¹⁴“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. ¹⁵He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. ¹⁶With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Psalms 23:4 (NIV) ⁴Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

When I was around 12 years old, I was on vacation with my family in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We were traveling around that beautiful part of our country seeing the sights, like Tahquahmenon Falls, the Porcupine Mountains, Lake of the Clouds, and so many more. We had traveled up into copper mining territory on the Keewanah Peninsula and dad decided it would be fun to tour a copper mine. He went to the ticket booth and came back to the car with five tickets. My math brain quickly figured something was up because there were six of us. Dad said he was staying behind to watch the car while the rest of us all went on the tour. At first I thought he was making a sacrifice. Only after some questioning did I discover his claustrophobia. No way was he going down underground in a small cave in the dark. I was still too young to realize that I had it also. That was about to change.

The tunnel down into the mine was wide and well lit. So far this was fun. I was fascinated by the rock formations and the information the tour guide was giving us. As we got deeper and deeper into the mine, the tunnel narrowed. I looked back and the lights that has been on as we came down the passage way were now off. I could not see the entrance to the mine. I looked ahead and the people on the tour were now all in single file, and the walls of the tunnel were closing in. Then, just as I was getting scared, the tunnel opened into a large opening where mining had taken place.

For a short time, we stood there in peace as the guide told us about the process of mining copper. Then he told us to grab the hand of the person next to us. He didn’t say why, so I didn’t do it. I was standing next to my two brothers, and I wasn’t about to hold their hands. At that instant, the lights went off. The guide told us he wanted us to experience total darkness.

I couldn’t see a thing. I touched my nose to see if I could see even a shadow of my hand, but there was nothing. I couldn’t run because I had no idea where the exit was. I was scared! I remember yelling, “Mom!” She was just on the other side of my brother and I probably shoved him as I reached out to try to grab her. More than anything else I needed to know that a person I could trust was with me. I grabbed her hand just as the lights went on, and I think I held on to it even as my brothers laughed at me. I didn’t care – I needed to feel safe.

As I shared yesterday, I am spending time in the 91^st Psalm this week because it was my mom’s favorite. It was almost 12 years ago that my mom was in bed unable to get up because of the ravaging effects of cancer. But I watched as she reached out to hold on to the hand of the One who can be trusted.

I spent several days with her during her last week of life on earth, and I observed something wonderful: she didn’t reach out for dad’s hand, or for mine. She didn’t call out for the doctor or the nurses. She didn’t show any signs of dependence upon people or the need to have her suffering relieved by people. She never complained when we had to turn her and change her sheets. She simply whispered the name Jesus. In the darkest time of her life she had already reached out her hand to the one she knew she could trust.

Her love for Jesus was rewarded with the His personal presence. So complete was her trust in Him that she didn’t cry when friends came to visit and she had to say goodbye to them for probably the last time. She didn’t even cry when I said goodbye to her on the day I left, never to see her alive again. She simply smiled and hugged me, knowing that we would be together again in the presence of our Savior.

In Psalm 91:14, the Lord says that He will protect us. The Hebrew word for protect literally means to set on high so as to be inaccessible. Mom understood that and lived that truth as she laid on her bed. The Lord has set her on high. Disease, destruction, and death have no access to her. They may have access to her physical body, but her physical body does not define her existence. Her soul and her spirit define her, and they are already experiencing the presence of God.

That is how we are to live our lives every day. We must stop defining our existence by our physical experiences. Instead, we must walk in the Spirit of God. The flesh is not our identity. We have been shown the salvation of God, and no matter what trouble comes to the flesh, His presence is always with us. When we love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, then fear is destroyed. The Apostle John said, “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…”

When trouble comes, your true love is revealed. When in financial distress do you call your banker or Jesus? When your marriage is falling apart do you call a counselor or Jesus? When stress overwhelms you do you call your friends or Jesus? When sickness invades your life do you call your doctor or Jesus?

It’s ok to call any or all of these people when in need, but not first. Your first call is to Jesus, so that you are assured that your spirit and soul are at peace in His presence. Then, no matter what the outcome of the physical circumstance, you will know you are inaccessible because God has placed you on high.

If you truly love the Lord, then this will be true – you will call on Him, and He will answer you and be with you in the trouble. He will hold your hand in the dark, and you will be safe.

O the glory of His presence!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Psalms 91:1 – 2 (NIV) He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

You will notice that I am in spending extra time this week in the 91^st Psalm. There is a reason for that: it was my mom’s favorite Psalm, and it has special value to me.

Now, bear with me as my imagination runs wild.

