Tuesday, September 13, 2022

FREEDOM! That single word elicits a variety of responses from people, most often defined by the current circumstances in which they live. The Bible talks a lot about freedom, and Peter challenges us today to understand God’s perspective on how to live in freedom.

1 Peter 2:16-17   “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.”

First, the freedom we have in Christ because of grace can never become a cover-up for evil. The Apostle Paul said it this way – What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (Romans 6:1-2). Freedom is the result of the removal of restraints. It is not, however, the disregard for discipline. Far too many people think that freedom releases them from responsibility, when in fact it carries the highest regard for responsibility.

Missionary author Elisabeth Elliot said it this way: “Freedom and discipline have come to be regarded as mutually exclusive, when in fact freedom is not at all the opposite, but the final reward, of discipline. It is to be bought with a high price, not merely claimed …. The [professional] skater and [race] horse are free to perform as they do only because they have been subjected to countless hours of grueling work, rigidly prescribed, faithfully carried out. Men are free to soar into space because they have willingly confined themselves in a tiny capsule designed and produced by highly trained scientists and craftsmen, have meticulously followed instructions and submitted themselves to rules which others defined.“

So, point number one is this – don’t use freedom as a means of accomplishing your own objectives and fulfilling your own desires. Use your freedom to responsibly serve the One who gave it to you.

Second, we must respect others in our culture and in our churches. Walls of disrespect have been built between races, genders, and socio-economic groups. Here’s a story that touches on one aspect of respect. It’s told by Raleigh Washington in a 1993 article in Moody Magazine entitled Breaking Down Walls. You will discover from reading the first line of the story that Mr. Washington is a black man.

“As a young teen, I worked summers for a white grocer. Albert Soud made me his unofficial butcher. One day a girl who lived with her single mom and four other kids in the apartment above us came into the store and asked for 25 cents-worth of baloney. The family was very poor, so I sliced about three times that much, wrapped it up, and wrote 25 cents on the package. When the girl took it to the cash register, Mr. Soud looked at the package and threw it on his own scale. He rolled his eyes at me, but said to the girl, “Twenty-five cents, please.”

“After we closed, Mr. Soud said, “Raleigh, I work hard to try to make ends meet, and you defrauded me. I believe you were trying to help that young lady, but you helped her at my expense. Next time you want to help somebody, ask me, and I’ll respond. But don’t steal from me.”

“Albert Soud was sensitive to the reason for my action, and unwilling to embarrass me in front of the girl. He’d talked to me with respect, like a father to his son. I developed a real love for that man.“

So point number two is this – good intentions don’t excuse disrespect for authority. It is in that context that Peter says “Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.” Freedom and respect are inter-connected. Our freedoms are not our right to disrespect others. When freedom and respect are combined, they produce a servant, and according to God’s social system, being a servant is the greatest expression of freedom.

 Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, September 12, 2022

1 Peter 2:13-15   “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.”

Peter issues a call to humility; to trust in the sovereign rule of God. It is an opportunity to let the world see the heart of Jesus in us. It will require sacrifice. It demands balance. Extremism has no place here. It can only be accomplished if we first understand our true citizenship.

As members of the family of God and devoted followers of Jesus Christ, we are first and foremost citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. That grace-bestowed citizenship must captivate us and dictate all responses to all other kingdoms. This causes great tension, because the Kingdom standard of love and grace so often conflicts with the application of righteousness and justice in a sinful world. But one thought helps me resolve this tension – our hope is in the return of the King, not in the return we get on our investments in other kingdoms. Our primary purpose as citizens of heaven is to recruit more citizens, not change the culture through political action. Jesus modeled that in His life on earth. We must live as He did.

Granted, I am concerned about the political condition of our country and other countries around the world. My heart breaks for the people who suffer under tyrannical and terroristic rule. My soul cries for the millions of people who are starving because government leaders are greedy. My soul weeps violently for the millions of babies who are murdered every year because of the selfishness, sexual immorality, and pride of people. Yet my heart also mourns over the death of the doctor who provided those abortion services. All human life is precious – even those who have no regard for it.

