LifeLink Devotions for Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Yesterday we learned how God was building the faith of Moses so he could overcome his fears and failures. Moses was at first not a very willing student in the school of faith. In fact, he made a lot of excuses to not do the required assignments. But with each excuse God answered graciously and provided continued opportunities for Moses to pass the class.

Moses’ first excuse for non-involvement in God’s plan was that he felt he was a nobody because his previous failure had disqualified him. The second excuse Moses gives is found in today’s Scripture.

Exodus 3:13-14  Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

 In other words, Moses was saying, “I can’t do it because I’m not a theologian and can’t answer their questions.”

Have you ever backed down from doing something God has asked you to do because you don’t feel theologically qualified? It’s a common problem. We don’t witness or teach or lead a Bible study because we are afraid we don’t have all the answers. Well, I have news for you – none of us will ever have all the answers and none of us will ever know all there is to know about any theological subject. We are all limited, so we have two options:

1.      Give up and never try, or

2.      Use what we have and let God give us more.

Unfortunately, far too many people choose option #1. They forget the promises of John 14:26-27 where Jesus says, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” And Luke 12:11-12 where Jesus again says, “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” You see, the Holy Spirit is responsible to give us the answers at the time that we need them. We have nothing to fear.

God gave Moses a direct answer to his question. If the people ask “Who sent you?” he was to tell them, “I AM” has sent me. The people would know that Moses was referring to the eternal, self-existent God they knew as YHWH, or Jehovah. You know Him too, and if the only answer you have to the questions people will ask you is that you have placed your faith in the Eternal, Almighty, Sovereign God, then you are theologically equipped to go anywhere God sends you.

So, if you’ve been using ignorance as an excuse for not obeying God’s direction, confess it today and take a step of faith that says “YES!” to what God has asked you to do. You can do it because THE GREAT I AM is with you.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Monday, September 23, 2024

Can you imagine the fear Moses must have felt when the burning bush spoke to him? It was strange enough that a bush would be on fire in the middle of the desert, and that the bush did not burn up. But then the bush spoke, and when he recognized it as the voice of God, he became afraid. His fear was based on a righteous respect for the holiness of God and a responsible review of his own ungodliness. It is the same fear Isaiah had when he saw the throne of God and fell on his face and said, “Woe is me, I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips…and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” When we compare our simple and sinful existence to the Supreme and Sinless God, we are forced to our knees in fear.

God then reassured Moses and gave him an explanation of His visit – He was about to answer the cries for help of His chosen people who were in bondage in Egypt, and Moses was to be the deliverer.

Exodus 3:10-12  “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

Moses responded to God’s plan in the way many of us do, by doubting that we have anything to offer to the success of the plan. Moses questions the value of his life by asking, “Who am I?”  Moses’ fear was no longer a fear of God’s presence, but a fear of his own involvement in God’s plan. The plan was a great plan, but it was too big for Moses’ mind to comprehend. The plan had merit, but Moses doubted his own merit. The plan could work, but Moses was afraid that he would not be able to accomplish it because of his past failures and present fears.

I think we have all felt many of those same things when God asks us to be involved in His plan. God graciously understands our fears and gives us exactly what we need to overcome them. He responds to Moses with a promise and a sign that would be sufficient to conquer all his fears if he just accepted it. He didn’t. The promise was that God would be with him. The sign was that when the task was completed, everyone would be united in their worship of God. Moses didn’t really take to heart what God had just said because he proceeded to ask a series of fear-based questions, the last of which made God angry with him for his lack of faith (see Exodus 4:13-14). Moses should have understood what God was saying: faith in Who I am is all you need to begin, and faith in My outcome is all you need to continue.

We need not live in fear of failure when we have faith in the Father. We need not doubt our abilities when we have faith in God’s probabilities. We need not refuse to risk when we have faith in God’s right to reign. He is with us. He has determined a glorious outcome. He asks us to begin the adventure. Take the step of faith without fear. God has chosen you!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Friday, September 20, 2024

I have a little card on my desk that was given to me by a dear old woman of God who is now with Jesus in glory. The card simply says, “God is bigger than any problem I have.”  I find that easier to believe when the problem is not of my own making. When others falsely accuse me of things, or when circumstances of life turn ugly, I know God is bigger than all of that and He will work it all out for His glory and my growth. But when I know I am responsible for the problem because of my own weakness or lack of wisdom and poor choices, then guilt and shame tend to dim my faith in the greatness of God. My natural tendency is to run and hide in a place of pity and self-condemnation.

