LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, December 13, 2018

Luke 1:29 – 34 ²⁹Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  ³⁰But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.  ³¹You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.  ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,  ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” ³⁴“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

 Almost from the time he could say the word “Mama”, our first grandson was asking questions. His first question was, “Wha dat?” He would ask it about everything he saw, and he fully expected an answer. Soon after the question became “Why?” and he asked it over and over and over again. I love the natural curiosity of children who need to know what things are and how they work. I love being the one who can tell them.

When God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit and as we read His Word, it is not wrong for us to ask questions. We must, however, ask the questions from a position of faith and not doubt. Earlier in Luke chapter 1, Zechariah, the father of John the Baptizer, questioned the angel Gabriel after being told he would have a son. His question asked for proof before he would believe – “How can I be sure of this? – and for that he was disciplined with a speech impairment until the son was born.

But here, in Mary, we have a question of faith. Mary did not doubt the angel’s words by asking how she could be sure of it, but affirmed the angel’s promise by asking, “How is this going to happen?”

We have two options for the kinds of questions we can ask God when He speaks to us – questions that seek faith or questions that affirm faith. We have the same two options when life’s circumstances change. We can ask questions that reflect doubt that God is really in control, or we can ask questions that state our faith in God’s promises. There is a huge difference between asking, “God, how is this ever going to work out?” and “God, how are you going to work this out?”

God hears both questions, but one carries consequences and one carries blessing. Questions of doubt will extend and deepen our suffering, but even that suffering is God’s way of deepening our faith. Questions of faith also deepen our faith because God the Perfect Father loves to answer them and show us the “how” and “why” so we know Him more deeply and trust Him more fully.

I assume you want to grow by asking the right questions instead of the wrong ones. Ask questions from a foundation of faith, not one of doubt.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Luke 1:26 – 28  In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,  ²⁷to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.  ²⁸The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

When I travel through states like North Dakota I am struck with the immensity of God. When I leave the beauty of the forests and hills of northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, the topography changes radically to flat and almost treeless plains where one can see for miles. The next farm is barely visible, and the horizon seems unattainable. I imagine what is beyond, and my mind swirls as it swims in the depths of infinity. My limitations overwhelm me in the attempt to visualize the limitlessness of God.

That is the way my mind is responding to the incredible grace of God depicted in today’s conversation between the angel Gabriel and the soon-to-be mother named Mary. The great and overarching theme of Christmas is the grace of God. There is nothing that overwhelms my finite thoughts more than an attempt to comprehend the wonder of God’s grace. Our minds are befuddled when we try to quantify that which qualifies us. We who measure others and ourselves by finite qualifications cannot fully comprehend the unconditional qualification of imperfect people by a perfect God. Yet that is what God does by grace.

Have there ever been sweeter words to the ears of any person than to be told that they have found favor with God? Mary was puzzled by this greeting, as are all of us when we are told that we are fully and unconditionally accepted into relationship with God. Yet those are the words that we long to hear. It is the deepest desire of our hearts to be accepted and to know that our lives have purpose and meaning. Yet we doubt the authenticity of the message. We are troubled by the thought that God can draw that close to us because we know the depths of our sin and unworthiness. But can you think of anything you would rather hear than the voice of God calling you His child, His heir, and His friend?

Why should we believe that God’s favor rests on us when the message was delivered to Mary? When God directed Gabriel to tell Mary that she was highly favored, He chose a word that in the Greek language is used only one other time in all of Scripture. Its use is significant. It is found in Ephesians 1:6, and literally translated says, “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

We have found, in Christ Jesus, the same favor of God that was proclaimed to Mary. We have been accepted into the beloved. Hallelujah!

What a great message of encouragement for not only us but for all of those millions of people still seeking acceptance. We have the Gospel of Grace. We have experienced God’s unconditional forgiveness and acceptance. Let’s go tell the world that they too can be forgiven and accepted – and it’s FREE!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

John 1:9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
Luke 1:79 …to give light to those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.

When God created the heavens and the earth, they existed in their raw form in darkness. God’s first creative act of transformation was to say, “Let there be light.”

After six days of God’s creativity, man lived in a perfect world as a perfect being created in the image of God. He was in constant and intimate fellowship with the Father because he was living in the light.

