LifeLink Devotions for Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Genesis 7:16-17  “Then the LORD shut him in. ¹⁷For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth.” 

I don’t remember ever being afraid of water. I love to swim. I met my wife while we were both working as lifeguards at a city pool. If there’s water around, I want to be in it or on it. When I was a boy, I was the first one out in the spring getting in trouble with my mom for playing in the water. I love water. I’ve swum in both oceans and 4 of the 5 Great Lakes, including Lake Superior in early June while wearing a sweatshirt to try and stay warm. Only once have I come close to drowning, and although it really scared me, it did not stop me from getting right back into the water. The water was not to blame for what happened – I was. The water was only doing what water does. I was doing what I shouldn’t have been doing. I trust water. I don’t always trust me.

Like water, God can be trusted also, so long as we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing. In the days of Noah, mankind was not doing what they were supposed to be doing. All but eight of the people on the earth at the time were living in total rejection of God. They are described this way in Genesis 6 – “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” They had become so self-centered and self-sufficient that they had no thoughts of God and only thoughts of evil all the time. They would not and could not hear the voice of God any longer and refused to believe that God would do anything about it. Their hearts were so hard against God and so focused on sin that God himself came to the conclusion that they were beyond hope. How horribly sad that is!

So God decided to destroy them all – except for Noah and his family. God chose water as the means of destruction. But that same water that would bury all of the sinners in eternal judgment would also lift Noah and his family to safety from the judgment. The word lift in today’s Scripture is the Hebrew word for forgiveness as we learned in yesterday’s devotional. The very process God chose to bring judgment upon the people who were living proudly in their sin is the same process by which God saved those who were living in obedience to Him. While millions were drowning, eight were being lifted high above the destruction. Noah and his family heard the call of God to “come into the ark.” (Gen. 7:1) They made the choice to accept that invitation, and “entered the ark.” (Gen. 7:13)  When they did, the power of God took over and “shut them in,” securing their safety from the storm. (Gen. 7:16)

God has always judged sin with death. But God has also provided a way for that judgment to become our salvation. God came to the earth in person when Jesus Christ His Son came to live among us. Then, after living a perfect life, God judged the sin of the world in the death of Jesus. Jesus became the water of judgment that will destroy all who do not believe in Him. Jesus said, “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.” But the same standard by which the sinner will be condemned has become the standard by which we escape condemnation. Once again Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” 

You see, when Jesus rose  from the dead He also became the water of salvation for those who trust Him. Here’s how the Apostle Peter describes it – “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Please note carefully that the water of baptism does not save you, but your trust and faith in the resurrected Jesus Christ saves you. The water of baptism is a symbol of what has happened in your heart when you chose to repent of your sin and be forgiven. You heard the call of Jesus to “Come unto me.”  You accepted His invitation by rejecting your sin and accepting Him as your Savior. Then God’s power took over and shut you in permanently, making you His child forever and guaranteeing you eternal life. Hallelujah!

The choice is yours. Water will do what water does. God will do what His Nature requires Him to do. He is pure and holy and just, and He will punish sin with death. The good news is that He has already punished it in Christ, and if we are in Christ then we are free from death and sin forever. Where do you stand? Are you in Christ seeking to serve Christ, or are you still in the world, seeking to serve self? If you are in Christ, your sins are forgiven, and you are free from judgment. If you are still in the world and have not trusted Christ, your judgment is still coming. What will you do? Jesus invites you into the ark to be saved.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Monday, February 19, 2024

I have a weight problem. I’m carrying around far too much of it. Much more than I am supposed to be carrying. You’ve probably not noticed it, but it is a big problem for me. I’m not talking about my large belly. You’ve seen that, and it is a problem I am addressing. I’m talking about another weight problem – a much more serious one. God is making me more aware of it now than ever before in my life. I’m talking about the weight of sin.

God has placed a word on my heart and I am convinced that I am supposed to spend some time investigating it. Every day this word runs across the flashing billboard of my brain. Songs that have the word in them come to my mind and I find myself singing them. It is obviously the place that God wants me to be for right now. For some reason known only to Him and to be revealed to me as I follow His leading, God wants me to spend some time digging for nuggets of gold in the mine of forgiveness. I invite you to come along on this daily expedition as we seek to discover the wealth of this truth – we are forgiven!

