LifeLink Devotions for Friday, April 5, 2024

Noble Doss dropped the ball. One ball. One pass. One mistake. In 1941, he let one fall. And it’s haunted him ever since. “I cost us a national championship,” he says.

The University of Texas football team was ranked number one in the nation. Hoping for an undefeated season and a berth in the Rose Bowl, they played conference rival Baylor University. With a 7-0 lead in the third quarter, the Longhorn quarterback launched a deep pass to a wide-open Doss.

“The only thing I had between me and the goal,” he recalls, “was twenty yards of grass.”

The throw was on target. Longhorn fans rose to their feet. The sure-handed Doss spotted the ball and reached out, but it slipped through.

Baylor rallied and tied the score with seconds to play. Texas lost their top ranking and, consequently, their chance at the Rose Bowl.

“I think about that play every day,” Doss admits.

Not that he lacks other memories. Happily married for more than six decades. A father. Grandfather. He served in the navy during World War II. He appeared on the cover of Life magazine with his Texas teammates. He intercepted seventeen passes during his collegiate career, a university record. He won two NFL titles with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Texas High School Hall of Fame and the Longhorn Hall of Honor include his name.

Most fans remember the plays Doss made and the passes he caught. Doss remembers the one he missed. Once, upon meeting a new Longhorn head coach, Doss told him about the bobbled ball. It had been fifty years since the game, but he wept as he spoke.

We all live with regrets. The memories of past failures and hurts haunt us. We spend a great amount of time and energy trying to right the wrongs to heal the wounds. We sometimes seek revenge against the ones who hurt us.

Such was the case in Israel at the beginning of the reign of King Saul. Some men, described as worthless men, tried to discredit Saul and keep him from being honored as King. They spread the word that Saul was incapable of leading the nation and bringing victory against their enemies.

On another front, the Ammonites were invading part of Israel’s land and making frightening threats about gouging out eyes. When Saul got word about it, he rallied the people of Israel, and under the power of the Holy Spirit of God he came with an army of men and wiped out the Ammonites.

During the victory celebration people started to demand justice against the worthless men who had dishonored King Saul. They fully expected that their king would respond according to the flesh and want to make a public spectacle of these guys who had been so wrong. Who wouldn’t want to set the record straight?

But King Saul, with the wisdom of God, said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the LORD has worked salvation in Israel.” (1 Samuel 11:13)   The past didn’t matter. What mattered is what God was doing in the present and what He had planned for the future.

The Apostle Paul understood this truth when he wrote in Philippians 3, “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Let those of us who are mature think this way…”

We all have multiple memories of past hurts and failures. Do not let them define you or consume you. Bury them under the present Presence of Jesus Christ in your life. Do not spend time focused on death when you are the possessor of eternal life. Release the hurt and let it go for good. Embrace what Jesus is doing today.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, April 4, 2024

We are surrounded by constant messages to be beautiful and good-looking. Every day we are bombarded with the lure of gym memberships, exercise programs, diets, and even pills, all promising that if we just looked better we would feel better about who we are and have a happier life.

Did you know that over 50 million people in America have a gym membership and spend over 20 billion dollars on them. But here’s the real shocker – according to StatisticBrain.com only 33% of the people who had memberships actually went to the gym.

You see, we all want to look better, but two things keep us from getting there. Maybe we don’t want to do the work it takes to have that picture perfect body, or maybe after all the work we’ve discovered that it didn’t really change the quality of happiness in our lives. I think down underneath we all know that happiness doesn’t really come from how we look. If it did, we wouldn’t see so many beautiful people in so much trouble and even ending their own lives.

I came across a quote that stuck out to me. It’s from the poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote – “There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us.”

But there can be no wish to scatter joy if we do not have any joy. So where does the joy come from so that we can scatter it to others and thereby be made beautiful?

First, sin is the great joy killer because it is downright ugly. I mean hideously ugly. I mean repulsively ugly. Yet we have embraced it because we have been lied to and believe that it’s really kind of pretty. We have declared what is ugly to be beautiful to make ourselves appear beautiful.

The truth is that we haven’t change our appearance one bit. In fact, it has made us uglier than ever. Every chance we get we step on our neighbors, co-workers, and friends to move ahead of them, believing that this gives us more value. We lie, cheat, and steal to fluff up our own financial pillow thinking that when we lay our head on it we will have peace. We are dreadfully ugly.

It is only when sin is conquered that beauty can be exposed. Beauty can’t be seen in the dark. Only when the light – the True Light of God’s salvation – shines on us will the beauty of life be seen. Only in the joy of the Lord can we find the strength for each day.

