LifeLink Devotional

Monday, October 28, 2019

It was not level and smooth. I thought I knew the shortcut to my tree stand, even though I had only taken it once before from the opposite direction as I left the woods two days earlier. But in the dark it was different. I ended up in the middle of a tangled mess of downed trees and branches, being far noisier than I ever wanted to be. Every step cracked a branch. What should have been a silent approach that took 3 minutes ended up being a loud and potentially deer-frightening approach that took me 15 minutes. It was not a good way to start the day.

What went wrong? Well, I was arrogant to think that in this new location my skills and senses were so finely honed that I could travel 100 yards through the woods in the dark without getting off course. I needed to be humbled, and I was. No more shortcuts. In the future I will follow the path marked out for me.

Isaiah 26:7  The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, you make the way of the righteous smooth.

As I read that verse, I thought of that early morning hunting adventure. I wondered why so many of the paths of life weren’t all that level and smooth. Sure, I’m not completely righteous – who is? But there doesn’t seem to be a consistent connection between the times in my life when I’m being faithful and the smoothness of life. In fact, some of the toughest times have occurred when I am the closest to God. Has God made a promise that isn’t true?

As I contemplated all of this, I remembered to read the rest of the context of Isaiah 26. Here it is in verses five through nine. The footnote numbers are not verse numbers, but reference the application points below.

₁ He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low; he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust.  ₂ Feet trample it down—the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor. The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, you make the way of the righteous smooth. Yes, LORD, ₃ walking in the way of your laws, ₄ we wait for you; ₅ your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. ₆ My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. ₇ When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.

Here’s what I learned, with each point referenced to a verse above:

1. Pride causes bumps and potholes in the road of life.
2. God smoothes out the road of our life using the footsteps of other people, especially those people we have considered to be somehow sub-standard and beneath us. We are humbled when suddenly we are beneath them.
3. The path God has chosen for my life is already level and smooth, but I may be on the wrong path. I may be walking according to my laws or the laws of the world and not God’s law.
4. I may be on God’s path, but I’ve gotten ahead of Him and He hasn’t prepared that part of the road yet.
5. The road isn’t level and smooth because I’m travelling it for my own benefit and not for the glory of God.
6. Am I so in love with God that I long for Him more than I long for anything else? Is my relationship with Jesus the single most important thing in my life?
7. Every bump and pothole in the road is placed there by God so that I become more righteous.

I will be walking a different path to my tree stand next time I go. But more importantly, I will daily focus on walking God’s path of righteousness. I will not complain about the bumps and potholes, but will allow my Lord to use them to humble me and make me more like Him.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, October 25, 2019

When I study God’s Word, one of my favorite things to do is to try to comprehend the richness of the vocabulary. Even though I never took any Greek or Hebrew classes in college, I love using the tools that are available to us today to uncover the treasures that are buried in the meanings of words. I did that this morning as I read the twenty-sixth chapter of Isaiah, especially focusing on verses three and four.

Isaiah 26:3-4  You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.

Here’s what I discovered:

• You will keep…the word keep means that God stands guard over our lives and watches everything about us to preserve and protect us. In the very next chapter Isaiah writes,

I, the LORD, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it.

The Lord God is watching over us and guarding our lives. He is keeping us. Just like in the New Testament where Peter writes that we are kept by the power of God unto salvation.

• In perfect peace…The Hebrew word here means much more than a state of mind. It involves completeness of mind, body and soul. It refers to health and financial provision. It relates to trustworthy relationships with God and with other people. It refers to safety from danger and protection from harm.

Even when God tests us and we go through trials of life, we can be assured that He will bring us to perfect peace if we completely trust Him.

• Whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts…the word mind is interesting. It refers to a form or a framework. It is the word used of man when he is created by God from the dust of the earth and given a form. In addition to the physical framework of our life, it also refers to the intellectual framework of ideas. All our thoughts are to be within the framework of God’s holiness and purpose. God has a framework for our lives, both physically and intellectually. We will be steadfast within that framework.