But one day he chose to believe that the darkness would actually give him more light. The result was not what he had hoped for. He was plunged into darkness and the shadow of death.

As his descendants, we have inherited the same darkness and death. We still often choose to believe the deception that somewhere in the darkness we will find light.

At His chosen time, God again uttered the creative words “Let there be light.” Jesus stepped out of eternity to bring salvation to the world. The Son of God stepped into the darkness and became the light of the world. In one divine person, God combined His total glory with humanity so that we could see the light of salvation and be set free from the darkness of sin and death.

For more than four thousand years the people of the world had walked in darkness. There were incredible moments of light when God revealed Himself to the people, but they were always followed by a return to the darkness. Man was capable, for the short-term, of changing his outward condition, but he could not overcome the darkness of his heart. The war of sin raged on in his soul.

But when Jesus came, the power of sin was broken when He rose from the dead and conquered death once and for all for all who will believe. When the Light of God is turned on in our hearts, there is no returning to the darkness.

Back when electricity was first being introduced in a little Scottish village, almost everybody switched from propane lanterns to electric lights as soon as they could be connected to the power. One old and miserly man lived at the end of the road, and it was quite some time before the power lines reached his house. When the day finally arrived that his power had been connected, his neighbors all came over for the joyous event. The man waited until it was extra dark, and then flipped on the switch. Light filled the room, and everyone cheered. The man went over to the table, picked up the propane lantern, and exclaimed, “This sure makes it easier to light the lamps.” As soon as he had the lantern lit, he turned off the electric switch.

Sometimes we are just like that. We miss the true light because we are hanging on to the dark ways of our past. We are still convinced that somewhere in the darkness of sin we will find enough light to satisfy us. We believe that the light of Jesus Christ is only necessary to light our path back into the darkness of our past.

But the True Light came to destroy the darkness in us and lead us on a new path. Jesus came as the light of the world so that we could live as children of light in the light of God’s glory. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1:10 – 13)

Don’t be like the miserly old man who only used the power available to him to make the old ways easier to enjoy. Live every moment of every day in the light of God’s glory. The power has been connected. It is your privilege to turn on the light and let it shine.

You have been delivered from the darkness of sin and death. Live like it.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, December 10, 2018

1 John 4:7  Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.

I know, the gift of love wasn’t on your list either. There’s a reason I didn’t originally include it. When I did my research, I looked for all the uses of the words gift, gave, or give in the New Testament, and they are never used in the same verse with the word love except in John 3:16, which speaks of God’s gift of His Son as a result of God’s love for us. So I didn’t include love as one of the gifts.

But then I started thinking. God is love. Jesus is God. When God gave His Son Jesus He gave His love to us. The gift of love needs to be on the list.

Romans 5:5  God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
1 John 3:1  How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
1 John 3:16  This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.

Look at he truths we find in these verses:

1. God poured out His love into our hearts as a gift to us.
2. He lavished His love on us.
3. We can only know what love is by seeing it modeled in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins.
4. True love only comes from God.

Did you know that the word love is used 200 times in the New Testament alone? It is elevated in importance above faith and hope when the Apostle Paul says, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)

We are commanded to love God above all else in our lives, and to love others with the same intensity.

Love is the visible testimony of one’s relationship with Jesus Christ.

No matter what skills we have, if we do not act in love we accomplish nothing of real value.

No matter how much faith or knowledge we have, if we do not act in love we are considered arrogant and relationally worthless. Even acts of kindness and sacrifice are meaningless if they are done for personal gain and not out of true love for others.

True love is patient and kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.

The challenge is that we are to love one another as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us.  That requires the same sacrifice Jesus made – to give up self for the sake of another.

May God bless you as you become the giver of the greatest gift given to us – the gift of love!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, December 7, 2018

Titus 2:11 – 14  ¹¹For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.  ¹²It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,  ¹⁴who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

At dawn on Sunday, December 7, 1941, naval aviation forces of the Empire of Japan attacked the United States Pacific Fleet center at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack was almost a complete tactical success. This sneak attack against Hawaii brought an immediate reaction of unprecedented unity from the American people. Families from every class sent their sons and daughters to war, women joined the industrial work force, and no one was untouched by the effort to bring all U. S. resources to bear upon the war effort.

