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TerryLema

A Widow with a Great Need!

by TerryLema

I love Luke 7 and the four interactions Jesus had with people. The first interaction was with the Roman Centurion who had a sick servant. Jesus, after noting the faith found in this Gentile, healed the servant without ever going into the Centurions house.

Shortly after, in verses 11-17 Jesus meets another group as He is entering the town of Nain. Unlike the group of Jewish elders that sought out Jesus to take note of the Centurion for his building them a synagogue, this group was totally unaware of Jesus.  Their focus was on the mother as she mourned her only son being carried out of the city for burial.  According to custom, this group would have been wailing as they mourned the loss.

“When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said, ‘Don’t cry.’  Then He came up and touched the open coffin, and the pallbearers stopped. And He said, ‘Young man, I tell you, get up!’” [vs 13-14 HCSB]

That is exactly what the young man did. He sat up and began to speak. Then Jesus gave Him back to his mother.

Amazing, isn’t it! Jesus has the power over death. I take great comfort in that. But I think I take ever greater comfort in the fact that when the LORD saw this widow’s grief, He had compassion on her and without anyone asking Him to do anything, and He acted.

Sometimes I do not know what to ask. Sometimes things hit so fast there is no time to lift up a prayer or make a request. What assurance it is to know that our Savior sees our deepest needs and responds before we even ask for His help.

What a beautiful Savior we serve. All glory to Him be given. Amen

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The Amazing Centurion

by TerryLema

Luke 7:1-10 introduces us to a Roman Centurion. A Centurion was the highest rank held by men who were not part of Rome’s elite political or social classes. They were commanders of a Legion, usually comprised of 80-100 fighting men. Often, they were men who worked their way up through the ranks by acts of courage and bravery.

The Centurion in Luke 7 lived in Capernaum. This Centurion had a dying slave that was highly valued. He sent some Jewish elders to Jesus to request that He come and heal the slave. These elders brought the Centurion’s request to Jesus and added that “He is worthy for You to grant this, because he loves our nation and has built us a synagogue.” [vs 4b-5 HCSB]

Jesus goes with the elders but when He is not far from the Centurion’s home, He is met by a second group who conveys another message. “Lord, don’t trouble Yourself, since I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. That is why I didn’t even consider myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be cured. For I too am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” [vs 6b-8 HCSB]

I have always noted that the Centurion understood not just what it meant to be a person of authority, but he knew what it was to be person under authority.  But I noted something a bit differently this morning.  Jesus responded to the Centurion’s declaration with “I tell you, I have not found so great a faith even in Israel!” [vs 9b HCSB]

This morning I considered the distinction between what the Jewish elders thought of the Centurion and what Jesus thought of Him. The elders regarded the Centurion because of what he did … he built them a synagogue.  Jesus was not impressed apparently by what the Centurion did, but what the Centurion had … faith.

Our worth is not found in what we do (although there will be rewards for those who serve God according to His plan). Our worth is found in who we are in Him. We are saved in Him through grace by faith. It is that faith combined with our need that Jesus responds to. Praise God!

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Nostalgia

by TerryLema

I am feeling a bit of nostalgia this morning. This year so much has changed and will change in the near future. I am about to enter what I think is a very new phase of life. I still do not know if I will like it, or how much time I will take to adjust to it, or if it really will be as different as I anticipate. I do know that some things are certain.

One, I am coming close to the finish line on my ministry at The Way Middleton. Two, Bob and I will not be as free to travel as we have been over past decades, not that we went anywhere except to California happily to see our son and his family. Three … well, maybe just one and two are enough to contemplate today.

As I was thinking about all this change, I decided to be a bit nostalgic about the next few devotions. I have a favorite chapter in Luke’s Gospel. (Well, it is one of my favorite chapters.) I like to sneak back and read it often and have done many message on it. I think over the next few days I will do a few more. (Smile!)

The chapter is Luke 7. It contains four interactions Jesus had. The first was with the centurion, then the widow of Nain. Third was with John the Baptizer’s disciples and the last was the beautiful interaction with the sinful woman in Simon the Pharisee’s house.

I love watching Jesus as He meets people in the Gospel. I love how He responds to each one differently, as each one has different needs.

Toward the end of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus explained His purpose, which is the theme of Luke’s Gospel.  “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.” [Luke 19:10 HCSB]

These events captured in Luke 7 show Jesus’ purpose in action.  Read Luke 7 today … tomorrow we are going to meet an amazing Centurion and Jesus’ response to him.

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Brokenhearted!

by TerryLema

I got up quite early one morning last week.  I was awake from around 3 AM and decided enough was enough. I climbed out of bed around 4 AM and began my usual morning routine, cup of coffee, devotions, read and study, post online. During that routine something filled me with sorrow, and I began to cry.

