LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

In February of last year a training meeting was held in Guam for the purpose of teaching business people how to quickly identify counterfeit currency. The meeting was conducted by Special Agents Joshua Fisher and James Ingram of the United States Secret Service, Guam Regional Office.

The half-day seminar began with a brief history of the security agency followed by an overview of the manufacturing process of U.S. Currency. The two agents then led an in-depth look into security features built into different currency notes. “By understanding how to identify genuine U.S. Currency, we can more easily detect counterfeit bills,” explained Special Agent James Ingram.

The Secret Service Agents passed out both counterfeit currency and genuine specimens and asked the group to spot differences between the bills. Within a few hours of training, participants quickly spotted illicit currency and identified various levels of sophistication between different counterfeit productions.

This principle of training applies to the spiritual realm as well. We are bombarded every day with counterfeits of genuine faith in Jesus Christ. Our only hope is to be so familiar with Jesus that fakes are quickly recognized.

Jesus said in John 10 that His followers are able to discern between His voice and the voices of strangers.

John 10:3-5  “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

There are three things to consider today:

1. What voices are you listening to? We must discern the voice of Jesus and separate out all others as unnecessary.
2. How well do you know the voice of Jesus? How familiar are you with His teaching? How intimate is your relationship with Jesus? The level of your intimacy with Jesus and your growing knowledge of Jesus will determine your level of recognition of all those who counterfeit His truth.
3. How strong are you to resist the temptation to follow a stranger? The world is full of people with messages containing elements of truth but ultimately emphasize empowering self. Our only defense against following such strangers to the Gospel is to be grounded in the theology of the true Gospel.

Thieves and robbers of spiritual truth abound in the world today. Take the advice of the Secret Service. Spend your time studying only the original. You can know Jesus so well that any counterfeit is quickly exposed.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, January 11, 2021

Recently, through social media, I have been able to reconnect with several of my Junior High classmates from Michigan. It has been fun to see them all grown up. I wonder how many of them remember this story from eight grade.

Right after lunch we stood in the hallway outside the locked door of our next class. The teacher was late. I had a solution. I went outside, climbed into the room through an open window, and unlocked the door. I invited everyone to come inside and sit down. I assumed it would be a wonderful surprise to the teacher when he came into the room and saw that the students were prepared to learn.

He was surprised all right. He even asked the class who had let them in. I proudly raised my hand, waiting for the commendation I wanted. Instead, I was reprimanded. There, on the teacher’s desk, was a stack of exams and the answer key.  It was a surprise test for us. The teacher assumed that I had looked at the exams and the answers. I was labeled a thief of the answers. I was sent to the principal’s office.

That memory introduces the next statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John. The tenth chapter is a continuation of the dialogue Jesus is having with the Jews following their excommunication from the synagogue of the healed blind man in chapter nine. Jesus uses a metaphor to teach them about the true flock of God. He begins by telling them that the sheep have only one true shepherd.

John 10:1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.”

That fateful day in 1967  was the only time in my life that I sat in a principal’s office waiting for punishment to be handed out. I had attempted to lead the sheep when I was not their shepherd. I had entered into the sheepfold as a thief and a robber, even though I did not see myself as such. The expectation of honor had blinded me to the reality of my choices.

Many of the religions of the world are being led by people who are also blind. They believe they see the truth, when in reality they are only deepening the darkness of their blindness. Jesus had just stated this in John 9 when He said,  “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” The expectation of honor and glory and power and authority has turned them into thieves and robbers. And the sheep that follow them are also blind…except for those who will recognize the voice of Jesus and follow Him.

The blind man Jesus healed was in the wrong sheepfold. But when he heard the voice of Jesus he believed and came out. He was actually thrown out for not remaining blind, but he willingly and enthusiastically left to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. All who are called by the Holy Spirit of God will come out of the sheepfold and follow the Good Shepherd.

The One and Only True Shepherd of any flock (religion) is Jesus Christ. All others are thieves and robbers. If you listen you will here the voice of the Good Shepherd calling you to come out. Believe what he says. Believe who He is. Turn your back on whatever flock you are in and follow Jesus. He is the only One who can offer you eternal life.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, January 8, 2021

I believe man actually walked on the moon.

I believe UFO’s are not real.

I believe that global warming will occur in the future as a means of God’s judgement of sin in the Tribulation but not as a result of man’s abuse of the environment.

I believe that things are never as they seem on the surface.

I believe that people are determined to protect their beliefs even if they are proven wrong.

