TerryLema

For the last months, the politicians have been flooding every media available. They want our support, they want our vote, they want our money. They have a multitude of needs, and they expect us to meet them.

Our GOD has no needs – no, not one!

“For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” [John 5:26

He is gloriously Self Sufficient! He does not need anything from us, which makes the fact that He “wants” us all the more glorious!

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,” [Ephesians 3:16]

Our God has it all! Glorious Riches…And He never runs out! Riches, Wisdom, Glory, Power, Grace, Love.

The world around us proves it can never satisfy. It is always running out. We get periodic warnings that Social Security is set to run out. The government might shut down for lack of funding. We have had shortages of goods repeatedly over the last years. We have lived through gas shortages and food shortages and toilet paper shortages.

But our God has “life in Himself” (and “glorious riches”). And now He lives in us through the Indwelling Holy Spirit and graciously supplies all we need.

Tomorrow we vote, and rest assured everything will change. No matter which party get a majority in which place in government, everything will change.

Change in this life is a given. Even though we act like change is “unexpected,” deep down inside we know that change is “expected.” Not just in politics, but in every area of our lives.

There is one thing, however, that never changes (and never will change.) That is our GOD!

“I the LORD do not change.” [Malachi 3:6]

The scholars (of which I am not) call that Immutability. I PRAY that Scripture today with great joy! And immense thankfulness.

Governments will change. But our God does not!

I can absolutely trust My LORD and Savior’s dependability. I can trust His plans. I can trust His promises. Nothing about Him will change.

Oh my, today as I pray, “OH LORD you do not change!” I will do so with much gratitude! Amen

I enter November with thanksgiving on my mind and lips. I look around and see such beauty, so much joy in God’s creation. At this time of year, I often fall in love with my Savior and LORD all over again.

As I pray this November, God has led me to pray the Scriptures. I was unsure where to start (although the Psalms always seem a wonderful place), but I sense God is asking me to focus on Him and all He is to us. So over the next couple weeks leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday, I am going to PRAY His attributes and character found in the Scriptures and what that all means for me (and for you).

What other place than to begin where there is no beginning. When Moses stood at the burning bush in Exodus 3, he asked God who He was. God’s answer was simple, “I AM WHO I AM … This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.” [3:14a, 15b NLT]

Later, Paul would write about Christ Jesus our LORD, “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” [Colossians 1:17]

God is Infinite. (Always has been, always will be.) So impossible for us to understand with our time-limited thinking. But oh so wonderful to be our foundation of thanksgiving and praise.

My focus in prayer today will be what God’s infinity means for our lives, what His sustaining all things means for our well-being in Him. Knowing the “I AM WHO I AM” removes all my fear!

Oh, how I love November. It is like a bright light breaking through the dark. October is my favorite weather month, but oh, how I dislike the atmosphere. When November hits, my gratitude meter begins to jump for joy!

Suddenly in November, the call to “Enter His gates with thanksgiving,” reclaims my soul.

November renews my commitment to always “go into his courts with praise.”

November reminds me that “that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture,” and that I serve a Great and Good Shepherd.

November is here! Oh, how I love November. Today is a marvelous day to pray through Psalm 100!

“Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.” [NLT]

Amen!

If someone were to ask me my least favorite day of the year, they might think I would choose an anniversary of a loved one’s loss, or a date when I experienced setback or tragedy. They would be wrong.

My least favorite day of the year is Halloween. I truly dislike Halloween. Truly. There is so much ugly in life by itself, celebrating it (through a longer and longer season every year) vexes my soul.

It is not the children in their little costumes, nor the doorbells announcing their arrival to ask for candy, it is the ugliness, blood and gore, occult and devil inspired decorations that annoy me.

People often tell me they love horror shows. I find a horror show almost every night on the news broadcasts. Horror is what is going on in the war zones, and under dictators and gangs. Horror is a child waking up with no breakfast and no hope that lunch or dinner will be there.

I get on my anti-Halloween soapbox every year. I did last year. I am this year. And if I am around, I probably will next year also.

LORD, fill my vision, my mind, my heart with all things lovely today …“Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” [Philippians 4:8 NLT]

I have been hearing God call me to a deeper experience in prayer. I have prayed, sometimes with great fervor. But I still feel like there is so much more.

In Prayer I am having a conversation with the All-Powerful Living God, the Creator of All Things, my Savior and LORD Christ Jesus. It should be the deepest, most profound part of my life. I hear God’s voice calling me to pray the Scriptures. After all, as 2 Timothy 2:17 proclaims … “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.”

