LifeLink Devotions for Friday, March 8, 2024

This morning I was thinking about how sometimes we can easily forgive people and how hard it is other times. I began analyzing why that is. From a purely human perspective I came to this conclusion – we forgive easily when we have not really been offended or hurt. Let me give you an example.

The other day someone said something to me that in retrospect could have deeply hurt me. At the time it did not. I totally took it as the jesting of a friend whom I trust and love. The next day I received a call from that friend and he apologized for what he had said. He asked me to forgive him. I said there was no need because there had been no sin. In his heart he felt he had sinned, but I had not received it that way in my heart. Of course I told him he was forgiven. That was easy.

But what if I had been deeply hurt by his comment? How easy would it have been to forgive? I think we can all relate to situations in our lives that have hurt us so deeply that the act of forgiveness becomes difficult. But let’s be very honest about the reason for that – our pride dictates our response. What if that’s how God responded to us?

You see, we have the choice as to whether or not the sin of another person offends us or hurts us. Not so with God. Every sin, no matter how minute it is to us, offends God’s holy nature. Idleness is equivalent to idolatry. Lust is the same as lying. Manipulation is no less severe than murder. Yet when with humble and broken hearts we repent of that sin before the throne of God, we are forgiven. There are no strings attached. There are no degrees of penance based on the severity of the sin. Since the condemnation of death is the same for every sin, the forgiveness provided by the blood of Jesus is also the same for every sin. Every sin is forgiven. When we reject the darkness and walk in the holy light of God, we are completely free from sin. The Apostle John says, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7) No matter how deeply God’s nature was offended by our sin, He forgives immediately and completely when we turn from the darkness and walk in His light.

Now, the challenge is for us to forgive others the same way. No matter how deeply they hurt us, or how long it took them to step out of the darkness and admit it, we are to forgive them immediately and completely and walk in the light with them again. No penance required. No stipulations and safety nets applied. Total forgiveness and restoration to fellowship and friendship is extended.

Ephesians 4:32  “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Colossians 3:13 “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

I know that sounds hard, and we are tempted to use our human nature as an excuse for not doing it. But we do not live by the flesh any longer, but by the Spirit of God who indwells us to create the life of Christ in us. We are no longer bound by the limitations of human nature. We have been set free from the law of sin and death. With the commanded to forgive others as He forgave us God has provided the power of Christ to obey it. Only one thing can stop that power from accomplishing the work of forgiveness – pride. When our feelings take precedence over God’s forgiveness, we have allowed pride to quench the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Pride is not kind. Pride shows no compassion. Pride is not forbearing and patient. Pride does not forgive. Love alone conquers pride. Love that forgives others is a love that was nurtured by the forgiveness of another. Like the woman who poured oil on the feet of Jesus, love had been nurtured by the forgiveness she had received from Him. Jesus used her as an example to us all when He said, “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”

It is only when we realize the incredible love it takes for God to forgive us for every sin every day that we will then love enough to forgive others the same way. Those who daily repent of sins, no matter how seemingly insignificant, are constantly reminded of the awesome love of the Father and His forgiveness. They are the ones who know how to forgive others no matter what they have done. Those who wait to repent of only the “big” sins are the people who have trouble forgiving the little sins of others. They do not live in the constant joy of God’s wonderful love. Which person are you?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, March 7, 2024

The Old Testament story of Jonah is fascinating because of what it teaches us about forgiveness. Here are the key points of the story to refresh our memories. Nineveh was a wicked city, and that may be an understatement. Nineveh was located on the Tigris River in the Assyrian Empire, and had a population of around 600,000 people – 120,000 of them were children. The Assyrians were vicious warriors. When they returned from battle with their captives, they would scare them into obedience by posting the heads of their victims on posts around the walls of their city. This kept outsiders out and insiders in. If anyone was caught trying to escape, they would be impaled alive on a pole from bottom to top. They showed no compassion and did not value another person’s life.

The wickedness of the people in this city was a concern to God. As a prophet, Jonah understood Assyria had been chosen by God to be the nation that would take Israel into captivity because of its own sin. God is working to prepare the Assyrians to be able to be used as His instrument of discipline. But Jonah doesn’t want that to happen. Not only have the Assyrians already done enough to be destroyed, but to even think that such an evil nation could be used by God to correct His chosen people is absurd. Jonah cannot fathom the embarrassment and humiliation that his people would have to endure by having their sins exposed by a more sinful nation. So when God commands Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach to them, he refuses and runs away from the Presence of the Lord.