God’s heart is more deeply affected by these things than our own. He cares. He will act. He is in control. O Lord, give us peace based on our faith in your sovereignty. Give us patience based on our confidence in your righteousness. Give us hope based on your Word and its promises. Give us love for others – especially those who reject you and rebel against you – that will model to them the love that Jesus has for them.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer understood the balance between Christ-centered living and social action that should exist in the Christian’s life. He was a German Lutheran pastor and theologian. He was also a participant in the German Resistance movement against Nazism. His involvement in plans by members of the Abwehr (the German Military Intelligence Office) to assassinate Adolf Hitler resulted in his arrest in April 1943 and his subsequent execution by hanging in April 1945, shortly before the war’s end.

 Bonhoeffer stated that there are three possible ways in which the church, or individual Christians, can act toward the state:

1. It can ask the state whether its actions are legitimate and in accordance with its character as state, i.e. it can throw the state back on its responsibilities.
2. It can aid the victims of state action. The church has an unconditional obligation to the victims of any ordering of society, even if they do not belong to the Christian community. “Do good to all people.”
3. It can choose to not just bandage the victims under the wheel of government, but to jam a spoke in the wheel itself. Such action would be direct political action and is only possible and desirable when the church sees the state fail in its function of creating law and order and bringing about the good of God.

Unfortunately, many Christians jump to step #3 and do not model a humble, submissive, and servant heart towards their government. This is wrong. It is contrary to the commands of Scripture given to us by Jesus. “Give to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar, and give to God the things that belong to God.” Paul said “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.  Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. And Peter wrote, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men.”

Good citizens of heaven make good citizens on earth. Why? Because they understand submission and sacrifice. They know what love is and how to live it. They live the life of Christ by loving others more than self. They win the culture war by influencing culture with Christ. No matter how bad it gets out there in the world, love will always conquer a multitude of sins. Let your citizenship be identified by the love of God others see in you.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, September 9, 2022

1 Peter 2:11-12   “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”

I will not be popular today. I will certainly not be politically correct. In fact, there will be those who may read this who will downright despise me. But that’s the price of truth.

In today’s Scripture reading, Peter urges those who are in Christ to live as strangers in the world. He declares two general principles – first, stay away from sinful desires: and second, live good lives. I want to address the first principle today.

The New International Version quoted above says that as followers of Christ and citizens of His eternal kingdom, we are to abstain from sinful desires. The King James Version calls it lust. Most of the time, when we hear or read the word lust, we relate it to sexual immorality. But it covers a much broader spectrum of desires that emanate from our sinful hearts. To lust is to desire anything forbidden. Unfortunately, in today’s modern society, we have chosen to believe that nothing is really forbidden. If it feels good, it must be right. If it’s available, then it must be okay. After all, who declared it forbidden anyway? It must have been Someone out of touch with who we really are.

We are in a serious predicament. It’s not a new issue, but it is serious. God has been declared irrelevant, and man has been left to his own foolishness. This problem started way back in the beginning of time. The Apostle Paul reviewed the history of lust for us in Romans chapter one.

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them…For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened…Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.”

“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.”

“Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”

Lust is destroying mankind. I came across this word picture the other day from the pen of author Calvin Miller. It has really caused me to think.

       Unbridled lust:

             A cannibal committing suicide

                    By nibbling on himself.

Peter says that unbridled lust will war against your very soul. It will eat you alive. It will stop your spiritual growth and destroy your ministry effectiveness. Jesus told a parable about this problem. A farmer is sowing seeds. Some people are “like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.”

The desires for other things – lust – will choke out the word of God and make us unfruitful. Let us determine today, and every day, to bridle the lust of the flesh. We must choose to abstain from all that is forbidden by the Word of God, no matter what the world of gods says. Do not let the world decide for you what is forbidden. God has already declared it. Let us stand on His Word and be fruitful. The world may accuse us of doing wrong, but when Jesus returns, and they face the truth they have denied, they will have to confess that He is Lord and give Him glory for how we lived.

