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TerryLema

Montana!

by TerryLema

Tomorrow I am flying out to Montana. I have to be at the airport early in the morning. I am not going on a vacation; I am going to officiate a Celebration of Life for a young man. (44 yrs old)

I have been preparing for the trip for about a week now.  I am not as young as I used to be, so air travel is a bit harder than it used to be. I have to account for not just what to wear, but for meds, for all my diabetic supplies, getting a cane through TSA security.

I have to think about what to check and what to carry on.  I need my laptop to pull together everything for the service, and I do not want to check it. I have to figure out how to carry it so that it is available to be screened the way TSA wants. It is not light; I will probably have to put it in a backpack.

Then, of course, there is the difficulty of lay-overs and the amount of time I have between flights … can I make it with just a cane between gates, will I have time to use the restroom, should I ask for a wheelchair or transport of some kind?

Lots of things to think about that have absolutely nothing to do with the reason I am going. That is … I need to honor the young man being celebrated and I need to bring words of comfort to his family and friends.

As I made my preparations for my flights, as I made my preparation for the Celebration of Life, I reflected on two especially important things about life.

One, we need to make sure we are prepared for that “final flight” when we exit this life for our eternal one. Have we surrendered our life to Christ Jesus? Do we know where we are going?

Two, we need to make sure our family and friends know we are prepared for our eternal life. We should never leave them wondering if we have given our life to Christ.

I will be offline from March 18 through March 23.  See you on the 24th.  God bless!

 

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All Things

by TerryLema

Most Christians are familiar with this verse found in Romans 8: “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.” [Romans 8:28 HCSB]

Many of us have it memorized. And many of us have repeated it to others, or even at times to ourselves.

It showed up as my verse of the day last Saturday and gave me much thought. My conclusion?

It is much easier to memorize and repeat this verse than it is to live it out in the midst of “all things.”

When my “all things” are comfortable and joyful, I find it far easier to see how God is working them for my good. When my “all things” are difficult, or harsh, or things that I do not want in my life, I find it a constant challenge to see how God can bring anything good in their midst.

Still, I am one of those identified as “called according to His purpose,” and that promise that He will work in my “all things” for my good is for me … it is a promise of God, so it is “yes” and “Amen” even when I am struggling with the current day’s “all things.”

I realized this morning as I looked back on my life, that at 74 I have all manner of “all things” in my rearview mirror … and that it is much easier to see all the good that God created in the midst of them now than it was to see it while I was struggling through them.

God has proven Himself true over and over again in my life, and He will continue to do so.

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Sing!

by TerryLema

I was reading a list of philanthropists and their giving. The list included Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, Bill and Melinda Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and the giving was in the billions of dollars.

Of course, these people are extremely rich in worldly possessions and are generous with what they have. What most of us are able to give monetarily pales in comparison.  That brings up the question, “Is generosity a matter of money only?”

We tend to associate the word generosity with financial giving, since that is what we see so often, but a generous spirit is so much more than just about money. It is about what is in our hearts.

David reminds us in Psalm 13 that our God is a generous God.  “I will sing to the Lord because He has treated me generously.” [v6 HCSB]

His generosity is shown to us in so many ways. We receive salvation as a free gift based on His grace. We receive mercy, and compassion, and kindness. He gives us His Spirit to indwell us to lead us in all His ways. He lavishes wisdom upon us when we simply ask Him for it. He provides comfort when we sorrow, and joy in the midst of our tears. He lifts us up when we fall and forgives us when we come to Him in repentance.

He does all that because He loves us, and His love is a generous love.

So, what manner of person should we be if we are made in His image?

We should reflect His generous nature to our world in our patience, understanding, respect, and willingness to give the benefit of the doubt. That is but the beginning of being generous … after we learn that, there is so much more!

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Enthusiasm

by TerryLema

I am retiring in December. Some people think that means I am done working. Not the case. I “retired” from St. Luke’s Health System in 2014 and I still worked. I worked temp jobs for the State of Idaho a couple years in a row after Luke’s and “retired” from those, and I am still working. I am old, so of course, I do not quit jobs, I “retire” in the eyes of others.

To be sure, I may be “retiring” from full time pastoral ministry, but I am not “retiring” from service to the LORD. Paul put that in perspective quite well in Colossians.

“Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ.” [Colossians 3:23-24 HCSB]

As Christians, “whatever [we] do,” we do it as “done for the LORD.”  We do it not to receive an earthly reward, such as a paycheck, but looking forward to that eternal reward in our inheritance in heaven.

And according to the Holman Christian Standard translation, we are to do it “enthusiastically.”

The Greek word means literally “do it from the soul,” and comes from a word meaning “the vital breath of life.”

“Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.” [Genesis 2:7 HCSB]

Whatever we do in service to the LORD, is to be done as if it is that vital breath of life given us by God!  Enthusiastically, it is!

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Tomorrow, tomorrow …

by TerryLema

I am revising the song from “Annie” a bit as I sing today: “Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow, your [only] a day away!”

Tomorrow is 14 days following my second COVID-19 vaccine. You may be a non-vaccine person, and that is your choice, but Bob and I got the vaccine as soon as it was available to us. It was recommended for us by our family physician because of our age and health conditions.

What it means is that tomorrow I can safely visit my grandchildren and get hugs & kisses now according to the CDC guidelines. (I got to hug my oldest grandson this past Thursday as he came for a visit from Portland. I did it without fear, figuring I was close enough to “tomorrow!”)

And in about a month, we are going to California and I am going to hug my California grandsons without fear!  I have not seen them since December 2019. It has been a long, long time between hugs & kisses.

Proverbs 17:6 expresses what I (and probably most grandmothers and grandfathers) feel … “Grandchildren are the crown of the elderly.”

 I am so thankful to God for my three grandsons. I love them dearly. I hate that they live far away. I hate that this virus kept us from seeing them for so long.

I am also thankful for the vaccine that is giving us the freedom to get the hugs & kisses that we so long for!

Thank you, LORD, for this blessing!  Amen.

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How Come? No Matter What!

by TerryLema

Perhaps my favorite Old Testament prophet is Habakkuk. The book of his prophecy is only three chapters long. It begins with a question rather than his pedigree. Most of the Old Testament prophets at least tell you who they are or list the kings that are on the thrones while they are prophesying. Habakkuk does none of that. He just starts asking God questions, such as “how long,” and “why do You ….”

When God responds to his initial questions, Habakkuk asks even more. He wanted to reconcile what he sees going on around him with the goodness of God. Habakkuk saw the approach of the most fearsome nation on earth at that time, and he feared Israel was next to fall to the Babylonians.  He also saw his own nation sinking further into sin and no one seemed willing to stop their descent.

Habakkuk wanted to know why God would use a nation far more sinful than Israel to chastise Israel. He had so many questions … maybe we have some of the same?

God does not exactly answer Habakkuk’s questions. What He does do is reveal himself to the prophet.  At the beginning of Chapter 3, Habakkuk writes of the splendor and the power of His God.

“Lord, I have heard the report about You; Lord, I stand in awe of Your deeds…. God comes from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran…. His splendor covers the heavens, and the earth is full of His praise. His brilliance is like light…. He stands and shakes the earth; He looks and startles the nations.” [3:2-6a HCSB]

It is after the revelation of God’s splendor and might that Habakkuk moves from “Why” and “How long …” to “No matter what,” or in his words: “Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will triumph in Yahweh; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!” [3:17-18 HCSB]

We may never get our “Why” or “How long …” questions answered. But when God reveals Himself to us, in His Word and in the Power of His Indwelling Spirit, we like Habakkuk can cry out, “No matter what, I will triumph in my LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”  Amen & Amen.

 

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Surprise, Surprise!

by TerryLema

God is full of surprises! I think He also has a sense of humor! I was recently informed by NBC in my email news feed of a new discovery.  In their words, “Researchers in New Zealand have discovered three new shark species that glow in the dark, with the kitefin shark now the largest-known luminous underwater creature.”

Not only do we have giraffes, and duck-billed platypus, and birds that cannot fly (penguin, ostrich, and kakapo), and living creatures we can see through (jellyfish), we now have glow-in-the-dark sharks.  Of course, the sharks have always been there, it is that we now know they are there.

After all these years, mankind is still discovering things that God has had around us all along. Mankind thinks it knows it all, but God still has surprises to be revealed. Isn’t that amazing!

