LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

I love my brothers. But childhood sibling rivalry was real. When I was young, my brother Paul really bugged me. We are only fifteen months apart in age, with me being the oldest. I felt like he always had our dad’s ear at my expense. When he was in trouble, he could always make dad laugh, thereby avoiding the consequences of his actions. Yet I was consistently in trouble because Paul would tell on me, and some of the things he told dad were made up. It was as if he was motivated by some need to be accepted by dad, even if it hurt me.

Please don’t think poorly of my brother. I don’t. To be totally honest, my memories are exaggerated to prove a point. Unfortunately, we all know people who place a high value on acceptance and are willing to hurt others to gain that acceptance. Those same people want the appearance of doing the right thing, but their motivations are sinful.

Such was the case in the response of people to the raising of Lazarus from the dead. We can see the contrast between people in John 11:45-46.   

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

Tattletales.

To remain accepted in the religious group of their day, some of those who witnessed the resurrection of Lazarus felt it was their civic and spiritual duty to report to the leadership what had happened. But their motives were very sinful. The Scripture contrasts their actions with the people who believed, so we know they were not motivated to be witnesses for Christ but rather witnesses against Christ. They chose to place a higher value on the protection of their current status than on representing the truth.

Tattletales.

But what about us? Are there times when we are motivated to speak to others for the same reason? Is maintaining our status with people so important that we would misrepresent the truth to them? Would we dare to deny the truth simply to protect our status?

Think on these things.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, February 8, 2021

When I was a boy my Sunday School teachers spent a significant amount of time teaching us to memorize Bible verses. Every Sunday in class we would read, repeat, and recite the verse of the week. Occasionally, during a week of review, the teacher would ask us to recite our favorite memory verse. Most of the boys in the class, including me, would shoot up their hands and hope to be chosen first. That’s because to us, favorite verse meant shortest verse. Invariably the first verse quoted each week would be John 11:35. “JESUS WEPT.”

At that immature age we did not yet understand the significance of those two words. But now I do. The shortest verse in the Bible is packed with deep theology. This brief description of Jesus as he approached the tomb of Lazarus convicts me.

First, I see in the weeping of Jesus a confirmation of His humanity. Jesus is at once both Deity and finite human being. He is fully God and fully human at the same time. The Son of God who left His throne in glory to be born of a virgin can fully and intimately relate to every suffering we experience. He is not distant and unable to feel our pain. He equally experienced every hurt we now feel.

Second, Jesus openly shared the pain of grief. Some of the people who observed Him weeping said, “See how he loved him!” Jesus was not afraid to let His emotions come to the surface.  Many of us bury our emotions. We believe they make us appear weak. But Jesus was certainly not weak. In fact, the expression of grief confirms the depth of one’s love for what has been lost.

Third, not only was Jesus weeping caused by the grief of death, but He wept over the unbelief of those around Him. Not everyone saw love in the tears of Jesus. While many were moved by the love of Jesus, others were moved to criticism based on unbelief. Verse thirty-seven of John eleven says, “But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” Jesus wept because He saw more people who were dead – spiritually dead.

I am determined to let two words change my heart and mind. I will not bury the pain of grief and loss. I will not let my fear of being seen as weak keep me from showing ultimate strength. I will love others deeply without fear of being hurt and experiencing loss. I will weep over those who oppose me, criticize me, and seek to hurt me because I know it an expression of their unbelief. I will not criticize or condemn others to protect myself. I will grow in the compassion of Christ for the lost and dying. I will weep over the sinful condition of mankind. I will be determined to reach as many as possible with the Good News of Jesus for so long as I live.

“Jesus wept.”

Will you?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, February 5, 2021

A Florida man who spent 37 years in prison on a rape and murder charge was released on August 27^th of last year, hours after officials revealed dramatic new DNA evidence that proved his innocence.

Robert DuBoise walked out of the Hardee Correctional Institution in Bowling Green, Florida, shortly after 2 p.m. With him were his mother and sister.

