LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, July 06, 2023

 Several years ago I remember a particularly busy day. My wife rose early and went over to the grandkids’ house to babysit, and I remained at our house to get some work done. We had the blessing of having some students from the Moody Bible Institute Men’s Collegiate Choir staying at our house that weekend while they were in Eau Claire for a concert at our church on Friday night. I needed to get the house ready. Not only that, but on the following Monday, our very dear friends Dudley and Inge would be arriving back in the States from Swaziland and they would be living with us for the next three months.

The details of my duties are not important, but suffice it to say they covered cleaning, carpentry, and cataloging. It took me well into the afternoon to get it all done, and there was still more to do. My point in telling you all of this is simple. While I did those things because I knew they had to be done, my motivation was the love I have in my heart for my wife. I serve her because I love her, and love has no limits on service.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t always apply to the way we serve God, does it? Our worship of Him is not always the product of our love for Him. Isaiah saw that in the people of His day as well. They talked about their faith, they prayed, and they worshiped, but it was insincere.

Isaiah 29:13  “And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men.”

The hypocrisy of their hearts is obvious. But before we come down too hard on them, we must not be in denial about our own hardness of heart and double-standard lifestyles. We just might be as guilty as they were.

Here are some serious questions to consider:

• Do you truly love God more than you love yourself in EVERY area of your life?
• Do you do the “religious” duties of your church while in your heart you are longing to be elsewhere doing something else?
• Do you seek to serve God out of fear of His punishment or as a response to His grace and love?
• Is your worship of Him an expression of your love to Him?
• Is your whole life a living sacrifice given in service to your Lord as a reasonable act of worship?

Those questions give me cause to pause. It will be plenty to chew on for today.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, July 5, 2023

Isaiah 29:1  “Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David settled! Add year to year and let your cycle of festivals go on.”

I love music. Certain styles of music move me more than others. Some of it touches deep into my soul and spirit. Music is God’s medium of connecting our minds with our emotions and moving them both into the realm of the spiritual.

One evening as my wife and I sat down together at the end of a long day, we checked to see what was on television. One of our favorite movies was coming on so we turned to it and spent some quiet time enjoying Sister Act 2. The music is incredible. That got my wife to thinking about the soundtrack to that movie that was somewhere in our library. She found it, and along with a couple of other older cd’s, she put them in the van for her trip to Madison the next day.

When I got in the van this morning to come to the office, one of my favorite cd’s of all time was playing in the van from her trip. The incredible trumpet sounds of Phil Driscoll filled the van with a vision of heaven for me. I cranked up the volume and found the song I wanted to hear that was also on the Sister Act 2 soundtrack. It’s familiar to most of you, I’m sure. The song is “His Eye Is On the Sparrow.”

Granted, the duet that the two students sing on the Sister Act 2 soundtrack is more beautiful, but the Phil Driscoll Live version is more powerful. I turned up the volume a little more. “Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come, why should my heart be lonely, and long for heav’n and home, when Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He: His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free, For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.”

Then came the trumpet solo. Wow, that man can play! It is truly the sound of the Lord’s trumpet. It reminded me that someday the Lord will blow His trumpet and Jesus will return.

Just then I arrived at the office. I chose to turn the song off and listen to the rest of it on my way home for lunch. When I opened my Bible on my desk and looked at the next verse in Isaiah, these are the words that jumped off the page at me – Add year to year and let your cycle of festivals go on.

Immediately the Holy Spirit spoke and said, “Life goes on, same old same old, but who’s listening for the trumpet?”  It’s true. Year after year we carry out the same routines of life, adding pleasure upon pleasure and treasure upon treasure, but who is listening for the trumpet? Year after year we attend the religious activities we’ve chosen for our spiritual nourishment, but even they have become routine and maybe even mundane. Why? It’s probably because we’re not listening for the trumpet. We are so focused on the here and now that we are not looking and listening for the return of the King.

