LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, August 23, 2018

Philippians 4:10 I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.

Think about the last time you got an unexpected card or phone call from a friend.  Do you remember how it encouraged you and made you feel refreshed? It’s a wonderful feeling to know that someone took a few moments out of their busy day to think of you. It’s great to know people care.

The Apostle Paul is in prison while he is writing this letter to the church at Philippi, and one of the reasons he is writing is to thank them for caring for him. When Paul first met the people who became the core group of this church, they had shown the caring nature of their hearts by giving financial support to him for his missionary journey. When Paul traveled around planting churches it was not easy to stay in touch with the people back in Philippi. He had no phone, no email, and no public mail service. By the time a personal messenger would get a letter back to the church he would probably be gone to another city. The church had no way of continuing their support for him. But as soon as they heard that Paul was confined to prison, they knew they had the time to get to him. They collected another offering and sent a messenger to deliver to him a wonderful gift of love. It is that expression of caring that Paul refers to in today’s Scripture passage.

How wonderful Paul must have felt the day the messenger arrived with the letter and the gift from the people whom he loved so dearly. He tells us that he rejoiced greatly.

I wonder what Paul had been thinking during the time he had not heard from them? I know what I would probably be thinking. “What have I done wrong that they don’t ever call me?” “Why are my friends deserting me?” “I guess I’m not worth really caring about?”

Can you relate to those feelings? I’m sure we have all felt rejected at times. But what I really wonder is, “How many people am I making feel that way because I haven’t contacted them?” It’s easy for us to go into self-pity when we feel rejected or alone, but it takes work to be the one who initiates the care-giving.

Paul makes it clear that he trusted the heart of the people of Philippi when he says, “Indeed, you have been concerned.” He knows that the physical expression of that concern was limited by distance and lack of technology. But as soon as they had an opportunity to show their concern they showed it.

I wonder how many of us are missing opportunities right now to show how much we care to another person. Are we up to date on our email responses to people? Have we sent cards to the people we know are hurting and in need?  And what about those people that we have been trying to avoid that God’s Spirit has suddenly put in our minds? Are we willing to show anyone and everyone that we really care and have the heart of Jesus?

Take some time today, instead of watching TV or posting to Facebook, to make a personal contact with someone who will rejoice greatly that you called. And if you can’t think of anyone – call me. Not only will I be overjoyed to hear from you, but I can make some suggestions of people who could use a little encouragement right now. The opportunities abound. All that is needed is a caring heart. Do you have one?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Philippians 4:9a Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 

Today’s challenge from the Apostle Paul is rich with significance, both for our personal growth and for the relational life we experience in the church.

First, we have a beautiful picture of how growth takes place through the intimacy of Godly relationships. At first it may sound rather arrogant of Paul to set himself up as the example to the believers, but I don’t believe pride motivated him to do it. When he mentored young Timothy for the ministry he said to him, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” 

One of the greatest benefits of being a part of a local church is that there are people of deep spiritual maturity who by their example can help us grow in our own walk with Jesus.

Paul says that there are four ways that we grow from such relationships:

1. We learn – this means much more than just having a basic knowledge of the facts – it means to come to a complete understanding of the facts so that we come into agreement with them. Knowledge becomes the lens through which we look at the world and our lives. We adopt the principles and philosophies as our own, and they dictate our decisions and our motivations.
2. We receive –growth Paul happens only through close intimate fellowship with another person. Jesus used this word when He said to us, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you unto myself, that you also may be where I am.” I’m sure you have heard the old saying, “It’s not what is taught, but what is caught that matters most.” However, nothing can be caught if we are not in catching range, and that requires personal contact and intimacy like Christ had with His disciples.
3. We hear – we grow by listening.
4. We see – we observe how others put their knowledge into practice.

According to the original grammatical structure of the verse, each of these growth principles are cumulative in their effect on us. First, we learn to learn. Second, we learn the value system produced by the knowledge. Third, we listen for new knowledge that enhances our value system. Then, through observation of others who are living by that knowledge, we learn to put into practice what we know.