Steadfast means to lean on, be supported by, and be refreshed. God’s framework for our lives is to absolutely trust Him. We are to be sustained by faith. When our thoughts and activities are within that framework called God’s will, and we trust it completely to sustain every part of our lives, then we will be at perfect peace.

Word studies encourage me. There is a deep treasure mine of spiritual understanding and strength that comes from studying God’s Word like this.

It helps me to declare with Isaiah that “the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal and we can trust Him forever.”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, October 24, 2019

As I contemplated yesterday’s devotional, the Lord brought to my mind a specific “fire” in which He put me. It would be a test of my patience and a refining of my humility. It started the day I brought my dad home to my house following surgery so I could care for him. The plan was it would just be for overnight. It turned into eight long days. A consequence of going off all his medication in preparation for the surgery was a severe case of gout that invaded both knees, making him completely immobile.  He was unable to walk or rise to a standing position on his own. He needed to be lifted so he could move from one place to another.

God used that time to dissect my heart. I was so unaware of my selfishness. I was so blinded to the way I had built a life of comfort for myself. I discovered that I had been in control of what I did and when I did it. God used my dad’s physical needs to humble me, and boy did I need humbling.

One day during his stay I came to a critical point of surrender, realizing that at any time God should be able to interrupt me and invite me into His work and I will accept His invitation. There can be nothing in this life that is so important that it causes me pain to surrender it for the sake of the King. There can be no possession so precious that I grieve over its loss. There must be no activity or pursuit so significant that the thought of not being able to do it causes me to shed a tear. I must and I will be able to say with the Apostle Paul that I consider all things rubbish compared to the excellency of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

That night, as I prepared my dad for bed, we both noticed that his feet smelled. We laughed about it, but it was bad. His special elastic support socks he wears to prevent swelling and cellulitis had not been changed for a week. So as he sat in his wheelchair, I carefully removed his socks. Then in a warm basin of water and gentle soap, I washed my dad’s feet and legs. As he sat there, he simply said, “You are doing a very Biblical thing, just like Jesus.”  At that moment there were no thoughts of anything else I could have been doing. I was doing the work God had prepared for me to do, and I was doing it with a heart that He had also prepared.

The next morning, dad woke up early. When I walked into the room there was a gleam in his eyes and a smile on his face. As I pulled back the blankets, he lifted his legs. He rolled to a sitting position all by himself. When I put the walker in front of him, he grabbed it and stood up. He took a few steps to the center of the room and stood there the whole time I helped him get dressed. Then, with his walker, he walked all the way to the living room and got into his lift chair unassisted.

When I arrived at my office that morning, my devotional Bible was opened to these words in Isaiah 25:

O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things… let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.

Life has a different perspective when we trust the Refiner’s fire to bring out the reflection of Christ.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Here’s a stupid question (with apologies to my grandchildren for using the word stupid).

Have you ever experienced a trying time in your life?

Of course you have. You may be going through one right now. Our tendency is to want an explanation of how we got into this mess. Was it our fault for a sinful choice we made, or was it someone else who sinned against us? Maybe it is just God working on us to make us more like His Son Jesus.

Malachi 3:3   “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.”

Maybe instead of analyzing how we got here and how to get out, we should be focusing on Who’s with us while were here.

Some time ago a friend sent this story to me and I was really blessed by it. I hope it helps you to maintain your focus as well as you go through whatever trial or test is currently affecting you.

A group of women was studying the book of Malachi and they came to the verse, “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.”  They wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot. Then she thought again about the verse that says, “He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.”

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be damaged.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?”

He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s easy – when I see my image in it.”

–Author Unknown

God is holding on to you. Trust Him to refine and purify you until He can see His image in you.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

I love babies. God knows that’s how he designed me, and He has granted me an incredible blessing by placing me as the Pastor of a local church filled with young families having children.

When I visit them in the hospital to meet the baby for the first time, the conversation invariably turns to their physical features and their appearance.

“Ooooh! He looks just like his dad.”

“His hair is darker than the other kids’.”

 “His eyes are so blue already.”

“His hands are so big!”