Because of that we get discouraged. Our hearts are troubled. We have lost some hope. We go through the routine of life living one step at a time and questioning every step. But Jesus says, “Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear, and resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears; though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see; His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me; His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.”

Friends, Jesus is coming back. It may or may not be in our lifetime. But if we are not looking for it, and are simply living for today, what hope do our children and grandchildren have of hearing the trumpet when it sounds? We must live every day with our eyes looking up and our ears anticipating the greatest sound of music we will ever hear – the trumpet call of Jesus.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, July 04, 2023

Isaiah 28:21 and 29   “The LORD will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim, he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon—to do his work, his strange work, and perform his task, his alien task… All this also comes from the LORD Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom.”

I am fascinated by this twenty-eighth chapter of Isaiah. I hope you can bear with me as we share what is now our fourth devotional from this passage.

What fascinates me is the modern-day application of these historical events and how we as Christians need to wake up to what God is doing around and in us. A good friend once helped me to put the whole chapter in perspective and brought out the truths that we need to understand. Here’s what he wrote to me from Sao Paulo, Brazil:

“God, through Isaiah, is taking the leaders of Judah (called Ephraim here) to task for their alliance with Egypt in order to escape from the Assyrians.  This is the “covenant with death” mentioned in v. 15 and 18.  Judah should be looking to the precious cornerstone (v. 16) for its sure foundation, and not to human strength.”

“So, the short bed and the narrow blanket of v. 20 is a metaphor for Judah’s misplaced trust.  The alliance with Egypt will offer no rest, no comfort, for Ephraim (ESV Study Bible).  The strange work and alien task of the Lord, v. 21, is having to fight against his own people because of their disobedience.  The mention of Mount Perazim and the Valley of Gibeon is ironic, because in those two battles God fought for Israel against their enemies.  Now he must resist his people because they are rebelling against him.”

“The final section of the chapter uses another metaphor—the farmer.  The breaking up and turning over of the soil, although costly, has a purpose: to produce grain to make bread, v. 28.  “All this comes from the Lord Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom,” v. 29.”

“My conclusion for this passage would be that God loves us so much that he is willing to take extreme measures to get our attention and win us back to his family.  His wisdom is completely trustworthy, even when we turn our backs on him and suffer the tragic consequences of our sin.”

We are not all that different from the people of Isaiah’s day. We are at times more intimately connected to the world than we are to Jesus Christ our Savior. We are at times more interested in finding satisfaction and fulfillment from the world than we are from God. We even at times scoff and mock at the things God calls us to do and the people He asks us to become, justifying our worldly connections to one another with humanistic rationalizations. We even at times incorporate spiritual ideas into our arguments to satisfy the fleshly desire we have to be accepted by God in what we are doing. My friends, think about this carefully. You will discover that there is far too much truth in what I just wrote.

Then on top of all of that, there’s one more thing from verse twenty-one – God’s work has become strange and  alien to us. We have become so engrossed in the lifestyle of the world, and so convinced that we can love both the world and God and use both for our own fulfillment and satisfaction, that when we look to see what God is doing around us we don’t recognize Him. How sad it is when God initiates a work in our lives and we mock it or scoff at it because it doesn’t fit into our personal life plan or our daily schedule of approved activities. We have become so in touch with what we want from the world that we are out of touch with the touch of God on our lives. We have chosen to believe that the social and financial benefits of living in our modern civilization are our rights and we choose to pursue them rather than pursue what God wants for us.

I know this is heavy, and sounds ominous. It is. That’s the point. We have so bought into the world’s system that the things of God seem burdensome to us. But you must know this – God will not stop loving us or pursuing us. We may not like what happens to finally get our attention, but He will win us back to Himself. Every event of our lives today will be an opportunity for us to turn from the pursuit of pleasure and prosperity in the world to a personal and productive relationship with Almighty God. By contrast, according to verse twenty two, those same circumstances can make life tougher. The Lord says, “Now stop your mocking, or your chains will become heavier.” You see, what we think we are doing to find satisfaction in life by pursuing the values of the world is really wrapping us up more tightly in the chains of bondage to the world so we see and know less and less of God.

