LifeLink Devotional

Friday, December 7, 2018

Titus 2:11 – 14  ¹¹For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.  ¹²It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,  ¹⁴who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

At dawn on Sunday, December 7, 1941, naval aviation forces of the Empire of Japan attacked the United States Pacific Fleet center at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack was almost a complete tactical success. This sneak attack against Hawaii brought an immediate reaction of unprecedented unity from the American people. Families from every class sent their sons and daughters to war, women joined the industrial work force, and no one was untouched by the effort to bring all U. S. resources to bear upon the war effort.

Young men and women signed up with the armed forces to protect their country against any further attempt to destroy their liberties. They were trained and commissioned to serve under commanding officers who would direct their every action. They were ordered into harm’s way, and they went. They went to Midway. They went to Normandy. They went to Guadalcanal. They went to the Philippines. They went to Okinawa.  They went to Iwo Jima. They went anywhere the enemy was entrenched and fought to liberate the people under the enemy’s control. They went because they had given themselves to the fight for freedom. They went because they were committed to a cause. The commanders only directed their actions. They had already given their hearts to obedience and their lives to a purpose.

In the spiritual world, when the enemy of God invaded God’s territory and took God’s people captive, God gave a command to His Son to go and set them free. God knew that His command meant certain death for His Son, but He sacrificed His Son for the cause.

Jesus was not an unwilling order-taker. He was not drafted for His duty, but rather He volunteered because He was committed to the cause. He submitted completely to His Commander, not out of obligation, but rather out of participation. He gave Himself for us. The Apostle Paul says in Galatians 1:3 – 5, Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Jesus gave himself to rescue us.

The war against liberty rages on in many arenas. Young men and women are still volunteering to give themselves for the cause of freedom. They are willing to die for you and me. They have chosen to give the greatest gift – self.

The spiritual war also rages on. Men and women of all ages are volunteering to give themselves for the cause of spiritual freedom in Christ. They are willing to put themselves in harm’s way to liberate people still caught in the bondage of sin and under the control of God’s enemy. They witness to their friends. They live according to God’s holy character and not the world’s social standards. They willingly go to dangerous lands and cultures to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. They put themselves at risk of financial loss, personal pain, and emotional rejection for the cause of Christ. They do not obey their Commander out of obligation, but out of love. They fulfill their commission given in Ephesians 5:1 – 2.

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children  and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

They are the heroes of the faith. Are you one of them?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Ephesians 2:8 – 9 (NIV) ⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast.

I have a consistent and irritating flaw in my life – I don’t put things away after I’m done with them. I may put them out of the way, but I don’t usually put them back where they belong. My garage is a hodgepodge of scattered tools and hunting clothing. If I need a pair of pliers or a screwdriver, I must stop and think about the closest hiding place to the last job I did. It doesn’t pay to go look in the nice tool cabinet I have. Each drawer of the cabinet is neatly labeled with the type of tool that is supposed to be there – but the drawers are almost empty. The tools are wherever I put them after my last project.

Some of the most fulfilling days of my life are spent organizing my garage and putting everything away. I get such a sense of satisfaction from seeing it all organized and knowing where everything is. But it only stays that way for a short time. Every project is an opportunity for me to improve, but I don’t.

This flaw has caused another serious flaw – the inability to find things, even when they are right in front of me. It is so embarrassing to be looking in a drawer for a utensil or a tool and then, after asking my wife for help, to have her find it right where I had been looking. I have a huge blindness for the obvious. I waste more time looking for things because I didn’t put it back, and it has conditioned me to not see what is right in front of me.

Yesterday I failed to see the obvious as well. I gave you a list of 31 gifts that God gives us when we come to Him for salvation, and I failed to include in the list one of the most important and fundamental gifts of all – faith. Please change your lists and add #32. In all my research to find all of the gifts, I overlooked the one gift that is necessary for the receiving of all the others. Without faith it is impossible to please God and it is impossible to receive the grace of God. Faith is the gift God gives us that brings light to the darkness of our sinful flesh.