We begin where the Bible begins – in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word translated forgive is used some 650 times in its root form in the Old Testament. The word is nasa, and means “to lift, to carry, and to take away.”  The first time the word is used in the Bible is in Genesis 4:13, where following the murder of his brother Abel, Cain is punished by God and responds to Him by saying, “My punishment is more than I can bear.” 

The weight of sin on any of our lives is more than we can lift or carry. Our attempts to be free from the burden are varied. We may deny that the sin really exists, as Cain did when God rejected his offering, and he became angry at God. God gave Cain a chance to do the right thing, but Cain rejected God’s offer of acceptance. We sometimes do the same. We choose to believe that our way is right even when God calls it wrong. We try to convince ourselves and others that what we are doing is not sin. We try to earn our acceptance by making ourselves right, even if it means eliminating from our lives those that make us feel guilty for what we are doing.

Sometimes we lie in an attempt to cover our guilt and personal responsibility for our choices. When God asked Cain where his brother was, Cain responded, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”  He lied about what he had done. Denial is of the Devil. Satan is the father of lies. Lying begins in the heart of a self-centered person who requires approval and acceptance from people. Lying is the product of pride. Lies are designed by a deceived person trying to avoid rejection and protect image. We fail to understand that lies are yet another sin which add to the weight of the burden we cannot lift. We quickly fall into the humanly inescapable quicksand of sin. The more we try to struggle against it, the deeper we sink.

Sometimes we seek the comfort of the world to relieve the pain of our sin. When Cain was expelled from the presence of the Lord because of his choice to protect his position rather than repent, he began to build a city. He put all his energy into finding satisfaction from what the world had to offer. He even named the city after his son. He did not include God in any of his plans. The world became his opiate. The world offers many empty promises of relief from sin: promises we quickly and easily accept as truth. Financial success, social status, sex, alcohol, drugs, and on goes the list. Each promise proves itself addictive to the process of pursuing more promises. The temporary relief we may experience ultimately compounds the burden of our sin because we have failed to realize that each promise is itself another sin.

But in the middle of all of this was a promise from God to Cain that is made to all of us as well – “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” There is a solution to our weight problem. God will carry the total weight of our sin if we release it to Him and do what is right. It is in that moment of repentance that we find forgiveness.

In the days ahead we will dig out many nuggets of treasured truth about forgiveness, but the first lesson is this – the weight of our sin is more than we can carry. We cannot take it away by ourselves. We must give it to the One who can carry it, and once we do, we NEVER have to carry it again. That means surrendering our rights, telling the truth, and living according to God’s purpose and not the world’s pursuits. Isn’t it time to have the weight of sin lifted off of your life? God wants to do it, and He can. Turn to Him today!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Friday, September 16, 2024

For the third time in his second letter to the church at Corinth, the Apostle Paul addresses the subject of hardships. In his first reference to trials and trouble (2 Cor. 1:8-9) we learned that hardship is designed by God to teach us to trust Him. In his second reference to hardships, we learned that they are the measuring stick of our true Christ-like character. Now in this passage, Paul teaches us that hardships are how God controls our pride and keeps us humble.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 “To keep me from getting puffed up, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from getting proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me. Since I know it is all for Christ’s good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

In a moment of great transparency Paul reveals to us that he struggled with pride. Some may argue that telling the truth is not always prideful, but for Paul it would have been. The truth was that Paul had been granted a privilege that no other person has experienced since the ascension of Jesus into glory. He saw the risen Lord in person. Then he was taken up into glory to see things so astounding he was commanded by Jesus to not speak of them. Paul had every reason to boast about his spiritual experiences and to use them as a validation of his authority over the people of the local churches. But Paul also knew that his pride would soon cause him to displace God as the focus of His ministry and draw all of the attention to Himself. So he adds a qualifier at the end of his statement – “but I am not going to do it. I am going to boast only about my weaknesses.”