And on and on it went. Everyone wants to share their thoughts on why the baby is so perfect and so unique.

Someday, maybe very soon, we will hear such talk from the ends of the earth as people unite to sing the praises of Jesus Christ when He comes to the earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Isaiah 24:16  From the ends of the earth we hear singing: “Glory to the Righteous One.”

After pronouncing man’s judgment, Isaiah announces one final victory against man’s pride and the political system he created to perpetuate it. In Isaiah 24 the Lord Jesus Christ destroys anything and everyone that stood opposed to Him and sets up His Kingdom on earth. (see verse 23 – for the LORD Almighty will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem.) As the people of the earth are brought to submission, suddenly a song breaks out from the ends of the earth. Jesus is being given honor and glory for His victory.

What a day that will be – the birth of the political Kingdom of God on earth in fulfillment of the spiritual kingdom that began when Jesus was on earth the first time. The glory of the True King will be seen in all the earth. Peace will arrive in the Prince of Peace. The Name of Jesus will be exalted throughout the earth. I can hear it now…

“He’s so powerful!”

 “He’s so righteous!”

 “He’s so just!”

“He’s so faithful!”

Let’s hear it straight from God’s Word…

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”

“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,   for true and just are his judgments.”

“Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages.   Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

“To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

“Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

Let the singing begin!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, October 21, 2019

Nine years ago, while we were in our old church building, we had two burglaries within a month. Each time a laptop computer was stolen from our sound booth. In the second robbery a video projector was also stolen, as well as a small amount of cash from the lockbox used to collect money from people who buy DVD’s of the worship service. We believed that someone was sneaking into the church while other people were there with the doors unlocked and then hid until they left.  After one event at the church, we found a back door that is normally never used unlocked from the inside. Someone must have snuck in, unlocked the door, and then left hoping to come back later and gain easy entrance.

After the first robbery, I sent out an email and asked people to pray for protection for our church. In response, I received an email prayer from a former member of our church who moved away several years ago. Her prayer reminded me that for the most part I, and maybe you, pray very weakly. Some of us maybe even pray only weekly. We rarely stand in the presence of Almighty God and proclaim His majesty and power and declare His promises. We repeat a request, but we do so without the authority of Scripture and with very little understanding of what it means to pray “in the Name of Jesus.”

We have an incredible privilege as God’s children to come boldly into His presence because of the finished work of Christ on the cross and the application of His blood to our lives. Yet we come to Him weakly, or weekly, with fear and trembling, wondering if He is really listening and if He really cares about our needs. We come to Him asking the wrong things when we could be declaring all the right things about who He is and what He is capable of doing. We come expressing our ideas rather than expounding His Word.

I wonder how many people have really been praying for our church, or do they just think about it? I know for me it is easy to justify thinking as praying, but the Scriptures declare that we are to pray in the Spirit, removing ourselves from all distractions and focusing completely and totally on God. How many of us do that for more than a few seconds at a time?

I want you to read the prayer that this faithful saint and prayer warrior sent to me. Compare it to how you pray. I am not asking you to copy her, but I am asking you to consider how you pray, and do you pray with this kind of Scriptural authority? If not, let’s start learning together to pray with them authority we have been granted by God through our Savior Jesus Christ.

Dear Father in Heaven, 

Thank you for the testimony of Calvary Baptist Church. Even here in Excelsior I hear of their good works in Your Name. The evidence is that Satan is working so hard to discourage and defeat them. But greater are You who is in us than he that is in the world!

I pray Your protection around not only the building but around Your Church and Your Under-Shepherd there. I know sometimes he may feel like he is in this battle alone, but You have promised that You will never leave him nor forsake him. Father, he calls upon You daily and You will in no wise cast him aside. Place him in Your strong tower and uphold him with Your strong arm. Lead him beside still waters and refresh his spirit.

Father, I stand beside this local body of believers and agree with them that You shall have the victory, the glory, and the honor over this and all other devices that Satan may bring, knowing that as he does so, he only proves that Calvary Baptist Church is doing a good work for You.

