Author

TerryLema

King Over All the Earth!

by TerryLema

I often write my devotions ahead of the days that I post them. That allows me some breathing room in case my schedule or circumstances make writing difficult. I am actually writing this on Election Day. I have no idea who will win the election, or if by now the election has even been decided. I do not know about any legal challenges or rhetoric or rioting that might have taken place.

I do know one thing. Today is a good day to read Psalm 47. It begins “Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with a jubilant cry. For Yahweh, the Most High, is awe-inspiring, a great King over all the earth.” [vs1-2 HCSB]

Oh, yes, our LORD is the Most High and He is awe-inspiring. That should be reason enough to clap our hands and shout to God with great joy! But if that is not enough to make you want to clap and sing, maybe verse 8 will do it.

“God reigns over the nations; God is seated on His holy throne.”

Our God is seated on His holy throne. (If you want a picture of the Throne Room, read Revelation 4.)

Our God is on His throne. Maybe we should repeat that multiple times until we realize how vitally important those few words are. It will matter politically to this nation who is sitting in the chair in the Oval office, but no matter who that is …

Our God is still seated on His Holy Throne. And He is King over all the earth! Hallelujah! Amen!

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Let’s Get Organized …

by TerryLema

In David’s last years, he assisted his son Solomon in the building of the great temple by drawing up plans, setting aside resources and organizing temple support. The sons of Levi were originally charged with carrying the parts of the tabernacle under the order of the priests. But now with a temple in the making, they were no longer needed to carry the tabernacle or any of the equipment from place to place.

David directed them to assist the priests with other temple duties, “being responsible for the courts and the chambers, the purification of all the holy things, and the work of the service of God’s temple—as well as the rows of the bread of the Presence, the fine flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baking, the mixing, and all measurements of volume and length.” [1 Chronicles 29:28b-29 HCSB]

Honestly, I am not sure I would have been all that enamored with cleaning, purifying, measuring, and baking, but David added another duty and that is the one I would have loved. “They are also to stand every morning to give thanks and praise to the Lord, and likewise in the evening.” [vs30 HCSB]

Every morning and every night they were to stand in the Presence of the LORD in His Holy Temple and give thanks and praise. Every morning upon waking, every night before sleeping, their attention would be on the LORD God Almighty. They would probably sing many of the songs of thanksgiving David wrote. They would praise God for all He had done for Israel. They would see the magnificent temple dedicated to Him built by Solomon and their hearts would be raised to the heavenlies with their voices.

Of course, now, God Almighty’s Wonderful, Amazing, Holy Spirit lives in our hearts. We do not have to wake up and drive to a “place” – no matter how magnificent that “place” may be – we simply can praise and offer thanksgiving every morning and every night (and maybe throughout the day) wherever we are.

Maybe it is time we got organized to do just that!

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Rods, Beatings, Stocks … and Songs in the Night

by TerryLema

Have you ever considered what it took for Paul and Silas to sing?

In Acts 16, Paul and Silas on a missionary journey ended up in Philippi, a Roman colony. Through a series of events, including the conversion of Lydia and the exorcism of a fortune-telling slave girl, they were seized and dragged violently before the authorities and accused of bringing a disturbance to the city. That was not something city officials wanted to have happen as a Roman colony.

“Then the mob joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods.  After they had inflicted many blows on them, they threw them in jail, ordering the jailer to keep them securely guarded.  Receiving such an order, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.” [vs 22-24 HCSB]

Paul and Silas were stripped, beaten, thrown in the darkest part of a prison, and then immobilized in stocks. Their backs were probably raw. They would have been covered in bruises and welts. Perhaps bones were even broken. The prison was dark, and damp and cold. So, what did they do? They sang.

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” [vs25 HCSB]

They sang hymns to God (probably from the Psalms) and they prayed. The other prisoners around them would have been stunned by that reaction. Even when God miraculously broke their bonds and opened the doors of the jail, they stuck around and continued to sing and pray.

What did it take for Paul and Silas to sing? Not sure I can put it in words, but I pray God grants me what they had to sing songs in the night. Amen.

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But as for me …

by TerryLema

I was reading Psalm 69 this morning. It is a song of David. It is a plea for rescue. You cannot read it without noticing the prophetic words about our LORD Christ Jesus and His crucifixion.

The first 28 verses are difficult to read. David is surrounded by enemies, in great distress. He recounts to God his own sin and the pain and grief he is experiencing at the hands of others. Then in verse 29, something changes. It seems that David begins to look up at God. It begins with a personal declaration … “but as for me.”