My point today is taken directly from the Bible in John chapter nine. The religious rulers of His day have their belief system attacked by an event that proves they are wrong. Yet they are determined to fight against the truth. They seek every possible option to validate their own position. They become incensed with anyone who opposes them.  They do all they can to discredit every viewpoint that does not support their own. They speak harshly to people and speak unlovingly about people. They make accusations in order to invalidate people’s statements. And in the end, when they cannot win, they simply cast people aside as irrelevant.

Wow. I think I just described the behavior of religious people today. It breaks my heart to see the Pharisees alive and well in the church today.

I challenge you to read the story in John, and focus on the words of Jesus that conclude the chapter.

John 9:39-41 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”

Then before you start an argument with me about any of the things above that I say I believe, let me state one more.

I BELIEVE JESUS IS GOD, AND THAT HE DIED ON THE CROSS FOR MY SIN, AND ROSE FROM THE DEAD TO GRANT ETERNAL LIFE TO ME BECAUSE I BELIEVE IN HIM.

That’s the only belief I care to defend.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, January 7, 2020

I do not like doing any work in the dark. I prefer to work on a project with plenty of light. I want to be able to clearly see every detail of what needs to be done. There are very few jobs that can be accomplished in the dark. Perhaps the study of darkness is the only one.

Therefore, I own more flashlights than the average person. There are four in the bedroom alone. There are at least four in the camper. I have one in each vehicle, plus an additional work light in the car that I drive the most. I have two small flashlights in my hunting bag, plus a large spotlight for tracking game. There are additional small flashlights at strategic locations throughout the house. I have rechargeable lights and a large supply of batteries for the ones that aren’t. Whatever job I need to do, the first thing I do is grab a flashlight.

Light reveals what cannot be seen in the darkness. Light is necessary to repair the problems hidden by the darkness.  But light does not do the repair. The repair must be done by someone skilled who uses the light to guide the work being done. Light alone does not solve a problem. There must be a worker who is committed to accomplishing the task.

This is the principle taught by Jesus in John 9:4-5.

“We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Mankind is walking in darkness. They are avoiding the Light because they love their deeds done in the darkness. They are terrified of allowing their deeds to be exposed by the Light. But unless they come into the Light they will eternally dwell in darkness. Sinners need the Light to expose their sin so it can be removed and they can live in the Light of God’s glory.

That’s where you and I come in. Jesus is the Light of the world. When we repent of our sin, Jesus comes in the Person of the Holy Spirit and dwells in us. We are called to be the Light of the world and the workers who do the work of God. The work of God is to shine the Light of His glory into the darkness of sin so that sinners can be rescued from eternal darkness.

You have the Light in you if you have been saved from your sin by Jesus. So long as you are still in this world, it is day. You have the glorious privilege of being a worker doing the works of God. The Light is on. Get to work.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, January 6, 2020

In my observations of those much younger than I it is obvious that teenagers have not changed over the generations in their relationship to parents. There is a core belief that parents know nothing about what the teen really wants or needs. Teens seem to believe that people in authority only serve as obstacles to their freedom.

But before we are too hard on them we need to expand our observations to those who are older. We who claim to have grown up and are now mature may not recognize the residual affects of our teenage philosophy. We have an expectation of comfort. We have almost perfected a philosophy of entitlement to only good outcomes. We are too often governed by the law of immediate benefit.

The reality of the entitlement philosophy is revealed when things go wrong and don’t turn out the way we wanted them to. Trouble and tragedy reveal our true placement of trust. Our attempts to avoid pain and suffering and provide solutions that result in our comfort reveal some serious issues of faith. The greatest issue we have is a small view of God’s sovereignty. The need to ensure comfort creates limits on the experience we could have with the God of all comfort.  To think that we can somehow provide greater comfort for ourselves than God can is to belittle God and exalt self.

In John chapter nine, Jesus explains to His disciples that the lifelong suffering of a blind man was pre-determined by God as a way of revealing the glory of Jesus Christ to the world. I am humbled by the memories of all the ways I may have missed seeing the glory of God because I “fixed” a problem God intended to use to display His mighty power.

God intends to reveal Himself to us. He wants us to see and understand His attributes. Biblical commentator Matthew Henry says it this way. “God wants us to see his justice in making sinful man liable to such grievous calamities; his ordinary power and goodness in supporting a poor man under such a grievous and tedious affliction. God intends in us to show himself, to declare his glory, to make himself to be taken notice of. How contentedly may a good man be a loser in his comforts, while he is sure that thereby God will be one way or other a gainer in his glory!”

That last sentence is worth pondering. We may be content in the loss of our comforts because we are certain that in the end God’s glory will be revealed.

