LifeLink Devotions

Monday, October 30, 2023

I know I often use sports analogies, but I must do this because it is a good illustration of the truth God has placed in my heart this morning.

In my closet are several articles of clothing that represent the football team I support. Now for those of you with humorous minds, I know what you are thinking. “And that’s where they should stay.” But I don’t have them to hide them. I wear them. In fact, it is so well known that I am a fan of this team that even when I wear that color of clothing without any reference to the team on it, people make comments about my team. It happened one Sunday at church when I wore a purple sweater.

In the past few years, when another team that is popular in this area has played for the championship, I have supported my friends by wearing the colors of their team. One year I even wore an official team jersey of that color to a church event. The people who saw me when I came in with that jersey on were shocked. They were confused. They knew that I was taking a stand for something that I had never supported before. I felt out of place. It was awkward. They had no reason to believe that I was being sincere, for there had been no past experience upon which they could base their trust.

Isaiah 56:1 “This is what the LORD says: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.”

Soon and very soon the Salvation of the Lord will be upon the earth. Soon God’s righteousness will be revealed by the Righteous One appearing on the earth to establish His kingdom. It will be a kingdom ruled with justice and perfect righteousness. The weak will be made strong. The poor will have all their needs met. Victims will cease to be victimized and every act of sin will be exposed. Hate will disappear in the presence of perfect Love.

When all this happens, what will the people of the world say about you and me?

• Will they know that we have been consistent supporters of God’s kingdom?
• Will they recognize the banners now flying over the earth because they have seen us wearing the same colors proudly every day?
• Will they be thankful for the foundation that we laid in their lives and in our culture that prepared the way for the King to take His throne?
• Or will they wonder with good reason why at the last minute it appears we are switching teams?

Think on these things.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, October 27, 2023

I am in awe of the immensity of God. Never mind that in my mind I know the fact that He is limitless – today my heart has captured it in a fresh way.

I saw this picture in an old National Geographic magazine while in a local waiting room.

This is a centuries-old supernova remnant. Its rose-tinted shock wave is blasting outward at more than 11 million miles an hour. It hangs in the Large Magellanic Cloud orbiting the Milky Way like an iridescent holiday ornament.

When I read the description of this picture and saw that for several hundred years the shock wave of this exploding star has been travelling at 11 million miles an hour I was blown away. My mind cannot comprehend how big the universe is that God created, and He holds it all in the palm of His hand.

For example, let’s just randomly assign an explosion time of 200 years ago; it could be older than that. With 24 hours in a day and 365 days in a year multiplied by 200 years we get one million seven hundred fifty two thousand hours. That means the rose-tinted ring has already traveled over 19 trillion miles. Yet when you look at the picture, the ring has not yet reached the nearest neighbor stars. The heavens truly declare the glory of the Lord.

This is significant today as we consider the closing verses of Isaiah fifty-five. They put a cap on several chapters of Messianic promises concerning the restoration of Jerusalem after its abandonment and destruction caused by the people’s sins which led them into captivity.

Isaiah 55:12-13 “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.  Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD’S renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.”

God says that the day is coming when the people will return to the city in renewed glory, and when they do they will go out in joy be led forth in peace. Everything in nature will burst forth into praise to the Lord, and what had once been a land filled with thorns and thistles will now be a land of productivity and promise.

As I thought about that, and looked at the picture again, I realized that the thorns and thistles of my life that are so burdensome to me are less than specks to an awesome God who holds the universe in His hands. The problems of my life are not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in me when Jesus returns. We have the certain hope – the guarantee of God – that everything we consider hardship right now will be replaced with joy and peace when God finishes His work in us.

Just think – God’s Star exploded on earth 2000 years ago. The shockwave of His glory is filling the earth. You can see it. You can know it. You can live in it. Let everything in your life come under its influence. Don’t let the thorns and thistles speak. Instead, let every part of your life burst into song – “Joy to the world, the Lord has come!” After all, God is bigger than any problem you have.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, October 26, 2023

Even when it’s not raining, we tend to carry umbrellas.

The reason we carry an umbrella when it’s raining is so that we won’t get wet. We have big ones attached to our golf bags and little ones stashed in the pocket on the inside of our car door. We have them leaning against the wall next to the door of our house, and we even carry built in umbrellas called hoods attached to the collar of our jacket. We don’t want to get wet. Wet is uncomfortable. Wet is cold. We want to stay dry and warm. Hooray for umbrellas!!!

Unfortunately, we have carried our love of umbrellas into the spiritual realm. You see, just as it is impossible to not get wet when you stand unprotected in the rain, it is equally impossible to not get wet when exposed to the Word of God. But that makes us uncomfortable, so we put up our spiritual umbrellas.