Following an almost tragic boat ride and an encounter with a great fish, Jonah obeys God and travels to Nineveh. He preaches a simple message – only 8 words in total – “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.”  But God used that simple message to save the city. The people repented of their sins and God forgave them. WOW! 600,000 converts. Jonah must be ecstatic. But he isn’t. He’s actually mad, because he didn’t really want the people to repent. He really wanted them to be destroyed because he felt their sins warranted it. He goes outside the city and pouts. He even tries to defend his feelings to God. He says, “See, I knew this would happen. I knew you would forgive them because I know who you are. But I disagree with what you are doing because you obviously didn’t consider me in all of this. It would be better for me to die right now than to have to go back home and face the condemnation of my own people because of what I have done.”  (Jonah 4:1-3)

Jonah was more concerned about his own feelings and freedom from possible suffering than he was about the liberation of others who were already suffering. He is no different than any of us who make judgments about others based on their actions, when we should be praying for their deliverance from the bondage of sin that causes them to choose those actions. Check your heart right now. If God called you to go and share the message of Jesus with Hamas, would you go? Or would you stay home because you want them to pay for what they have done? Even if they are condemned to death by the courts, would you want them to die in their sin or would you have the compassion of God and want them to die as brothers in Christ? 

Now check your heart a little closer to home. How have you been treating the last person who hurt you? Or maybe you need to think about the first person who ever hurt you. I didn’t say this was easy. I know how hard it is to not only forgive a person who has hurt me but then to treat them with love and kindness even when they refuse to accept it. But we must recognize that anything short of forgiveness, acceptance, and restoration for those who have hurt us is totally of the flesh and is a product of our pride. We can argue with God all we want about our reasons for our feelings, but none of them can change the eternal fact that God is a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love. He wants to forgive, and he wants us to forgive also. In fact, Jesus said that the degree to which we forgive others is the degree to which we ourselves are forgiven. More about that tomorrow.

So check your heart. Against whom are you harboring an unforgiving spirit? Repent of that sin today, and then go and show them God’s love. Their spiritual life is of far greater importance than your personal feelings. Life is not about us or about our glory – it’s about God and His glory. His glory is seen when we respond to people the way He would. Let God’s glory be seen in the way we forgive others.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Yesterday we dealt with a subject on forgiveness that is hard for many to understand – the issue of whether or not we are required to forgive ourselves for us to feel forgiven. I want to explore that a little deeper.

When we say that we have been forgiven by God, but we have not been able to forgive ourselves, we are really struggling with the issue of guilt. Guilt is essential to bring us to Christ for forgiveness, but it is not to endure beyond the point of God’s forgiveness. Corrie Ten Boom, who had been a prisoner of the Nazis in World War II, said it this way – “The purpose of being guilty is to bring us to Jesus. Once we are there, then its purpose is finished. If we continue to make ourselves guilty—to blame ourselves—then that is sin in itself.” 

Martin Luther was one who struggled with his sins. For the longest time he could not accept God’s true forgiveness. Before his break with the Catholic church, he went to confession every day and was so guilt-ridden by his sins he would almost have gone every hour. On most nights Luther slept well, but he even felt guilty about that, thinking, “Here am I, sinful as I am, having a good night’s sleep.” So he would confess that. One day the older priest to whom Luther went for confession said to him, “Martin, either find a new sin and commit it, or quit coming to see me!”

