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TerryLema

The Greatest Equalizer

by TerryLema

Madonna, the singer, has been offering COVID-19 encouragement on social media. The latest one was delivered naked from her bathtub filled with rose petals. She said about the virus, “It doesn’t care about how rich you are, how famous you are, how funny you are, how smart you are, where you live, how old you are, what amazing stories you can tell. It’s the great equalizer, and what’s terrible about it is what’s great about it. What’s terrible about it is it’s made us all equal in many ways – and what’s wonderful about it is it’s made us all equal in many ways.”

 I’m glad Madonna is trying to keep us all positive, good for her. I’m not sure though that any other of us are offering our encouragement to the world while sitting naked in a tub full of rose petals. And while I agree with her that the virus doesn’t have any preference or feelings for whom it infects, I disagree that it is “the” great equalizer. That place of preeminence has already been claimed by “The Cross of Christ Jesus” and He’s not about to relinquish it to a virus.

At the cross, everyone comes the same way– spiritually bankrupt, with nothing to offer, on our faces, begging for mercy. We don’t bring our achievements or lack thereof. We can’t offer our money, our homes, our fancy cars. The cross cares not about our intelligence nor our social standing nor our talents nor gifts. The cross doesn’t care if we sing like an angel or croak like a frog.

The cross only cares that we are broken and in need. We come, equally unable to save ourselves and our God in Christ provides us with everything we need for eternal life.

“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in [Jesus], and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” [Col 1:19-20 NIV]

The Cross of Christ = The Greatest Equalizer for All of Time and Eternity.

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You Do For Me

by TerryLema

I woke up Monday morning remembering a woman I met just about this time last year outside the Gallo Center in Modesto. I wondered how she was doing while being quarantined and I prayed for her. I am reposting the devotion from last year. We need to remember the most vulnerable sections of our society as we pray during this “lock-down for COVID-19.”

April 18 2019

As we arrived last Saturday to the Gallo Center for Performing Arts in Modesto to see our grandson play Will Parker in the musical “Oklahoma,” a woman arrived about the same time. She came by bike, settled herself on the corner outside the center and began to sing. She had a strong, clear voice and sang songs I remember singing in my twenties.

After the performance inside, she was still performing outside. We said our goodbyes to family and started to walk to the parking garage. I felt God drawing me toward her and I pulled $5 out of my wallet. As I walked toward her, she called out, “are you heading toward me?” I said, “Yes, I am.” Then she responded, “well, I’ll head toward you.”

As we closed the distance, I realized she was not as young as she first appeared, in fact, closer to my age. I also realized life had not been kind to her. I slipped her the money and opened my arms to her. We stood on the corner as I hugged her, and she hugged back. She was thin, I could feel her bones, but still there was a light in her eyes. I told her “you take care!” and hugged her again. She gave me one last hug and said that she would.

I don’t know what kind of choices she made in life, or perhaps what kind of choices were made for her that she found herself on a Saturday night in downtown Modesto singing for donations outside a performing arts center. With her voice, she possibly could have been singing inside.

I know I felt God’s love for her. We stood there, two old women, one black, one white, strangers, hugging and blessing each other on a street corner. She blessed me for the little bit of money I gave her. I blessed her for reminding me that there are real people behind Jesus’ command, “whatever you do for the least of these…you do for me.” [Matt 25:40, paraphrased]

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Fill You

by TerryLema

Romans 15:13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Right now the world isn’t overflowing with joy, peace or hope. That doesn’t mean Christians can’t. After all, while we are “in the world” and to a certain extent vulnerable to the world’s trials and difficulties, we are not “of the world.” We view things from a different perspective. Our view is a heavenly view. We see things through the eyes of the Holy Spirit.

Our buildings are closed, but the church is not. What an amazing time for the church to show this frightened, locked down world, that our God is bigger than our buildings.

If we allow our Father God, He will through the power of His Spirit, fill us with joy and peace – all He asks is that we trust in Him. Once we are filled, we begin to overflow, and our overflow is hope for those who are bound by fear and anxiety amid this present COVID-19 crisis.

Sure, we are “locked down” in our homes, but we have telephones and social media. We can call people, check on them, encourage them, pray with them. We can remind people that our lives are not governed by human officials but by the power of God’s very Spirit through Christ Jesus our LORD. When all is said and done, God will still be on His throne.

So church, be the church today. Share Jesus. Pray for Revival. Encourage the Hopeless. Help Others. This is an amazing time for God to be exalted in our everyday actions and attitudes.

Press on Beloved!

 

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Buildings are Closed; The Church is Open

by TerryLema

Yesterday morning, I saw this on Facebook: “Satan is winning, churches are canceling services. Prayer warriors get loud, we need Jesus now more than ever!”