In the Blessed assurance of eternal life, that God, who cannot lie, gave before the beginning of the world and in Your Son’s Name, I pray.

Amen so be it!

2 Thessalonians 3:1-3  Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you.   And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith.   But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, October 18, 2019

Ten years ago, while we owned our previous church building, we decided to increase our usable space by renting space and moving our administrative offices out of the church. God directed us to a wonderful landlord who gave us an incredible deal on an office complex that not only served as our administrative hub but also as our youth center.

There were decisions to be made when we moved into the building, not the least of which was who would get which office. The welcome area was sufficient for the office administrator, and there was one small office that was perfect for the part-time staff. But which of the two large offices would the two pastors get?

As Pastor Dennis and I surveyed the two rooms, there was discussion about the pros and cons of each. The larger office had two windows on the front corner of the building. But it was located down a narrow hall right across from the restrooms. The smaller office was on the other side of the wall from the restrooms and had only one window. It was located right off the coffee break area and next to the youth center. Decisions, decisions.

As we looked at the offices, I regretfully remember my pride filtering to the top of the logic column. I am the Lead Pastor. I deserve the best office. Which one is the nicest? Which one matches my status? I fought those urges to make a decision based on those criteria. In my heart I wanted what was best for everyone so they could serve effectively for the Lord. But how would we decide?

At that time, a businessman from our church came to me and said that his company had some desks and chairs to donate and wondered if we could use them. I said yes. He had the desks and chairs delivered to the new location while the decorating team from the church freshened up the place with new paint and decorations.

When we saw the desks for the first time, we began to evaluate how they would fit into the offices. The desk designs actually made the decision about offices for us. The desk I needed for the work I do would only fit in one office. That would be mine. Pastor Dennis would get the other office with his new desk. He got the office with the view. I got the office with the sounds of the bathroom through the wall. The decorating team recognized the problem and had sound panels built. They even let me pick out the fabric. The walls were soon covered with camouflage and deer.

We see an application point as we compare the story I just told with the one in Isaiah 22.

Isaiah 22:15-16  This is what the Lord, the LORD Almighty, says: “Go, say to this steward, to Shebna, who is in charge of the palace: What are you doing here and who gave you permission to cut out a grave for yourself here, hewing your grave on the height and chiseling your resting place in the rock?

Shebna, an Egyptian, had been appointed the chief steward of the palace under the reign of King Hezekiah. He had high ambitions. He decided to make a name for himself and promote himself. He decided that his position in the King’s palace was worthy of special recognition – historical recognition. So he had a tomb built for himself in the palace of the King. He wanted to be remembered and figured the best way to do that was to be buried with royalty. He was all about enhancing his own position.

What a contrast to the story of Joseph in Genesis, who as a Jew served in the palace of the Egyptian King, yet never sought to enhance his own position. He even went to prison to maintain his integrity. But not Shebna. He was all about self-exhaltation. God saw his attempts at honoring himself and declared that it would end in humiliation. It did. A short time later he was demoted to a secretary and replaced by Eliakim who served humbly as a follower of God.

We are all tempted to promote self. We all desire to enhance our position in the eyes of people. We all struggle with pride that drives us to make decisions based on the benefits it will bring to us and the enhancement of our image. But we must fight those desires and be humble before God, considering others better than ourselves.

Jesus said, “If any one of you wants to be first in the Kingdom of God, he must first become the servant of all.” After all, if we truly believe that our position in Christ has been fully established, then what else is there to enhance?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, October 17,2019

I try to avoid it. I have found other ways to meet my need for information without turning to it. I’m talking about the national television news media. I made the mistake of watching a little of it this morning and now I regret it. It made me angry because there is no honor any more, and there certainly is no moral compass.

Day after day we are bombarded with news that is intentionally slanted to promote man’s agenda over God’s authority. Then, on top of it, our intelligence is attacked by the preposterous political infighting dominates social media. I am once again so very thankful that God is in control no matter how much man thinks he is.

