TerryLema

I have been thinking about my life verses, those Scriptures that have a precious significance in my life. These Scriptures set boundaries on my attitude as I walk with God. Luke 17:10 reminds me that I serve God, He does not serve me.

Colossians 3:17 tell me that as I serve Him, everything I do, and everything I say, reflects on my Lord Jesus. I need to be careful to do all for His glory. And I need to remember to express my thanksgiving continually.

“And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him”. [NLT]

 “Everything” we do or say is to be done as unto the LORD. We may work in a church, or a school, or a hospital, or a bowling alley, but it is not “what” we do that matters, it is “how” we do it. We do it as if we are ministering directly to our Savior and LORD Christ Jesus. We do it as if He Himself asked us to do that particular task.

And whatever is asked, we must always remember to give thanks to God for that opportunity to serve.

Someone asked me once if I had a “Life Verse,” a verse of Scripture that has particular significance in life and often serves as a reason behind what we are and what we do in our Christian Walk. As I considered that, I realized that I don’t have a “Life Verse,” but I do have six “Life Verses” that immediately come to mind that have set my attitude boundaries in my pursuit of God.

The first verse is a strange one found in Luke 17:7-10. In this parable, Jesus speaks of our service. He teaches about obedience and about doing our duty. He teaches us that unlike the ways of this world, we are to do our duty without expectation of praise or rewards.

 “When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’” [NLT]

“In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”

God is not my servant, I am His. He is Creator. When I serve Him, I am to do so simply because that is what a servant does. I serve not from an expectation that God now owes me something … but from the realization that I owe Him everything!

Our church has a vision of 10 cities and 10,000 decisions for Christ. We pray for that vision every Thursday. I always pray a bit differently. I ask God for the 10 cities, then I ask God for 10,000 disciples.

One of the most difficult things for a church is turning “decisions” into “disciples.” Decisions come because God is pursuing us; disciples come when we then pursue God.

It is like a “switch” gets turned on in our souls. We see the God who saved us, cleansed us, set us free from the guilt and shame of sin and we want to know Him more and experience His presence in ever increasing measure.

The phrase “Pursing God” can be misunderstood. Pursing God does not mean He is running away from us as we run after Him. God is not running. God is not hiding. God wants us to “find” Him and all His glory in our lives.

Every watch as parents encourage their children to walk. They are close, encouraging them to take a step, but always ready to take hold of them if they wobble or look like they might fall. That’s our God. He encourages us to stand in His presence, take a step of faith to move closer to Him, always within reach to grab us when we wobble or look unsteady.

Children learn to walk one step at a time. Children of God become disciples by taking one step at a time as He encourages us and empowers us by His Indwelling Holy Spirit.

A few of us gather in church on Thursday mornings for prayer. Various topics appear on the screen as we pray, prompting prayer. They aren’t always the same. Sometimes the topics are timely, such as praying for a new series. Sometimes the topics are static, such as praying for healing or deliverance or salvations.

The one topic that always deeply touches my heart is praying for our church leadership and their families. As I prayed this past Thursday, the LORD touched my spirit, and I felt led to pray for “kind words.”

God brought back a memory of the time I was a Hospice Chaplain and part-time Associate Pastor. After one Sunday Service a woman in the congregation approached me with “a word” she said she received from the LORD for me. She took me aside and told me that I had a “hard heart.”

Her words shocked me, and her timing could not have been worse. Within the hour I was to be officiating at a funeral service for a young Christian man. This man had survived a tour of duty in Viet Nam. Then when he got home, he broke his neck in an accident, becoming a quadriplegic. He developed AIDS following a blood transfusion. He loved his family. He loved the LORD. And in my time ministering to him, I grew to love him.

To be told that I had a hard heart as I was getting ready for his funeral crushed me.

I was reminded of this incident as I prayed for our church leadership. I was reminded of how badly words can wound. We need to be so careful with our words when we speak to others, especially to those God has chosen to stand in the gap for us. We should be encouraging them always. These men and women have a tough enough job without our words bringing them pain.

Proverbs 15:4: “Gentle words bring life and health; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”

Decades ago, when the kids were young, we hosted seven men who were from a Bible School in Southern California. They were part of a revival week in our community. We had three from Africa, and one each from Indonesia, Canada, Alabama and Montana. It was a hectic week, but one of my favorite memories came the last night they were with us.

We were gathered in our family room, Bob and me, our three kids, my parents and Bob’s mother. After dinner, the three young men from Africa began to dance and leap while singing a simple song for the kids.

“Jesus’ love is very wonderful (repeat 3 times), so wonderful now! So high that you can’t get over it, so low that you can’t get under it, so wide that you can’t get around it, so wonderful now!”

As they sang, they asked the kids to join in the singing and dancing, doing the hand motions that went with the song. Seeing my children singing and leaping was such joy. The house was alive with the Joy of the LORD.