“But as for me—poor and in pain— let Your salvation protect me, God. I will praise God’s name with song and exalt Him with thanksgiving.” [Psalm 69:29-30 HCSB]

“But as for me,” David writes, even while I am “poor and in pain” I will choose to look to God. God’s salvation will protect me. I will choose to praise God’s name. I will choose to sing. I will choose to exalt. I will choose to offer thanksgiving.

It really does come down to that personal choice – that decision that no matter our poverty or pain, we will choose to offer God thanksgiving and praise. We will sing songs in the night that exalt our LORD and Savior.

No matter how great the darkness around us, it does not have the power to stifle our voices. It cannot stop our singing or exalting or thanking or praising our God. The only thing that can stifle our voices is our own choice to remain silent.

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A Thanksgiving Sacrifice

by TerryLema

Did you know that the first mention of a formal thanksgiving in the Bible is found in Leviticus 7? Most of us do not wake up in the morning excited to read through that book.  Instead we probably try to avoid it, what with all the references to mildew, sin, skin diseases, bodily discharges, and such.

Yet right there, in Leviticus 7:11-15, a formal offering of thanksgiving is referenced. “Now this is the law of the fellowship sacrifice that someone may present to the Lord: If he presents it for thanksgiving, in addition to the thanksgiving sacrifice, he is to present unleavened cakes mixed with olive oil, unleavened wafers coated with oil, and well-kneaded cakes of fine flour mixed with oil. He is to present as his offering cakes of leavened bread with his thanksgiving sacrifice of fellowship.” [v11-13 HCSB]

It seems odd to put thanksgiving and sacrifice in the same sentence. We usually apply thanksgiving to all the great and wonderful blessings we experience. We offer thanks readily when things are going well in life. We have our health, or financial security, good jobs, family peace. Yes, we may become forgetful at times, but once reminded we go down our list of blessings and find much to praise God.

In those tough times, when health declines, financial security disappears, jobs are tenuous or family upheavals are the norm, thanksgiving truly becomes a sacrifice. Hebrews 13:15 is clear, however: “Therefore, through Him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that confess His name.” [HCSB]

There is no excuse for ingratitude when we remember all God has done for us in Christ’s sacrifice. All those things we found in Romans 5:1-2, in Psalm 100, are ours. They are eternal. They will never disappear or diminish or be overcome, not even by the trying circumstances of this life.

So yes, sometimes thanksgiving is a sacrifice because of what we have around us … but it must always be offered considering the eternal sacrifice of our Lord and Savior on that cross for us.

 

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Only God Know …

by TerryLema

As I write this, I have no idea how this election will turn out or what the ramifications will be for Christians in our nation. I know that in many places around the world Christians suffer great opposition. Some are imprisoned for their beliefs, some tortured, some martyred. Will that become the experience of Christians in our nation? Perhaps. We have already seen a rise in opposition. We just do not know at this point how great that will become.

So, considering that, we should heed Peter’s warning in his first letter. “Be serious! Be alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him and be firm in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.” [1Peter 5:8-9 HCSB]

We may not know the outcome of this election, or whether opposition will continue to increase in our nation, but what we are assured of is that the enemy of our soul is prowling around. He is now and always has been on the move looking for anyone to devour. He hates God Almighty. He knows that the best way to get at God is to attack God’s children.

We need to get serious as Peter reminds us. We have been too comfortable and too complacent for too many years in our nation. We have allowed much of our Christian foundations to be eroded away and done nothing to stop it. We may or may not be able to recover what we have lost.

Still, we must try. We must be always alert to the devil’s tactics. We must resist and stand firm in our faith. The days of “easy” Christianity in American are gone. Now it is time to remember that being a Christian never has been about “easy.” The cross was not “easy.” Our walking worthy of all that Jesus has done for us will not be “easy” either, but it will sure be necessary.

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Even in the Shadows …

by TerryLema

At The Way we are about ready to finish our series on “Finding Faith and Courage in Difficult Times.” It is from Hebrews 11. When you read Hebrews 11 and see all the heroes of faith and their exploits, you might not notice that the end of the chapter is far different from the beginning.

There is no doubt about the great acts of faith shown in the beginning. Seas part. Walls tumble. The mouths of lions are shut. Kingdoms topple. Hebrew children survive a fiery furnace. These heroes of faith operated in the awareness and light of the Presence of God … or as one commentator remarked, they worked in the sunshine.

