LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Psalms 146:1-2, 7-9 ( NIV ) Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live…He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow…

I have a deep respect for people who serve the LORD by meeting the needs of others. It is a refreshing breath of spiritual air to hear about humble servants of God who sacrifice their own desires for the sake of touching someone else’s life with grace. So much of the spiritual air we breathe today is self-centered and self-serving. Selfishness surrounds us. We declare ourselves to be the needy ones. We demand the attention of others. We seek to be served rather than serve. But every once in a while a person comes along who reflects the heart of Jesus to seek out and serve some of the “least of these.”

One such example is a pastor friend of mine whom I used to get to spend time with years ago, but because of God’s leading into different areas of ministry we don’t get together in person any more. He lives in Louisiana, and once pastored a church on a bayou where the land sits below sea level. His name is Jerry. Following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, he had a passion to use his skills and resources to rebuild people’s houses. Our church used to send work crews there to assist in the rebuilding efforts.

I remember one specific trip when 22 of us went down to work on a specific house. It was located just two houses down from the church. The house the people currently live in is a mess because it was on ground level when the storm surge flooded it. The new house will be built 12 feet up on huge poles. We will be framing in the house, putting rafters up, and putting on the roof.

What’s amazing about this project is that these people have no connection to the church. In fact, according to Pastor Jerry’s assessment, these people would be the most unlikely people on the whole bayou to ever respond to the love of Jesus. That’s why Jerry chose to help them.

Praise the LORD for people like Jerry who intentionally sacrifice their own resources to help those who, because of their life choices, are the least likely to respond to grace. If only all our hearts were so moved by the love and compassion of Jesus. If only we would understand that God’s greatest work is done in the lives of the most needy. If only that we would see God’s heart is focused on the broken and humbled and not the proud and self-sufficient.

Here in the Chippewa Valley we have people like that. They serve at the Hope Gospel Mission, at the Ruth House, at APPLE Pregnancy Care Center, at the emergency shelters for battered women, at the community table, and in numerous other ministries that focus on hurting and hopeless people. These servants have sacrificed their lives for others because the love of Jesus has captivated their hearts. These servants believe that God still does miracles today – miracles of providing food for the hungry, setting prisoners free from the bondage of their sin, giving hope to the hopeless and help to the helpless.

I’m proud to be a part of a church that has such a heart. I’m excited about our partnership with those ministries I mentioned as they reach out to help those in need. I’m glad that God is teaching me to be a true giver of His love without expecting any earthly return on the investment. It will be a miraculous day in the life of the church of Jesus Christ when we all live for the benefit of others and not ourselves. That day is possible as we allow the heart of Jesus to captivate our lives and see others the way he sees them.

Living for Jesus is not about what Jesus will continue to do for me – He has already done everything for me by saving me from my sin and granting me access to God the Father for all eternity. Living for Jesus is about serving others – no matter who they are – and connecting them to the love of God.

I want to say thank you to those of you who have been my examples – you know who you are. I want to challenge the rest of you to set your hearts on things above, and not on the things of the earth. God’s greatest miracles are yet to be seen, and they will be seen in the lives of people who are the most least likely to respond.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, February 5, 2018

Psalms 145:3  Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.

Math was my favorite subject in school. I loved the logic and consistency of it. It was black and white. There were rules to follow and predictable results. My mind was captivated by the process of problem solving. The fact that all problems could be resolved fascinated me. But the more I learned, the more I realized how much more there was to learn.

I remember one rule from early in math class – always reduce your answer to its simplest form. While two fourths is the correct answer when adding one fourth and one fourth, it is not its simplest form. The correct answer would be one half. That rule is especially significant when solving algebraic formulas which contain unknowns. The goal is to figure out what “x” is, and the only way to do that is to begin reducing all the other elements of the formula to their simplest form.

The difference between algebra and God is that God cannot be reduced, nor can He be solved – His greatness no one can fathom. But there is a process of simplification that can help us to understand and appreciate His greatness. The Psalmist uses that process in Psalm 145. After declaring the greatness of God, he seeks to understand God better by looking at the individual attributes of God in their simplest form.

The first thing he does is talk about the great work God does. The nature of God is revealed in the nature of His work. In verses four through six he declares the great work that God has done.

