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TerryLema

Did God Get It Wrong?

by TerryLema

I like a little light reading in the late afternoon or before I go to bed. Something that is clean and fun to read but does not require a lot of brain power. I think better in the morning, so afternoons and evenings are usually not spent studying anything deep or difficult.

I have found a couple “Christian adventure/romance” authors and having been going through their series. They are light romance, boy always gets the girl, and all this is done amid dealing with the difficulties of life and remaining close to the LORD.

As I read them, I hardly ever expect to find anything that makes me go “whoa!” but the other night that is exactly what happened. Something one of the book’s characters said stopped me in my tracks.

“God always gets it right. When we worry or question Him, it’s like we think He’s gotten it wrong.”

Wow! I mean WOW! Those last few words shook me … I wondered how many times I thought God got it wrong! And then the implication of that line of thought … if God could get this wrong, what else might He get wrong!

Of course, God gets absolutely NOTHING wrong. He is perfect in His thinking and character. He knows all things (omniscience), even what might happen because of choices (both good and bad) that we and others might make. He considers all things and always makes the right conclusions and sets the right path for each of us.

I must trust Him completely (He has proven over and over that He is worthy of that trust.)

And I must convey that I trust Him completely to others, otherwise my lack of trust, my worry, my doubts might communicate to others that I think God has gotten it wrong.

Forgive me, LORD, if I have ever given others that wrong impression.  Amen

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27 Percent

by TerryLema

I got a haircut last week, same place I always get a haircut. It is not one of those fancy salons. I do not have much hair left after the meds took over, so I cannot see myself paying a lot of money for a haircut that usually takes about five minutes.

The haircut for seniors was $11 about three months ago. Last week it was $14. I am not particularly good at math, but I think that is about 27 percent increase. 27 percent! It made me question what surprises the next three months will hold. So much uncertainty!

Inflation is on the rise; everything costs more than it did a year ago. Unfortunately, for many of us, salaries are not keeping pace. As I look ahead, I see rising medical costs, and our income going down as I leave the church at year’s end. It has been difficult not to worry about how we will meet our expenses. Yet, I know, not just from God’s Word but from past experience that worry does nothing good.

Matthew Chapter 6 ends with a series of thoughts on worry.  Beginning in verse 28, Jesus tells his listeners three times, “Do not worry.”

“Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.”  [v28 HCSB]

He tells them about the birds of the air that their heavenly Father feeds, and the lilies of the field that God has made glorious.  He reminds them that those who do not know God worry about all such things, but for those who do know God and seek His Kingdom, all those things will be added to them. [vss 26-33]

Then Jesus ends this passage with the admonition, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” [vs 34 HCSB]

God has always made a way for us … and I am trusting Him to make a way once more.

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It’s Factored In …

by TerryLema

I found a meme on Facebook the other day and reposted it. I could not resist!  It said, “When God put a calling on your life, He already factored in your stupidity.”

The author who originally published it said that was the “most comforting thing I’ve ever heard.”

Of course, Paul put it a bit more eloquently: “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.” [1 Corinthians 1:26-27 HCSB]

The purpose is so that “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” [1:31 HCSB]

I am sure that some in reading that passage in 1Corinthians think that while there are “not many wise,” there at least may be a few wise … and just maybe they might be one of the few. But I know differently; I am fairly sure I am one of the “foolish things of the world.” I am quite sure I am one of the “weak things of the world.”

Still, in my foolishness and in my weakness, God works and I rejoice in that.

Our LORD is so wonderful. He takes us, the foolish and the weak, and He empowers us with His indwelling Holy Spirit. He teaches us through His word and our experiences how to cooperate with Him in serving Him and those He puts in our path. That is our calling.

And as the meme says, God has already factored in our “stupidity,” along with our desires and failures and successes and trials and inabilities and talents and everything that makes us who we are. And as He weaves all that together in His purpose for us, we bring Him glory.

What a God!

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Why is it …?

by TerryLema

Why is it that every time I buy something, in the next day or so, even next hour or so, it turns up cheaper somewhere else?

That happened this week.  I needed some things and had put off buying them because they can be a bit pricey. I finally gave in, checked around local sites, and headed to a store, picking up what I needed.