“It’s an overwhelming sense of relief,” Robert DuBoise told reporters outside the prison. “I prayed to God every day and hoped for it.”

DuBoise said he will have to learn many modern things, such as how to use a computer. But he added he bears no ill will toward those involved in his long incarceration.

“If you keep hatred and bitterness in your heart, you don’t have room for anything else,” he said. “I’m just very grateful.”

His mother, Myra DuBoise, said she prayed every day for this outcome.

“It’s a wonderful gift from the lord,” she said.

Harriet DuBoise, his sister, said it’s great to be able to hug her brother again.

“I always had faith. I always saw him getting out,” she said. “I never lost hope. Never.”

———————–

Even though we may not be experiencing the confinement of a prison cell, many of us are still bound up in the guilt and shame of sin. Yet in Christ we can be set free.

In the news story above, it was DNA evidence that proved a man’s innocence. It is the same for you and me. When Jesus Christ by grace through faith saved us from our sin, we by nature became the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21) We now are identified by the spiritual DNA of Jesus. God sees only the innocence of Christ in us. When we look backward, prior to meeting Jesus, and define ourselves by sin, we imprison ourselves in guilt and shame. We are bound up in the wrappings of death. We can relate to Lazarus in the tomb.

But Jesus came to set us free. When Jesus arrives at the tomb of Lazarus, He commands that the stone be removed. After praying, Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out.”

Maybe you need to hear Jesus shouting to you today. He is commanding that you come out of your grave of guilt and shame. He is declaring life to you. Jesus is preparing to set you free.

After Lazarus comes forth from the grave – imagine having been there and seeing a dead guy come back to life and walk – Jesus issues one more command. “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Can you hear Jesus saying that to you right now? Why do we still try to walk around in the clothing of death when Jesus has declared us to be alive? Jesus is telling you to remove the wrappings of guilt and shame, and be free. Jesus has called you to life and freedom. You have been declared innocent based on Christ’s DNA. Choose to participate with Him in unwrapping yourself from any connection to sin and death.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, February 4, 2021

When I was seven years old I made a stink. Literally. The basement of the house we lived in was dark, dank, and delightful for an adventurous boy. Mom’s laundry machines were down there, and all the water from the washing machine would run toward the drain along the outside wall in an open trough. I would sail my boats in the water.

There were also shelves attached to the walls holding jars of home-canned fruit and vegetables. Plus, there was a room filled with coal for the furnace to heat the house. I learned the hard way to stay off what I at first thought was a rock pile.

One day, while exploring in the basement, I found two things that I used to create a mess, even though my intention was to be productive. On the floor under the shelving, I found a flowerpot filled with dirt. On the shelves was a jar of mustard seed. I remembered my Sunday School lesson about having faith like a mustard seed, and that those tiny seeds would grow into large bushes. I poured the jar of mustards seeds into the dirt, buried them, and watered them. I placed the pot on the top shelf near the small window in the top of the wall. I had faith that I would soon see how large a mustard bush would become.

Seven-year old boys are forgetful, especially those as active as me. A few weeks later I heard my parents talking about the awful smell in the basement. I remembered my horticultural experiment and went down to check. It really stunk. There was no plant, just a stinky decomposing mess of mustard seeds. I showed it to my parents. Fortunately, they laughed.

When Jesus arrived in Bethany after the death of Lazarus, the seed had already been planted in the ground. Decomposition had begun. Except for the stone that covered the grave, there would be an awful smell. The smell of death captivated the minds of Martha and Mary. Their focus on stink blinded them to the truth of resurrection.

Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” (John 11:39)

Death stinks, and if all we have in life is a focus on death, then life stinks too. How often does the stink of life’s circumstances blind us to the truth of the resurrection power of God in us? We can choose to focus on the stink, or we can hear the words of Jesus when He says, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:40)

But that is not the end. When we focus on the life of Jesus in us, we become a sweet aroma of life to others who can only smell the stink of life. The Apostle Paul says, “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?”  (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)

Here are two thoughts to ponder:

1. What are you smelling?
2. How do you smell to others?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, February 3, 2021

I have a problem. Please don’t start a list and send it to me. I know I have many problems. But the one problem I want to focus on today is illustrated by this story.