“And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10) 

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)

The reason for such joy is that when we renounce sin and its lies, the Lord takes pleasure in us and adorns us with salvation. (Psalm 149:4) We are made beautiful in Christ. In God’s eyes, every one of us who is covered in the blood of Jesus is eternally beautiful.

Sounds freaky, doesn’t it. People who cover their sin with cultural beauty remain ugly, but those who cover themselves in blood – Christ’s blood – are transformed into the most beautiful of all beings. The joy of our salvation is the Great Beautifier.

And when we spread that joy to others, we become beautiful to people as well, not just to God. This is what I take from what Emerson said: by spreading joy and not pain we become beautiful in complexion, form, and behavior.

Today, let people see the beauty of Jesus in you, and they will call you beautiful too.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Wednesday, April 3, 2024

Revelation 21:23 “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.”

I want to express an idea that came to me this morning as I laid in bed trying desperately to go back to sleep. I have no idea why my mind goes to these things, but I thank God that He has a purpose for it.

Here is my thought – “Light is invisible – we only see its effects.”

For you brilliant scientists out there, I’m sure you have a way of explaining light so that it makes sense to a person of average intelligence like me. But I have some questions.

• Why is space dark?
• Why in a dark room, when I shine a pinpoint-focused flashlight against the wall, do I see only the spot on the wall and the area between the light and the wall remains dark?
• Or why can I see a spotlight shining on a person on stage but the area between the source of the light and the person remains dark?
• Is it possible that light, in whatever form it travels, as waves or electromagnetic radiation, is invisible in its nature and only visible when absorbed or reflected by another object?

Now before we get into a study of the physics of light, let me direct our attention to a spiritual application that God is clarifying for me. Follow these simple thoughts from a simple preacher:

• The Bible says God is Light
• The Bible says no one can look upon God and live.
• Therefore, we can only see light at its source and the effects of light on the objects it touches, but as it travels it is invisible.
• Jesus, who is God, came into the world as the Source of Light for the world, and unless we look at Him we are in darkness.

John 1:4 “In [Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of men.“
John 8:12 “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 9:5 “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
John 12:46 “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.”

• We can see the reality of Jesus by looking at the people whose lives are being influenced by His light.
• Jesus chose us, His followers, to be the objects that have absorbed the Light so that we can become light to those around us.

1 Thessalonians 5:5 “For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.”
Ephesians 5:7-14 “Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light.”

The world is in grave darkness. We are the Light the world needs. Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) And the Apostle Paul said that we are to be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. (Philippians 2:15)

We are the ones God has chosen to bring clarity to what is invisible.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Tuesday, April 2, 2024

Generally I’m a pretty confident guy. But there are days when I doubt my abilities and question my value. I bet you do the same thing once in a while, especially when you are tired or stressed. I’m right, aren’t I?

This morning I was reminded about confidence when I read a devotional that started out, “Jesus gives me confidence to be a minister of a new covenant.” It was followed by these verses in 2 Corinthians 3:4-6. “Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit.”

So I began to do a word search for the places in Scripture that talk about confidence. I found a story that went straight to my heart in Second Chronicles chapter 32. Briefly, the people of Judah were in a predicament. King Sennacherib of Assyria had come to overthrow King Hezekiah of Judah and laid siege to their territory. This massive barbaric army was striking fear into the residents of Judah.

King Hezekiah puts their fears into perspective. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

I love that line – “with him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God.” I am challenged by the people’s response – “the people took confidence from the words.” I tend to let words of people destroy my confidence, when Words of God have already been spoken that solidify my confidence. I am responsible for the words I choose to listen to. I alone choose what value I assign to what people say. I am solely accountable for my confidence level based on what words I have chosen to believe.

I have decided that the following words will be the foundation of my confidence level.

Psalm 27:3 “Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.”

Proverbs 3:26 “…for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.”

Hebrews 4:16  “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Hebrews 13:5-6  “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

1 John 5:14  “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”

Check your confidence level against God’s words, not man’s. It will make a difference in your life every day.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Monday, April 1, 2024

All over the world people are celebrating two holidays today. The most popular one is called April Fool’s Day, when we are allowed to play practical jokes on people and make them look like fools. But it’s also Easter Monday.  It’s a national holiday in 117 countries of the world. It is traditionally a day set aside to spend relaxed and recreational time with family and friends. In Canada, people eat Easter eggs and enjoy time outdoors. In Germany, they go out into the fields early in the morning and hold Easter egg races. In Guyana, people fly kites, which are made on Holy Saturday. In Leicestershire, England the people of Hallaton hold a bottle-kicking match and Hare Pie Scramble. In the Netherlands, people eat a festive breakfast and go hiking or cycling in the countryside.  

