LifeLink Devotions

Friday, October 22, 2021

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Social media has made it convenient for us to spout off anything we feel like saying. We feel enabled to speak our minds on any subject without fear of hurting anyone’s feelings because we don’t have to face them. We can even delete their comments when the argument gets too heated. Unfortunately, many people don’t delete the arguments, and they get rather embarrassing. But what hurts the most is when followers of Christ engage in such arguments and bring dishonor to the Gospel of grace. Such behavior is foolish. It is a direct contradiction to God’s wisdom.

Carefully read these sacred words from Scripture.

James 3:13  “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.

James tells us that the proof of wisdom in action is by our good conduct. But how do we define good conduct. Thankfully the context of this verse tells us. The previous twelve verses all speak about control of the tongue. The tongue is described as a blazing fire of conflict and confrontation. It reveals the foolishness and imperfections of our lives. Those who can control their tongues have good conduct and are determined to be wise.

The conduct of unwise people is further defined in the next few verses.

James 3:14-16  “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. ¹⁵  This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶  For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”

Far too many of the words we speak and social media posts we make are rooted in bitter jealousy and selfish ambition, and all such speech and posts have no relationship with the wisdom of God. In fact, it is all rooted in the spirit world of demons. I speak boldly and bluntly on purpose because it has to stop. We must be wise, and we are most unwise in how we talk.

James encourages us that our tongues can reveal the wisdom of God.

James 3:17-18  “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸  And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”

Wise people have pure motives that honor Jesus. Wise people don’t contradict themselves. Wise people are peaceable and gentle. Wise people embrace reasonable debate. Wise people are merciful, impartial, and sincere. Wise people produce the good fruit of righteousness. Wise people use their words to do all of these things.

As we bring to a conclusion our study of wisdom, let me leave you with this one thought. Many times we have heard it said, “Show me your love by what you do not by what you say.” That is true. I think it’s also true to say, “Show me your wisdom by what you say and by what you choose not to say.”  Let’s all prove that the wisdom of God is in us by controlling our tongues.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, October 21, 2021

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I get afraid when I’m up high in an unsteady position. I don’t like to fall. I’m sure none of us enjoys the thought of falling from any height. But for me, it’s more than just a fear. I get unnerved. I doubt my ability to make good decisions. I go into a mild panic attack. My heart races: I really am afraid. I’m afraid that the ladder I am about to climb will fall over. I am convinced before I even get part way up that if I go any higher it will tip over and I will fall. I get down and I look at the ladder. I check its stability. I know it is solid. I know the ladder has held me before, and that if I remain inside its boundaries it will hold me again. If I use it correctly it can be trusted. When I focus on the trustworthiness of the ladder my fears are somewhat relieved and I can do the job. So I climb again.

One of the scariest Bible stories for me as a child was the story of Jacob’s dream of the ladder going up into heaven with all the angels on it. Now you know why it scared me so much. I thought my journey to heaven had to be like that, and I couldn’t stand to think about going up that high on a ladder. But at the top of the ladder stands Jesus, and when my eyes are focused on Him and how trustworthy and faithful He is, my fears are relieved. My fear has increased my trust.

Solomon ends his discourse to his son in the same way he started it – with a challenge to fear God.

Proverbs 24:21 “Fear the LORD and the king, my son…” 

Let’s go back and review how this study on wisdom started:

Proverbs 22:17-21 “Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach,for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips.So that your trust may be in the LORD, I teach you today, even you. Have I not written thirty sayings for you, sayings of counsel and knowledge, teaching you true and reliable words, so that you can give sound answers to him who sent you?”

The purpose for Solomon’s teaching was to develop trust in the Lord, which is based on a healthy fear of the Lord. 

Solomon says at the beginning, “So that your trust may be in the LORD, I teach you today.” Solomon says at the end, “Fear the LORD.” Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom; trust in God is the application of wisdom. In between we discovered many practical ways to grow in wisdom. Now at the end we are put to the test – how well will we trust in God’s wisdom? Before you answer that, think carefully about the rest of today’s wisdom verse.

“Fear the Lord and the king, my son, and do not join with rebellious officials,” Proverbs 24:21

Trust in God is measured against our complacency to and complicity with rebellious people. We may not participate in rebellious actions, but what about our attitudes and conversations? Do our minds still conform to the rebellious world’s system in the ways we think? How influenced are we by our political and social environments? How have we, as the Apostle John puts it, “taken the mark of the beast” by becoming dependent upon the world’s system and not on God alone?