Young men and women signed up with the armed forces to protect their country against any further attempt to destroy their liberties. They were trained and commissioned to serve under commanding officers who would direct their every action. They were ordered into harm’s way, and they went. They went to Midway. They went to Normandy. They went to Guadalcanal. They went to the Philippines. They went to Okinawa.  They went to Iwo Jima. They went anywhere the enemy was entrenched and fought to liberate the people under the enemy’s control. They went because they had given themselves to the fight for freedom. They went because they were committed to a cause. The commanders only directed their actions. They had already given their hearts to obedience and their lives to a purpose.

In the spiritual world, when the enemy of God invaded God’s territory and took God’s people captive, God gave a command to His Son to go and set them free. God knew that His command meant certain death for His Son, but He sacrificed His Son for the cause.

Jesus was not an unwilling order-taker. He was not drafted for His duty, but rather He volunteered because He was committed to the cause. He submitted completely to His Commander, not out of obligation, but rather out of participation. He gave Himself for us. The Apostle Paul says in Galatians 1:3 – 5, Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Jesus gave himself to rescue us.

The war against liberty rages on in many arenas. Young men and women are still volunteering to give themselves for the cause of freedom. They are willing to die for you and me. They have chosen to give the greatest gift – self.

The spiritual war also rages on. Men and women of all ages are volunteering to give themselves for the cause of spiritual freedom in Christ. They are willing to put themselves in harm’s way to liberate people still caught in the bondage of sin and under the control of God’s enemy. They witness to their friends. They live according to God’s holy character and not the world’s social standards. They willingly go to dangerous lands and cultures to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. They put themselves at risk of financial loss, personal pain, and emotional rejection for the cause of Christ. They do not obey their Commander out of obligation, but out of love. They fulfill their commission given in Ephesians 5:1 – 2.

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children  and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

They are the heroes of the faith. Are you one of them?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Ephesians 2:8 – 9 (NIV) ⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast.

I have a consistent and irritating flaw in my life – I don’t put things away after I’m done with them. I may put them out of the way, but I don’t usually put them back where they belong. My garage is a hodgepodge of scattered tools and hunting clothing. If I need a pair of pliers or a screwdriver, I must stop and think about the closest hiding place to the last job I did. It doesn’t pay to go look in the nice tool cabinet I have. Each drawer of the cabinet is neatly labeled with the type of tool that is supposed to be there – but the drawers are almost empty. The tools are wherever I put them after my last project.

Some of the most fulfilling days of my life are spent organizing my garage and putting everything away. I get such a sense of satisfaction from seeing it all organized and knowing where everything is. But it only stays that way for a short time. Every project is an opportunity for me to improve, but I don’t.

This flaw has caused another serious flaw – the inability to find things, even when they are right in front of me. It is so embarrassing to be looking in a drawer for a utensil or a tool and then, after asking my wife for help, to have her find it right where I had been looking. I have a huge blindness for the obvious. I waste more time looking for things because I didn’t put it back, and it has conditioned me to not see what is right in front of me.

Yesterday I failed to see the obvious as well. I gave you a list of 31 gifts that God gives us when we come to Him for salvation, and I failed to include in the list one of the most important and fundamental gifts of all – faith. Please change your lists and add #32. In all my research to find all of the gifts, I overlooked the one gift that is necessary for the receiving of all the others. Without faith it is impossible to please God and it is impossible to receive the grace of God. Faith is the gift God gives us that brings light to the darkness of our sinful flesh.

Helen Keller understood darkness, being blind to any and all physical light. But her faith gave her all the light she needed. These are her words – Dark as my path may seem to others, I carry a magic light in my heart. Faith, the spiritual strong searchlight, illumines the way, and although sinister doubts lurk in the shadow, I walk unafraid toward the enchanted wood where the foliage is always green, where joy abides, where nightingales nest and sing, and where life and death are one in the presence of the Lord.

We all at one time were stranded in the dark wilderness of sin. We were lost and without direction or hope. The vehicle of our life was without fuel and the battery was drained dead. But God reached down and gave us a fully charged portable GPS unit. (That’s Grace Providing Salvation unit) The destination already programmed into the unit is heaven, and the route we are to take has also been pre-programmed.

