LifeLink Devotions

Monday, April 10, 2023

The experience of peace is impossible for the human soul without the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Peace is ultimately the absence of fear. From a political perspective, peace is the absence of war, but there is still the possibility that war could erupt, which causes fear. So long as war is a possibility there can be no real peace. From a relational perspective, peace is the harmony and fellowship of friends, but there is always the possibility of discord and argument, thus producing an element of fear. So long as there is the possibility of broken relationship there can be no real peace. From a personal perspective, peace is prosperity and security, but that is contingent upon factors outside of our control. So long as poverty and injury are possible there can be no real peace.

On the very day the disciples discovered that Jesus was not in the grave, they huddled together behind locked doors in fear. A war could erupt at any moment, and they would be in the minority position. Soldiers could pound on their door demanding their lives just as they had taken their Lord’s life. All fellowship with their friends and society had been broken. Their financial security was in grave doubt and their hope for personal safety was gone. They had no peace.

John 20:19-21 “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 

It is very significant that when Jesus appeared to them, He twice commanded peace to be with them. Because of His resurrection from the dead, Jesus was able to offer to the disciples and to us what the world cannot offer – real peace. In His resurrection power Jesus can conquer all the fear of human existence by putting everything into the realm of spiritual existence. Our spiritual life with Christ conquers all human fear.  In 2 Timothy 1:7 Paul writes, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity…” (NLT). The Spirit of God has no fear, and when we walk in the spirit and not according to the flesh, all fear is vanquished and peace reigns in our hearts.

For the Christian, peace is the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, having nothing to fear from God and nothing to fear from the earth because its hope is not in the flesh but in Jesus. Fear is removed because no more war is necessary – Jesus has won the victory over all enemies already. Earthly wars may still exist, but the ultimate war has already been won. Relational fear is conquered because nothing can separate us from the love of God if we are living in Christ Jesus. Our relationship with Jesus is permanent and unbreakable.

Personal fear is also eliminated, because we no longer live for the prosperity and security of the world but in the present reality of total spiritual prosperity and security. We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing from on high in Jesus Christ, and we have been made joint heirs with Him of all things for all eternity. We have reserved for us in heaven an incredible inheritance that cannot be taken away because it is being kept for us by the power of God. That’s security!

With all fear removed, we can experience real peace. That was the first message of Jesus to His disciples after His resurrection – peace can be yours if you trust me and not the world. Maybe this is the day you will make that choice. Peace be with you.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, April 7, 2023

John 20:13,17 “They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him”… ¹⁷Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

When Jesus died and was buried, those who had loved Him and followed Him thought they were defeated and alone. Some began to cry, while others returned to their homes to try and make sense of what had happened. Questions poured into their minds like water crashing through a disintegrating dam. “What did the last three years really mean?” “Why did I quit my day job?” “What am I going to do now?” “Who was this man I thought was the Messiah and Savior of the Jews?” “Why do I suddenly feel so lost and alone?” “What will the Romans do to me if they find out I was with Him?”

The questions kept coming, and there was no one to answer them. “At least when Jesus was around, He took the time to listen to me and answer my questions, even if His answers didn’t make sense. It just felt good to be able to talk to Him. I was at peace knowing that He was there.” It was the emptiness that hurt the most, having invested all that time and energy into His cause only to have Him die and leave us with nothing. “I cannot believe He would do that. There must be something He said that I’m forgetting. I must be able to have hope again.”

Suddenly, Mary is telling the disciples that Jesus has appeared to her and given her a simple message to deliver to them – “I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”  Suddenly the same water that had flooded their minds with questions and drowned them in doubt was now covered with lifeboats filled with memories of things Jesus had said. 

“My children, I will be with you only a little longer.”

