LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

I struggle to understand conversations with my grandchildren. They use words that I do not know, and they use words that I know in new ways. I am constantly asking them what they mean by what they say. But the biggest frustration is when they deny that the word means what I know it means. They refuse to stop using it in the wrong context, and they defend how they use it even if it’s wrong.

We all do it. We allow culture to change the meaning of words, and we adopt the new context even if it’s wrong. For example, there is a synonym for “bright and happy and radiant” that is used in the King James Version of the Bible in James 2:3.  “And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing…” That word cannot be used in the same context anymore, and we have adopted the new usage.

When the people of Jerusalem heard that Jesus was coming, they chose to celebrate by using a word out of context.

John 12:13 “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

As Jesus approaches, the people shout out a quote from the Psalms.  The English translation of the Greek gives us the word “Hosanna!”  The original reading in the Psalms is “Save us, we pray, O LORD!” (Psalm 118:25) I believe the people understood the meaning of the word, but they were using it in the wrong context. Let me explain.

The people of Israel knew the Messiah was coming, but they only envisioned His arrival in a political context. They believed He would save by delivering the nation from political bondage. They saw the Messiah as only a national deliverer. In that context, their use of the word “Hosanna” was correct. Unfortunately, that was not the Messiah’s intended context.

Jesus did not come in the Name of the Lord to deliver from political oppression. He did not come as a warrior against opposing governments. The Messiah did not come to set nations free. The Messiah came to save people from sin. If only the people had cried out for the Messiah to save them according to the redemptive purpose of God.

I wonder how often we cry out to God to save us, yet we do it in the wrong context. We ask God to save us from everything except our sin. We ask God to deliver us from every trouble when He has designed the trouble to express His grace and enhance our faith. How often do we inappropriately use the words of Scripture to ask God for things by taking them out of their intended context?

The Messiah, Jesus Christ, has come to set us free from our sin. When you shout “Hosanna” you are asking the Lord to save you. When Jesus Christ fulfilled His Messianic purpose on the cross by paying for our sin, He made it possible for your prayer for salvation to be answered. So on this upcoming Palm Sunday, when you shout “Hosanna!”, do so with a thankful heart that He has. No other deliverance is needed.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, March 22, 2021

“The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!””
‭‭John‬ ‭12:12-13‬ ‭

Have you heard? Jesus is coming.

Does that news cause you to rejoice?

Are you inspired by the arrival of Christ to make whatever changes are necessary to be prepared to meet Him?

Jesus is coming! We don’t know exactly when, but when He arrives, may He find us being faithful to Him in word and work. May He find us looking up for His arrival and looking around for more people to tell about His coming. May there be only one reason why we don’t want to go with Him – because so many people still don’t know Him.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, March 19, 2021

I am not an interior designer. I do not do well at visualizing how a space can be decorated. However, when it comes to hanging things on the wall, I am your guy. Why? Because they will always be level. I have a calibrated eyeball. It would be totally contrary to who I am for you to ask me to intentionally hang a picture crooked, even if you wanted it that way for effect. I would not and could not do it.

Yet when we pray, we often ask God to do things that are not in agreement with His nature and eternal purpose. We have misapplied the words of Jesus when He said we could ask anything in His Name and He would do it.

John 14:12-14 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

Very simply, Jesus said we could ask anything of Him that is in accordance with who He is, and He would do it so that the Father is glorified. Jesus did not promise that we could ask anything. He will not do what contradicts His nature and character. That would make Him unholy. Jesus will only do what confirms the nature of God and collaborates His redemptive purpose.

I have heard far too much teaching from those who think the level of my faith is the basis for receiving anything we ask of God. I have heard those teachers tell people, “If only you had more faith than God would have answered.” LIES! I do not apologize for being so blunt. The only faith necessary to receive from God anything we ask is for the request to agree with who Jesus is and what Jesus wants to accomplish.

Prayer is not my tool to get my way. Prayer is the Holy Spirit’s gift to us so that we may see life from God’s perspective and ask Jesus for anything we need to accomplish His purpose. Jesus will always say yes to those requests that are made in His Name because they glorify the Father.

When you pray, your requests must confirm the nature of Jesus and comply with His redemptive purpose. If they don’t, and you know when they don’t, then don’t ask. And if you’re not sure, then ask for the wisdom to know what to ask. The desires of your heart are irrelevant unless they are motivated by your delight in the Lord.