Praise be to Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you with great joy and without fault before His glorious presence – to the only God our Savior be glory and majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! AMEN! (Jude 24-25)

As I read the book of Isaiah, I am tempted to feel the way I do about the media. Here we are in the twenty-second chapter already and the news has been consistently gloom and doom. We read chapter after chapter of man’s rebellion against God and His coming judgment of their sin. But with careful reading there are great truths to be discovered that can help us in our daily lives. Let me share one with you from today’s passage.

Isaiah 22:13  But see, there is joy and revelry, slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine! “Let us eat and drink,” you say, “for tomorrow we die!”

This chapter is a prophecy about the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians. It would take place in 586 B.C., some 125 years after Isaiah wrote it. I want you to notice these points about what is written:

• Isaiah is heartbroken over the sin of the people and the knowledge that God has every right and intention to discipline them. In verse four he writes, Therefore I said, “Turn away from me; let me weep bitterly. Do not try to console me over the destruction of my people.”

My first response to the tragedy of sin in people’s lives must be one of grief rather than anger. When we respond with anger at another person’s sin, we are essentially judging them to our own prideful advantage. Think about that carefully. There is a place for anger against sin, but not until we have sufficiently wept over their Christ-less condition that has caused it.

• In Isaiah, the people who are sinning are doing everything they can to defend their situation so they can continue in it. Here’s how the siege of Jerusalem is described:
  • The Babylonians have surrounded them.
  • Their choicest valleys are filled with chariots of the enemy.
  • The cavalry is at the gates of the city.
  • The defenses of the city have been destroyed.
  • There are breaches in the walls.

The response of the people is interesting. They are destroying anything and everything they had built in the city to reinforce the walls. They are doing everything they can to protect the lifestyle they love. But that is not the response God wanted from them. He did not ask them to defend the city. It was futile for them to attempt it because He had brought it upon them as a consequence of their sin. There was only one way they could avoid the punishment – repent. God’s message to them was clear. The Lord, the LORD Almighty, called you on that day to weep and to wail, to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth. But they only wanted to protect the little world they had built for their own enjoyment.

I think we can all relate to this. We do everything we can to defend our positions so we can enjoy our lifestyles. We attack anyone who speaks out against what we are doing. We truly are living in the last days when the messengers of truth from Jesus Christ will be persecuted as people defend their ungodly positions.

• But the people do not repent. Instead they plan one final party to satisfy the desires of their flesh. But see, there is joy and revelry, slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine! “Let us eat and drink,” you say, “for tomorrow we die!”  They had a chance to turn from their wicked ways and surrender to God in brokenness and humility. Instead they chose to pursue their passions one last time. When they do, they seal their fate. God says, “Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned for.” How sad. There is a point in man’s rejection of God when God declares them to be eternally rejected by Him. They have refused to surrender to the call of the Holy Spirit for forgiveness, and for this they cannot be forgiven.

My friends, let us make sure we are not defending any positions in our lives that are not of God. Let us be holy and blameless before Him at His appearing, which I believe is coming soon.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

I want to continue the thoughts we started yesterday based on God’s command to Isaiah to endure  public humiliation for three years.

Isaiah 20:3 Then the LORD said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush…

Recently I asked several people this question – “What would be the most humiliating thing that could happen to you?” I answered my own question first and told them about the occasional dream I have of forgetting to get dressed before going onto the platform of our church to preach. That loosened them up so they would share.

One person said they would be humiliated by losing control of their finances and having to file bankruptcy. Another said they would not want to be accused of a sexual sin and have it made public. Another responded with a fear of developing Tourette’s Syndrome. One person said they didn’t want to experience the humiliation of a public reprimand by their boss at work. Everyone I asked had a fear of some form of humiliation.

Those fears are motivated by a need to protect the perception of other people’s opinion of us. The need for acceptance and approval goes much deeper than we realize, and we may be in denial about how many of our behaviors and activities are the product of those two needs.

As I thought about this yesterday and last night, I realized that we probably have far greater faith in our own ability to accomplish acceptance and approval than we do in God’s ability to keep us safe in the palm of His hand. We place far more emphasis on the avoidance of present pain than we do on the ultimate elimination of pain in God’s eternal glory. We focus intently on trying to make life comfortable when God has told us that the sufferings of today are not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in us when Jesus appears.