Grandkids are fantastic. But occasionally something happens at our house and we aren’t made aware of it until days later when we find the damage. One day, as I was walking through the family room, I noticed a broken collectible. I took it from the shelf where it had been skillfully placed to disguise the damage and I went upstairs. My first question to my wife was, “Who did this?”

That’s a problem. Why do we so quickly want to blame others for undesirable outcomes?  Why do we criticize people when our expectations aren’t met? Did it really matter at that point who broke the figurine, or should I have recognized that my grandchildren were afraid of my reactions, so they tried to hide what they did?

In John eleven, Mary and Martha respond to the arrival of Jesus in much the same way as I do. When Jesus is approaching, Martha goes to meet him, while Mary stays in the house. Martha wants to make sure Jesus understands how things could have been different. Her first words to Jesus were. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Why did Mary stay in the house? Maybe she was too consumed with the dangerous mixture of grief and anger. We know that when she finally came out of the house and spoke to Jesus, she also said exactly what Martha had said. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”The ladies had obviously talked about this. They had decided that someone needed to be blamed, so they blamed the One who they thought could have prevented the death of their brother.

We are far too often like Mary and Martha. Things don’t turn out according to our plans, so we seek to blame someone else. Maybe the reason is that we look at life from a human perspective and not from God’s perspective. We have predetermined an outcome that best suits our current goals in life, when instead we could be expecting an outcome that glorifies God. Our perspective will determine our response.

Our pride is powerful. We believe that the way we want life to turn out is the best way for it to happen. We place more value on things than we do on people’s feelings. We explode in frustration because something we value wasn’t treasured by others the way we treasure it. We would rather defend our rights than seek to understand the perspective of others. So we criticize and blame people for interfering with our self-defined sources of happiness.

I am thankful that Martha recognized her problem. Right after she blurted out her blame of Jesus, she recovered by saying, “But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” If only that had been her first thought. If only it was mine.

Lord, make my first thought always be what you can do, and not what I think I have lost.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THE TEACHING TACTIC USED IN THE FOLLOWING STORY.

As well as I can remember, I was around seven years old when I learned to swim. I loved playing in the water. I especially enjoyed the St. Mary’s river in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. I remember the first time we went to the public park and waded in the water. As a large cargo ship approached, my dad yelled for me and my brothers to come up on shore. We watched as the ship passed, and the draft behind the ship sucked the water away from shore and out towards the middle of the river, much like the tides of the ocean. As the ship went ahead the water would come rushing back towards the shore. I imagined how much fun I could have if I could follow the water out on the wet sand and then race it back to shore.

My dad figured I should know how to swim before he would allow such a daring race. Within the next few days my dad took me to a swimming pool at a motel owned by people in our church. As I stood on the edge of the deep section of the pool, my father asked me if I remembered how to hold my breath. He asked me if i remembered what he showed me about kicking and paddling. When i said yes to both, he pushed me in as he yelled, “Time to learn to swim!”  I fought to get back to the surface and paddle back to the edge. I was scared. I was angry. I succeeded. I was never afraid of water again, and later in life became a good enough swimmer to become a lifeguard. So was my wife. That’s how we met.

Many times, it feels like we’ve been pushed into the deep end of life. The water of fear overwhelms us. Anger rises to the point of sinking us. Anxiety caused by our desire to manipulate outcomes debilitates us. Our confidence that God is doing anything good is diminished.

Such was the case of Mary and Martha in today’s Gospel of John study.

John 11:1-4 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Death was preparing to invade the family life of Mary and Martha. Their brother was so sick that they doubted he would live. They sent for Jesus. Jesus allowed the problem to get worse. Not because of lack of love, for His love endures forever. Not because of lack of compassion, for His compassions never cease. But Jesus knew the outcome would be the greatest opportunity for His glory to be revealed to the greatest number of people.