God also knew that Paul would struggle with pride, as we all do, so He gave Satan permission to torment Paul with a thorn in the flesh. We are not told what it was, and that’s a good thing. If we knew what the specific thorn was, then we might be tempted to believe that because we don’t have it we are not proud and don’t need to be humbled – which in itself is an indication of pride. The Holy Spirit does not tell us what the thorn is because He wants to teach us a principle – hardships are designed by God to keep us from becoming proud. Hardships reveal our weaknesses. Hardships reveal our inability to control life and its circumstances. Hardships reveal our need for companionship and comfort. Hardships humble us so that we see ourselves in relationship to the reality of God. Hardships allow the power of God to be fully expressed in us, because we finally admit that our power is useless to handle the hardship.

According to Paul, there are two ways live our lives each day: first, we can live them according to our own strengths and experiences, using our knowledge to determine the context and outcome of each event. In this choice, hardships are the opportunities provided to us to prove ourselves and to gain confidence in who we are. Or, second, we can live our lives humbly before God, recognizing that every hardship is an opportunity for God to prove Himself to us and for our faith in Him to grow.

Consider the two alternatives carefully. Paul says that the second option makes him the strongest. The rules of logic say this – if we are strongest when we admit we are weak, then we must be weakest when we think we are strong. If you are trying to accentuate your strengths and handle your hardships in your own abilities, you will be proven weak. You really don’t want to go there. But if you admit your weaknesses then the power of God is able to work through you and you will experience His strength. It all boils down to what our motives are – do we want recognition or do we want what Paul wanted – for the focus to be on God and not self. Remember what he said – “I don’t want anyone to think more highly of me than what they can actually see in my life and my message.” How you let God handle your hardships becomes the evidence ofyour faith.

Your present hardships, whether a temporary or a permanent thorn, are a gift from God to keep His power fully working in your life by reminding you of how weak you really are. Stop fighting it. Stop trying to fix it. God is using your weakness to reveal His power to you. Let your faith and trust in Him grow by letting go. His outcomes are perfect for His glory and your good. Trust His grace to be sufficient for you today and every day.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, February 15, 2024

There’s an old saying that suddenly means something new to me in the light of today’s Scripture passage. The question was asked, “If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” Here’s how the Apostle Paul describes his evidence:

2 Corinthians 6:3-4 “We try to live in such a way that no one will be hindered from finding the Lord by the way we act, and so no one can find fault with our ministry.  In everything we do we try to show that we are true ministers of God.” 

When the world looked at the way Paul lived, how could they tell he was a follower of Jesus? Without any detailed explanations, here is the list Paul gives us in verses  four through ten that can be the measuring stick of our own spiritual integrity as we live for Jesus in a lost world. Let each point convict you where it must and encourage you where it can.

1. Patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind, including beatings, jail, angry mobs, being over worked to exhaustion, enduring sleepless nights, and going without food. 
2. Prove yourselves by your purity, your understanding, your patience, your kindness, your sincere love, and the power of the Holy Spirit.  Go back and slowly read each of those again and let each one sink in and have an impact on your spirit and mind.
3. Faithfully preach the truth. Be a consistent witness for Jesus Christ.
4. God’s power has been working in us. Can the people of the world see the power of God in how we live or do they just see a powerful person?
5. We have righteousness as our weapon. Knowing what is right and then doing what is right no matter what the outside influence is on our lives gives us the strength to both defend ourselves and to mount an attack against the evil of our day.
6. We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are not people pleasers but instead we honor God by serving Him and serving people no matter what they think or say about us.
7. We are honest, but they call us impostors. We are well known, but we are treated as unknown. We do not compromise for the sake of recognition.
8. We live close to death, but here we are, still alive. We have been beaten within an inch of our lives.The body may be bruised, but our spirit cannot be broken. We are alive from the inside out.
9. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy.We may be emotionally drained, but the joy of the Lord is our strength.
10. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything. The treasures of heaven outweigh the treasures of earth, and we are content.

