Author Archives: Pastor John van Gorkom

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About Pastor John van Gorkom

Pastor John is a retired pastor who loves to tell people about Jesus and bring them to a deeper understanding of His truth.

HERE’S WHAT GOD DID

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LifeLink Devotional for Friday, January 3, 2025

If we are going to truly understand the marvel of reconciliation, we must wrap our minds around the amazing concept of forgiveness. Here’s one of my favorite Bible passages describing what God did when He reconciled me to Himself in Christ.

Ephesians 1:3-8  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”

WOW! Let’s break that down. Here’s what God did for us in our salvation:

  • He blessed us in His presence with every spiritual blessing in Christ. That means that when God sees us from His throne, our standing with Him is the same as Christ’s.
  • He chose us. He initiated the whole plan to bring us into relationship with Himself, and to call us holy and blameless.
  • He determined to adopt us. We are joint heirs of all things in eternity with Jesus Christ.
  • He has lavishly bestowed His glorious grace on us through Jesus Christ. He will never count your sins against you and He will freely grant you everything He has promised.
  • He has redeemed us. We are bought with the price of His Son’s blood, and that price is non-refundable. We are eternally secure.
  • He has forgiven us. Forgiven of everything that contradicts Him, so there need never be anything between us.

My heart is overwhelmed with joy as I think that God, based on the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, can and will forgive us when we humbly confess our sin, and will restore us to perfect relationship with Himself. That, my friends, is truly awesome.

I challenge you to takes some extra time this weekend to look up Ephesians 1:3-8 for yourself and study everything God did for you in your salvation. Let the Holy Spirit overwhelm you with gratitude and joy. Then come back Monday for a story that illustrates all of this.

Pastor John

THE MARVEL OF GOD’S WORK

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LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, January 2, 2025

Yesterday we began a conversation about God’s marvelous work of reconciling us to Himself through Christ’s work on the cross. Here’s how God taught me the the splendor of His work.

God’s Holiness Fought Me – I had to come to a place in my life where I knew that nothing I could ever do or offer to God would be able to change my nature. I had to know that I could never stand in the presence of God based on my qualifications. There can be no salvation from sin and reconciliation to God unless we first see God in His absolute holiness.

God’s Love Sought Me – He sent Jesus to pay the price for my sin – “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him should never die, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Jesus said, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”

God’s Justice Bought Me – Jesus paid the price for my sin on the cross of Calvary. “You are not your own, you were bought at a price.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

God’s Mercy Caught Me – After the price for my sin had been paid by Jesus, and justice was no longer in the way, mercy came running after me. God chased after me. What an incredible lesson in reconciliation – the One in the right chasing after the ones in the wrong.

God’s Grace Wrought Me – Now that He has caught me, God is shaping me. Every day His grace molds me into the character of Jesus.

God’s Example Taught Me – “He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:19-20) In the same way that God reconciled me to Himself, I am to go with the Good News and reconcile others to God and to each other.

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ…

Pastor John

IT’S ALL FROM GOD

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LifeLink Devotional for Wednesday, January 1, 2025

We are more apathetic than we will admit. Especially when it comes to conflict resolution. I know all too well about the “sweep it under the rug” philosophy of problem solving. I grew up in a Scandinavian home. But we’re not the only ones who have adopted and promoted this attitude. Somehow the Biblical admonition to “be at peace with one another” has been misunderstood and misapplied. Being at peace with one another doesn’t mean pretending that the problem never existed. Being at peace means to resolve the problem so that it doesn’t matter anymore. Peace isn’t the burial of issues. Peace is the healing of the pain of issues. But we have been duped into believing that time heals all pain. If we would just set aside our differences for long enough we will eventually forget that they exist. We have become apathetic towards conflict resolution. We have created a false sense of peace based on a wrong understanding of reconciliation.

What if God had done with our sin what we do with the wrongs of others? What hope would we have if God simply swept our sin under the rug and ignored it, hoping that somehow it would go away so that we could relate to Him again? We would have to believe in a less than holy and less than just God. We would even have to minimize His love for us, because true love heals, not hides.

God didn’t hide sin until after it had been justly dealt with. He didn’t offer eternal forgiveness until sin had been publicly paid for. He didn’t provide healing from the pain of sin until it had been openly confessed by the offender. He didn’t invite us to a restored relationship until after the relationship with His Son had been forsaken. He didn’t reconcile us to Himself until He had first reconciled His Son to Himself by raising Him from the dead. He didn’t offer false peace based on ignorance of sin, but rather He offered true peace based on the knowledge and the forgiveness of sin.

