LifeLink Devotional

Monday, July 20, 2020

One of our family’s traditional foods is a soup. It is made with cream, bacon, potatoes, and dumplings that are called knepfla. The soup is named after the dumplings.

When the soup is cooking, it is necessary to stir the pot so the cream doesn’t scald and stick to the bottom of the pan. It is also necessary to stir the pot when serving the soup as the potatoes and dumplings tend to sink to the bottom. Who wants liquid when there’s bacon, potatoes, and dumplings to eat? So we stir the pot before ladling out our portions.

It is that very concept that originated the saying, “Stir the pot,” in reference to people who intentionally rile things up. Sometimes they do it in an attempt to improve things, but most often people “stir the pot” to cause problems. One of the best definitions of stirring the pot I found is this:

Someone who loves to proliferate the tension and drama between two or more feuding people or groups. They agitate others in public to get a raise out of them in hopes of starting a storm of drama and uncomfortable conflict, sometimes for personal gain but oftentimes just for the thrill of confrontation.

Can anyone say ”middle child”?

In the fifth chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus stirs the religious pot. He intentionally forces the Jewish leaders to confront their adherence to the law, and their motivation for doing so. In fact, when the pot didn’t get sufficiently stirred, He returned to make sure it did. Take a moment to read the story.

John 5:1-17 ¹  After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ²  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. ³  In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. ⁵  One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶  When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” ⁷  The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” ⁸  Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” ⁹  And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. ¹⁰  So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” ¹¹  But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” ¹²  They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” ¹³  Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. ¹⁴  Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” ¹⁵  The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. ¹⁶  And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. ¹⁷  But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

Jesus intentionally stirred the pot of religious obedience to laws, specifically the law of the Sabbath. He healed a lame man on the Sabbath. He instructed the man to break the Pharisees interpretation of the law by carrying his bedmat. Then, when the man forgot to ask who he was, Jesus went back later in the day so that He could be identified, causing an intentional confrontation with the religious leaders.

This week we are going to dig into this story, but for today, contemplate this principle that I believe Jesus was teaching:

The law of doing good always carries more authority than any other law.

What do you think? Have I sufficiently stirred your pot?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional
Friday, July 17, 2020

As finite beings, we have a limited perspective on the possible. That’s why we have the word impossible. Based on two factors of knowledge and experience, we build boxes of reality and we confine all of our possibilities to that box.

In John 5, Jesus met a man who limited his possibilities to the confines of previous experience. Let’s read the story.

“Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed, [waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.] One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.”   John 5:2-9

Granted, the lame man did not know he was talking to the Son of God. He certainly had no idea that there was any possibility of being healed unless it fit within the confines of his reality box.  His reality was that he had to do something to be healed, and every attempt to do it was met with failure.  Thirty-eight years of failure. So when Jesus asked if he wanted to be healed, he answered within the confines of his personal possibility box.

I have one of those boxes. But every now and then I am able to see outside of it, and then I get to watch God do something miraculous. Sometimes they are simple things. Others are even silly. But every one is outside the confines of my reality.

One time my windshield wipers quit working in a heavy downpour of rain. I was traveling from North Dakota to St. Paul during college.  It was a Sunday evening.  There was nowhere to stop for repairs.  As I struggled to see, I prayed outside my box. I hadn’t even said amen when the wipers began working again.

I will never forget the night Denise and I prayed outside the box of our reality for our son Joshua. It was the night before scheduled surgery on his feet to repair a birth defect. Reality said we were in for weeks of recovery. But outside our reality, we woke the next morning to discover that surgery was no longer needed.

The man in our story saw only the reality of impossibility. Jesus accepted his answer as a yes. Jesus told him to get up and walk, and upon uttering the words the man was healed. He rose, and walked. His reality box was shattered. He had a whole new understanding of possibilities. He had discovered that with God, nothing is impossible.

Have you?

Pastor John

LIFELINK Devotional

Thursday, July 16, 2020

How much faith does it take to walk away with only a promise but without any evidence that anything has been accomplished?

That is the question that challenges me as I read in John chapter four about the man whose son was near death and needed to be healed, so he went looking for Jesus. Let’s read the story.

“So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household.”

He was from Capernaum. Jesus was in Cana. He had travelled at least a day’s journey to cover the 16.4 miles between the two cities. Then he had to find Jesus. When he did, he asked Jesus for a miracle. That took faith. But the man’s authentic faith was on full display when he believed the words of Jesus and walked away without any evidence that anything had been accomplished.