Simply stated, the hardships of life are to become the evidence of our faith and trust in God. Take time to consider your evidence.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, February 14, 2023

Philippians 1:9 “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more…”

2 John 1:6 “And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.”

There are a lot of joybells ringing today. Cards, gifts and flowers are being delivered to people all over the world as an expression of deep and sincere love. Everyone wants to have a valentine and to be a valentine to someone else. But the holiday for expressing love may be tainted by the motivation of the gift-giver. In the best-case scenario, the gifts are well thought out and have been planned for days or even weeks in advance. These gifts are the expression of true love that considers the other person first with no thought for the return benefit. The giver of the gift is stating clearly, “No matter what happens in life or regardless of your response, I will love you and give myself for you because you have captured my heart. Nothing in life can separate me from you.”

But other gifts are designed to elicit a certain response from the recipient, and in varying degrees are manipulative and self-serving. The giver has planned a gift that they know will be meaningful to the recipient, but the purpose of the gift is to have a reciprocation that makes them feel loved. In their mind they are saying, “I know this will make you express your love to me so that I can feel like a valentine to someone.”

And still others are scrambling to find that last minute card or gift in an attempt to avoid the appearance of not caring, when in fact the lack of planning to express love may reflect the self-centered nature of the gift. This person is saying to himself, “Oh no! I had better find something good to cover up for the reality that I didn’t care enough to plan this out. If I can find just the right thing, they will never have to know that other events in my life were more important than they were.”

Selfishness affects us all. But it has never affected God. His gift of love to us in the person of Jesus Christ was planned before the foundations of the world. Read with joy the following passage from the heart of God:

Ephesians 1:3-8 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love hepredestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”

God gave His gift with no strings attached and no need for reciprocation. John 3:16 quotes Jesus when He says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  His gift was an expression of His heart and His unconditional love. Paul says in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  God gave the perfect Valentine – His Son – to die for our sins so that we might know what real love is. And now that we know, we are privileged to live in that love in relationship to others.

 So today when you give your cards, flowers, and gifts to the one you love, let it be an expression of God’s love – unselfish, undemanding, and with no need for reciprocity. Let your gift be an expression of your love and commitment to another person regardless of their response, and then let your love be lavished on that person in such a way that it honors God and demonstrates the reality of His love in your heart.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 

Years ago a very good friend of mine went through a terrible hardship in his family. His daughter was diagnosed with cancer at age 18. It was a roller coaster ride of emotions that lasted for several years with ongoing issues even today. Numerous surgeries were performed, each one giving them hope that it would be the last, and then their hopes would be dashed by more complications. They literally felt the sentence of death in their hearts. They knew what it was to be at the end of their rope. They translated Paul’s phrase in our Scripture passage today “we despaired even of life” into a two-word statement – “this sucks.”  Please forgive the crudeness of how that sounds, but it’s true. Sometimes life hurts so bad that we can only look at it in despair. We are under such pressure that it is beyond our ability to endure, and certainly beyond our capacity to resolve.

But this family did not stay in that condition. They relied on the grace and comfort of God. They learned that in the experience of death, even if only in their hearts, there is the experience of the resurrection power of God who raises the dead. The same God who raised Jesus from a death caused by the compounded effect of all mankind’s sin can raise us from the individual sentence of death we are experiencing. Human logic dictates this truth. If it has been proven that a man can lift 250 pounds over his head, then it is entirely logical to assume that he can lift one pound over his head. Since God was able to raise Jesus from the dead, and the death of Jesus was caused by the total weight of all mankind’s sin, then it is logical to believe that God can easily raise one sinner from the dead.

That’s exactly what my friend’s family believed. Against all human logic and hopelessness, they trusted God to be their strength and courage to endure the hardship. Today they are the living examples of hardship-constructed character. The daughter is now married to a wonderful man of God who stood by her during all the years of her battle with cancer. My friend and his wife have learned what it means to trust God every day, and to use every hardship as an opportunity to rely on the God who raises the dead. They illustrate today’s truth that hardship produces trust in God. Smooth sailing results in self-trust. Rough waters cause us to turn to the Master and let Him handle the storm.