Stand strong. Be faithful. The Lord your God is with you.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, September 8, 2022

I’ve been doing some real hard thinking about actions and attitudes, and their effect on others. Peter addresses that issue in today’s Scripture, and over the next couple of days I want to share some practical applications of the truths presented.

1 Peter 2:11-12   “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”

Let’s start today with some quotes from famous people that will stimulate your thinking.

“Let us so live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.” Mark Twain

“Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” John Wooden, former UCLA basketball coach,

“Faith and works should travel side by side. First faith, and then works; and then faith again, and then works again—until you can scarcely distinguish which is one and which is the other.”   William Booth, Founder of the Salvation Army

“Love talked about can be easily turned aside, but love demonstrated is irresistible.”   W. Stanley Mooneyham

“For it is the will of God that with well-doing we should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.”    Richard Baxter

In Conspiracy of Kindness, Steve Sjogren tells the true story of Joe Delaney and his eight-year-old son, Jared, who were playing catch in their backyard.

Jared asked, “Dad, is there a God?” Joe replied that he went to church only a few times when he was a kid; he really had no idea. Jared ran into the house. “I’ll be right back!” he yelled.

Moments later he returned with a helium balloon from the circus, a pen, and an index card. “I’m going to send God an airmail message,” Jared explained.

“Dear God,” wrote Jared, “if you are real, and you are there, send people who know you to Dad and me.” “God, I hope you’re watching,” Joe thought, as they watched the balloon and message sail away.

Two days later, Joe and Jared pulled into a car wash sponsored by Sjogren’s church. When Joe asked, “How much?” Sjogren answered, “It’s free. No strings attached. We just want to show God’s love in a practical way.”

“Are you guys Christians, the kind of Christians who believe in God?” Joe asked. Sjogren said, “Yes, we’re that kind of Christians.”

From that encounter, Steve led Joe to faith in Christ. Many people may be only one act of kindness from meeting a true Christian.

Several years ago I had 1,000 cards printed that gave our church people an opportunity to show the love of God to others by paying for their drive-through purchases at fast food restaurants. Many people used the cards. I’ve had the opportunity to meet three people who were thankful for the gift of love they received. What are you intentionally doing every day to meet people with an attitude of love so they may open their hearts to the greatest Gift they could ever receive – Jesus Christ.

Let your actions speak loudly for Jesus.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

1 Peter 2:10   “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

I must spend one more day on this verse. Something deeply troubles me about the attitude of the “average” Christian in our world today. It troubles me most because it tends to be true of me. There is an epidemic disease from which most of us suffer. I call it deservism. I know that’s not an official word, but it is an official problem.

Peter establishes an inseparable relationship between grace and praise. After declaring that we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people belonging to God, he tells us that those truths will produce praise in our lives. Then, so that we might fully comprehend His incredible grace, he reminds us to consider our condition prior to being chosen. We were not a people. We were without mercy. In other words, we were worthless.

Some will cry foul at this point. How dare I state that anyone is worthless? But the truth is, without Christ, we are.

Yesterday I used an illustration of being chosen for a sports team. The illustration falls apart at this point. You see, when a sports coach or captain chooses players for his team, he does so based on a person’s abilities and performance. In contrast, when I stand in line before God, I have nothing to offer. All my past performance is as filthy rags, says the prophet Isaiah. “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” We are not chosen by God based upon our abilities or past performance. We are chosen completely as an act of His sovereign will and by His grace and mercy.

In his mercy God chose not to give us what we deserve – the punishment of our sin. By His grace, He gave us a gift we could never earn – eternal life. But we have decided we are deserving people. Our western civilization has corrupted God’s grace. We have been told that everyone has worth. Pride has infiltrated our basic belief system so that our salvation, while we claim it is free, is really something God owes us. Our pride, manifested in the disease of deservism, has destroyed our ability to praise.

