LifeLink Devotions for Monday, October 7, 2024

It is our tendency to allow circumstances to make us forgetful of past conquests. We seem to easily shift our focus from promises to predicaments. It happened to the nation of Israel as they started their faith journey to the Promised Land.  

Exodus 15:22-27  “Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them. He said, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.” Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.”

How quickly we move from praise to petulance. The Israelites are only three days removed from their deliverance by the powerful hand of God, and they are already grouchy and grumbling. The focus of their faith has already shifted from God to man as they look to Moses to solve the predicament and supply their need. But God graciously answers their complaining cries and turns this into a teachable moment. He gives Moses a solution to the water problem, and then reminds the people of a significant aspect of their faith in Him.

Think back to the first plague that God brought against the Egyptians. He turned the water into blood. The fish died and the water was made to stink so bad that they could not drink it. Now here are the Israelites in a similar situation and they don’t know what to do. They have not connected the dots that if God is able to make good water bad, then He can also make bad water good. God wants them to learn a significant lesson of faith. He tells them that if their faith is properly focused on Him that none of the diseases brought upon the rebellious Egyptians would be placed on them. If they will listen to the Lord their God and put into action what they have heard, then they will be protected, and He will provide for them. God reveals Himself to the people as their Healer – Jehovah-Rapha. The word Rapha means to mend and to make whole. He has shown Himself to be their Deliverer, and now He wants them to experience Him as their Healer – the One who will fulfill their lives. He demonstrates this by bringing them to Elim, a place of rest, refreshment, and restoration. He has brought them to a place of wholeness.

My friends, the emotional excitement of the deliverance will fade. The realities of our physical condition and needs will tempt us to replace our faith in the Deliverer and focus on the tragedy of our situation. But God will reveal Himself to us as our Healer – the One who will provide and protect so that we are complete and fulfilled.

What kind of difficulty are you currently experiencing that has brought discontent and diminished hope to your life? Have you taken that difficulty to God Himself, or have you looked to the world and its residents for your solution? Has the focus of your faith shifted from God to self? Remember that the One who delivered you is also your Healer. Go to Him, and He will lead you to a place of shade from the heat of the day and a place of refreshment and renewal for the next part of the journey.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Friday, October 4, 2024

When faith is properly focused on the awesome nature and character of God, our hearts are inspired to praise. That is what happens after God’s deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery.

Exodus 15:1-2  Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.”

Praise is what happens when God delivers people from the slavery to sin. Take a moment to open your Bible to Exodus chapter fifteen, and let’s look at the elements of praise from the hearts and lips of delivered people. 

Read verse one. We are to praise God’s exalted position. When you pray and praise, start with the sovereignty of God.

In verse 2 we see the phrase “He is my God.” We are to praise the personal nature of God’s relationship with us, and that in this relationship we find strength and deliverance.

Read verses six and seven.  We are to praise His majesty. The Hebrew word here is excellency ,and comes from a root meaning “to rise up and above all others in pomp and perfection.” God has risen up on our behalf and conquered all enemies because He will not share His glory with anyone. Then in verse 11 you discover that His majesty is based in His holiness, and that He will destroy any who oppose the purity of His nature.

Read verse thirteen. We are to praise His unfailing love, which results in guidance and protection for those He has redeemed. This leadership brings us into His holy presence, in our spirit today and in the flesh when He returns for us.

Read verse eighteen. We are to conclude our praise the way we began – with the sovereignty of God. He will reign for ever and ever.

Take some time today to celebrate God. I’m sure as you do you will think of the great wonders He has done. But remember to focus your faith and your praise on His nature and His character rather than on His works. When you do, your faith will grow and your relationship with God will deepen.

Have a great day of singing God’s praises.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, October 3, 2024

Today we jump way ahead in the story of Moses, and a lot has happened. There have been plagues and promises, broken promises and more plagues, all followed by death and deliverance. You can read about it all in Exodus chapters seven through fourteen. But we come today to the end of the deliverance from slavery, and to the finalizing of the people’s faith on the right foundation.

God has led them to the edge of the Red Sea, and again their deliverance seems impossible. Pharaoh has decided he made a mistake and lost too much by letting the Israelites go, so he organized the army, and his pursuit is coming up fast on the rear of the Jewish entourage. The people are terrified because their focus has been shifted from God’s leadership to the enemy’s advance, and they begin to complain. They go so far as to wish they were back in their slavery. They have totally lost their focus on the goal and left their faith in God and His promises. They believe that the solution to this problem must come from themselves, and they are overwhelmed with the realization of their inability to handle it.

