TerryLema

I love a good love story, don’t you? One that always makes me cry is the story of Ruth and Boaz.  Boaz was a wealthy older man who had it all. Ruth, a widow, a Moabite, had nothing. Yet Boaz and Ruth got together and the product of their marriage was Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David. [Ruth 1-4]

Ruth and Boaz got together because Boaz performed the rite of the kinsman-redeemer. He stepped in and redeemed Ruth from her life of poverty, from her backbreaking work gleaning the fields for food for herself and her mother-in-law Naomi, and from her outcast status as a foreigner in the land of Israel. Boaz redeemed Ruth and moved her from obscurity into the very lineage of King David. Now that’s a good love story.

God provided in the law for redemption. (“Ga’al,” is to redeem, to ransom, to avenge, to act as a kinsman.) When a person became bankrupt, so poor that he had to sell his goods, his family, his very person, the law made provision for redemption. He could get himself out of debt, out of slavery, if possible, but if not, his near relative, his kinsman, could perform that function.

In the law of the kinsman-redeemer, God gave a beautiful picture of His own work of redemption. Over and over in the Old Testament, God refers to Himself as Redeemer and refers to His work of Redemption. It is not only physical redemption that is contained in “ga’al,” but also spiritual redemption. [Psalms 69:18, 103:2-4.]

Redemption by our God is His love story to us. It’s Ruth, at the feet of Boaz, knowing she has no other recourse, no other way out of a life of backbreaking pain and poverty. It’s us at the feet of Jesus, kneeling by the Cross of our Kinsman-Redeemer, knowing no other recourse, no other way out of a life of soul-breaking pain and spiritual poverty. Ah, what a great love story!

It’s cold in my house now. We keep the thermostat low. Rather than turn up the heat, I put on a sweater, a big, old, warm blue sweater. It never was much of a fashion statement and now it’s been washed so many times that what little charm it once had has long since vanished. It does have one redeeming quality; however, it is incredibly soft. When I wrap myself in this big old blue sweater, I feel good and warm. My house is still cold, but I am comfortable.

We are spending the last days of this January looking at peace, at the things we must do to find and keep peace in our hearts and minds.

One: to call out to the Lord [Psalm 4]

Two: to worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness, His presence [Psalm 29]

Three: to listen to what the Lord has to say and not return to folly! [Psalm 85]

Four: to keep our mind focused on the Lord, our trust in the Rock eternal! [Isaiah 26:3]

There is one more Scripture I want to read: Philippians 4:7: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus.”  [NKJV]

When we come to the Lord with our unrest, uncertainties, and distress, and present everything to him with prayer and thanksgiving, His peace surrounds our hearts and minds.

There will always be some uncertainty in life. At times we will still be surrounded with unrest, but our hearts and our minds have found peace. Just like my big old warm blue sweater keeps out the chill in my house and keeps me warm and comfortable, so God’s lasting peace, which surpasses understanding, keeps out the cold and the harshness of this world and this life, and makes our souls incredibly comforted and at rest.

We are all searching for lasting peace in a world that is anything but peaceful. Finding peace for our souls means doing some things:

Step ONE begins when we call out to God, “free me from my troubles!” In that cry is our acknowledgement that He alone can provide us with peace. [Psalm 4]

Step TWO is to worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness, His presence! It is disciplining our hearts to seek Him in His sanctuary, to consistently come before His presence. In the presence of the Prince of Peace, all unrest must cease. [Psalm 29]

Step THREE is a bit tougher because it means listening to what God has to say, surrendering to His will for our lives and not returning to our foolish ways. [Psalm 85]

There is a fourth step, and in that step we find the way to a peace that is not short lived, but is instead a lasting peace. Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” [NLT]

God will keep us in perfect peace when we stay focused and dedicated to Him.

I had a family member who was often very distressed and angry because of where she perceived her life.  She would call and ask me to “pray for . . .” and then begins a long list of demands she wanted God to do. I would pray with her and talk to her, and she got a “temporary peace” from that, but it never lasted. It never lasted because she had never been able to keep her mind steadfast on God, it always returned to herself. She was never able to relinquish control of her life to Him.

God’s promise of peace, lasting, permanent peace, comes when we anchor our minds, our hearts, our attitudes in the Rock eternal. As long as our hearts and minds keep uprooting themselves from Him and returning to our own will and self-centered desires, peace will be a temporary, elusive condition.  Permanent peace means anchoring in the Rock Eternal.