The chapter concludes with good news for us all. God is working to bring us to fullness in Christ. We may not like what He must do to bring us back, but it is a work of love. His plan is timed perfectly to bring in the greatest harvest of righteous souls possible. He is breaking up the soil of our hardened hearts.  He is planting seeds of righteousness. He will harvest those seeds by beating away all the chaff. Then we will stand before the people of this world as reflections of His glory. Look at your life today – God is working on you because He loves you and wants all of you. Embrace what happens as His expression of love to you.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, July 3, 2023

It will happen this year. I can guarantee it. Maybe for you it already has. Something in your life is going to go wrong – at least according to your ideas and plans. It may be related to your health, or your job, or your family, or your future, but something is not going to turn out the way you thought it would. Guaranteed.

When trouble comes, how will you respond? The answer to that depends on whether you believe there is a purpose for the trouble, or what you believe that purpose to be. Maybe you believe that trouble is always against you and stands opposed to your ultimate benefit. If so, then your response to trouble is always one of complaining, bitterness, resentment, and discouragement. We all respond that way to things that we believe are not in our best interest. It is the simple fact of our pride.

But if we believe that we have a loving Father in heaven who is designing all things in our lives to ultimately benefit us and bring glory to Him, then we respond differently to trouble. We may not embrace the trouble itself, but we can rejoice while it is happening because we know the truth of God’s promise “that all things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Recently I chatted with two dear friends in the Philippines. It started with a Facebook post that one friend put as her status. I have her permission to quote her. She wrote,

“Different experiences and circumstances teach me different lessons in life. Others are easier but some are harder. I cried and shed tears… I realized that those circumstances that I shed most tears are the lessons in life that I will never forget… To God who gives me strength and to those people who taught me those lessons, thank you…”

I know this young woman’s story. I lived parts of it with her in the Philippines. The depth of truth she expresses is so meaningful to me, and I want you to understand that God used her message this morning to bring light to me and to you on this important truth.  So many people turn to the comfort zones of their life when times get tough. Isaiah is referring to this in today’s Scripture.

Isaiah 28:20-21  “The bed is too short to stretch out on, the blanket too narrow to wrap around you. The LORD will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim, he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon—to do his work, his strange work, and perform his task, his alien task.”

The people crawl into their beds and wrap up in their blankies and hope to feel better. But that never really works. The comfort zones we create are always insufficient to help us because we are turning inward for relief rather than upward.

As I was chatting with her, a pastor from the Philippines that I met a few months ago started chatting with me. I have been deeply moved in our hearts by this man’s commitment to Christ and his desire to persevere through difficult circumstances. He serves a small group of people with no source of real income. He told me how they were having a small family celebration of the new year but had no money to buy any food for his family party. Yet he continues to display incredible trust in Jesus Christ as His provider. He has not turned to the comforts of this world but continues to pursue his calling to preach the Gospel.

For weeks afterward I would I chat with him every morning, and every time we talk he turns the attention from his own needs to the glory of God and his faith in God’s promises. His bed is too short for him to stretch out on and be comfortable. His blanket is too small to wrap up in for warmth and security. But His God, and mine, and yours, is long enough, wide enough high enough, deep enough, and most of all close enough to meet every need and use every circumstance to strengthen our faith in His unfailing love for us.

“Thank you Lord for the illustrations of your truth to our hearts today, and for being at work in our lives to build our faith in you as the stronghold of our lives.”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, June 30, 2023

In Isaiah 28 the people of Israel are being addressed by the Lord through the prophet about their pursuit of worldly living at the expense of spiritual things. They have become so intent on living according to the desires of the flesh that they even believe they are able to hold their fate in their own hands by making a deal with death. (Isaiah 28:15) In response, God tells them that their covenant with death is based on a lie, and that there is only one source of truth. God tells them about the Precious Cornerstone who we know to be Jesus.

