LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Deuteronomy 18:15 – 16 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the LORD your God…”

When the Israelites escaped from Egypt under the leadership of Moses, they experienced for the first time in their lives the physical presence of Almighty God. They heard His voice from the mountain where Moses met with Him, and they saw His holiness and His power in the fire that encompassed the mountain. They were suddenly aware of their vulnerability. They realized that their sin could not stand in the presence of God, and God was present. Knowing their precarious position and desiring to live, they asked if God would remove Himself from their presence. How do you think God responded? At first, I focused on the selfishness of the people, and thought God should respond by punishing them. But look at what God did. “The LORD said to Moses: “What they say is good.”

Why would God call good someone’s request to not have Him present? I can think of only one logical reason – it’s because God saw that the people were asking for the right reason. They were not asking because they valued their lives more than God. They were asking because they had become aware of the true nature of God and had realized the true nature of their own lives. In essence they were saying this – “We are sinners, and we cannot stand in the Holy Presence of God. We are deserving of death. We want to know you, God, but we can’t know you this way. Is there another option?” The people were begging for a touchable God.

God responds with another option. He says, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.” Up until this time Moses had been the mouthpiece of God, speaking His truth with His authority. But in this great prophetic promise of Jesus, God tells the people that one day there would be another prophet who would come and speak all the truth of God so that we could know Him and have a personal and intimate relationship with Him. That promise is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, God’s final prophet. The author of Hebrews puts is this way – “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” 

None of us is worthy to approach God. None of us is able from our own merit to communicate with God. We are all insecure humans, incapable of having personal contact with the Hero of Heaven. But God wants to have contact with us. So, He provided a Prophet to us who is His exact representation but in touchable form. Through Him we have a personal and intimate relationship with Almighty God. In Jesus God became touchable.

A touchable God. It’s not only what we want, but it is what we need. This Christmas, and every day before and after, praise the God who became touchable.

If you have the time, here’s my favorite story to illustrate this truth. I’m sure you’ve heard it many times before, but it’s simple message never grows old, and it fits this prophecy of Christ perfectly. It is Paul Harvey’s story of the man and the birds.

Unable to trace its proper parentage, I have designated this as my Christmas Story of the Man and the Birds. You know, THE Christmas Story, the God born a man in a manger and all that escapes some moderns, mostly, I think, because they seek complex answers to their questions and this one is so utterly simple. So for the cynics and the skeptics and the unconvinced I submit a modern parable.

Now the man to whom I’m going to introduce you was not a scrooge, he was a kind, decent, mostly good man. Generous to his family, upright in his dealings with other men. But he just didn’t believe all that incarnation stuff which the churches proclaim at Christmas Time. It just didn’t make sense and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He just couldn’t swallow the Jesus Story, about God coming to Earth as a man. “I’m truly sorry to distress you,” he told his wife, “but I’m not going with you to church this Christmas Eve.” He said he’d feel like a hypocrite. That he’d much rather just stay at home, but that he would wait up for them. And so he stayed and they went to the midnight service.

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier and then went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper. Minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound. Then another, and then another. Sort of a thump or a thud. At first he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window. But when he went to the front door to investigate he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They’d been caught in the storm and, in a desperate search for shelter, had tried to fly through his large landscape window.

Well, he couldn’t let the poor creatures lie there and freeze, so he remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter, if he could direct the birds to it. Quickly he put on a coat, galoshes, tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on a light, but the birds did not come in. He figured food would entice them in. So he hurried back to the house, fetched bread crumbs, sprinkled them on the snow, making a trail to the yellow-lighted wide open doorway of the stable. But to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs, and continued to flap around helplessly in the snow. He tried catching them. He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms. Instead, they scattered in every direction, except into the warm, lighted barn.

And then, he realized, that they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could think of some way to let them know that they can trust me. That I am not trying to hurt them, but to help them. But how? Because any move he made tended to frighten them, confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led or shooed because they feared him. “If only I could be a bird,” he thought to himself, “and mingle with them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. Then I could show them the way to safe, warm …to the safe warm barn. But I would have to be one of them so they could see, and hear and understand.”