When we understand God’s pattern of growth, then consistent commitment to relationships within the body of Christ become important to us. It is imperative that we are dedicated to our local church so we are constantly stimulated to grow and by our growth we are stimulating others to grow.

Second, unless we put what we have learned into practice, we are fools. Jesus spoke to that issue in Matthew 7 when He told the story of the wise and foolish builders who chose to build on either rock or sand.

There is an eternal chasm between two plateaus of truth that cannot be crossed by human effort.

On the one side are the people who claim to know Jesus but are still living by the mandates of their own will. Their knowledge of God has not changed their nature or their desires.

On the other side are those people who have been transformed by their knowledge of Jesus because they trust Him and have surrendered their will to the will of the Father. Their knowledge of God has become their value system by which they live and make their choices.

Those who have built the houses of their lives on the first plateau will be washed away, while those who have built their lives on the second plateau will stand for all eternity.

Whatever you have learned, received, heard, or seen in Jesus Christ – put it into practice or it is of no value!

The final thing I am challenged with in this passage is that we are called to be examples of these principles to others. This is very convicting.

• Are others able to grow in Christ because of their relationship with me?
• Do they learn to learn because they see the integrity of my understanding?
• Do they catch the value system of a Godly life because of the integrity of my values?
• Do they have reason to listen to what I say because I am a trustworthy messenger who lives what I teach?
• Do they see in me the living reality of the transforming power of the truth?

It would be easy to disqualify myself at any of those points if I listened to Satan as he attempts to beat me down, but I will not! Nor should you! We have all been given the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, and Jesus calls us all to be examples to others of how to live that life today.

Don’t let Satan keep you focused on how you’re not living it, but allow Jesus to encourage you to live according to the measure of faith that you have today. Your growth will happen, and you will be used by God to bring growth to others.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, if anything is praiseworthy…think about such things.

In the last few days I have had two communications with people who have chosen not to attend our church. They are new to the community, and they came for a while, but now they have chosen to become a part of a different fellowship. As I talked to them I asked them what influenced their decision, and they told me. The reasons from both couples were the same. After hearing them I was discouraged, and I immediately went into my faulty fleshly response of finding a solution. I needed to fix the problem in an attempt to change their minds. This morning, when I began to study for this devotional, I was deeply convicted because I had not spent any time telling either of those couples how glad I was that God had led them to a place where they could serve Jesus Christ effectively. I was so wrapped up in my “loss” that I forgot to praise God for His gain. My flesh had won the day.

I am frustrated with myself. I am angry that my flesh, primarily manifested in my pride, continues to influence my thinking, especially about people.  Maybe you can relate.  We get so busy trying to implement our plans, get our work done, achieve our goals, and live our lives, that we alienate other people who don’t enhance what we’re doing. If someone doesn’t agree with us or makes suggestions for change we find fault with them.

We may keep it to ourselves and form a lasting opinion of them, or we may talk about them to others in disrespectful conversation. We believe such people are detrimental to our cause and we may completely push them aside. We take it personally when someone rejects what we are doing and has other ideas.

Our pride has convinced us that our way is the best way, which soon becomes the only way. Our pride then reinforces our position, all the while belittling the other person, and we destroy any opportunity we had to build a meaningful relationship. We very quickly lose any motivation to find good in the other person. Our only motivation is self, and all we really want from life is to achieve our personal agenda and its goals.

The last item that the Apostle Paul mentions in Philippians 4:8 in his list of things that are to transform our thinking and behavior is this – look for what is praiseworthy in another person. I remember what my mom used to tell me when I was young – “If you can’t find anything nice to say about someone, don’t say anything at all.” That may be good for a young child, but as we mature we had better learn to find nice things to say about others.

The only people we should be talking about are those that we know well enough to know what is praiseworthy about them. If we don’t know them well enough to know their good qualities, what gives us the right to talk about their bad qualities? And even if we do recognize praiseworthy things about them, it does not validate our talking to others about what’s wrong with them. We have been duped by our pride into believing that we are somehow helping them by telling others what’s wrong with them. Gossip and defamation of character is never acceptable to God.