Teenagers have a hard time seeing beyond the immediate. They don’t believe that the discomforts of their boundaries are actually producing good in their lives. I suspect that many adults still suffer from that philosophy of distrust. Maybe today we will discover the joy of embracing suffering so that we may know the fullness of Christ’s resurrection power in us. (Philippians 3:8-11)

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, January 5, 2020

I am by nature impulsive. With tongue in cheek I blame my dad. His mantra while I was growing up was “DO IT NOW!” I don’t think he envisioned the outcome that is my reality.

There are too many areas of my life where I am impatient. It negatively affects most things I do. Projects don’t turn out as well as they could because I didn’t carefully consider every possibility. In the past I would create my Christmas list for the family and then end up buying things on the list before Christmas, ruining their gift to me. When an idea comes into my head, it is hard for me to resist taking immediate action. It even hurts my golf game. Why do in three shots what I might be able to accomplish in two? SPLASH!

But where impatience shows up the most is when it conflicts with the plan of God. Why wait for God’s timing when I may be able to influence the outcome more quickly.

Pause for a second and consider the deep motivation of such an impatient philosophy. Two things come to my mind. First, I don’t really trust God’s outcome. Second, I really want some recognition.

In John 9 there is an amazing story that begins with Jesus seeing a man who has been blind from birth. We are not told how old he is, but he is old enough to be recognized by the residents of the city as a beggar trying to survive. The disciples are curious as to why this man is blind.

Pause again and consider how often we place a priority on knowing the why of our circumstances. What really motivates that need? It comes to my mind that the need to know the why is rooted in a need to assign responsibility. We want to explain the circumstances of life in human terms so that they make sense to our finite minds.

Now read how Jesus answered.

John 9:3 “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

Here are some lessons I am learning from this statement of Jesus.

• Our impatience contradicts our trust in God.
• Our impatience is in direct conflict with God’s purpose, which is to reveal His glory.
• Our impatience requires understandable explanations when God’s ways are not comprehensible to us.
• Our impatience demands immediate resolutions which may not fully reveal the work and power of God.
• Our impatience seeks human resolutions that limit the spiritual impact of God’s work.

Read the rest of the story. When this man’s vision was restored, it was far more than just his sight that weas restored. He got to see Jesus, and the absolute priority of his life was to declare Jesus to others.

Embrace what you are going through right now. God is preparing to do a mighty work which will open your eyes to His glory. Now, be patient and wait for it.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, January 4, 2021

Two days ago our house was filled with anticipation. The family had gathered to celebrate Christmas. It was a week later than normal, but we’ve come to expect that things will not be normal.

Each family arrived with boxes and bins packed with presents that had been carefully selected to express love and fulfill a dream. There were gifts for our five dollar exchange game we play. There were gifts for the grandchild name exchange. There were gifts from Grandpa and Grandma for each the children and grandchildren. There were gifts from the children to us.

After lunch, as we prepared for the giving of gifts, my mind started reviewing my on-line wish list. I wondered what I would receive. It was obvious from their responses to seeing their gift that others had done the same. Shouts of “It’s just what I wanted” were normal.

My gifts were not normal. My expectations were exceeded. My family went above and beyond the list to touch my heart. The gifts I received spoke love to me. They were not just gifts from a list, but gifts that showed me they knew me.

As we sat down for our Christmas dinner that evening, I could not control my emotions. I walked out of the kitchen as the family proceeded through the buffet line. I needed a moment to have a little joy-induced cry. I thought of all the threats to normal life that surround us, and I praised God and my Savior Jesus Christ that He is our Stronghold. He is our Defender. He is the Lover of our souls. There is nothing normal about Him, and yet everything about Him produces the perfect normal.

We are all filled with anticipation that life may someday be normal again. But my need for that dream to be fulfilled is fading. It is being replaced with a new normal.  I have discovered that the perceived benefits of normal in the past cannot be compared to the eternal benefits of living solely within the context of God’s gifts. As I observed my family on Saturday, I was convinced that while nothing in the world seems normal, the sharing of love is the normal I want.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, January 1, 2021

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As you reflect back on 2020, what did you not get?

Now you can answer that question from two perspectives. One would be the negative as you reflect on all the things you wanted but didn’t receive. You had goals that were unaccomplished. There were hopes and dreams that were unrealized. There were miracles you thought would come but weren’t in God’s plan. This perspective produces disappointment, discouragement, and maybe even despair.

You can also answer that question from a positive perspective. You could be thankful for all the things you didn’t receive. How many trips in the car did you make without an accident? How often were the weather reports wrong and you were protected from disaster? How blessed were you to not suffer financial loss? Imagine how many times you were protected from something far worse than what you consider to have been bad.

It is from the positive perspective that Mary sings the final verse of her song of praise for what the strong arm of the Lord has done.