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth…you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”

What had started out to be a day of drowning in a flood of questions was quickly becoming a day of hope. The disciples climbed into the lifeboats of Jesus’ words and discovered their relationship with Him had not come to an end. Jesus would appear to them in person, but He would do far more than that: He would come and dwell in them in power. That’s the wonder of Mary’s simple message to them – Jesus made it possible for His Father to be their Father, and His God to be their God. They were invited into the lifeboat of personal and intimate relationship with God at the same level that had been modeled by Jesus while He lived on the earth. “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”

Jesus invites us into that same lifeboat. Our lives are flooded with questions, and we are drowning in despair, but Jesus has provided a lifeboat for us. All we must do is climb into Him and completely trust Him to save us, and He will. Not only that, but He will reconcile our relationship with God and give us a new life with a purpose – to tell others the simple message that we have seen Jesus. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)

Come on. Aren’t you tired of trying to keep your head above water? Climb into the boat and begin a permanent and peaceful relationship with God through Jesus Christ. There’s no need for anyone else to drown – one is enough. Jesus was that one, and He died for you!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, April 6, 2023

“Ignorance is bliss,” according to eighteenth-century English poet Thomas Gray. I think I agree with him in one specific area: I am glad I am ignorant of the details of the future. How many times would I choose to stay in bed with the doors locked if I knew every detail of what was going to happen to me in the coming day? Probably a lot. For me, not knowing what a day will bring adds to the adventure and tests my faith in the One who does know. I believe my trust in Jesus Christ to bring about God’s outcomes is strong enough to face just about anything on any given day. But before I get too close to the precipice of pride and risk a fall, let me pause for a moment and humble myself before Almighty God and thank Him for the grace He has granted to make this day possible and to make my life qualified to walk with Him.

“Jesus, I realize that I am nothing without you, and that it is your life in me that makes living possible. May I respond to every situation today with faith in your work that is being carried out in and through me and may it all be for your glory. Amen.”

Being focused on God’s outcome is the key to surviving change, inconvenience, interruptions, and tragedies. This would be so much truer if we knew that they were coming. We do expect those things to happen; we just don’t know when they will and how severe they will be. But Jesus did. Tucked away in today’s Scripture passage is an incredible statement of mission and purpose. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out…

 John 18:1-4 ¹When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and he and his disciples went into it. ²Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.  ³So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. ⁴Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” 

Every detail of His suffering and death were known to Him. He knew He would not sleep this night. He knew He would be dragged from one tribunal to another to face His accusers. He knew He would have to watch their hypocrisy as they refused to become ceremonially unclean in Pilate’s palace just so they could eat the Passover lamb, all the while sentencing God’s Passover Lamb to death. He saw the scourging and flogging He would suffer at the hands of powerful Roman soldiers. He knew about the crown of thorns that would be placed on His head. He felt the pain of being rejected by the people who just days earlier had proclaimed Him as their King. He knew He would not be physically able to carry His own cross to Calvary because He had been so badly beaten. He knew He would be stripped naked and nailed to a cross until He was dead. He knew that for the first time in all eternity He would experience in His body the painful punishment of sin. He knew that all of this was going to happen to Him on this day, and yet He went out to meet it and embrace it.

How could He do that? Because He was totally committed to God’s purpose, and He totally trusted God’s power to accomplish His purpose. Besides, knowing the future was not limited to just this day – Jesus also saw His glory after the resurrection. He knew more than just the outcome of today – He knew the outcome of forever. He chose to focus on the eternal and not the immediate.

So must we! We may not know the details of today, but we do know the outcome of forever. We know the promise of God to rescue us from wrath and bring us into His presence for all eternity. We know His power to fulfill His promise. But we continue to choose to look at the present instead of the promise. Had Jesus done that He would have run to hide when the soldiers approached. Instead, He went out to them and gave Himself into God’s hand, not theirs.

O my friends, there is so much truth for us to discover in this, but time limits us. May the Holy Spirit bring to your mind and heart the treasures of these truths as you meditate on this today. May we have the faith to face the day, knowing that we are not at the mercy of the world but in the hand of the Father. Even though we are convinced we will suffer in the present, may our focus be on the Person who will resurrect us from it with the same power He used to resurrect His Son.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

It is the night before He was to be crucified and He is meeting with His disciples. Jesus has spent over three years with them, teaching them about God with His words and His actions. Motivated by love, He modeled for them the attributes of God like grace, mercy, forgiveness, kindness, peace, joy, and justice. He completely manifested the reality of God to them.

By now His human heart is being wrenched with pain as His spiritual heart sees the reality of what He is about to suffer. I can only imagine what it must be like to have to accept the truth that these are the final days of life on this earth. I know how much it hurts to hear that about those I love. The emotional pain must be excruciating for those who are living it. But how much more painful is the suffering when the knowledge of physical suffering is added. Jesus knew it all. He has called together those that He loves to give them the news and to spend whatever time He has left making sure they are prepared for the future. He looks back on His life with them and is satisfied that He has loved them completely and accomplished God’s mission to that point. But there is one more thing He needs them to learn. It is not an insignificant thing left until the end as an addendum or because of an oversight: it is the culmination of His teaching and the completion of His love. He intentionally modeled for them how to fully show love to others by being their servant.