We sit in church listening to the message from the Lord, and whenever the Word of God make us uncomfortable, we pop up an invisible yet very real umbrella to protect us from the conviction.

We put up umbrellas of many styles and colors, representing a variety of personal interests and objectives, but they all have the same purpose – to keep us dry and comfortable in our present little world of experience. We have them stored all over our lives, so that at any moment we can pop one up to protect us from any rain that might fall. Every umbrella is designed to distract us from the reality of the rain that is falling around us. Up it goes and off we go into our own little thought world of self-indulgence, seemingly protected from the shivers of self-examination.

Yet the benefit we think we are receiving by staying dry is leading to our demise. The shivers we are avoiding are making us shrivel. It is when we get wet that we flourish. It is the rain of God’s Word that produces fruit. When we are saturated with the rain of God’s truth we are able to see God accomplish His purpose in us.

Isaiah 55:10-11 “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

We are stained people. Stained with sin. We must get wet to be washed. That is why Jesus came to earth, to wash us in the water of God’s Word. He uses the Apostle Paul to tell us that in Ephesians 5, where God says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing  her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”

You and I cannot be holy, stainless, unwrinkled, and blameless if we don’t let ourselves get wet. We must take down our umbrellas and let the water of the Word wash us. Every stain needs a good soaking. Every protective covering we have put on or put up to shield us from the rain of God’s Word must be removed. We must do what little children do when it rains – take off all our clothes and run naked in it, letting it soak every part of us. Our shields – our umbrellas – will never do what God’s Word can do. As Agur, the author of Proverbs 30:5 says, “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”

Years ago there was a dear old saint who came to me consistently after worship and shook my hand. As she did, she said these words – “Thank you for washing me in the Word today.”

She had no umbrellas. She was ready for rain.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

We have a family game that I have only played twice. It is a game that doesn’t make sense. Each player is required by chance to do some strange things that are seemingly disconnected from the ultimate goal of winning. I can’t even tell you if there is a way to declare a winner or not. I’m sure there is, but the nonsensical nature of the game detracts from winning. That’s really the point of the game, but it is very hard for me to adjust to that. I am outcome driven, and the process to the outcome must make sense.

How many times have you heard the statement, “That makes no sense?” I’ve said that at times. I’ve had that said to me many more times. It is especially true when it comes to listening to God. I’ve said it to Him way too much.

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

God is really working on me in this area. He is filling my mind with tough questions.

• What is it about ‘My grace is sufficient for today’ that you don’t understand?
• What kind of faith do you have if you need to know everything before acting on what I said?
• Why do you think it has to make sense to you?
• Do you really think you can be that much like me?
• Do you really trust me?

That last question is the toughest for me. I know how untrustworthy my heart is, and I transfer that distrust to my heavenly Father. I know how manipulative I can be based on my motivation to serve self. I transfer those qualities onto others and believe they are doing that to me. I know how much pride I take in how many answers I have and how much I can get done. I dare to stand in the presence of Almighty God and demand to know.

We are all going to have difficult days as these truths pound on us until we learn to trust the truth of Isaiah 55:8-9. Unless we crucify pride, our ways will always be higher than His ways, and our thoughts will always be higher than His thoughts. We will consider ourselves first and Him last unless we surrender our need to know. We will fall flat into failure when we live life according to what makes sense, when we could fly into fullness of faith by following the Father even when it makes no sense.

This is my goal – to use the statement “That makes no sense” as the starting gun to a race of faith, rather than a hurdle over which I stumble. When God speaks, and it makes no sense, then I will know I am exactly where God can use me the most.

To help me trust God more, I’ve written a little acrostic for the word trust. Maybe it will help you too.

The

Rational

Understanding

Surrendered

Totally

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

In 1969 an entertainer named Joe South recorded a song that became a hit in the world of secular music. It was called “The Games People Play”, and won two Grammy awards. The lyrics have some truth in them. We play games with one another and have fallen victim to pride and vanity. It is basically a protest song against hate, hypocrisy, and intolerance. But there is also a deep current of humanistic thought running through the song. Essentially it says that each of us is to be content with who we are and not let anyone, especially Christians, influence us to change. All change is a game we play, and God is only there to grant us the serenity to remember who we are and be content with that.

One of the games we play so well with each other is Hide & Seek. It’s a childhood game that has become a childish game played by adults. We mostly play the hide part as we seek to be undiscoverable by others. We hide our true feelings. We hide our true intentions. We hide our true thoughts. We hide behind psychological trees we think are big enough to completely protect us from view. We dare not let anyone get too close or we may even try to run to a new hiding spot without being seen. We must not let anyone see us for who we really are.