Helen Keller understood darkness, being blind to any and all physical light. But her faith gave her all the light she needed. These are her words – Dark as my path may seem to others, I carry a magic light in my heart. Faith, the spiritual strong searchlight, illumines the way, and although sinister doubts lurk in the shadow, I walk unafraid toward the enchanted wood where the foliage is always green, where joy abides, where nightingales nest and sing, and where life and death are one in the presence of the Lord.

We all at one time were stranded in the dark wilderness of sin. We were lost and without direction or hope. The vehicle of our life was without fuel and the battery was drained dead. But God reached down and gave us a fully charged portable GPS unit. (That’s Grace Providing Salvation unit) The destination already programmed into the unit is heaven, and the route we are to take has also been pre-programmed.

The first screen that appears instructs us to get out of our vehicle and walk in the direction of the light. We look around from our driver’s seat and don’t see any light. But the unit says to get out and we will see it. We open the door, step out into the darkness, and in faith close the door on our old life.

In that instant a light appears. Not just a light in the distance, but a light that illuminates everything in front of us. We turn to look back at the vehicle we exited, and we cannot see it, for the light does not illuminate behind us, only in front of us. There is no reason to go back. We can now clearly see the direction we should go. We have been saved from the darkness. We are no longer lost.

Now that we are in the light we look at the GPS unit and engraved into the top of it is the word FAITH. Scrolling across the screen are the words “Saved by faith, walk by faith.”

A map appears, and it gives us the directions for today’s leg of the journey. We try to advance the screen to see where tomorrow will take us, but nothing appears except the words “Do not worry about tomorrow. My grace is sufficient for today.”

We set out on the journey towards heaven, with our GPS unit in hand. So long as we follow the directions revealed to us on the screen we walk in the light and the One who gave us the gift of faith is more clearly and intimately revealed to us.  Each day of the journey we discover more of the fullness and abundance of life that we long for, and each day our gift of faith gives us all the direction we need to stay on course.

What in incredible gift! I’m going to make sure I never misplace it again.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Ephesians 4:7 – 8  ⁷But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.  ⁸This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.”

I’m sure you’ve heard the Christmas song The Twelve Days of Christmas. I’ve always thought it to be the strangest Christmas song ever. Why would my true love give me eight maids-a-milking and nine ladies dancing? Why would I give my true love ten lords, eleven pipers, and twelve drummers?

According to Roman Catholic tradition, the twelve days of Christmas begin on Christmas day and lead up to Epiphany on January 6^th, the date believed to be the day the wise men from the east visited Jesus. Supposedly it is a song of Christian instruction dating to the 16th century religious wars in England, with hidden references to the basic teachings of the Faith. Some contend that it was a mnemonic device to teach the catechism to youngsters. The “true love” mentioned in the song is not an earthly suitor but refers to God Himself. The “me” who receives the presents refers to every baptized person who is part of the Christian Faith. Each of the “days” represents some aspect of the Christian Faith that was important for children to learn. There is no historical evidence to support this claim, but if you are interested in what the twelve gifts might represent, you should visit this web site – http://www.crivoice.org/cy12days.html.

My interest in relating that information to you is this – as born-again believers we have received far more than just twelve gifts from God, who is the True Lover of our souls. When we trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, there are 31 specific things that God gives us as gifts. We have been studying some of them since Thanksgiving, but there is no way we are going to get through all of them before Christmas. So many gifts and so little time. But here’s the list in alphabetical order with their Scripture references so you can study them on your own. I hope they bring you as much joy as they have brought me.

