Author

TerryLema

Our Portion

by TerryLema

I brought home a nugget from the message at church last Sunday. It is one that I have been thinking more about over the last few days.

Most of us would agree that if we are not in the “last of the last days,” we are certainly closer to them than any generation. Most of us, when we think about the last days think about the warning Paul gave to his son in the faith, Timothy.

“In the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good.” [2 Timothy 3:1-3 NLT]

But that is the world’s portion. Pastor Paul reminded us that as children of God, we have a different portion.

“‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women.’” [Acts 2:17-18 NLT]

Our portion is not found in what is going on in the world. Our portion is found in what God is doing in His people. It is those things that we should be looking for … and those things that should be found in us.

We should see God pouring out His Spirit. We should see prophecies, visions, and dreams. We should see men and women, young and old, responding to God’s Spirit in wonderful ways.

Let’s make sure we are looking for (and abiding in) the portion that is ours!

0 comment
FacebookEmail

Where Were You?

by TerryLema

I try to read my Bible through each year, or at least once every two years. That means I read through Job each time. I started that in the 1980s. That means I have read through Job many times.

Listening to Job and his friends debate about God—who God is and what God does—can be trying, until that wonderful moment when God Himself steps into the debate in Job 38. When I read that first verse, I want to shout “Finally!”

“Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind.” [HCSB]

And I love how God enters the conversation. “Where were you when I established the earth?” [38:4 HCSB]

He follows that with a series of questions that reminds His listeners that He is the Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient God, and they are not. The question I love most comes at the beginning of Chapter 40. “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?” [40:2 HCSB]

Who are we to attempt to counsel or correct God? And yet we try. I have on occasion argued with God. I have tried to bend His will in a different direction. I have tried to convince Him to do things a different way. I have stubbornly refused to listen because I wanted to hear something different than what He was speaking.

Arguing with God (for whatever reason) is a fruitless endeavor. We will not change God, but we will make ourselves – and everyone around us – miserable.

“Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?” Nope – We may try but thankfully we won’t win.

0 comment
FacebookEmail

FOR

by TerryLema

Pastor Jerrad spoke out of Psalm 23:4 a couple Sundays ago. “When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff comfort me.”

As he spoke about not being afraid, he used a few verses from Deuteronomy. Two of the passages spoke to me. I wrote of Deuteronomy 7:17-28 yesterday.

Another passage was found in Chapter 20, verse 1: “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” [NKJV]

Notice that little word “for?” As used in this sentence, it is a conjunction. It connects two clauses.

“When you go out to battle against your enemies … do not be afraid of them” is the first clause.

The second is “the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”

“FOR” connects them. Moses reminded the people that they did not need to be afraid FOR the LORD their God was with them – the same LORD God who delivered them from the land of Egypt.

We are not to be afraid either … FOR … the LORD our God has brought us out of darkness and brought us into His glorious light! Those “FORs” in our life in the past provide such assurance for our present and our future.

 

0 comment
FacebookEmail

Remember Well

by TerryLema

A couple Sunday’s ago Pastor Jerrad was preaching on fear out of Psalm 23:4, “When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff comfort me.”

I love Psalm 23. I repeat it every night as I go to sleep, visualizing in my imagination those green pastures and quiet streams. Because of that I listened very carefully to what Pastor Jerrad was saying. He used verses from Deuteronomy to expand his thoughts. Two of those passages caught my attention.

One was Deuteronomy 7:17-18: “If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’—you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt.” [NKJV]

Notice that little phrase, “you shall remember well ….”

The Hebrew word for “you shall remember” is ZAKAR. The word for “well” is ZAKAR.” It is repeated. That’s like an exclamation point!

Moses was calling on the people not just to remember what the LORD their God did for them, they were to remember it WELL!

Remembering well what God has done for us in the past, will enable us to not be afraid when enemies come our way in the future.

0 comment
FacebookEmail

The Struggle

by TerryLema

Some days are a struggle. I never know until I get out of bed how my body is going to react. I can face a day with a plethora of aches and pain (from the PMR), or I can have a good day with very little. I might have the energy to vacuum the whole house, or I might have to struggle through each room, pausing often to rest (long fatigue from either meds or that virus which shall be nameless. (Today is a struggle day.)

I try to keep moving. My watch reminds me of when I have been sitting for too long. I used to do 10K-14K steps a day. Now a very good day is around 7K. Some days I am lucky to get 5K, and that is only because I force myself to move. I could sit in my recliner all day and read until my eyes get blurry – but if I don’t move, one day I won’t be able to move.

Add to that the threat of blindness from the other auto-immune disease (GCA) and life is far different from what I thought it would be at this stage.

Many of us struggle. Life is often not fair and sometimes it is downright cruel. We struggle with financial security. We struggle with relationships. We struggle with loss. Sometimes the struggles are temporary and are resolved; other times they become our constant companions.

And still, I know that my Father God loves me. I know that my LORD and Savior walks with me. I know that the Holy Spirit of God indwells me. I also know that when I enter into their presence in glory, I will leave my struggles (my momentary light affliction) in the grave. None shall follow me to my eternal home. Amen & Amen

 “For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.” [2 Corinthians 4:17 HCSB]

0 comment
FacebookEmail

A New Location?

by TerryLema

I went to lunch with a good friend recently. She asked me about how things were going with the transition from The Way to Christian Faith Center (CFC) Middleton. As we talked, I told her how I was a greeter at the CFC Caldwell location (which we are attending until the Middleton campus is refurbished and launched in September).