When John the Baptist was in prison (soon to be beheaded by Herod), he sent his disciples to Jesus. He sent them with a question.  “Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for someone else?”  [Luke 7:19 HCSB]

Instead of simply answering John’s question, Jesus showed John’s disciples what was happening all around them.  “[Jesus] replied to them, ‘Go and report to John the things you have seen and heard: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with skin diseases are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news.’” [Luke 7:22 HCSB]

John’s ministry was one of repentance and his disciples would have been familiar with that. Jesus’ ministry was one of miracles and promises of eternal life. I wonder if John’s disciples were surprised by what God was doing through Jesus.  I wonder if after John’s death, they transferred their allegiance to Jesus.  I wonder …

God is full of surprises!

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God of All Comfort

by TerryLema

I have been asked so many time how people endure and recover from the harsh realities of life. After suffering loss, people are confused and lost, even if the loss was expected. When the loss is unexpected, it can be even worse.

Christians often ask me after experiencing a loss, how anyone that does not know the LORD can cope with the accompanying grief.

Grief is a journey that no one genuinely wants to undertake.  And yet each of us at some time will experience it.  I have walked my own grief journeys, and I have walked with others through theirs.

As I face grief, or see others beginning their own grief journey, I am reminded of what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians.

“Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”  [2 Corinthians 1:3-4 HCSB]

Paul identifies our God with two titles. He is the Father of Mercies. And He is also The God of All Comfort.  All Comfort!

 All comfort comes from Him, whether it is received by Christians or by those who are not. In loss, He alone sustains people, even when they are not aware of that.

Right now, people I love are beginning a grief journey. I pray the God of All Comfort meets them, sustains them, guides them by the power of His Spirit through their journeys. I pray that they are aware of His comfort. I pray I am able to comfort them with the comfort I have often received from my LORD.

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God’s Will

by TerryLema

I was reading Acts 16 which describes the evangelization of Europe. Initially, Paul was “prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in Asia.” [Acts 16:6b HCSB]

He then “tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” [vs 7b]

Finally, in a night vision Paul saw a Macedonian man pleading with him to cross into Macedonia. After that vision, Paul and his companions “set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to evangelize them.” [vs 10b]

The first convert in Europe was a woman named Lydia in Philippi, who invited them to stay in her house. Then Paul cast out a demon from a slave girl and ended up in trouble with her owners, was dragged into the marketplace and accused of disturbing the city – an unacceptable event in a Roman colony. Eventually, Paul and Silas were beaten with rods and thrown into a jail, which led to the conversion of the Philippian jailer and his entire household.

As I was reading about those events it struck me that Paul was directly in the will of God.

He had followed God’s leading in his missionary journey, gone where God wanted him to go, and ended up being accused, beaten, and thrown into jail.

Joseph, in the Old Testament had a similar experience. He concluded, “You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.” [Genesis 50:20 HCSB]

We can be in the center of the will of God and still have trouble. Interesting.

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Perfect Faithfulness

by TerryLema

Last Friday was a discouraging day for a number of reasons. By nightfall, I was ready to withdraw from everything. My heart hurt for others going through difficult times. I was frustrated trying to make plans for the committee charged with recruiting my replacement. It was a difficult day.

When I woke up Saturday, I had a message from a friend at 5 AM asking if I was “up yet.” Messages at 5 AM are never good, and this one proved that point.

So, of course, God was already prepared for my discouragement. One of my daily verses brought me to Isaiah 25. That chapter in my Bible is titled, “Salvation and Judgment on that Day.”  That day’s verse opened the chapter.

“Yahweh, You are my God; I will exalt You. I will praise Your name, for You have accomplished wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.” [25:1 HCSB]

I was struck by two phrases. The first reminded me that God’s plans for this world were “formed long ago.” They are set firmly in His unchanging nature. Nothing takes Him by surprise – not even those things that discouraged me Friday and Saturday.

The second thing that struck me is Isaiah’s reminder that God accomplishes wonders – those plans formed long ago – “with perfect faithfulness.”

I do not have any answers yet for the discouraging things that currently surround me. I am still a little frustrated and emotionally wobbly. But God … (how often we live in those two words!) … but God has plans formed long ago and I shall yet see His wonders. He will perform them with perfect faithfulness.

I need to live in the reality of His perfect faithfulness.

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