So whatever you are going through right now, stop trying to control it. Stop trying to fix it. Stop trying to change it. Just look at it and in whatever words are appropriate for you tell God that you “feel the sentence of death.”  Then trust Him completely to handle the situation and bring about an outcome that honors His name. Then you will be able to say with Paul, “He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us.” (2 Cor. 1:10) 

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, February 12, 2024

 Introductory note: Last Friday we completed a study of encouragement. The last passage of Scripture I wanted to use on that subject is also the first passage I want to use to introduce our next study. You can see how they are connected when you read today’s verses.

Hebrews 12:4-7 “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.  And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.” 

If the average person who calls himself a Christian was asked how he knows he is a son of God, he would probably not come up with the answer described in today’s Bible verses. Granted, it is not the only answer, but it is a significant one. In addition to the more common responses like “I obey God’s commands” (1 John 5:2), “I love the brothers and sisters in Christ” (1 John 3:10), and “I hate sin” (1 John 5:18), we should also be able to say that we know we are a child of God because He disciplines us. It may not be the first response we think of, but it is the only response that I can find that has encouragement connected with it.

Hardship is a universal fact of life. Everyone suffers in one way or another – sometimes in more than one way at the same time. But if we are going to be encouraged by the words of God that describe suffering as discipline, then we must consider the nature of our suffering. Not all suffering is discipline, because not all suffering is a struggle against sin. Some suffering is the result of sin. I see very clearly here that there are two types of Christians. First, there are those who continually struggle with sin and suffer the consequences of their sin while seeking the forgiveness of their Father. They understand grace, but they don’t experience victory. The second type of Christian is the one who continually struggles against sin. He also suffers consequences, but they are not as a result of his sin but rather his stand against sin. His hardships are caused by a sinful society that persecutes him for his faith.

The author of Hebrews tells us that both types of Christians are experiencing the discipline of God. The Christian who sins is rebuked by God because God loves him as a son and wants his behavior to change. This is corrective discipline. The Christian who struggles against sin and then suffers for it is also being disciplined. It is not corrective discipline but rather constructive discipline. His character is being constructed to be the character of Christ. Both types of discipline are for our good, and we must submit to them. Later on in this passage in Hebrews we read “God disciplines us for our good that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

Consider the maturing process that should occur in all Christian’s lives. As a father and a grandfather, I would not be satisfied if my children and their children stayed at the level of needing corrective discipline. As they grow and mature, there should be less correction and more construction of character. A much higher level of intimacy is achieved between parent and child when construction of character is being accomplished.

That is to be the model for our Christian walk as well. As we grow in our faith, there should be less sin to struggle with and more strength to struggle against sin. Then we will experience the depth of intimacy with Christ that He said is possible. Then we will understand the fullness and abundance of life that He promised. Do not be satisfied with sin. Do not consider it a necessary reality of human existence. You do not have to live with the consequences of sinful choices. You can grow up into a Christian who struggles against sin rather than with sin. You will still have to endure hardships, but they will not be ridden with guilt and shame. Sinful choices bring sinful consequences and shameful experiences. Sacred choices may result in painful consequences which the world intends to shame us, but we have One who has given us a model to follow. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (emphasis mine).

Be encouraged. If you are sinning and suffering for it, God is disciplining you because you are His child so that you can grow up. If you are struggling against sin and suffering for it, God is disciplining you as His son to make you just like His Son. Do not grow weary of the discipline. Do not lose heart. You are being trained to share in the holiness of God. That’s good!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, February 9, 2024

We all have days where we want to be left alone and just crash with no responsibilities. I am so thankful for today’s verse of Scripture because it tells us we are normal to feel unmotivated.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”

Paul makes it clear that there are two aspects to encouragement from God that are equally important in our lives. First, there is the encouragement that comes from knowing that we are eternally His and that the hope of eternity is always at work in our lives. On most days this is sufficient to keep us going. With our eyes fixed on the finish line and the rewards of glory in the presence of Jesus Christ, we press on. The knowledge of the love of God and His gift of grace to us motivate us to live faithfully in His service. But then with an understanding of human nature and its emotional instability, Paul asks God to encourage our hearts for the everyday routine. Looking at the eternal does not eliminate the need to deal with the immediate, and God knew we would need daily help with the immediate.