All Scripture is His voice. And as God is alive(!) so also His voice is living and powerful. “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” [Hebrews 4:12 NKJV]

“For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” [NLT]

When I spend time not just memorizing or studying His Words, but also praying His Words, those living words will ignite and inspire my soul.

They will also expose my “innermost thoughts and desires,” to His will. Often, we view that in the negative, but it also carries positive implications. I can know the deep thoughts and desires that are leading me even closer to this One who loves me so.

One of the things I sense God wants to energize more completely in me is prayer. I used to think I was “too busy” to pray. Prayer was something I desired to do, but always felt rushed or unable to pray as I thought I should. Now that I am no longer “too busy,” my prayer life is still not where God wants it to be.

One thing I learned at a conference a few years ago was praying the Scriptures. I realize now that I did not practice that as much as I should have, and like all disciplines, you lose your edge if you do not practice.

This morning, I found 2Timothy 2:17-18 as a verse of the day. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” [NKJV]

I read it also in the New Living Translation. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” [NLT]

As I read the translations, I knew that God wanted me not just to read it, not just to understand it, He wants me to pray it – pray it for myself, my family, my friends, that we might “be complete!”

So now, while the house is quiet, I am going to spend some time and pray these verses into my life – that I (we) might be taught what is true, that I (we) might realize what is wrong in my (our) life, that I (we) might see the right way and walk in it. God use us and equip us with all we need. Amen.

We left California in 1993 for Idaho because of economic circumstances. My friend Patty and her family had left a few years before for Montana. Not too long after our moving, our friend Vaunda suffered a medical issue.

The church was hosting a birthday party for her so Patty and I decided to go back to California to help her celebrate. We also decided to find a song we could sing. We picked “The Anchor Holds,” by Lawrence Chewning. It seemed appropriate for what Vaunda was going through at the time.

A few weeks ago, Patty was in the hospital (one of many stays this year) and I sent a link to a recording of that song to her. She responded with, “Thanks, I needed that.”

Last Thursday, I was on YouTube and listening to music when the song came up in my list. I sat in my chair and cried. I thought about my friends (Vaunda who recovered, and Patty who went home to her Savior). I thought about our love for Christ Jesus our LORD. I thought about loss and grief and all the struggles we face as humans in this world. And I thought about, as Christians, no matter what we face … THE ANCHOR HOLDS.

“The anchor holds Though the ship is battered. The anchor holds Though the sails are torn. I have fallen on my knees As I faced the raging seas. The anchor holds In spite of the storm.” (Chorus)

Hebrews 6:18-20: “So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest….” [NLT]

As I was folding clothes this morning (a job that can be accomplished with little thought), I heard in my heart, “I am God in heaven, you are on earth, let your words be few.”

I recognized that was from a verse in Ecclesiastes. “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.” [5:2 NIV]

It wasn’t hard to understand that my LORD wants me to quiet my soul before Him. Bottom line, I need to listen more. That’s not easy with all the chatter around (much of it self-generated).

Even when I pray, it is usually me doing all the talking. I know we are to not be anxious about anything but put all our needs and requests before God in prayer. But at some point, after doing that, we must quiet our soul and listen for Him to speak.

God is telling me that the noise of the world has infiltrated my soul. It is time now to be quiet, to let my words be few, and listen to His still small voice.

Amen.

In 44 days I turn 78 years old. I was saved when I was 26. I graduated Bible College when I was 39 years old. I have been an Associate Pastor, Pastor, and Hospice Chaplain. Over the 52 years that I have been saved I have heard or given thousands of messages, read my Bible cover to cover many times, studied, prayed, repented and been forgiven (often).

I thought I was done. Let me TRY to explain. I am not quite sure exactly what I thought being done was, but I certainly thought I had experienced most of the things I needed to finish this life.

I was wrong. Over the last few weeks, I sensed God has so much more. As I thought about “Peace with God,” and all that that encompasses in life, I felt the Holy Spirit beckoning me to let go of everything – all my preconceived ideas and notions and allow Him to do a deeper work in my heart.

It is hard to explain. I’m not sure I understand it either. I just sense a deeper longing to be quiet before Him and allow Him to open my heart to so much more than I thought it could contain. I want to pray more. I want to sit at Jesus’ feet. I want to experience this deep peace. I want to know that I know that I am loved … and that I have nothing to prove to God … and that I have nothing to lose with God.

In Mark 6:31 Jesus invited His disciples to “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

That invitation is still open. Yes, LORD.