Here’s a simple test. Think about the last gift you received. How truly grateful were you? How long did it take you say thank-you? How enthusiastic were you about the gift? Think now – was there any level of deservism that kept you from being as appreciative as you should have been?

Even the slightest sense of deservism will destroy a thankful heart. Deservism delivers a death blow to praise. We deserve nothing from God, and it is only by His mercy that He chose those who by their very nature stood opposed to Him.

I found the words to a song by Curtis Stephan. Read the words carefully. Then ask God for healing from the disease of deservism. When we confess that we are unworthy, we will become the people of praise that God has called us to be when He chose us.

Though I’m not worthy to see your precious face

      I bow before thee pour out your holy grace

For you alone can wash my sin

      And cleanse my soul so deep within.

Heal me, wash me in your mercy

      Mend these broken pieces of my heart

Love me though I am not worthy

      Cleanse my soul and make me whole again

Only say the word and I shall be healed.

      Though I’m not worthy in your grace I long to stand

And bow before thee, stretch out your healing hand

      For you alone can purify and heal these wounds so deep inside.

Though I’m not worthy to feel your love, oh Lord

      I bow before thee, my Savior be adored.

For you alone break hardened hearts

      And bid old bitterness depart.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

1 Peter 2:9-10   “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

Conjunctions. They are an important part of language. Conjunctions are words that connect thoughts and ideas. Sometimes they are comparative, as in the case of the word “also”. Sometimes they highlight a contrast, like “however” and “but”. Peter starts today’s Scripture with a contrasting conjunction. What he is about to say is to be considered as opposing what he just said. He has just stated that the Living Stone of Jesus Christ is a stumbling block to those choose not to believe.

But – there it is, the contrasting conjunction – those who believe in the Living Stone have a different destiny: one chosen by Christ Himself. He will not stumble because he belongs to God.

In the early 1800’s, Pastor John Keble, after whom Keble College in Oxford, England is named, wrote this poem –  

           Look in, and see Christ’s chosen saint

In triumph wear his Christ-like chain;

           No fear lest he should swerve or faint;

                His life is Christ, his death is gain.

When I was a little boy, I hated standing in line while a boy much bigger and more athletic than I served as the captain of a team to which He would choose players. I hated it because I knew that my skinny, scrawny body would not appeal to him as a potential team member. I had been the last one chosen too many times, but I kept getting in that line. I wanted to be chosen. I wanted my name to be called.

Even though it really hurt to be called last, I learned that once I was on the team, I was able to improve my skills by playing the game. I would go wherever the captain said and do my best. Soon, I wasn’t the last one being called.

I am overwhelmed by the knowledge that God chose me and then called me. He made me somebody when I was nobody. He gave me a place to belong and an identity when I had neither. Oswald Chambers said, “‘I have chosen you.’ Keep that note of greatness in your creed. It is not that you have got God, but that he has got you. Why is God at work in me, bending, breaking, moulding, doing just as he chooses? For one purpose only—that he may be able to say, ‘This is my man, my woman.’” Oswald Chambers (1874–1917)

I like that – God wants to say about me, “This is my man.” Peter says that my response to being chosen is, “This is my God.” We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people belonging to God for one primary purpose of God – to declare His praises. Unfortunately, in the church today, most people live as though they’re frozen not chosen. I would suggest that those who act frozen don’t comprehend the magnitude of being chosen. 

God’s people still offer the most basic and best proof of God. A changed life is still the best testimony of God’s power. Divine love reflected in a Christian heart which accepts, forgives and loves the unlovable is still the best witness of the nature of God. Hope that will not die is still the best proof of eternal life. Faith which cannot be shaken even in the face of death is still the best demonstration of the immutability of God’s promises.

We who have been granted the privilege of partaking in the divine nature, are the witnesses, the demonstration, the proof of the divine presence in the world. Books and lessons and sermons and reason may have their place, but the real test is in the lives of God’s chosen people. If that proof is not clear and constant, everything else is just hearsay.