If I do run to that place, the guilt is allowed to devalue my life and convince me that nothing will ever be right again. Then the aspect of human nature called survival takes over and causes me to take control of the situation and try to fix it so that I can gain back my value. What a mess it all becomes, simply because I did not believe in the first place that God is bigger than ANY problem I have.

As we move on from the life of Abraham in our study on faith, we come to the story of Moses, who also had the same problem I just described.

Exodus 2:11-15 “One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?” The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.” When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian.”

Moses ran from a seemingly insurmountable problem. He ran for forty years. But God was not done with him. One day God appeared to Moses in a burning bush, He called him to an incredible task that was based on God’s greatness not on Moses’ past. I find great comfort in this. It does not excuse unwise choices, as Moses would learn later. There will be consequences for failure, but God is greater than any problem we have. The purpose of God is greater than any problem and no problem can stop God’s plan. God told Moses that he would lead the people out of Egypt, and they would worship God at the very place of the burning bush. The power of God is greater than any problem and no problem has the power to overwhelm God. God gave Moses a staff to represent His power, and even though the world tried to duplicate its power, God’s power overcame it all. God met every one of Moses’ objections to being the chosen deliverer by emphasizing faith in His greatness. Moses believed and was restored. He became the man that God spoke to face to face.

Did he still have weakness? Yes. Did he still fail? Yes. Did God’s greatness cease to overcome all of it? NO! God is greater than any problem Moses created. He is greater than any problem we have created as well. Turn to Him in faith and trust His purpose and power. He will overcome it all and will restore you to intimate relationship and equip you for important responsibilities. Quit running. Let the fire of God cleanse you from your past and set you on a path of faithfulness. 

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, September 19, 2024

I am still rejoicing in the truth of yesterday’s devotional. In his great statement of faith Abraham stated that God would provide Himself a lamb for the sacrifice. Abraham’s faith allowed him to look beyond the possible loss of a son to the sacrifice of God’s Son. He knew that God would see to it. And He did see to it both in Abraham’s present situation and in Abraham’s future.

Genesis 22:13-14 “Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

God provided a lamb as a substitute for Isaac, and He has provided a Lamb as a substitute for all of us. So complete was Abraham’s faith that he named the place Jehovah-Jireh, which means “The LORD will provide.” And how He has provided! On that very same mountain, in that very same place, the Holy of Holies in the temple was exposed to all the people when the curtain was torn at the death of Jesus Christ our Savior. That gave us all who believe in the Lamb access to God’s mercy seat. God has seen to it that we have a way out of the bondage and consequences of sin. God has seen to it that we have a way into the eternal covenant of life and blessing. God has seen to it that one Gate provides for both the way out and the way in, and that Gate is His Son Jesus.

I am overwhelmed with this. It may sound simple to many, but it is deeply profound. God has provided for our salvation. Can there be any greater truth? Can there be anything more beautiful? We may be emotionally moved in our spirits by the majesty of God’s creation when we view an incredible vista from a mountaintop, but is there any mountain more deeply moving than the one upon which God provided for our salvation? Is there any human experience that can compare with the splendor of the experience of God’s forgiveness? I say a loud and emphatic “NO!” to all these questions. May the LORD’s provision for our salvation never become simple or unmoving. May our desire for more knowledge of God and His Word never compromise the thrill of God’s grace and mercy. May our desire to serve and work never diminish the joy of our salvation. 

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Today’s devotional will be a simple, short, yet powerful message that is the heart of the Gospel. It comes from Abraham’s response to his son when Isaac asked him an important question.

Genesis 22:6-8  “Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”

One translation puts it this way – “God will provide Himself a lamb…” The Hebrew word for “provide” is the word that primarily means “see”, and we can translate the verse to mean “God will see to it that there is a lamb.” It can also be translated, “God will see to it that He provides Himself as a lamb.”

What faith Abraham had to believe in the nature and character of God to the point of believing He would never break His promise. And then to also believe that this provision of a lamb would represent the Lamb of God for the sin of the world.

