LIFELINK DEVOTIONAL

Monday, July 13, 2020

On Sunday Pastor Josh will be preaching on the subject of “Authentic Faith” from John 4:46-54. I would encourage you to study it this week. My devotional will be based on this same passage with insights God has given me, and then on Sunday we will learn more from Josh’s insights.

As Jesus travels from Samaria into Galilee, John tells us that the people welcome Him because they had been to the feast in Jerusalem and witnessed some of the works Jesus did. When Jesus arrived in Cana, where he had performed His first miracle, he was met by a man who had a very sick son who was near death.  The man asked Jesus to heal him.

Obviously the man believed that Jesus was able to perform this miracle. But Jesus makes a statement that digs into the heart of faith. Do we have faith because we have seen, or do we have faith so that we will see. Jesus said,

Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.  John 4:48

It would do us much good to consider our own faith in light of this statement. Do we require signs and wonders so that we can believe? Is it possible that we demand to see something spectacular from God before we will place our faith in Him? Does the level of our faith in Christ change with the visible evidence of God’s work on our behalf?

Challenging questions to consider. Yet consider them we must. Faith cannot and must not be the product of seeing signs and wonders. In fact, the Holy Spirit tells us in Hebrews that faith itself is the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen. (Hebrews 11:1) Faith doesn’t require evidence. Faith is the evidence.

To be honest, I don’t fully understand that.  I need to spend time contemplating the difference between faith that requires more visible evidence to grow, and faith that grows without the need for evidence yet becomes its own evidence. It’s mind-boggling, but essential.  If we don’t think about this, we will never know true faith. We will remain simple-minded people who will only believe if we see signs and wonders. Authentic faith requires no signs. We do not place our faith in the work God is able to do, but we believe in who God is, and that is always sufficient for us. Then we can say, as the man said to Jesus, “Sir, just come before my son dies.” 

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, July 10, 2020

WARNING! Controversy ahead. Please read the following in the proper context.

The call to follow Jesus and be His disciple is clear. The call to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others is clear. Jesus said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

There is also a distinct benefit to growing in the faith by learning from other disciples. The Apostle Paul said, ”Imitate me, as I imitate Christ.”

However, we have a natural and fleshly tendency to let others do for us what we should be doing for ourselves. We have far too many followers of people who have never become intentional followers of Jesus. There are far too many people sitting in Bible studies all over the world who should be by now leading others in studying God’s Word, but instead simply trust what others tell them to believe and never really grow.

Just look around at the huge numbers of followers of prosperity preachers. Thousands upon thousands of people following the teachings of self-help and self-promoting teachers, tickling the ears of listeners who want nothing more than to feel good about themselves. These are the people Paul spoke about to Timothy when he wrote,

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.  2 Timothy 4:3-4

When the people of Samaria heard the Gospel from the woman Jesus met at the well, they came to Jesus. After learning directly from Him, they made this statement to the woman.

 “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” John 4:42

Here’s your weekend challenge. Have you become dependent on a human teacher for what you know about Jesus, or are you becoming less dependent upon people and more intimate with Christ?

In context, teachers are important to equip us to do the work of the Gospel. The Apostle Paul said so in Ephesians 4.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

But Jesus never intended for us to be dependent upon people for the growth of our faith. Christ designed our faith to grow through input and output. Teachers provide one form of input, but cannot provide the power for ministry. The Holy Spirit provides both input and the power for output. We are being equipped to do the work of ministry to others. Why is it that so many people continue to sit in groups for input but rarely involve themselves in the output of doing ministry? Without output, spiritual lives become dead seas.

My friends, look beyond the perceived controversy of what I just said, and turn to Jesus. His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is your teacher. He empowers you to do ministry to others with what He teaches you. Your faith will grow by leaps and bounds when you become the one leading, rather than being led.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, July 9, 2020

We all set priorities. Some we think long and hard about. Others become so ingrained in us that we never think twice about them. Priorities are the reflection of our personal value system. We always choose what we love most. We work hardest to gain what we want most. We feed ourselves with the things that we believe will bring us the most reward.

Let’s read what Jesus said about that in a conversation with His disciples in John 4.

John 4:35-38 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

Yesterday we learned that the food that truly satisfies us is to do the will of the Father and accomplish His work. Now Jesus tells us what the work of the Father is – to sow the seeds of the Gospel and to reap the harvest of people receiving eternal life by faith in Christ.