The first screen that appears instructs us to get out of our vehicle and walk in the direction of the light. We look around from our driver’s seat and don’t see any light. But the unit says to get out and we will see it. We open the door, step out into the darkness, and in faith close the door on our old life.

In that instant a light appears. Not just a light in the distance, but a light that illuminates everything in front of us. We turn to look back at the vehicle we exited, and we cannot see it, for the light does not illuminate behind us, only in front of us. There is no reason to go back. We can now clearly see the direction we should go. We have been saved from the darkness. We are no longer lost.

Now that we are in the light we look at the GPS unit and engraved into the top of it is the word FAITH. Scrolling across the screen are the words “Saved by faith, walk by faith.”

A map appears, and it gives us the directions for today’s leg of the journey. We try to advance the screen to see where tomorrow will take us, but nothing appears except the words “Do not worry about tomorrow. My grace is sufficient for today.”

We set out on the journey towards heaven, with our GPS unit in hand. So long as we follow the directions revealed to us on the screen we walk in the light and the One who gave us the gift of faith is more clearly and intimately revealed to us.  Each day of the journey we discover more of the fullness and abundance of life that we long for, and each day our gift of faith gives us all the direction we need to stay on course.

What in incredible gift! I’m going to make sure I never misplace it again.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Ephesians 4:7 – 8  ⁷But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.  ⁸This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.”

I’m sure you’ve heard the Christmas song The Twelve Days of Christmas. I’ve always thought it to be the strangest Christmas song ever. Why would my true love give me eight maids-a-milking and nine ladies dancing? Why would I give my true love ten lords, eleven pipers, and twelve drummers?

According to Roman Catholic tradition, the twelve days of Christmas begin on Christmas day and lead up to Epiphany on January 6^th, the date believed to be the day the wise men from the east visited Jesus. Supposedly it is a song of Christian instruction dating to the 16th century religious wars in England, with hidden references to the basic teachings of the Faith. Some contend that it was a mnemonic device to teach the catechism to youngsters. The “true love” mentioned in the song is not an earthly suitor but refers to God Himself. The “me” who receives the presents refers to every baptized person who is part of the Christian Faith. Each of the “days” represents some aspect of the Christian Faith that was important for children to learn. There is no historical evidence to support this claim, but if you are interested in what the twelve gifts might represent, you should visit this web site – http://www.crivoice.org/cy12days.html.

My interest in relating that information to you is this – as born-again believers we have received far more than just twelve gifts from God, who is the True Lover of our souls. When we trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, there are 31 specific things that God gives us as gifts. We have been studying some of them since Thanksgiving, but there is no way we are going to get through all of them before Christmas. So many gifts and so little time. But here’s the list in alphabetical order with their Scripture references so you can study them on your own. I hope they bring you as much joy as they have brought me.

Gifts God Gives                                Scripture References                                              

Daily Provisions                                 Matt. 6:33

Encouragement                              Rom. 15:5 ; 2 Thess. 2:16

Endurance                                        Rom. 15:5

Everything we need for life            2 Peter 1:3-4

Fullness in Christ                                Col. 2:10

Gifts to the church                           Eph. 4:11

Grace                                                Eph. 1:6

Himself as a sacrifice             Matt. 20:28; Gal. 1:4; Eph. 5:2; 1 Tim. 2:6; Titus 2:14

His Son                                                John 3:16 ; Rom. 8:32

Holy Spirit                                           John 3:34 ; John 14:16 ; 1 John 3:24 ; 1 John 4:13

Hope                                                  2 Thess. 2:16

Inheritance                                       Acts 20:32

Joy                                                      1 Thess. 1:6

Knowledge                                       Matt. 13:11 ; Eph. 1:17 ; 2 Cor. 4:6 ; 1 John 5:20

Life                                                      John 5:21 ; John 6:27 ; John 10:28

Light                                                    John 1:9

Living Water                                      John 4:10

Ministry of reconciliation                 2 Cor. 5:18

New Birth                                           1 Peter 1:3

Peace                                                John 14:27 ; 2 Thess. 3:16

Power and authority                        Luke 9:1 ; 2 Tim. 1:7

Relief from trouble                           2 Thess. 1:7

Repentance                                     Acts 5:31

Rest                                                     Matt. 11:28

Rights of children of God                John 1:12

Spiritual gifts for serving Him           1 Cor. 12:7-11 ; Hebrews 2:4

Strength                                             Phil. 4:13 ; 1 Tim. 1:12 ; 2 Tim. 4:17