The motivation for finding a good hiding place as a child is so that we won’t be found first because that would make us “it”, and no one wants to be “it”. No one wants to be the seeker. It’s no different for adults. We have avoided being the seeker since the very first sin. When Adam and Eve experienced the guilt and shame of sin for the very first time, the game of Hide & Seek began. They first tried to hide behind tree leaves. Then, when they heard the Seeker coming, they hid themselves more thoroughly in and amongst the lush growth of the garden. They did not want to be found.

They had good reason not to be found – they were guilty and deserved punishment. It’s that same sense of guilt and deserved punishment that drives us to hide today. We hide our guilt from others, but more significantly we attempt to hide our guilt from God.

I remember a time when I was a child playing this game in the woods of Michigan with a group of friends. The hiding place I found was so good that they never found me. I waited there for a long time, relishing in the pride of my hiding ability, until it started to get dark. I wandered out of that place, carefully making sure no one saw me to protect the location for future use, and I walked back to my friend’s house. They were all inside playing. They had stopped looking for me. I had to look for them. They had not reported me lost, they just went on with their lives. Ouch! Eventually all hiding ends in loneliness.

It is time for the hider to become the seeker.

Isaiah 55:6-7 “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.”

The days of hiding are done. It is time to be found. The guilt and shame that motivate your hiding can be gone. All you need do is choose to be “it”. God wants you to play the seeker role and find Him. He is not hiding from you. He is not waiting to punish you because He already punished His Son for you. He will have mercy on you. He will pardon you. Open your heart. Expose the darkest parts of your life to the Light of God’s grace. For when you find Him, the games are over.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, October 23, 2023

On June 19, 2000, then Presidential candidate Dick Cheney held a $2,500-per-plate fundraising dinner for his upcoming election campaign. Among those who received an official invitation was an inmate in an Ohio federal penitentiary.

Imagine how the prisoner felt when he received that invitation. “Is this for real? Will I actually be released for the event? Why would I be invited? What does Mr. Cheney see in me?”

That’s how I feel when I read Isaiah 55:1-2. “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.”

Has there ever been a better invitation sent out than this one? I was a prisoner of my sin. I was unable to pay for it. I had wasted all my resources on things that never satisfied me. Then Jesus said, “Come! What I have for you is worth more than you could ever afford, but I will give it to you free. Come, and you will be satisfied.”

My friend, this is the invitation of Jesus to you today. Come! Accept His gift of salvation, and your soul will be released from the prison of sin.

You may ask, “How?”  Here’s what God says you must do:

• Admit you are thirsty. Embrace the longing of your soul for satisfaction.
• Admit you are poor. Confess to God that you have no options left to satisfy yourself and that you cannot afford the gift He is offering.
• Repent (turn your back on) of all your past efforts to satisfy yourself.
• Turn to Jesus and listen to what He says. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
• Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved! Put your trust in His death and resurrection as the full payment for your sin, and God will give you eternal life!

The invitation has been sent. How will you respond?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, October 20, 2023

Isaiah 54:10  “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.”

In Isaiah 54, God is speaking through the prophet declaring the promise of a restored nation of Israel after their fall into sin and captivity. He illustrates the barrenness and shame of the nation by referring to the life of Sarah, Abraham’s wife, who was without child and shamed by her people. She was desolate, just like the nation of Israel would be. We know this passage speaks of Sarah because of Paul’s words in Galatians 4:26-27, where he quotes Isaiah 54:1 in reference to her and his picture of the New Jerusalem.

Isaiah understands the emotions Sarah must have felt, and he relates them to the emotions the nation of Israel will experiencing in its time of shame. He then declares how the Lord Almighty meets and ministers to us in those times of need. Yesterday we saw how God met the specific needs of Sarah. Today in the remainder of the chapter, Isaiah declares the victory that comes from the Lord for His chosen people.

I was thoroughly blessed by the promises of God for His people as I began to read what He was going to do for them. Remember, these are people who have made Him angry. “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer. (Verses 7-8)

Yet these are people on whom He will have compassion. This is the story of salvation – the undeserving receiving grace. Look at what God is going to do for them, and us, as a heritage for the servants of the Lord. Verse 17 says, “This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the LORD. Maybe you should read the whole chapter first to get the big picture, and then read the following list of promises.

• The removal of shame and humiliation – verse 4
• Redemption – verse 5
• Reconciliation to God – verse 6
• Perfect Peace – verse 9 and 13
• Unfailing love – verse 10 – what a fantastic verse for today – go back to the top and read it again.
• The heavenly city built with beauty and strength – verses 11-12 (compare Revelation 21:10-21)
• Perfect Righteousness – verse 14
• No fear – verse 14
• Conquering power over sin – verse 15
• Powerful weapons and armor from the Lord – verses 16-17
• Powerful words from the Sword of the Spirit – verse 17

Such is the heritage of those who serve the Risen King. Such are the promises for the Children of God. Welcome the teaching of the Holy Spirit into your heart and mind to make the personal applications to your life.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, October 19, 2023

HELP!!! How many times have you shouted that? Maybe you were in serious danger and truly needed assistance. Maybe you were just so emotionally fatigued that you could only cry out for help. Eventually it may become so bad that we finally ask God for help.