I am thankful for those memories of great joy. I am thankful that we opened our home to others. I am thankful for the times of celebration, worship, shared love. It’s just Bob and me now, the house is usually quiet, but I can still hear those small voices singing …“Jesus’ love is very wonderful, so wonderful now!”  Amen!

We are blessed with three delightful little girls who live next door to us. The family moved in about five years ago. Mom was pregnant with the youngest one at the time. Shortly after this family moved next to us, another family with three little girls about the same age moved in four houses down on the other side.

When the weather is nice, we often have six little girls zooming back and forth in front of our house, on bikes, scooters, or just running. We told them they could use our driveway to turn around (theirs are usually full of cars). Our front yard is often alive with little girls running around squealing with delight.

Apparently, someone behind our houses did not appreciate the squeals. They called Child Protective Service (CPS) and reported that they thought the girls were being abused because they could hear them squealing in the back yard. The poor parents had to go through home inspection and interviews.

I could have told CPS that I’ve never seen three happier children, or two more loving parents. And I could have told them the noise these little ones make are happy noises, and that we love it. But I didn’t find out until CPS had cleared the family.

As I see these little ones playing and happily dancing, I am reminded once again to view the world through the eyes of a child. I am reminded to find time to dance, or play, or squeal with delight. I am also aware that there will be some around me who will try to squash that joy.

“A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.” [Proverbs 17:22 NKJV]

Artificial intelligence (AI) has suddenly popped up everywhere. According to Britannica.com, AI is “the ability of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings. The term is frequently applied to the project of developing systems endowed with the intellectual processes characteristic of humans, such as the ability to reason, discover meaning, generalize, or learn from past experience.”

Recently AI has popped up in some of my computer applications, likely downloaded through recent updates. It reminds me that I can generate unique images, or perfect what I write. It wants to interpret my thoughts and give them “meaning.”

No matter how developed AI might be, it cannot give meaning to my life. It cannot interpret my soul, my heart. What I write does not come as much from my brain, as it does from my heart, a heart that has been reborn in Christ Jesus, a heart that has been cleansed and renewed, a heart that is now indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. A heart that was translated from the realm of darkness into the Kingdom of Light!

“God, who said, ‘Let there be light in the darkness,’ has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” [2Corinthians 4:6-7 NLT]

No way AI can duplicate that! Praise God!

About a week ago, I went to a birthday celebration lunch for Pastor Laura. There were five of us in a “girlie” café. We laughed and laughed and laughed some more. I have been thinking of the joy that flowed around that table ever since.

Anyone looking at us at that table would have thought we did not have a care in this world, yet all of us were dealing with things, aging, illness, loss. But whatever we were facing was overridden by the joy of knowing deep in our souls that we are loved by our LORD.

Rejoicing does not happen in our lives ONLY when we are carefree. When we know the love of Jesus, joy and rejoicing are abundant no matter the circumstances around us.

Paul wrote to the Philippians “Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy.” [2:16-18 NLT]

“I will rejoice even if I lose my life ….”

It is not the circumstances OUTSIDE; it is the Joy of the Lord INSIDE our hearts that determines our rejoicing!

I truly dislike politics (not a surprise to anyone who knows me). And nothing annoys me more than news broadcasts. To me, it is nothing but “doom and gloom.” Everything is bad news. Oh, there are the occasional human-interest stories, but they are far outweighed by the sad, tragic, evil, discouraging events focused on. And politics …? Do not get me started!

When I listen to the politicians and newscasters, I can picture them breaking out into song. Not “Happy Days are Here Again” but the song we used to hear on “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.” [GLOOM, DESPAIR AND AGONY ON ME, From the TV Show “Hee-Haw” (1969 -1992) Buck Owens & Roy Clark]

Scripture reminds us continually – through the Old Testament and the New – that our hearts are to focus not on the doom and gloom of life, but on “rejoicing!”

“Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.” [Philippians 4:4-9 NLT]

How can we Rejoice(!) amid a world of doom and gloom? By remembering our “LORD is coming soon!”

 He will make everything right.

One of the best parts of life is spending time with people. I love nothing better than fellowshipping with others who love Jesus, people full of the Joy of the LORD. I love talking with them about their love for our Savior and His love for us.

Paul wrote two letters to Timothy that we have in our Bibles. In both letters he encouraged Timothy to “run from” an evil life and “pursue” a godly one.

 “But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.”  [1 Timothy 6:11 NLT]

“Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.” [2 Timothy 2:22 NLT]

In both letters Paul reminds Timothy to “run from” evil things, and “pursue” right living, faithfulness, love, godliness. But what always makes me smile is what Paul tacks on to those thoughts of “run from” and “purse.”

He tells Timothy to “Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.” We cannot do this Christian Walk apart from the companionship of others. It is too difficult to “run from” and “pursue” alone. We need others, and spending time with them encourages us and reinforces our determination and strength.