What is acceptable to God is for us to think about what is praiseworthy in other people. We must intentionally look for the good in others.

When the Apostle Paul got saved and moved from persecuting the Christians to promoting Christ, God sent a man named Ananias to him to pray over him and bring healing to his blindness. Ananias immediately makes excuses and began to tell God all about the horrible things he has heard about this man. But the Lord tells Ananias to look at Paul in a new way – from the perspective of his Savior. Ananias obeys. Later, when Paul is heading into Jerusalem to join the disciples, they were all afraid of him. But a man named Barnabas came to Paul’s defense and convinced everyone that he was truly a follower of Jesus.

The natural response of our flesh is to fear people with bad reputations. Pride finds fault with others as a defense mechanism to protect our self-image. But when our thinking is conformed to the nature and character of Christ, we will look for what is praiseworthy in others.

Jesus told Ananias to change his thinking. Barnabas had already learned to think correctly. I am still learning. How about you? Let’s agree that beginning today, we will magnify the good in others and minimize the bad. We will be people who focus on the praiseworthy.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, August 20, 2018

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, if anything is excellent…think about such things.

2 Peter 1:3  His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.

Let’s review. So far in Philippians 4:8 Paul has mentioned six things we are to be thinking about so that our lives are in line with the nature and character of God. As Paul lists each of those things, he uses the exact same phrase in each case – whatever. I’ve heard that word used a lot by the youth of our culture, but it seems to have a different context. It is usually used as an expression of disgust and disagreement. When someone is done discussing something and it appears they are not going to get their way, they end the conversation by saying emphatically, “Whatever!”

If I were to meet you personally today and tell you that I thought there was one of these six areas that was not being fully developed in your life, and you were not ready to listen to me, you would probably end the discussion by turning away and saying, “Whatever!” How ironic that the very word that means to open one’s mind to consider every item and option is now being used to express a closed mind that will not consider alternatives.

When Paul uses the word, he means we are to look for absolutely anything and everything that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, or admirable. Then, in the middle of his sentence, he changes his emphasis from whatever to if anything. Why the switch? Why couldn’t he just go on saying whatever is excellent and whatever is worthy of praise?

I don’t think he changed just because he was tired of writing whatever. The reason is that Paul’s perspective changes from challenging us to think about the value of things and people’s actions, to thinking about the intrinsic value of a person.  When he uses the word whatever he is referring to things, which includes the actions of people. When he changes his word to if any, he brings the focus onto the very nature and character of a person.

Some translations state it this way – if there be any virtue, or if there be any praise. Why is this so important? Because God looks at the heart of people to validate their actions, so we need to look at people in the same way. Our thinking process needs to be more like Christ by moving from the things people do to the realm of the real heart of a person.

Paul states that the first thing about a person that we should consider is their excellence. The word excellent means manliness. Ladies, that is not to say that only men can be excellent. But in this context, excellence is illustrated by the use of a word that literally means the valor and strength of a man. It refers to the very nature of a man who is born to conquer.

Peter uses this word in our other Scripture reference above when he tells us we have been called to God’s own glory and excellence. The glory and excellence of God are first and foremost His nature and character, not His activity. That is to be how we think about other people as well.  It is obviously important for us to think about the actions of people, or Paul would not have listed the first 6 items as things to think about. But now he sets two items apart from the rest and emphasizes them as most important, and they both refer to the nature and character of the person. When our thinking is truly conformed to the way God thinks about people, we will be more interested in who they are than what they are able to do.

Unfortunately, it seems to be so easy for us within the community of Christ to look at the flaws and failures of people before we consider their excellence. As our thinking is transformed to reflect the nature and character of God, we will become more sensitive to the virtues of people and less offended by their weaknesses.

Every one of us has been given divine power to live life with Godly excellence. We have each been given unique gifts to complement our natural personalities so that the expression of God’s glory is as diversified as God Himself. It is our privilege as followers of Christ to focus our thoughts on the unique ways the glory and excellence of God are being expressed in one another’s lives. I suspect that our natural tendency to look at the flaws and failures of others is based on our need to validate our own lives by bringing others into conformity with ourselves. We have not been called to conform to one another, but to the glory and excellence of Christ.