Gifts God Gives                                Scripture References                                              

Daily Provisions                                 Matt. 6:33

Encouragement                              Rom. 15:5 ; 2 Thess. 2:16

Endurance                                        Rom. 15:5

Everything we need for life            2 Peter 1:3-4

Fullness in Christ                                Col. 2:10

Gifts to the church                           Eph. 4:11

Grace                                                Eph. 1:6

Himself as a sacrifice             Matt. 20:28; Gal. 1:4; Eph. 5:2; 1 Tim. 2:6; Titus 2:14

His Son                                                John 3:16 ; Rom. 8:32

Holy Spirit                                           John 3:34 ; John 14:16 ; 1 John 3:24 ; 1 John 4:13

Hope                                                  2 Thess. 2:16

Inheritance                                       Acts 20:32

Joy                                                      1 Thess. 1:6

Knowledge                                       Matt. 13:11 ; Eph. 1:17 ; 2 Cor. 4:6 ; 1 John 5:20

Life                                                      John 5:21 ; John 6:27 ; John 10:28

Light                                                    John 1:9

Living Water                                      John 4:10

Ministry of reconciliation                 2 Cor. 5:18

New Birth                                           1 Peter 1:3

Peace                                                John 14:27 ; 2 Thess. 3:16

Power and authority                        Luke 9:1 ; 2 Tim. 1:7

Relief from trouble                           2 Thess. 1:7

Repentance                                     Acts 5:31

Rest                                                     Matt. 11:28

Rights of children of God                John 1:12

Spiritual gifts for serving Him           1 Cor. 12:7-11 ; Hebrews 2:4

Strength                                             Phil. 4:13 ; 1 Tim. 1:12 ; 2 Tim. 4:17

Thorns to keep us humble               2 Cor. 12:7

Unity                                                   Rom. 15:5

Victory                                               1 Cor. 15:57

Wisdom                                              Acts 7:10 ; 2 Peter 3:15 ; James 1:5

Print this list out and put it in your Bible. May I suggest that you use the month of January, which has 31 days, to study one of these gifts each day. It’s a great way to start the new year. It’s a significant way to strengthen your relationship with God. Enjoy the gifts God has given you. They are a living testimony to your value to Him. They will sustain you through difficulty. They will strengthen you in weakness. They will supply you with grace in every emotional and spiritual need you experience.

Accept them.

Unwrap them.

Open them.

Use them.

They are freely given to you by your One True Love.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Ephesians 1:7-8  ⁷In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace  ⁸that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

In 2011, a major renovation took place on the ceiling art in the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo spent four torturous years (1508 to 1512) on the monumental undertaking, painting in fresco more than 400 larger-than-life scenes of mankind’s origins and early history from the Bible on the ceiling of the Vatican chapel. Scaffolding was erected, and workers began the tedious and painstaking job of restoring the paintings to their original condition. Part way through the renovation, regular attenders to the chapel looked up and were shocked to see the bright and vivid colors of people’s faces and garments on the areas that had been restored. They were convinced that the workers were desecrating the original masterpiece by adding paint. They were so used to looking at the dingy and grayed colors that they believed that’s how they were originally painted.

When questioned, the crew chief in charge of the restoration explained what had happened. For years the chapel, prior to the installation of electricity, had been lighted by burning torches. Layers of soot and ashes had accumulated on the ceiling, dulling the colors of the painting. A careful removal of the dirt revealed the beauty of the original creation.

This is a perfect picture of God’s work of redemption in our lives. Years of sin have stained us. We have come to believe that this is how we were intended to look. We use the world’s palette of opportunities to attempt to paint new color onto our lives, but every brush stroke makes us wonder what really lies beneath. We have an insatiable desire to see the original version of who we were supposed to be.

That’s what God does when he redeems us. Redemption is the restoration of our lives to their original version. Just as the careful application of soap and water had washed away the years of soot from the ceiling, the gracious application of the blood of Jesus washes away the years of sin from our lives. The beauty of the Creator’s work is revealed. We are holy. We are blameless. We are the sons of God with full rights of inheritance. We are blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing available from heaven. We have been lavished with the riches of God’s grace. We have been truly loved. We have been restored.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the gift of redemption.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, December 3, 2018

Matthew 4:8 – 10  Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.  “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

God is not the only one who promises gifts to us. Satan competes for our loyalty with gifts that appeal to our personal and fleshly desires.