Isaiah 28:16  “So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.”

I want to give you two stories today and let them illustrate the lessons we can learn from this historical example. May the Holy Spirit make His unique application to your understanding.

In the book “Lessons from a Father to His Son” (Nelson, 1998), Missouri senator John Ashcroft writes: [My father told me], “John, I’d like you to fly this plane for a while.” I was eight years old at the time, blue-jeaned and T-shirted and wide-eyed at the world. My father was an amateur pilot. I looked around at the spartan interior, which was nothing at all like the multitudinous controls, gauges, and computerized equipment in planes today. The control stick looked like a broom handle and came up between my legs.

“What should I do?” I shouted back to my father, who was seated behind me.

“Just grab the stick and push it straight forward.”

“Okay.” I took hold of that stick and did as I was told. Immediately the plane went into a straight bombing-raid dive toward a farm on the outskirts of Springfield! My stomach came up to my throat and I lost all sense of time or place as fear gripped my insides. I let go of that control stick in a millisecond, and Dad pulled the plane back up.

“He had a good chuckle, and I had a good lesson: actions have consequences. I learned in a particularly vivid—in fact, terrifying—way that my decisions and actions could imperil my future.”

There are no deals to be made with death. Every action has a consequence.

Then there is this story from Chuck Swindoll:

“On Sunday, believers arrived at a house church in the Soviet Union in small groups throughout the day so not to arouse the suspicion of KGB informers. They began by singing a hymn quietly. Suddenly, in walked two soldiers with loaded weapons at the ready. One shouted, “If you wish to renounce your commitment to Jesus Christ, leave now!”

“Two or three quickly left, then another. After a few more seconds, two more.

“This is your last chance. Either turn against your faith in Christ,” he ordered, “or stay and suffer the consequences.”

Two more slipped out into the night. No one else moved. Parents with children trembling beside them looked down reassuringly, fully expecting to be gunned down or imprisoned.

The other soldier closed the door, looked back at those who stood against the wall and said, “Keep your hands up—but this time in praise to our Lord Jesus Christ. We, too, are Christians. We were sent to another house church several weeks ago to arrest a group of believers.”

The other soldier interrupted, “But, instead, we were converted! We have learned by experience, however, that unless people are willing to die for their faith, they cannot be fully trusted.”

How you respond in the face of persecution reveals whether or not you are standing on the Rock, for the one who is will NEVER be dismayed. Jesus is the only true source of security.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, June 29, 2023

Robert Kupferschmid, 81, had no flying experience. In an emergency, however, he learned quickly how to land a plane.

Kupferschmid and his 52-year-old pilot friend, Wesley Sickle, were flying from Indianapolis to Muncie, Indiana, in June 1998. During the flight, the pilot slumped over the controls. He was dead. The Cessna 172 single-engine plane began to nosedive and Kupferschmid grabbed the controls. He got on the radio and pleaded for help.

Nearby were two pilots who heard the call. Mount Comfort was the closest airport, and the two pilots gave Kupferschmid a steady stream of instructions, climbing, steering, and the scariest part, landing. The two experienced pilots circled the runway three times before this somewhat frantic and totally inexperienced pilot was ready to attempt the landing.

Emergency vehicles were called out for what seemed like an approaching disaster. Witnesses said the plane’s nose nudged the center line and bounced a few times before the tail hit the ground. The Cessna ended up in a patch of soggy grass next to the runway. Amazingly, Kupferschmid was not injured.

This pilot listened and followed those instructions as if his life depended on it—because it did.

In contrast, the people of Israel in Isaiah’s day didn’t listen to God’s instructions delivered by the prophet. Instead they mocked him. They were headed for a crash.

Isaiah 28:9-10  “Who is it he is trying to teach? To whom is he explaining his message? To children weaned from their milk, to those just taken from the breast? For it is: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there.”