One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds.

The Psalmist then begins to speak of the individual attributes of God as they relate to our experience of Him. He makes things simple. We need simple sometimes. We need to be able to touch God at a specific point. We need to know He is approachable and can relate to our immediate need. In His totality He is unfathomable. In His simplicity He is relatable. Let the simplicity of God touch you today as you read the Psalmist’s description of Him, and find the point where you need to relate today.

They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food (He is our provider) at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made. The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. The LORD watches over all who love him…

We cannot fathom the sum total of God. He is beyond human comprehension. But He has revealed Himself in simple terms to us so that we can relate to Him. When life seems too complex to understand, and God seems beyond your reach, then do this – reduce your problems to their simplest form. Then look to the individual characteristics of God. There is an understandable attribute for every part of your problem.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, February 2, 2018

Psalms 144:1 Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.

 In 19^th century England the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was prominent and powerful. We have heard of some of the famous preachers like Charles Spurgeon and Andrew Murray, but it was the work of local pastors like William Pennefather that had the most significant impact on the culture of that era. Pennefather’s church, planted in the German section of England, became the home of the “Mild May” Conference, where preachers like Andrew Murray helped light an evangelistic fire that spread across the channel to Germany. When Pennefather died at the age of 57, his wife Catherine kept the church and the conference going and growing. She was a gifted poet and writer, and for the next 20 years until her death she kept serving her Lord and Savior. In 1881 she wrote a series of books entitled Follow Thou Me. In the volume subtitled Service she writes the following in relation to Psalm 144:1.

I want to speak of a great defect among us, which often prevents the realization of going “from strength to strength”; viz., the not using, not trading with, the strength already given. We should not think of going to God for money only to keep it in the bank. But are we not doing this with regard to strength? We are constantly asking for strength for service; but if we are not putting this out in hearty effort, it is of no use to us. Nothing comes of hoarded strength.

“Blessed be the Lord my strength, which trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle.” David, you see, was looking for strength for a purpose. Some people seem to expect strength, but never attempt to put forth their hands to war, and their fingers to fight—there is so little venturing upon God, so little use of grace given, partly from fear of man, partly from indolence and worldly-mindedness … It is not for us to be merely luxuriating in the power which God supplies. Action strengthens, and before we have a right to ask for an increase, we must use that already given.

Some things about our Christian culture have not changed from those days. Of all the strength we pray for God to provide, how much is used to actually get involved in the war against sin? We have become accustomed to asking only for survival strength, when God has made provision for victory strength.  We have become satisfied to live in the foxhole with our heads covered when God has provided for us to live in response to the bugle call of “charge.”

It is not for lack of a perfect model that we withdraw from battle. Christ himself, the Captain of our salvation, was a valiant soldier who used the strength of God to do the work of God. Remember His trip to the wilderness following His baptism? He was bold in attack, for he began the combat by going up into the wilderness to defy the enemy. Like Him we should be prepared through prayer and fasting for every attack of the enemy no matter how dry and lonely the wilderness of our circumstances.

He was skillful in defense, parrying every attack with God’s Word. We may not need our hands and fingers to carry a sword or a sling as King David did, but they are to be trained to page through the Scriptures so we are prepared for the spiritual battle in which we fight. We can defeat every attack of the enemy with the authority of God’s Word.

He was steadfast in conflict, for he persevered to the end, till the devil left him, and angels came and ministered unto him.  We should not be content with repelling the first attack, but persevere in our resistance until all evil thoughts are put to flight, and heavenly resolutions take their place.

We have been called to spiritual battle by our Captain. His victory guarantees ours. We must move from survival mode to success mode. We have been given all the resources of heaven to fight the spiritual battle and to achieve victory in the name of Jesus. He is our Rock, our loving God, our fortress, our stronghold, and our deliverer. He has issued a call to battle. He has provided us with weapons of warfare that are powerful to the pulling down of all the enemy’s strongholds. No weapon of the enemy formed against us can prosper. We have been made more than conquerors through Him who loves us and gave His life for us. We have been trained for battle, and it’s time to put our training into practice. We are guaranteed of victory, so what’s the risk?

Listen. You can hear the bugle sounding “Charge.”