How often do we take our eyes off God’s leadership and promises and wish we could go back to the seeming comforts of our sinful ways? How often are we overwhelmed because we believe we must resolve all of our difficulties, and we know we cannot?

Then, in one of the most exciting and encouraging statements in the entire Bible, Moses turns to the people and says with the authority of God Himself, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” 

God tells Moses to have the people refocus on the goal and to move on. When they obey, God goes to work to bring glory to Himself. The people got out of the way by getting under way, and God provided a way. The waters of the sea were parted, and the people passed over on dry ground. But notice how their focus had to stay on the goal. While they were crossing the sea, the water was piled up beside them. That’s scary! One look at that and fear could cause a panic. Jesus demonstrated this same lesson to Peter and the disciples when He came walking to them on the water. So long as Peter kept his eyes on Christ he was delivered from the waves. When he looked at the water he sank. The Israelites had to keep their focus on God in the pillar of fire or fear would have overwhelmed them as well.

When all was done, and the Egyptian army had been destroyed in the sea, God was completely glorified, and the people finally got the point – their faith was to be in God alone.

Exodus 14:31 “And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.” 

My friends, maybe it is time for your faith to be refocused on God alone. What waves of circumstances, insurmountable obstacles, and approaching enemies have caused you to take your eyes off of God? Your faith has been minimized by a wrong focus. Refocus on God, and your spirit will be restored, refreshed, and reenergized to reach the goal God has given you. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Yesterday Moses was left in a state of fear that he had caused more problems for the people of Israel than he could solve. He complained to God that things weren’t going well, and he even boldly told God that He wasn’t doing what he had promised. Moses said, “you have not rescued your people at all.” But God wanted Moses and all the people to learn one inescapable truth through all of this – He alone gets all the glory for everything.

Exodus 6:6-8 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.’”

Just think, if Pharaoh had responded to the words of Moses at their first meeting, whom would the people have trusted as their deliverer? Moses, right? Of course, and they would have placed their faith in the wrong person. God made it very clear to Moses that He alone would be the Deliverer and that He alone would be worshiped, and He wanted all the people to understand that.

This is a beautiful picture of our salvation, and here’s why: God alone is responsible for it all and receives all the glory for being our Deliverer. We, like the Israelites, were in slavery. We were in slavery to our sin. It controlled every aspect of our existence, and we were powerless to change our condition. Word comes to us that there is the possibility of freedom, and we emotionally respond to that message because of the benefit that it would bring to us. We could be released from slavery and enjoy the promised land of eternal life. We are quickly convinced to place our hope in the benefit, and we think we are saved. But the enemy still has us in his control because our faith has not yet been placed in the Deliverer but rather in the deliverance. Things get tough on us as the enemy imposes stricter control to keep us in bondage. We must reach a point of hopelessness about our condition so that all of our faith and hope is in God and not in our own ability (or someone else’s ability) to deliver ourselves.

In a 2005 issue of Discipleship Journal there is an article that contains the story of a man named Carlos. In 1979, when the rebels were seeking to overthrow the Nicaraguan government, Carlos had been an activist that was being pursued by the government. At home was his mother, who every Monday got up at 4:00 AM to pray for several hours, and one of her requests was for the salvation of her son. One day Carlos was passing out rebel literature on a college campus when the army showed up to break up the demonstration. Fearing for his life, he quickly stuffed all the literature into his shirt. As the soldier frisked everyone, he thought for sure he was caught, but when they got to him they found nothing. The literature had disappeared. On another occasion the soldiers trapped him, and they began executing everyone that was captured. When the soldier held his rifle to Carlos’ head and pulled the trigger, it jammed, and his life was spared. Years later, after coming to Christ, he proclaimed that God alone was able to deliver him, and that he was brought to a point of understanding his own hopelessness. 

This is what God was doing to Israel, and this is what God needs to do in everyone who wants to be saved. We have nothing to offer God that can purchase our salvation. We have no ability to save ourselves by our actions. He has done it all, and to Him alone be all the glory. When we reach that point of faith where we trust the Deliverer and not the benefits of the deliverance, then God destroys the power of the oppressor, and we are set free.