My response: “I believe we need Jesus, but I will never agree that Satan is winning. For the first time in a long time, churches may have shut their doors, but buildings are not the church, people are. And when we reach out to those in need, to the frightened, to the lonely, no one is asking what denomination we are or how big our churches are. All they see is Jesus and that’s how it’s supposed to be! Close the buildings and the church must focus on something other than itself!”

For too long the church has been focused on itself. We want our churches to have the best coffee bars, ATMs in the lobby, nice seating areas, music that wows us and every other amenity we think necessary for our Sundays. Well, church, we don’t have that now.

What we have is Christ Jesus in us, “the hope of glory.” What we extend to the world is His Hand in their sorrow, grief, fear, and loneliness. They don’t care, really, about what denomination we are when we are sharing our toilet paper and eggs across fences or calling them to break up their lonely days.

For years now we’ve been asking for God to bring us those who need salvation, those who are hurt, or in bondage. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen a great flood of those people bursting through my church doors. Instead of bringing them to us, God is taking us to them. And He’s making us be creative in how we do it. Through telephones, across fences (with 6-ft separation), in social media, by thanking and praying for those on the frontlines.

So, rather than weep that our doors are closed, let’s rejoice that the world is open to us in ways we never dreamed!

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Learned Your Lesson?

by TerryLema

I grew up learning what were called the rules of common courtesy. Requests contained the word “please” and were follow with the words, “thank you.” Another’s thank you was to be responded to with, “You’re welcome.” We were to hold doors open for others. Stand in the presence of elders. Greet people with a handshake and a smile. Not interrupt when someone was talking but wait for a pause in the conversation. I tried to pass these common courtesies on to my children.

I say all that because this morning I am laughing at myself. I often use the “Alexa” function on my Kindle, or the “Hey Google” function on my phone to set an alarm or a timer. This morning it was, “Alexa, set a timer for 45 minutes starting now.”

To which Alexa (on my Kindle) responded, “Setting a timer for 45 minutes starting now.” Then I told my automated “Alexa” system, “thank you.” It did not acknowledge my thank you nor respond with “You’re welcome.” You know you’ve learned your “thank you” common courtesy well when you say it to an inanimate object.

But have I learned my “thank you” common courtesy well? Especially when my thanksgiving should be offered to God for all He has done and is doing and will do for me. Do I thank Him on the difficult days as well as the pleasant ones? Do I thank Him amid the trials, or the pain, or the discouragement, or the grief?

I hope I do. I try to do so. I’m just not sure I do it enough. “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess his name” [Heb 13:15]

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Grow in Grace

by TerryLema

I received an email from a group asking for money. Its subject line was, “Progress Doesn’t Just Happen on Its Own.” The email originator is an organization seeking people to donate for a cure for Juvenile Diabetes.

When I get emails with great “subject lines” I often think about the people who are developing those clever “subject lines” that capture the attention of readers. After all, most people receive a lot of emails asking for them to donate or to buy something. An organization needs something that stands out so people will at least open their request.

“Progress doesn’t just happen on its own” grabbed my attention, but probably not in the way the originator hoped. It immediately drew my attention to our spiritual walk.

I’ve been saved for almost 50 years, and a pastor for much of that time. In those years, I’ve known a lot of people who think that just because they are saved, they’re done. They’ve made no, or very little progress since the day they’ve accepted Christ Jesus as Savior. They’ve certainly not made Him LORD of their life. (I’ve probably spent some time with that same attitude in my 50 years.)

I’ve come to realize, however, that if we want to progress in our Christian walk, it’s going to take effort. Peter urges us to “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” [2 Peter 3:18 NIV]

The Holy Spirit’s work in us is to enable us, give us the power to progress in our walk, to become like our Savior and LORD as best we can in this life. We must cooperate with His urgings and direction. We must appropriate His power. It begins with acknowledging that “progress doesn’t just happen on its own,” but will requires work on our part as well.

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Happy 80th

by TerryLema

Today is my husband’s 80th birthday. My how time passes quickly. I first saw him when I was 13 and he was 20; met him again when I was 19 and he was 26; married him eight months later. We’ll be married 53 years in April. At times the road has been smooth, other times it’s been rocky. We’ve had moments of great triumphs and times of struggle and difficulties. We’ve argued (oh, my, have we argued!) and we have loved (faithfully across five decades).

We both came from dysfunctional families and did our best to not past those things on to our children. Although I’m sure we passed on other not-so-good things. Dysfunction is a contemporary name for “sin-nature” – and we all have one. Regrettably we were not perfect parents; hopefully we raised our children in the admonition of the LORD, and “when they are old, they will not depart from it.”