As Jesus prepares to begin His three-year ministry to the people of Israel and bring them the good news of God’s salvation, Satan attempts to thwart God’s plan. He tempts Jesus to take His eyes off God’s purpose for His life and turn them to the things of the world. He tempts Jesus with His physical needs by trying to get Him to focus on His hunger. He tempts Jesus to promote Himself in the eyes of people by telling Him to use His power and authority to do a miracle to impress people. Then Satan tempts Jesus to worship him with the promise of a gift. Satan says he will make Jesus the ruler of all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus will bow to him. Fortunately for all of us, Jesus resisted all these temptations and waited for God’s perfect fulfillment of His purpose in His time.

Jesus was convinced that His Father would provide for His physical needs because He was focused on accomplishing the Father’s purpose and not His own. Jesus knew that His Father would one day glorify Him in front of all mankind, so He did not need to exalt Himself in front of people. Jesus also knew that one day God would make Him ruler of all the kingdoms of the world, and that by accepting that honor from Satan it would only make Satan the ultimate ruler and not God. Jesus knew that the gifts that God had promised, even though they required great endurance and patience to be realized, would be far greater than any immediate gratification provided by Satan’s competing gifts.

Every day Satan competes for our loyalty by offering us gifts that promise immediate gratification. Every day we are tempted to sacrifice our worship of the Lord on the altar of personal pursuits and pleasures. Every day we are tempted to serve self rather than God. Satan offers benefits that appeal to the physical, emotional, and financial goals of our flesh. Satan pursues us because he knows that if we accept his offers we will become his best servants: not because we are evil, but because our choice does the most damage to the cause of Christ.

The testimony we give to the power of the Gospel to transform lives is negated by the person who claims Christ but lives under the influence of the flesh. Such a person is Satan’s best employee. In exchange for his gifts of worldly pleasure, power and prosperity they have become Satan’s servants and have made a mockery of the gift of God.

Do you remember the old television game show called Let’s Make A Deal? Every one of us is a contestant on the spiritual version of that show. Two gifts have been offered, and you must choose.

Gift #1 has been fully revealed to us. It offers the guarantee of eternal life following an earthly life of surrender to Christ. It will require suffering, hardship, trials, trouble, and rejection by the rest of the world. But in the end, we are glorified with Jesus and inherit all things with Him.

Gift #2 has also been fully revealed, but for some reason most people choose not to see beyond the immediate glitter that they see. The gift offers wealth untold, acceptance by the world, and the promise that personal pleasure will fulfill all emotional and spiritual needs. Behind all that glitter is the sentence of death and punishment in hell for all eternity. But glitter blinds us. It is so appealing to our flesh that we are willing to gamble our lives on the hope that the experience of the glitter will somehow void the consequences of our choice. That’s why so many people keep choosing gift #2 – and losing.

If you’ve never chosen gift #1, today should be your day. Call on Jesus to save you.

If you have chosen gift #1, make sure you aren’t tempted to trade it in for any part of gift #2. Check your life right now and make sure, like Jesus did, that you worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, November 30, 2018

2 Corinthians 9:15  Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

A man of God was traveling through the countryside in a time of extreme famine and poverty. It had not rained for months and there was very little food left. He stopped on the outskirts of a small village and saw a woman who was picking up sticks so she could make a fire. Her intention was to use the last little bit of flour and oil that she had to make a small cake of bread for herself and her son. It would most likely be their last meal. They had no income and no other family. Her husband had died sometime earlier and left her with nothing but the home in which they lived. Because of the extreme famine there was no market for homes, and even if there was there was no food to buy with the money. She had no hope of survival.

Boldly the man asked her to put her faith in his God, and said, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.’”