2 Corinthians 5:18  “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ…”

Every necessary requisite to a reconciled relationship with God was initiated and implemented by God. When He saw our sin, He set in motion the strategy of salvation. “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:5-7)

When we accept what God did in Christ on the cross, and repent of our sin, our relationship with God is eternally reconciled. He did what I couldn’t. Surrender all your efforts to be made right. Make a clean sweep of the past and accept what Jesus has done for you.

Pastor John

RESTORATION

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LifeLink Devotional for Tuesday, December 31, 2024

One of the characteristics of reconciliation is restoration. It is difficult for me to consider the validity of anyone saying they have been reconciled to another person unless it includes the marvelous grace of forgiveness leading to restoration of the previous status of the relationship. Restoration to a previous state is not possible unless everything that damaged the relationship is removed and declared irrelevant.

Biblical reconciliation results in the restoration of our relationship with God to a former status. What former status is that? The status of intimate and secure relationship with God based on righteousness. We do not bring our sin with us into this relationship. Reconciliation requires the renouncing of anything that was responsible for the breakup.

There is tension between what the Bible says and what the world says is necessary for reconciliation. The world has declared war on the Biblical definition by stating that the only thing required for people to live in harmony with one another is tolerance. The biblical model of reconciliation challenges that philosophy by emphasizing the need for repentance and change.

In the Bible, reconciliation is all about change. In fact, the Greek word for reconciliation that the Apostle Paul uses in his writings means simply “to change completely”.

There is an ancient and deceptive philosophy called Gnosticism. It teaches that God is only concerned with the spirit and cannot be involved with the physical. That belief is still prevalent today and forms the foundation of the philosophy of tolerance. It is held by those who support and pursue the gratification of the flesh and all its desires. Mainstream culture today believes that people can be reconciled to one another without a change in behavior or beliefs. Logically, then, those same people conclude that the spiritual can also be reconciled to God without change in belief or behavior.

This is contrary to what the Bible teaches about the saving grace of God in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:17-19  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.”

Saved people have the power of the Holy Spirit in them. He is creating the character of Jesus Christ in them. He is moving them toward holiness and the rejection of sinful behavior. True reconciliation with God requires repentance from sin. Unity and harmony with God are not possible when we intentionally continue in what God calls sin and reject the Holy Spirit’s transformational influence.

True reconciliation is based upon and results in change. As our Scripture passage said, every part of our lives that was once connected to and controlled by sin is gone when we are in Christ. We are a new creation, with a new purpose – to do the work of God.

Change. When we repent of our sin, we admit the need for change. God grants forgiveness, and there is a change in our spiritual standing before God. Our change in standing produces a change in our social behavior before man. When we are in Christ, we are to put off all the activity of the flesh so that our lives are lived in righteousness and holiness.

When we come to Christ for salvation, admitting to and repenting of our sinful nature, He changes us. The very life of Jesus Christ is created in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are new. Our minds are transformed. Our actions will follow our hearts. We are designed in our salvation to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

When we repent of our sin and believe in Christ’s righteousness that was made available to us when He paid our sin debt on the cross, we are reconciled to God and restored to our former relationship status. As a result, we renounce sin and live to reflect the glory of our spiritual condition. Then, one day, Jesus will return and finalize the reconciliation when He takes us into His perfect presence.

That’s reconciliation – restoration to God, complete and eternal.

Pastor John

WHAT WILL THE NEW YEAR BRING?

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LifeLink Devotions for Monday, December 30, 2024

As we prepare to enter a new year my mind has been captivated by a word. I am going to study it thoroughly. It is a word that has both secular and spiritual applications. In its most basic dictionary definition, it means “to restore to balance.” It can specifically apply to the restoration of friendship, the balancing of finances, or the composition of music to create harmony. In the Greek language it means “to change or exchange so that favor is restored.” You have probably figured out by now that the word is reconcile.

When we think of reconciliation, we probably think first of people who are restored to relationship after they have been separated by hurt and anger. But to even understand that completely, we must begin with the ultimate act and example of reconciliation – God restoring our relationship with Him. My mind is swimming with a multitude of ideas and insights into God’s work of reconciliation, and in the coming devotionals we will try to investigate them. But let me lay the proper foundation for this study by sharing with you a story told by the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard.