Authentic faith takes Jesus at His word. Less than authentic faith demands evidence before moving on.  It was a long trip back home for the man without any proof that Jesus had done anything. The only thing he had was the promise that his son was healed. Wow! What kind of faith is that? I would have stayed there until a messenger came and told me whether or not my son was healed.  I would not have taken one step away from Jesus until I had proof. But not this man.  His faith moved him forward in full expectation of a fulfilled promise. Then came the proof. Before arriving home his servants informed him that his son had been healed at the exact moment that Jesus said he was. Authentic faith is always rewarded with perfect fulfillment of the promise.

I wonder how many of us are stuck waiting for evidence rather than moving forward, confident in the promises of God? Authentic faith moves forward. Authentic faith believes the promise without need for evidence. Authentic faith considers the matter settled even before we know it is, because Jesus said it is.

You will have to excuse me for a while. I need to let the Holy Spirit show me the areas of my life where I am stuck because I don’t really believe the promises of God. I may have taken too much comfort in knowing that I’m standing on the promises, when I should be moving on the promises.

Pastor John

LIFELINK Devotional

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

For months we hadn’t been able to visit face to face. He was so lonely. His heart was breaking. Little did I know how literally it was.

On Saturday he had a heart attack. His heart was damaged and he struggled even to eat without pain. But he was in the hospital, where I was allowed to be his primary visitor and spend all the time I wanted with him. What an incredible gift. Little did I know how much I would appreciate those three days.

When I was with him, we talked about his health. We talked about managing his future. We talked a lot about how the world’s events were fulfilling the plan of God for Christ’s return. We talked about heaven and the joy there will be when we see Jesus face to face. Little did I know how soon that would happen.

When he was stable enough, the doctors decided to release him back to his apartment under hospice care. We finished the exit interviews concerning medications and his probable activity level, and then we got him dressed. I was going to miss our daily personal visits, but I knew it was best for him to go home. Little did I know he was really going home.

He rode through the hospital in the wheelchair to the entrance where I had his car – literally his old car, which I now drive – waiting to pick him up. He moved easily from the wheelchair to the front seat, and we began our journey to his assisted living apartment. Little did I know that his body would arrive there but he never would.

Our discussion on the trip covered items like lunch and what time the hospice nurse would arrive to finish all the paperwork. I asked him if the effort of getting dressed and the transfer from the hospital to the car had caused him any pain, and he said no. I can’t remember exactly what he was saying next, ( I wish I could) but in the middle of a sentence, while I was driving down the street, his arms lifted, stiffened, and started to shake. His last two earthly words garbled. I reached over and grabbed his shoulder and shook him and yelled, “Dad! DAD! Are you okay?”

There was no response. His head bowed. He sighed deeply. Then silence. I continued to drive, thinking quickly through all the options of where to go. I was clearly led by God’s Spirit to proceed to his residence. I felt for a pulse on his neck. Nothing. Then came the gurgled attempt at a breath. I yelled again, trying to wake him up. His head bowed further. I continued to drive as I reached for his wrist. No pulse. Then came one more long gurgling attempt to breath, and then silence.

As I drove, I cupped his head in my hand to both comfort him and keep him from tipping over in the seat. When I turned the corner to his apartment building, I saw a magnificent sight. There was an Eau Claire Rescue Squad ambulance in the driveway. I verbally shouted, “God, you arranged this.” As I pulled up and exited the car, the paramedics were coming out with a non-urgent patient on a stretcher. I announced that my father had died while I was driving. They immediately came to my aid and began to evaluate my father’s condition. He had not taken a breath for over four minutes. Their monitor indicated he still had a slight heart rhythm that was shockable. They saw the DNR (do not resuscitate) bracelet. They confirmed that with me. They stepped away, and dad moved into his eternal residence.

As I continue to reflect on the event, I am in awe of God’s timing and His attention to detail. Everything was planned to perfection. I am more aware today than ever that God directs every step of every day for those who love Him. I saw that promise perfectly fulfilled in countless ways as I witnessed my dad enter the glory of Christ’s presence.

I will miss my dad. He is not missing me. That’s hard to say, but I would never want him to give up what he now has just so I could see him again. I will see him again. It is so majestic and grand there that he would never ever consider looking away, especially not looking back.

There’s my lesson for life in this. Never look back. Never look away. The glory of the presence of Jesus is all we ever need to see.

Pastor John

LIFELINK Devotional

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

It was January of 1987. My wife and I were living in Watertown, South Dakota where I worked full-time as a program manager of KWAT radio, and also served as a pastor of a small rural church of 120 people. Jesus had made it clear to me and Denise that He had prepared us to go into full-time ministry and let go of any dependence on secular employment for family support. We took the first step of obedience by traveling to Augusta, Wisconsin to evaluate a small Baptist church there and to be evaluated by them as a potential pastor.

