LifeLink Devotions

Friday, December 23, 2022

Luke 2:9  “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.”

From Christianity Today comes this story:

“She was five, sure of the facts, and recited them with slow solemnity convinced every word was revelation.

“She said, ‘They were so poor they had only peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to eat and they went a long way from home without getting lost. The lady rode a donkey, the man walked, and the baby was inside the lady. They had to stay in a stable with an ox and a donkey, but the Three Rich Men found them because a star lighted the roof. Shepherds came and you could pet the sheep but not feed them. Then the baby was born. And do you know who he was?’

“Her quarter eyes inflated to silver dollars.

“The baby was God.”

“And she jumped in the air, whirled around, dove into the sofa and buried her head under the cushion, which is the only proper response to the Good News of the Incarnation.”

What is our response when God invades the ordinary of our lives? I had an opportunity one day to experience God’s invasion into my life. At 9:00 a.m. a man walked through the front door of the church offices and handed me a package. He said that he had been blessed by a message I had preached several weeks earlier on giving our best – our firstfruits – to the Lord. He said this package represented his firstfruits and he wanted me to have it. I slowly opened the grocery bag to look inside, and I was overwhelmed and amazed at the contents. With tears in my eyes I gave the man a huge hug and thanked him. He asked why I was so surprised and broken by his gift. I told him my story.

Two weeks earlier my wife and I had been planning the menu for our annual family Christmas dinner. It had always been Norwegian in flavor based of both of our family’s heritage. We have yulekaka (pronounced you-la-kaga) and yulagret, which is now called riskrem, meaning rice cream. Some of our family members have never taken to the Norwegian foods, so several years ago we decided to add an American tradition to our meal – steak and crab meat with baked potatoes. Denise and I were planning what kind of steak to get and how much we would need for everyone to have a small 4-6 ounce portion. I had an idea. Why not get a rib roast and have a slice of prime rib instead of the steak. We agreed to check out the price and keep that as an option. After talking to the meat guy at our grocery store, we decided we would not spend that much money on one small part of the meal. I began looking at small steak options, but something, or should I say Someone, told me not to get them yet. I would wait until the day before our meal to buy what I needed.

By now the man who had given me the package was in tears. He knew what he had brought me. When I had looked in the bag, I discovered an eight-pound prime rib roast. I buried my head in his shoulder in a warm and meaningful embrace and praised God for invading my life with His glory. He whispered in my ear, “I love you. You came into my life and showed me God. You have made me so happy.” I told Him it was God who has filled him with joy, and both our eyes were dripping tears. We both got to see God.

 “My God shall supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Philippians 4:19)

Sometimes He invades the ordinary and gives us our wants too.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, December 22, 2022

Luke 2:8 – 12  “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

The shepherds were different.

It is an unfortunate tendency of human nature to become self-sufficient. The accomplishment of goals leads to pride in our abilities. The accrual of resources leads to dependence upon those resources. The pursuit of social status becomes the means of measuring success. We are never quite satisfied with the essentials, so we choose to live by faith in self rather than faith in God.

The shepherds were different.

Their profession was religiously despised in their culture. Because of their constant contact with the animals they were not allowed to participate in any religious activities and were certainly never allowed inside the temple to worship. They were forced to live in the fields with their flocks, never owning their own homes or achieving an acceptable level of social status. Such conditions would cause most of us to develop a new life plan or hire a new life coach. We would look intently and lustfully at the greener grass on the next pasture, and it would not be for the benefit of the sheep.

But these shepherds were different. They had not only accepted their position in society, but they worshiped God where they were. They had some good examples from their culture’s past to follow: Moses spent 40 years tending sheep before he was called by God in a burning bush to lead Israel out of Egypt. David was a shepherd boy who had a heart for God and accepted his position. Psalms 78:70 – 72 says, ^“God chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens;from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.”

These shepherds lived the greatest faith anyone can ever live – God-sufficiency. God saw their humble state and He honored them with the first and only public announcement of the birth of Jesus.

Humility is the prerequisite of honor.

But we must be careful because honor can destroy humility. Honor can become the means we use to set new goals and seek new status. But these shepherds were different. After they had gone and seen the King and worshipped Him in person, the Scriptures say that they returned to their flocks and carried on where they were. We never hear of them again. There was no attempt to use their personal experience to advance their personal status in any way.