At that moment the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sounds of the wind. And he stood there listening to the bells – Adeste Fidelis – listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. And he sank to his knees in the snow.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, December 1, 2023

Here we are in the most wonderful time of the year. In Wisconsin we look forward to a fresh white blanket of snow to turn our land into a winter wonderland. Our Christmas tree is fully decorated along with all the other rooms of our house. The lights are up on the outside of the house, and the star pointing the way to the manger is fully lit.

From the world’s perspective there are many reasons that this is the most wonderful time of the year. Andy Williams sang a song about it. In it he referred to kids jingle belling, holiday greetings, happy meetings, friends coming to call, parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, caroling out in the snow, and much mistletoeing. That’s a list that can make for the hap-happiest season of all. But one thing – the main thing –that  makes Christmas the most wonderful time of the year is blatantly missing from the song. There is no reference to the reason for the season. At one point of the song there is a perfect opportunity to refer to it when he sings about the tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago. But nothing about Jesus is said. The world is wrapped up in the wonder of the season but has forgotten why they celebrate.

We may be guilty of that as well. I know I am. Years ago, when I went to get our freshly cut Christmas tree, I had an opportunity to talk to the man I from whom I bought it. At the end of our conversation, I shook his hand as he wished me a merry Christmas. I thanked him, wished him the same, and then said, “Don’t forget to remember the real reason for the season.” He smiled but did not respond. I tied the tree to the top of the Jeep, brought it home, cut off the bottom 3 inches, trimmed the branches, put it in its stand, and carried it into the house. I turned it so the best side was showing, and then watered it to keep it fresh. Not once from the time I left the tree lot until I got the tree up in the house did I stop to think about the reason I was getting the tree, or what the tree represents. At every point of that process I had an opportunity to worship Jesus. As I placed the tree on top of the car I could have thought about the trees that were cut to make the cross upon which my Savior died. As my hands grabbed the branches of prickly needles I could have thought about the thorns that pierced the brow of my Lord. As I placed the tree in the stand I could have praised the Lord for being willing to be raised up on a cross to take a stand against sin. As I watered the evergreen to keep it fresh I could have thought about the everlasting life that is in me because of what Jesus did, watered by the Holy Spirit to keep it fresh and vital. It’s become too easy to enjoy the wonder of the season without worshipping the reason for the season.

When God created Adam and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden, there was one tree that was off limits. But they allowed Satan to influence their desires with deception and they ate from that tree anyway. When God found them in their sin, He dealt with the Deceiver first and made him a promise – someday an offspring of the woman (not the man) would crush his head. It is the first prophecy of Christ in Scripture.

Genesis 3:15  “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

From the moment of man’s sin God initiated a plan to rescue people from the consequences of their sin. From woman, the first to sin, would come redemption. It was the fruit of a tree that led to sin, and it would be the fruit of another tree – the cross – that would lead to salvation. Through one sin death came upon all mankind, and through one death eternal life became available to all who are dying. Hallelujah! Jesus saves!

So as you go through this month, make an effort to retrain your brain so that every event and activity becomes an opportunity to worship Jesus. Don’t get so wrapped up in the worldly wonder of Christmas that you forget to worship the wonder of the Savior whose birth we celebrate. Jesus is the Reason for the season.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, November 30, 2023

One morning I talked to a friend who was having some problems with his house. He bought the house several years ago, but some issues were showing up. The latest was that when the house was moved to its current location and the addition put on, the rafters in the roof were not framed properly. The roof was collapsing. The living room ceiling was falling in. Thousands of dollars of repairs were needed because of a builder’s mistake made without their knowledge.

That stinks! Paying for repairs that weren’t our fault is painful. We rebel against it. We get really bummed about it. It ruins the whole day, or maybe even the whole weekend. Why should we have to pay for someone else’s mistake?

Suddenly I stopped. That sounds familiar. Someone else paid for my mistakes once. My house had also been moved from its original location by a counterfeit carpenter and additional space for self was added on. The construction of that space looked good on the outside, but it was not done according to the original Designers specifications. But I continued to live in it and embrace it as my own. It was collapsing all around me and I didn’t even see it.

Then I realized that someone else had already paid for the repairs. His payment would ultimately drive the counterfeit carpenter out of business. Until then all houses that he had remodeled were made available to the Benefactor for complete restoration if the owner would allow it. I chose to have my house restored.