When you get to the end of the chapter, however, things change.  “Some men were tortured…and others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated….They wandered in deserts and on mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.” [vs35b-38 HCSB]

Those heroes had far different acts of faith. They lived their lives not in the sunshine and light of God’s presence, they lived in the shadows. But their testimony of faith spoke volumes and the writer of Hebrews noted that “The world was not worthy of them.” [vs38a HCSB]

Difficulties do happen to people of faith. Sometimes the greatest acts of faith are poured out in those dark times of life that seem impossible to endure, and yet we do. Sometimes the greatest acts of faith are shown when the world and life come crashing down around us, when we experience loss and grief and tragedy. It is then, in the shadows of life, when we cannot sense the Presence of our LORD, yet we hold strong to Him … it is then, that our greatest acts of faith prove worthy of Him.

So, if you are going through difficulties and troubles, hold strong beloved. God is there, walking with you through the shadows. He will never leave you nor abandon you. Your greatest testimony wrought in the shadows will be displayed to all one day in the light.

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Ah, at last the good season!

by TerryLema

I think today is a Psalm 100 kind of day. It is the first day of November, when we are reminded once again to be a thankful people. And Psalm 100 says it so well for us!  Grab a Bible and read along with me. (I am reading out of the Holman Christian Standard Bible.)

1 Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.
3 Acknowledge that Yahweh is God. He made us, and we are His — His people, the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name.
5 For Yahweh is good, and His love is eternal; His faithfulness endures through all generations.

As you read with me, did you notice that thanksgiving is about both words and actions? Shout. Serve. Come. Acknowledge. Enter. Give. Praise.

We do this because our LORD is good.

We do this because His love is eternal.

We do this because His faithfulness endures.

We do this because He created us to do this. Amen

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Not a fan …

by TerryLema

Well, today is a double whammy day for me. I do not care for Halloween. I am more than thankful when the orange and black decorations come down and the horrible images in people’s yards disappear for another year. I am more than thankful when the wonderful red and green, gold and silver decorations of Christmas appear. I love October weather, but hate the Halloween season. I dislike seeing our children wearing the darkness.  I will endure today, the first whammy, because tomorrow we enter the Thanksgiving season.

The second whammy today is that we change our clocks once again tonight. My body has a wonderfully precise inner clock. I can set a timer for an hour when cooking – and without checking it – be back at my oven within 2 minutes of it going off. Of course, that means this whole Daylight-Saving Time is a challenge as my body adjusts, and it does not matter if we are losing or gaining an hour. It is going to take weeks to get back on schedule.

So, double whammy day. Because it is a double whammy day, I plan on thinking on those things Paul outlined at the end of his letter to the Philippians. “Finally beloved …” he begins … “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things.” [Philippians 4:8 HCSB]

Today I want my thoughts captivated by things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, morally excellent, and praiseworthy. I might have to search a bit to find those things around me in this world, but I know that if I just turn my attention to my LORD, my Precious Savior Christ Jesus, I will find every one of them on display.

We also do well when we not only think on those beautiful qualities of our LORD, but also model them to others.

So, today, let us not only think about them … let us show them to everyone we meet.  God Bless!

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Not only that …

by TerryLema

Yesterday, as I wrote about the hope of God that is developed through the godly handling of our afflictions – that progression of proven character Paul outlined for us in Romans 5:3-5 – my attention was taken by how Paul began that passage. “And not only that ….”

That little introductory phrase made me stop and go back to the “not only that” Paul referenced. “Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” [Romans 5:1-2 HCSB]

Wow! Look at what we have. (I could preach for a year on just what Paul tells us “we have” in these two short verses.)

We have … been declared righteous when we placed our faith in God’s Son. We have … peace with God through our LORD Jesus Christ.  We have … obtained access through Him by faith.  We have … grace in which we now stand.  We have … rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God!

If I look at my life from the world’s perspective, I do not have much. Thankfully, I have enough for what I need and am surrounded by people I love and who love me. But the bank account is pretty minimal and there are no stocks or bonds, no fancy cars or toys or trips. I have a solid roof over my head and a warm bed and food on the table. I have much more than many, but not as much as some.

But if I look at my life from a heavenly perspective, from God’s view, I am abundantly rich. I have been granted righteousness, faith, peace with God, access to the Almighty Father in heaven, grace that enables me to weather anything life can throw at me, Joy!, hope and the glory of God.

Amen & Amen!  Thank you, Father!

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