Isaiah has been trying to warn his people about the consequences of their sinful choices. He has been reminding them of God’s standards of holiness and righteousness. He has delivered to them exactly what God wanted said so they could repent and recover. But instead of listening, they made fun of him, and of course by doing so they were making fun of God. They wanted to hear nothing except words that affirmed their current choices. They were so blinded by their sin that they had lost sight of its consequences.

There is not much in life more annoying, frustrating, or disrespectful than a person who not only ignores but then mocks good advice. I can understand it a little in small children, but not in adults. Yet every day people in trouble seek advice but only listen with the context of their preferences.  If the advice doesn’t allow them to continue living according to their current choices, then they reject it.

The Bible told us it would be this way.  It warns us that in the last days before the return of Jesus, people would flock by the thousands into churches where they hear soft and sensitive messages that please their itching ears. People today rave about the relationship they are told by faithless pastors they can have with Jesus believing it can co-exist with relationship with the world. People in our day are rejecting the truth of the Gospel. They reject obedience to God as an expression of love for God. They just want to be stroked and made to feel good about who they are and what they are doing.

Then, to make themselves feel even better about what they think they know, they make fun of those of us who continue to stand on the truth of Scripture. They accuse us of treating them like children. They think that their way of thinking is the mature way. They think that our pursuit of holiness is nothing more than a list of rules rather than a response of love for the One who died for us. They mock the truth and all who stand for it.

Let us not become like them. Let us be very careful to listen when God speaks. When someone who loves you offers helpful and sometimes life-saving advice to you, listen to them. Otherwise, your life might just end in a plane wreck.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

I do not believe that I love God enough. Maybe I never can, but there is one thing that I must use as the litmus test of love – do I love God more than I love myself?

I want to tell you a story of a young woman from Germany. Her name is Rica. She came to America in as a one-semester exchange student at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. Sometime during her first two months here, she was befriended by a student leader from a campus ministry called Navigators. They became friends, and he invited her to church. She accepted the invitation, came, and came again the next week.

The sermon in church that second Sunday she attended was called “You Can Start Over.” During the final song of worship, she turned to her friend and said that she was ready to accept Jesus as her Savior. That afternoon, after lunch, she prayed to receive God’s gift of grace, the forgiveness of sins, made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The following two weeks were very hard for her. Her live-in boyfriend back in Germany became very angry at her decision. He began rejecting her. We met to talk about it, and I shared with her the truth that living for Jesus will bring alienation from the world, and cause division between us and the people we once lived to please. She cried. I cried. But she understood and gave her heart more deeply to the one who had died for her.

Several weeks later, she, along with 5 others, was baptized by immersion in obedience to the command of Jesus and was publicly identified as a follower of Christ. As I stood beside her preparing to immerse her under the water, she closed her eyes and tilted her head toward heaven. I have never seen such an expression of peace. The Spirit of God has captured her heart, and she is in love with Jesus. As I quoted the verse I always quote at a baptism – “You are buried with Him in the likeness of His death…” – she completely relaxed and released herself to my control. Then, as I brought her up out of the water – “You are raised to newness of life” – she opened her eyes, still looking to heaven, and broke out in the biggest smile possible as the joy of her salvation flooded her soul.

As a part of her exchange student program, she was scheduled to take an 11-day trip to visit historic sites in America. After receiving Christ into her life, she canceled that trip. Why? So she could stay in Eau Claire and be more deeply discipled by her new family of God so she is better prepared to go back to Germany and share the Gospel. She loves God more than she loves herself.

Isaiah 27:9-11  “By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned for, and this will be the full fruitage of the removal of his sin: When he makes all the altar stones to be like chalk stones crushed to pieces, no Asherah poles or incense altars will be left standing.”

The prophet Isaiah said that the atonement for Israel’s sin would only be complete when sin was fully removed. When Jesus atoned for our sins on the cross, He paid the full price to have them completely removed from our lives. There is only one reason that sin still pops up in our lives and is an option to be considered – we love ourselves more than we love God.