Thorns to keep us humble               2 Cor. 12:7

Unity                                                   Rom. 15:5

Victory                                               1 Cor. 15:57

Wisdom                                              Acts 7:10 ; 2 Peter 3:15 ; James 1:5

Print this list out and put it in your Bible. May I suggest that you use the month of January, which has 31 days, to study one of these gifts each day. It’s a great way to start the new year. It’s a significant way to strengthen your relationship with God. Enjoy the gifts God has given you. They are a living testimony to your value to Him. They will sustain you through difficulty. They will strengthen you in weakness. They will supply you with grace in every emotional and spiritual need you experience.

Accept them.

Unwrap them.

Open them.

Use them.

They are freely given to you by your One True Love.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Ephesians 1:7-8  ⁷In 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.

In 2011, a major renovation took place on the ceiling art in the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo spent four torturous years (1508 to 1512) on the monumental undertaking, painting in fresco more than 400 larger-than-life scenes of mankind’s origins and early history from the Bible on the ceiling of the Vatican chapel. Scaffolding was erected, and workers began the tedious and painstaking job of restoring the paintings to their original condition. Part way through the renovation, regular attenders to the chapel looked up and were shocked to see the bright and vivid colors of people’s faces and garments on the areas that had been restored. They were convinced that the workers were desecrating the original masterpiece by adding paint. They were so used to looking at the dingy and grayed colors that they believed that’s how they were originally painted.

When questioned, the crew chief in charge of the restoration explained what had happened. For years the chapel, prior to the installation of electricity, had been lighted by burning torches. Layers of soot and ashes had accumulated on the ceiling, dulling the colors of the painting. A careful removal of the dirt revealed the beauty of the original creation.

This is a perfect picture of God’s work of redemption in our lives. Years of sin have stained us. We have come to believe that this is how we were intended to look. We use the world’s palette of opportunities to attempt to paint new color onto our lives, but every brush stroke makes us wonder what really lies beneath. We have an insatiable desire to see the original version of who we were supposed to be.

That’s what God does when he redeems us. Redemption is the restoration of our lives to their original version. Just as the careful application of soap and water had washed away the years of soot from the ceiling, the gracious application of the blood of Jesus washes away the years of sin from our lives. The beauty of the Creator’s work is revealed. We are holy. We are blameless. We are the sons of God with full rights of inheritance. We are blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing available from heaven. We have been lavished with the riches of God’s grace. We have been truly loved. We have been restored.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the gift of redemption.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, December 3, 2018

Matthew 4:8 – 10  Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.  “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

God is not the only one who promises gifts to us. Satan competes for our loyalty with gifts that appeal to our personal and fleshly desires.

As Jesus prepares to begin His three-year ministry to the people of Israel and bring them the good news of God’s salvation, Satan attempts to thwart God’s plan. He tempts Jesus to take His eyes off God’s purpose for His life and turn them to the things of the world. He tempts Jesus with His physical needs by trying to get Him to focus on His hunger. He tempts Jesus to promote Himself in the eyes of people by telling Him to use His power and authority to do a miracle to impress people. Then Satan tempts Jesus to worship him with the promise of a gift. Satan says he will make Jesus the ruler of all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus will bow to him. Fortunately for all of us, Jesus resisted all these temptations and waited for God’s perfect fulfillment of His purpose in His time.

Jesus was convinced that His Father would provide for His physical needs because He was focused on accomplishing the Father’s purpose and not His own. Jesus knew that His Father would one day glorify Him in front of all mankind, so He did not need to exalt Himself in front of people. Jesus also knew that one day God would make Him ruler of all the kingdoms of the world, and that by accepting that honor from Satan it would only make Satan the ultimate ruler and not God. Jesus knew that the gifts that God had promised, even though they required great endurance and patience to be realized, would be far greater than any immediate gratification provided by Satan’s competing gifts.