So, if there is any excellence in another person’s nature and character, we are to think about that and not the negative. The highest form of God-like thinking is to dwell on the glory and excellence of God in a person rather than on their actions. You know what? Every person who is in Christ has the glory and excellence of God in them. So think about those things.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, August 17, 2018

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is admirable…think about such things.

Matthew 25:21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!”

The Apostle Paul says that we are to conform our thinking and our behavior after the pattern of Christ, and the specific challenge today is that we are to think only about those things that are admirable. Like yesterday, the word Paul uses appears only here in the entire New Testament. It is a compound word that is translated in the King James Version of the Bible as good report. It literally means to speak auspiciously of another person.

One part of the word is used to describe the growing popularity of Jesus in His early ministry when Luke says that a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.  But all reports may not be about things that are admirable. Every day we hear reports of bad news. As Christians this should not cause us alarm. We are reminded in Psalm 112:7 that a righteous man will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. We have a wonderful privilege of choosing to focus our minds on things which are admirable rather than things which are of bad report, because we trust in the God of infinite power and good. Nothing of bad report can change the final good report that will be issued when Jesus returns and takes us all to glory.

The other part of the word Paul uses here in Philippians 4:8 is used by Jesus when He commends the faithful servants who invested their talents well and produced a commendable return for the Master. Jesus is describing the Kingdom of God in parable form. He tells the disciples that the citizens of the Kingdom will each be given specific talents, skills, and abilities. They are to use them to serve the Master and bring growth to the Kingdom. Two of the men in the parable do just that, and the Master praises them with the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” The third servant in the story hides his gifts. His intention is to protect what he has and return to the Master only what he was given. He is condemned in front of all the others as wicked and lazy.

Each man in the story had a report issued about his life. Two reports were good, and one was bad. Good reports are admirable: bad reports are not.

What kinds of reports are being made about our lives? We could probably spend a lot of time looking at a variety of personal issues:

1. What kind of report is the Master compiling about how I use my finances?
2. What kind of report is the Master compiling about my work ethic?
3. What kind of report is the Master compiling about my language and how I speak of others?
4. What kind of report is the Master compiling about how I treat my spouse or my family?
5. What kind of report is the Master compiling about my sexual preferences and purity?
6. What kind of report is the Master compiling about my honesty and personal character?
7. What kind of report is the Master compiling about the priorities of my life?
8. What kind of report is the Master compiling about my commitment to His kingdom purposes above all else in my life?

It is this last issue that I want to specifically address for a brief moment. Each of us as born-again followers of Jesus Christ is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and is equipped for specific tasks in the local church. We have been given talents, skills, abilities, and resources to invest primarily in the growth of the Kingdom. When the Master returns we will each have to give a report to Him of how our investments turned out. What will your report be? Are you using your gifts to serve Jesus Christ admirably? If He were to return today would His report about you be, “Well done!”?

I think for many of you it would be. You serve faithfully and humbly. You give generously and sacrificially. You have prioritized your lives around the things of God and you have remained faithful by sacrificing your personal goals for the sake of Christ’s goals. I praise God for His work in your life to accomplish that.

But for some, there is still a very selfish nature to the faith. God is a part of life, but He is not yet your whole life. You serve Him when it is convenient and comfortable, but the word sacrifice cannot yet be used in the report of your life. The report of your life is not yet admirable.

But it’s not too late. Start today. Be willing to invest every part of your life into the cause of Christ. Deep inside of you there is a still small voice that speaks to you. You can hear it right now, can’t you? It is the Holy Spirit graciously reminding you of the glory you could receive one day when Jesus says, “Well done!” That day is worth far more to you than anything you can accomplish for yourself today. Listen to Him and obey Him. Start thinking about what is admirable, and live your life in such a way that you are assured of Christ’s good report.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Philippians 4:8  ⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is lovely…think about such things.

Acts 28:1-2 ¹Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta.  ²The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold.