Let’s go!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Psalms 143:1 – 2 O LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you.

I have had a word running around in my brain for the last few days and I can’t shake it. It’s not a word that I usually use in any of my conversations with people or even with God. It’s a word that is not generally accepted as appropriate in the context of spiritual conversations with unbelievers in our culture. It would be considered politically incorrect to use it to describe the average citizen of our country. But it is a word the Bible uses to describe us all. The fact that we don’t use it much anymore has hindered the cause of Christ and dramatically slowed the harvest of souls for the King. People are not coming to Christ for salvation, and it may in large part be due to the fact that they don’t understand they need to be saved from their sin. They don’t know that they are condemned.

We use that word to describe buildings that need to be torn down, but we have stopped using it to describe the spiritual condition of every person on the planet. By choice we have rebelled against God and become slaves to the nature of sin in us all. Having been conceived in sin we have conceived the activity of sin. Just as the building is sentenced to be destroyed upon the pronouncement of condemnation, so we are sentenced to the eternal destruction of life based on God’s pronouncement of the condemnation of our sin.

Jesus taught this clearly in John 3, where He says, For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

Everyone is condemned, just as David said in Psalm 143:2. But like David, everyone can come to Christ for mercy. The Judge of sin is also the Savior from sin. In His faithfulness and righteousness, He will forgive those who come to Him and cry for mercy. But the cry for mercy can only be sincere if there is a sincere recognition of condemnation. When we humbly and honestly consider the hopelessness of our sinful position before Almighty God we can better appreciate the splendor of His saving grace.

Chuck Colson relates the following story from many years ago during his prison ministry.

I was speaking at the Indiana State Prison. Only weeks earlier, Stephen Judy had been electrocuted there. An execution always creates a special tension in a prison, and I could sense it that day. It was in the air, in the voices of the guards, in the faces of the men.

After my talk, the warden walked us through the maze of cell blocks to that most dreaded of places—an isolated wing where five men awaited their final decree and death. Nancy Honeytree, the talented young gospel singer who is part of our team, was with me; several of our volunteers came along as well. Finally, we were ushered through two massive steel gates into the secure area. The inmates were allowed out of their cells, and we joined in a circle in the walkway while Nancy strummed the guitar and sang. It was a beautiful moment for those condemned men—and for us—as we closed by singing together “Amazing Grace.”

Two of the men, I knew from their correspondence with me, were believers. One of them, James Brewer, had the most radiant expression during our visit, and he sang at the top of his lungs.

As we were shaking hands and saying good-bye, I noticed that Brewer walked back into his cell with one of our volunteers. The others began filing out, but this volunteer remained in Brewer’s cell; the two were standing shoulder to shoulder, together reading the Bible. I was expected in two hours in Indianapolis for a meeting with the governor, so I walked back into the cell. “We’ve got to go,” I called out, beckoning to our volunteer.

“Just a minute, please,” he replied. I shook my head and repeated, “Sorry, time’s up, the plane is waiting.”

“Please, please, this is very important,” the volunteer replied. “You see, I am Judge Clement. I sentenced this man to die. But now he is born again. He is my brother and we want a minute to pray together.

I stood in the entrance to that solitary, dimly lit cell, frozen in place. Here were two men—one black, one white; one powerful, one powerless; one who had sentenced the other to die. Yet there they stood grasping a Bible together, Brewer smiling so genuinely, the judge so filled with love for the prisoner at his side.

Impossible in human terms! Brewer should despise this man, I thought. Only in Christ could this happen. The sight of those men standing together as brothers in that dingy cell will remain vivid in my mind forever.

Someday, maybe even today, we will stand arm in arm and face to face with the Judge – the One who had the power to sentence us to eternal death because of our sin. But we will meet Him as our Savior – the One who personally died in our place so that we might have life. He was condemned so that we could be forgiven.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)

Hallelujah!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Psalms 142:1 – 7 I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy. I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble. When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way. In the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me.  Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life. I cry to you, O LORD; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.

Now, for those of you who skipped it, please go back and really read today’s Psalm. The Holy Spirit is to be your primary teacher every day. Let Him speak to you before you read what He said to me.