Rica was willing to give up everything because she loved God more than herself. Not so with Israel. God had to force the people to give up their sin. He took away everything from their religious lives that stood opposed to Him – the altars to false Gods and the Asherah poles, which were the sexual monuments to the goddess of fertility named Ahserah. He took away their cities and fancy homes. He took away their basic necessities. He did this because He wanted them to become people of understanding. They loved self more than God. They were living according to their own understanding, loving their own way. God broke them down, so they had to depend on Him and Him alone. In that way they would learn to love Him more than self.

Please do not pass over the significance of this message for us today. We have become self-centered and self-dependant. We have chosen our own way instead of God’s way. We have chosen to justify all our connections with the world and all of our pursuits of the world’s pleasures with the rationale of personal rights and benefits, when in reality we are simply loving ourselves more than God.

It is time for repentance.

It is time for revival.

It is time for sacrifice…like the one Jesus made for us, who loved us more than He loved His position and power in heaven.

It is time to love God with ALL OUR HEART, ALL OUR SOUL, ALL OUR STRENGTH, AND ALL OUR MIND!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, June 27, 2023

Oh, how precious is God’s Word. It comes at just the right time to soothe the soul. It exhorts and encourages at the very moment of need. When a cherished friend is needed, God speaks. When doubt and fear have overwhelmed the heart, God’s words of love break through and bring comfort and peace. When commitment wavers, God never does, and He assures us He is still with us and for us. Oh, how He loves us. Oh, how He cares for us.

God has a word to meet your need this morning.

Isaiah 27:2-5  “Sing about a fruitful vineyard: I, the LORD, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it. I am not angry. If only there were briers and thorns confronting me! I would march against them in battle; I would set them all on fire. Or else let them come to me for refuge; let them make peace with me, yes, let them make peace with me.” 

One of these expressions of God’s love is just what you need:

• God believes I am capable of bearing fruit in His vineyard. He planted me. He pruned me. He shines His light on me. He has connected me to Himself for the food I need to grow. I will bear fruit for the Lord.
• God constantly watches over me. Nothing can happen to me that doesn’t first pass by Him. He has stopped far more evil against me than I can ever imagine. He has permitted to come against me only those things that will strengthen me so that I can bear more fruit. He is my constant caretaker.
• God waters me continually. Nothing can happen to me that will leave me thirsty. No scorching sun can dry me out, for my roots are constantly in the Living Water. No frost can kill my leaves for they are constantly moistened by the Holy Spirit’s fresh dew.
• God guards me day and night. I cannot be harmed by what the world throws at me. I cannot be overcome by the deceptions of Satan in my mind trying to convince me that I am unacceptable and unapproved. I cannot be harmed by the words of people or by their perceptions of who I am. I have been qualified by God to be a partaker of His inheritance with all the saints in glory.
• God does all these things even when I am not faithful. God says, “I am not angry.” When I sin, He is still watching and watering. When I am prideful, He still protects me.  When I pursue personal preferences, He pleads with me to come to Him for peace. God NEVER EVER quits being God to me!

Let me repeat that – God NEVER EVER quits being God to me!

Thank you Lord, for giving me exactly what I needed today.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, June 26, 2023

I honestly don’t know where to start. I am overwhelmed by the magnitude of mercy and grace God continues to shower upon me.

My weaknesses do nothing to hurt Him or His work, for it is in my weakness that He is shown to be strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)  

My inabilities do not hinder me, for I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

The forces of evil around me have no authority over me, for greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

I do not have to surrender to the world and its influence on me. My faith in Christ gives me the same ability to overcome the world as Jesus had. (1 John 5:4-5)

As I read through the twenty-sixth chapter of Isaiah this morning, I was reminded of a profound truth that is applied infrequently in our everyday lives. It is the truth that in Christ we are overcomers. According to the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:37, we are more than conquerors in Christ.

Here in Isaiah 26 the people of God are given hope that they too will be part of an overcoming.