When we claim to be forgiven, and yet we allow the guilt of the sin for which we have been forgiven to captivate us and hold us in its grips, we have not truly accepted the forgiveness of God. We daily hang ourselves with the noose of guilt. We are like the monkey in this story from Brother Andrew’s book God’s Smuggler. In his early days he had served in the Dutch army in Indonesia. In the late 1940s he bought a young ape, a gibbon, who took to him, and Andy treated him as a pet in the barracks. He hadn’t had the gibbon for many weeks before he noticed that when he touched it in some areas around the waist it seemed to hurt him. So he examined the gibbon more closely and found a raised welt that went around his waist. He carefully laid the animal down on his bed and pulled back the matted hair from this welt until he could see what was causing the problem. He discovered that evidently when the gibbon had been a baby someone had tied a piece of wire around his middle and had never taken it off. As the monkey grew larger the wire became embedded in his flesh. Obviously, it must have caused him a great deal of discomfort. So that evening Andrew began the operation, taking his razor and shaving off all the monkey’s hair in a three-inch-wide swath around his middle. While the other boys in the barracks looked on, he cut ever so gently into the tender flesh until he exposed the wire. The gibbon lay there with the most amazing patience. Even when he obviously was hurting him the gibbon looked up with eyes that seemed to say, “I understand,” until at long last he was able to get down to the wire, cut it, and pull it away. Instantly, as soon as the operation was over, the gibbon jumped up, did a cartwheel, danced around his shoulders, and pulled Andy’s hair in joyful glee to the delight of all the boys in the barracks. “After that, my gibbon and I were inseparable. I think I identified with him as strongly as he with me. I think I saw in the wire that had bound him a kind of parallel to the chain of guilt still so tight around myself—and in his release, the thing I too longed for.”

Some of us are still in the bondage of our sin because we didn’t truly accept the fact that upon the confession of our sin to God He forgave the guilt of my sin. We return to the altar of repentance over and over again for the same issues because we have not trusted the loving forgetfulness of a faithful and forgiving Father.

Psalms 32:1-5  “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him… I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity…and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”

Garrison Keillor tell it this way as he spins another tale:

“Larry the Sad Boy … was saved 12 times in the Lutheran church, an all-time record. Between 1953 and 1961 he threw himself weeping and contrite on God’s throne of grace on 12 separate occasions—and this in a Lutheran church that wasn’t evangelical, had no altar call, no organist playing “Just as I Am Without One Plea” while a choir hummed and a guy with shiny hair took hold of your heartstrings and played you like a cheap guitar. This is the Lutheran church, not a bunch of hillbillies. These are Scandinavians, and they repent in the same way that they sin: discreetly, tastefully, at the proper time ….Twelve times! Even we fundamentalists got tired of him …. God did not mean for us to feel guilt all our lives. There comes a point when you should dry your tears and join the building committee and start grappling with the problems of the church furnace and … make church coffee and be of use, but Larry kept on repenting and repenting.”

God’s word does not say “burdened are we whose sins have been forgiven.” No, but rather it says “blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.” If you are still carrying the guilt of repented sin, then you are being deceived. God has forgiven it. God has forgotten it. Your memory of it is your choice to listen to the deceiver. When he comes knocking at your memories door, let Jesus answer. The guilt of your sin has been removed. Begin living in the freedom God has given you.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Read Job 7  

Well, that’s a pretty depressing way to start the day. But in my heart, I know that some of you reading this today feel exactly the way Job felt when he said these things to God. Life stinks, doesn’t it? Hardship and suffering strain and drain us. We wonder when we will ever be able to just enjoy a day without pain and experience the joy of freedom from stress. When will life ever be “normal” again?

There are two very important lessons to learn from Job’s life and attitude in this passage of Scripture.

1. While all hardship, suffering and pain are the direct result of sin in the world, not all of it is the direct result of personal sin. Job assumes that because he is suffering, God has made him a target to punish his sin? Job should have known the answer to those questions he asked. We should never have to wonder “If I have sinned,” because when we walk in the Spirit we know when we have sinned. Sometimes hardship and pain are designed by God as tests of our faith. The work of the Holy Spirit in us is to discern the difference between consequences for sin and tests of our faith. We lose that discernment when we begin to focus on self and our condition rather than on the Spirit’s work in our hearts. When we know we have sinned, the Spirit leads us to repentance and God forgives. There is never a reason to doubt God’s forgiveness or to believe He is withholding it. If we do, we question the very nature of God and deny His righteousness and justice. On the other hand, when we know that our hardship is a test of our faith, we rejoice in it because it is proving God’s love for us as his child and our love for Him as our faithful Father. (See 1 Peter 1:3-9)
2. The second lesson is that depression and despair over the hardships, sufferings, and pains of life may be the result of not truly understanding or accepting the forgiveness of God. Here’s why I think this is a huge problem in the church today. I hear a phrase coming from the lips of Christians far too often. It is usually used in a sentence that goes like this – “I know God has forgiven me, but I just can’t seem to forgive myself.” I want to challenge the validity of that statement emphatically and dogmatically. No where in the Bible are we told to forgive ourselves. In fact, it is a deception of Satan to think that we must. It is how he holds us in spiritual bondage.  If we believe we are still guilty and unworthy we have not truly accepted God’s forgiveness and seen our lives from His perspective. The person who believes they have not forgiven themselves is guilty of not accepting God’s forgiveness. They are still trying to justify their own life and actions, when from God’s perspective they were justified in Christ and made to be His child forever. For some reason in their mind, they believe their opinion of themselves is more important than God’s opinion of who they are. Their insecurities, guilt, and shame become the chains with which Satan holds them captive, and the only key he claims to have for deliverance is self-forgiveness and self-justification. Unfortunately, Satan never reveals the truth that he has no keys, and they will never be set free on those terms. Jesus said, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” When God forgives there is no need for any additional forgiveness.