The Benefactor replaced everything. The renovation began with a new Foundation, followed by the replacement of all the rotting parts with eternal ones that can never rust or rot. Every room I asked the Real Carpenter to restore was instantly invaded by His Co-Worker and completely transformed into a living space that reflected the nature and character of the Benefactor.

Isaiah 61:7 “Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.”

It is a joy to live in such a house. There’s no more shame from living in a collapsing house, but complete joy in knowing that my house has been replaced with one of eternal value. I will rejoice and give thanks to the Benefactor who paid the price for my sin – a price He did not owe but graciously paid – by sending His own Carpenter to do all the work. My house has been replaced, and my hope has been firmly placed in the One who did it for me.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Drunk driver kills father of four. Family home and possessions destroyed by fire. Babysitter accused of rape. Financial markets crash. Four students die in car crash. Government overthrown: everyone taken captive.

Headlines from reality. Heartbreak is reality.

Grieving may be the most underestimated of the emotions. It may be the one we deny the most. Of course, we grieve a little when we read headlines like the ones above. We would have to have awfully cold hearts to not feel some compassion for the people affected by these tragedies. But grief hurts, so in most cases we skip right over it and move on to thinking about something else – something more positive and uplifting. We deny that anything hurts us because we don’t want to appear weak. We certainly don’t want the circumstance to affect us so deeply that it causes any long-term depression. So, we deny that it is there, and hope we never really have to deal with it.

There is a popular theory of grief, introduced by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her 1969 book entitled On Death and Dying that proposes five stages to the grieving process.

1. Denial – “Everything’s fine…I’ll be all right…This can’t be happening to me.”
2. Anger – “It’s not fair…Why is this happening to me…Who’s fault is this?”
3. Bargaining – “I’ll do anything to change this.”
4. Depression – “Why bother…What’s the point…Why go on?”
5. Acceptance – “It’s really going to be okay.”

This is the secular view of the grieving process, and for a long time we may have believed it is the only process available. That’s just not the case. You see, there is a stage prior to the denial stage that has been omitted from the DABDA model – it is the stage of mourning. It is the very first thing that happens in all of us, but for many it is the one they pass through quickly because it hurts the most. It is the stage of helplessness, and that is in direct contradiction to our humanistic thinking. We cannot be found helpless, so let’s skip that part and move into the self-help realm.

Yet it is in the stage of mourning that Jesus comes and offers healing. He offers the intimacy of His presence that ultimately moves us to restoration and skips all the in-between steps found in the human model. The crown of beauty is bestowed upon those who grieve, and gladness pours over the soul of the mourner. In the depths of despair the garment of praise is given.

Isaiah 61:3 “…and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.

Look at the picture below. The crocus is growing out of the ashes of a fire. If the humanistic model is true, this could never happen. The bargaining stage would have removed the burned log, tilled up the soil, put in some landscaping rocks, and planted roses, only to realize that roses are too hard to grow and depression would have set in. Man’s efforts to heal grief don’t work.

But God can heal any grief. Jesus Christ mourned over the death of Lazarus, and with no denial, anger, bargaining, or depression he simply resurrected him from the grave. Don’t let the world get into your head. Let God heal your heart. He who can grow crocuses out of ashes can bring joy to you in the darkest of days.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

We are a culture of followers. We sit and wait for someone else to take the first step. We live in a fairly consistent fear of stepping out into the unknown. We’ve put a considerable amount of emphasis on the failures we have seen others suffer, while minimizing the faith we can have in the power of God. This concerns me.

One of my best friends was a missionary in Swaziland, and I asked him once to give me his spontaneous response to this question: “Why have we become a culture of followers rather than leaders?” Here is his response.

“We don’t have many leaders today because we are a generation who do not want to take risks, make waves, stand out based on our beliefs. We are much more comfortable fitting in. Our level of importance is based on acceptance by those around us. To lead means to risk that mass acceptance. It is much more comfortable to follow like all the others and complain along the way.”

He sees it too. We have put the emphasis on fitting in and earning acceptance and approval from those around us, rather than on the fact that the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon us.

During a doctrinal study on the Holy Spirit with a group of men, these questions were raised.

• Why do we have such a hard time believing that God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit?
• Why do we doubt what we hear?
• Why do we not act like we believe He really spoke?

