LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

1 Peter 3:15  “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

I want to tell you a story today. I’m praying it moves us to consider whether we have allowed excuses to replace hope in our lives.

Every Sunday afternoon, after the morning service at the church, the Pastor and his eleven-year-old son would go out into their town and hand out Gospel Tracts. One Sunday afternoon it was very cold outside, and pouring down rain. The boy bundled up in his warmest and driest clothes and said, “OK, dad, I’m ready.” His Pastor dad asked, “Ready for what?”

“Dad, it’s time we get our tracts together and go out.” Dad responds, “Son, it’s very cold outside and it’s pouring down rain.” The boy gave his dad a surprised look, asking, “But Dad, aren’t people still going to Hell, even though it’s raining?” Dad answered, “Son, I am not going out in this weather.” Despondently, the boy asked, “Dad, can I go? Please?” His father hesitated for a moment and then said, “Son, you can go. Here are the tracts, be careful son.” “Thanks Dad!”

And with that, he was off and out into the rain. This eleven-year-old boy walked the streets of the town going door to door and handing everybody he met a Gospel Tract. After two hours of walking in the rain, he was soaking, bone-chilling wet, and down to his last tract. He stopped on a corner and looked for someone to hand it to, but the streets were totally deserted. Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the sidewalk to the front door. He rang the doorbell, but nobody answered. So he rang it again and again, but still no one answered. He waited but still no answer.

Finally, this witnessing trooper turned to leave, but something stopped him. He knew he should ring the doorbell again. This time he also knocked loudly with his fist. He waited, something holding him there on the front porch. He rang one more time, and this time the door slowly opened. Standing in the doorway was a very sad-looking elderly lady. She softly asked, “What can I do for you, son?” With radiant eyes and a smile that lit up her world, this little boy said, “Ma’am, I’m sorry if I disturbed you, but I just want to tell you that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU and I came to give you my very last Gospel Tract which will tell you all about JESUS and His great LOVE.” With that, he handed her his last tract and turned to leave.

She called to him as he departed. “Thank you, son! And God Bless You!”

The following Sunday morning in church Pastor Dad was in the pulpit. As the service began, he asked, “Does anybody have testimony or want to say anything?” Slowly, in the back row of the church, an elderly lady stood to her feet. As she began to speak, a look of glorious radiance came from her face, “No one in this church knows me. I’ve never been here before. You see, before last Sunday I was not a Christian. My husband passed on some time ago, leaving me totally alone in this world. Last Sunday, on that cold and rainy day, it was even more so in my heart that I came to the end of the line where I no longer had any hope or will to live. So I took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the attic of my home. I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in the roof, then stood on the chair and fastened the other end of the rope around my neck. Standing on that chair, so lonely and brokenhearted I was about to leap off, when suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell downstairs startled me. I thought, ‘I’ll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go away.’

I waited and waited, but the ringing doorbell seemed to get louder and more insistent, and then the person ringing also started knocking loudly. I thought to myself again, ‘Who on earth could this be?

Nobody ever rings my bell or comes to see me.’

I loosened the rope from my neck and started for the front door. When I opened the door and looked I could hardly believe my eyes. There on my front porch was the most radiant and angelic little boy I had ever seen in my life. His SMILE, oh, I could never describe it to you!

The words that came from his mouth caused my heart that had long been dead to leap to life as he exclaimed with a cherub-like voice, ‘Ma’am, I just came to tell you that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU.’ Then he gave me this Gospel Tract that I now hold in my hand.”

As the little angel disappeared back out into the cold and rain, I closed my door and read slowly every word of this Gospel Tract. Then I went up to my attic to get my rope and chair. I wouldn’t be needing them anymore.

You see—I am now a Happy Child of the KING. Since the address of your church was on the back of this Gospel Tract, I have come here to personally say THANK YOU to God’s little angel who came just in the nick of time and by so doing, spared my soul from an eternity in hell.”

There was not a dry eye in the church. And as shouts of praise and honor to the King resounded off the very rafters of the building, Pastor Dad descended from the pulpit to the front pew where the little angel was seated.

