TerryLema

“Be holy for I am holy.”  God commands us to “be holy” in both the Old and New Testament, which raises questions. If we are to be holy, what exactly is holiness? Is our holiness and God’s holiness the same? How exactly do we achieve this holiness?

When we speak of God as holy (“… for I am holy”). we are saying he is “wholly other” or “wholly above.” God is absolute perfection. There is not even a microscopic trace of anything other than perfection in Him. He is high above all others; no one compares to Him. Every other attribute is governed by His Holiness, holy mercy, holy grace, holy love, holy wrath. We can’t even grasp that kind of holiness, let alone achieve it.

So, what kind of holiness is God indicating for us when he says, “Be holy ….”  For us, holiness may be defined as “wholly apart (not “wholly above” or “wholly other”).

When God called Israel out of Egypt, he set them apart from other nations and gave them specific instructions to govern their lives so that the world would know that they belonged to Him. When Peter repeated the command regarding holiness in the New Testament (1Peter 1:16), he talked specifically to believers and indicated that we needed to be set apart from the world. We are to be governed by God’s standards not the world’s or our own. Holiness calls us to be distinct, “wholly apart,” not perfect.

That leaves the last question. How do we achieve this holiness to which we are called? That can only come from a right relationship with God through the work of Christ Jesus our Savior. We cannot achieve holiness through our own efforts. To try to be holy without first being born-again in Christ Jesus is to descend into legalism, not the freedom found in Him.

Remember what Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:6? “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” Seated with Christ Jesus in the heavenly realm is truly “wholly apart” from the world. As we learn to live in that, we can truly “be holy for I am holy.” Amen&Amen

It’s that time of year when teachers are beginning to prepare their classrooms. I love teachers. I know three things about teachers. First, teachers have the second most important and difficult job in society. (The first? Parenting).

Second, teachers don’t get paid what they are worth. Many begin teaching in debt with student loans from the years of college required and their beginning salary is a mere pittance. They usually must set up their classrooms out of their own pockets and often supply what students need from their own resources.

The third thing I know about teachers is that they love to teach. They must, otherwise they’d take their education and find much better paying jobs. Yes, I love teachers. I think they should get THE BIG bucks.

Jesus was a great teacher. He, the Son of God, came for a specific purpose, to bridge the gap caused when mankind sinned and rebelled against its Creator. He died and rose to save us. But Jesus also loved to teach. How often the Gospels recount, “And seeing the multitudes …. He opened His mouth and taught them.” [Matt 5:1-2]

Not only did Jesus teach, but He also passed the job of teaching on to His disciples, to us. “Jesus came and told his disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” [Matthew 28:18-20 NLT]

Father, give us the heart of a teacher so that we might teach others of the love You have for us, the salvation that is available, and the duty of a grateful heart. Amen&Amen

Nothing I hate worse than a run of 100 degree days. I get grumpy! To beat the heat in a house with an aging air conditioner, I leave the blackout curtains closed to reduce the sun exposure. I love light so that adds to my grumpiness. It seems like the heat saps the joy out of my soul. I can hardly wait for the dogdays of summer to expire!

So, of course, where did I end up today? In Psalm 19, one of my favorite psalms. David takes us to creation and shows how God speaks to everyone every day across this world. Then David turns his attention to the way God speaks to us in Scripture. Finally, he turns his attention to our hearts and applies the revelation of God to them. It is the final verse of this song that made me think about my lack of joy.

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” [Psalm 19:14 NLT]

If there is a prayer that should be on my lips each day, it is this one. It reminds me that it is the meditation I allow in my heart that will affect all the words that flow from my mouth (or my keyboard!) It urges me to affirm that those meditations are pleasing to my LORD, my Rock/Strength, my Redeemer.

That word “meditate” carries the image of a musician plucking the strings of a harp. In other words, meditation is the music of the soul. 

My music has been a bit offkey in this weather and needs to change its tune! What song is your soul singing this morning?

I was reminded at a recent Bible Study about the need to forgive others. No one gets through this life untouched by hurts. We get hurt in churches, in our families, at work, in politics, and a host of other places. The people we loved often hurt us, as well as the people we expect to understand us, but who do not do so.

We can carry these hurts throughout our life. They can influence all our relationships. They often destroy our ability to trust.

There are many Scriptures about forgiveness in our Bibles. The first thing you might notice is that forgiveness is both a gift (from God) and a command. God calls us to forgive because He first forgave us. [Matthew 6:14-15]

Holding grudges against another because of a hurt will forever bind us to that person. Bitterness will rise in us. Holding onto hurts will harm our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. But forgiving others releases the power to heal our hearts and relationships. It can transform our lives.

Forgiveness is not just words, it is a choice to let go of our anger, resentment, and bitterness over the hurts we experience.

Colossians 3:13: “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

In addition to Peter reminding us in 2Peter 1:10 to make our calling sure, Paul also had something to say about our calling. He wrote in his letter to the Ephesians, “I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.” [4:1 NLT]

Ever think about that word “called.” The word used by both Peter and Paul is the Greek word, klesis (klay’-sis). It means an invitation.

I get a lot of invitations. I only need to open my email or go to my mailbox each day to read multitudes of invitations. I am invited to seminars for hearing aids, to get my carpets cleaned, or my windows replaced. I’m invited to purchase cars, groceries, clothes, and furniture. I’m also invited to book sales, grand openings, and to meet the candidates. Lots of invitations, most of which will cost me something should I accept.

Peter and Paul remind us that God has also extended to us an invitation, an invitation to become part of His family. Peter says we are to make sure we accept God’s invitation, and Paul follows with the command to make sure we always live our life worthy of God’s invitation.