Fear God. Trust God. It is the circle of wisdom, and it goes on. Biblical wisdom takes us from fear to trust to fear to trust. Let the circle grow, but keep it intact. Stay within the boundaries of wisdom. It is far better to fear the LORD in a trusting relationship than to fear the destruction of the LORD based on our rebellion. 

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, October 20, 2021

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Today’s wisdom passage is hard for me, because my human nature does the opposite of what it says.

Proverbs 24:17-18  “Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him.”

I tend to rejoice when people who have done wrong get their just rewards. You must know what I mean and have felt the same way about certain people. For example, as you’re driving down the interstate, a sports car races past you doing 85 mph. What’s the first thought in your head? “I hope there’s a highway patrol up ahead and he gets stopped.” Two miles up the road we see the flashing lights and we think another thought – “I hope it’s that sports car guy.” We drive by, and when we see that it is, we smile and think – “good, you got caught.”

If our thoughts at such a time go beyond just being thankful that we have police to keep our roads safe, and they move to rejoicing over someone else’s misfortune (even though they made the choice to speed and deserved the consequences), then we are not acting in God’s wisdom. God’s wisdom is defined in James 3:17, which says, “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”  I cannot in any way justify my feelings of revenge or rejoicing over someone else’s misfortune when I read this description of wisdom.

What is my heart thinking when I wish harm on another person? What kind of spiritual dysfunction exists in my mind when I am happy to see a sinner suffer? How carnal have my attitudes become when I devise ways to see justice enforced upon other people? How un-like Christ do I appear when I love conflict more than peace; self more than surrender;  justice more than mercy? How self-centered am I when I desire consequences for the actions of others but seek to avoid consequences for my own choices? Oh that the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ toward enemies and sinners would overwhelm us with sincere compassion for those who need to be shown the path of wisdom and righteousness.

Dale Carnegie, who wrote the book How To Win Friends and Influence People, says “You attract more flies with honey than with vinegar.” The simple point I would like to make today is this – We will attract more people to Christ by showing them the right and the good way they could live rather than by constantly pointing out to them the wrong and the bad way they are living. When we focus on sharing the good news, we become merciful. When we focus on voicing the bad news, we become judgmental.

Wisdom is merciful and loving. Let’s “Be wise in the way we act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let our conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that we may know how to answer everyone.” (Colossians 4:5-6)

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, October 19, 2021

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Proverbs 24:14  “Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul; if you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.”

I can still remember the person who first told me about the future hope of heaven. He was a tall man with no hair, and he had an insatiable hunger for the Word of God. Every time I would go over to his house to visit he was studying his Bible. He was a retired preacher who still did evangelistic crusade ministry in churches, focusing on prophecy and the book of Revelation. I visited him often because I loved to play in his back yard, where a creek meandered through a grove of trees. I would climb out onto the branches of those trees that overhung the creek and just watch the water go by, looking for trout that would dart out after food as it passed by in the current.

I remember going into his house on one such visit and asking him what heaven would be like. Most of my questions were pretty childlike. “Would there be fishing in heaven?” “Will I be able to climb trees?” “Will I know people that I knew here on earth?” He was patient with me, and directed my attention to the real joy of heaven, the presence of Jesus Christ. But he also gave me an assignment; read Revelation 21 and discover the wonder of the heavenly city.

I read the assignment, and as a result developed my own appetite for studying God’s Word, especially in the area of prophecy. For most of my childhood and my early adult years, it was the focus of all my study and preaching. I know that I do not have all of the answers to prophecy, but I do know this – Jesus Christ is coming back, and it could be at any time. Living with that expectation changes my life in several ways:

1.      I am made more aware of the selfishness that exists in my life, which creates a desire to renounce it for the sake of serving Jesus.

2.      I am made more aware that the greatest fulfillment of life comes from accomplishing God’s purpose for His glory, not my purpose for my advantage.

3.      I am made more aware of the interruptions that God brings into my life because God wants me to minister to the need of someone else so that they can see a visible example of His love.

4.      I do not question inconveniences or hardships, because they are not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in me when Jesus Christ returns.