There were a variety of answers, but every one of them boiled down to this – we don’t have faith in the Holy Spirit as God, one of the three Persons of the Trinity. We have no trouble listening to a friend across a Starbucks table, but we doubt the reality of our True Friend living inside us when He speaks to our heart and mind. This is a serious problem, and it has created a church population of followers rather than leaders.

In a prophetic passage proclaiming the coming Messiah, we read this in Isaiah 61:1.

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me.”

When the Messiah came, He commissioned His followers to be leaders and gave them the Holy Spirit to equip and empower them. We have all, as followers of Christ, been given marching orders. We know what we have been commissioned to do. We know in our hearts how we have been equipped to serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Yet we wallow and wander aimlessly in the culture around us, not convinced that God really said that to us and certainly not trusting that He will provide for us and care for us if we do what He said.

My friends, the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon us, and He has commanded us to go  and bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom in Christ for those captivated by sin, and proclaim the grace of God that is available to all.

What are we waiting for?

Take the lead.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, November 27, 2023

Monday morning – frequently down.

Friday afternoon – typically up.

Those are the bookends of an average rollercoaster work week for most of us. Up and down emotionally, physically, and even spiritually. Some of us run that cycle several times a day as circumstances and people play games with our attitudes. How many of these bumps could be resolved if we would just recognize the truth that no person or event has any power over our attitudes? Attitudes are completely and exclusively our choice. But that’s for another day.

For today I want to share with you a blessing I received from the Lord one morning. I awoke at 4:15 AM and did my very best to go back to sleep. I couldn’t. So, I thought about things and prayed.

I thought about the message I had preached the day before, and how people still listen through filters. I prayed for them.

I thought about how busy I was, and how I probably won’t have time that day to go home and see my wife until after the Elder meeting that night. I prayed for strength and good time-management skills to get everything done.

I thought about the church building program and the incredible blessing that God had bestowed upon us, and how we could use that blessing to bless others. I prayed for our sister church on the Bayou and the people who need houses.

I thought about my emotional responses to the aforementioned items, and realized that I had allowed my attitudes to be adjusted by those circumstances and people, both up and down. The down part bothered me. I finally got out of bed.

When I went to the couch and sat down with my laptop, I opened my Bible program and went to Isaiah 60 and read the whole chapter again. When I got to verses 19 and 20 I stopped.

Isaiah 60:19-20 “The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end.”

God spoke truth into my mind and heart. He worked the truth deep into my soul and spirit. He said clearly, “When you trust me, there are no more ups and downs. Your life right now is like the rising and setting of the sun and the waning of the moon. Trust me, and the ups and downs will be replaced with the consistency of My eternal light. Stop looking to people or circumstances to validate or determine your feelings and attitudes. Let me be your glory.”

That’s what I need for today – and every day. I hope it helps you too.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, November 24, 2023

It appeared to be a dead end. Dead was the operative word in their minds. In front of them was a great body of water that according to their human wisdom was not crossable. Behind them they could see the dust of thousands of chariots as the army of Egypt bore down on them. They cried out to their leader in anger and said, “What have you done to us?”  Standing still meant certain death at the hands of the warriors. Moving meant drowning. It seemed hopeless.

Does this describe your life right now – a dead end? Standing still doesn’t change anything. Moving ahead is way too scary. Maybe if we just close our eyes it will all go away.

Well, I have some interesting news for you – standing still does change things and moving ahead is worth the risk, so long as God has directed you to do either one. No matter how it appears on the surface, God is working on your behalf. If He says stand firm, then do it. In His time, He will act. If He says move, don’t look back and don’t fear what’s ahead. He has already been there, done that, and has everything all worked out, so move with Him no matter how swiftly you have to move.

Isaiah 60:22b  “I am the LORD; in its time I will do this swiftly.”

I remember standing still for almost three years because God said so. The church I led stood still with me. There were times when we tried to move because it made sense to us, but God kept slamming doors and telling us to wait. But then God said move, and believe me when I tell you that He was moving swiftly – more swiftly than I can believe. All of a sudden, in a span of less than 4 weeks, He put together the details of His move in such a way that only He could have orchestrated and for which He will receive all of the glory.

The hardest part is accelerating from a standstill to God-speed in such a short period of time. But it is possible if during the standstill, we do not become inactive. All the groundwork for moving was being put in place so that when God’s time to act arrived, we were ready.