How are you doing so far at transforming your thinking so that it conforms to the nature and character of God? It’s hard work, isn’t it? I know I find myself easily slipping back into the pattern of thinking I learned from the world and my flesh. But the Holy Spirit is active in our hearts and minds, and He is changing us into the image of Jesus Christ – Hallelujah!

So far in Philippians 4:8 we have been challenged to think according to the truth; to think about that which honors God and is noble; to think in terms of righteousness and justice; and to keep our minds pure and holy. Today we are told by Paul to think only about what is lovely.

The Biblical word lovely is not the word we normally use in our culture to describe beauty. Our brains do not need to be trained to think about beauty. God created us with an incredible appreciation of things that are lovely and pleasing to the eye. We by nature find beauty in nature. We enjoy the changing colors of the leaves in the fall. We are in awe of natural wonders like mountains and Grand Canyons. We are amazed at the diversity and splendor of the vivid colors of animals and fish. We do not need to be taught to see beauty.

The word lovely in Philippians 4:8 is a compound word, and this is the only place in the entire Bible where this word is used. One of the parts of the word is the Greek word phileo, which means to love by treating affectionately or kindly, to welcome, to befriend. It is the word from which we get the name of the city Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. The other part of the word means to direct towards another. The full meaning of lovely then is to direct brotherly love towards others. Paul says that we are to be constantly thinking about how we can be friendly to other people.

Late in Paul’s life, on his boat ride to Rome, he is shipwrecked on the island of Malta. When everyone on the boat arrives safely on shore, the natives approach them. They are strangers to one another with no way to communicate because they do not speak the same language. To our knowledge they have never been told about Jesus Christ, and in fact when Paul is healed from the venomous bite of a snake, they believed that he was a god and wanted to worship him. Yet when Paul and his shipmates floated ashore, the natives showed unusual kindness to them. They welcomed them and built them a fire so they could warm up and dry out.

Two very important words are used by Luke when he describes this event – kindness (phileo) and welcomed, which is the word used to describe someone who takes another into their home as a companion. Luke emphasizes that the brotherly love that was shown was unusual in nature, meaning that it was not just a little kindness, but it went far beyond the ordinary.

This is the model of how we are to be thinking when it comes to our relationships with other people. This is the essence of what Jesus taught when He said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:43 – 45) Jesus went on to say in Luke 6:32 – 36, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that.  And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full.  But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

That’s challenging! If it wasn’t, maybe you should read it again. When we think according to the nature and character of God, we do not discriminate when it comes to showing brotherly love to others. As followers of Jesus Christ, we do not have the privilege or the right to choose whom to love or treat with kindness. But we must also understand that we don’t get to stop at a level of kindness that is convenient or socially acceptable: we are to show unusual kindness – the type of kindness modeled by Jesus Himself. The type of kindness that directs good at those who have harmed us or who might harm us. The type of kindness that goes the extra mile and gives the extra garment. This is what will make us lovely.

Unfortunately, we are the victims of fleshly thinking and we do discriminate when it comes to doing good. Our thought process is corrupted by our emotional needs and our predication to self-preservation. We must ask the Holy Spirit to begin to change our thinking so that we truly love all others the way Jesus loved them and loves them still.

We the people of God can be lovely by showing unusual kindness towards others, whoever they are. The ungodly people of Malta had no way of knowing what to expect from Paul and the others who drifted onto their shore, but they directed brotherly love at them anyway. How much more should we who know Jesus do the same!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is pure…think about such things.

James 3:17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure;

1 John 3:2-3 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

The fourth characteristic of God upon which we should focus our intellectual energy is to think about whatever is pure. As temples of the Holy Spirit, our lives are the dwelling place of Christ. He brings to us the wisdom of God so that our thoughts and actions may be honoring to Him.

James describes the wisdom of God as first of all, pure. We cannot claim to be under the influence of the wisdom of God if what we are thinking or doing is not pure.