The point to ponder today is this: How can we learn to trust that God will reveal his glory to us and others through the current circumstances of life when what we seem to want most is for them to be fixed?

Nothing in the life of a believer right now ends badly from God’s perspective. It ends in glory. Trust Him.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, February 1, 2021

Yesterday, to close our annual Jubilee service at Calvary, I put together a collection of verses from the Psalms that focus on the faithfulness of God.  It was appropriate because the theme of the service was GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS.  I have had multiple requests for a printed version of what my granddaughter called “free-style rap.”  May I suggest that you read this out loud for full effect. May God bless you immensely with His Word.

It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;              to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. 

For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work;

 at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever;

 with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.

For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever;

 in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.”

Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!

O LORD God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O LORD, with your faithfulness all around you?

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.

For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Your faithfulness endures to all generations; 

you have established the earth, and it stands fast.

Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.

All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.

I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me.

I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD.

 At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.

The works of his hands are faithful and just;

 all his precepts are trustworthy; 

they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.

Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things!

 His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.

 The LORD has made known his salvation;

 he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.

 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. 

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; 

I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;

 I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.

For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness.

Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; 

your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! 

For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. 

Praise the LORD!

From Psalm 92, 89, 100, 119, 36, 25, 33, 69, 111, 98, 40, 26, 115, 108, 117.

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, January 29, 2021

Here’s one final challenge for you this week concerning the faithfulness of God. It comes from 1 Peter 4:19.

“Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

As I mentioned earlier in the week, we tend to sacrifice relational faithfulness because of low returns on our investments. But we also sacrifice faithfulness to God based on the suffering we may experience.

I’m sure we can all look back on our lives and remember internal debates we have had with ourselves about whether we should let our faith show in certain situations. Should I bow my head and give thanks for my food in the restaurant? Should I let the group of friends at school who invited me over for a movie night know that I have certain movie standards because I am a Christian? How much ridicule will I get at work if they saw me reading my Bible during lunch?

Unfortunately for many of us the threat of suffering was more influential in our final decision than the faithfulness of God to protect us. I would encourage you to read 1 Peter starting in chapter 3 verse 8, and get a renewed perspective on living for Jesus even if it causes us to suffer at the hands of unsaved people. Read all the way through chapter 4. The passage concludes with the words I have printed above. Let me repeat them.

“Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

It is God’s will for us to be faithful. It is God’s will for us to serve Him above all other desires in our lives. It is God’s will for us to testify to His saving grace. It is God’s will to be Gospel-centered people. But we will never follow God’s will if we first do not make three choices.

1. We choose to entrust our souls to a faithful Creator. This requires placing a higher value on our eternal reward than on any earthly benefit we think we can earn.  God is eternally faithful to protect us. Peter told us this is chapter 1. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
2. We choose to endure the sufferings of today because our hope is in the glory of eternity. We must never place a higher value on personal comfort than on faithfulness to God.
3.  We choose to keep doing good no matter how much we suffer. We must not set aside the expression of God’s righteousness for the sake of human benefit.

1 Peter 2:20-21 “For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, January 28, 2021

This is going to be long, but it is heavy on my heart.

It seems like every day we are confronted with things that can cause us to doubt the faithfulness of God. Political turmoil can bring questions about God’s sovereignty. Financial crisis may make us doubt God’s promise of sufficient provisions for everyday life. Relationship issues might bring God’s love into question. Emotional distress certainly makes us long for real peace.

But one of the most tragic doubts of God’s faithfulness is found in our misunderstanding of God’s forgiveness. Before I give you specific examples of how severe this problem is, please read God’s own statement on forgiveness.

