Author

TerryLema

Shine!

by TerryLema

Yesterday I was reminded by Philippians 2:14 that I am “to do everything without complaining or disputing (arguing).” I also discovered that I can no longer blame my current irritability on a medication side-effect, especially since I was off the medication for two weeks (and still irritable). No, I must claim my irritability as my own and surrender to another attitude adjustment.

When Paul told his Philippian readers (and us) to do everything without irritability, he followed it up with the reasoning for that command. “…so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life.” [2:15-16a NIV]

One thing the world is extremely good at is complaining and arguing. It seems people cannot be happy unless they have something to complain about or someone with which to argue. God’s children are to be different. We are to be blameless, pure and without fault. We are to reflect the virtues and attitudes of Jesus that Paul listed in the beginning of the chapter.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Phil 2:3-4)

By adopting the attitudes of our LORD and Savior, we will shine like the “stars in the universe.” Ever spend time looking at the sky at night? It is completely dark except … except for those stars that stand out in the darkness. As they hold out light in the sky, Christians are to shine in this world and hold out the word of life. By our Christ-like attitudes we give others light in their darkness, hope in their hopelessness.

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Really Paul? All Things?

by TerryLema

I have been taking a medication for a suspected auto-immune disease since last September. It is a medication that has a host of side effects that I have had to combat. In recent months, one doctor decided to taper me off the med in order to see if my “inflammation markers spike.” (In other words, just how miserable can I get.)

One of the side effects of the med is irritability. That side effect did not mesh well with what has been going on lately. I have been trying to balance the irritability against a fear- and virus-pandemic. Well, I have been off the med now for about two weeks. By all accounts, the medication is gone from my system. However, I am noticing that the irritability did not go away with the medication. Ah, so, now I have nothing to blame for being irritable except my own attitudes.

Philippians 2 opens with the reminder that we are supposed to model the attitudes of our Savior and LORD. (Read vs 1-11)

Then Paul goes on to explain how the wonderful attitudes of Jesus will be reflected in us. One attitude got me this morning, verse 14: “Do all things without complaining and disputing (arguing NIV).” [NKJV]

Really Paul? All things?

Yes, apparently there are no exceptions to the admonishment. We are to do all things without complaining or disputing or arguing. In other words, we are to face the trials, disappointments, difficult race, and the world’s opposition just as Jesus did. He did not complain about His life or argue with Father God over the difficult challenges of the cross and death in front of Him. He did it all for “the joy that was set before Him.” [Hebrews 12:2]

On a side note, the doctor put me back on the medication with the irritability side effect for another two-three months. I guess this time, however, I know I cannot blame my irritability on the med – I see another attitude adjustment in my near future!

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Our Race

by TerryLema

I am having a difficult time getting my brain to “calm down.” It is not agitated by fear or anxiety. It is flooded with so much information and “mis” information. What I would like to do is simply turn off all information sources for a few weeks. That means, turning off the television, radio, internet, phone, and every device that buzzes, rings, squawks or tweets. To truly do that is impossible. Besides, I would have to turn off my husband also since he listens to a lot of the “information” and repeats it throughout the day.

I would love to run away and hide for a little while. Run, run, run far away from all that is going on around us in this present day of trouble. The LORD, however, does not call us to run away. Instead He calls us to run our race despite all urges to the contrary.

The writer of the Book of Hebrews recounts the exploits of our faithful ancestors in Hebrews Chapter 11. It is God’s Faith Hall of Fame and includes such heroes as Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, and others, none of whom lived in easy, laid-back times. Right after telling us about such great men and women, the writer reminds us of our responsibilities.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” [12:1]

As believers, we are to run our race of faith just as the heroes did. I usually read that verse and focus on the sin that entangles, or the things that hinder, or the need to run with perseverance. But this morning, my focus was drawn to those four little words about the race “marked out for us.” (The NKJV translates it as the race “set before us.”)

We are called to run our race, the one God marked for this generation, this time. It is not the race that Noah or Joseph or Rahab had to run, it is the race that God calls us to run today. It is a race through fear and viruses and misinformation and opinions and shelter-at-home directives. It may be less difficult than others had, or maybe more difficult than others had, but whatever it is, it is ours to run! So run we shall. Amen.

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That Approaching Day

by TerryLema

(I am writing this on April 30, early yesterday morning.) Our Idaho Governor has an update today on the four steps to open Idaho. As of right now, the plan is to allow churches to once again assemble beginning May 1, along with retail stores and some businesses if guidelines are followed. I am praying nothing changes in the next few hours.