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, March 18, 2021

For the past several years we have enjoyed seeing several foxes wander through our back yard. They are attracted to some of the food sources that live near us, like squirrels and rabbits. Each year these foxes raise a litter of kits. The last den was up in the woods behind our house and down the ridge a little. It was fun to see the kits running around and jumping through our yard as they played and explored. It was fascinating to see how much like their parents they were in appearance and behavior.

As we observe creation, we quickly recognize that God expressed His nature in His work. God’s nature is without contradiction. Fox do not give birth to litters of bunnies. Whether in animals or plants, each kind produces only its own kind.

So it is with Jesus, and so it is to be with us. Jesus makes an incredible statement in John 14:11.

“Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.“

The works of Jesus are the perfect expression of His nature, which is also the nature of the Father. Therefore, by observation of His works we can know who God is and believe on Him. We do not have to wonder whether or not the works of Jesus are an honest expression of God, for the Father is in Jesus, and Jesus is in the Father, so no work can ever contradict who they are.

Let’s make that point personal. To whom do your works point? What can people know to be true about Jesus based solely on the work you do for Him? Do any of the works of your life contradict the nature of Christ who is in you through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit?

Think on that today. And every day. Are we producing only the fruit of righteousness and grace and love according to the nature of Jesus Christ, or are there attitudes and actions that contradict the presence of God in our lives?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

In general, I believe we suffer from a massive level of unbelief. Jesus addressed it with the disciples when they asked Him to show them the Father. Jesus confronts the validity of the question by asking them how they could even ask such a thing. “Isn’t it obvious that you already know the Father because you know me? Or do you not believe what I have previously told you, that I and the Father are one?”

Jesus cut right to the heart of the issue. It’s not that the Father hasn’t been revealed to you: the issue is your unbelief in me.

John 14:10-11 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

Jesus patiently reiterates the truth that the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father. Everything Jesus has said and done is the perfect expression of the Father. Jesus says that He and the Father are completely identical while maintaining their individuality. Belief in that truth was the disciple’s problem.

We suffer from the same unbelief today. We acknowledge intellectually that Jesus is the Son of God. We give intellectual assent to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Yet we go on day after day in a battle against unresolved sin and emotional bondage from our past.

“If only I could see the Father. If only Jesus would release me from this bondage. If only there was a way to gain victory over sin.”

The problem is unbelief. Remember the words of Jesus?

• “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”(John 16:7) 
  • Do you fully, unconditionally, and unreservedly believe that the Holy Spirit dwells in you and is your constant Helper?
• “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”(John 14:12-14)
  • Do you fully, unconditionally, and unreservedly believe that in the power of the Holy Spirit we will do the work of Jesus, and even more than He did?
  • Do you fully, unconditionally, and unreservedly believe that when we ask for anything that glorifies the Father, Jesus will do it?
• “…that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”  (John 17:21-23)
  • Do you fully, unconditionally, and unreservedly believe that we are one with each other in the Body of Christ because Jesus is in us?

We do not suffer because God has not promised, but because we have not believed.

The victory over sin and bondage we long for is not lacking because of God’s weakness but because of our unbelief.

The peace and unity we strive for in the church would be realized if we would only believe that the same Savior that dwells in me dwells equally in others who have trusted Jesus for salvation from sin.

I believe we suffer from a massive level of unbelief. May we begin today to take Jesus at His Word and act upon it.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Much can be learned about the character of a man by listening to his children. Offspring are great imitators. A child’s reactions to circumstances is a good indicator of how dad reacts when things go right or wrong. Interactions with other children may reveal how dad treats people. Speech patterns are certainly a reflection of how dad talks in the home. If you really want to know who a man is, just observe and listen to his young children.

People who seek to know God can do the same thing – observe His children. But there is one huge difference. As children of the flesh we only imitate our fathers, giving only a partial representation of who he is. But as children of God we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and live according to His nature, giving others a clear view of who God is. Yet even that is not a perfect representation because we are not God. However, there is one who is.

“Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”  John 14:8-9

There are two challenges for us today. First, we must stop forming our belief system about God around the behavior of people. I consistently hear people say that the reason they don’t believe in God is because of what some “so called Christian” did to them. Let me be the first to confess that even though the Spirit of God dwells in me by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, I fail daily at being a true representation of who God is. There is no chance anyone will ever fully believe in the Father and be saved by simply observing my life. I mess up. So do you. We do not perfectly display the glory of God. 