“A certain king was very rich. His power was known throughout the world. But he was most unhappy, for he desired a wife. Without a queen, the vast palace was empty. One day, while riding through the streets of a small village, he saw a beautiful peasant girl. So lovely was she that the heart of the king was won. He wanted her more than anything he had ever desired. On succeeding days, he would ride by her house on the mere hope of seeing her for a moment in passing.

“He wondered how he might win her love. He thought, I will draw up a royal decree and require her to be brought before me to become the queen of my land. But, as he considered, he realized that she was a subject and would be forced to obey. He could never be certain that he had won her love.

“Then, he said to himself, “I shall call on her in person. I will dress in my finest royal garb, wear my diamond rings, my silver sword, my shiny black boots, and my most colorful tunic. I will overwhelm her and sweep her off her feet to become my bride.” But, as he pondered the idea, he knew that he would always wonder whether she had married him for the riches and power he could give her.

“Then, he decided to dress as a peasant, drive to the town, and have his carriage let him off. In disguise, he would approach her house. But, somehow the duplicity of this plan did not appeal to him.

“At last, he knew what he must do. He would shed his royal robes. He would go to the village and become one of the peasants. He would work and suffer with them. He would actually become a peasant. He would give up his rights to the throne to win the heart of his heart’s love. This he did, and he won his wife.”

This is what God did for us. To win the hearts of His heart’s love, He became one of us in Christ. He made himself of no reputation. He became a servant. He humbled himself. He became obedient, even to the point of death. The Apostle Paul says, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself.”

God sought to restore favor between himself and man. To do so, he made an exchange that brought change. Not change to Him, for He never changes. His exchange brings change to us, which in turn changes our relationship with God. According to Colossians chapter one, we were once alienated from God and were enemies in our minds because of our evil behavior. But now he has reconciled us by Christ’s physical body through death to present us holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation. Amazing! Awesome! We have been reconciled to God. This is incredible news. I can’t wait to see what else God is going to teach us in the days ahead.

Pastor John

DO WHATEVER HE SAYS

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LifeLink Devotional for Friday, December 27, 2024

One of the most enjoyable experiences of my life is to purchase a car. One thing I do not expect from the salesman after I buy it is him telling 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 2:34-35 “Then 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, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

I know how I felt when the doctor told me that my daughter would need heart surgery when she was two years old. I’m sure you have experienced similar emotions in response to difficult and sometimes tragic news in your family. Here was Mary, just eight 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 to know and understand the truth about her Son and yet have everyone else reject that truth. 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 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 thrity years old. The host of the wedding did not plan for enough wine, and it had run out. Mary seized this opportunity to introduce the truth about her Son to the world and suggests to Him that He could 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 thirty years she has remained faithful to the truth about who He was and His purpose in coming to the earth.

Whether she was right or wrong to suggest His involvement in this wine problem is not the issue: the real issue is that the things she treasured in her heart about Jesus had not only sustained her for all those years but 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 in honor to a holy God. Our hearts will be broken by the rejection of our spouses and children and those close to us. 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. Our defense against the sword of the world piercing our hearts with rejection is the Sword of the Word of Truth that gives us an eternal perspective. Then we can say with Mary, “Do whatever He tells you.”

Pastor John

SHOPPING FOR TREASURES

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LifeLink Devotional for Thursday, December 26, 2024

For many people, the thrill of Christmas continues today because the After Christmas Sales have begun. Stores have opened early to close out all their seasonal merchandise. People are getting up early to get a head start on what they will need for next Christmas. They will find their treasures at greatly reduced prices and store them up in their closets and basements so when the time comes for the next holiday they will be prepared. Just knowing what they bought and how great a bargain they got will sustain them through the shopping lulls caused by regular prices in the days ahead. For me, I wonder what treasures I have to sustain me through the long winter months still ahead?

It helps when I think about Mary, the mother of Jesus. Her Baby has been born, the trip home has been completed, and routine has been established. People have stopped coming over to visit and to see the Baby. Relatives are finally settled down and are acting like they accept this “miraculous” birth. Joseph is back in his carpentry shop, and Mary struggles to fight off the depressing prospect of life in the regular lane.

But she is prepared to fight that battle, and how she fights it is a lesson for all of us. You see, she went After Christmas Shopping also; only she did it in her heart.

Luke 2:19 “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Mary found lots of treasures, filling the shopping cart of her heart with eternally enduring truths and memories.