John 13:1 “It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.”  

Notice these important truths from the story of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet as the full expression of love:

1.      Jesus was a servant to others even when He was under extreme emotional stress. How often do we use stress as an excuse to become self-focused? Jesus modeled the fullness of love when He served others in a time when circumstances warranted others serving Him.

2.      Jesus taught in this one action of washing His disciple’s feet that true love expresses itself by considering others better than ourself. The full extent of love is experienced only when we look to the needs of others even when we have needs that seem bigger. How can we compare the needs of a person who is about to be severely persecuted and killed to the needs of people with dirty feet? How can we not be deeply touched by the expression of love as the One in the greatest need meets the lesser needs of others?

3.      Jesus knew that the acquisition of power, position, and prestige would lead most people to self-sufficiency. When the foot washing was complete Jesus asked the disciples if they truly understood what He had done. Before they could answer He told them. He reminded them of His rightful position as their Teacher and Lord. Jesus knew His status with them and with His Father, and so did the disciples. But Jesus made it perfectly clear that power and position are never to interfere with the expression of love to others. He modeled it so that we all could see it and do it. “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”

Friends, my heart is overwhelmed right now with a desire to renew my commitment to show the full extent of God’s love by serving others. Not just when it’s convenient or even appropriate, but in all situations with no concern for my own position, rights, or needs. Will you consider the same, remembering the model of Jesus who showed the full extent of God’s love by washing His disciple’s feet.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

When I was a young boy, I was fascinated with the prospect of heaven. As a young man I studied everything I could get my hands on about prophecy. My grandfather, Dr. J.A. van Gorkom, was an evangelist who spent time in churches teaching prophecy. I think it is necessary for us to keep the return of Christ in the forefront of our thinking because it is the foundation of our hope and will keep us from discouragement while we live in a world that increasingly oppresses us. Just think, someday – maybe today – we will be living with Jesus forever!

But as I was growing up I don’t remember being taught the rest of the story very well. The emphasis seemed to primarily be on heaven and what was ahead, and how we needed to live pure lives in preparation for the coming of Jesus. I know this isn’t what was intended, but it almost seemed like we were responsible for keeping ourselves worthy of heaven by how we lived our lives. Any encouragement we received to repent of sin and correct our lifestyle choices seemed to be motivated by either forced obedience or by comparison to others. I don’t remember a balanced emphasis on the fact that we are already living with Him and He lives in us.

I’m proud of my Godly heritage, but I really wish I would have understood this incredible truth a lot earlier in my life. A significant part of Christ’s mission to the earth was to make it possible for life with Him to begin immediately. But so many of us don’t really understand this – it stays a mystery to us. The Apostle Paul said this was a mystery once, but it is not to be now. In Colossians 1:25-27 he writes, “I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” It is very clear that the mission of Christ was more than to die for our sins so that someday we may live with Him. He died for us so that, whether we are alive or dead, we are living with Him because He is living in us now.

This is to be the sole motivator of how we live our lives. It is the basis for all encouragement and admonition as we build one another up in Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

Our motivation for purity is not to be more spiritual than another person, nor is it to conform to a set of rules so we can be declared obedient. The only thing that makes Godly living possible is God’s living Presence. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

So as important as it is to be looking for the soon return of Jesus to take us into glory forever, it is equally important to know that Jesus lives in us already and we are able to experience His glory now. That’s why He died for us. He has appointed us to receive salvation as a present possession. Yes, it will be fully experienced when we are free from this sinful body – but it is only the body that limits the experience of the fullness of glory. Our spirits have no such limitation. So walk in the spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh and be governed by its influence: the flesh will have no power over you, because Jesus lives in you.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, April 3, 2023

John 12:31-32 “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” 

Jesus describes His mission in three particulars in today’s Scripture passage:

1.      He will determine the guilt of the world and enforce the punishment;

2.      He will drive Satan from power;

3.      He will draw all men to Himself.

Of the three aspects of His mission, we are able to be involved in only one of them. Some well-meaning Christians try to get involved in more than one, but it is wasted effort and a prideful pursuit. Some think it is their responsibility to pass judgment on the sins of others. As Christians we only have the right to communicate the facts of the judgment already imposed, but it must be done in the context of the punishment that has already been suffered. If we are going to point out the sin in another person’s life it must be done with the grace of forgiveness and not with the condemnation of judgment. Jesus has already judged the world, and He has not asked us for our validation of that judgment.