It makes me wonder if both holidays are the same. Are the people supposedly celebrating Easter with kites and eggs and pies any different from the people celebrating foolishness?

The resurrection of Jesus Christ has guaranteed eternal life to those who will believe in Him and trust Him for their salvation from sin. All who reject Jesus are fools.

Listen to the words of the Apostle Peter in First Peter chapter 1.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Here’s what the resurrection of Jesus Christ accomplishes for you if you will trust Him. It all spells out the word RISEN.

        R is for regeneration. In Christ we have been given a new birth

         I  is for inheritance. We have been born into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade, and is being kept in heaven for us.

        S is for security. By faith in Jesus Christ we are being shielded by God’s power until the coming of Christ.

        E is for endurance. Even though for a time now we have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials, our faith is being refined so our lives bring glory to God.

        N is for nearness. Though we do not see Him, our faith in Him fills us with an inexpressible joy – the joy of His presence in our lives.

He is risen! He is risen indeed! And because He lives, I too shall live. But it is not me living. It is the resurrected Christ who lives in me! Hallelujah! May we celebrate His resurrection every day, because we live in its power every day!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Friday, March 29, 2024

This morning while chatting on facebook with an unsaved friend, I was asked how I was. You know, the typical conversation starter. I said I was fantastic, and he asked me why. I responded, “This is the day out of all human history that God chose to solve man’s sin problem.” The friend responded, “I thought this was the day the Easter bunny got his eggs ready for Sunday.”  It opened the door for a time of planting seeds of truth.

“This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” That verse from Psalms directly refers to this day – the day that we traditionally celebrate the crucifixion of Jesus on the cross. It was much more than a horrifying death at the hands of man: it was a substitutionary death at the hands of a loving God. Hard to comprehend, isn’t it? Love forcing suffering doesn’t make sense to our finite minds. But to those of us who are being saved by the blood of Jesus, it is the splendor of the Gospel. Unfortunately to the unsaved it is foolishness.

The payment of sin’s debt of death to a holy and righteous God is required from each one of us. We will either pay it ourselves or we will accept a payment already made and be debt-free. That payment was Jesus Christ who died on the cross. The payment was accepted and eternally validated when God raised Jesus from the dead and restored Him to His position of exalted honor on the throne of Heaven. That’s where those who accept His life in exchange for our own will meet Him and spend eternity with Him.

Here’s what God the Father says about what Jesus will accomplish on the cross in Isaiah 42:6-7.  “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.”

The suffering of Jesus brings us freedom. Blind eyes that cannot see God are opened when the light of God’s love is seen in Jesus. Bondage to sinful behaviors is broken when Jesus takes hold of our hand. Jesus became our sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him!

Isaiah chapter fifty-three has incredible significance and meaning when understood as a prophecy of Christ’s death on the cross. Read it slowly and carefully and let the impact of it bless you and send you into a time of rejoicing, for this is the day the Lord planned for us.

“Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.^ He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the LORD’S will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.”

“Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, March 28, 2024

The earthly ministry of Jesus is almost over. There are just a few more details to teach His disciples about what will be happening in the next few days and beyond. According to the traditional timeline, tonight Jesus will meet with His disciples in the upper room. The things He will tell them will deeply distress them. They will be confused and concerned for their own futures, not only their Lord’s. Each one will respond differently to the things they will hear to try to cover their pain.

Peter will get very vocal and bold, refusing to have his feet washed and claiming that he will endure to the end and suffer death if need be. It was a cover-up for his pain to keep his assumed image intact.

They will all question the sincerity of their hearts and their commitment levels when Jesus announces that one of them will betray Him. They quickly have a meeting and elect John to ask Him who it is so they can hopefully ease their own minds.

When Jesus announces that He is leaving, and that they will join Him someday, Thomas reveals the confusion of all of them when he says that they don’t get it. “Where are you going, and how do we get there?”

Even after answering them and telling them that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that they could arrive at the Father’s home through Him, Philip asked to see the Father. How embarrassing to ask a question for which you should have already known the answer.

Imagine the pain they must have been experiencing. For three years they have followed Jesus based on some cultural and religious presuppositions. Every step of the way Jesus had gently addressed those assumptions and declared to them nuggets of truth that could have changed their perceptions. They didn’t understand. They still thought that the outcome was going to be the installation of a King on the throne of David and that they were going to get to be in the inner circle of leadership in the new Kingdom. Now it was beginning to dawn in the darkness of their minds that there was a different plan. It hurt to see the brightness of the light that began to shine.