Would she do it? Would she give up her last bit of food to a stranger? Could she believe the words of the man who claimed that his God would provide for her and her son? Why did she have to give him the first cake of bread? Couldn’t she just give him the leftovers? Why did she have to come all the way back from her house to deliver the cake once it was done?

These are all questions that must have been running through her mind. But in an incredible step of faith she went away and did as the man had told her. She used the last of her flour and oil to make a cake of bread over the fire and brought it back to the man. He ate it in front of her as she watched.

She returned to her home more hungry than ever but with great anticipation. Would the promise of the man of God be realized? Would there be flour and oil in her jars when she had left them empty.

She was overwhelmed as she looked into the two jars and saw that they were full. She had been given an indescribable gift of grace. She went back and found the man of God and invited him to stay with her, and there was enough food every day for the man and for the woman and her family. The jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by the man of God.

This true story taken from the Bible and the life of God’s prophet Elijah is a picture of God’s indescribable gift to us of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. God has promised that when we surrender the last of who we are and what we have to Him, we are given sufficient grace to meet our needs every day. Every spiritual, emotional, and physical need we have will be provided for by God when we give up the control of our lives and our possessions to Jesus Christ His Son.

Are you concerned about your finances and how to provide for the basic necessities of life? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. (Matthew 6:33)

Are you concerned about your physical condition and your health? So was the Apostle Paul, and when he asked God to remove the problem, God said, “My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Are you concerned about your emotional health? Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

Are you wondering about your spiritual life? How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)

God’s indescribable gift of grace for every need is yours simply by accepting it by faith that He will do what He says. Let go of the last bit of flour and oil in your life and receive the unending love of God found in His Son Jesus Christ. He will save you and give you eternal life.

And if you’ve already done that, give Him thanks today and every day for His indescribable gift.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, November 29, 2018

John 14:27  “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

Fear.

Just the word itself produces it. Immediately our minds are taken to places we don’t like to go. The top of a tall ladder precariously leaning on the peak of your house while you stretch to fasten the Christmas lights. The dark alley in a major city that is the only pathway to the parking ramp where you left your car. The airline jet which has just arrived and is your next flight and could be one of the models of jets which crashed recently. The grapes you plan to purchase at the store today which could be carrying another black widow spider like the one discovered in Minnesota recently.

Fear.

Outside influences and events can demolish our sense of security and safety. The world’s answer to fear is to remove ourselves from all such outside influences. Don’t climb the ladder. Don’t go downtown at night. Don’t fly. Don’t buy grapes. The answer to fear is to avoid anything that causes fear. We withdraw into the presumed safety and security of self.

We also do that in our spiritual lives. How many more missionaries to unreached people groups would we have if those called would conquer their fear of persecution and death? How many more witnesses for Jesus would we have in our communities if we would overcome the fear of rejection? We are living under the bondage of fear, when Jesus promised us the gift of peace.

Jesus distinguishes His peace from the peace the world offers. The world’s peace is from the outside in. For the person who lives life from the world’s perspective peace depends on what is or is not going on around them. They are only at peace when there is no danger. While the plane flies smoothly they rest. When there is turbulence they worry.

But Jesus offers us peace that starts on the inside and is greater than any danger on the outside. God’s power cannot be overcome by terrorism. God’s sovereignty cannot be overruled by politicians. God’s promises cannot be overturned by evil. God’s love cannot be overwhelmed by hate. Do not be troubled or afraid. The peace of God, which surpasses all our human reason and understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds safe and secure no matter what the external influence. (See Philippians 4:7)

Peace is possible because of the abiding presence of Jesus Christ in our lives through the Holy Spirit, and our trust in His power, His sovereignty, His promises, and His love. What do we have to fear when we are living in the will of God, on mission with Jesus Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit? It is only when one or more of those three spiritual realities is missing that peace is threatened and fear is given license to influence us.

When we are walking daily in the will of God, accomplishing the mission of Jesus Christ, and enjoying intimate fellowship with the Holy Spirit, fear is completely overwhelmed by the peace of God. Nothing can separate us from the love of God when we are in Christ Jesus. Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death?  No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35 – 39 NLT).