Second, we must daily participate with the Holy Spirit in our own sanctification. To be sanctified is to be fully set apart for a singular purpose. When we were saved from our sin by faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit was given to us by Jesus to bring the very life of Jesus into ours. The work of the Holy Spirit is to set us apart for the singular purpose of God’s glory. God is glorified in our obedience. God is glorified in our service. God is glorified in our behavior, our attitudes, our relationships, and our choices. We must daily participate with the Holy Spirit as He sets us apart, for when we do, we will become more accurate representations of Jesus Christ, who is he perfect representation of the Father.

Jesus is one with the Father. He is the exact representation of the Father’s nature and character. If you desire to know God, look to Jesus. He is fully revealed in the Bible, and you can know Him. And if you need a touchable example, look at His children. We are not perfect examples, but daily we are becoming more like Him and can point you to Him.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, March 11, 2021

“How many times do I have to tell you?”

“Why don’t you ever listen to me?”

I wonder how many times I was asked those questions as a kid? I’m sure it was a lot, and I’m sure it was deserved.

When we are given information, we process it quickly through self-defined filters. There’s the filter of value, where we assign a level of importance to what we are hearing. There’s also the filter of context, where we interpret what is being said through our experiences and preferences.

Such was the case with the disciples. Jesus had been consistently telling them that He was leaving them to return to the Father. Now, in the current conversation, Jesus tells them again that He is returning to the Father to prepare a place for them to join Him later. Jesus then tells them that they should know the way to where He is going.

John 14:4  “And you know the way to where I am going.”

One of the disciples, Thomas, speaks up on behalf of all of them.

John 14:5   “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

It is obvious that what Jesus has been teaching them has been interpreted through a context filter. The disciples have not yet understood the mission or the message of Jesus in spiritual terms, but only in a physical context that had immediate application. The disciples understood what Jesus said in terms of a personal trip He would take to a physical location. Since they had not been told the destination, they also question the way to get there.

How often do we interpret what Jesus said in physical terms only, and thereby limit its application to the context of the immediate?

Jesus, with great patience and grace, simply provides the answer. He does not show frustration. He does not ask them why they haven’t listened. He simply helps them to understand that He is going to His Father, and that He is the Way for them to get to the same destination.

This Sunday is my birthday, and I am going on a short trip to celebrate with certain friends. I know where I am going. I know the way. I’m not telling you. I don’t want you to come with me. Nothing personal. Don’t be offended. It’s simply my time away.

Jesus told the disciples where He was going. He was showing them the way to get there. He gave them specific instructions. Follow me because I am the Way. Believe me for I am the Truth. Abide in me for I am the Life. Jesus did not go away and leave us to question where He went and why we didn’t get invited. He made it possible for us to make the same trip, and He invites you to start the journey with Him.

Will you?

Pastor John

P.S. LifeLink Devotionals will return on Tuesday, March 16.

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Who do you think of when you hear the words, “I’ll be back!” If you have a cultural mindset, you probably thought of a movie star turned governor with a heavy accent who made that promise in a hit movie. His return comes moments later when he terminates the lives of everyone who opposed his mission.

But if you have a spiritual mindset, you thought of Jesus. He also made the promise to return, and like the movie star, His imminent return brings termination of life as we know it.

Jesus said four simple yet powerful words to His disciples to ease their minds as they thought about life without His physical presence.  “I WILL COME BACK!” Immediately prior to these four words Jesus had said four other words that deeply affected them. “I GO TO PREPARE.” The disciple’s focus was on His going. Jesus wanted their focus to be on His return.

John 14:2-3   “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

The curse of sin upon each one of us causes us to focus on what’s missing rather than what is promised. It started in the Garden of Eden, when the serpent convinced Eve that something was missing from her life. When sin entered human existence, our perspective was radically changed. The beauty and blessing of intimacy with God was destroyed and we became irreparably fixated on corruption. We see flaws in people before we see the faultlessness of Christ. We notice mistakes before we embrace the majesty of God. We are cranky and critical and ignore the compassion of Jesus. We are focused on what’s missing rather than what’s promised.