Suddenly all kinds of regrets filled my soul. I wanted to go back and change things, do things differently. I wanted a different outcome than what I now have. But, of course, you cannot go back and do it over again. Even if I could go back and change things, would that have made it better or possibly worse now?

All I knew as I sat there crying was that my heart felt broken.

So where do you go when you are brokenhearted? Where do you go when you are consumed with regrets over choices you have made? Where do you go when it feels like the hurt is so deep no one would understand?

I opened my Bible and went to Isaiah 61 and began to read. “The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners….” [Isaiah 61:1 HCSB]

In Luke 4:21 Jesus asserted as He read this passage from Isaiah “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”  [HCSB]

There is nowhere else to run when we are brokenhearted than to the Rock of Our Salvation, to Christ Jesus our LORD. He alone can set us free from the regrets of the past.

Larnelle Harris - I Go to the Rock [Live] - Bing video
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How to End?

by TerryLema

Last Wednesday I sat with the Superintendent of the Southern Idaho Ministry Network of the Assemblies of God and the group of people who are searching for my replacement. It was an odd feeling.

I know I am going to be retiring from pastoring this church soon, possibly by year’s end or at least in the first quarter of the new year. My thoughts as others were talking took a strange turn, “How do I go out? What do I want to leave with these people that I love so much?”

I have had a decade to instill my absolute love of grace and the necessity of knowing deeply the truth of God’s Word (both OT & NT!). I hope I have invested in them a determination to be faithful, humble servants.

I decided to go out where I came in—with the Gospel of Mark. After I surrendered my life to Christ nearly 50 years ago, I was uncertain where to start reading my Bible. I cannot remember who told me to begin in the Gospel of Mark. That is what I did.

As I read through that wonderful book, I fell in love with my amazing Savior and LORD. So why not go out where I came in.  There are 16 chapters to cover over my final weeks from September through December. Sixteen wonderful chapters focused on Jesus.

I so want people to not just love Him, but to realize how much they are loved by Him. I remember my mentor, Pastor Jim, telling people so often that it is not as hard to get people to love God as it is to get people to understand how much God loves them.

It is God’s love that saves us.  “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” [HCSB]

So, I guess I will end my time at The Way reminding people how beautiful God’s One and Only Son truly is and how much we are loved.

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Memory from 2019

by TerryLema

This came up in a memory from 2019 and I thought it was so appropriate for today’s message at The Way Middleton on “Taking Every Thought Captive” that I decided to repost.

August 13: California trip. 3 AM living room curtain rod breaks, must nail up a sheet before we leave. Work Zones/pilot cars. Flying locust attack over Donner, hundreds of insect bodies impact Black Bart head on. Non-working hair dryer at first hotel. Tahoe Joe’s gave us worst waiter they had. Forgot hat and got scalp sunburn while eating outside in hot sun at lunch following older grandson’s scrimmage. Santa Cruz boardwalk, crowded, noise level off the charts. Traffic ….

Wait. Stop there. Don’t hold that thought!

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.” [Phil 4:9]

Enjoyed a meal with two couples (brothers and sisters in Christ) we hadn’t shared a meal with in almost 20 years; talked about old and new times! Hugs. Movie, Der Wienerschnitzel and a round of Mini-Golf with youngest grandson. Hugs. Football scrimmages with both California grandsons. 16th birthday party.  Driving with 16-year-old who has his learner’s permit. Hugs. Spent time with my brother. Hugs. Family party where we laughed so hard telling “family tales” we could hardly catch our breath. Santa Cruz boardwalk unicorn bike taxi with youngest grandson and a puppy named “Princess.” Watching a group of teenagers have a blast on rides I wouldn’t ever consider. Hugs. Watching youngest riding with his dad, showing how brave he was. Did I mention hugs?

Everyday life presents us with the things lovely and unlovely.  It is our choice which we will think about and what we dwell on.

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Every Thought?

by TerryLema

I was studying for last Sunday’s message on Spiritual Warfare regarding “Strongholds.” The text for the message was from 2 Corinthians 10:4-5: “Since the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ.” [HCSB]

I had my PowerPoint finished and my computer in my case. I had reviewed and revised my message repeatedly since putting it together the previous Wednesday. I was certain I covered everything. Then just as I was getting ready, the phrase “every thought” popped up in my mind. “Every thought?” Did Paul really mean we take “every thought” captive to obey Christ?

The word for “every” is “pas.” It means all, every, the whole, every kind of. So, I guess Paul did mean “every thought.”