You have been chosen. Live like a chosen child of God.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, September 5, 2022

Pastor Fred Musser tells an interesting story in The Tabernacle. He writes, “A few days before I left home to prepare for the ministry, my gray-haired pastor, Rev. Temple, told me this story.” 

“When my son was small, we often walked together out through the fields and neighboring pasture behind the parsonage. At first, the little fellow would hold onto my little finger, but he found that when he stepped into a hoof-print or stumbled over something, his grip would fail and down he’d go in the dust or snow. Not giving it much thought, my mind on other matters, I’d stop, and he’d get up, brush himself off, and grab my little finger again, gripping a little harder this time.

“Needless to say, this occurred frequently until one day as he was brushing himself off, he looked at me and said, ‘Daddy?’ I replied, ‘Yes, Son, what is it?’ He said, ‘I think if you would hold my hand, I wouldn’t fall.’

“Pastor Temple then turned to me and with a tear in his eye he said, “You know, he still stumbled many times after that, but he never hit the ground. Now, as you walk with God, don’t try to hold on to Him, let Him hold on to you. You may stumble but He’ll never let you fall.”

1 Peter 2:6-8  “ For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”  Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.”

The one who trusts in the Living Stone, the chosen and precious Cornerstone, will never fall. They will never be embarrassed or ashamed. Our strength may fail, and we may stumble, but we will never fall because His strength cannot fail. It all depends upon whether you’re trying to hold on to Him, or if you’ve trusted Him to hold on to you. Those who trust in their own strength and works to hold on to God will find themselves flat on their faces. Those who by faith allow God to hold on to them will walk and never grow weary.

The interesting thing about stones is that they can be either a stepping stone or a stumbling block. Christ, as the Living Stone, is both. He is the Stepping Stone to God for those who believe. He is the stumbling block for those who do not believe.

One stone. Different effects on people. Those who by faith alone trust in Christ for their salvation will stand on the Rock and be exalted in eternity. Those who try to earn their way into eternity by their works will trip over the Rock and fall to their doom. It is the grace of God in Christ that becomes the stumbling block for most, while for us it becomes the rock of our salvation.

Free gifts are a stumbling stone to people. Many years ago, my wife and I stood for 45 minutes in the parking lot of a tourist attraction trying to give away tickets that we couldn’t use. Each ticket was worth $18.00. Dozens of people walked by and would not extend a hand to receive the free gift. Some just ignored us. Others asked, “What’s the catch?”  All of them refused the gift, went inside the attraction, and purchased their own tickets. Finally, one couple decided to take advantage of the offer.

What a perfect example of how the free gift of salvation is rejected by so many because they will not believe it is truly free. How sad!

But even after we receive the free gift, we often stumble because we are prone to be prone. We tend to take back into our own control what we claimed to have given to Christ. We trust ourselves rather than trust Him. We choose to grab God’s little finger and hang on with all our strength, when we could just let God grab our hand with all His strength. The first step is a scary one, because it requires us to let go. But you can trust God. He is your Living Stone.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, September 2, 2022

For the past three months Pastor Josh led us through a study of Genesis with a focus on knowing our Creator.  The book of Genesis is incredible. In it, we find not only the foundations of the world and of civilization, but also the revelation of the nature and character of God and His work on behalf of mankind. There is nothing more deeply satisfying to any of us than the knowledge of God.  

One significant truth from Genesis connects with our study of First Peter. In the story of the murder of Abel by his brother Cain, we found that one of the sacrifices the brothers offered to God was acceptable, and one wasn’t. Why?

Maybe the reason God accepted Abel’s sacrifice was because it was a blood sacrifice of an animal. Cain’s was rejected because it was grain. This belief is based on the need for a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin, which God demonstrated to Adam and Eve when He clothed them with the skins of animals after their sin in the Garden of Eden. I completely see the connection and the significance of the symbolism, but I think that we stretch the meaning when we think this way. Nowhere in the passage does it say that the sacrifice they were bringing was for the forgiveness of sin. They were bringing an offering, not making a sacrifice.