I have had too many personal experiences with people who claim to have prayed for wisdom from God about a decision, and then make a choice that directly contradicts the teaching of Scripture on that subject. They claim that they are in the right because they have peace in their heart after praying. Well, I don’t know who they were praying to or what voice they heard, but it wasn’t God’s wisdom. God’s direction and guidance is always pure and holy. I suspect that what they did was to talk themselves into getting what they wanted rather than really listening for the wisdom of God. The reason for this is that their thoughts are on the things of the world and not on the things of God.

The Apostle John deals with this in his short letter he wrote to the churches. He says that the children of God will think about the things of God and the return of Jesus Christ. This will fill us with the hope of glory rather than hope in this world, and as a result we will purify ourselves so that our thoughts and actions are holy, just as God is holy.

We all live every day with two choices – to be like the world or to be like Jesus Christ. Our actions are the visible proof of our choice and the condition of our heart. When we choose to attach ourselves to the world, it is because our thought life is worldly and not pure. However, our minds can be transformed.

What does Paul mean by the word pure? The basic meaning of the word is sacred. It is derived from a word that means physically pure, morally blameless, and ceremonially consecrated. Let’s look at our lives right now in light of those three aspects of purity.

First, are our lives physically pure? One dictionary of the Greek language defines it this way – to be pure from carnality, chaste, and modest. We are bombarded every day with sexual images and messages from a decadent society. Magazine ads and articles, television commercials and programs, movies, and personal friends all use the carnal pleasures of the flesh to influence us or make us laugh. It has become such an accepted part of our lives that we quickly excuse it as being insignificant. We are no longer disgusted by the disrespect and dishonor it displays towards God, but we accept it as a part of life. We even participate in it if it means fitting in to the group of people we are with or if it brings us pleasure. We re-tell the off-color jokes. We silently and secretly lust at the sight of sexual images. We buy into the immodesty of our culture by buying the clothing that shows more skin than is appropriate. We have become far too much like the world in our physical appearance and behavior.

The second part of purity is to be morally blameless. While we may be able to claim that we have not physically committed sexual sin, we probably cannot claim purity in our thought life. Jesus says, ”But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28)

In Romans Paul speaks of the constant battle in our minds between knowing the truth and desiring to please the flesh. A little boy was caught pulling up flowers in his mother’s garden. She placed him in a chair in the house and told him to sit there for 15 minutes. As she walked away she heard him mumble, “I’ll sit here, but I’m going to imagine that I’m still outside pulling up flowers.” That little boy was not morally blameless. We only become morally blameless when we come into agreement with God’s purity. We can desire holiness rather than the satisfaction of the flesh.

Finally, purity means to be ceremonially consecrated. In the Old Testament items for use in the temple were ceremonially consecrated for a sacred purpose, and they were never allowed to be used for anything else. God also asked the people of Israel to consecrate themselves to Himself, and be determined to accomplish His purpose and no other.

In Romans 12:1 we read, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”  It is our privilege to come before God as an act of worship and consecrate ourselves to Him as holy, so that we might serve Him and Him only.

This act of consecration is not just a one-time thing we remember doing years ago, but no longer consider it significant. It is an act of daily submission to the One who gave His life for us on Calvary. When we recognize the purity that has been freely granted to us by God’s grace, and we consecrate ourselves to bringing our lives into conformity with our exalted spiritual position, it is the first step in becoming morally blameless and physically pure. May that process be renewed in all of our lives today.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, …whatever is right…think about such things.

Proverbs 11:1 A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is His delight.

“That’s not fair!”

How many times have parents heard those words from their children? How many times have we used them to describe undesirable conditions in our own lives? When we evaluate the real motivation for those words, we must conclude that we have been given a wonderful gift from God – a desire for justice.

In Scripture, justice and righteousness are inseparable. It is not possible for something to be right and not be just, nor is it possible for something to be just and not be right. But we don’t want that to be true because our personal preferences and desires are not realized in such a black and white world. It may be just to punish every criminal the same for every similar crime, but when we or someone we love is the criminal, we don’t think it’s right to have the sentence imposed. We look hard for various justifications to ask the judge for a reduced sentence. We hire lawyers who give us the best chance of avoiding the most serious consequences. And when the sentence is finally imposed, we claim it is not fair if we get more than we thought we should.