Luke 1:54  He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy…

Mercy is the act of not giving someone what they deserve. When I contemplate the blessings I have received in contrast to the condition of my heart, I am overwhelmed with the mercy of God. I realize that in the midst of all that went wrong last year, God helped me according to His mercy. Even though there were many hurts and losses, He withheld all that would have eternally hurt me. His mercy protected me from everything that would have caused me permanent loss. God’s mercy fulfills the promise of Romans chapter eight.

Romans 8:38-39  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

As you enter this new year, I pray that the perspective of life we choose will be the one where we see God working on our behalf to protect us from eternal loss. I pray that in every inconvenience we will see God directing that moment to guard us from something worse. I pray that when the temptation comes to focus on the pain of the moment, we will instead focus on the Presence of the Master.

As God said through the prophet Jeremiah,  “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”  (Lamentations 3:22-23)

The Lord taught Jeremiah and Mary to praise Him while in the midst of lamenting the hardships of life. May we do the same in 2021.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

He had established his reign as the most powerful world leader of his day. He had done everything possible to secure his position as both a political and a spiritual ruler. To maintain his control over his country, he used foreign slaves to increase productivity. His management methods were unjust. He treated people as nothing more than tools to be used to accomplish his own agenda and fill his own treasury. In addition, he tapped into the satanic realm to show spiritual power and authority, even demanding that he be considered a god.

The day came when the slaves cried out to their God Jehovah. They begged to be delivered from their four-hundred years of captivity. God heard their cries, and sent them a deliverer who was empowered by God to bring down the mighty Pharaoh from his throne and set the people free. God told the deliverer named Moses to speak to the people and tell them of His plan.

“Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.”(Exodus 6:6)

When Mary sang her song of praise and mentioned that God had shown the strength of His arm, I wonder if she thought of this story from her spiritual heritage? I think she did, based on the words she sang in Luke 1:52^.

“…he has brought down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of humble estate;”

 Over my lifetime I have witnessed the mighty being removed from their places of power. No matter how much authority they claimed and how much power they wielded, when they had served the purpose of God to accomplish His sovereign plan, they were removed. From small countries to major world powers, there is no ruler whose position is not sovereignly controlled by Jehovah God. NOT ONE!

I find myself getting bent out of shape by the political developments of our day. I find it easy to fall into the “How will this ever turn out well?” mode and I’m set up to worry. Praise is quickly overwhelmed by perceived predicaments. Praise is severely hindered when problematic predictions captivate my mind. Praise ceases when my trust in God’s sovereign control wavers.

But not Mary. She declared that God has shown His strong arm by bringing down the mighty from their thrones. The memory of God’s might is to encourage our praise that God is still mighty, and that He will bring down all those who oppose His purpose. Whether it is in governments, businesses, or churches, God is in control and will accomplish His glorious purpose to bring His kingdom to earth.

Praise Him for how He has and will exalt the humble.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, December 31, 2020

The principles of God’s Kingdom are many times upside down from the principles by which the world operates. They don’t seem rational to the person who is not controlled by the Spirit of God. The philosophy of the world for human existence is dictated by self-preservation and self-advancement.  That stands in stark contrast to God’s principles of spiritual life which are grounded in self-sacrifice.

My heart is heavy with the reality that so many people are trapped in the bondage of the world’s way of living. We get easily ensnared in the pursuit of personal gain. We become enamored with wealth and power, employing our energy to advance and secure both.  Bitterness caused by unforgiveness builds walls, and only people who agree with us are allowed access to our lives. The pursuit of personal gain has minimized our awareness of the needs of others. But the worst condition we have is that we justify such behavior as beneficial, normal, common, and acceptable to the social majority.

But God’s Kingdom principles turn our behaviors upside down if we follow them. Mary refers to one such principle in her song of praise found in Luke chapter 1.   As she proclaims the ways in which she has seen the strong arm of the Lord in action, she declares, “…he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.”

Mary explains an eternal principle of spiritual life in the Kingdom of God: Pursuing what the world offers ends in emptiness, while remaining empty and pursuing God results in being filled with eternally good things.

The applications of this principle are too numerous to illustrate. The Holy Spirit is already convincing you of where it applies to your personal pursuits in life. My prayer is that you will listen to Him speak to you, and make whatever changes He suggests. There is nothing that this world can offer you that will be carried into God’s presence. There is nothing you can gain from this world that will produce the security you seek. There is nothing to gain from this world that can save your soul.

Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?(Mark 8:34-37)

Mary praised God because she trusted that He would always provide good things to those who come to Him hungry. May we learn to praise God in the same way. Do not come to Him with your good. Come to Jesus with nothing, and He will give you His good.

Pastor John