After a wonderful weekend of ministry and meeting people, and seeing the potential for Gospel ministry, our minds started to think through the dramatic changes that would take place if we accepted this position. We would be moving from an urban to a rural environment, and leaving friendships that had developed over the previous eight years. Our financial situation would be dramatically altered. There was nothing from a human perspective that made much sense.

On the trip home, we were on top of the Knapp hill on Interstate 94, and I looked over at Denise, who with tears in her eyes, said, “We’re moving here, aren’t we?”

I responded affirmatively, even though I knew there would be two weeks before the congregation would meet to make the decision to call us. When they did, we accepted, and we have been in the Chippewa Valley ever since except for fourteen months of continuing spiritual development for me.

When Jesus says go, the response of authentic faith is to go.

“Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.”  John 4:50

What step of faith is Jesus asking you to take, even though it makes no sense from a human perspective?

Pastor John

LIFELINK DEVOTIONAL

Monday, July 13, 2020

On Sunday Pastor Josh will be preaching on the subject of “Authentic Faith” from John 4:46-54. I would encourage you to study it this week. My devotional will be based on this same passage with insights God has given me, and then on Sunday we will learn more from Josh’s insights.

As Jesus travels from Samaria into Galilee, John tells us that the people welcome Him because they had been to the feast in Jerusalem and witnessed some of the works Jesus did. When Jesus arrived in Cana, where he had performed His first miracle, he was met by a man who had a very sick son who was near death.  The man asked Jesus to heal him.

Obviously the man believed that Jesus was able to perform this miracle. But Jesus makes a statement that digs into the heart of faith. Do we have faith because we have seen, or do we have faith so that we will see. Jesus said,

Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.  John 4:48

It would do us much good to consider our own faith in light of this statement. Do we require signs and wonders so that we can believe? Is it possible that we demand to see something spectacular from God before we will place our faith in Him? Does the level of our faith in Christ change with the visible evidence of God’s work on our behalf?

Challenging questions to consider. Yet consider them we must. Faith cannot and must not be the product of seeing signs and wonders. In fact, the Holy Spirit tells us in Hebrews that faith itself is the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen. (Hebrews 11:1) Faith doesn’t require evidence. Faith is the evidence.

To be honest, I don’t fully understand that.  I need to spend time contemplating the difference between faith that requires more visible evidence to grow, and faith that grows without the need for evidence yet becomes its own evidence. It’s mind-boggling, but essential.  If we don’t think about this, we will never know true faith. We will remain simple-minded people who will only believe if we see signs and wonders. Authentic faith requires no signs. We do not place our faith in the work God is able to do, but we believe in who God is, and that is always sufficient for us. Then we can say, as the man said to Jesus, “Sir, just come before my son dies.” 

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, July 10, 2020

WARNING! Controversy ahead. Please read the following in the proper context.

The call to follow Jesus and be His disciple is clear. The call to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others is clear. Jesus said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

There is also a distinct benefit to growing in the faith by learning from other disciples. The Apostle Paul said, ”Imitate me, as I imitate Christ.”

However, we have a natural and fleshly tendency to let others do for us what we should be doing for ourselves. We have far too many followers of people who have never become intentional followers of Jesus. There are far too many people sitting in Bible studies all over the world who should be by now leading others in studying God’s Word, but instead simply trust what others tell them to believe and never really grow.

Just look around at the huge numbers of followers of prosperity preachers. Thousands upon thousands of people following the teachings of self-help and self-promoting teachers, tickling the ears of listeners who want nothing more than to feel good about themselves. These are the people Paul spoke about to Timothy when he wrote,

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.  2 Timothy 4:3-4

When the people of Samaria heard the Gospel from the woman Jesus met at the well, they came to Jesus. After learning directly from Him, they made this statement to the woman.

 “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” John 4:42

Here’s your weekend challenge. Have you become dependent on a human teacher for what you know about Jesus, or are you becoming less dependent upon people and more intimate with Christ?

In context, teachers are important to equip us to do the work of the Gospel. The Apostle Paul said so in Ephesians 4.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

But Jesus never intended for us to be dependent upon people for the growth of our faith. Christ designed our faith to grow through input and output. Teachers provide one form of input, but cannot provide the power for ministry. The Holy Spirit provides both input and the power for output. We are being equipped to do the work of ministry to others. Why is it that so many people continue to sit in groups for input but rarely involve themselves in the output of doing ministry? Without output, spiritual lives become dead seas.