Their hearts were wounded. They were bending severely under the weight of their misunderstanding. The fire of their enthusiasm was reduced to a mere smolder of smoke as they struggled with their own identity and worth.

But Jesus – the servant of God in whom He delights – does not cry out or raise His voice. He does not bend them further until they break. He does not extinguish what remains of their fire. Instead, He says, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be^£ in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” 

What comfort that was! What compassion was revealed! Jesus the encourager. Preparing Himself to suffer and die he reached out to help those who were hurting far less than Himself. They could not know the depth of their Lord’s pain, even if they were not so focused on their own. But that did not matter to Jesus. He reached out to them and lifted them out of their gloom and despair and gave them hope.

Take heart, my friend. Whatever it is in your life that is bending you to the breaking point or extinguishing all the fires of enthusiasm in your heart, Jesus will not break you or snuff you out. He will respond to your need with compassion and lift you out of your gloom and give you hope. Let Him adjust your perspective!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Wednesday, March 27, 2024

One of the highlights of ministry life for me is to see people from radically different religious backgrounds coming together in Christ and forming a loving, unified body because of the peace provided for them at the cross. I am especially blessed to have experienced this in another culture.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the Philippines lately. It happens every year at this time around my birthday, because friends in Davao City hosted some of my greatest birthday parties. As I watched videos recently of the college graduation and the Pastor’s Conference, I realize how much I miss all of them. I am especially moved by the transforming power of the cross when I think about the tribal churches that have been planted up in the mountains. I have visited many of those churches, and I remember one in particular. The church met in a community shelter in this extremely poverty stricken area. Now you must not visualize a community center according to American standards. This is the Philippines. The building was 8’ x 8’ made of bamboo with a palm branch roof, and a small 15’ x 10’ dirt courtyard surrounded by a broken down bamboo fence. We had church there on Sunday morning in the courtyard, with around 45 people in attendance. They had walked for miles down the mountain trails to get there that morning so that we would not have to try to take the mission vehicle up the muddy trail to their village. We sang some songs to the sounds of a crude guitar played by one of the tribal boys who was learning to praise God with an instrument. No worship band – just worshipping people! It was awesome. I preached that morning on Elijah and the prophets of Baal when they met on the mountain and God’s power conquered the false worshippers.

The reason I had chosen that story was because of the living reality of it in those people. They came from a tribe of false worshippers and spiritism, and they had never heard the truth of Jesus until one of the graduates of our Bible college went there to plant a church. These had been people who had never seen a white man, and who probably would have killed one in their village area if he had gone there unannounced and unescorted. They were dressed as well as their meager means would allow. A few of them still had some teeth. By any American standards they were to be avoided if met on the street. But now, because of the cross, we were worshipping together. We were smiling at each other with a joy that is only shared between family members. In fact, I am crying my eyes out right now as I write this because of the joy in my heart that Jesus saves equally and completely. Just think, in Christ we have equal access to the Father! I receive no preferential treatment from God because I am American or have a home or money or cars or because I dress right, and especially not because I have a particular color of skin. In Christ we are all one!

That’s the power of the cross – it brings peace that passes all human reason. Let’s not draw lines of separation between people when Jesus came to obliterate those lines and make us one!

Ephesians 2:11-18 “Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace…”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Tuesday, March 26, 2024

When I was in high school in the Twin Cities, with a graduating class of 825, I was an unnoticed nerd – or at least I thought I was. I was very insecure, I hated my appearance, and I had nothing that identified me except my trombone, and according to the cool kids, band was for geeks. But one day in English class, one of the most popular girls in school came up to me and said, “I love it when you wear blue because it brings out the color of your eyes. I love blue too.” Well, you can imagine how I felt after they revived me from fainting. I had found a connection point to the cool kids. I wore blue every day. I started to choose my clothing carefully, and I became one of the best-dressed kids in school. No jeans ever. Only dress pants and nice shirts and sweaters. All my clothes had to be the latest fashion. I even wore shirts with French cuffs and cufflinks, and they were always blue, except for one purple one. I was compelled to make a good impression outwardly. No one had ever noticed me for who I was inwardly, and I didn’t believe they ever would. For sure if they saw the real me they would reject me, and there was no way I was about to put myself through that pain. No one wants to be persecuted for who they are.