5.      I am made more willing to sacrifice anything of this world for the sake of bringing one more person to Jesus for salvation, knowing that their life is the only treasure from this world that I can take into eternity.

6.      I am made more aware of the value of time, and using it to the fullest for God’s purpose and not my own.

These are just a few of the ways that a constant expectation of the imminent return of Jesus Christ affects my life every day. I am so thankful to the man who developed the hunger in my life for Christ’s return. I still love him even though he is with the Lord right now. He died when I was about 20, but his heritage lives on in my heart. I will see him again, and I will know him, because we connected at a spiritual heart level here on earth. I just want to thank him again for investing in my life. 

Thank you, Dr. J.A. van Gorkom, my grandfather.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, October 18, 2021

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Convenience. Gratification. Sensuality. Selfish. These four words seem to best describe the world’s experience of love. It is certainly not what God designed. Expressions of me-centered existence abound. Abuse. Rape. Pornography. Murder. Divorce. Love of self dominates the world right now, and even threatens to catapult Christians into cultural compliance. We need a revival of sacrificial love, and it must start in the family, specifically between husbands and wives. Marriage, by God’s design, is the one place where the love of God is to be most visible.  It is the one relationship that best depicts the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ.

Here is some wisdom from Solomon to help us recognize the worth of the people God has given us to love. 

1. “Rejoice in the wife of your youth – may you ever be captivated by her love.” (Proverbs 5:18). Spend today telling your spouse or soon-to-be-spouse how they have captivated your heart. Then make sure everyone around you knows that the smile on your face and the bounce in your step is the joy of your love in your heart. Then make that a habit every day, not just today. “Let love and faithfulness never leave you.” (Proverbs 3:3)
2. “But love covers over all wrongs.” (Proverbs 10:12).  Spend today being forgetful. Just make sure you forget the right things. The rights things to forget are all the wrong things others have done. Proverbs 17:9 says, “He who covers over an offense promotes love.”
3. “Those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.” (Proverbs 14:22). Plan something extra special for your love today, above and beyond what would ever be expected.
4. “A friend loves at all times.” (Prov. 17:17)  Begin today, if you haven’t already, to make sure that the love of your life is a friend for life. Focus on friendship.
5. “Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find?” (Proverbs 20:6) Make sure every part of your life reflects faithfulness to the one you love. No matter where you are, whom you’re with, or what you’re thinking, be faithful!

The wisdom of love which comes from the heart of God is vital to our survival. It must begin with God’s people. It must begin in our marriages. Let’s start a revival of real love. 

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, October 8, 2021

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I have a question nagging at me that just won’t go away. I believe it is God’s question for all of us. It comes from the very heart of God and His concern for a lost world of people. The question is this: “How many people this week did I see through the eyes of God and recognize their hopeless condition of being led away to death by their sin?”

That question rises from the words of Solomon in our Wisdom verse for today.

Proverbs 24:11-12 “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’  does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?”

I saw lots of people this week. They seem to be everywhere. I saw happy people. I saw angry people. I saw determined people. I saw distracted people. I saw people I would want to know better. I saw people I tried to avoid. I saw people in all kinds of situations going about their duties and calling it life.

I made judgments about people based on my perceptions of them. I responded to people in different ways because of those judgments. I saw their exterior and determined their worth and value, usually based on the return I would get from contact with them. 

What I did not do very often was to see their heart from God’s perspective and realize that whatever was on the outside could be radically changed by the transforming power of Jesus in their heart. I noticed their physical condition without recognizing the spiritual need that caused it. I need to sit up and take notice of people from God’s perspective.

But then another question nags at me:“What will I do about it when I do see people through the eyes of God?”

It doesn’t do a person any good to sit up and take notice if he keeps on sitting. Taking notice of people’s spiritual condition puts us on the right track, but as Will Rogers once said, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”  Once I recognize the spiritual need in every person’s life, I must also recognize that I know the answer to their need, and that I have the Power to share that answer with them.

As you prepare to worship in church this weekend, please consider this: one reason you are there is to be equipped to better represent Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world of people. Between now and the time you go to church, how many people will you pass and meet who are being led away to death? You can choose right now to start seeing them through the eyes of God. So many people will pass into a Christless eternity. We can and must make an impact on them. 