She asked me how I felt about standing at the door after so many years of standing behind the pulpit as head pastor. I guess it might seem a bit odd, but I love it.

There are two verses that I have always tried to live by.

The first is Colossians 3:17 and defines how I serve. “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.” [HCSB]

Whatever I am called or asked to do, from standing behind the pulpit to standing at the door, I will try to do it in a way that honors the name of the LORD Jesus – giving thanks to my Father God for the opportunity and ability to serve.

My second verse is Proverbs 17:22 and defines how I try to face whatever comes my way in this life. “A merry heart does good like a medicine.” [NKJV]

I pray that whatever God asks of me, I will serve Him with a joyful heart.

0 comment
FacebookEmail

The Power

by TerryLema

Jesus gave the Great Commission to His disciples. They were to go and make disciples, baptizing and teaching them. It is found in Matthew 28:19-20. That Commission is still the fundamental essential command of Christianity.

But Jesus told them, before you go you need to wait for the Father’s promise. That promise was the power needed to fulfill that Commission. [Acts 1:4-5]

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” [Acts 1:8 HCSB]

If the Great Commission is still valid, then the essential power to fulfill the Great Commission is still needed. The power of the Holy Spirit is necessary and required. We must still wait for the Father’s promise!

And yet, we have in many places driven out or tried to silence the Holy Spirit in our midst. We have returned to that old way of thinking that we can do the LORD’s commands in our own strength. Down through the ages that has proven ineffective.

The Holy Spirit directs us with the wisdom of God. He leads us to opportunities. He gives us the wisdom to speak. He gives us the power to love. He gives us the strength to persevere.

Without Him, our testimony will be without power – for the Holy Spirit also prepares the hearts to receive.

0 comment
FacebookEmail

The Great Commission

by TerryLema

Matthew 28:19-20 contains what we have come to call the Great Commission.  “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” [HCSB]

Apparently, in the original Greek, the only direct command is to “make disciples.” The others are indirect commands. “Going,” Baptizing,” and “Teaching” are how we fulfill the command to “make disciples.”

The command to make disciples was given to those original disciples of Christ Jesus … and to all that would come after them. That command is still the essential command of Christianity. So how did we get so caught up in thinking other things are as or even more important?

My heart grows sad and my spirit weary when I see the church fussing over things that have no eternal value – things that have nothing to do with fulfilling the Great Commission.

When Jesus looked around, He saw an abundant harvest of souls. “When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were weary and worn out, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.’” [Matthew 9:36-38 HCSB]

When we look around, what do we see? Things that have no eternal value, or an abundant harvest waiting for us to “make disciples?”

0 comment
FacebookEmail

The Price is Right

by TerryLema

My husband loves The Price is Right. He watches it every weekday morning. He wants me to watch it with him. I do okay except for the contestants that scream, fall down on the stage, and generally act like idiots.

This year, he discovered The Price is Right at night. It is usually on Wednesday nights. The other Wednesday they aired two shows. Two hours of The Price is Right. Two hours of screamers. Two hours in a row of people who were acting like they won the billion-dollar lottery when it was just a new fridge or a hammock.

After the first hour, I put my ear buds in, pulled up my music and listened to some of my new favorite songs while “watching” The Price is Right with Bob. As I listened, the “Goodness of God” came up—at the same time a particularly loud and obnoxious contestant appeared on the show. I could not help but compare- what the world values and what a Child of God values.

“I love Your voice. You have led me through the fire. In the darkest night You are close like no other. I’ve known You as a Father, I’ve known You as a Friend. And I have lived in the goodness of God.”

 As I watched people get excited over a vacation or car, I listened to those lyrics and thought about God’s goodness in my life – how He has been with me even when I fought Him. He has touched my life in so many ways. He has loved me even when I was unlovable. What a blessing to have “lived in the goodness of God.”

“His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” [2Peter 1:3 HCSB]

 

0 comment
FacebookEmail

Not Exactly Happily Ever After (Part Two)

by TerryLema

Remember that beautiful love story of Isaac and Rebekah from Genesis 24 that I wrote about yesterday. It started out so good, but then the “happily ever after part” got a bit skewed. That’s because these were real people, not fairy tale or romance novel characters.

The troubles really began after Isaac prayed for Rebekah. She was unable to conceive initially, but after Isaac’s prayers for his wife, she became pregnant with twins. They jostled in her womb and drove her to consult the LORD about her condition, “if everything is all right God, why am I thus?” [25:22]

God granted Rebekah’s request and told her why.  The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, the older will serve the younger.” [Gen 25:23]

That was so true.  Over the next few chapters in Genesis, those twins, Jacob (who would be renamed Israel) and Esau caused their parents a lot of trouble.  They fought and schemed and tried to outdo each other. They even got mom and dad involved in their squabbles.  (To this day, their descendants are still squabbling.) Eventually Jacob and Esau achieved a measure of peace between them and found that living far away from each other served them well.

When I read the story of Isaac and Rebekah and their offspring, I often wonder if there were times when Isaac regretted asking God for children. Had it been me, I just might have!

And I also remember that the people and great heroes in the Bible were just that, real people. Not made-up fairy tales, superheroes, or characters in a novel. They were people who had struggles in everyday life just as we have. God walked was them through each one. That gives me hope.

 

0 comment
FacebookEmail