My friend, if you are suffering today because you are trapped in the chains of believing you must forgive yourself for what you have done, you are in a futile pursuit. You will never be free. You must realize that what you are really doing is rejecting the forgiveness God offers you. When God says you are forgiven – accept it. When God says you are justified – accept it. When God says you are worthy – accept it. When God says you are qualified – accept it. There is no need and there is no way for you to improve upon what God offers. You do not make yourself worthy of God, so stop trying to make yourself worthy of people, including yourself. When you repent of your sin, God forgives. To believe anything else denies the very nature and character of God. REJOICE! Your sins are forgiven, and God declares you righteous. Stop arguing with Him and accept what He has done for you..

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Monday, March 4, 2024

The story is told of a rich Christian who had a large company of employees, many of whom owed him money. He was constantly trying to teach them something about Christianity, and one day he hit upon a plan. He posted a notice for his employees that said, “All those who will come to my office between eleven and twelve o’clock on Thursday morning to present an honest statement of their debts will have them canceled at once.” The debtors read the notice with a great deal of skepticism, and on Thursday morning, although they gathered in the street in front of his office, not one of them went to the door. Instead, they gossiped and complained about their employer, and ridiculed the notice he had posted. They said it didn’t make sense.

But finally, at 11:45, one man jumped forward, dashed up the steps into the office, and presented his statement. “Why are you here?” the rich man asked him. “Because you promised to cancel the debts of all those who would come as you instructed,” the other replied. “And do you believe the promise?” “Yes, I do.” “Why do you believe it?” persisted the employer. “Because, although it was too much for me to understand, I know that you are a good man who would not deceive anyone.” The rich man took the bill and marked it “Paid in full,” at which time the poor man, overcome, cried out, “I knew it! I told them so! They said it couldn’t be true, and now I’m going out to show them.” “Wait,” said his benefactor, “it’s not quite twelve o’clock. The others are not entitled to any special proof of my sincerity.” When the clock struck twelve, the forgiven debtor ran out waving his receipt in the face of his fellows. With a mad rush they made for the door, but it was too late. The door was locked.

God made a similar offer to the nation of Israel through King Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:14.  The fundamental principles of that offer apply to each of us today on an individual basis. We all have sinned, and fall short of His glory. We are unable to pay the debt for that sin. But God has posted a notice on the company bulletin board that has a striking resemblance to a cross. It says, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will forgive their debt of sin.”

It’s an incredible offer, but the conditions attached are difficult.

Humility – To stand guilty before the One who said he would forgive but who could also demand payment. Humility demands agreement with God about our condition and offers no self-defense. Humility relinquishes all rights and surrenders completely to God’s rulings. Humility trusts God’s grace and mercy. Praise God that the payment has already been made in full by Jesus Christ so that God’s justice guarantees forgiveness. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Prayer – To knock on the throne room door knowing that God will open it, and then to renounce all human resources and turn in total dependence upon God, believing that He will do what He promised to do. “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy.” (Titus 3:4 – 5) 

Seek God’s face – To submit to God’s purpose for our lives and become a witness of God’s grace.  “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”  (Hebrews 10:19 – 24)   

Turn from wicked ways – To repent of the sin, turning from it with a sincere heart and desire to not do it again. Continuing in the Hebrews passage from above we read, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”  (Hebrews 10:26 – 27)

When our hearts truly and sincerely reflect these four conditions, God completely forgives our sin. When we approach the throne of God with humble and broken hearts that cry out to Him in repentance of sin and submission to His will, He will forgive us completely and eternally. Hallelujah! “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” (Psalms 139:23 – 24)

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Friday, March 1, 2024

The story is told in Spain of a father and his teenage son who had a relationship that had become strained. So the son ran away from home and fell into a life of sin. His father, However, began a journey in search of his rebellious son. Finally, in Madrid, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in the Newspaper. The ad read: “Dear Paco, meet me in front of the newspaper office at noon. All is forgiven. I love you. Your father.” The next day at noon in front of the newspaper office 800 “Pacos” showed up. They were all seeking forgiveness and love from their fathers.