Now at 73 and 80 we face new issues. We don’t argue as much (takes too much energy), but we do get a bit grumpy, especially when we don’t remember, or are too tired, or because we are aging and that can be difficult at times. Still, we laugh a lot. Bob is funny. I’m funny. So, we laugh with [at] each other!

One of my favorite scriptures comes from the Book of Proverbs. “A merry heart does good, like a medicine.” [Proverbs 17:22 NKJV]

A merry heart comes from knowing God. It comes when we are thankful and grateful for all God has given us. It makes our hearts sing with joy. A merry heart is like medicine for our soul and spirit, and unlike some of the medicine we take for the things that ail us in our old age, it has no dangerous side effects.

So today, with most restaurants closed because of COVID-19 fear, Bob is going fishing with a friend to celebrate. I’m going to step out in faith and courage and go to the grocery store and get crab for his dinner tonight. Then we’ll both laugh a lot tonight over our adventures.

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Let’s Glorify God

by TerryLema

If there is a question we should be asking right now, it is, “how do we glorify God in the midst of this crisis?”

And yes, it is a crisis in the sense of the definition: a time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger.

No matter how this crisis began, it is ours now. As Christians we should be leading the way. We should see this as opportunity to do good and to show courage and strength amid all the fear around us. We can use Abraham as our model. Paul wrote of him, “He did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” [Rom 4:20-21 NIV]

Abraham believed God for the son God promised him, even though he and Sarah were way beyond child-bearing years. God fulfilled His promise to Abraham.

God will fulfill His promise to us. This is a good time to show those in bondage to fear, those who are acting out their fears with inappropriate behaviors, that our God is good and that we glorify Him when we believe His promises.

Ps 9:9-10: “The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.”

Ps 119:114: “You [LORD] are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.”

Heb 13:5-6: “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man [or disease] do to me?’”  

 Indeed, let’s be brave and glorify God … He is our refuge, shield, hope, stronghold, and ever present help.

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A Great Awakening

by TerryLema

Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think I’d preach a sermon on a virus, but that is exactly what I did on Sunday. Well, maybe not “preached,” but spent time talking and sharing about it. Jesus said that “truth sets us free.”

While we understand that He was speaking of the truth that is resident in Him that sets us free from the hold the enemy and the curse has on our life, truth of any kind really does set us free.

We certainly need to be cautious about the COVID-19 virus, as we are cautious about any contagious disease, especially if we are in a vulnerable group. Being fearful however is not a response that should be found in Christians. If we know the truth of COVID-19, as best we can with ever-changing information, we can take appropriate measures but let the fear fall away.

This is an amazing time of opportunity for the church. We have been seeking the fires of God’s Spirit to sweep our nation and our world with revival. We have been praying for people who have never known Jesus to come to Him. We have been praying for the hurt and wounded by the church to find healing and freedom to return. We have been praying that churches that have been less than Scriptural in their message to find truth in Christ and return as Bible-believing, Bible-preaching churches that abound in grace.

Often when the church is prosperous, she strays from the vital and important. When difficulties arise, or persecutions come, she become united and back on the narrow path. We have heard and “sensed” that a new awakening is coming, that’s it “right around the corner.” Maybe God is using what the enemy means for harm – the FEAR that is sweeping our planet – to bring us one step closer to that last great awakening.

This is opportunity, beloved, to remind people that there is a God, that He has a purpose for their life (and they have a responsibility to Him), that there is freedom in the salvation of Christ Jesus, and that we need not fear. Remember His words: “Come to me, all you who are weary [hopeless] and burdened [fearful], and I will give you rest.” [Matt 11:28 NIV]

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We’re All Gonna Die!

by TerryLema

Christopher Bullock, an English actor and dramatist, uttered the following quote in the satire “The Cobbler of Preston” in 1716: “Tis impossible to be sure of anything but Death and Taxes.”

Yep, we got both. And when it comes to death and taxes, the accompanying emotion is often fear. That’s what we are seeing all around us now. We have a FEAR-pandemic. It’s spreading around the world. People are afraid of the coronavirus because they are afraid of death.

No one wants to die. There is something ingrained in our DNA that fights death tooth-and-nail. We were created for life. Death is an enemy, a part of the curse of sin. We hate it. Even Christians hate it, as they should.

But hating it as part of sin’s curse and fearing it are not the same thing. Christ Jesus conquered death, and all who come to Him have eternal life. Now we eagerly wait for that final enemy, death, to be forever destroyed. [1 Cor 15:20-28]

In the meantime, we live in the promise that “we walk by faith, not by sight,” and that “to be absent from the body [is] to be present with the Lord.” [2 Cor 5:7-8 NKJV ]

Whatever kills us sends us home to be with our LORD and Savior Christ Jesus. What a marvelous opportunity this FEAR-pandemic is to show the world a face of courage and joy that comes from our salvation in Christ!

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