My friends, look beyond the perceived controversy of what I just said, and turn to Jesus. His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is your teacher. He empowers you to do ministry to others with what He teaches you. Your faith will grow by leaps and bounds when you become the one leading, rather than being led.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, July 9, 2020

We all set priorities. Some we think long and hard about. Others become so ingrained in us that we never think twice about them. Priorities are the reflection of our personal value system. We always choose what we love most. We work hardest to gain what we want most. We feed ourselves with the things that we believe will bring us the most reward.

Let’s read what Jesus said about that in a conversation with His disciples in John 4.

John 4:35-38 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

Yesterday we learned that the food that truly satisfies us is to do the will of the Father and accomplish His work. Now Jesus tells us what the work of the Father is – to sow the seeds of the Gospel and to reap the harvest of people receiving eternal life by faith in Christ.

Jesus powerfully declares to His disciples that the work of the Father is to be a witness of the Gospel and share our faith in Christ with others, no matter who they are. Jesus proclaims to His followers that a harvest is about to happen. The rest of the fourth chapter describes the revival of faith that takes place among the Samaritan people. Jesus tells us that there had been previous work done among them by seed-scatterers. Jesus was now the reaper of the harvest based on faithful work done by others. Then He states this truth – Whether you are the one who plants the seeds, or the one who reaps the harvest, you are doing the work of the Father and you are to rejoice together that the work of God is being accomplished.

Many people wonder what is the one thing that unifies us as the Body of Christ. I believe Jesus tells us right here – doing the work of the Father. Yes, we are made one in Christ at the cross, but we conquer divisions by doing a singular job. We overcome the divisive nature of personal preferences by accomplishing the priority of the Gospel. We, the people of Jesus Christ, remain united by sowing and reaping for eternal life.

Consider this for today – Is it my priority to rejoice together with others who are similarly sowing the seeds of faith in others and then harvesting eternal souls for Christ?

That is the priority work of God to which He has called us all.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

I know, it’s probably obvious, but I LOVE to eat. Steak – rare. Shrimp – grilled. Fish – Shore-lunch Cajun battered. Pork Chops – thick and grilled to juicy pink perfection. Bacon  – with everything!

Food can easily define us. How much we eat can determine the description of us.

The words of Jesus to His disciples give us something to gnaw on.

John 4:32-34  But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”

Here’s a simple yet profound thought for today –

Are we so defined by feasting on the food of the Father’s will that we are described by the visible affects of constantly doing His work?

I have been gnawing on that thought for days, and I have discovered that there are too many worldly foods – recreation, financial security, relationships, personal liberties, etc. – that define me because I pursue eating them consistently.

May our lives be defined not by feeding on the world, but by feeding on the will of the Father and accomplishing His work.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

 When I was a little boy, I really believed my mother had eyes in the back of her head. I even asked her to let me look under her hair to find them. I knew they had to be there because of how often she knew exactly what I was doing even when I didn’t think she could see me. When I discovered she didn’t really have eyes under her hair, I thought I was free to do whatever I wanted when she wasn’t around. It was then that she taught me an important lesson about God: He sees all and knows all, all the time.

John 4:16-18  Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

I am very convicted about the contradictions that exist in my life between what I say I believe and what I do. I am often like the woman at the well who tried to cover up the truth. For whatever reason, when confronted with the truth of who she was and what she was doing, she diverted the conversation to a safer context. Could it have been out of shame? Probably. Could it have been to maintain an appropriate appearance? It’s likely. Could it have been out of fear of standing in the presence of holiness? Absolutely.

Those are some of the same reasons I try to cover up the truth of who I am and what I have done. What possesses us to cover what God already knows? What level of pride exists in us that we can declare the Omniscience (all-knowing nature) of God and yet live in fear of acknowledging the complete transparency that already exists in our relationship? Why are we not willing to admit the hypocrisy of trying to maintain appearances before God?

Tough questions that need honest answers. The humility required to honestly see ourselves the way God sees us opens the floodgates of grace. That’s what the woman at the well was about to experience. She was about to move from spiritual performance to unconditional acceptance. That’s the same move we all need to make, but it requires honest confession of every weakness, every flaw, every choice, and every sin.  God already knows them all. We may be suffering from unbelief that He will accept us if we admit them all. That’s where the move to fullness of grace begins, in seeing ourselves the way God already sees us.

Take some time today to consider becoming honest before God, and open your heart to be overwhelmed with His grace.

Pastor John