I think a lot of things. Thoughts flow through my mind constantly. I think about what I need to do that day, any plans I might have, what I have to organize for messages or devotions. I think about my LORD. I think about my husband and family and friends. I think about myself. I pray. I sing at times. I read. I watch television. “Every thought?”

I think all day long, and Paul says I need to capture every thought in obedience to Christ? Yes, because tucked in beside all those normal, everyday thoughts, the enemy will seek to insert a deception or lie. He will try to make me believe his lies about God, or he will try to make me believe his lies about me. That is what he does.

So, as Paul commands, when one of the enemy’s lies (God doesn’t care about this situation!) tries to pass through to my heart, I capture it. When the enemy tells me (You are worthless, you cannot do anything for God anymore!), I seize it. I remind both the enemy and me “that is a lie,” and I replace it with the truth found in God’s Word.

The most basic truth is God loves me because I am His child.  That settles it.

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A Tough Thing

by TerryLema

Last Saturday my California family left Modesto and headed to Glendale, Arizona. They drove about 700 miles to drop their oldest son off at Arizona Christian University where he has a football scholarship. He will be playing football and getting his education over the next few years 700 miles away from home.

It was difficult for his parents and younger brother. They are an exceptionally close family, made more so with all the COVID restrictions in California over the last couple years.

Probably the toughest part of parenting is to work yourself out of a job. God gave us children to raise in the knowledge and admonition of the LORD. He did not give them to us to keep forever. Our job as parents is to raise our children with integrity and strength, to give them the tools they need to make good choices and decisions in order to become mature men and women of God. Our job is to help them grow in dependence upon God instead of dependence upon us so that they can fulfill God’s plan for their lives.

As it is in the natural, it is in the spiritual. We are reminded in the Scriptures that we all are to become mature men and women of God.

Hebrews 6:1: “Therefore, leaving the elementary message about the Messiah, let us go on to maturity”

Colossians 1:9-10: “We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.”

2 Corinthians 13:11: “Become mature, be encouraged, be of the same mind, be at peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.”

Ephesians 4:13: “…until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.”

 Growing up is not easy in the natural or the spiritual … but it is absolutely essential if we are to fulfill our God-given calling.

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Through (Again)

by TerryLema

Yesterday I was reminded about the promises of God to take us “through” the rivers of difficulties and the fires of trials in Isaiah 43. I also discovered that there are more than 800 uses of the English word “through” in our Bible translations. That is way more than I can study. I decided to just look at the use of the word “through” in one NT book, Ephesians.

The Greek word Paul used is “dia” and it means on account of, by the instrumentality of, by reason of, for the sake of, and because of. Wow. Here goes …

We have adoption through (dia) Jesus Christ [1:5]

We have redemption in Him on account of (dia) His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses [1:7]

We have the immeasurable riches of His grace because of (dia) His kindness to us in Christ Jesus [2:7]

We are saved by the instrumentality of (dia) His grace through faith – it is God’s gift [2:8]

We have access by one Spirit to the Father because of (dia) Him [2:18]]

We have boldness and confident access through (dia) faith in Him [3:12]

We have the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in the inner man because of (dia) His Spirit [3:16]

The Messiah dwells in our hearts by reason of (dia) faith [3:17]

What a list: Adoption, Redemption, Forgiveness, Riches, Grace, Kindness, Salvation, Access, Boldness, Confidence, Strength, Power, Indwelling Spirit.

All that comes “through” what our Father provided for us in the sacrifice of His Son on the cross.

Thank you, Father, may we be eternally grateful. Amen.

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Through

by TerryLema

I love that word “through.” It means moving into one side and out the other. There are about 800 occurrences of the word “through” in the Scriptures. One occurrence popped up in my daily verse the other morning—a most familiar one out of Isaiah 43.

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire, and the flame will not burn you.” [Isaiah 43:1b-2 HCSB]

Isaiah 43 is a chapter on the restoration of Israel, and this is God’s Promise to them. But, as God’s children, as those who are saved by His grace and called by His name (Christians), we too can claim the promise that God will take us “through.”

He will take us “through” the waters, and “through” the rivers and we will not be overwhelmed. He will make us to walk “through” the fire and we will not be scorched.

As much as we want Him to remove trials and tribulations and difficulties “from” us; I have found that I become much closer to my wonderful Father when He take me “through” rather than “out of” such things.

Somehow, I grow more, my heart becomes stronger, my spirit drives deeper into grace when I must depend upon God daily in the midst of a trial. Would I prefer to avoid difficulties, certainly! But life does not always abide with my preferences.

In the midst of those difficult times, I remember that God has ALWAYS brought me “through.” As He has done so in the past, He will do so now.

Praise His Holy Name. Amen!

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