What do we not believe about that? Do we doubt that when we are in His presence His glory will sufficiently remove all memories of past sufferings? Do we not understand that God is telling us that we must suffer in this life as His followers? Can we trust God’s promise that we will experience the fullness of His power in our lives if we are willing to suffer as Jesus did? I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. (Philippians 3:10)

The odds of me forgetting to get dressed on a Sunday morning are slim. (When you are done rejoicing, read on.) But the reality is that there are days when I forget – no, I choose intentionally for the purpose of self-preservation – to not get dressed in the clothing of righteousness. There are far too many steps taken in life without the protection of the armor of God. To avoid shame directed at us by people, we choose to be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Think about the simple activities of your life. How many of them are controlled by your need for immediate gratification? How many are chosen because they produce an immediate response of acceptance from others? How many of those same choices and activities are a direct denial of the faith you claim to have in Jesus?

Ponder that today, and then choose to do whatever Jesus asks you to do, no matter how publicly demeaning it is. You know your life is a light of God’s glory. Don’t put on shade over His light by choosing to let your own light shine.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

I had just finished playing an 8^th grade basketball game. The rest of the members of the team and I were sitting in the bleachers watching the 9^th grade game. The cheerleaders for our grade came and sat with us. I was so nervous. I had my eye on one of them, and I was terrified when she came and sat down beside me. I had never been that close to someone that cute. I was being prepared for the day I would eventually meet the most beautiful of all women and marry her.

As we sat in the bleachers, doing the typical 8^th grade flirting, the conversation turned to knee pads. Back in those days, it was cool to wear one knee pad when you played basketball. It was a symbol of your aggressiveness and your ability to play through pain. Well, I had injured both knees. I had a bone chip right below the knee cap on one, and the other one was bruised from a collision. I needed them both, but I was the only one who wore two.

Before I go on, I want you to get a visual image of what I looked like back then. I’d send a picture if I had one. I’m sure my wife will think it’s funny to find one and post it to her Facebook page. In 8^th grade I was the same height I am now – 5’ 11”. But I only weighed 125 pounds. I was so very skinny. I ate more than I do now and I never gained weight.  My most prominent feature was my proboscis (nose). I was nicknamed “Trumpet” in college. I was strong, but didn’t look it, and to an 8^th grade boy, appearance equaled value. As a result, I was very insecure.

So here we are, all my basketball buddies and the cheerleaders, sitting in the stands, when during the conversation about kneepads the girl I liked turned to me and said, “So John, why do you wear two kneepads? Is it because your legs are so weak?”

Total humiliation.

I got up and left the gym, and I don’t think I ever talked to that girl again.

I’m sure you have a story or two of humiliation in your past as well. It’s not fun. We would never choose it intentionally…or would we?

Isaiah 20:2  –at that time the LORD spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz. He said to him, “Take off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet.” And he did so, going around stripped and barefoot.

Isaiah did. He so completely trusted the Word of the Lord and the heart of his God that he publicly humiliated himself for three years so that the message of God could be delivered. That’s amazing.

So much of our time and energy is spent on creating good public image. Public policy doesn’t recommend humiliation as the foundation of exaltation.  But God does. We want others to see us, when God wants others to see Him in us. Jesus said, “If anyone wants to be exalted, they must first be completely humbled.” It’s how God works.

The problem is we think so highly of ourselves that we would never consider hurting ourselves. But we have been deceived into focusing on the temporary hurt rather than the long-term benefit. Humiliation may hurt other people’s opinions of us, but it brings out the richness of God’s opinion of us.  Don’t we realize that while we work so hard to enhance our exterior to maintain our earthly relationships, we are hurting the one relationship that really matters – the one with God?

I don’t know how I would respond if God asked me to do something as humiliating as He asked of Isaiah. The fact that I don’t know means it will probably happen, because it’s obvious that God still must humble me. How about you? Are you ready to trust God completely and not worry about what man says?

Pastor John