Now, let’s make an application to our spiritual lives. In Galatians chapter 6 the Apostle Paul makes this point – don’t use an external image of religious conformity to avoid the pain of rejection.

Galatians 6:12-15 “Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh. May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.”

The Judaizers, those Jewish Christians who believed that salvation was only available to those who believed in Jesus and conformed to the Jewish law, were trying to force Gentile Christians to get circumcised. I don’t believe they were doing this because they theologically believed it, but because they socially needed it for their own approval rating. They could remain active in their Jewish sub-culture if they minimized the effect of the cross and kept some of their socially and religiously accepted traditions.

How often are we guilty of this in our lives? We add an external appearance or behavior standard to the message of the cross so that we can stay in our comfort zone and be recognized as superior to others? But let’s be clear about this. The message of the cross is simple and powerful. By the shed blood of Jesus as God’s sacrifice for our sin, all sin is forgiven in the life of any person who repents and receives its cleansing power by faith. At that instant they are made a new creation by the power of the resurrected Christ in them. 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” They are blessed with every spiritual blessing from on high. Ephesians 1:3 – “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.” They are made joint heirs of all eternity with all the saints in glory, including you and me. Romans 8:16-17 – “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” Everyone who believes is equally saved!  

There is the very real possibility that within your family or your circle of friends, or even in your church, that you will be rejected and persecuted for living this way. Yet Paul was so convinced of the power of the cross that he said he would never boast about anything else in his life except that. He did not take pride in his pattern of behavior or in his theology and use those things as a means of gaining acceptance with anyone. He simply loved what Jesus did on the cross. He simply loved people who love what Jesus did on the cross. He knew that the power to affect the external had to come from the power of the eternal in them. 

When the Holy Spirit brings the new creation of Christ into a spiritually dead person, His ministry is just beginning. He will bring the external changes necessary to complete His work. He uses all of us to help influence that development, but we must be willing to let the finished work be unique, not cloned. What we do for Christ must be for the glory of the cross, not for the approval of people.

 Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Monday, March 25, 2024

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ must remain the central focus of all that we are and all that we do. That is the conclusion to which Paul attempts to bring the church at Corinth as he opens his first letter to them. You may remember that this church was going through a lot of difficulties, and the first major issue that Paul addresses is the tendency churchgoers have to be people-followers. There were divisions in the church because some people liked Apollos better than Paul or Peter, and some were even taking pride in the fact that they had stayed true to Jesus. They were arguing and bickering about who taught better, who led better, and who gave them the best spiritual benefits.

In addressing these divisions, Paul makes it clear that the following of any human wisdom diminishes the power of the cross in our personal lives and in the life of the church.

1 Corinthians 1:17-18 “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel – not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

When the focus and form of our teaching and preaching becomes self-centered rather than Christ-centered, we lose power. Let me illustrate.  Once there was a professional football team that had incredible talent but couldn’t win the big games, primarily because the focus of the team was on an individual rather than the purpose of the team. It was so bad that free agents from other teams were refusing to even consider becoming a part of this team. Then it happened – the team changed its focus from the problems caused by an individual to the goal of accomplishing their purpose, and a huge change occurred. Weaknesses in the team were suddenly made strengths. Free agents from other teams were anxious to become a part of the organization. Franchise players from other teams are begging to be traded to this team. Why? Because the self-centered focus has been replaced with a team spirit based on a unified purpose.

That’s what must happen in the church. People must move from a self-centered, people-following, people-pleasing lifestyle to one of surrendered, sacrificial commitment to Christ and His purpose. When it does, people who are not part of the body of Christ will want to be. They will ask to join us because that is the power of the cross.

We hear a lot today about the progressive church, and one of the characteristics of such churches is a non-offensive presentation of the Gospel. I have a very serious question in that regard: How can the Gospel message of the cross of Christ be non-offensive to an unbeliever when Paul states here in today’s Scripture that the cross is considered foolishness to the unsaved, and in Galatians 5:11 he states that if the Gospel is compromised in any way the cross loses its offense to the unsaved?

So many churches today are avoiding the real issue of people’s lives by speaking only to the perceived or surface issues because they believe it will attract more people and offend fewer people. My friends, I do not wish to purposely offend anyone, but I most definitely will not offend my Lord and Savior by turning the church or the ministry to which He has called me into an effort of human wisdom. I will preach the cross of Jesus Christ, and those who respond will be transformed by the power of God and not by human reason. And they will respond, because the power of God will draw them to the place where their spiritual need can be truly met in Christ. May we all, in the power of the resurrected Christ, boldly tell others about the power of the cross to save people from sin and death. 

Pastor John