Our underlying problem is this – we are still seeking to serve self rather than honor God. We chose the action that got us in trouble because we thought it would please us and bring us something of value. Then, when we realized that the action itself was unrighteous, we did everything we could to protect our self-value by avoiding the stigma of the consequences.

We seem to apply that philosophy to many parts of our lives. We are constantly making choices based on their immediate benefit to our emotional needs, our physical pleasure, or our financial goals. The author of Proverbs refers to this when he says, a false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is His delight.

When I was in high school, I got a job at a grocery store working in the meat department. My main job was to clean all the equipment, but soon I was also waiting on customers from behind the counter. There was no self-serve in those days, so everything had to be weighed and wrapped following the customer’s selection.

I remember the training process the boss took me through to learn how to weigh meat properly. His main point of emphasis was this – once you have placed the meat on the scale, take both hands away and hold them where the customer can see that you are not touching the scale. “We want the customer to know we are honest,” he said. I was taught to have just (righteous) scales.

That principle applies to every part of our lives. Every decision we make about our goals and activities must be made so that they are in perfect agreement with God’s holy character. That’s Just and fair because He alone is righteous. The temptation to put our thumb on the scale and manipulate the outcomes of our lives is very real and powerful.  We must understand that all our attempts to bring value to our lives at the expense of justice and righteousness do not change the very nature of God, who is just and righteous. His justice will prevail, and the consequences of our unrighteous choices will result in serious consequences to our lives.

It is vital that we not only think about right things, but that we do them. However, be aware of the subtle temptation of Satan to convince us that our definition of right is valid. Our understanding of right and wrong is only accurate when it is based on the unchanging, absolute truth of God’s Word. Truth is not relative, therefore, definitions of right and wrong are unchangeable, regardless of our personal desires and emotional influences.

We have an incomparable gift from God in our salvation – the knowledge of the truth, and it is able to set us free to walk on level paths of righteousness and justice. But that will only happen if we choose to deny our self-validating desires and live according to the way of the Upright One.

Make that choice today!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, August 13, 2018

Philippians 4:8  Finally, brothers, …whatever is noble…think about such things.

What kind of reputation do you have? When people speak of you, are they saying kind things?

The reputation we have is established by the consistency of our behavior. On the negative side, if we consistently lie, we will be known as a liar. If we consistently cheat, we will be known as a cheater. If we consistently steal…well, you get the point.   But on the positive side, if we consistently serve others we will be known as a servant. If we consistently give to others we will be known as generous. And if we consistently do things honestly, we will be called honorable.

In Philippians 4:8 Paul says that we need to live our lives in such a way that it clearly demonstrates that we are thinking about noble things. The Greek word for noble means honorable, and is derived from another Greek word that means to revere. Our lives are to be lived with such honor that we are revered by others.

Recently I heard a true story that illustrates the need for Christians to do all things with honor. The story is about a man and a woman who have finalized their divorce and the settlement has been reached. The woman is very active in her church and claims to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. Her former husband had a business associate who had stored some of his equipment in the husband’s machine shed. When the business associate called the woman to claim his equipment, he was told that she had been awarded his items in the divorce settlement. When he asked her if she knew they were his, she said yes, but that they had chosen not to declare them so they were awarded to her. When he asked her if she would return them, she said no. She is keeping the equipment even though she knows it belongs to him.

How can a true follower of Jesus Christ behave so dishonorably? It is so unlike the example of Paul. In 2 Corinthians 8:16 – 21 Paul tells us another story about a follower of Jesus Christ – a man named Titus. Here it is:

But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you.  For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord. With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. And not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us, for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man. 

Here’s the background to the story: the church at Corinth has a huge offering they want Paul to deliver to the needy people in Jerusalem and to other churches. Titus, Paul’s pastoral trainee, has agreed to go to Corinth and pick up the offering. He is taking with him a fellow pastor who is a famous preacher. He is not named, but we soon discover his reputation. Paul did not want anyone to question his integrity, so he selected a man that had an honorable reputation to handle the finances. All the other churches agreed that this man is so honorable that they trusted him to carry the money and make sure it was used for its intended purpose.