Every day Satan competes for our loyalty by offering us gifts that promise immediate gratification. Every day we are tempted to sacrifice our worship of the Lord on the altar of personal pursuits and pleasures. Every day we are tempted to serve self rather than God. Satan offers benefits that appeal to the physical, emotional, and financial goals of our flesh. Satan pursues us because he knows that if we accept his offers we will become his best servants: not because we are evil, but because our choice does the most damage to the cause of Christ.

The testimony we give to the power of the Gospel to transform lives is negated by the person who claims Christ but lives under the influence of the flesh. Such a person is Satan’s best employee. In exchange for his gifts of worldly pleasure, power and prosperity they have become Satan’s servants and have made a mockery of the gift of God.

Do you remember the old television game show called Let’s Make A Deal? Every one of us is a contestant on the spiritual version of that show. Two gifts have been offered, and you must choose.

Gift #1 has been fully revealed to us. It offers the guarantee of eternal life following an earthly life of surrender to Christ. It will require suffering, hardship, trials, trouble, and rejection by the rest of the world. But in the end, we are glorified with Jesus and inherit all things with Him.

Gift #2 has also been fully revealed, but for some reason most people choose not to see beyond the immediate glitter that they see. The gift offers wealth untold, acceptance by the world, and the promise that personal pleasure will fulfill all emotional and spiritual needs. Behind all that glitter is the sentence of death and punishment in hell for all eternity. But glitter blinds us. It is so appealing to our flesh that we are willing to gamble our lives on the hope that the experience of the glitter will somehow void the consequences of our choice. That’s why so many people keep choosing gift #2 – and losing.

If you’ve never chosen gift #1, today should be your day. Call on Jesus to save you.

If you have chosen gift #1, make sure you aren’t tempted to trade it in for any part of gift #2. Check your life right now and make sure, like Jesus did, that you worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, November 30, 2018

2 Corinthians 9:15  Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

A man of God was traveling through the countryside in a time of extreme famine and poverty. It had not rained for months and there was very little food left. He stopped on the outskirts of a small village and saw a woman who was picking up sticks so she could make a fire. Her intention was to use the last little bit of flour and oil that she had to make a small cake of bread for herself and her son. It would most likely be their last meal. They had no income and no other family. Her husband had died sometime earlier and left her with nothing but the home in which they lived. Because of the extreme famine there was no market for homes, and even if there was there was no food to buy with the money. She had no hope of survival.

Boldly the man asked her to put her faith in his God, and said, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.’”

Would she do it? Would she give up her last bit of food to a stranger? Could she believe the words of the man who claimed that his God would provide for her and her son? Why did she have to give him the first cake of bread? Couldn’t she just give him the leftovers? Why did she have to come all the way back from her house to deliver the cake once it was done?

These are all questions that must have been running through her mind. But in an incredible step of faith she went away and did as the man had told her. She used the last of her flour and oil to make a cake of bread over the fire and brought it back to the man. He ate it in front of her as she watched.

She returned to her home more hungry than ever but with great anticipation. Would the promise of the man of God be realized? Would there be flour and oil in her jars when she had left them empty.

She was overwhelmed as she looked into the two jars and saw that they were full. She had been given an indescribable gift of grace. She went back and found the man of God and invited him to stay with her, and there was enough food every day for the man and for the woman and her family. The jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by the man of God.

This true story taken from the Bible and the life of God’s prophet Elijah is a picture of God’s indescribable gift to us of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. God has promised that when we surrender the last of who we are and what we have to Him, we are given sufficient grace to meet our needs every day. Every spiritual, emotional, and physical need we have will be provided for by God when we give up the control of our lives and our possessions to Jesus Christ His Son.

Are you concerned about your finances and how to provide for the basic necessities of life? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. (Matthew 6:33)

Are you concerned about your physical condition and your health? So was the Apostle Paul, and when he asked God to remove the problem, God said, “My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Are you concerned about your emotional health? Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

Are you wondering about your spiritual life? How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)

God’s indescribable gift of grace for every need is yours simply by accepting it by faith that He will do what He says. Let go of the last bit of flour and oil in your life and receive the unending love of God found in His Son Jesus Christ. He will save you and give you eternal life.

And if you’ve already done that, give Him thanks today and every day for His indescribable gift.

Pastor John