Jesus powerfully declares to His disciples that the work of the Father is to be a witness of the Gospel and share our faith in Christ with others, no matter who they are. Jesus proclaims to His followers that a harvest is about to happen. The rest of the fourth chapter describes the revival of faith that takes place among the Samaritan people. Jesus tells us that there had been previous work done among them by seed-scatterers. Jesus was now the reaper of the harvest based on faithful work done by others. Then He states this truth – Whether you are the one who plants the seeds, or the one who reaps the harvest, you are doing the work of the Father and you are to rejoice together that the work of God is being accomplished.

Many people wonder what is the one thing that unifies us as the Body of Christ. I believe Jesus tells us right here – doing the work of the Father. Yes, we are made one in Christ at the cross, but we conquer divisions by doing a singular job. We overcome the divisive nature of personal preferences by accomplishing the priority of the Gospel. We, the people of Jesus Christ, remain united by sowing and reaping for eternal life.

Consider this for today – Is it my priority to rejoice together with others who are similarly sowing the seeds of faith in others and then harvesting eternal souls for Christ?

That is the priority work of God to which He has called us all.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

I know, it’s probably obvious, but I LOVE to eat. Steak – rare. Shrimp – grilled. Fish – Shore-lunch Cajun battered. Pork Chops – thick and grilled to juicy pink perfection. Bacon  – with everything!

Food can easily define us. How much we eat can determine the description of us.

The words of Jesus to His disciples give us something to gnaw on.

John 4:32-34  But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”

Here’s a simple yet profound thought for today –

Are we so defined by feasting on the food of the Father’s will that we are described by the visible affects of constantly doing His work?

I have been gnawing on that thought for days, and I have discovered that there are too many worldly foods – recreation, financial security, relationships, personal liberties, etc. – that define me because I pursue eating them consistently.

May our lives be defined not by feeding on the world, but by feeding on the will of the Father and accomplishing His work.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

 When I was a little boy, I really believed my mother had eyes in the back of her head. I even asked her to let me look under her hair to find them. I knew they had to be there because of how often she knew exactly what I was doing even when I didn’t think she could see me. When I discovered she didn’t really have eyes under her hair, I thought I was free to do whatever I wanted when she wasn’t around. It was then that she taught me an important lesson about God: He sees all and knows all, all the time.

John 4:16-18  Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

I am very convicted about the contradictions that exist in my life between what I say I believe and what I do. I am often like the woman at the well who tried to cover up the truth. For whatever reason, when confronted with the truth of who she was and what she was doing, she diverted the conversation to a safer context. Could it have been out of shame? Probably. Could it have been to maintain an appropriate appearance? It’s likely. Could it have been out of fear of standing in the presence of holiness? Absolutely.

Those are some of the same reasons I try to cover up the truth of who I am and what I have done. What possesses us to cover what God already knows? What level of pride exists in us that we can declare the Omniscience (all-knowing nature) of God and yet live in fear of acknowledging the complete transparency that already exists in our relationship? Why are we not willing to admit the hypocrisy of trying to maintain appearances before God?

Tough questions that need honest answers. The humility required to honestly see ourselves the way God sees us opens the floodgates of grace. That’s what the woman at the well was about to experience. She was about to move from spiritual performance to unconditional acceptance. That’s the same move we all need to make, but it requires honest confession of every weakness, every flaw, every choice, and every sin.  God already knows them all. We may be suffering from unbelief that He will accept us if we admit them all. That’s where the move to fullness of grace begins, in seeing ourselves the way God already sees us.

Take some time today to consider becoming honest before God, and open your heart to be overwhelmed with His grace.

Pastor John

LIFELINK DEVOTIONAL

Monday, July 6, 2020

It takes a lot of water to survive the heat. The last week has proven that to me.  Flowers wilt almost as fast as I do. Unless we continue to provide liquid life we risk death.

I have two questions for your consideration today. The first is this – “What heat in life makes you thirsty?” Maybe it’s the heat of political tension. Maybe it’s the hotbed of racial discrimination and injustice. Some may be thirsty from the heat of financial loss and insecurity. Most of us are thirsty for love and acceptance. In some area of your life right now, you are feeling the heat and it’s making you thirsty.

The second question is, “What water do you seek to satisfy your thirst?” For every area of heat in life there are human wells that provide water for your thirst. There is the water of the next election, or the next demonstration. We can drink the water of working harder or investing better. We can try the refreshment of human relationships to find love and acceptance. However, the water drawn from all human wells will never satisfy your thirst. You will always need more water.