That will be true of all who are humble, no matter how they have been honored. Why? Because the humble understand that it’s all about Jesus and His glory, and not about us and our glory.

Jesus honored the humility of the shepherds 32 years later when He spoke these words: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

One day Jesus will honor all of us. Be careful of trying to honor self. Jesus said, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The shepherds were different. They did nothing to get noticed. God found them and honored their humility.

He will find you!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Luke 1:68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people…”

Titus 2:14 “[Jesus] gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

Job 19:25  “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.”

Bought back and set free – that’s what it means to be redeemed. It is the theme of Zechariah’s praise when his son John is born. Of all the things he could have said after nine months of muteness, he burst forth in a song of redemption. God has visited the earth with one purpose in mind – to buy back his people who had been sold into slavery to sin and to set them free.

A.J. Gordon was the great Baptist pastor of the Clarendon Church in Boston, Massachusetts. One day he met a young boy in front of the sanctuary carrying a rusty cage in which several birds fluttered nervously.

Gordon inquired, “Son, where did you get those birds?”

The boy replied, “I trapped them out in the field.”

“What are you going to do with them?”

“I’m going to play with them, and then I guess I’ll just feed them to an old cat we have at home.”

When Gordon offered to buy them, the lad exclaimed, “Mister, you don’t want them, they’re just little old wild birds and can’t sing very well.”

Gordon replied, “I’ll give you $2 for the cage and the birds.”

“Okay, it’s a deal, but you’re making a bad bargain.”

The exchange was made, and the boy went away whistling, happy with his shiny coins. Gordon walked around to the back of the church property, opened the door of the small wire coop, and let the struggling creatures soar into the blue.

The next Sunday he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate his sermon about Christ’s coming to seek and to save the lost — paying for them with His own precious blood. “That boy told me the birds were not songsters,” said Gordon, “but when I released them and they winged their way heavenward, it seemed to me they were singing, ‘Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed!'”

This is Christmas. And the message of these times is the song of those wild birds.

It’s the meaning behind every gift given under the tree: Redeemed!

It’s the Word the shepherds heard: Redeemed!

It’s the assurance Mary received: Redeemed!

It’s the star the Wisemen followed: Redeemed!

You and I have been trapped by sin, but Christ has purchased our pardon with His death on the cross. He has guaranteed our freedom by His resurrection from the dead. The cage has been opened. You are free indeed!

We have been redeemed!

May our lips never cease to praise the One who redeemed us.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, December 20, 2022

In 1994, two Americans answered an invitation from the Russian Department of Education to teach morals and ethics (based on biblical principles) in the public schools. They were invited to teach at prisons, businesses, the fire and police departments and a large orphanage. About 100 boys and girls who had been abandoned, abused, and left in the care of a government-run program were in the orphanage. They relate the following story in their own words:

It was nearing the holiday season, 1994, time for our orphans to hear, for the first time, the traditional story of Christmas. We told them about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem. Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a stable, where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger.

Throughout the story, the children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened. Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word. Completing the story, we gave the children three small pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger. Each child was given a small paper square, cut from yellow napkins I had brought with me. No colored paper was available in the city.

Following instructions, the children tore the paper and carefully laid strips in the manger for straw. Small squares of flannel, cut from a worn-out nightgown an American lady was throwing away as she left Russia, were used for the baby’s blanket. A doll-like baby was cut from tan felt we had brought from the United States.

The orphans were busy assembling their manger as I walked among them to see if they needed any help. All went well until I got to one table where little Misha sat. He looked to be about 6 years old and had finished his project. As I looked at the little boy’s manger, I was startled to see not one, but two babies in the manger. Quickly, I called for the translator to ask the lad why there were two babies in the manger.

Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at this completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story very seriously. For such a young boy, who had only heard the Christmas story once, he related the happenings accurately – until he came to the part where Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger. Then Misha started to ad-lib. He made up his own ending to the story as he said, “And when Maria laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay. I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I don’t have any place to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with him. But I told him I couldn’t, because I didn’t have a gift to give him like everybody else did. But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept him warm, that would be a good gift.

So I asked Jesus, “If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?” And Jesus told me, “If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me.” “So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and he told me I could stay with him—for always.”