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, October 7, 2021

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Small football players fascinate me. One of the greatest running backs of our era was one of the smallest. By his own admission he didn’t think anyone in the National Football League would give him a chance because he was too small to succeed. But the Dallas Cowboys liked what they saw in his heart, and gave him a chance. For 15 years he was the model of sportsmanship and success. 

Here’s what Emmit Smith accomplished:

• 3 Super Bowl Rings (XXVII, XXVIII, & XXX) 
• Super Bowl XXVIII MVP 
• 1993 NFL MVP 
• 1991-93, 95 NFL Rushing Champion 
• 1990 NFL Rookie of the Year 

NFL Records he held or still holds:

• Most Rushing Yards (career) — 17162 
• Most Rushing Touchdowns (career) — 153 
• Most Rushing Attempts (career) — 4052 
• Most Rushing Touchdowns (Super Bowl) — 5 
• Most Rushing Yards (postseason) — 1586 
• Most Rushing Touchdowns (postseason) — 19 
• Most Games with 100+ Yards Rushing (postseason) — 7 
• Most Consecutive and Total 1000+ Yard Seasons – 11

What it is that makes a 5’9”, 180-pound running back have any kind of a chance against 6’5”, 275-pound defensive lineman? As Proverbs 24:5-6 teaches, I believe the answer is wisdom and guidance. 

“A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength; for waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisers.”

First of all, this small running back surrounded himself with a bunch of 6’5”, 300-pound offensive lineman to run interference against the huge, headhunting defensive guys. He was made strong and earned victory because of the many advisors that he had – from coaches teaching him what do look for in defensive alignments to other players making a path for him on which to stay safe.

Secondly, he filled himself up with as much knowledge of his opponent as possible, so that when he came into the game situation he was able to adjust his running to what he recognized the defense would try to do. His eyes were always alert to the location of every opponent, and he avoided being hurt by running where they weren’t.

There are some great lessons for us in all of this when it comes to our spiritual lives, and how we run the race that has been marked out for us by God.

1. Fill yourself with the determination to be a spiritual success, which is really a product of the filling of the Holy Spirit. It is an act of our will to surrender to the will of God and be empowered by the Holy Spirit to accomplish that purpose. We must make it our priority to be spiritually successful.

2. Surround yourself with spiritual protectors – the Holy Spirit will direct us to people who can encourage us, teach us, train us, and fight for us. Get to know these people intimately. Trust them. Serve them. Develop a common goal and commit to its accomplishment. Study each other’s strengths and weaknesses so you can stand by them no matter what the opposition. Let’s become a team. 

3. Study the opponent. After we develop a game plan through the power of the Holy Spirit and the people that are on our team, we must then seek to understand what the opponent is doing to try to stop God’s plan. We must discover where he is and how he will try to stop us, and then run where he isn’t. Then, as we get stronger and more confident in God’s power to protect us, we can actually start running where the opponent is, and make him run away. James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” What a great moment it is in a football game when the offense decides it is time to run at the strength of the defense because the have worn them down and demonstrated an ability to overwhelm them. What a great moment it is in a Christian’s life when they are able do the same.

Psalm 20:7 says, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”

It is not popularity, position, prestige, personality, or possessions that make us spiritually powerful, but it is the name of the LORD our God. No matter how small you think you are, you will find all the strength you need for any battle because “greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

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All my life I have loved tools. I have trouble walking through a home improvement store and not picking up a new tool and trying to justify why I need it. I think my love for tools comes from a couple of childhood memories about my grandfather, Gunnar Gabrielson, who lived in Cleveland, Ohio. I loved to go down to the basement and look at his tools. I don’t ever remember seeing a power tool, just the old-fashioned hand tools. But what beautiful work he would do with those tools. He was a skilled craftsman. In fact, he designed and built one of the first sewing machine cabinets in America. I believe it is still on display in a museum in Cleveland.

The major difference between my love for tools and my grandfather’s love for tools is that he knew how to use them well. He was careful and precise about everything he did. I do not understand those concepts. I am the proverbial bull in a china closet. I have tried to discipline myself to be careful. I have accomplished some nice projects, but they are always flawed in some way. It is usually traceable to my lack of patience and carefulness, and to my pride that says I know just enough to do the job. The fact is that I lack the wisdom to do the job perfectly.