How wonderful is our salvation! God has seen to it that there is a Lamb for the sacrifice for sin. John the Baptist said about Jesus Christ – “Behold, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.” God has provided a Lamb. Not only that, but He provided Himself as the Lamb. God incarnate in human flesh became the sacrificial Lamb. He has provided for our salvation. He has done it!

I rejoice every day because God has provided for my sin to be forgiven and my eternal life to be guaranteed through the death and resurrection of Jesus. May the joy of your salvation lift your faith higher today as you consider that the God who provided for your salvation can be trusted to carry you safely through this life to His eternal glory.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Tuesday, September 17, 2024

In our study of faith from the life of Abraham we come to a climactic event that tests his faith to the nth degree. Abraham is commanded by God to take the son that has already been declared the son of the covenant and sacrifice him to the Lord.

Genesis 22:1-3 “Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

This story overwhelms me with emotions I would feel and questions that I would ask. I imagine the rationale I would use to support my disobedience. But we read of no such emotions or questions or excuses from Abraham. His faith in God was so strong that he simply obeyed and left the outcome to God.

Follow me along a little journey for a moment. Abraham is told to go to the region of Moriah to make the sacrifice. Moriah is mentioned only one other time in Scripture, in 2 Chronicles 3:2.  “Solomon began to build the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah.” The place where God instructed the people to build the temple for the worship of God was the place where Abraham was told to offer his son as a sacrifice. There are several lessons in that. First, isn’t all true worship a sacrifice of anything connected to self on the altar of surrender to the will of God? This is what Paul means in Romans 12:1 when he writes, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.”  Mature faith makes the supreme sacrifice of self as a response to God’s mercy.

But it also points to the sacrifice of another Son – the Son of God – who was the replacement Lamb for all of us represented by Isaac who was destined to die until God stepped in.

Abraham’s faith was being tested. But how? I think the answer is simple but so very difficult to live. God wanted to know if Abraham’s faith was in God Himself or in the promises God have given him. This is a HUGE issue for all of us. Faith in God must not be confused with faith in what God can do. Years ago, the music group The Imperials sang a song called Because of Who You Are, which stated that our faith stands not in what God can do but in the very nature of God Himself. That message has been reiterated by the group Casting Crowns in their song lyrics “Not because of what You’ve done, but because of who I am; not because of what I’ve done, but because of Who You are.” Paul does not tell us that we are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices in view of God’s promises, or in view of God’s actions, but rather in view of God’s mercy, which is His nature.

Let me illustrate. When you fly in an airplane, in what do you place your trust? My faith is not in the safety record of the airline, or the sobriety of the pilot, or the pleasantness of the flight attendant: my faith is in the airplane itself. I cannot choose which parts of the airplane to trust, I must trust the whole plane. In fact, I saw a cartoon recently that said, “Did you know that an airplane is made up of 150,00 parts that by themselves cannot fly?” I must trust the complete plane. That is a very simple example of what our faith in God must be like. 

I know for a fact how often we all fight this kind of faith – it is our human nature to do it. We allow emotions, questions, and excuses to interfere with absolute dependence upon God. We have settled for an immature faith that trusts God’s promises or depends upon God’s actions, when God wants us to totally trust Him for Who He is. I hope you can see the distinction, and I trust that the Holy Spirit is creating a passion in your heart for that kind of relationship with the Father.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Monday, September 16, 2024

When the Lord had visited Abraham prior to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah He told him that he would have a son within a year. Sarah had overheard that conversation from the tent, and she had laughed in disbelief that something so absurd could really happen. Not only did she laugh, but when confronted with her disbelief she lied about it because she was afraid. Imagine what kind of faithless fear is necessary to lie to the face of the Lord. Instead of being humble and asking for the faith necessary to believe what she had been told, she lied because she was afraid of what would happen to her for her unbelief. Had she not considered that if there was punishment for unbelief there would also be punishment for lying? But in defense of Sarah, we probably would have responded the same way because the fear of self-loss blinds us to the consequences of future actions, and we only see the need for self-protection.

So here we are several chapters later, and the time has come for Isaac to be born. The story of Isaac’s birth begins with a most incredible statement about the character of God  in Genesis 21:1. “Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised.”