Other Christians think it is their privilege to be able to drive Satan from power. Why are they attempting to do what has already been accomplished? In his Biblical letter, James says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) We are not told to attack Satan, or to drive Him away. Rather, we are told to submit to God, and in the simple act of resisting Satan’s attacks he will flee from us. Why? Because his power has already been broken in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. It is foolish to engage in a work that is already completed.

But as Christians we are to be involved in lifting Jesus up from the earth so that He may draw all men to Himself. I know that Jesus was specifically referring to the type of death He would die on the cross when He said this, but there is an ongoing truth for all of us. First, Jesus was not saying that all people would be saved. We know that is not true from what happened to Judas and one of the thieves on the cross next to Him when He was crucified. Not everyone will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. But when Jesus was lifted up on the cross, He made it possible for all mankind to come to the knowledge of who He is. It is now our responsibility to live and speak in such a way that we lift Jesus up above the things of the earth so that all people have a chance to know who He is.

Our mission is to lift up Jesus above the earth. Our mission is to make the life of Christ more obvious in us so He is more obvious to the people around us. This means sacrificing the significance of earthly things and stipulating the significance of heavenly things. Paul says in Colossians 3:1-3, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”

But don’t be confused or discouraged – it is not our lives that attract people to Jesus: it is the life of Jesus seen in us that draws them. He draws people to Himself, and we are the vessels He has chosen to use to be seen by the world. For that to happen, my vessel must be clear so He can be seen in me, not so colored by my own opinions, preferences, and goals that the world can only see me. May our lives be clear of the entanglements of the earth so that we lift up Jesus as He draws people to Himself.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, March 31, 2023

On Sunday we will celebrate the “triumphal entry” of Jesus into Jerusalem. It is also called “Palm Sunday”, the day when the people of Israel who had gathered for the feast of the Passover waved palm branches before Jesus as he rode a donkey toward the city. The people were hoping that Jesus would be their promised Messiah and deliver them from the oppression of the Roman Empire, establishing God’s Kingdom once and for all. They thought this was the fulfillment of almost 500 years of waiting for the prophecy to be fulfilled. If they had only understood the teaching and ministry of Jesus from God’s perspective, they would have known that it was the time of spiritual deliverance. But instead they had their own purpose in mind and ultimately rejected Jesus. Even His disciples were guilty of unbelief.

But God used the celebration of the people to accomplish His perfect plan for the redemption of the world. Two weeks earlier Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead and it caused a major division in the nation of Israel. People who had been neighbors and friends were now secretly either believing in Jesus or reporting His actions to the Pharisees. Some were living in fear that they would be rejected by society for their newly found faith, while most were living in fear that the comfort and benefits of their way of life would be taken from them if Jesus was allowed to gain any more popularity and power. Those in power used hyperbole to accomplish their own objectives, claiming that “the whole world has gone after Him.”  They wanted Jesus dead and were already scheming to see that happen. Even those who claimed to believe in Jesus would eventually succumb to the pressure of the status quo and turn against Jesus.

As I consider the world in which we live I sense that things have not changed. Day after day the Name of Jesus is being attacked by the people of the world who are living in the fear that the comforts and benefits of their sinful way of life are being threatened by the truth of Jesus Christ. Even those who claim to know Jesus and be His followers are rejecting some elements of the truth so they can better fit into modern society and not face rejection or suffering. It seems that the cry of the Pharisees that the whole world has gone after Him is still being heard today, and the plans of the powerful to eliminate Jesus from the world are becoming more elaborate.

But we need to see the good news in all of this: opposition only happens when the opponent feels threatened. For the opponents of Christ to feel threatened they must be observing a “triumphal entry” of sorts of Jesus Christ into their territory. Preachers, evangelists, and missionaries are boldly proclaiming the Name of Jesus and His truth like never before. Churches are filled with vibrant and mature believers who are taking their faith into the workplace and living lives that honor Jesus rather than self. Some are even sacrificing everything they own to take the Gospel to the far reaches of the world, even though they face making the ultimate sacrifice of death to bring life to those who are dead in their sin. The church of Jesus Christ is alive because Jesus is alive, and the world is being threatened.