Distress, uncertainty, unrest. This is the atmosphere that often surrounds us in this world, in this life. We’ve are looking at lasting peace as we end this month. Where do we find it? How do we achieve a lasting peace for our own souls?

Psalm 4 gave us step one, that we must cry out in our distress to the Lord. Psalm 29 gave us step two, that we must worship the Lord, seeking his face.

The third step to achieving a lasting peace is found in Psalm 85, “I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying, for he speaks peace to his faithful people. But let them not return to their foolish ways.” [Vs8 NLT]

Crying out in distress. Worshiping the Lord. Now listening to what He says. Oh boy. I’m really good at crying out; I’m pretty good at worshiping, but listening? Listening is a bit harder.

I’m good at listening when the Lord is telling me what I want to hear, but often the message He has for my life is not what I want to hear. Often His voice to me requires change, a change of attitude, a change of heart, a change of mind that I am not willing to make.

Listening to what God the LORD will say means I must surrender, and I must obey if I want to find peace.  Our own disobedience and stubbornness often cause the unrest, uncertainty, and distress in our lives. “My Way!” always brings conflict. “Not my way but Your way O God!” brings peace.

Step One: I will call to you O my righteous God, give me relief from my distress!

Step Two: I will worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness, His presence!

Step Three: I will listen to what You have to say to me, O God, I will not return to my foolish ways!

We talk a great deal about peace, world peace, peace on our streets, peace in our homes, peace in our souls.  Yet for all our talk, we actually experience very little peace in our world, on our streets, in our homes or in our souls. I realized that the first step in my search for lasting peace had to be crying out my distress to my Lord.  [Psalm 4]

But there is more to it than just crying out, the second step is found in Psalm 29. It begins: “Honor the Lord, you heavenly beings; honor the Lord for his glory and strength. Honor the Lord for the glory of his name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.” And it ends: “The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace.” [NLT]

I find a direct correlation between two words in that song, one at the beginning of the song and the other at the end. The words are “worship” and “peace.”  David, the writer of the song, urges his listeners to “worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.” 

It means simply to come into the sanctuary or into the presence of the LORD and love, revere, adore Him.  Peace is a wonderful by-product of worship. When we are in the presence of the LORD, when we are worshiping Him, peace flows.  All the unrest, distress, and uncertainty that surround us must surrender to the One who is the Prince of Peace.

When we worship, we find peace.  Now let me be clear, that is not necessarily as easy as it sounds.  True worship is more than just singing songs in our church services; true worship means consistently disciplining ourselves to seek His face.

For us, like all those who have gone before us, seeking the face of the Living Holy God will be a very humbling experience because we will see ourselves for who we are in the light of His glory.  Yet, it is in the light of His glory, as we truly worship, that we will find the peace for which we so desperately long.

“My soul doth sing at the remembrance of that peace.” That wonderful phrase comes from my little book of prayers, “The Valley of Vision,” and it made me think of that song of peace.

When I sat down to begin to write these last devotions for January 2025, I thought about peace. I need peace. I need the permanent, lasting peace we have as Children of God.

In the NLT version, a form of the word “peace” is found 362 times. From the way my spirit often feels, I probably should read all 362 references! Instead, I found five that speak to my heart today. Those five verses outline a plan of peace, not peace, as the world knows peace, but a permanent lasting peace.

David, the psalmist, begins Psalm 4: “Answer me when I call to you, O God who declares me innocent. Free me from my troubles. Have mercy on me and hear my prayer.”  And he ends it this way: “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.” [NLT]

The search for a lasting peace begins here. It begins with a cry to God: “Answer me when I call … free me from my troubles … hear my prayer.”

Peace, true peace is only found with God. I realize that I will never find peace focusing on the source of my unrest. If I want peace I have to put my attention elsewhere.

I can cry out to God, “Free me from my troubles. Have mercy on me and hear my prayer,” and I know God will answer. He’s answered that prayer in the past; He will continue to hear my prayer and answer in the present and future.

“Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you.”

“Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.”

“Rescue me from my enemies, Lord; I run to you to hide me.” [Psalm 143:8-9 NLT]

Enemies we have. Trouble often finds us. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies. Our very hearts betray us and turn against us. David had enemies, that is evident when we read Psalm 143. Yet David understood that the only place to find safety is to run and hide ourselves in God. Then we are safe.