“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” [Hebrews 10:24-25]

I will admit, I am tired of the various and differing messages promoted by the media, politicians, scientists. Even doctors are having a difficult time finding a common message. I am also having a difficult time with all the various and differing messages coming from pastors, denominations, prophetic, and other religious-styled organizations. Throw in economists, small business owners, frightened and vulnerable people and there is not a moment of peace. Opinions abound. Facts are few. Truth seems unreachable.

Amid the turmoil, however, Christians are reminded of a few things that are true in the Hebrews verses above.

First, we are to “consider one other.”

Second, the purpose in our considering of one another “to stir up love and good works … exhorting (encouraging) one another.”

Third, we are not to forsake “the assembling of ourselves together.”

I have always considered the appeals of those Hebrews verses to be easy to do. Not difficult at all to get up on a Sunday morning and go to church. Not difficult at all to encourage others, to hug people, to smile and be friendly. But this fear- and virus-pandemic has made those things extremely difficult or impossible now.

Although it has done one other thing … it has made that approaching “Day” seem a lot brighter and a lot closer.

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His Light Shines Upon Us

by TerryLema

Psalm 118: 27-29: “The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

What a beautiful way to end a difficult month. Our LORD is God. Christ Jesus has made His light shine upon us. The world around us can be a dark, scary place but our citizenship is not in the darkness, it is in the light. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” [2 Corinthians 4:6]

And if that doesn’t make your heart leap for joy, let Colossians 1:14 remind you that “He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

In Idaho, our Governor is allowing churches to open their doors after May 1 in the first step of starting up our economy. I am so pleased that on May 10, we will have our first indoor church service. (Granted there are restrictions about social distancing and masks, etc.)

For many, the opening of our economy again is as if the “light” is finally breaking through our current darkness. While that may be true from the world’s perspective, in God’s perspective we broke through into the light the moment we surrendered our lives to Jesus as Savior and LORD. He took us out of the dark scary place we were in and translated us into the kingdom of His Dear Son – a kingdom of light and love and forgiveness and redemption.

What a joy Psalm 118 has been to my heart. I pray it has been to yours also. “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Amen & Amen.

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O LORD Send Now

by TerryLema

Praying through Psalm 118 in order to keep my attitude adjusted to the glory of God rather than the doom and gloom message of this world. Today I am in verses 25-26: “O LORD save us; O LORD, grant us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.”

When I read this verse, I got stuck on that word success. The NKJV translates verse 25 as “Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity.”

The Hebrew word for success or prosperity means “to advance, to prosper, to make progress, to succeed, to be profitable.”

In our culture we often think of prosperity in terms of financial rewards. Success is tied to our own efforts, to job promotions, sports, or other personal achievements. It is an “I did it” type of thing. I got that promotion. I won that race. I invested in the right stocks. I made it happen.

I think the Psalmist gives us a different perspective. “O LORD, grant us success; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity.”

Fear of a virus has shut down our economy. Opportunities for personal success or prosperity have been crushed in fear’s wake. When told to stay home, shut doors, do not work, there is not much we can do to be able to proclaim, “I did it.” But with the LORD, godly success and prosperity are not only within reach, they are ours for the taking.

Our success, our prosperity is contingent upon our relationship with our God. “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” [2 Peter 1:2-4 NKJV]

Now that’s success and prosperity! Amen.

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He is “the Day!”

by TerryLema

Ps 118:22-24: “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone [cornerstone]; the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Isaiah prophesied that the Lord GOD would “lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation.”

Jesus reminded his listeners that “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone” and that “everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

Peter wrote, “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame” and “to you who believe, this stone is precious, but to those who do not believe, ‘the stone the builders rejected has become the capstone … a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes they fall.’”

Jesus is that cornerstone. Everything we believe, everything we hope for, everything we live for is rock solid in Christ Jesus our LORD. It is all established on Him. He is “the day” the LORD has made. Our rejoicing, our delights flow from our relationship with Him.

What we see in this world is built on “shaking sand.” Even the freedoms of our constitution in our country, those freedoms that we took for granted, have been shaken. The right to open our church doors has been preempted by others. The right to assemble is challenged. Everything in this world is tenuous at best.

But oh, beloved, our “Precious, Tried, Stone” cannot be moved, shaken, destroyed, or weakened. He is our Rock Solid Foundation. What “a day” the LORD has made!

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I Will Enter

by TerryLema

My recent attitude adjustment contained a prayer walk through Psalm 118. Today’s prayer is centered in verses 17-21: “I will not die but live and will proclaim what the LORD has done. The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.”

As I read those verses I was, of course, reminded of God’s recent chastening over my maladjusted attitude. He did that so that I might live and walk in righteousness. James promised that is what happens when we confess our sins to our Father.