How deeply are you troubled today? How unbearable is your emotional burden? How lonely are you? How close are you to giving up? How loudly are you crying out to God for mercy? This Psalm is your help and your hope.

Back in December I was in Israel in the location where King David took refuge in caves to hide from his enemies. Once he was hiding from King Saul, who had him surrounded with 3,000 soldiers and there was no hope of escape. The other time he was seeking refuge from the Philistines who had taken over Bethlehem. As David writes this Psalm he recalls how he felt during those times of exile.

The cave he was in is nearly impenetrable. I did not get to go into the cave when I was there, but I did walk along the edge of the cliff and saw it. Another visitor, who at one time found his way in, described it this way.

It is situated on the side of a mountain, having a fearful gorge below, gigantic cliffs above, and the path winding along a narrow shelf of the rock. At length, from a great rock hanging on the edge of the shelf, we entered by a long leap to a low window which opened into the perpendicular face of the cliff. We were then within the traditional hold of David, and, creeping half doubled through a narrow crevice for a few yards, we stood beneath the dark vault of the first grand chamber of this mysterious and oppressive cavern. Our whole collection of lights did little more than make the damp darkness visible. After groping about as long as we had time to spare, we returned to the light of day, fully convinced that while inside David was safe, and all the strength of Israel under Saul could not have forced an entrance into it and would not have even attempted it. (William Thompson)

While the cave offered David safety from the enemies outside, it could not protect him from the attack against his spirit which grew faint within him. With no visible means of escape, and no way of replenishing his supplies, he does what we all tend to do – he exaggerates the severity of his condition. He looks around and declares that he is alone and no one cares about his life.

Go with me into that cave for a moment where the darkness is so complete that without man-made light you cannot see your hand in front of your face. Of course, he could not see anyone when he looked around, even though 400 people had gathered with him in the cave to support him and care for him. He was surrounded by his mighty men who put their lives on the line for him when he needed a drink of water. But the physical darkness had closed his spiritual eyes.

There is a personal lesson in this for us. In the midst of whatever cave you find yourself and the darkness you are currently experiencing, do not forget the truth that the other members of the Body of Christ – your spiritual family – are still with you. Even though your physical eyes may be unable to see a resolution, do not let your spiritual eyes become darkened to the truth of your connection to Christ and His community of believers.

There is another lesson that is important as well – in your times of despair, loneliness and hopelessness, God knows the way. When people and circumstances have set snares for you and you feel trapped, God knows the way. When you feel alone and rejected, God is your refuge and your portion in the land of the living. He is your constant companion and friend. He cares for you.

This was the prayer of a man who was desperate. These were the words of a man who was in a deep and dark cave. This was the cry to God of a man who believed in the power of God to rescue him.

These were the words of a man who lived to write about it.

This can be your prayer of faith to God who knows the way. Put your trust in him. He will show you the way out of your cave. Until He does, He will NEVER leave you alone. He who knows the way is with you to stay.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Psalm 141:1-2  O LORD, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you! ²  Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!

I need answers!

We all need answers at times, but where we go to find them can make all the difference in our lives. There seem to be many options for us – from worldly philosophies and self-help gurus to escape mechanisms like drugs, alcohol, and sex. All are available to us, but all any of them do is provide an escape that keeps us from facing the real need. However, I can assure you that the real answer is found in only one place. In Psalm 141, King David declares and demonstrates that only real option is to call out to God in prayer.

But how can we know that God will answer us when we call to Him? Let me give you some basic truths that may help. Read Matthew 7:7-12.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If 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! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

First, God is the source of all your answers. Whatever your need, God has promised to answer it. Do you need the provision of your basic needs for living? Ask, and it will be given to you. Do you need wisdom and understanding for your current situation? Seek, and you will find it. Do you need doors opened for you to move ahead in your life in serving God? Knock, and they will be opened. Every need you have will be met with the response of God’s provision, power, purpose and protection. He is the source of all your answers.

Second, His answers are significant, because they are the expression of His endless love for you. Every answer He gives is a good and perfect gift from His heart. When you pray with a humble heart of dependence upon your loving Father in heaven, and seek to know His will and purpose for your life, then every answer is a manifestation of His love for you that will result in the experience of good.