In my wildest dreams I could never expect this to really happen, but I can pretend. Bill Gates, the founder and CEO of Microsoft, has been searching the internet for a place to drop five million dollars to a charity. He happens across our web site at www.calvaryeauclaire.org and sees the pictures of our building and becomes enamored with the outreach of our church. He authorizes a check, and three days later, by certified mail with a return receipt requested, the staff and I open up a personal letter from Mr. Gates with the check enclosed. After we get done jumping and shouting, we fall to our knees in prayer as we weep before the Lord for His provision. We then take the check, this promise of resources, and place it in the safe, where it will stay as a memorial of God’s goodness.

Wait a minute…stop the dream…it’s become idiotic. Wouldn’t we take the check to the bank and deposit the funds to our church account? Of course we would. We never get a dime of that money unless the promise is cashed in. We believe the issuer is able to fulfill his promise, and he wouldn’t have written the check if he didn’t want to fulfill his promise, so we cash the check and enjoy the benefits of the promise.

I am convinced we have just as foolishly not cashed in some of the promises of God. When I read the 91^st Psalm, I find myself saying I believe them, but not cashing them in. I put them in a safe place in my heart to remind me of God’s goodness, but I never enjoy the benefits of the promise today. I have allowed my circumstances to dictate the validity of the promise, which in turn causes doubt about the Author of the promise.

Can you relate? Here’s a test. Read the following promises from today’s Psalm, and evaluate your first response to them…

• He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Are you resting?
• Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. Are you trusting Him for your daily protection? Do you thank Him for all you did NOT encounter today that could have happen had He not been your protector?
• He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. Do you feel safe and secure and comforted, walking in peace and not fear?
• If you make the Most High your dwelling—even the LORD, who is my refuge—then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. OK, did you just try to explain this promise away, or do you truly believe God’s promise? Do you understand that no human circumstance can be called a disaster. Why? Because nothing can separate us from His love, and everything that happens allows God to draw us deeper into His heart?
• For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Are you aware of God’s ministering servants called angels whom He has commanded to guard our lives?

WOW! What a check we have received. But no check is valid unless it is signed by the one who makes the promise of payment. Fortunately for us, God Himself has signed this check…

 “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Twelve years ago I watched as my mom spent the last portion of this promise she had cashed early on in her life. She is now dwelling permanently in the presence of the Benefactor. While here on this earth, she lived lavishly as she spent every spiritual penny of this Psalm. It was the theme of her life. She could have simply read it, seen the signature, and then put it in a safe place as a memorial of God’s goodness. But that would have been to live a life of doubt. She lived a life of faith – faith in the One who wrote the check, that He could pay it and that He wanted to pay it now. She was living the lavish lifestyle of a spiritually wealthy person.

Isn’t it time you cashed some of God’s checks?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Psalms 91:4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

Several years ago, I was on a family fishing trip, and my brother was there with me. While we were fishing, we noticed a mature bald eagle settle in a tree at the edge of the lake. We maneuvered into a position in the boat where we could get pictures, and then with a little noise we forced the majestic bird to fly out over the water as we snapped pictures.

During his ascent one of his tail feathers fell out and floated downward to the water. We drove over to it and picked it up. It was huge! I was impressed not only by its size but be its design. It was strong enough to not break, bend, or tear under the stress of strong winds while in flight, yet it was delicate enough to feel soft and comforting to the touch. It was completely waterproof and obviously ultraviolet safe because the colors showed no signs of fading.

A feather is a marvel of God’s creation. No wonder the Psalmist chose the feather as the symbol of God’s comfort and care for us. When the storms of life rise up against us, God has us covered with His feathers providing protection from the wind and the rain. When enemies mount an attack against us we find refuge under His wings. When we are tempted to cower in fear His faithfulness gives us confidence to stand strong because he is our shield and our rampart. (The word rampart means to be totally surrounded. God totally surrounds us with protection.) No matter what the circumstances of life, in Christ we are covered and confident.

One of the songs my mom used to sing when I was younger was an old hymn called “Under His Wings”. Let the words cover you with confidence today.

Under His wings, I am safely abiding;

Though the night deepens and tempests are wild,

Still I can trust Him I know He will keep me;

He has redeemed me and I am His child.

Under His wings, what a refuge in sorrow!

How the heart yearningly turns to His rest!

Often when earth has no balm for my healing,

There I find comfort and there I am blessed.

Under His wings, O what precious enjoyment!

There will I hide ‘til life’s trials are o’er;

Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me;

Resting in Jesus I’m safe evermore.

Under His wings, under His wings,

Who from His love can sever?

Under His wings my soul shall abide,

Safely abide forever.

God is faithful! Nothing can separate us from His love. He is our refuge and our strength, and an ever-present help in time of need. Let Him cover you today with comfort so you serve Him with confidence.