He took his son in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably. Probably no church has had a more glorious moment, and probably this universe has never seen a Papa that was more filled with love & honor for his son… Except for One. Our Heavenly Father also allowed His Son to go out into a cold and dark world to rescue sinners. And now He has seated Him at His right hand in glory waiting for all those who will by faith become His children.

If you are a child of the King, you have an eternal hope that springs from your heart. No more excuses – go and tell someone about Jesus today. 

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, October 10, 2022

1 Peter 3:15  “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

Standing only four foot six inches tall at his adult height, Alexander Pope was a man of great hope. His short stature was caused by a series of illnesses, not the least of these being a form of tuberculosis that affected his bones and caused severe curvature of the spine. Born in 1688, he lived his entire life in England, and died at the age of 56. He was ridiculed for his physical appearance, and later threatened with death because of his writings. In his later years, he never ventured outside of his house unless accompanied by his Great Dane and two loaded pistols.

Yet when anyone studies English literature, they read Alexander Pope. You may be familiar with one of his most famous writings entitled “Essay on Man”. It was an essay that proclaimed his faith in an eternal God who was not only the creator, but the controller of all things. His theology may not have been very good in most other aspects of the essay, but in this one thing, he had learned and proclaimed an important truth – God is in control.

Yet his application of that truth was severely lacking in his own philosophy of life. He believed that the only way God’s sovereignty was revealed to people was through their happiness. Happiness justified God’s existence. And because man is not very happy, and his own life certainly wasn’t, he spoke of man’s existence as a constant pursuit of the unattainable. He called that hope. And in his essay he writes:

“Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never Is, but always to be blest:
The soul, uneasy and confin’d from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.”

How sad this is. To live life believing that we never reach the point of blessing but are driven by the eternal spring of hope to pursue it. “Maybe someday my life will change sufficiently so that I may experience happiness.”

Unfortunately, many people live their lives under the same deception that hope is a wish for something better rather than a guarantee of present blessing. That’s because they have not set apart Christ as Lord in their hearts. Happiness is their lord. Wealth is their lord. Fame is their lord. Acceptance by this world is their lord. And unless Christ is Lord, all other lords lead to hopelessness.

Vast numbers of people in the world today believe in nothing more than fate. If they believe in a God at all, it is a God who is disconnected with humanity and has left people to fend for themselves. To most people, the future is in their own hands. God is not in control and has no final outcome in mind. We the people determine the outcome. We are people without any real hope.

Yet Alexander Pope was on the right path when he said in another essay, “A God without dominion, providence, and final causes, is nothing else but fate and nature.” I only wish there was evidence that he had chose to believe in that God. However, there is something that can be done about our hearts today. I long to know that you have set apart Christ Jesus as Lord of your life. I want you to know the hope that springs eternal in the human breast when man in Christ is fully blest. The soul, content, while confined from home, rests secure in the life to come. It is a hope that is sure. It is the guarantee of the life to come, and that life is the final glory of God.

Spend some quality time right now asking the Holy Spirit to evaluate the status of your heart. Who or what is on the throne of your life. Who or what have you set apart as Lord of your life? What motivates you to activity? What drives you? Is it hope that something better from this world is just around the corner? Or is it certainty that something out of this world is just around the corner? If we as God’s people would set Christ apart as Lord of our lives, our hope would become the conversation piece of our culture. They will want what we have rather than us wanting what they have, when what we have is true hope.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, October 7, 2022

I remember watching man’s first walk on the moon. At least that’s what I believe I watched. Not so for author and conspiracy theorist Bill Kaysing. He claims, in a self-published book based on only hunches and what he thinks is photographic evidence, that the whole thing was a ruse of NASA to prevent international embarrassment over a failed space program. Kaysing also believes that astronaut Neil Armstrong, who took those first steps on the moon, has hired secret agents to follow his every move to make sure he doesn’t get too close to the truth. Celebrities have joined the crusade to convince the American public of the hoax, including Whoopie Goldberg.

The foundation of most conspiracy theories is this – FEAR! People who succumb to belief in conspiracies have already surrendered to a spirit of fear. For some reason they believe that the government is out to get us and dominate the world through the use of secret spy organizations. While many people may not fall prey to the fear that results in conspiracy theories, many of us love to read books and watch movies that speculate on such things. Why else would Jason Bourne and James Bond be so popular?

Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord had this to say – “Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary;” (Isaiah 8:11-14)

Yesterday we saw Peter encouraging us to be do-gooders in our culture. We are to focus on how we can help people rather than what’s wrong with our country. Change enough people and the country changes. But those in power will resist such change, because they like the power they have. So in order to keep what they have come to love, they will threaten those whom they perceive as threats to themselves. Peter knew this based on his eyewitness account of seeing them do it to Jesus. Peter also knew that Jesus had prophesied that it would happen to him. (“When you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. John 21:18-19).

Yet even though Peter knew he would suffer as a do-gooder, he quoted the prophet Isaiah and said, “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.” (1 Peter 3:14) The Lord is our sanctuary; of what do we have to be afraid?

Every day we are tempted to succumb to the fear-filled news of the world. We get all bent out of shape over inflation, taxes, bailouts, and terrorists. We sit at the coffee tables of our local restaurants and spend uncountable moments theorizing over how to solve these issues. Yet every day we walk away from those conversations less hopeful than before. Why? Because not once during the conversation did we talk about our faith in Jesus Christ as the Sovereign Ruler of all and our sanctuary from fear. How many unsaved people have been left hopeless because we have chosen to share our fears rather than our faith?

My friends, we live in a day of fear, when what is needed is faith. We live in a day of hopelessness, and what people need is the God of hope. They should see Him in us. He may be your sanctuary in private, but you are not fulfilling your mission for Him until you make it public. I challenge you to make every conversation you have with anyone count for Jesus. Make sure people walk away from their time with you feeling some hope.

In fact, since we’re living in a day of conspiracy theories, let’s talk about this one – Jesus is coming and everyone who has been born again will be raptured out of this world and taken to glory. Meanwhile, the world will fall prey to an Anti-Christ who will end up leading them all to destruction. How’s that for a conversation starter? 

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, October 6, 2022

I have a question running through my mind this morning. It deserves some contemplation. It requires an answer. Here’s the query – “How does the world know that I’m a follower of Jesus?”

The first response that comes to my mind is that they know I’m a Christian because I say that I am. But the people of the world are more discerning than that. For example, no matter how much I told people I was a Viking fan, no one would believe me if I consistently wore a Packers jersey. The truth is activity validates claims.

For the third time now in his letter, Peter challenges each one of us to show the validity of our faith through the activity of doing good. And he’s not done telling us to do good. He will say it one more time a couple of verses from now. Let’s review:

• Peter told all of us to be good citizens of our countries by submitting to the authorities over us, and to do good. When the government is corrupt, the good deeds of God’s people will silence foolish men. “For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.” (2:15)
• He challenged us as employees to do good even when we had bosses who were harsh. “But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.” (2:20)
• In today’s passage, he encourages us to do good within the context of our everyday lifestyles with people. “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.” (3:13-14)

Unfortunately, many of us have an underlying aversion to doing good. Our very nature – the flesh – is selfish and prideful and has convinced us that we are weak if we do good for anyone other than self. We resent being called a do-gooder. In fact, our own Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines a do-gooder as “an earnest usually impractical and often naive and ineffectual humanitarian or reformer.”

But doing good is what Jesus was all about, and He certainly wasn’t weak. When Peter was in the home of Cornelius, bringing the Good News of Jesus to the Gentiles for the first time, he described Jesus this way – “You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached—how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” (Acts 10:37-38)

The validation of God’s presence in the life of Jesus was the activity of doing good. It is the same for us today. We prove the love of God by loving others. We prove the goodness of God by doing good to others. We proclaim the grace of God by showing grace to others. By this the world will know that we are followers of Jesus – because we love one another.

Some of my fondest memories of childhood are the songs I heard in church. God still uses them to refocus my heart when it is needed. I remember the first cantata I ever heard in our church as a boy, and I remember the song that stuck out to me. It was from John W. Peterson’s “No Greater Love”, and the song was called “He Went About Doing Good.” Let the lyrics bring you to a point of greater understanding of the Scriptural truth that we are to be like Jesus and be do-gooders.

When our Lord was here, Our Savior dear,

He gladdened each neighborhood;

For the Bible tells, the message spells,

He went about doing good.

It was love revealed when the lame He healed,

The blinded ones made to see;

When He raised the dead, the hungry fed,

The demon possessed set free.