Each of us is a Paco. We have rebelled against God. We are afraid of the consequences of our sin, so we try to hide it. But when the Father extends His arms of love in an act of forgiveness, we run to Him. However, the truth is that sometimes the consequences of our sin remain.

When Moses asked God to forgive the people of Israel for their rebellion, he was asking God to restore His relationship with them. But God reminded him that the consequences of sin would remain.

Numbers 14:20-23 The LORD replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked.  Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times—not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. 

Some of us may believe that forgiveness requires the removal of consequences. But when we realize that the results of sin sometimes remain upon us, we may try to avoid that pain by not confessing our sin. However, whether we confess or not, God enforces consequences. But only in confession can the relationship be restored. Even though the consequences of our sin may remain, the restoration of a loving relationship with the Father completely overshadows any of the pain of our sin. When God forgave the Israelites, He told them they would still pay for what they did. But the fact that they were not separated from God was intended to make their consequences bearable. If our focus is on relationship with Christ, then the sufferings of this world will seem insignificant, even when caused by our own sin.

Imagine the joy you can bring to another person’s life if you were to see them the same way. They are suffering in their sin. They need to be forgiven. They need to know that someone will love them even while they are suffering the consequences of their sin.

Once I had a young man in my office who confessed to me that he has been stealing from local stores. He even stole a larger item from outside a business and dragged it behind his car to his back yard. He wanted to know what to do. I told him that he must immediately go and confess in person to the people from whom he had stolen and return the merchandise. He was scared. He knew that meant being arrested and charged with theft. He knew it meant paying restitution and possible jail time. As we talked, I led him to understand that the pain of the guilt he would carry by not confessing would be much more severe than the pain of the court system. He also began to understand that his greatest need was to know that he and Jesus were in right relationship, and if that were true than nothing could separate him from the Love of God. He agreed that he wanted the love of the Father more than the stuff, and more than his image and reputation. He confessed and faced stiff fines and jail time, but he learned that the love of God is far more satisfying than what the world can offer.

As a part of our conversation, I promised him that I would go through this with him, and that nothing he had done could stop me from loving him and serving him. That was a key turning point. Even though he had not sinned against me personally, I was still tempted to separate myself from him until he got his act together. The Holy Spirit showed me that what he needed was someone to walk with him while he got his act together. Maybe that’s what God is showing you also. Have you separated yourself from someone because of their sin when God may be calling you to forgive them and walk with them through the restoration process? Sure, that takes time and energy, and it’s hard work – but isn’t that what Christian community is all about? While we tend to think that the person who has committed the sin is the one in prison, maybe we are really the ones in
prison because of our unforgiving spirit.

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, February 29, 2024

I am in awe of the nature of God expressed in today’s passage of Scripture. The nation of Israel has rebelled against God. While Moses was receiving the law of God on the mountain, the people were making a golden calf to replace God as the object of their worship. In his anger at discovering their sin, Moses smashed the tablets of stone that had been personally engraved by the finger of God. His anger had caused him to disrespect and dishonor what God had given him. God punished the people who had sinned, and then He invited Moses back up onto the mountain to replace the engraved stones. When Moses received the first tablets, they had been carved by God himself. This time Moses had to carve the tablets. With each strike of the hammer on the chisel Moses must have felt the guilt of knowing that he had allowed his anger to destroy something God had given him. He would have to carry those tablets with the shame of knowing that they were not God’s original design. No matter how closely he tried to duplicate the originals, they would still be man-made and not God-made. Imagine the fear and shame Moses must have been feeling as he approached the Presence of God on the mountain.

When Moses arrived, the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with Him. Then he passed in front of Moses and spoke. He did not destroy Moses’ spirit with words of condemnation and shame. He did not speak in anger. God did not strike Moses down. Instead, He declared His nature. It is a declaration of hope for us all. He said, “I Am the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” (Exodus 34:5-7) What incredible words of hope for all of us who have sinned. Spend a moment and review each statement and bask in the wonder of God’s forgiveness.