The word translated encourage in these verses literally means to call near. It is the same basic word that Jesus uses to describe the Holy Spirit when He told the disciples that he would send them a Comforter. When I go to bed at night and want to fully relax, I pull the comforter on our bed up close to my face and snuggle in.  I love the feeling of contentment and security it produces. But comforters are only able to do that when we draw them near to us. Looking at one from across the room never accomplishes that.

When we came to Christ for salvation, He sent the Comforter to wrap us up with the contentment and security of our eternal relationship with God. But our daily routines draw us out from under the comforter. The promise of glory in heaven is folded neatly on the bottom of the bed when we head out to tackle the necessary obligations of the day. Every once in a while we may take a look at the Comforter, and we may even long for the end of the day when we can crawl back under it and snuggle up. Sometimes we may even do that in the middle of the day. But most of the time we just look at the comforter from across the room. But looking at eternity from across the room doesn’t make life better. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could carry the comforter around with us all day, like Linus’ security blanket, so that we felt safe all the time? That’s exactly what God knew we would need, and He did it for everyone of His children. God did more than simply wrap us up with the Comforter – He made it possible for us to have the Comforter with us every moment of every day. The Comforter actually indwells us and is constantly encouraging us in our everyday routine. The eternal hope of glory became our daily help for the grind. We are encouraged by His presence to carry out every good deed and word. God provides comfort, contentment, and security for the immediate while we wait for the eternal. We have been granted constant nearness to God. 

Today is not one of those unmotivated days anymore. It is one of God’s days. With my eyes fixed on the finish line, I run the race that is set before me because the Author and Finisher of my faith is running right with me. His presence is not just the reward at the end of the race; it is the reality during the race. So take your eyes off of the eternal for a moment, and look at the immediate. You’ll see Jesus there giving you comfort, encouragement, contentment, and security. Keep running. Jesus will give you the strength.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, February 8, 2024

How can we encourage a person who has just shared their hurts, disappointments, and discouragements with us? We could tell them about our own struggle with some of those same issues and how we got through it. We could give examples of other people who have survived. We could try and refocus their attention on some other area of life that is showing signs of success. Or we could just sit and listen and comfort them with our friendship and understanding. One response that probably doesn’t get used very much or even considered in such times of suffering is to talk about the imminent return of Jesus Christ to take us to heaven. I wonder how people would respond to us if after intimately sharing their hurts and pains with us we said, “I understand, but Jesus may come back today.”  

At the church in Thessalonica there was much discouragement. Paul had been able to spend only three weeks with these new Christians when he planted this church. He had not had sufficient time to adequately disciple them to stand against the trials that would come because of their new faith. The people of the church were being persecuted by their own countrymen, some even to the point of death. Paul needed to get them some basic information that would strengthen them and encourage them to remain true to the faith. In his letter to them he reminds them of the quality of their faith. He tells them how encouraged he is by the reports of their faith and works. He sent Timothy to them to encourage them, and Timothy returned with a great report of their growth and commitment. He tells them how well they have done at imitating the example of his own life of perseverance and productivity for Christ. And yet Paul knows that there is still one thing necessary to truly encourage them and keep them from letting the hurts and pains of everyday life drag them down into despair. They must keep their hearts and minds focused on the return of Jesus Christ to take them to glory or the world would quickly smother them. The imminent return of Jesus Christ to rescue us from this world of sin and suffering is the one thing that truly gives us hope and encouragement to press on. And after telling them about Christ’s return, Paul says this:

1 Thessalonians 4:18 “Therefore encourage each other with these words.”

When I was spending time with my mother before she died, I observed this hope in her life. Not a day went by that she didn’t look for the return of Jesus. She wanted Him to come back and take all of us to glory together. Even as her body weakened and the reality of the day of her death approached, she didn’t stop looking for Jesus to return. The knowledge that all of life’s losses would be totally obliterated by the gain of glory kept her smiling and at peace right to the end. She was encouraged by the promise that Jesus was coming for her, and she was looking for Him. She was not looking for man’s solutions to earth’s problems. She was looking for Jesus. She prayed for healing so that she might live longer on the earth, but she was content in knowing that the ultimate healing is to live forever in glory. One of the songs she used to sing was, “To be with Him will crown it all.” She not only sang it, she lived it.