My friends, make sure that your faith is truly in the Deliverer – Jesus Christ. Faith in anything or anyone else will fail you.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Tuesday, October 1, 2024

As we continue our study of faith, we see Moses finally agreeing to answer God’s call to deliver his people from Egyptian slavery. The first thing Moses and Aaron did was to meet with all the elders of Israel to tell them what God had said. After hearing God’s plan and seeing God’s miraculous signs confirming His presence, the elders all fell down and worshiped God. But we will see later in the story that their worship was results oriented rather than God-centered. They worshiped God because of the benefit it would bring to them rather than because of Who God is. This is always a mistake, and God must correct it in our lives.

After the worship service, everyone is pretty pumped up. That’s what worship services should do for us – they bring us together in the presence of God and equip us to go out and accomplish God’s purpose. Moses and Aaron immediately set up a meeting with Pharaoh. They go into this meeting with every anticipation that in just one application of the Word of God everything will be fixed. But Pharaoh doesn’t respond as Moses expected.

Exodus 5:1-2, 22-23 “Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.’” Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go.” Moses returned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me?  Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”

Pharaoh makes some bold and arrogant statements and decisions. He first sets himself up above God by saying that he doesn’t need to obey anyone other than himself. Then he tries to prove his power by taking it out on the slaves: he makes the work more difficult for them. This isn’t looking anything like deliverance, and Moses takes it up with God.

Moses complains to God because the plan isn’t working out the way he wanted it to. Moses forgot that God had told him earlier that Pharaoh would not be an easy sell, and that there would have to be a mighty move of God’s miraculous power in Egypt with signs and wonders, and then after all of that the people would be released. Moses needed to be patient and wait for God to do it His way.

That is so hard for us to do, isn’t it? I can relate to Moses in this one – I want it done now! But God’s purpose is always more multi-faceted than the one outcome that benefits us. God was setting up a power struggle between Himself and the powers of evil represented by Pharaoh, and God was going to win and bring glory to Himself for all time. It would have been awesome enough from our perspective for Pharaoh’s heart to be softened immediately and to release the slaves. But God knows that no victory is real victory unless it is total victory, and total victory is the total destruction of evil. Pharaoh not only needed to be brought to his knees in surrender to a higher power, but he also needed to be judged for his rebellion against that power.

This is a beautiful picture of our salvation, and we will talk about that tomorrow. For today, learn the lesson of Moses about patience. Let God develop the plan and be in charge of the process. Guard your heart against looking for the quick solution that produces an immediate benefit. Participating in the purpose of God is not about us and what we gain, but rather it is about God and His glory. Be patient – in the end His glory becomes ours!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Monday, September 30, 2024

Before we move on in our study of faith, let’s review the lessons we learned from Moses so they are firmly planted in our spirits where they will grow and bring forth a harvest of righteousness.

1.  No wrong is unforgivable by God. Moses thought he was disqualified because people rejected him for his murder of an Egyptian. But people don’t decide qualification for God’s service – God does. Colossians 1:12 says, “giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”  

2.      No weakness is too big for God. It amazes me that we are so blinded by our pride that we would dare measure our inadequacies against the adequacy of God. Whatever it is that we think keeps us from being ready for the task is exactly where God will demonstrate His incredible power to make us adequate. Paul had this problem and came to this conclusion in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

3.      No worries are to become barriers to serving God. Moses was insecure, and he worried that he would be able to bring about the desired outcome. Worry is a product of insecurity and the need to control the outcome. Worry hinders faith and breeds fear. God answers our insecurities with His qualifications and eliminates our worry with His Word. When our lives are secure in the unfailing arms of God and the outcomes are guaranteed to be glorifying to God, there is no barrier left to serving God.

4.      No work is too hard for God. God can and will change us. God can and will change others. God will accomplish all that He has purposed. Do not settle for a discounted life. You were bought with the full price of Christ’s redemption. Let the full value of His life be applied to you and let Him completely change you. Anything else is to live beneath the privilege of your inheritance.

God has assigned us a task – to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ to a lost world. He has given us His Holy Spirit to empower us and equip us for the task. We have nothing to fear, as the Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:31-32.

“What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

By faith in God through Jesus Christ say “YES” to what God has called you to do.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Friday, September 27, 2024

Moses has run out of excuses for his fears, so now he begs God to send someone else to do the job God assigned to him. After all his excuses have been answered and the needs met, Moses finally decides he’s just not interested in the task.