Peace.

The gift of Jesus that overcomes fear.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

John 4:10, 14 ¹⁰Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water…People soon become thirsty again after drinking this water.  ¹⁴But the water I give them takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

Several years ago during the Wisconsin 9-day gun deer hunting season, I spent many hours with my sons and son-in-law in pursuit of the elusive whitetail. At one point during the hunt I decided to try and help the boys by walking through a couple of creek bottoms and thickets to see if I could jump any deer out in their direction. Besides being unsuccessful in my attempts, I became very hot and thirsty. I had no water with me, and where I ended up on my trek I was not near the fresh water in the creek or the vehicles. I had nothing to drink. All I could do was take off some layers of clothing and sit down in the damp grass and try and cool down. As soon as I had the energy, I went straight to the first source of water I could find.

Thirst is a powerful motivator, not only from a physical perspective but from the emotional, psychological, and spiritual perspectives as well. Jesus understood human thirst. We thirst for value. We thirst for meaning and purpose to our existence. We thirst for acceptance. We are driven to satisfy these thirsts by any means available to us.

The world offers several temporary thirst-quenchers. We believe value can be found in material possessions and career success. We believe the meaning and purpose of life can be found through scientific and philosophical examinations of our existence. We also believe that acceptance can be found through human relationships. We will go to any length to gain that acceptance, sacrificing security, careers, and health on the altar of sexual sin.

Jesus met a woman like that. She had attempted to satisfy her thirst for acceptance, value, and meaning in life in the arms and beds of men. She had come to the well to satisfy her physical thirst. Jesus offered her an opportunity to satisfy her real thirst. Jesus makes an incredible statement to her – the water I give…takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within…giving…eternal life. Every emotional, psychological, and spiritual need is satisfied completely and permanently when Jesus enters a life. His eternal life completely quenches the thirst for value, acceptance, and meaningful purpose in life.

When Jesus comes into a life, inestimable value is realized through the knowledge that God would send His Son Jesus to die for our sins so that He could bring us into a permanent and eternal relationship with Himself. Even when we were living in sin He saw our value and provided a way for us to become worthy of relationship with Him. No longer do we need material possessions and career success to define our value: our value is defined by the receipt of every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. (Eph. 1:3-8) God quenches our thirst for value for all eternity by giving us the value of His Son Jesus.

When Jesus comes into a life, unconditional acceptance is experienced through the surrender of self to the reign of Christ. God quenches our thirst for acceptance for all eternity by unconditionally accepting into His family those who come humbly to Jesus Christ.

When Jesus comes into a life, meaning and purpose are fulfilled through the understanding of God’s will and purpose for our lives. Back in Ephesians 1 again, verse 9 says, God made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ.

When we come to Christ and drink of His water of eternal life, we are brought into the inner circle of God’s will and purpose. Later in Ephesians Paul describes our purpose – For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. We have been called to a divine and eternal work – to accomplish God’s work. It is a work with matchless meaning and eternal worth.

So which thirst is driving you today? Drink from the living water of Jesus Christ, and thirst no more. Life will cease to be a pursuit of value, acceptance, and meaning, and will become instead an expression of the value, acceptance, and meaning you have been granted in Jesus Christ.

It’s refreshing to have your thirst quenched.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In yesterday’s devotional we learned that giving is about expressing love. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” God’s gift of Jesus to pay the price for our sin was the full and complete expression of His love for us. In His gift we see the nature of His heart.

Gifts that are given in love benefit the recipient. Jesus spoke of this when he said, “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Good gifts are those that bring a blessing to people.

There are numerous benefits that God provides to us with the gift of Jesus Christ. I’m not sure which of them can be prioritized as most important or significant over the others, so I won’t try to convince you of my opinion. Over the next few days I want to enjoy the blessings that will come from looking at some of them. Today I am overjoyed to consider that in Jesus Christ I have eternal life.