There were treasures like Gabriel’s announcement to her that she was highly favored by God; his explanation of the power of the Holy Spirit that would come upon her; the visit with Elizabeth and the sharing of a miraculous birth experience with her; the statement of the angel that “nothing is impossible with God;” the description by the shepherds of the glory of God in the sky and the announcement of good news for all the people; and the first time she held the Son of God in her arms and experienced the fullness of God’s grace and truth.

Mary filled her heart with all these things and more, and they sustained her for the next 12 years of regular life until another “holiday” occurred. Jesus was teaching in the temple, and once again Mary found some more treasures to store up in the closet of her heart.

She would need all these treasures because life would be regular for the next 18 years, but when life stopped being routine she was ready. When Jesus was presented by His heavenly Father to the world as the people’s Savior, she was ready because she had done more than just put the treasures in a closet: she put them in a prominent place in the house of her heart where she could look at them every day and be reminded that life with Jesus is not regular. She was sustained because she had polished the art of meditation on God’s truth. The truths she experienced and treasured became her weapons with which she fought the battle of routine.

We have the same opportunity. We too must polish up the art of meditation: not meditation to escape life like the world teaches; but rather meditation on the truths of God to fulfill life.

When Joshua was preparing to lead the people of Israel into the battle for the Promised Land, God gave him these instructions – “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

It’s time to go spiritual shopping for treasures which are found in God’s Word – and they’re FREE! What a bargain – life-sustaining truth at no cost. Fill your cart today.

Pastor John

THE GIFT OF ALWAYS

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LifeLink Devotional for Wednesday, December 25, 2024

MERRY CHRISTMAS.

In 1994, two Americans answered an invitation from the Russian Department of Education to teach morals and ethics (based on biblical principles) in the public schools. They were invited to teach at prisons, businesses, the fire and police departments and a large orphanage.  About 100 boys and girls who had been abandoned, abused, and left in the care of a government-run program were in the orphanage. Here is the story they tell.

It was nearing the holiday season in 1994, and it was time for our orphans to hear, for the first time, the traditional story of Christmas. We told them about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem. Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a stable, where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger.

Throughout the story, the children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened. Completing the story, we gave the children three small pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger. Each child was given a small paper square, cut from yellow napkins I had brought with me as no colored paper was available in the city.

Following instructions, the children tore the paper and carefully laid strips in the manger for straw. Small squares of flannel, cut from a worn-out nightgown a lady had given us, were used for the baby’s blanket. A doll-like baby was cut from tan felt we had brought from the United States. The orphans were busy assembling their manger as I walked among them to see if they needed any help.

All went well until I got to one table where little Misha sat. He looked to be about 6 years old and had finished his project. As I looked at the little boy’s manger, I was startled to see not one, but two babies in the manger. Quickly, I called for the translator to ask the lad why there were two babies in the manger. Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at this completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story very seriously. For such a young boy, who had only heard the Christmas story once, he related the happenings accurately – until he came to the part where Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger.

Then Misha started to ad-lib. He made up his own ending to the story as he said, “And when Maria laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay.  I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I don’t have any place to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with him. But I told him I couldn’t, because I didn’t have a gift to give him like everybody else did.”

“But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept him warm, that would be a good gift. So I asked Jesus, ‘If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?’ And Jesus told me, ‘If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me.’ So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and he told me I could stay with him—for always.”

As little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed down his little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed.  The little orphan had found someone who would never abandon him, someone who would stay with him – FOR ALWAYS. 

Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” Jesus came so that we could be His children – for always. This Christmas, remember that it’s not what you get for gifts that matters, but Who you get as a gift, and Jesus is the indescribable Gift of God.

Pastor John

THE GIFT OF STOOPING

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LifeLink Devotional for Tuesday, December 24, 2024

The following is a true story: Two weeks before Christmas a nine-year-old girl was walking with her friend down the street, sliding on the ice. The two of them were talking about what they hoped to get for Christmas. They stopped to talk to an old man named Harry, who was on his knees doing his best to pull weeds from the frozen ground around a large oak tree. He wore a frayed, woolen jacket and a pair of worn garden gloves. His fingers were sticking out the ends, blue from the cold.

As Harry responded to the girls, he told them he was getting the yard in shape as a Christmas present to his mother, who had passed away several years before. His eyes brimmed with tears as he patted the old oak. “My mother was all I had. She loved her yard and her trees, so I do this for her at Christmas.”

His words touched the girls and soon they were down on their hands and knees helping him to weed around the trees. It took the three of them the rest of the day to complete the task. When they finished, Harry pressed a quarter into each of their hands. “I wish I could pay you more, but it’s all I’ve got right now,” he said.