 God is compassionate.

God is gracious

God is slow to anger

God is abounding in love

God is abounding in faithfulness

God has sufficient love for everyone

God forgives wickedness, rebellion, and sin

This also makes for an incredible challenge for all of us who have been sinned against. How do we respond when someone has hurt us with wickedness, rebellion, or sin? Maybe this illustration will help us apply God’s nature to our own choices.

A small boy at a summer camp received a large package of cookies in the mail from his mother. He ate a few, then placed the remainder under his bed. The next day, after lunch, he went to his tent to get a cookie. The box was gone.

That afternoon a camp counselor, who had been told of the theft, saw another boy sitting behind a tree eating the stolen cookies. He said to himself, “That young man must be taught not to steal.”

He returned to the group and sought out the boy whose cookies had been stolen. He said, “Billy, I know who stole your cookies. Will you help me teach him a lesson?” The puzzled boy replied, “Well, yes—but aren’t you going to punish him?”

The counselor explained, “No, that would only make him resent and hate you. No, I want you to call your mother and ask her to send you another box of cookies.”

The boy did as the counselor asked and a few days later received another box of cookies in the mail. The counselor said, “Now, the boy who stole your cookies is down by the lake. Go down there and share your cookies with him.”

The boy protested, “But he’s the thief.”

“I know. But try it—see what happens.”

Half an hour later the camp counselor saw the two come up the hill, arm and arm. The boy who had stolen the cookies was earnestly trying to get the other to accept his jackknife in payment for the stolen cookies, and the victim was just as earnestly refusing the gift from his new friend, saying that a few old cookies weren’t that important anyway.

The Apostle Paul said it this way in Ephesians 4 – “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (emphasis added). As you have been forgiven by God, go and forgive others.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Our study of forgiveness continues in the book of Exodus with God wanting people to be free from the bondage of sin.  God had called Moses to lead the people of Israel out of their physical slavery in Egypt. Now God wanted Moses to lead the people out of their slavery to sin. To accomplish that, God called Moses up onto a mountain for a personal consultation about the law. God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, along with all the social and spiritual regulations for everyday life. Included in those laws was the gift of God’s grace for the forgiveness of sins through the atoning sacrifices that would be offered in the tabernacle.  

The word atonement is formally introduced to the people of Israel. Atonement means to cover over, and is the word God chose to describe what happens to our sin when we confess it and repent. Our sins are covered over by the blood of the sacrifice for sin so that God’s justice is satisfied.  

The first time this word is used is in Genesis 6, when Noah is building the ark. In the description of the building process we are told that Noah covered the inside and the outside of the ark with pitch. This made the ark waterproof and allowed the boat to float without fear of springing a leak and sinking. When the judgment of rain came to destroy the sinners, the people inside the ship were saved because the ship had been covered.

The other time the word for atonement is used prior to Exodus was when Jacob was about to meet his brother Esau for the first time since stealing the firstborn’s inheritance from him. Jacob sent three groups of servants ahead of himself with livestock as gifts for Esau. He told the servants, “I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.”  The word pacify that Jacob used is the word to cover over. Jacob hoped his gifts would make atonement for his sin against his brother and they would bring peace between them.

When God introduces atonement to Moses, he would have had these two thoughts in his mind. The sacrifices they would offer on the altar of God would cover their lives against judgment for sin and bring peace between them and God. But Moses also grasped a far deeper meaning when he came down off the mountain. While Moses was on the mountain receiving the law of God, the people of Israel were rebelling against God and making idols. When Moses came down he saw the golden calf that had been crafted, and he was furious. He knew that God’s judgment against sin would be swift and severe. God’s judgment for sin is death, and eternal separation from His glory. The names of sinners are blotted out forever from His book of life. But Moses also knew that God was willing to forgive based on a sacrifice that would pay the penalty for the sin. Moses does something incredible – he offers himself to God as the sacrifice. Before any of the sacrifices of animals took place on the altar, Moses knew that the blood of those animals was insufficient to pay for the sins of mankind. He knew that a person would have to die for the sins of people. He volunteered to be that person.