He went about doing good,

And helping where’er He could;

Our example is He, and like Him we should be,

Who went about doing good.

Follow the example of Jesus and be a do-gooder.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, October 5, 2022

I have a face that’s easy to read. I know, some of you humorists out there think I should have said I have a face that’s easy to forget. While that may be true, I am told by those closest to me that I do not have a poker face. My true feelings and emotions are easily read by the expression on my face. It is an almost uncontrollable reaction to what I hear and what I see. There are times I wish I could hide it. I’m sure there are times when you wish I would hide it as well – the whole face, that is.

Unless we have become very good actors, or as we learned yesterday, liars, our face is the outlet of the sea of emotions within us. The face responds almost instantaneously to what is going on around us. The expressions of the face are the indicators of what we feel. Those around us, even strangers, can read us as easily as Dick and Jane books.

Once during a class I was teaching, I was sharing a truth about our salvation in Christ. I noticed one of the men with a scowl of pain on his face. I thought I had said something wrong, or that he was confused about what I had said. I asked him what was wrong. He said he had bumped his foot on the bottom of the chair and that it really hurt. His face immediately gave away his feelings.

There are several expressions used in Scripture about the face of God. For one, His face shines on those who are righteous (Psalm 67:1). We also know that His face is against those who do evil (Psalm 34:12). In addition, and to our benefit, He hides his face from our sin (Psalm 51:9). And when things aren’t going our way, or moving as quickly as we think they should, we accuse God of turning His face away from us (Psalm 88:14). We are also encouraged to seek the face of God (Psalm 105:4).

While we could make lots of applications of these truths today, let me just ask this one question – What would be the expression on the face of God right now if you stood face to face with Him? Would He have to turn His face because He couldn’t look at your sin? Or would His face be shining with joy at the mere sight of you?

1 Peter 3:12   “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 

H. G. Wells, while not a real friend of the church, told a helpful story years ago in the New Yorker.  There was a certain pastor who was the kind of man who always said pious things to people. When troubled folks came to him, he found that a particularly helpful thing to say, if said in a right tone of voice, was, “Have you prayed about it?” If said in just the right way, it seemed to settle things.

The pastor himself didn’t pray much; he had life wrapped up in a neat package that he thought he controlled pretty well. But one day, life tumbled in on him, and he found himself overwhelmed. It occurred to the pastor that maybe he should take some of his own advice. So, one Saturday afternoon he entered the cathedral, went to the front, and knelt on the crimson rug. Then he folded his hands before the altar and began to pray. He said, “O God,” and before he could say another word, he was dead.

 The next day when the worshipers came to Sunday services, they found the pastor sprawled face down on the crimson carpet. When they turned him over, lines of horror were etched upon his face.  

There’s a point to this story: there are folks who talk a lot about God who would be scared to death if they saw him face to face.

Either the face of the Lord is against you, or it is shining upon you and giving you peace. God does not arbitrarily decide to do either one. His facial expressions are a response to you, and His face is easy to read with your spiritual eyes. If you are living in righteousness, surrendered to His will, His face is shining. His eyes are upon you and His ears are listening to you. But if you are living with known and unrepentant sin, His face is against you. His eyes still see what you are doing, but He has closed His ears to your prayers. “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” (Psalm 66:18) The face of God is the mirror that reflects your choices. Just remember, your face also reflects those same choices to us. What does your face tell us today?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

1 Peter 3:10   “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech…” 

Deceitful speech, referred to by Peter in today’s Scripture, is more common than we want to admit. It starts with what we think are simple embellishments of the truth to improve the story’s impact or gain greater recognition. Fact is, they’re lies!

So how big was that fish you caught, and what was your real golf score without mulligans?

The biggest embellishment of all is when we claim to be one thing, but in our hearts we know we are something else. We do this for a variety of reasons, not the least being that we are attempting to live up to what we perceive as other’s expectations. We may be seeking the approval of people. We may be trying to measure up to some standard we are convinced gives us greater value. Whatever the reason, Jesus called it hypocrisy. It is deceitful speech.