But there is one more reality that we must face – the world will not lay down their lives for Christ. They will continue to implement more and more schemes designed to eliminate Christ from society, and they will succeed. They will partially succeed when they cause many who claim to believe in Christ to fall away from their faith and turn to the world’s system – and that is already happening. They will claim ultimate success when all the Christians are removed from this earth by Jesus in preparation for His judgment of their sin. But it was not their plan that succeeded; it is God’s plan that is being worked out for His glory, and we are a part of it. The people of the world are not in control, as they think they are. God is!

So don’t be like the people of Jesus’ time, who wave palm branches celebrating their King one day and then succumb to the pressures of their personal comforts and social acceptance the next day. Don’t fall away! Don’t even slip a little. Be faithful! Let’s not only be one of the crowd that goes after Jesus, but one of the few that stays committed to Jesus.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, March 30, 2021

Sometimes I step into a carefully conceived trap that is designed to keep me from fulfilling Christ’s mission. The bait that tempts me to enter the trap is set before me by people who are highly educated according to the world’s standards. The bait is made attractive by its presentation by seemingly credible people in the press. Their believability is part of the trap. For a very short time I take the bait. One morning three “baits” were dished out to me in about 10 minutes of time, and the trap was set.

Bait #1 – Evolutionists claim to have found the missing link. It is the fossil of a fish that appears to have an independently moving head and been able to crawl along the ground, with speculation that it could walk. Scientists claim that it is 360 million years old.

Bait #2 – Scientists claim that in the days of Jesus, there were periods of cold that would have caused ice to form on the Sea of Galilee, thus explaining Jesus’ ability to walk on water.

Bait #3 – Archeologists have discovered an ancient book, supposedly around 1800 years old, which claims that Judas was acting under the direct orders of Jesus when he betrayed Him, and that he was acting as His friend when he did it.

At first reading, you may think that the trap is to believe the bait, but you would be wrong. The bait is never the actual trap. I am not tempted to believe evolution because of the discovery of one fossil that cannot move claiming to prove movement. I am also not tempted to provide natural explanations for the supernatural power of Jesus Christ. I am certainly not prepared to assume the credibility of a newly discovered book when the credibility of the Book of books has already been established. No, the baits are not the trap. The trap is this – to believe that the average person of the world has come to the same conclusions as those who set out the bait, resulting in a loss of desire to fulfill Christ’s mission to share the Gospel with them.

If we begin to believe that the average citizen of our communities is beyond reaching with the love of Jesus, then we have entered Satan’s trap. Granted, the more highly educated by secular reason someone is, the harder it is for the truth to touch them. But we tend to also believe that the more susceptible a person is to the latest trends and discoveries the less likely they are to listen to the truth. That is wrong! The fact that they are listening to all of this “news” means they are searching for truth, and they will listen to our good news as well. Maybe the highly educated and their wannabe’s won’t listen, but God has chosen the average and the weak to confound the so-called wisdom of the world. Look at this important trap-buster from the Apostle Paul.

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

There is one key element that must be present in the Christian community so that the truth is able to be validated by the world – unity.  Two times in the prayer of Jesus in John 17 Jesus declares that the world will know that God is real by the unity the followers of Jesus have with Him and with one another. When we live that way, Jesus declares that the average people of the world will know that God not only sent Jesus but also loves them in the same way that He loves His Son. Our unity is the key to the accomplishment of our mission. We are to live in unity with Jesus and in unity with each other. When we do, we become the attractant God uses to bring people into the truth and avoid a trap. Live your life in such a way that the world knows you are sent by God.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Most successful businesses have a mission statement. Sometimes you will even see it posted in a prominent place in their business. These businesspeople understand that to be successful they have to know who they are and what they want to accomplish. Mission statements have become so important that there are now businesses whose sole purpose is to help other businesses write mission statements.There are even several web sites designed to help individuals write personal mission statements to guide their personal lives. All these businesses understand one simple truth – life without mission is meaningless. Or, as Proverbs 29:18 puts it, “Where there is no vision, the people perish…”

Jack Welch, the chairman of General Electric, says, “Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.”  I believe that’s what the Gospel of John is all about in the New Testament – Jesus Christ owning and articulating God’s vision, and relentlessly driving it to completion. In the book of John the words “sent me” are used by Jesus 33 times to declare the mission the Father had chosen for Him. Twice Jesus states that He is sending us in the same way. (John 17:18; John 20:21) It seems that it would be wise for us to study the mission of Christ so that we may better define our mission for Christ.