As little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed down his little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed.

The little orphan had found someone who would never abandon nor abuse him, someone who would stay with him – FOR ALWAYS.

Luke 2:11  “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Have you truly found the Christ of Christmas?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, December 19, 2022

We are easily bored. We even have statements that validate our boredom. I have a friend who when asked how he is always responds with the statement, “You know…same old same old.”

We have a hard time with things staying status quo. Even though we find it hard to change, we demand it. We don’t like permanent routine. Some persevere longer than others when sameness reigns, but ultimately, they surrender to the discontented spirit that lives in each of us that wants things new and better.

I speak as the king of discontent. I love new things. I love change. I love risk. I want more and better. I have never truly learned to be content. That’s why the story of Anna from the Christmas narrative in Luke 2 fascinates me.

Luke 2:36-37  “And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.”

Anna was an ordinary woman with a tragic life story. She had been married at a young age, probably around sixteen as was customary. After seven years of marriage her husband died and left her a widow. She was left with nothing. Jewish law forbids women from owning property. If her husband had any wealth, it would have been given to the first-born son, but there is no indication that they had any children. She was alone with nowhere to turn.

She went to the temple in an act of humble submission to whatever God would provide for her, and a willingness to be content with it. The priests took her in and opened one of the living quarters in the courtyard to her, where she lived for the next sixty-eight years. Every day and every night she did the very same thing – she prayed and fasted before the Lord.

There is no way of knowing how many people were touched by her faithful service in the temple and her patient endurance of a sub-par lifestyle when compared to others. Other widows, like Ruth of the Old Testament, were rescued from their predicament by a kinsman redeemer who brought them hope and security. But it was not so for Anna. No relative came forward to provide her a home and a family. She was alone.

But Anna never felt alone because she knew she wasn’t alone. She was in relationship with God, and He was sufficient. She was content with God’s presence and His provision for her life. Nothing ever changed. Nothing ever got better. She was never offered more. Day after day the status quo ruled, and yet the same old same old never got old, because she lived her life with the assurance and hope of the coming Messiah who would redeem Jerusalem.

Then one day, in a powerful affirmation of her contentment, God arranged her life and His Son’s life to intersect. My imagination turns to the scene in heaven, where God points to what is taking place in the temple and enthusiastically exclaims to His angels, “Watch this!”

Anna is walking across the temple courtyard, worshipping the Lord, and looking for an opportunity to minister to someone. She sees a commotion in the area where little Jewish boys are brought for their circumcision. A man who was not a priest is holding a baby and loudly proclaiming words of prophecy about the Messiah. She immediately walks over to investigate and is instantly overwhelmed with the reality that she is looking at the Redeemer of Jerusalem.

God claps.

Heaven explodes with cheers of Hallelujah.

Anna gives thanks to God and begins a new phase of life in which she will proclaim redemption to anyone who wants to hear it.

God rewards contentment with His presence. I wonder if Anna felt it was worth the wait.

But I also wonder if our lack of contentment is keeping us from fully experiencing His presence.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, December 16, 2022

I remember the night years ago I attended the “Christmas” program for one of my grandson’s elementary schools. The reason I reluctantly call it a Christmas program is that there was nothing about Christ in it. There were songs about Hanukkah. There was plenty of Santa Claus. But there was no Jesus – not even one Christmas Carol.

At first that made me very angry. The double standard of claiming separation of church and state and then including non-Christian religions in the program really bugged me. It would be easy for me to focus on that. But that would not change a thing. It would only cause arguments and defensive posturing, and really bring ill-repute to the Gospel message.

I must refuse to let it bother me anymore. It is the reality of the culture in which we live. It is the fulfillment of Scripture about the last days. I do not condone it, but I must not let it become such a burden on my heart that it sucks the joy of Jesus right out of me. No matter what they say or do, I will not stop believing, living, and proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ as Savior of the world.

They may not do it, but why is that surprising? They have rejected the truth and exchanged it for a lie that they think pleases them. Why should I expect them to promote my beliefs when they stand so diametrically opposed to their own? So opposed, in fact, that they refuse any presentation of the truth to avoid any personal conviction. They call it tolerance, but it is so one sided. But I must not let that become my focus.