What if I told you that there was water that would satisfy your thirst forever no matter what the source of heat? It’s true. But in order to drink this water you must first recognize that your real thirst is spiritual and not physical. So long as you continue to thirst for the physical, you will never be satisfied. When you acknowledge that your true thirst is spiritual, then living water is provided that will satisfy every other thirst.

“Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”” John 4:13-14

When Jesus spoke these words to a woman who was thirsty, she still put them in the context of the physical. She wanted earthly water to satisfy earthly thirst. But Jesus offers us spiritual water to satisfy spiritual thirst and earthly thirst. Jesus promised that the Living water of faith in Him would satisfy every thirst forever.

So again, what makes you thirsty, and what do you seek to quench your thirst? Take some time today to consider quenching your thirst once and for all by turning to Jesus.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

John 4:4 And (Jesus) had to pass through Samaria.

I find it extremely challenging that Jesus intentionally took living water into forbidden territory. He crossed cultural boundaries and risked His reputation so that He could meet the need of a Samaritan woman.

The Samaritan people were despised by Jewish people.  History and DNA studies seem to indicate that when  the Jews were taken captive and removed from Jerusalem in 722 B.C., the Jews who remained in the rural parts of the homeland began marrying the occupying Assyrian people. The result was the Samaritans. They were labeled unfaithful and impure.

Jesus doesn’t care about labels. Love removes labels. Jesus masterfully models for us what love does. Love crosses borders. Love eliminates labels. Love risks reputation and personal safety to meet the spiritual needs of people. Love compels us to set aside our prejudices and serve people we might otherwise reject.

What labels have you placed on people that keep you from intentionally sharing the love of Jesus with them? Those labels will be removed when we realize that the love of Jesus removed the label we wore so that we could be called the children of God.

I wonder how many of the people we label would love a drink of living water?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, June 29, 2020

When I returned home from my fishing trip on Saturday, I noticed the corn field across from my house. It seemed the corn had grown at least a foot in a week. Later that day, after a hot day of sunshine, I noticed the leaves of the corn beginning to curl a little. It’s a built-in drought protection mechanism designed by our marvelous Creator. It reduces the amount of leaf exposure to the sun, slowing the photosynthesis process, and preserving the limited moisture. It is the corn plant’s way of saying, “Give me a drink.”

John 4:5-7  (Jesus) came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”

Well, the corn is getting a drink today. Not only the corn, but everything else as well. When I left the house at 5:30 I could see the thunderstorm to the west. By the time I arrived at the office it was pouring. I had to park my car on the sidewalk under the entrance canopy just so I could get into the building. This is more than a drink. But when it’s over, and the heat returns this week, more drinks will be needed.

After asking the woman for a drink, Jesus begins to explain to her that He can provide water that will permanently quench the inner thirst of people. Jesus provides living water.

John 4:13-14  Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The world is in crisis. People are thirsty. There is a drought of satisfying water. There is a collective cry for a drink. Please share the Living Water you have with as many as possible.

Pastor John

Dear Devotional Friend,

I have the wonderful opportunity to spend this week with my brother Paul and my great friend Paul, who we call Bear, on a fishing and golfing trip.

There will be no daily LifeLink Devotionals this week.

Plan to come back on Monday, June 29, as we pick up our continuing study of the Gospel of John in chapter 4.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, June 18, 2020

As a father and grandfather, I think the following passage of inspired Scripture from the writings of King Solomon challenges me more than any other.

Proverbs 2:1-5 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

There are two reasons this hits me so hard:

1. I am responsible to teach and model to my children the wisdom of God:
   1. My words must be the words of God, and I must consistently model that they are my most valued treasure.
   2. I must keep my ears attentive to wisdom and seek understanding of God’s purpose for my life.
   3. My first option for finding answers to life is to call out to God.
   4. I must model the fear of the Lord and that my life is governed by the knowledge of God.

That’s a tall order. It can be overwhelming. But what makes it even harder is the second reason:

2. My children are responsible for their own decisions.
   1. Solomon uses the word “if” three times. Compliance to our teaching cannot be coerced. Each child has the individual right to listen or not, and each child is individually responsible to God for whether or not they obeyed.

What makes this so hard is that as parents we tend to get some personal value by pointing to how well our children turn out. We must learn the lesson that the only approval we need is from God when He sees us representing His Son to our children. Our value is not found in the product; that’s the child’s choice. The approval of God is found in the faithful process of proclaiming Jesus and trusting Him with the lives of our children.

Pastor John