The girls had often passed that way before and as they walked on they remembered that the house was shabby, with no wreath, no Christmas tree or other decorations to add cheeriness. Just the lonely figure of Harry sitting by his curtain-less window. The quarter seemed to burn a hole of guilt in the one little girl’s mind as they returned to their homes. The next day she called her friend, and they agreed to put their quarters in a jar marked “Harry’s Christmas Present” and then they began to seek out small jobs to earn more. Every nickel, dime, and quarter they earned went into the jar.

Two days before Christmas, they had enough to buy new gloves and a Christmas card. Christmas Eve found them on Harry’s doorstep singing carols. When he opened the door, they presented him with the gloves wrapped in pretty paper, the card and a pumpkin pie still warm from the oven. With trembling hands, he tore the paper from the gloves, and then to their astonishment, he held them to his face and wept.

As I thought about that story, I began to wonder how low I would stoop to help others. Then I found this quote from author, professor, and clergyman Henry Van Dyke, who asks us some penetrating questions. “Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and desires of little children; to remember the weaknesses and loneliness of people who are growing old; to stop asking how much your friends love you, and to ask yourself whether you love them enough; to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear on their hearts; to trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall behind you; to make a grave for your ugly thoughts and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate open? Are you willing to do these things for a day? How about for lifetime? Then you are ready to keep Christmas!”

Jesus stooped down from glory and became lower than the angels He created, so that He might personally relate to us and rescue us. He didn’t just put on the appearance of man for a time. According to Philippians 2:4-8, His very nature became that of a servant.

It’s easy for us to put on the decorations of Christmas once a year and act like we are givers. But is giving in your nature?

I love this quote from John Stott, who said, “The Christian should resemble a fruit tree, not a Christmas tree! For the gaudy decorations of a Christmas tree are only tied on, whereas fruit grows on a fruit tree.”

Make it your intention this year to let giving and serving be your nature, not just your decoration. When the Christ of Christmas abides in you, and you abide in Him, you will bear fruit that looks like Him, and that starts with stooping down for others.

Pastor John

THE GIFT OF SUBMISSION

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LifeLink Devotional for Monday, December 23, 2024

A fast food chain that had previously been relatively unknown became nationally popular years ago by choosing a slogan that caught on quickly – “Have it your way!” To appear helpful and serving, what they were really doing was capitalizing on the self-centered nature of the customer. We are constantly bombarded from secular society with the “right” we have to please ourselves by either having it or doing it our way.

In stark contrast to that philosophy stands the statement of Mary in response to the angel’s announcement of God’s purpose for her life. After asking how this miraculous event would happen to her, she fully surrenders self and accepts the role of a servant. With an attitude of total humility Mary says in Luke one verse thirty-eight, “May it be to me as you have said.”

No debate. No suggested changes or adaptations to the plan. No looking around to see who’s watching this great example of humility. Just quiet and complete surrender to what God said. “Have it your way, God!”

We may be tempted to think that her surrender was easy because she was being asked to do something so wonderful. She got to be pregnant – the dream of most women. She got to bear a son – the fulfillment of her cultural responsibility as a wife. She got to participate in the eternal purpose of Jehovah to save the world from its sin. That choice seems like a no-brainer, right? But what about all the problems she would encounter by making that choice to surrender? There would be the possibility of losing her fiancé. She would be considered an adulteress by her society. Her son would have to grow up as an illegitimate child, scorned by his youthful friends. She had to know all those things, and yet she considered the call of God to be more significant than the opinion of people.

The same call of God goes out to us today. He has called us to be a part of His incredible plan to bring His grace to a lost world? He has sent His Holy Spirit upon us to overshadow self and the flesh and empower us to accomplish God’s eternal purpose. We have the choice of two responses: we can look up to God in anticipation that the King will tell us “Have it your way,” or we can look up to the King and tell Him, “Have it your way.”

In the first response there appears to be safety because we believe we can control the social fallout of our choice. But in the second response there is incomparable fulfillment, knowing that we are participating with Almighty God in His glorious plan of salvation.

Asking God to do it my way elevates self and society over God: submitting to God’s way shows our faith in God to meet the needs of self and society.

Asking God to do it my way leaves us at the mercy of man and destined to the world’s destruction. Submitting to God’s way puts us in the merciful and gracious hand of God and guarantees us eternal life.

Seems like a no-brainer to me!

“Have it your way, God!”

Pastor John