When we claim to be followers of Jesus in public, but in private we pursue the gratification of the flesh, we are liars. When we unite with a local church and worship with people so that we may appear spiritual, we are using the church as a means of deceiving others, so they won’t see who we really are. When we claim to be in fellowship with God, but we seek to impress others and earn the approval of those living in sin, we are guilty of deceitful speech. When we appear to be looking to connect to others and find intimacy, but don’t include Christ in our fellowship, we are lying to ourselves, to others, and most of all to God, about who we really are.

“Lord, forgive us for living deceitful lives that seek to connect to You and the world at the same time. Let our connection to the world be only so that we may connect the people of the world to you. Let every avenue of connection we have be used to connect others to Christ. Let others see the truth of Jesus in us every day. AMEN!”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, October 3, 2022

One of my favorite childhood television shows was Amos and Andy. One episode in particular teaches us a good lesson.

“In this program Andy was angry. There was a big man who would continually slap Andy across the chest every time they met. Andy finally had enough of it. He told Amos, “I’m going to get revenge. I put a stick of dynamite in my vest pocket. The next time he slaps me on the chest he’s going to get his hand blown off.” But Andy forgot that the dynamite would also blow his own heart out. Revenge may hurt the other person but it always blows our own heart out.”

From the lips of Jesus to the Holy Spirit inspired writings of Paul and Peter, we are commanded in Scripture to love our enemies, and do good to those who harm us. Revenge and repayment of wrong is never an option for the follower of Christ.

1 Peter 3:9   “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” 

That’s hard for us, isn’t it? Our first thoughts after being hurt by someone usually involve some form of retribution. Even if we choose not to do anything about it, the lingering thought of “Someday they’ll get what’s coming to them” reveals the true nature of our heart. The heart of Christ has no room for any desire for harm to anyone. His justice requires the payment for sin, but His heart desires forgiveness.

Chuck Colson once told the following story. “Jimmy Gibson, an Ulster defense terrorist held in Northern Ireland’s McGilligan Prison, used to kill Catholics for fun. But in a Bible study one night, Jimmy gave his life to Christ.

“That prison had an invisible dividing line between Catholics and Protestants. One night at dinner, Gibson got up, walked across the mess hall and found a seat at random among the Catholic prisoners. He leaned over and said to a guy named Liam McCloskey, “Brother, I want to tell you about Jesus.”

“That whole mess hall went silent. People expected a riot. The guards went after their guns. But the two sat and talked. Over those next weeks, Jimmy ate every night with the Catholic prisoners. In time, he led McCloskey to Christ.

“In 1983 I was at Queens College in Belfast, with eleven hundred Protestants and Catholics-the first time they’d come together. Jimmy Gibson walked up to the platform on one side, Liam McCloskey came up the other, and they threw their arms around one another. Liam told the crowd, “Two years ago on the street I’d have killed this man. Today he’s my brother in Christ. I’ll lay down my life for him.”

Loving our enemies is for our own good. Jesus didn’t teach us to love our enemies for their good, even though they will benefit from it. Loving our enemies and doing good to those who terrorize us is for our good – it keeps us from becoming the enemy.

“But it feels so good to dwell on the wrong.” That’s what many of us think. Hannah Whitehall Smith in The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, writes,  “Have you never tasted the luxury of indulging in hard thoughts against those who have, as you think, injured you? Have you never known what a positive fascination it is to brood over their unkindnesses, and to pry into their malice, and to imagine all sorts of wrong and uncomfortable things about them? It has made you wretched, of course, but it has been a fascinating sort of wretchedness that you could not easily give up.”

Sure, thoughts of revenge and plots to repay seem somewhat satisfying at the time, but in time, they will destroy us. We will become bitter and distasteful to those around us. We will get eaten up with pain and become cynical. But it will not bring us peace and joy. Rather, we will become the enemy, because we have allowed the Enemy of our soul to rule our spirit and control our mind.

Christ’s heart in us convinces us of something better, not bitter. The better way to live is to be a blessing. Release the burdens of your hurts and become a blessing to those who burdened you in the first place. You’ll discover that they really weren’t the burden after all – your attitude towards them was. 

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, September 30, 2022

1 Peter 3:8   “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another;”

Peter is bringing to a conclusion his excellent teaching on the subject of submission. He has written to citizens and leaders, employees and employers, wives and husbands, and now wraps it all up by addressing everyone in the church. His command for us from the Holy Spirit is to live in harmony with one another within the church. That will only be the reality if the people of the church are living in submission to Christ and to one another.