Exodus 4:13 But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”

It’s probable that he wasn’t interested from the very beginning, but like most of us Moses tries to justify why he can’t do it rather than admitting the truth right up front. I’ll bet Moses even justified his dishonest behavior by thinking he would let God down easy. I’ve done that. I bet you have too. It’s amazing how often our need for self-protection influences our choices. We try to save face and protect our image. But God forced Moses to reach the point where he had to admit the truth. Moses finally had to say, “I don’t care enough to go.”

Moses cared a little – he wanted someone to go. He just didn’t care enough to sacrifice his own life and conquer his own fears to answer the call himself. His own personal struggles were far more important to him than the struggles of his own people suffering in slavery in Egypt. His mother and father might still be alive. His whole family is still there. But all he can do is choose an outcome that benefits himself. If this were not so frighteningly true for us, we could be mad at Moses. But we make choices like that every day for the same reasons. We need to grow in our faith too.

God does not let us get away with such choices. When He has called us to a task, there is no escape. Somehow, someday, He will bring to completion the plan and purpose He has for us.

Exodus 4:14-17 Then the LORD’S anger burned against Moses and he said, ”What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it.”

He provided Moses with Aaron so that Moses had no escape from his calling. He is already at work to bring each one of us to a point of positive response to his purpose. The only consequence of our rejection today is the loss of blessing until we finally join God’s plan. Imagine how much more Moses would have been blessed if he had said yes right away and experienced the transforming power of God in his life to do what was humanly impossible. Moses got to see God’s power displayed in external activity, but he missed the blessing of God’s internal activity. God will accomplish his purpose, and that will bless us; but when by faith we join Him in the adventure we experience an even greater blessing – the blessing of a prosperous and content spirit.

After all the excuses have been expressed, the bottom line is that they were all a cover-up for a selfish heart. Let’s learn to admit our own selfishness right up front, and God will meet our need, conquer our fears, and empower us for the task. Then we will be complete, knowing that we have participated in something not humanly possible. It’s a purpose not dependent upon human recognition but of eternal value, and there is no greater joy than that. 

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Moses is still not satisfied that he is the man for the job God has assigned to him, so in an attempt to excuse himself from service he gives the Lord another excuse. In addition to claiming that he is a nobody and that he is not a theologian, he now claims that he is simply unconvincing and without any authority to prove a point to anyone. He says, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me?” He is afraid that people will not take him seriously.

I’m sure we all have these same fears at times. We know what the truth is, but no matter how we explain it people just don’t believe us. We fall into a familiar trap that we are somehow responsible for other people’s decisions. We are convinced in our hearts that sharing the truth is only profitable when it is believable. We let other people’s responses dictate our dictation. Where did we get this idea that speaking the truth is only appropriate if it produces acceptance with the hearer?

I think that philosophy is the product of fear – the fear of rejection, which is a serious twist of pride in our lives. Pride is the source of the fear of rejection, so it is pride that keeps us from doing or saying anything that might make relational waves. This is what Moses was dealing with. These people had rejected him once. Why would he risk that rejection again? Why would any of us? God has the answer: live by the truth. Either we do or we don’t. We cannot say that we live by the truth and then choose not to speak it and act upon it regardless of the consequences. If we are allowing outcomes to determine our actions, then we are not truly committed to the truth but rather to outcomes, and that’s prideful.

God answer Moses’ concerns by teaching him 2 incredible lessons in Exodus 4.

1.   God’s power makes the insignificant great. He turns Moses’ staff into a snake and then back into a staff again. God can take what we deem insignificant and unconvincing and make it into something alive and powerful. If he can do that with a stick, he can do that with our lives.

2.    God’s Word, when obeyed, conquers our fears. Moses ran in fear from the snake, but he obeyed God’s command to face his fears and pick up the snake by the tail. God’s Word is powerful, as 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 states, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” When we are obeying God’s Word, we are more powerful than anything we previously feared.

God has answered another excuse Moses gave for not immediately participating in His plan. Have you used the excuse of rejection to avoid doing something God has called you to do? If you join God in His work, He will give you the power needed to overcome your fears. You will be equipped with His identity to step out in obedience and experience His authority and security. 

Pastor John