It would be easy to get very frustrated and attempt to change the system. That would be a mistake. That would take us all further away from change, not closer to it. Change will come only as the love of Jesus and the truth of salvation are presented constantly and unashamedly before the lost people of the world. When the followers of Jesus switch from telling the Good News to trying to change the policies of society, then society becomes more firmly entrenched in their error.

Instead, I must invest in those to whom the Lord has connected me. My grandson who sang one of the songs about Hanukkah needs to be instructed about and grounded on the sure foundation of Jesus Christ. The people sitting near me need to hear me proclaiming the love of Jesus, not frustration with the school system. The world’s system rejects the truth of Jesus Christ.  That is not to surprise us, for it hated Jesus also. How much it bothers you depends on who or what you are living for?

So today, I will choose to focus on THE Foundation of all life.  “So this is what the Sovereign LORD says:  “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.”(Isaiah 28:16)

Jesus Christ is the sure foundation. He has been tested. He successfully passed every test. He can be trusted to get us through any and every test of our lives. He will never fail us. He will never forsake us. He will never leave us. When we trust Him alone, we will never be dismayed.

All around us every day are individual people who are searching for something upon which to build their life. But what are we saying to them about the foundation of our life when what they see is dismay over the condition of the world around us? The things that cause discouragement and anger in our lives may be different than theirs, but the reality of such attitudes reveals to them the truth that our foundation is no more trustworthy than theirs.

Once again, and with more conviction than ever, I will choose to focus on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that Christmas is about Jesus coming to earth as the complete and eternal revelation of God in human form. I know that He came to save us from our sin. I know that He died on the cross to pay the penalty of death that I deserved. I know that He rose from the dead to offer and guarantee eternal life to anyone comes to Him humbly and asks. But the world does not know this stuff, and if they do, they are choosing to reject it. It does not accomplish God’s purpose for us to get angry and complain about what the world doesn’t believe. We are to proclaim Jesus as Savior simply and joyfully. We are not responsible for their response to us. We are responsible for our response to them.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, December 15, 2022

Early one December my wife and I were trying to decide if we should buy an artificial, pre-lit Christmas tree. It was a hard decision. We love the real tree, but it was getting expensive every year to buy one. A very nice artificial tree would pay for itself in 4 years with the real tree savings. But we just couldn’t force ourselves to spend that much money up front. So we bought a real tree again, which smells and looks wonderful. Then we watched the after Christmas closeout sales on the artificial ones and we found the right tree at the right price.

Anyway, while we were looking at trees, we were also picking up other Christmas gifts. One of the items we were looking for was a stable for the display of one of my wife’s nativity sets. She collects them and has a variety of them from all over the world and different places we’ve visited. The hand carved one we got from Swaziland is very special and she wanted a stable to display it.

We were in a particularly “red” department store and didn’t see any nativity sets or stables or mangers. We decided to ask a clerk where they might be. His response shocked us but is truly indicative of the spiritual state of things in America. He said, “We don’t have any. We didn’t even order any this year for our stock.”

Imagine that – Christmas without Christ. What’s left? Mas? What is mas? Well let me tell you what mas is in different languages.

In English, mas is a symbol used in astronomy. So? Well, if we leave Christ out of Christmas we may see and study the stars but miss the Star that leads us to Christ.

In Iceland it means chit chat or small talk, which describes the depth of relationship we experience with people and with God when Christ’s love is left out.

People in Indonesia know mas as gold, which becomes the pursuit of everyone who leaves Christ out of Christmas. We learn to trust human resources rather than God. We become takers not givers.

The Italians use mas as an acronym for a motorized attack ship – a torpedo boat. War will be the result leaving Christ out of culture.

Finally, in Danish, the word mas means trouble. As a verb it means to crush. When we choose to leave Christ out of Christmas, we are inviting the troubles of this world to crush us. Without Christ there is no wisdom or understanding. Without the Messiah there is no direction for life – no counsel. Without the humanly powerless baby in a manger we will never experience the limitless power of His eternal presence. If we reject the Child that was given to us at Christmas, we will perish for lack of knowledge.