Harmony requires community. Community requires connection. Connection requires humility. Humility breeds sympathy, compassion, and love, which together strengthen connections, growing greater community, and producing richer harmony.

One point made in yesterday’s devotional was the emphasis on encouragement. In the body of Christ, we must recognize that gifts, abilities, and skill don’t equate to worth. Every person is needed. Every person is valuable. Some instruments of God are more noticeable than others, but none is more worthy than any other. When one part of the body does something commendable under the power of the Holy Spirit, the rest of the body rejoices for two reasons: they played a supporting role, and, the vision and goals of the whole are being realized. As a result, those who get recognition are honored and encouraged with sincerity because there is no jealousy. Individual goals are surrendered for the sake of the community, so individual recognition is not sought, but it is given by the community as an encouragement to all.

Harmony is destroyed and discord happens when individuals begin to demand recognition. This is deadly to church community. People who stand up to be noticed divert attention from the Director. People who stop playing because they aren’t getting noticed cause the rest of the community to suffer a loss in productivity. People who criticize the sounds made by other community members are themselves making ugly sounds. If there is to be true harmony, then there must be humility, for only humility can unite diversity.

Harmony is the result of diversity united by a common objective.  The Director has arranged the instruments exactly the way he knows their sounds will complement one another and produce the best possible result. He has handed out the music with unique notes on each sheet specifically written to produce the best possible sound out of each instrument and blend in perfect harmony with each of the other instruments. He stands at the front of the band – the church – and raises His hands, and all attention is drawn to Him. Not one member is looking at the crowd any longer. No one is playing for the audience anymore. Everyone is intent on playing exactly what the director has assigned them to play. Everyone has one purpose – fulfill the goal of the Director by playing their best.

My friends, we are Christ’s band of brothers and sisters. We are the church. We are a connected community. We have each been uniquely assigned a gift by the Holy Spirit to be used completely and continually in harmony with one another. We accomplish harmony by being sympathetic, compassionate, humble, and loving. We have surrendered our personal goals and any need for individual recognition so that the objectives of the Director can be accomplished. And when the Director chooses to point at someone, we all cheer for them, just as we hope they will cheer for us when the Director points our way. Not because we want the recognition, but because we want people to know what a great Director we have. Who else could have brought out the best in us? The cheers are really for Him.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, September 29, 2022

Music has always been an important part of my life. I grew up with talented parents who both played the piano and organ magnificently. My mom also played the flute. I took piano lessons first, and then moved to band instruments. I played the trumpet, then the baritone, followed by the trombone, and while learning all of them I also learned guitar, bass fiddle, and marimba. By the time I was in 9^th grade I could play them all.

I learned some valuable lessons from my musical training. First, I wasn’t first chair in my section all the time. It was always my goal, but I wasn’t always good enough. I had to learn to live with second chair. My best friend, Carl Zeigler, was just a little better than me at playing the trombone. We were always challenging each other during the practice sessions. One day he would be first chair; the next day I would be. But when we played together in the concerts, it wasn’t to compete, but to blend. We both pushed ourselves to be the best we could be, because that made the whole band better.

Second, I learned that without second and third chairs, there would be no harmony. Melody is great, but it gets boring after a while. Harmony and rhythm are needed to bring out the richness of the musical experience. Someone once said that the most important position in any orchestra is second fiddle. They add richness to the music by adding harmony. They add harmony because they are humble.

Third, I learned that I don’t get to play melody all the time. And when I do, there’s no special recognition for it. Sometimes the trumpets had melody. Sometimes the clarinets. Everybody got a chance to play it sometimes, depending on the song. I even remember one song where the tuba got a solo. But when we were young and immature, no special recognition was given for melody-playing. Band was about unity, not recognition.

As we got older and supposedly more mature, recognition was allowed. On very special occasions during a concert the band director would point at one section after the song was over and have them stand. The rest of the band would join with the audience in giving them the recognition they deserved. There was no jealousy or envy or fault-finding. We were being taught that sometimes someone does something special and they deserve to be praised for it.