Exodus 32:30-34 “The next day Moses said to the people, ‘You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin. So Moses went back to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold.  But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.” The LORD replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book.  Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”

God rejected his offer because Moses was also guilty of sin and deserved the punishment of eternal separation from God. When God says to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book” he is telling Moses that he is not qualified to be that sacrifice. But Moses had not been a part of this sin. Why was he guilty? Was it because he had sinned previously in his life? Yes, but the real reason is the same for us as it was for Moses – we are born with a sin nature that is eternally separated from God unless a sufficient sacrifice is offered for that sin. Moses tried to be that sacrifice for his people, but he was not qualified. But in His great and eternal love for us God sent a perfect sacrifice to atone for our sins – Jesus Christ. He was born of a virgin so He had no sin nature from earthly parents. He lived a sinless life so he did not deserve to be punished with death. He gave Himself voluntarily so that our sins could be covered by His blood and we could be at peace with God. In the New Testament the Apostle John says it this way – “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”  (1 John 4:10).   Hallelujah! Our sins are covered and we are forgiven by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ!  

Now, as a result, be like Moses and put your life on the line to bring forgiveness to others.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Tuesday, February 27, 2024

In 2006, University of Maine officials fired a 20-year employee of the university after she admitted she had allowed off- campus hockey players to eat breakfast for free, which was a violation of NCAA rules. Head coach Shawn Walsh required the players to eat breakfast every Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the season. When they would come through the line at the cafeteria, the players told her that they didn’t have any money and that they didn’t have any meal tickets. She felt sorry for them, and she let them go by and eat. The daughter of the fired woman said, “They knew she was a softy and if they came in saying they were hungry and they didn’t have any money and no card she’d let them through.”

I’m afraid that many people today think God is a softy too. To pursue their own goals and accomplish their own agendas, they have redefined God so they can justify their choices and behavior. They believe that the compassionate and loving heart of God will overshadow any sense of justice He might have. No matter what they have done, they believe that a moment spent on their knees in an act (and it is an act) of humility will earn the forgiveness of God, knowing all the while that in their hearts they have no intention of changing their ways. They truly believe they can fake God out with their false remorse and that God will respond with forgiveness.

When the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt and were on their way to the Promised Land, God gave Moses the law which would accomplish two things: first, it would reveal the holy nature of God, and second, it would reveal the sinfulness of man. Then God promised that He would send an Angel ahead of them to bring them to the place that had been prepared for them. God warns the people to be careful not to rebel against the Angel.

Exodus 23:20-21 “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.  Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him.” 

God said that if they did rebel, they’d better not try and weasel their way out of it. The Angel would offer them no forgiveness for any rebellion that persisted. The reason is this – the Name of God was in the Angel.

When the Bible speaks of the Name of God, it means more than just a series of letters in the alphabet that spell out a word. In the Bible, a name represented the nature, character, attributes, and reputation of the person. It embodied the fullness of that person’s nature.

My grandfather’s name was Jacob, and he hated it. He always went by his initials when he signed anything, and everyone who didn’t call him pastor called him “van”. He refused to use the name Jacob because the name means “deceiver” and he did not want anyone to think that was his nature.

With the Name of God in the Angel, the Angel would respond to every situation in the exact same way that God Himself would. The Angel was the exact representation of the nature and character of God. There would be no compromising the holy nature of God based on man’s attempts to negotiate a settlement. There would be no forgiveness for rebellion based on an insincere attempt at appeasing the nature of God with acts of remorse. Black and white justice would be the rule, because that is the perfect nature of God, and it is the perfect expression of His love. True love cannot allow someone to believe they are forgiven when they are not. True love brings a person to true repentance.

There are two important lessons for us in this:

1.      Don’t try to fake out God with insincere repentance. You cannot earn the favor or forgiveness of God with acts of remorse that don’t come from a true heart of humility before the holiness of God.

2.      Don’t let other people try to fake you out. Each of us who knows Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord has the Name of God in us. We are to be the representation of God’s nature and character to the people of the world. That means loving them with the love of God. But love does not overlook sin. Love does not condone sin for the sake of peace or acceptance. Love does not compromise holiness with compassion. Love does not let people pass through the food line because they have a good story to tell. Love seeks to bring people to true repentance so they can be truly forgiven.