But add Christ to mas, and in any language it means hope. It means salvation. It means life. Look at what the prophet says about the Messiah Jesus Christ. “The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD—and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.” (Isaiah 11:1-3)

In Latin the word mas means man. Christ the man, the Son of God. Without Christ all hope is in man. With Christ man’s hope is in the Savior of the world. Life without Christ leaves us hopeless. Life with Christ gives us everything we need – for today and for eternity. Don’t leave Christ out of Christmas.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

 Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…”

“To us.” “To us.” Twice stated as the direct objects of the verbs. To us a child is born. To us a son is given. “To us!”

I am fascinated by the word “us”. What a significant word. I am not sure I can adequately express the thrill I feel when I use the word to describe my relationship with God. Maybe this story will help. I found this old story in a magazine years ago and it spoke profoundly to me today. It is from the memoirs of Margery Tallcott.

“When our son Pete was six, it was a Depression year, and the bare essentials were all we could afford. We felt we were richer than most people, though, in things of the mind and imagination and spirit. That was a comfort of sorts to us, but nothing a six-year-old could understand.”

“With Christmas a week off, we told Pete that there could not be any store-bought presents this year—for any of us. “But I’ll tell you what we can do,” said his father with an inspiration born of heartbreak. “We can make pictures of the presents we’d like to give each other.”

“For the next few days each of us worked secretly, with smirks and giggles. Somehow, we scraped together enough to buy a small tree. But we had pitifully few decorations to trim it with. Yet, on Christmas morning, never was a tree heaped with such riches! The gifts were only pictures of gifts, to be sure, cut out or drawn and colored and painted, nailed and hammered and pasted and sewed. But they were presents, luxurious beyond our dreams: A slinky black limousine and a red motorboat for Daddy. A diamond bracelet and a fur coat for me. Pete’s presents were the most expensive toys cut from advertisements. Our best present to him was a picture of a fabulous camping tent, complete with Indian designs, painted, of course, by Daddy, and magnificent pictures of a swimming pool, with funny remarks by me. Daddy’s best present to me was a watercolor he had painted of our dream house, white with green shutters and forsythia bushes on the lawn.”

“Naturally we didn’t expect any “best present” from Pete. But with squeals of delight, he gave us a crayon drawing of flashy colors and the most modernistic technique. But it was unmistakably the picture of three people laughing—a man, a woman, and a little boy. They had their arms around one another and were, in a sense, one person. Under the picture he had printed just one word: US. For many years we have looked back at that day as the richest, most satisfying Christmas we have ever had.”

US! God sent Jesus to make “US” possible. How hopeless we were when the “us” only included you and me and a few friends. But God sent Jesus to “us” so we could join His “US”. We have received the greatest gift we could ever get when we accept God’s gift of Jesus who personally places us into the eternal “US”.

To us a child is born. To us a son is given. We needed it. We admitted it. We repented of our sin. We were forgiven for our sin. We received God’s Gift, and now – just think of the wonder of this – now we are included in God’s glorious “US”. He accepts us. He honors us. He changes us. He lives in us. We are God’s “US”!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

The following is a true story: Two weeks before Christmas a nine-year-old girl was walking with her friend down the street, sliding on the ice. The two of them were talking about what they hoped to get for Christmas. They stopped to talk to an old man named Harry, who was on his knees doing his best to pull weeds from the frozen ground around a large oak tree. He wore a frayed, woolen jacket and a pair of worn garden gloves. His fingers were sticking out the ends, blue from the cold.

As Harry responded to the girls, he told them he was getting the yard in shape as a Christmas present to his mother, who had passed away several years before. His eyes brimmed with tears as he patted the old oak. “My mother was all I had. She loved her yard and her trees, so I do this for her at Christmas.” His words touched the girls and soon they were down on their hands and knees helping him to weed around the trees. It took the three of them the rest of the day to complete the task. when they finished, Harry pressed a quarter into each of their hands. “I wish I could pay you more, but it’s all I’ve got right now,” he said.

The girls had often passed that way before and as they walked on they remembered that the house was shabby, with no wreath, no Christmas tree or other decorations to add cheeriness. Just the lonely figure of Harry sitting by his curtainless window. The quarter seemed to burn a hole of guilt in the one little girl’s mind as they returned to their homes. The next day she called her friend and they agreed to put their quarters in a jar marked “Harry’s Christmas Present” and then they began to seek out small jobs to earn more. Every nickel, dime, and quarter they earned went into the jar.