The Apostle Paul understood this when he wrote ^“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:26-28)

The answer may not make sense to you today, and it may not be what you expected or had hoped for, but it is God’s best for you. God cannot deny His nature, and every answer you receive is the expression of His love to you that will result in His glory and ultimate good.

Third, the starting point of receiving God’s answers is to ask correctly. Jesus uses the illustration of a son asking his father for food, and showing how the father would respond in love. After making His point that God’s love motivates His answers as well, He then makes this crucial point – in everything you ask for, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

We can be assured of God’s answers when we ask with the right motive. What is the right motive? The glory of God and service to others. Isn’t it interesting that the verse we call the Golden Rule is connected to the principle of prayer in Jesus’ teaching? It’s also very interesting that the majority of our prayers are self-centered. James, the brother of Jesus, wrote, When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:3) The starting point of all our asking is to be for the benefit of others, not self.

All basic needs will be provided when we ask for them in the context of using them to serve others. All wisdom and understanding will be granted to us when we seek it on behalf of others. Doors of opportunity will be opened for us when we knock with the intent of ministering the grace of God to others. When we come before the Father in heaven with our requests, let them be motivated by a humble desire to serve Him according to His purpose for our lives, and we will receive everything we need to do it. His love will respond.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, January 29, 2018

Psalms 140:6-8  O LORD, I say to you, “You are my God.” Hear, O LORD, my cry for mercy. O Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer, who shields my head in the day of battle—do not grant the wicked their desires, O LORD; do not let their plans succeed, or they will become proud.

There are times when it seems like the wicked will win. The ravaging effects of sin on our world and the people living in it bring us to our knees. That is a great place to be if we are there to pray, but for many it is a not a place of faith but rather the final fall into the realm of hopeless quitters.

It’s easy to feel like quitting sometimes. Pressures seem to mount from circumstances, and if each one is not dealt with individually their combined weight can become too much to bear.  The plans of the proud begin to capitalize our attention and activity, which results in the proud becoming prouder and demanding even more from us. It seems sometimes that we don’t have any more to give. It is especially hard to keep going and giving when our friends turn out to be the proud ones and their plans sap our energy and desires. Our eyes shift from the finish line to the sidelines, and soon we have left the race and collapsed on the grass with no desire to return.

I am so thankful for a poem I found on a website that is used to encourage those who are experiencing extreme difficulties in their lives. I want to share it today with those of you who feel like quitting.

I was running the race of life, and the wind was at my back;

There was never a fairer day to run, never a smoother track.

I ran with careless ease.

I would run this race,

I would win first place,

So my Master I would please.

Then an unforeseen hand rudely pushed me down,

and I fell with a thud to the cold, cruel ground;

and broken and bruised, I began to cry

as the other runners all passed me by.

Lord, help me please! I can’t run anymore;

I’m broken and battered, I’m tired and sore;

I don’t think I can make it, I just want to die,

I don’t even have what it takes to try.

And as I lay bleeding upon the ground,

a vast cloud of witnesses gathered around.

There were heroes of old, all the saints of the ages,

who through weakness were strong and through faith made courageous.

They started to cheer and wildly applaud,

and their voices rose up giving glory to God.

And then to myself I said, How can this be?

For the saints of the ages were cheering for me!

Then Abel cried out, “There is power in the blood!”

And Noah said, “He’ll keep you safe through the flood”

Then Jacob said, “Weary one, lean on the Lord”

And Moses cried out, “Child, Look to the reward!”

Then Sarah stepped forward, holding Abraham’s hand,

and they both said, “Trust God when you don’t understand.”

In God’s promises, child, you must always believe,

for sometimes He’ll do things you just can’t conceive.

Come on! You can do it! Get up off you face

and run with endurance the rest of the race.

And remember, my child, when your strength is all gone,

the saints of the ages are cheering you on!

So, I rose to my feet midst their thunderous ovation

and started to run with great determination;

and that’s when I saw Him, My Savior and Lord,

and I knew in my heart I must win the reward

to cast down before Him the crown that I won,

and to hear Him say to me, “Well done, child, well done!”