One translation of that text is “Now the LORD graciously visited Sarah.” Based on Sarah’s response to the news and the lack of any information in the Bible about a confession and apology for that response, the visit of the LORD was a gracious one. I wonder how many promises of God are being graciously fulfilled in our lives by a God of grace when we don’t really believe He can do it.  In fact, I would go a giant step beyond that and consider that all the promises of God are fulfilled only because of His grace, and that nothing we receive from Him is earned or deserved. Otherwise, none of it is grace. According to human standards of relationship Sarah had certainly lost the right to have a promise fulfilled: but not according to God’s standards. God deals with us by grace, not by grudges: by mercy, not merit.

I want to burst out in praise as I consider all of the times I have walked by sight for selfish reasons, and yet God continues to fulfill His promises. Every day I awake from sleep is a gracious visit from God with life. Every event of every day is a gracious visit from God with direction, guidance, and wisdom. Every improvement in my life of faith is a gracious visit from God who is finishing the work He started in me. Every blessing in my life is a gracious visit from God who has promised every spiritual blessing from on high. Every test and trial is a gracious visit from God to make my faith stronger. None of these things is earned: all these things are God’s gracious visits to me.

I pray that today, and every day, will be a celebration of God’s grace for you. He is visiting us, and He is fulfilling His promise. That is reason to rejoice!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Friday, September 13, 2024

It’s true that like Abraham no matter how strong our faith has grown, there are areas in which we still walk by sight, primarily for one of two reasons: fear of others and fear of self-loss.

Abraham has been traveling around the magnificent land that God has promised him, and he arrives in an area that is currently under the control of a king named Abimelech. Abraham, for the second time recorded in Scripture, tells a lie about his marital status with Sarah.

Genesis 20:11-13 “Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”

As a result of their lie, Abimelech decides this new woman to the territory needs to be a part of his harem, so he brings Sarah to his tents to make her his wife. Imagine again the emotional responses of Sarah to all of this, especially since she has just been told that within a year she will have a son with Abraham. God intervenes and speaks directly to Abimelech, telling him the truth of the situation and give him directions to remedy the near tragedy. When Abimelech asks Abraham for an explanation, Abraham responds with an admission of walking by sight rather than by faith but he shows his human nature by trying to justify his actions.

I want us to notice two very important lessons from Abraham’s confession:

1.      Abraham’s faith faltered because of the fear of others. Abraham was more concerned with what men thought about God than with what God thought about men. He allowed his fear of what men could do to him to overwhelm his faith in what God could do for him. Think carefully about this and let the Holy Spirit apply it to your life right now. There are areas in all our lives where this is true. Maybe it’s at work, or in a relationship, or maybe even in church, but somewhere in our lives there is an activity that is motivated by the fear of how people will respond to us rather than by faith in how God will reward us. Growing faith in God’s promises conquers the groveling fear of people. 

2.      Abraham’s faith faltered because of the fear of self-loss. Let me share with you a very significant point that each of us needs to consider very deeply and historically in our walks of faith: decisions motivated by fear rather than faith become almost unbreakable chains of bondage that can affect us for the rest of our lives.  Notice in today’s Scripture that Abraham admits to Abimelech that he made the decision to portray Sarah as his sister at the outset of his journey from his homeland. It was a condition of his walk of faith. When God told him to leave his family and comfort zone, Abraham agreed, on the condition that he would do what was necessary to protect his own life. That decision at the early stage of his faith held him in bondage for a long time. I believe that we all need to seriously consider what conditions we have placed on our walk of faith. What areas of our lives have we decided are ours alone and that we are solely responsible for them? What decisions did we make at an early age that still hold us in emotional and spiritual bondage? How have we limited God’s power in our lives because of human restrictions we have placed on ourselves? These are serious questions, and how we answer them will seriously affect us for a long time. Don’t be like Abraham and try to justify the decision that was made by saying that there was a small element of truth to it. We all know in our hearts what was of faith and what was of fear, and that which is of fear must be confessed and surrendered to God so it can be replaced with His promises.

My friends, there is hope. No decision of the past that led to an emotional or physical addiction is permanent: that is the wonder of the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. Abraham learned from this mistake, and conquered his fears, and passed every additional test of his faith from this point. So can you! God can and will forgive and restore. He will replace your fear with faith. Simply confess your need, make a decision of your will that your will was wrong, and surrender to God’s will. He will make you whole!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, September 12, 2024

In Genesis chapter eighteen we read the story of three visitors that come to see Abraham and Sarah. The Lord Jesus Christ is one of them in His pre-incarnation form. He confirms that in one year they will have a son. The two angels that accompanied Jesus have left to go down and visit the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to see the terrible sinfulness of the people living there. Jesus stays behind with Abraham and they have a conversation about the impending judgement on the two cities where Abraham’s nephew Lot lives.