Isaiah 26:12  “LORD, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.”

There are days when I feel like crying out in pain as the pressures of the world and the temptations of my own flesh surround me and oppress me. Peace seems impossible. But in the presence of the Lord there is hope. It is there that we realize the truth that we are not in control; that we are not able to save ourselves; that we are not able to give birth to the solutions for our problems; that we are spiritually dead and progressing towards physical death. It is in the presence of the Lord that we are given the hope that the dead will rise just as Jesus did. It is in the presence of God that we are assured that all things are in God’s hands and what man has intended for harm God will turn and use for His good and His glory. It is there, where Jesus where has lifted us to our rightful place of authority with Him (Ephesians 2:6-7), that we find that all that has been done has been God’s work to bring us peace.

Whatever is oppressing you; whatever is overwhelming you; whatever is discouraging you; whatever is defeating you; take hope in this – you can overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of your testimony if you love the Lord your God with all your heart, your mind, your soul, and your strength. (Revelation 12:11 and Matthew 22:37)

“All authority
Every victory is Yours
All authority
Every victory is Yours
We will overcome by the blood of the Lamb
And the word of our testimony, everyone overcome

“Savior, worthy of honor and glory
Worthy of all our praise, You overcame
Jesus, awesome in power forever
Awesome and great is Your name, You overcame” (Jeremy Camp)

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday. June 23, 2023

It was not level and smooth. I thought I knew the shortcut to my tree stand, even though I had only taken it once before from the opposite direction as I left the woods two days earlier. But in the dark it was different. I ended up in the middle of a tangled mess of downed trees and branches, being far noisier than I ever wanted to be. Every step cracked a branch. What should have been a silent approach that took 3 minutes ended up being a loud and potentially deer-frightening approach that took me 15 minutes. It was not a good way to start the day.

What went wrong? Well, I was arrogant to think that in this new location my skills and senses were so finely honed that I could travel 100 yards through the woods in the dark without getting off course. I needed to be humbled, and I was. No more shortcuts. I will follow the path marked out for me.

As I read Isaiah 26:7 this morning I thought of that hunting adventure.

Isaiah 26:7  “The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, you make the way of the righteous smooth.”

I wonder why so many of the paths of life aren’t all that level and smooth. Sure, I’m not completely righteous – who is? But there doesn’t seem to be a consistent connection between the times in my life when I’m being faithful and the smoothness of life. In fact, some of the toughest times have occurred when I am the closest to God. Has God made a promise that isn’t true?

As I contemplated all of this, I remembered to read the rest of the context of Isaiah 26. Here it is in verses five through nine. The footnote numbers are not verse numbers, but reference the application points below.

“₁ He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low; he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust. ₂ Feet trample it down—the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor. The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, you make the way of the righteous smooth. Yes, LORD, ₃ walking in the way of your laws, ₄ we wait for you; ₅ your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. ₆ My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. ₇ When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.”

Here’s what I learned, with each point referenced to a verse above:

1. Pride causes bumps and potholes in the road of life.
2. God smoothes out the road of our life using the footsteps of other people, especially those people we have considered to be somehow sub-standard and beneath us. We are humbled when suddenly we are beneath them.
3. The path God has chosen for my life is already level and smooth, but I may be on the wrong path. I may be walking according to my laws or the laws of the world and not God’s law.
4. I may be on God’s path, but I’ve gotten ahead of Him and He hasn’t prepared that part of the road yet.
5. The road isn’t level and smooth because I’m travelling it for my own benefit and not for the glory of God.
6. Am I really so in love with God that I long for Him more than I long for anything else? Is my relationship with Jesus the single most important thing in my life?
7. Every bump and pothole in the road is placed there by God so that I become more righteous.

I’ve learned to stay on the marked path to my tree stand. But more importantly, I’ve learned to walk on God’s path of righteousness. I will not complain about the bumps and potholes but will allow my Lord to use them to humble me and make me more like Him.

Pastor John