Author, Janice Rogers Edmiston

When it seems like too big a task to switch your eyes from the comfort of the grass back to the finish line of the race, then might I suggest you at least look at the bleachers. Thousands have run the race of life before you, and done it with enduring faith. The testimony of how they did it serves as the motivation for us to get back into the race and finish strong. If you need to read a synopsis of their race, read Hebrews 11.

Come on! You can do it! Run to the arms of Jesus. He is your strong Deliverer.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, January 26, 2018

Psalms 139:1-18

Several years ago, after two days of ministry to someone in need, God directed me to this Psalm. He who holds all of creation in His hands and who knows all things from beginning to end, ordered my steps to arrive at this Psalm on that day. It amazed me, and as a result I wrote the following.

God is beyond our comprehension, yet He comprehends us. He who knows all knows us. He who takes care of everything cares for us. He who is everywhere always is wherever we are always. His thoughts are about us. His actions are for us. His hands that hold the world also cradle the tiniest and most delicate baby.

I had spent two days at the Minneapolis Children’s Hospital with a young man who at that time was our church’s worship minister. Complications developed during the birth of his daughter.  What I saw in him was amazing faith. Not just any faith – but faith in the One True and Living God who holds us all in His hands and loves us with an immeasurable and unconquerable love. Not just stated faith, but active faith. Faith that rests in God’s love. Faith that patiently waits for God’s outcomes. Faith that trusts God’s sustaining grace. Faith that believes in Light when all is dark. Faith that hopes in a God-glorifying result, even if that glory is not experienced until we are in His Presence. That was the faith I saw in him..

On my last day at the hospital with him, I got up early and went to have my own devotions. I read this Psalm. It has never meant more to me than it did at that moment. Let it speak to you today as well.

¹    O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.

²    You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

³    You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

⁴    Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.

⁵    You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.

⁶    Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

⁷    Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

⁸    If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

⁹    If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,

¹⁰    even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

¹¹    If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”

¹²    even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

¹³    For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴    I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

¹⁵    My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

¹⁶    your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

¹⁷    How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

¹⁸    Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.

During the long stay in the hospital with his daughter, one of the father’s friends wrote the words of a song to him in their guestbook on the Caring Bridge site they had. I’m sure there’s a place for these words in the circumstances of our lives today..

If I forget, yet God remembers. If these hands of mine cease from their clinging, yet the Hands divine hold me so firmly I cannot fall. And if sometimes I am too tired to call for Him to help me, then He reads the prayer unspoken in my heart and lifts my care. I dare not fear since certainly I know that I am in God’s keeping, shielded so, from all that else would harm, and in the hour of stern temptation, strengthened by His power. I tread no path in life to Him unknown; I lift no burden, bear no pain, alone; my soul a calm, sure hiding place has found: the everlasting Arms my life surround. God, Thou art love! I build my faith on that. I know Thee who has kept my path, and made light for me in the darkness, tempering sorrow so that it reached me like a solemn joy. It were too strange that I should doubt Thy love.

How precious it is that God’s thoughts are of me!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Psalms 138:6 Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar.

Pride can certainly cause us to do some pretty dumb things. Like the guy in New Zealand who had been ticketed and fined thirty-two times for not wearing his seat belt. Finally, in an attempt to avoid detection, he fabricated a fake seat belt strap that would rest across his shoulder to give the appearance of wearing one. He never got another ticket. He was killed. His car was hit head-on by another car, and authorities say that had he been wearing a real seat belt he would probably have survived. He’ll never know.

Wanting our own way is deadly. Pride has caused us to be enamored by image and appearances. We do everything we can to keep up with what looks like success. We’ve discovered it’s impossible to save money when our neighbors keep buying things we can’t afford. Our pursuit of personal happiness has stifled our pursuit of God.

Pride is eating away at the very foundations of Christianity in our world. The church has become overrun with people who have climbed onto the cross merely to be better seen by others. In doing so, they have trampled on the One who has been there all along. Pride has made us look down on others, which makes it impossible to look up to God.

There’s a predictable and consistent consequence of pride – loneliness. Friends will leave us alone when we care more about ourselves then we do about them. We alienate people when we draw attention to ourselves. But the loss of human relationship is not the biggest consequence. God also stands far off from proud people. He models humility for us, by stooping down to help the least and the lowest. He withdraws from those who don’t follow His example.