1 John 1:9   “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

God is faithful to forgive us all our sins. I’m not sure we really believe that. Here’s why:

Sam Smith, a modern secular musician, wrote a song entitled “Forgive Myself.” It was written right after a breakup with a girlfriend. The main lyric line goes like this:

“And I can’t love anyonе else
‘Til I forgive myself”

The songwriter wrote this about the song:

“It doesn’t get sadder … than this song. This was the freshest one after my breakup. Two people can’t collide into one, they have to grow alongside each other. ‘Forgive Myself’ was the beginning of me understanding that and saying, ‘Okay, for me to feel better, I’m going to have to forgive myself for all the things I’ve done in that relationship, and for all the things that I’ve ever done in relationships that were bad. And I need to work on myself to feel better.’”

The world does not understand forgiveness. Yet somehow this false notion of forgiving ourselves has worked its way into the church as well. Gospel music group Three Bridges sings a song with a not-so-subtle contradiction.  See if you can discern a problem.

Every one of my mistakes has been buried by the waves
In the sea of God’s forgetfulness, He washed them all away
He looks beyond all I have done to the heart of who I am
And the One who saw me fall so hard gives me strength to stand

It’s time to forgive and forget
Mercy has no memory, grace has no regret
God took those sins and carried them far as the east is from the west
And if Jesus can forgive me, then it’s time to forgive myself

Here’s another example from a brand new song from Micah Tyler that is very popular on Christian radio stations.

If Your love is here to lift me

And Your blood says You forgive me

Show me how I can forgive myself

‘Cause Your mercies are new today

What a dichotomy of truth in these songs. There are powerful declarations of God’s forgiveness, and sad confessions of unbelief in its application to our life. It may be semantics to some, but to me it’s a significant issue. There is nothing to be found in the Bible about forgiving ourselves. God forgives the sin and its guilt.

Psalm 32:5  ^“I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

Do we need to learn to let go of guilt? Yes. But that is not to be confused with forgiveness. Instead, we are to receive, accept, and apply the forgiveness of God and live in it. I know for some that’s how you define forgiving yourself, but that’s not the term to use. It isn’t Biblical. If you do not receive, accept, and apply God’s forgiveness, then in essence you do not trust His faithfulness to forgive. Instead of saying we need to forgive ourselves, we should speak the truth and say that we don’t fully trust that God has forgiven us. We must become discerning about how this false doctrine is infiltrating our lives and our churches through false teaching, articles, books, and music.

My friends, there is great freedom in trusting the faithfulness of God to forgive you. Maybe it’s time you do that. Then you can move on, not based on what you do for yourself, but rather on what God is faithful to do for you.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Please take a moment and read this passage of Scripture. It puts forth important principles for us as we consider the faithfulness of God.

Jeremiah 42:1-6 ¹  Then all the commanders of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, came near ²  and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Let our plea for mercy come before you, and pray to the LORD your God for us, for all this remnant—because we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us— ³  that the LORD your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do.” ⁴  Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the LORD your God according to your request, and whatever the LORD answers you I will tell you. I will keep nothing back from you.” ⁵  Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to us. ⁶  Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.”

Here is a group of people who are living in fear. They ask God’s prophet Jeremiah for help from the Lord. Jeremiah recognizes that they are true seekers of God because he promises to pray to the Lord their God.  Then some significant statements are made.

1. Jeremiah would be a faithful witness to whatever God says. He promises to tell them exactly what God says and not hold anything back.
2. The people make a commitment to listen to whatever the Lord says and to obey His directions. Even if what God says is counter-productive to their preferences, they commit to obedience because it is the word of God.
3. The people declare that they want God to be the final judge of their obedience. They acknowledge that God is the true and faithful witness to how we all apply and obey God’s truth to our lives.

Hmmm. We need to consider whether or not we can make those three commitments.

1. Are we willing to speak whatever God says, even if it may offend or hurt others?
2. Are we willing to commit to obeying whatever God says, even if it is counter-productive to our personal values?
3. Are we ready to fully submit to God as the final judge of our integrity?

Here’s one more point to ponder. Your response to the three questions above will reflect the level of confidence you have in the faithfulness of God.

Pastor John