Then came high school, and we got to play in what we called “stage band.”  Some of you know it as jazz band. During those concerts, featured soloists would stand while they played the melody, and the audience would applaud. The soloists had been given the liberty to improvise and embellish the melody show off their skills. When they were done, they would sit down and blend back into the rest of the group. Even while they were standing, the rest of the group supported them with harmony and rhythm so they would sound their best.

In band, everyone knew that there would be others who would be better musicians than they were. They knew that not everyone played all the instruments. They knew that it took all the instruments to make the band complete. They knew that it took all the sections to create all the harmony to bring out the richness of the music. Band members understood that while they were each challenged to be the best they could be, it was not for the purpose of individual recognition but for the overall excellence of the band.

Then, at the end of the concert, after the audience has cheered for the band, the band cheers for the director, knowing that he deserves all the credit for teaching them to play in harmony.

Let this be the picture of the church today, as we play our instruments in harmony with one another for the glory of the Director.

1 Peter 3:8   “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another.”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

I am fascinated by statements people make that contradict Scripture. On several occasions I have had to confront people who have stated that they were praying for permission to do something God’s Word already forbids. I once had a young woman tell me that she and her new married boyfriend had prayed about their “love” for each other and that God had given them peace that their adultery was not a sin for them.  I thank the Lord for the spiritual maturity of the Elders that rebuked her with the authority of God’s Word.

Another area where people have trouble is with understanding prayer, specifically the wrong motivation for praying. For many, prayer is nothing more than an emotional tool to bring self-assurance. Others believe it is the secret ingredient that, when made public, brings affirmation and praise from others about choices they have made. You’ve heard people say things like, “I prayed about this before I made the decision.” Their expectation is that when we hear they prayed about it, we will accept their decision as God’s will.

But the Bible does not define prayer as a “genie-in-a-bottle” approach to satisfying one’s own desires. In fact, any sin in our lives actually hinders our prayers, and the prideful pursuit of our own desires is sin. If we have unrepentant sin in our lives it closes the ear of God to our prayers. King David said in Psalm 66, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.”

Look at how Peter relates this to marriage.

1 Peter 3:7  “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”

Peter declares that when a husband does not treat his wife with the consideration and respect she deserves, he sins. As a result, his whole prayer life is affected. Men, the reason many of you are not powerful in prayer is because you’ve chosen to be too powerful in the home. Being in control of everything is the very antithesis of prayer. Prayer requires submission to God’s control. Pride demands that our own will be done. Prayer seeks to know and do the will of God.

One way that you can be considerate of your wife and show her the proper respect she deserves is to pray with her. Praying together with your wife shows her that you consider her your equal. This is crucial, and yet tragically overlooked by many of us, including me.

Paul Tournier, writing in Leadership, says, “It is only when a husband and wife pray together before God that they find the secret of true harmony: that the difference in their temperaments, their ideas, and their tastes enriches their home instead of endangering it. There will be no further question of one imposing his will on the other, or of the other giving in for the sake of peace. Instead, they will together seek God’s will, which alone will ensure that each will be fully able to develop his personality …. When each of the marriage partners seeks quietly before God to see his own faults, recognizes his sin, and asks the forgiveness of the other, marital problems are no more. Each learns to speak the other’s language, and to meet him halfway, so to speak. Each holds back those harsh little words which one is apt to utter when one is right, but which are said in order to injure. Most of all, a couple rediscovers complete mutual confidence, because, in meditating in prayer together, they learn to become absolutely honest with each other …. This is the price to be paid if partners very different from each other are to combine their gifts instead of setting them against each other.”

Men, you are at the starting line. Forget what has happened in the past. Don’t look behind you. Look ahead at the finish line. Your goal is to run the race with perseverance and discipline, and to be found faithful at the end. And the greatest testament to your faithfulness will be when you cross that finish line hand-in-hand with your wife and present her to Jesus as His bride.

On your marks! Take your position in your marriage – the spiritual leader of your home. It’s the position God has assigned you and equipped you to fill.

Get set! Plan the strategies for winning the race. Then kneel down so you start the race from a position of humility.

GO! Run! Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, and run! Be strong. Be courageous. And when you look to your side to see if she’s keeping up, you’ll discover something incredible. You’ll see Jesus running with you, making sure you stay together. 

Pastor John