We are to forgive others as God forgave us in Christ Jesus. We are to offer forgiveness freely, but not cheaply. Our forgiveness was only granted when we asked for it from a broken and humbled heart of repentance. It is only in that moment of brokenness that the true love of God can be experienced. We show the true love of God to others when we join the Holy Spirit in His ministry to bring them to the same point of repentance.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Monday, February 26, 2024

Four hundred years have passed since Friday’s devotional. No, you were not a victim of cryogenics. I’m referring to the timeline between the life of Joseph and the coming of Moses to deliver the nation of Israel from slavery to the Egyptians in the book of Exodus. The current Pharaoh, or ruler of Egypt, is a cruel dictator who abuses the Jewish people for his own purposes. God has heard the cries of the people and has appointed Moses and Aaron to bring His message of deliverance to Pharaoh.

Everything about Pharaoh is self-centered and self-serving. His heart has become hardened to any form of compassion for people. When presented with the opportunity to let the people of Israel leave his land, he refuses. He even challenges the power of God with his own demonic miracles. So, God began a series of plagues that would eventually force Pharaoh to submit to God’s authority. God turned the Nile River into blood. Pharaoh simply went into his house and ignored the problem. The plagues continued. God sent frogs and gnats and flies, but Pharaoh refused to listen to God. God sent more plagues. All the livestock of the Egyptians died. God covered all the Egyptians with boils. When Pharaoh refused to comply with God’s command to release His people, God made an important statement to Pharaoh. He said, “You are still exalting yourself.”  Here we discover the root of the problem that keeps us from experiencing true forgiveness from God – we exalt self over God. Remember that because it will be important in a moment.

When Pharaoh again rejects God’s direction, God sends a plague of hail that destroys everything that was outside. Pharaoh finally admits he has sinned.

But Moses is given insight into the true condition of his heart and says to Pharaoh, “I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.” Pharaoh’s admission of sin was still short of God’s forgiveness because it was only an admission of wanting relief from the consequences. He had not yet seen God for who He was and come into agreement with God about his nature of sin. Pharaoh models what far too many of us live each day – false repentance based solely on the hope of relief from pain and suffering. The proof is in the fact that as soon as the hail stopped, Pharaoh sinned again and turned his back on God. His intentions were clear. He would say whatever was necessary to accomplish his own desired outcomes.

So God sends yet another plague – locusts that covered the face of the land. That’s when Pharaoh again admits sin, but this time in a more personal seemingly sincere way.

Exodus 10:16-17 “Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, ‘I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you. Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and plead with the LORD your God only to remove this death from me.’” 

But he is not sincere. Look closely. Pharaoh admits he has sinned, but he is asking for forgiveness for that sin only, and for God to remove from him the consequences of that plague only. His statement of confession and repentance is nothing more than an act of self-preservation. It will not be honored by God with forgiveness.

Pharaoh was not forgiven because he refused to repent of his sin nature. He may have admitted individual sins, but he only did so to avoid consequences or to be relieved from the pain and suffering that resulted from his choices. He never admitted to God that his very nature and character was sinful and needed to be forgiven and transformed. He wanted mercy only for his actions but he wanted to keep on being who he was. He was still exalting himself. God does not forgive anyone on those terms.

What about you? Do you believe you are a Christian because you have asked God to forgive your sins so that you can avoid the fire of hell, and yet you have never repented of who you are as a person? If you have never come face to face with the holiness of God and seen your own deserved doom, then you are not saved. If you have never confessed your sin nature, not just individual sins, then you are not saved. If you have never come into agreement with God about the true condition of your heart, which is deceitful and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), then you are not saved. If you have only come to God so that you can learn to behave like a Christian and hopefully somehow earn the favor of God, then you are not saved. God forgives only those who agree with Him about the corruption of their very nature and character by sin and who reject that nature and accept the nature of Jesus Christ in its place.

We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and there is no other way. But grace cannot save if we have faith in ourselves rather than faith in God alone. Grace is the undeserved gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. It is not grace if we believe in any way that we deserve it. That requires us to see ourselves exactly the way God sees us in our sin – absolutely guilty. It is at that point of humility that God will forgive you, save you, and exalt you to the glorious position of His child. There is no other way. Pharaoh tried to appease God but still had his own agenda. It didn’t work. God wanted Pharaoh and the Egyptians to know that He alone is God and to humble themselves before Him. If they had, they would have been forgiven. Salvation comes only to the humble, and being truly humble means leaving everything of worth from your life on the altar of repentance, and receiving only the worth of God into your life. Please make sure you have done that.

Pastor John