Interestingly, when God gives His laws to Moses, grain offerings were fully acceptable. Therefore, it was not the offering that caused the problem for Cain. So what was it? It was the attitude of his heart towards the glory of God. Cain did not truly respect God as the provider and sustainer of his life. He simply came and made an offering of convenience. Abel, on the other hand, gave God the best of the best that he had. Cain brought some of the harvest of his fields. Abel gave of the fat portions of the firstfruits of his flocks. Cain did not honor God as His provider but kept the best for himself to provide for himself. Abel showed trust in God’s provision by giving up the first born of his flock, thereby limiting his flock’s reproductive potential.

This has deeply impacted my heart. Think about the attitude you have right now towards the things of this life. Are you offering God only what is convenient? Do you give Him only the time that doesn’t interfere with your plans? Do you give Him offerings of resources that don’t restrict your buying power?

1 Peter 2:4-5   “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

We live in a modern world of convenience. Everything is about making life easier. Unfortunately, easy living comes at a huge price. It costs us our sacrificial spirit. Easy living becomes the passion of our pursuits, and the motivation of our decisions. If we carefully and honestly evaluate it, easy living is the product of our own invention and is accomplished in the strength of our own will. As a result, we make very few if any true sacrifices, because all choices are based on return value.

Peter tells us that together we are to grow as a spiritual house to be holy priests that offer spiritual sacrifices to God. I cannot justify convenience with spiritual sacrifices. Cain’s sacrifice of convenience didn’t represent commitment. Abel’s sacrifice of income potential did. We must each decide if our relationship with Christ is one of convenience or commitment. We may call our service in the church a commitment, while it may be nothing more than a convenient way to continue to appear spiritual.

Sacrifices of convenience grow out of a spirit of self-fulfillment. Sacrifices of commitment come from a heart that is already fulfilled in Christ, needs nothing more, and is filled with gratitude for what God has already provided. Convenience is all about worship of self. Commitment is all about worship of God. Convenience demonstrates trust in self. Commitment models trust in Christ.

My friends, this is an urgent word for the day in which we live. We must not live as materialistic-minded people. Giving God what’s left of our time, our energy, and our finances is nothing more than convenient Christianity that benefits self. We must understand that God requires compliance when it comes to commitment. Anything less is an unacceptable offering. Give God your best – the best of your best. As the Apostle Paul said, “I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:1-2)

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, September 1, 2022

1 Peter 2:1-3   “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

Being successful at anything requires the skill of review. Remember Vince Lombardi when he challenged his professional team to review the fundamentals by holding up a pigskin and declaring, “This is a football!”

Peter reminds us to review in today’s Scripture passage. He starts with a word that demands review – “therefore.” Someone once said that whenever you see the word therefore, go back and look at what was just said so you know what’s next is there for. Let’s review what Peter has just said prior to chapter two. His emphasis was on two things – sincere love for others and the Word of God, which he described as living and enduring.

With the foundation laid in our lives of God’s Word and our obedience to its truth, Peter says that we are to get rid of anything that contradicts those fundamentals.

• Malice – the desire to do harm to another person because of our anger. Malice contradicts the fundamental of love for others.
• Deceit – a term used to describe a decoy intended to ensnare in a trap. Deceit contradicts the fundamental of sincerity.
• Hypocrisy – to be two faced. Hypocrisy contradicts integrity and transparency in love.
• Envy – to desire what someone else has so one’s value is increased. Envy contradicts the identity we have in Christ.  
• Slander – to defame another person. Slander contradicts the fundamental of loving others and building them up by putting their needs ahead of our own.

All these things are contradictory to the very nature of God as revealed in His living Word. When they’re gone, there’s room for us to grow in what accompanies our salvation.

Peter uses an analogy of food. Let’s face it – I love food. Once I taste it, and if I like it, and I want more of it. Much more. It makes me grow…in all the wrong places, and that’s not good. But feeding on the living Word of God brings growth that’s good. God never intended us to stop growing. There are no spiritual diets. We can have all we want of God’s food. It’s our choice how much we want to grow. Little food brings little growth. Much food brings much growth.