Two days before Christmas, they had enough to buy new gloves and a Christmas card. Christmas Eve found them on Harry’s doorstep singing carols. When he opened the door, they presented him with the gloves wrapped in pretty paper, the card, and a pumpkin pie still warm from the oven. With trembling hands, he tore the paper from the gloves, and then to their astonishment, he held them to his face and wept.

Philippians 2:2-8  “…be like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God,  did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing,  taking the very nature of a servant,  being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself  and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!”

As I thought about that story and the way the Scripture describes Jesus, I began to wonder how low I would stoop to help others. Then I found this quote from author, professor, and clergyman Henry Van Dyke, who asks us some penetrating questions. “Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and desires of little children; to remember the weaknesses and loneliness of people who are growing old; to stop asking how much your friends love you, and to ask yourself whether you love them enough; to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear on their hearts; to trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall behind you; to make a grave for your ugly thoughts and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate open? Are you willing to do these things for a day? How about for lifetime? Then you are ready to keep Christmas!”

Jesus stooped down from glory and became lower than the angels He created, so that He might personally relate to us and rescue us. He didn’t just put on the appearance of man for a time. His very nature became that of a servant. (Philippians 2:7) It’s easy for us to put on the decorations of Christmas once a year and act like we are givers. But is giving in your nature? I love this quote from John Stott, who said, “The Christian should resemble a fruit tree, not a Christmas tree! For the gaudy decorations of a Christmas tree are only tied on, whereas fruit grows on a fruit tree.”

Make it your intention this year to let giving and serving be your nature, not just your decoration. When the Christ of Christmas abides in you, and you abide in Him, you will bear fruit that looks like Him.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, December 12, 2022

Luke 2:10-11  “…the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

“Joy to the world, the Lord has come.” As I went to my laptop to write this devotional,  those familiar words were ringing in my ears this morning. It reminded me of a story from years ago. I received an email on a Monday morning from someone in the church. She had submitted a prayer request in the worship service for a close friend who needed to be saved. The friend and her husband were going through a serious financial crisis were at risk of losing their home before Christmas. We prayed for her friend’s salvation and for God to reveal Himself miraculously to them.

Here’s a portion of the email that arrived in the early morning hours.

“I know it’s late, but I just can’t wait to tell you!!!!  I don’t think I’m gonna get any sleep tonight, I’m sooooo excited!!  My friend has accepted Christ as Lord of her life!  This is awesome!!!  I am going to send her that book [you gave me].  We are going to go through it together at night.  We already talk every night, so it will be really cool to be able to talk more about how God is working in our lives.  I have always talked about how great my faith is, but it really didn’t hit home for her until today.”

“When I got home from church I found my friend online and asked her how she was doing.  She said her life was hopeless and that there was no way it was going to get better.  I said that I put in a prayer request for her and I can’t wait to see what God does with them.  She said that she felt so hopeless that she didn’t think even God could help them.  I told her that God was the ONLY one that could help them and that all he wanted from her was to give Him her trust and let Him handle the rest.”

“By the time we got home from the Christmas program my friend had made a complete 180!!!  She was laughing, singing and just plain happy.  She told me that she prayed and told God that she believed on Jesus and gave all that was going on to Him and that whatever he wanted to do with it was ok with her. Not even 2 hours later they had a few things pull through and it looks like they are going to have a small but BLESSED Christmas and their house to boot!  The best part is that she’s more excited about the blessed part than the stuff.”

“Joy to the world, the Lord has come!” Hallelujah! JOY is Jesus Overcoming You. Joy happens when Jesus comes. Joy happens when Jesus takes over. Joy happens when we let go and let God. Joy happens when the Holy Spirit produces the life of Christ in us. Joy is not contingent upon circumstances. Joy abounds in the life of anyone who has Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and has their focus fixed on Him.

The good news of Jesus is for all people. Race doesn’t matter. Status doesn’t matter. Looks don’t matter. Education doesn’t matter. The angel’s announcement to the shepherds in the fields was for all the people, and it was good news that brought great joy. The Savior has come. He has come to save people from their sin and to give them hope again. 

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the joy of Christmas than with the good news that Jesus has come to save another person from their sin. From an eternal perspective, does anything else really matter? Rejoice and give thanks to God, and go and share the Good News.

“Joy to the world, the Lord has come!”

Pastor John