That’s the kind of reputation each of us should desire, and it is only achieved through the consistent practice of honesty.

But why don’t we know the man’s name? I think there are two reasons:

1. A person should be known first by their character and not by their name.
2. Paul is emphasizing the characteristic of honor by using Titus as the main character in the story because the name Titus means honorable.

Titus was fortunate to have a name that reflected his character. Paul wanted everyone for all time to know the other pastor by his character as well. The question we must ask is this: when people hear your name, what kind of character do they think of?

We all want to make a name for ourselves – let’s just make sure it’s an honest and honorable one.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Friday, August 10, 2018

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true…

John 7:18  He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.

I recently discovered something rather significant about myself. I have the tendency to shift loyalties based on personal honor. As a young boy I grew up in the state of Michigan, and during my late elementary and middle school years, we lived about three hours north of Detroit. It was the early 1960’s, and because of my grandfather and my mother, I became a huge baseball fan. I remember all the greats of the game from that era, and still have a connection to the old time American League teams like the Indians, Yankees and Red Sox. But one team has been my lifelong favorite – the Detroit Tigers.

Ever since their last World Series victory in 1984, they have been on a serious skid. In the last 34 years, they have one of the worst overall records in baseball. There have been a few years where it looked like they would be champions again, but overall I have become disillusioned with their management and performance. I still keep my memorabilia from the past, but I have lost interest in following them today. In fact, just a few weeks ago I cleaned out my garage and threw away a Tigers baseball cap.

On the other hand, for the last 20 years, I have been somewhat following the Minnesota Twins. I have gained respect for their team because of their philosophy of developing players into champions rather than buying players that may already be champions. I love their style of baseball, and I appreciate their team chemistry and camaraderie.

I find that I am rooting for the Twins more than the Tigers. This causes me great consternation because suddenly I question my loyalties. Am I becoming a fan who shifts loyalties based on which team is winning? I certainly hope not, and I will fight that shallow tendency. I have analyzed my feelings and the logic of all of this and have come to this conclusion – whichever team wins I will take pride in saying I am a fan. I don’t like that about myself, because I don’t personally believe you can be a true fan of two teams. But I’m not ready to make a choice yet.

I’m sure by now you are asking yourself, “What does all of this baseball talk have to do with Scripture?” We all have a choice to make about the truth by which we will live. We will either live by the truth that we have the right to live for the honor of self, or we will live by the truth that we will live for the honor of Jesus Christ. Every day we must make that choice. In every social situation we must make that choice. In every relationship we must make that choice. We choose to either conform to the circumstances of our life so that we can be accepted and fit in, or we choose to live consistently by the unchangeable truth that no matter what happens, Jesus is Lord.

Jesus said that he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. Accordingly, the opposite of that statement must also be true: he who works for the honor of self is not a man of truth, and everything is false about him.

We have all experienced the unpleasantness of being in the company of someone who is constantly changing their position on issues to please the people they are with. But are we willing to evaluate our own lives and see the unpleasantness we cause Jesus when we do the same thing to Him? Can we honestly say that we live every moment of every day according to the truth of Jesus Christ? Are we seeking to honor Him in every part of our day and in every choice we make, with no attempt to honor self?

Our answer to those questions is probably no. For some, it is because we have given up trying. We accept the human limitations of living in perfection. For others, it is just not important. But for God, it is vital. Paul’s challenge is to have our minds so transformed by the saving power of Jesus Christ that we think only in accordance with His truth.

Every day we are bombarded by a Godless culture with man’s attempt to eliminate moral truth and live only to honor self. We must, as the people of God, choose to think and act according to God’s truth.  We must not let emotions and personal rights interfere with our decision to think on the things of God.

We decide every day whether we will honor self or honor God, and that choice makes us either liars or people of truth. Let the truth set you free to live fully for Jesus Christ.

By the way, to be true to who I am, win or lose, GO TIGERS!

Pastor John