Standstills are never meant to be times of complacency. Want proof? What happens at a stoplight when you are driving? You check your phone, right? You quickly throw together a text to someone, or listen to a voicemail, or read an email. Standstills are times of productivity. So instead of complaining about not moving, why not get prepared to move when the light turns green again?

So, with all the preparation done, and all of God’s pieces being put into place, we began moving. Swiftly. We had to hang on tight. It was an awesome ride filled with opportunities to see God’s power and provision. It required us to step out in faith and move into uncharted territory. But God knew we were ready. No looking back. No looking around. With eyes straight ahead fixed firmly on where God was moving, we followed, and we followed at His speed.

So, what happened to the people at the dead end? Here’s what it says about them in Exodus 14.

“Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”

Stand firm on the promises of God. Move when God says move. Then we will all see the glory of God.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, November 23, 2023

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Here’s one of my favorite Bible passages on being thankful and a few points to stimulate your thinking today. Enjoy your family and your turkey. (Don’t confuse the two.)

Colossians 3:12-17

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.  And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Be Thankful for who we are

• We are Chosen
• We are Holy
• We are Loved
• We are Forgiven

Be Thankful for what we have

• We have the character of Christ
  • …compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.  And above all these put on love…
• We have the peace of Christ
  • And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…
• We have connection with others
  • …which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
  • …to which indeed you were called in one body.

Be Thankful in whatever we do

…do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

• In ministry to one another
  • Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…
• In communication with one another
  • And whatever you do, in word…
• In every task of life
  • …or deed…

GIVE THANKS TO GOD THE FATHER THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.”

Do you remember this from the old TV show Hee Haw?

“Gloom, despair, and agony on me;

Deep dark depression, excessive misery;

If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all;

Gloom, despair, and agony on me.”

Too many of us live life this way. Darkness covers us like the dust cloud around Pig Pen in the Peanuts cartoon strip. Like Eeyore, everywhere we go we find something wrong with what’s there. Every piece of news we read or hear pushes us deeper into the chasm of cynicism. Every day the darkness gets darker as the light gets dimmer because we have run out of batteries.

The natural response of our hearts to increasing darkness is to draw up closer to ourselves. We pull everything tighter to our chests and protect what little we think we have left. We quickly turn from a giving person to a tightwad when it starts to get dark. We do the same things with our lives that we do with our homes when the sun goes down – we lock the doors behind us, finish some inside tasks, turn off all the lights, and snuggle up with the false security of a blankie, hoping no one breaks in while we sleep.

I think we are in denial of how dependent we have become upon the world. The proof for each of us is in our response to crisis.

• Do we respond by protecting ourselves from the darkness, or do we become brighter shiners of God’s light by walking in faith?
• Do we withdraw into the security of our homes and turn off the light of influence to our neighbors?
• Do we shut down the outreach ministries of our church and focus only on the increase of knowledge so we can survive the onslaught of culture’s rebellion against God, or do we fling the doors open wider than ever to rescue as many as possible before Jesus returns and sets it all straight?
• Do we hedge our personal and church funds for the predicted doom or by faith do we give more than ever to shine the light of the Gospel more brightly?

I think the reason the Hee Haw quartet is so funny is that we relate to it so well. Isaiah knew it when he wrote, “darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples.” But he also wrote, “the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. He challenges us to arise, shine, for your light has come.” (Isaiah 60:1-2)

The next few verses of Isaiah 60 are significant. They give us the promises of God for those who ignore the darkness and let the light of the glory of God shine in and through them. These promises given to the nation of Israel for the day the Lord returns and redeems their land are for people like you and me who let His light shine today as well.

• You will be radiant – verse 5
• Your heart will throb and swell with joy – verse 5
• You will be blessed with prosperity – verses 5-7 (No, I am not teaching the false prosperity gospel, but rather affirming what the Lord said that whatever we sow we will reap.)
• God’s glory will fill the church – verse 7
• Your enemies will become your friends and serve you – verses 10-11
• Respect will return to you – verses 14-15
• Peace will come to you – verses 17-18
• Complete dependence upon God will be the norm – verses 19-20
• Righteousness and justice will rule your life – verse 21

All that can be ours if we choose to let the Light of God shine through us instead of succumbing to the darkness around us. No more gloom, despair, and agony on us. The glory of the Lord has come upon us. Arise, and let His light shine.

Pastor John