Some people claim to not have much of an appetite. Somewhere along the line they forgot how good God tastes. They chose to not savor His flavor. They chose to seek out other sources of nutrition, none of which ever satisfies. It’s not that they don’t have an appetite; it’s just that they’ve chosen to feed their hunger with something other than God. They need to go back and discover the taste of the Lord again.

Every once in a while I get the urge to have a mango. It truly is the world’s best fruit. I will try to satisfy my hunger for one by buying one locally. It was picked from the tree well before it was ripe, and when I dig into the first bite, I am totally disappointed. Nothing beats tree-ripened fruit. Unfortunately, there’s no way to grow mangoes around here.

I first tasted a tree-ripened one in the Philippines. The people of the mission I worked with on three different occasions understood my love for them and provided them for me at every meal. If I want that satisfying taste again, I’ll just have to go back there. It will be costly, and take a huge commitment of time and resources, but it would be worth it.

It may cost us to get back our spiritual appetite. It will take sacrifice, and a commitment of time and resources to go back to the place where we once fed on the fruit of the Tree of Life – but it will be worth it. Nothing else will ever satisfy. Let us search our memories and rediscover the place where we first tasted that the Lord was good, and let’s go back there to find all the food we could ever want. It’s time to start growing again.

By the way – please pass the mangoes.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

In the “library” at my house is a cupboard that has a variety of things in it. One shelf of that cupboard used to be filled with magazines. I had subscriptions to In Fisherman, Golf Magazine, anda few Cabela’s hunting and fishing catalogues.

One thing I discovered while reading magazines about fishing and golf is that everyone has their own tested and proven technique for success. Month after month, the tips keep coming to catch more fish, add more yards to your drive, or make more putts. The problem is that in any given month there will be at least three articles that contradict what last month’s “experts” said. Where does a person go to get solid information that never fails?

There is only one source of truth – God’s Word, the Bible. Here’s a quick synopsis of what Peter says about the Word of God.

1 Peter 1:23-25   “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord stands forever.”

• It’s alive. According to Thayer’s Greek Definitions, the word living, when applied to something other than a person or animal, means, “having vital power in itself and exerting the same upon the soul.” Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Here’s the point –when something is called living, it carries the very essence of its Creator. It has the same power. It represents the same nature and character. So when God speaks, His words carry the very essence of His being. They are the exact representation of who He is. They are alive. That’s why John calls Jesus the Word in his gospel. In Hebrews 1, we read that God “has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.” The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” God’s Word is alive and will bring life to you!
• It’s enduring.  Twice in this passage, the Word of God is said to be enduring. The second time the word is used it is translated as stands forever. The Greek word has three meanings that are significant to our understanding:
  • The first application is in reference to place. When something endures, it remains in place. When you read, study, and apply His Word to your life, it will never leave you. It becomes a part of your living soul. It is what gives life. God’s Word will never lose its place in you.
  • The second application is in reference to time. When something endures, it never gets old. Because God’s Word is the exact expression of His being God’s Word is eternal. It is not subject to time. It remains forever. “Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.” (Psalm 119:89)
  • The third application is in reference to condition. When something endures, it never changes. The Word of God never changes. It cannot, because it is the living expression of an unchangeable God. It is constant truth. James, the brother of Jesus, says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

Every day we get to choose what light to let shine on our life. It may be the light of a golf or fishing expert. It may be the light of a spouse. It may be the light of a pastor. It may be the light of a boss. Every day we choose to cast a shadow caused by standing in someone else’s light. The trouble is, those lights are not consistent, and the shadows are always shifting.  But God’s Word is the one true Light. Jesus came as the Light of the world because He is the Living Word of God.

Where does a person go to get solid information that never fails?  The answer is the Bible. God’s Word is where you will always find solid and trustworthy information that will never fail. Spend more time reading it. My words are not alive. The books you are reading right now are not alive. But God’s Word is alive, and it will make you alive!

Pastor John