In today’s wisdom, Solomon uses the analogy of building a house to reveal to us the wisdom necessary for building a real life. He takes us through a natural progression of spiritual growth. 

Proverbs 24:3-4 “By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.”

Today would be a good day for us to evaluate our progress in building the house of our lives. Maybe there’s a project that needs to be completed before the Building Inspector arrives.

The first thing that is necessary in building a life of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. Solomon says that by wisdom a house is built, and he wrote earlier in Proverbs that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

There is a common foundation under every spiritual house – Jesus Christ. That foundation is only available to those who have come face to face with God and recognized their hopeless and worthless condition in light of His awesome perfection and holiness. “Woe is me, I am undone,” says the prophet Isaiah. From that encounter with God comes faith in the mercy and grace of God to forgive. By renouncing our wisdom we can choose to build our house on Jesus Christ. 

The second thing that is necessary in building a house is for it to be established using the building material of understanding. In other words, everything built on top of the foundation must be connected to the foundation so it remains strong and unmovable by the storms of life. Here’s how the Apostle Paul states it in Colossians 2:2-4. Notice how understanding provides security.

“My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.”

The more we come to understand our great salvation and the God who provided it, the stronger our house becomes. That is why a daily study of God’s Word is so important to our spiritual vitality. But it cannot stop with just understanding it, we must also do what we understand. James 3:3 says, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” It’s not enough to have all of the building materials delivered to the construction site. Let’s pound some nails!

Finally, after laying the foundation of salvation, and establishing our house firmly on that foundation through understanding of how we were saved, we furnish the inside of the house by growing in our knowledge of God and His purpose. We tend to furnish our house with inferior goods that come from the world, when we have available to us all the riches of God in Christ Jesus to furnish every room. It’s time to remodel and redecorate. Go through all the rooms in your spiritual house. Are they furnished with the eternal riches of God’s grace or the cheap imitations of a failing world system? Your life can be filled with the finest furnishings – God’s grace and God’s love. (See Ephesians 1:7-8; Ephesians 3:16-19, and Philippians 4:19)

So, how is your house construction going? I know I have a couple of rooms that still need work. I’d better get at it.  The Building Inspector could come today.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

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As we begin today’s devotions I am compelled to remind you that if we desire to become people of wisdom then we must be seeking God’s wisdom and not man’s. That requires the sacrifice of worldly pursuits, principles, and passions for the sake of moral purity in Christ.  Today’s subject may well reveal more than any other whether or not we are willing to become people who pursue Christ above all else. 

Proverbs 23:19-21 “Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path. Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.”

One of the most divisive and destructive issues in the local church today is over the use of alcoholic beverages. Is drinking a sin, or is just drunkenness the sin? Should we or shouldn’t we use them? If we believe it’s ok to drink in moderation, what constitutes moderation? Do we have any responsibility to God or to others when we make our decision? These are all questions that are asked and argued by all of us from the young in Christ to the mature.

I pray that as I address this topic that our hearts will be open to hearing the voice of God. My desire is that all our lifestyle choices would not only reflect the wisdom of God by being morally pure, but that they would be motivated by a pure love for Jesus and not love for self.

First, the Bible does not call drinking a sin. I address this issue first because it is the issue that I believe causes the biggest problem in teaching others a true Biblical position on this subject. It is wrong to call something a sin that God has not called sin. When we try to conform another person’s behavior through untruth that we have called truth, we create rebellion in the other person against all truth. When our children grow to an age of understanding truth for themselves, they may reject what we have said because we tried to manipulate them into a certain type of behavior. Let’s just tell them the truth. Jesus performed His first miracle by turning water into wine, and we know it was alcoholic wine because the host of the party said so. (John 2:9-10)

Having said that, there are some very strong statements in Scripture about the use of alcoholic beverages, and several of them are right here in Proverbs. Let’s look at what is said:

1. It is not wise to join with those who drink too much, because it will lead to laziness and poverty.

2. Choosing not to join with them will keep our hearts on the right path. Everything about our relationship with Jesus Christ begins in the heart. When we desire to join with those who drink too much it shows that we are dependent on the world to provide us with value and not on God. Why would we who are joined to Christ have any need or desire to seek acceptance and approval from the world by joining with them? Our lifestyle choices reveal the level of our sincerity and security of our identity in Christ.