In God we have a hiding place so secure that no matter who is trying to search us out, we cannot be found. We are safe in God, in the shadow of His wings, in the shelter of his tabernacle. “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.”  [Psalm 91:1-2 NLT]

No one can pull me from the shelter of the Most High, but so often I am tempted to try to remove myself from His safety. Things bombard my soul and assail my spirit. Temptations abound and I often find myself moving away from Him. Curiosity killed the cat and sometimes curiosity gets me in trouble too. I expose myself to harmful and hurtful things.

Mornings are my time to once again place my soul in the shelter of His wings. Mornings are my time to retreat once again to His tabernacle. I remind myself as I sit reading His word about the safety I have in Him.

As I mentioned yesterday, I love mornings. In the mornings I turn my gaze from the things of this world to seek the Lord. Psalm 143, a Psalm of David, has a delightful passage in verses 8 to 9. Yesterday’s devotion looked at the first thought found there: “Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you.”  [NLT]

David’s part is to trust in God; God’s part is to bring him word of His unfailing love. David goes on: “Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.” That’s my morning. It’s the time when I lift my soul away from the problems of the world and re-focus my gaze on the Lord.  As I do this, God once again shows “me where to walk.”

When we lift our souls to God, we are for a time raised above self and the world. We are with God in heavenly places. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:4-6, “But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.” [NLT]

That place will be ours in totality once we have crossed from this life to the next one. Now, however, we can only know it in part. Most of the time the world and life in general pushes us down. The world, the flesh, and the devil work very hard to crush us. They seek to keep us pinned as it were to this earthly dwelling.

God, however, in His mercy, calls us to lift our souls to Him and realize that in Christ, we are seated with him in the heavenly realms. As that happens, He will show us the way to go. Come mornings, as I sit alone with Him, I am drawn away from this world to the heavenlies and my gaze is once again where it should be, on my Lord and my God.

I am a morning person. I have most of my energy in the mornings. It also means I really dislike Daylight Saving Time. I would much rather wake up to light than go to bed when there is still light outside.

In the mornings I spring out of bed (well since I have aged, my spring is not quite as springy). I make a good cup of coffee, snuggle in my quilt, read my Bible, and pray or write as the sun comes up. There is something so precious about mornings spent with the LORD.

This morning, I was reading Psalm 143, a song of David believed to have been written during the rebellion of his son, Absalom. The opening verses are a cry for mercy and relief, relief not only from outside enemies, but also from inner sins and despair.

However, I was particularly drawn to verses 8-9: “Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you. Rescue me from my enemies, Lord; I run to you to hide me.” [NLT]

David often looked to God in the morning. You will find references to his morning conversations in Psalm 5, and Psalm 30. There is something about the sunrise, as the dawn breaks over the horizon that refreshes and renews. Jeremiah reminded us in Lamentations that the Lord’s mercies are new every morning.

Read verses 8 and 9 of Psalm 143 again and notice that while David looks to the Lord for answers, he also recognizes that there are some things he must do. He must put his trust in the Lord. For David to receive, he must first trust.

There is nothing magical about a new day. There is something wonderful about a new day when our trust is in God. As we trust Him, each new day brings a fresh word of His unfailing love.

Monday morning following the NFL playoff game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Buffalo Bills there was a headline in my morning newsfeed about a man I will call John Doe (although the newsfeed didn’t).  “[John Doe] drops potential game-tying two-point conversion catch vs Bills.”

Now I am not a Baltimore Ravens fan. In fact, being a Pittsburgh Steelers fan means I cannot be a Ravens fan. I watched the game, and I saw the player drop the ball just seconds before time ran out, meaning there would not be another chance. And I saw the cameras immediately show the player on the bench. His face proclaimed to the world how devastated he was. I felt sorry for him – even though I was not rooting for his team.

To wake up Monday morning and see his name and that announcement that he dropped the ball, made me appreciate our God so much more! I have throughout my life “dropped the ball.” I have made mistakes, sinned, failed, flopped, and fallen. And yet my God has promised that He will never remember my sins or lawless deeds.

“This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: ‘I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.’ Then he says, ‘I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.’” [Hebrews 10:16-17 NLT]

Does God have a bad memory? No, when it says He will “never again remember” it means He will never hold my sins against me since I am hidden in Christ Jesus my LORD. I will not wake up the morning after I arrive in glory to find “Terry Lema dropped the ball” broadcast across heaven.

Amen & Amen