The prophet Isaiah says, For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. (Isaiah 57:15)

I believe the power of God is severely stifled in today’s church because of the arrogance of people who call themselves Christians. They seek to know themselves far more than they seek to know God and be known by Him. They are satisfied to work in their own strength to accomplish their own goals, while God stands at a distance and watches. How sad that so much that is done in the church today is done apart from any involvement of the Spirit of God and done solely with the skill of man. Our pride stands in direct opposition to God’s power.  I seriously wonder what God would be able to accomplish if we were not in His way.

I recall an illustration from the life of D.L. Moody that has had a huge impact on me. Mr. Moody held a series of remarkable evangelistic meetings in Birmingham which intensely stirred that city. Dr. Dale, who was warmly sympathetic, was greatly amazed at the marvelous results produced. In his comments about the revival he said, “this work must be of God for I can see no real relation between him (Mr. Moody) and the work that was done.” That is the proof conclusive of the Spirit’s presence and active power. In all truly Divine blessing and success, there is something which cannot be attributed to merely human causes.

Let it be said of our lives that there is no relation between who we are and the work that is being done. That will happen only when God’s people humble themselves before the Lord and become weak and needy. Then, and only then, will we experience the power of God to do great things, and they will truly be the work of God.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Psalms 137:1-4 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?

It was one of the worst nights of my life. The leaves were beginning to change colors in the fall of 1967. Our family was living in a small summer cabin on a lake outside of Oscoda, Michigan. It was cold at night. Several weeks earlier we had been evicted from the home we were living in. Dad was without a job. Mom was trying to bring in some money through substitute school teaching. As a freshman in high school I was experiencing deep sorrow and loss for the first time. Before school had started that fall I knew we would be moving, so when the time came to sign up for football and join the team with all my friends, I chose not to. I didn’t want to put my teammates through the same loss I was already experiencing. We ended up moving before the first game, so I made the right decision. I ended up never getting to play football.

I remember the night that Dad came to the family and said he had a new job, and that we were moving to Minnesota. I went to bed that night and cried myself to sleep. I have never felt so alone in my life. I was homesick before we had even left. Everything in my life changed. All I wanted for the longest time was to be back where I loved living and where I was loved by those living there.

The Israelites experienced such homesickness when they were led away into captivity in Babylon. They would sit and weep for their homeland. They refused to play their musical instruments and sing any songs of joy. But notice, they did not destroy their instruments or forget their songs. They simply hung them up until such time as God fulfilled His promise of restoring them to their land. God has promised to take us home again.

We do not sing the songs of this world. We are not overjoyed with the prospect of life forever in this land. We are not filled with hope that this world is our final destination. On the contrary, we long for the Land that is to come. We are homesick with the hope of Heaven.

The Apostle Paul said it this way. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. (Romans 8:18-24)

Charles H. Spurgeon writes, “Have you ever seen a caged bird with its breast or wing bleeding from blows received by crashing against the wire of its cage? The poor creature dreams of the forest and streams. Filled with aspirations for most sublime flight, it stretches its wings and flies upward, only to bring itself into sharp contact with its prison. So it is with us. Our new-born nature, stirred in its inmost depths with longings suitable to its celestial origin, aspires after the joys of heaven, stretching all its wings to move toward perfection. But we who are in this body do groan; we find the flesh to be a prison, and so the more we long the more we pine. And pining, we sigh and cry, and wound our hearts with insatiable desires and bleeding discontents. The pangs of strong desire for the presence of the Lord in glory—who among believers has not felt them? Who among us has not found our flight upward brought to a painful pause by the stern facts of flesh and blood, and earth and sin?”

I’m homesick. Not for Michigan, or any other place I have lived. I’m homesick for the place I want to live forever. I’m homesick for heaven. And so long as God chooses to delay my departure for my true home, I will be homesick. I will go to war in my heart against anything in the present that would distract my attention from the glory of my future. And when I sing, I sing not of the pleasures or possessions of this life, but of the certain hope of inconceivable pleasures and possessions in the Presence of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Then someday, hopefully soon, I will sing as never before, when I stand before the throne of God and thank Him for bringing me home.

Pastor John