Jesus left the disciples with a promise. “I’LL BE BACK!”  He will return to take all His children out of this world prior to terminating all who reject Him. Sin will be terminated. The entire creation, including this world, will be ultimately terminated. It will be the outpouring of God’s wrath against sin and all who reject salvation in Jesus Christ. It will be perfect justice.

The only people to survive will be those who by faith in Jesus Christ have become children of God. On the cross of Calvary, Jesus bore the wrath of God on our behalf. By faith in Christ, based on His death and resurrection, we who can do nothing in oiurselves to avoid eternal death have been forgiven for all eternity. There is no wrath left for those who believe as it was all poured out on Jesus. If you are in Christ, you are free from condemnation.

Jesus is coming to take His children to the place He has prepared, and we will be with Him for all eternity. Life as we know it will be terminated on this earth. In it’s place we will know life as it was intended – sin-free, pain-free, tear-free, sorrow-free, trouble-free, intimate and eternal life in the presence of Christ.

Each day, until Jesus comes back, we have a choice between focusing on what’s missing or fixing our expectations on the return of Jesus. We can see problems or promises. Which do you choose?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, March 09, 2021

We traveled over four thousand miles in five days. We slept in the car. We navigated almost fifteen hundred miles of gravel roads through the mountains. Twice we almost slid off those roads and down the mountainside because of rain. But when we arrived in North Pole, Alaska, the joy of serving the Lord as summer missionary interns at a Christian radio station was more than we expected.

I learned a life lesson from that trip. The promise of what awaits us at the final destination is motivation to continue the journey and endure the hardships we may encounter along the way.

Jesus teaches that principle to His disciples in the upper room the night before His crucifixion. He has informed them that He was leaving them. He told them that they could not go with Him. He predicted that life would get tough. Yet He gave them all the motivation they needed to endure what was ahead by informing them of what was waiting for them at the end.

John 14:2-3 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

The Holy Spirit, in the book of Hebrews, teaches us the same principle of endurance based on being focused on the finish line.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

The finish line is glory. It is glorious. It is promised for those who believe. It motivates those who choose to fix their eyes on it. The joy of what Jesus has prepared far exceeds any hardship we experience on the journey.

The question is this: On what have you fixed your eyes and your heart?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, March 8, 2021

Imagine for a moment that you have just been told you will miserably fail at something you believed you were capable of doing. You even bragged to others about how you were confident in your ability.  Plus, you told the one person you wanted to impress the most that He could count on you. But that person’s response to you predicted your failure to follow through on your promise.

The last thing we would want to hear at that moment is someone telling us to not worry or be troubled. Having just been told that we would fail, our emotions would be raw, and raw emotions generally need to be expressed rather than ignored or denied. Yet the person who predicted your failure now tells you to not let he pending failure bother you. I’m pretty sure we would not respond well.

This is exactly the scenario playing out in the Upper Room as Jesus spends His last night before His crucifixion with His disciples. Peter bragged about his ability to be strong and faithful.  Jesus tells him that he not only won’t be faithful but will deny even knowing Him. Not just one denial, but three. Imagine Peter’s feelings. Imagine the personal conflict going on between his heart and his mind. He believes Jesus speaks truth. Peter also believes he spoke truth when he promised to be faithful.  But the words of Jesus ring loudly in his ears and penetrate to the core of his heart. He is troubled when faced with the truth of his own inabilities.

Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”  John 13:37-14:1

Where can we find comfort when faced with failure? How can we not be troubled when we realize that our commitments are often unfulfilled because of our inability to live up to our own expectations?  Jesus gives us the answer to both questions – believe in God, and believe in Jesus.  But that begs another question. What does belief in God and Jesus have to do with easing the feelings of discouragement and troubled hearts caused by our failures?

Here’s the answer. GRACE. When things don’t turn out the way we thought they should, there’s GRACE. When we mess up and things get all messed up, there’s GRACE. When we fall flat on our face, there’s GRACE. When our hearts are troubled, the answer is belief in God, and to believe that the grace of God is sufficient for our every need and is best realized when we are our weakest. (2 Corinthians 11:9) When things go wrong, belief in God means that we trust the grace of God to make all things right. 

So no matter where you are, or what you’ve done, believe in God, and believe in Jesus.  GRACE will abound and cover all sin.

Pastor John