Then I looked again at that section of the psalm and was moved by the beginning and the end of it. “I will not die but live … He opens for me the gates of righteousness so that I might enter in.” Immediately my mind went to John 10:9-10: “I [Jesus] am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved…. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”

Jesus is my gate. Jesus is my life. Jesus gives me more than life; He gives me abundant life! (Maybe we should all read that again as a reminder that once we walked through that gate of righteousness, we have life, eternal life.)

Yes, our bodies may succumb to this virus. Yes, our bodies will one day succumb to something. That does not destroy the life that Christ has given us. All we truly are, our spirit and soul, live. For the believer, the fear of death has been replaced with the knowledge that we now pass through death into the very presence of our Savior. That wonderful assurance generates in us an abundant life that can be experienced no other way.

I do not dismiss or disparage our reluctance to die. No one wants to go through the diminishing of our body’s strength or vitality. No one wants to suffer the indignities that often accompany disease. We hate those things which, still part of sin’s curse, attack our bodies. But beloved, we can be assured that death is not the end. It truly is the beginning of all things wonderful. After all remember, “we are living in the land of the dying, heading to the land of life!”

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The LORD’s Right Hand!

by TerryLema

I am spending a couple days living in and praying through Psalm 118. When I read the verses God chose for today, my heart soared from this proclamation in the Old Testament to its fulfillment in the New. “Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: ‘The LORD’s right hand has done mighty things! The LORD’s right hand is lifted high; the LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!’” [ vs15-16]

The “Right Hand of the LORD” stands for Jehovah’s omnipotence, His power and strength. It is the place of authority, the place where intercession is made, and blessings and forgiveness are granted. Seated in that place is our LORD Christ Jesus.

Heb 12:2-3: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Everything in the world at this moment is designed to cause weariness and make us lose heart. The world’s message leads to hopelessness. It makes us dread each day, fear what we might have to face, and generates a desire to just quit. The world’s messages of fear are hard to ignore and difficult to escape.

Believers, however, hear and see a different message. We are told to fix our eyes on Jesus. We are also told why to do that – our Jesus is sitting in that place of authority and power. We are to remind ourselves of what He endured in order to be exalted to that place. He endured the cross with all its pain and shame for us. He took upon His Very Body, Soul and Spirit every sin, every perversion of all mankind and through that brought freedom and salvation for any who come to Him in repentance.

When we keep our eyes on Him, we keep our eyes on the Almighty Power and Glory of God. Then “Shouts of joy and victory [will] resound in the tents of [those made] righteous” through Him. That is where we should be looking right now. That is the message we should be heeding.

That is the message we should be shouting from our tents to this world of gloom and doom. Our God Reigns in Power and Authority. “The LORD’s right hand has done mighty things! The LORD’s right hand is lifted high; the LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!” Thank you, King Jesus. Amen & Amen.

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The Better Way

by TerryLema

I am amazed at how relevant Psalm 118 is to our present situation with the threatening virus in our midst and the panic in many places because of it. When I needed an attitude adjustment a while back, after succumbing to the world’s message for a couple days, God took me to Psalm 118. He reminded me that today, this day, is His day, just as all the others are. If I keep my thoughts and attitudes secured in Him, I can rejoice rather than be frustrated or fearful.

He also reminded me to pray through Psalm 118, so today’s prayer will be centered on verses 8-9: “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.”

As I read those verses again this morning, my immediate thought was “where am I looking for answers?” Am I looking to man, to scientists, to doctors for a cure for this virus that is in our midst? Am I looking to politicians to set us free from our shelter-in-place directives? Just whom am I trusting to get through this virus-and-fear-pandemic?

This pandemic has certainly lowered our focus from the heavenlies to what is happening all around us. We seek daily news reports trying to learn if someone has found a vaccine or a treatment. We wonder each day when the shelter-at-home directives will be lifted and we can return to our normal lives, jobs, school, church. By lowering our focus to these issues (which granted are important issues) we move our trust from the LORD to men.

We must be aware of these things, but the most vital of all issues is where we are placing our trust, where we are taking refuge. It is, as the psalmist reminds us, better to take our refuge in the LORD. He is the one who will give the scientists the knowledge and wisdom to find the cure. He is the one who will govern where this country is heading. He is sovereign over all things.

Today, I am praying that my focus remains on the LORD; that the peace, the joy, the security I so long for is found in Him. I am praying that He supplies men and women with the knowledge to overcome this virus, and politicians with the wisdom to re-open this nation. But whatever men do … He will still be my refuge and I can, I will, trust in Him.

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