Maybe you and I have spent too much time trying to encourage others by looking for man’s solutions to earth’s problems. I think it’s time we add some new responses to our vocabulary that can be shared with hurting people. But these responses will only be an encouragement to others if we truly believe them and live them ourselves. Here are some ways to encourage others with the hope of the imminent return of Jesus. I’m sure you will be able to think of more. Don’t let Satan convince you that they are shallow or unfeeling or insensitive or that they lack true understanding and compassion. They are the greatest words of hope anyone can hear. Use them to strengthen your own faith, and then use them to encourage others.

• It will be worth it all when we see Jesus.
• Because He lives we can face tomorrow.
• All this will seem so small when we see Jesus.
• Look at the present through the promise – Jesus is coming.
• And if Jesus comes back today why will this matter?

Let me close with the words of a great hymn written in 1955 by Jim Hill. Be encouraged by them and use them to encourage others.

“There is a coming day when no heartaches shall come-

No more clouds in the sky, no more tears to dim the eye.

All is peace forever more on that happy golden shore.

What a day, glorious day that will be.

There’ll be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear,

No more sickness, no pain, no more parting over there.

And forever I will be with the One who died for me.

What a day, glorious day that will be.

What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see,

And I look upon His face, the One who saved me by His grace.

When He takes me by His hand and leads me through the promised land,

What a day, glorious day that will be.”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Some days it’s hard to get going. It’s easy to be convinced at the beginning of the day that the events of the day will produce a less than desirable end to the day. As a result of such emotional speculation, we struggle to even get started. “Why try?” becomes the predominant question that influences our decision-making process. We begin to wonder if anyone else has ever had to go through what we are currently experiencing, and if they did how did they survive and keep going. We start to believe that our situation is uniquely difficult and uniformly misunderstood by others. There is no one to whom we can relate or rely upon. We are alone to face the trouble, and no one seems to care. We might as well quit.

Sounds depressing, doesn’t it? But it is far too often true of our attitudes when times get tough.  Here’s a story that will help.

“One day I decided to quit. I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality. I wanted to quit my life. I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.

“God”, I said. “Can you give me one good reason not to quit?”

His answer surprised me. “Look around”, He said. “Do you see the fern and the bamboo?”

“Yes”, I replied.

“When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

“In the second year the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.”

He said, “In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I would not quit.”

He said, “Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern, it was seemingly small and insignificant, but just six months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.”

He said to me, “Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots? I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you. Don’t compare yourself to others. The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful. Your time will come.”
 
God said to me, “You will rise high.”

“How high should I rise?” I asked.

“How high will the bamboo rise?” He asked in return.

“As high as it can?” I questioned.

“Yes.” He said, “Give me glory by rising as high as you can.”

Romans 15:4-6 “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Somewhere in God’s Word is the example of someone who struggled as you are. The Bible is full of stories of God’s faithfulness to bring His glory out of human tragedy. Search them out. Study them. Let your knowledge of God’s character as seen in His activity in other people’s lives encourage you to trust God to raise you up above your circumstances. Others have done it – so can you. God himself will encourage you and give you endurance to press on. Don’t quit. Keep trying. God has a glorious result planned, and if you stop now, you’ll miss it. It may seem like your life is covered in dirt and you can’t see through it. But let me tell you what I see from out here on this side of the dirt. I see God warming the dirt with the Son. I see God watering the dirt with the Spirit. And wait, I think I see a sprout poking through the dirt. It looks a lot like the top of your head, and any moment now you’re eyes are going to see God’s plan. Rise up, and rise as high as you can for the glory of God. You’ve been given a strong root system grounded in the Word of God. Trust it and rise as high as you can.

Pastor John