For the last few days we have studied the mission of Jesus to model to the world the love of God. In today’s Scripture passage we see another aspect of His mission – to tell the world the truth about God.

John 17:13-19 “Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.”

Christ’s purpose was to accomplish three things:

1.      So that we may be filled with joy. Joy is a product of knowing the truth. There is a serious reason why there isn’t more joy in the church today. According to George Barna Research, 68% of all evangelical born-again Christians do not believe in absolute truth. Just think, 7 out of every 10 people sitting in our churches today do not believe that there is even one absolute truth in the world. No wonder there isn’t much joy – people’s lives are filled with fear, not knowing truth. Christ’s mission was to tell us the truth so that we could be filled with joy.

2.      So that we may be holy. Jesus says that when we receive His word as truth we will no longer belong to the world, just as He did not belong to the world. Christ’s mission was to distinguish us from sinful society and defend us from satanic stimulus. His sacrificial death on the cross as a holy substitute for our sin makes it possible for us to be transformed by the truth into a holy child of God, set apart from the world for a sacred purpose.

3.      So that we may be sent on a mission. Once we have accepted the truth and been filled with the strength to resist the world because of the joy of our salvation, we are qualified to be sent as the personal emissaries of the King. Jesus says that He will send us on His mission “just as the Father sent Him on His.” God sent Jesus as truth, holy and protected from the evil one. He sends us the same way.

So why not write a personal mission statement from what you learned today. Here’s mine:

“I rejoice in the truth which has made me holy, safe from the world to which I do not belong, and I present my life as a living sacrifice to God so that others might be see the love of God in me, be made holy by the same truth, and be filled with the joy of salvation.”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

1 John 4:10 “This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” 

Romans 5:8 “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”  

What is real love? It seems that people are becoming less and less capable of answering that question. In the lifestyles section of the Chicago Sun Times  an article appeared entitled “Gen X Women Talk About Living Single” and its author, Maureen Jenkins, asks the question, “Why is finding true love these days like searching for the Holy Grail?” It seems that the basic philosophy of love has become very self-centered. Love is not about giving but about getting. Sex has become the definition of love and the means to achieve it. “It’s little wonder,” she says, “that we’re wandering aimlessly in a relationship wasteland,” she says.

Jillian Straus, author and former producer of the Oprah show states, “We tend to see compromise as a bad thing in our generation because we’re so independent. You think you can custom order someone to your specifications and it doesn’t work that way.” One of the three Chicago area women who were interviewed for the article is Dionne Lang, 32, a Naperville commercial real estate agency owner, and when asked what her plan was to finally find true love she said, “…just date more. If you get into a car accident, do you never drive again? No. You just get right back in the car. Date, date, date as much as possible. And throw ’em back if they’re no good.”

Pretty sad, huh? The people of today’s world are lost when it comes to understanding love, and it’s because they are lost. They are unable to experience human relational love because they have not experienced God’s redeeming love. How awesome is the love of God when contrasted to the philosophy of the world. He chose to love us even when we had not chosen to love Him. People today only respond to the love they receive. God initiated love when no response was present. People today love only the good and throw the rest away. God loves everyone equally and completely. People today love others only so long as the personal benefits remain. God loves for eternity and guarantees it to us.

Culture today doesn’t understand that kind of commitment. When asked about commitment, Fiona Verde, a 30-something radio talk show host said, “We aren’t necessarily a generation that truly understands the concept of commitment at any level. We don’t keep jobs more than a couple years.”  Dionne Lang had an interesting response to that. She said, “Sometimes I wonder because the divorce rate is so high, maybe the men we’re dating were brought up in broken homes. Many of the morals and values of the family have been diluted.”  People today don’t have enough real love role models.

Our mission to love is no different than Christ’s mission to love – we are to be the models of real love to a lovesick world. The only way to cure the worldwide disease of lovesickness is to inoculate people with the love of God. By the power of Christ’s love in us we not only can but must choose to love the people of the world regardless of personal benefit or response. We must love as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us. Real love is not about serving self, but rather serving others. May we accept God’s mission for our lives and be the light of real love that they need to see.

Pastor John