Genesis 18: 22-25 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing-to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

We can learn some lessons from their conversation.

1.      Abraham’s relationship with God had grown to the point where he was able to ask God to explain His purpose. Abraham asked Jesus to explain the relationship between God’s choices and actions and His character. This is an important step in our growing faith – to humbly seek to know more about God’s character by asking questions about circumstances that don’t make sense according to what we know to be true about God. Abraham wanted to know God more deeply and intimately, and he humbly sought to understand Him better. Abraham was not attempting to correct God or manipulate Him into a self-centered outcome: he was genuinely seeking to understand the relationship between God’s justice and the treatment of the righteous and the wicked. It is ok for us to seek the heart of God when we don’t understand His actions, so long as we do it with a humble and submissive heart.

2.      Abraham was a man of intercession on behalf of others. He had already rescued Lot once, and now was pleading with God to save him again. I wonder how consistent we are in pleading to the Lord on behalf of the lost around us. We are surrounded by people, even in our own families, who are trapped in sin. They are headed for the proverbial precipice of destruction, and they need an intervention of God to turn them away from certain judgment. The angels are ready to be sent, and God’s compassion is ready to be extended, all as a response to the intercessory prayers of God’s people on their behalf. Let us remain consistent and persistent in our prayers for the unsaved and for the saved who have fallen away.

3.      God’s mercy protects the righteous in judgment. The last statement we have from the Lord in this conversation is this – “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.” Abraham was confident that there were ten righteous members of Lot’s family left so that the city would be spared from destruction. He was wrong. His sons-in-law rejected Lot’s request to leave the city. Would Lot now be destroyed in judgment with everyone else? No! In His mercy the Lord had the angels remove the righteous ones from the city before it was destroyed. What great assurance that gives us who are righteous! But God wanted the righteous to live by their faith in Him, and not by any connection to the world, so He put them to a test of their righteousness: don’t look back once you have left the city. Lot’s wife failed the test and suffered the judgment of worldly attraction. We must be careful to live in the righteousness we claim, and to walk in the faith we profess. 

May God use these thoughts to build us up in our faith, fill us with confidence in His saving power, and overwhelm us with compassion for the lost around us.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Wednesday, September 11. 2024

True faith involves obedience, even when it hurts. God has just confirmed his covenant with Abram by giving him a new name – Abraham (which means father of many) – and promising him a son with his wife Sarah. God asks Abraham for a step of obedience to become a participant in the covenant. It was to be a painful step that would require days of healing. It would put the entire household at risk of attack by enemies. It would mean that daily chores would not get done. Animals would be unprotected. Women would have extra responsibilities added to their already busy schedules. This would take some planning and preparation, right? Wrong! Abraham obeyed immediately. He did not ask for time to make sure everything would work out right and that all the administrative issues could be resolved. He simply immediately obeyed.

Genesis 17:23 “On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.”

Years ago, I discovered I needed hernia surgery. It was the spring of the year.  I made plans to have the surgery at a time that would least interfere with my schedule and plans. I knew I would be laid up and in pain for a while, and that my activities would be limited. I chose a date for the surgery that best fit into my plans. Now granted, my hernia surgery was not a step of faith that God was asking me to take, but I wonder how many other times I have delayed immediate obedience because I needed obedience to be convenient.

Complete faith does not take partial ownership in the outcome. Read that statement again carefully. Complete faith does not take partial ownership in the outcome. Sometimes God may give us responsibilities in determining the outcome, but when He clearly states what activity we should be involved in to accomplish His will and purpose, we must obey immediately as Abraham did. The teaching of James in the New Testament verifies this.

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-he will be blessed in what he does. What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?  Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” 

God has ownership of the outcome: we are obligated to obedience. Not to earn anything from God, but to joyfully participate in His covenant promises. We are obligated by love, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:14 – “Christ’s love compels us.” By faith we are saved. By faith we continue to live. By faith we obey, and we trust the next step to God.

Pastor John