How do we make sure we live worthy? To get a good start Paul provides the answer in the following verses. “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.” [vs 2-3 NLT]

Father, may we always strive to live worthy of Your invitation. Amen&Amen

Lately as I deal with so many little aches and pains, I remind myself “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff,” usually with the tagline, “And it’s all small stuff.” I try to practice that with one exception—that little word “all.” I think I should substitute the word “mostly.”

It’s mostly small stuff that we fuss over. Things like traffic, lines in stores, computers that don’t work (ugh!), dogs that bark in the middle of the night while we are trying to sleep. Yep, it’s mostly small stuff that riles us.

The Apostle Peter, however, opens his second letter with a great reminder that some things aren’t “small stuff.”

“So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” [2 Peter 1:10-11 NLT]

We are to work hard to make our calling and election sure. Doing that will enable us to stand during the rough places of life and guarantee that we will receive a “grand entrance” into the kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. On the other hand, not doing that will guarantee a far different “entrance” and eternal dwelling.

Making our calling and election sure is NOT small stuff … it is the biggest “stuff” of all to take care of in this life. But we don’t have to “sweat” it … Jesus already did the work; we just need to make sure we’ve done our part by submitting our lives unto Him.  Amen&Amen

I love the word “gumption,” but it is a word rapidly disappearing from our language. Gumption has been around since the early 1700s in British and Scottish dialects. In the beginning it referred to common sense (which is also rapidly disappearing), but when Americans got ahold of the word they took it in a new direction. Now it refers to the kind of courage or get-up-and-go that makes undertaking difficult things possible.

I remember my friend, Nella, who has gone on to be with the LORD. As she aged, Nella a tall woman, became severely stooped. Whenever she saw me, she would laugh, pat my cheeks, and say, “Sweetie, growing old ain’t for sissies.”

No, it isn’t, but to be brutally honest, “life ain’t for sissies.” Life often takes gumption, the kind of courage or get-up-and-go that makes undertaking difficult things possible. Unfortunately, when we are at our lowest, when we need the most gumption is often when we have the least. Where do we find the gumption then?

Paul found his gumption in grace. “Each time [God] said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  [2 Cor 12:9-10 NLT]

Beloved, when life gets tough, and it will get tough, God’s grace will infuse us with gumption so that we have the courage – the get-up-and-go grace that’s needed to undertake and succeed amid the greatest difficulties. Amen&Amen

How marvelous it was to wake up last Friday to the first promise that I realized was mine! The first thing I read as I climbed out of bed was my daily verse …

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” [Philippians 1:6 NLT]

I have often recounted in my testimony, in my preaching, in these daily devotions, that the first promise the Holy Spirit led me to in the Scriptures – the first promise that I then memorized – was Philippians 1:6.

Throughout the decades since I was first saved, I have often gone back to this beginning. When things were difficult, or I wondered where God was in all that was going on around me, I remembered that no matter what it might look like from my perspective, God is faithful and is continuing His work in me (and in you)!

I remembered, “He started it and He will finish it!”

I remembered, “I am not finished now, but I will be!”

I remembered, “I am certain that God will …”

I remembered, “Christ Jesus is returning!”

This is our “beginning promise” and we can be certain it is our “ending promise!”

Amen & Amen

Luke 12:35-35: “Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks.” [NLT]

Two Kings, Saul and David, give us examples of how to wait and how not to wait.

Saul wasn’t very good at waiting.1Samuel 13 tells the story of Saul’s battles against the Philistines. Samuel, prophet and priest, had told the king to wait for him. Saul did not. Instead, he usurped the duties of the priest and offered sacrifices. As soon as he did that, Samuel arrived, and Saul made excuses (aren’t we so good at rationalizations and excuses!). Samuel then delivered God’s message to King Saul … his kingdom would be taken from him and given to another … given to a man after God’s own heart.

David on the other hand was usually good at waiting on God. I love the incident in 1Chronicles 14:13-17. David already had victories over the Philistines, but they were attacking again. Rather than just assume he knew what God wanted, David asked for God’s plan and the Lord gave it to him. He was to wait until he heard movement in the tops of the mulberry (or balsam) trees, and only then was he to move out in battle.  David followed God’s plan and waited. And God gave him the victory and made all the nations fear him.

Waiting is hard. The very definition of the word “wait” implies a passage of time, and heaven knows we humans are not patient waiters. We are prone to take matters into our own hands, as King Saul did. When tempted to do that, we should remember that Saul lost everything by not waiting.

The Scriptures are full of exhortations to “wait on the Lord.” The Scriptures are also full of promises that come to those who wait on the Lord. Amen&Amen

Decades ago when our children were young, Bob and I hosted seven men who had come to Sacramento for Bible training. They were from Canada, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Indonesia, and two from the USA. One spoke very little English. One did not bathe regularly, as that was “unmanly” in his culture. A couple had no idea what was being served to them at mealtime since they had nothing like that in their own country.

All loved the Lord, however, and were enthusiastic about serving God. They danced and sang with our children in the evenings. It was a great experience for them and for us.

I was reminded of the young man from Nigeria today, John Okoriko, as I read an article that reported more Christians are killed in Nigeria than anywhere else. As I was reading, I wondered about John and about all our young men. Are they still alive, are they still serving the Lord? What happened to them when they returned to their native lands.

At times we only have a short while to make an impact on people for the Lord. We scatter our seed; we water the seeds already scattered. We may or may not see the harvest. That does not negate the command to scatter our seed to everyone in courageous humility. We invested a few weeks into seven young men. They took our love and God’s love back to their homelands. I pray they were able to reap a harvest there.

Mark 4:3-20: “Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! Then [Jesus] said, ‘Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.’” [vs 8-9 NLT]