I imagine Sarah cried “HELP!” many times as she struggled with her barrenness. Even though she had the promise of God to Abraham that they would have a son, time kept ticking away, and there wasn’t much of it left. But as she cries out, the Lord answers her with these incredible words –

Isaiah 54:5  “For your Maker is your husband—the LORD Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.”

Here’s the PJ paraphrase. “I am your Maker, and I am your husband. I am the Lord Almighty, and I am all you need. I have all things under control, and no matter how lost you feel in the darkness of your despair, I have redeemed you.”

I am overwhelmed with this thought – Whatever my need, God is exactly what I need at that time.

If I am lonely, He is my love.

If I am struggling, He is my strength.

If I am needy, He is my nurturer.

If I am discouraged, He is my deliverer.

If I am poor, He is my provider.

God is exactly what I need at all times.

He made me. He loves me. He has a purpose for me. He provides for me. He never leaves me. He never fails.

Sarah discovered it.

How about you?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

We all have memories of shameful activity that hold us in bondage and keep us from living successfully in the present. The shame of the past shatters the success of the future. Shame produces the fear of ongoing disgrace and humiliation. Our enemy the Devil seeks to hold us in the bondage of past failures. Past experiences of failure resulting in shame immediately build self-protection defenses in us that we implement every time we are asked to take steps of faith. How many times has God spoken and we resisted because it reminded us of another time and another place where we experienced failure by trying?

Isaiah 54:4  “Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.”

Think back to when God promised Abraham and Sarah a son. Sarah had been humiliated by her peers because of her barrenness. They were disgraced by their attempts to solve the problem according to the flesh. And when God tells them to move forward in faith, He reminds them of their shame and how debilitating it will be if they don’t fully trust His Word. In essence He says to them, “I know how much you are hurting from your past, but do not let that stop you from receiving my future for you. If you will let go of the past, and by faith accept and act upon my promise, you will be set free from the bondage of that shame once and for all.”

Many of you today are living in the bondage of a past failure. You are stuck in the shackles of shame. You are not moving in faith because you are mired in fear. Today, seek the heart of God. Ask Him to reveal His will to you – He wants you to know it. And when you discover it, do it! Everything that caused shame in the past because you did it your way will be erased and replaced with the glory of God.

The shame of the past must not be allowed to shatter the success of the future. When God speaks – MOVE! Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

I am still thinking about the wonder of my justification through Jesus Christ.  I pray that you also understand the magnitude and magnificence of what God accomplished through the sacrifice of Jesus. I pray the Lord is deeply touching your heart with His grace.

Then I read the last verse of Isaiah 53, and in a fresh way an old truth jumped out at me. Jesus was numbered with the transgressors – He became one of us!

Isaiah 53:12  “Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Jesus, as God, became one of us so He could bear our sins and make intercession for us to the Father.

That got me to thinking about intercession – you know – when we go to God the Father and pray for someone else for their benefit. As I was contemplating that from the perspective of Jesus making intercession for us, the Lord put a clear thought in my mind – True intercession requires total identification.

This was the case with Jesus, who now sits at the right hand of the Father and intercedes with Him on our behalf. Romans 8:34 says, “Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” That is amazing – Jesus constantly talks to the Father on our behalf. In fact, the apostle John says Jesus is our advocate, defending us to the Father even when we sin. “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1-2)

But we must acknowledge that He is qualified to do that because He first totally identified with us in every way. Take the time to read and absorb these precious truths:

• “For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for  the sins of the people.   Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:17-18)
• “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,  Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.   For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.   Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16)

Jesus is able to intercede for us because He identifies with us. He identified with our sin. He identifies with our suffering. He identifies with our needs. He identifies with our circumstances and experiences. Therefore, He can intercede on our behalf to the Father. He does this through His indwelling Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul says, ”In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” (Romans 8:26-27)

Just think, our intercessor not only knows us completely, but also knows the heart and mind of God completely. He identifies with both, which makes Him the perfect intercessor and able to meet our every need. That’s what Romans 8:28 means when Paul says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” 

The truth of Jesus as my intercessor also challenges me when it comes to how I pray for others. Can I really say I am interceding to the Father on behalf of someone if I have not first identified with the person for whom I am praying? Can I truly intercede if I do not fully, as much as is humanly possible, identify with the Father’s heart for that person? How would my prayer life be changed if I really identified with others when I promised to pray for them?

Pastor John