3. According to Proverbs 23:29-35, the consequences of drinking too much are severe – woe, sorrow, strife, complaints, bruises, and bloodshot eyes. Who needs any of those things? Just pick up any newspaper and you don’t have to read very far before you come to a story of an accident, a fight, an assault, a divorce, or a death that is the direct result of alcohol. We must consider carefully the consequences, not only for ourselves, but also in the lives of others around us.

4. We each must carefully evaluate our heart by asking some tough questions and then answer them honestly. The Proverbs 23:29-35 passage tells us what those questions should be:

Do I have an increasing curiosity about alcoholic beverages? Do we linger over the beverage, and want to try more and different kinds? Be careful, curiosity killed the cat, and we don’t have 9 lives to give. We have only one life to give, and I choose to give it to the glory of God. 

Do I find myself desiring alcohol because of the temporary benefits it provides? Do I use it to relieve pain or to produce pleasure in any way? Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup. Why should alcohol be the escape from the problems of life, or the producer of pleasure in life? When will I wake up so I can find another drink?” Doesn’t this reveal a heart condition that needs the healing touch of Jesus? The Apostle John says, “Love not the world, neither the things in the world…for these shall all pass away.” On what does your heart truly depend for peace and hope?

Do I find myself enjoying the taste? Proverbs says to be careful when it goes down smoothly! Just because we like it doesn’t make it beneficial or right. If that argument was valid, then let’s use it for other things we like as well, like sex. Sex is right only in the context of marriage, and when that purity is maintained it honors God. Each of us must determine in what context, if any, drinking is right and honoring to God.

There is so much more that could be said from other passages of Scripture concerning our responsibility to honor God in everything – especially in the area of the care of our temple of the Holy Spirit and our privilege to reflect the love and grace of Jesus to others. But I want us to consider carefully the three questions above, and evaluate our choices in regards to this issue. When you make your choice, make it in prayer before the throne of God, and make sure that your choice doesn’t in any way dishonor Him or exalt yourself over Him in any way. He is Lord, and is there any worldly sacrifice too great to make for our King?

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, October 4, 2021

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I love to go to restaurants that have a buffet. Oriental-style buffets are my favorite, because I can easily justify eating a lot because the food is better for me – lots of meat and vegetables and I can limit the carbohydrate intake. If a little is good for me, then a lot is better for me. 

Today’s Scripture reading has something to say about my food attitude. 

Proverbs 23:1-3 “When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony. Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.”

As we continue our pursuit of becoming people of wisdom, this week’s subject is moral integrity. But why should the quantity of food I eat be a subject of moral importance?

First of all, I think gluttony applies to a much broader base of indulgences than just food. In fact, gluttony is a heart condition that requires the constant pursuit of more and better in any area of our worldly life: more food, more money, more recreation, better house, better car, etc., etc. You have probably heard the term used this way in the statement, “He is a glutton for punishment.” Gluttony is an attitude that seeks self-satisfaction. That makes it a moral issue.

Secondly, because we are susceptible to self-satisfaction, we are in danger of being manipulated and deceived by those whom we give the power to influence our lives. Notice in the Scripture passage what is happening:

1. He is having dinner with a person of influence and renown. Don’t be a name-dropper. Don’t take pride in whom you know or whom you have met. All such behavior is an attempt to increase our own status in someone’s eyes, and is motivated by self-satisfaction.
2. The food that has been prepared has an ulterior motive other than just nourishment – it is meant to deceive and influence. We become easily influenced by the status and value we allow to be placed on our lives by people and things. “Note well,” it says, “what is before you.” Look deeply into your heart and determine if there is any motive of self-satisfaction or self-advancement in what you are doing. If there is, put it to death.

People of moral integrity are people who cannot be influenced to change their position on issues of truth. We must not give people or possessions the power to influence our position in Christ. No person or possession can ultimately provide us with anything of eternal value in God’s Kingdom. All they can give us is a momentary and fleeting reward to a need for self-satisfaction. Only what comes from God is good and perfect (James 1).The challenge for us is to live each day loving God above all else, especially self. Only then will we be stable, strong, unshakable and unmovable. Only then will we resist the selfish need to sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate. Only then will we be living with moral integrity.

Pastor John