I have been thinking about eternity a lot lately. Not that I plan to go there any time soon – unless that’s God’s plan for me. One thing I know for sure is that heaven will be the complete and perfect experience of life to the fullest as God intended it to be lived. There will be no confinements of time and space. There will be no experience of sin, sadness, sorrow, or suffering. We will know and understand all things even as God knows us now. We will not be distracted from the glory and fellowship of God by the cares and concerns of the world.

Heaven will never end. We will not know that it had a beginning, and we will not be able to foresee its conclusion. All the perfections of life will become the reality of the present. Every negative experience of this temporal life on earth will be forgotten. Every glorious experience of intimacy with Christ will be perfected into permanence. All that was done for self on earth will be lost and gone forever. All that was done for Christ will be immortalized and treasured for eternity.

What an incredible and indescribable gift! In one act of love all the negatives are abolished and all the positives are established. If only there was a way I could give a gift like that to everyone I love.

But wait…there is a way. I can give them the information they need to choose the gift of God. I can share with them the good news that Jesus forgives sin and abolishes death. I can give them the opportunity to receive eternal life.

And when I do, I have given them the greatest gift of all.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, November 26, 2018

Romans 5:12-17 (NLT) What a contrast between Adam and Christ, who was yet to come!  And what a difference between our sin and God’s generous gift of forgiveness. For this one man, Adam, brought death to many through his sin. But this other man, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness to many through God’s bountiful gift.  And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but we have the free gift of being accepted by God, even though we are guilty of many sins. The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over us, but all who receive God’s wonderful, gracious gift of righteousness will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

It’s started. The holiday hype has begun. Every day the newspaper is filled with high quality color advertisements filled with ridiculous prices on several items to lure you into the stores and spend more money than you planned. The stores are filled with must have items, from gift ideas to the latest in holiday decorations for the home. Literally billions of dollars will be spent in America alone during the 37 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is the season of giving gifts as an expression of love, or at least it’s supposed to be.

The emphasis that is placed on the value of the gift rather than on the heart of the giver makes me wonder if love has anything to do with Christmas anymore. We ask people for lists of what they want, but we spend very little time if any making lists for ourselves of what we think would be meaningful to them. Anticipation and surprise have been eliminated from the Christmas celebration. We know in advance what we are getting because our lists were specific. Why do I need to bother with buying the present at all? Just tell me how much it costs, and I’ll give you the cash, as long as it fits into my budget. Then I don’t have to go shopping.

If I do go shopping, I want to buy a gift that does two things –show you that I know you well enough to know what you really need and show you that I love you enough to spend whatever it takes to meet your need.

That’s how God first modeled giving for all of us. Adam sinned and brought death to all mankind. Adam was aware of his need, and even made a list of how he thought his need could be met. On the list were two things – a tree house for a hideout and some fig leaves.

But God saw his real need, and in His love He determined to meet that need regardless of the cost. And the cost was great! God met Adam’s need of forgiveness by giving the gift of His Son Jesus Christ, whom He promised to Eve when He said that her offspring would crush the head of Satan one day.

Then, in an act of symbolic sacrifice indicating the price Christ would pay for their forgiveness, God killed animals to provide the skins as clothing Adam and Eve needed to cover their shame. Everything God did was an act of love to meet the real needs of the ones He loved.

God’s gift of forgiveness through the gift of His Son became the expression of the unconditional love He had for His children. God showed He knew them well enough to know what they really needed and that He loved them enough to spend whatever it took to meet their need.

That’s what I want my gifts to show the people I love. I want to shop! I want to express my love by picking out gifts that show how well I know them and how meeting their need is more important than my budget. Yes, I will be practical and prudent…but I will not be selfish.

Be creative this year. It’s risky, because someone may return your gift. Your expression of love may not be understood or accepted. God took that risk. That’s what true love does. Let’s put love back into giving gifts at Christmas. That’s how it all started – with a true gift of love.

Pastor John