The very next day I decided to visit an online delivery site to reorder a couple vitamins and thought I would check if they carried what I just bought. They not only carried them, but they also sold them at half the cost.

That seems to be the story of my life. My timing is always off. Whenever we bought a house prices were high. Whenever we sold a house prices were low. I never can seem to get it right.

Maybe that is why God gives “freely.” He knows if He sold us what we needed, we would all be paying a different price, looking for a bargain, or most likely fall short of any asking price.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” [Romans 3:23-24 HCSB]

I received the greatest thing I will ever need, redemption, freely by God’s grace. I will never look around and say, “Why is it …?” and regret I did not look for a better offer somewhere else.

I have fallen far, far short of God’s glory. Yet freely He has given me a place in His family all because of Christ’s sacrifice. Oh, the marvelous grace of God!

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God’s Gonna Do What God’s Gonna Do!

by TerryLema

I am chuckling to myself this morning. A few Sunday’s ago, a gentleman came to church who had not been there for about four or five years (he had moved out of town). As soon as the service was over, he came up to the front to meet me, carrying a bunch of papers he had been writing on throughout the service.

He said he really liked one comment I made during the message but then proceeded to tell me that I needed “to preach out of Revelation because,” as he waved his arm around the building, “they are ignorant and need to know.”

He probably made that comment three or four times as he stood there with me. I politely listened, all the while I wanted to say something like “you haven’t been here for four years, how do you know what I’ve been preaching on?”  But I did not say that. I held my peace and thanked him.

I have given a lot of thought to what he said since that morning. Mostly about prophecy and how to approach it. I understand we are to be aware and be ready, but I will admit my view of prophecy is probably a bit off.

In Matthew 24, that great chapter of the Signs of the End Times prophesied through Jesus, multiple times Jesus tells them, “when you see ….” After telling them the signs that they will “see,” he commands them to be ready.  “This is why you also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” [24:15, 33, 44 HCSB]

The introduction to the Book of Revelation also tells us. “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” [Revelation 1:3 ESV]

So, here is my warped view. I think we are to read our Bibles through and through, at least once a year. I think we are to become increasingly familiar with it from the beginning, through the middle, all the way through the Book of Revelation. I think we are to become SO FAMILIAR that we will recognize and “see” things unfold – even if we do not understand them!  I think we will then be “ready” all the time for God to do what God is going to do!

I am not searching the headlines every day to see if something fulfills something written in the Scriptures. What I am doing is working to stay close to my Savior and LORD … that way when God does what God is going to do, I will never need to worry that I will miss it!

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It’s a good day to …

by TerryLema

I opened up my email inbox this morning and at the very top was an email with the subject “It is a good day to show someone you care.”

Of course, the emailing company wanted me to do that by buying and sending someone one of their products. But as I started to delete the email, I thought, you know, it is a good day to show someone you care.  In fact, God’s Word reminds us that we are to clothe ourselves with caring virtues.

“Therefore, God’s ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience ….” [Colossians 3:12 HCSB]

As I looked at that verse and those words (compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience), I was struck by how often we think of these words as “feelings” or emotions. But are they only that, a feeling or emotion? If so, we can sit comfortably in our living rooms and “feel” compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience without ever once showing someone we care.

I decided they must be more than emotions. There must be some action involved with each one. Then I found that “action” when I looked up the first couple words.

Compassion is the Greek word, oiktirmos. It means a deep feeling about someone’s difficulty or misfortune. And even more it is used of the deep feelings God has for all of us and powerfully shows and shares in those following Him.

If that was not enough, I went on to look up kindness, chrestotes. It is kindness that is also serviceable. It refers to meeting real needs, in God’s way and in His timing. It is the Spirit-produced goodness which meets the need and avoids human harshness.

I did not go any further. These two words are enough to command us to show, and how to show, others how much we care.

It is a good day to show someone we care … just as God has shown us how much He cares for us!

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If you can …

by TerryLema

One of the most poignant events in the life of Christ Jesus is found in Mark 9. The first thirteen verses of the chapter are devoted to His experience on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus took His inner circle, Peter, James, and John up on a high mountain. There He was transfigured before them. There Moses and Elijah met with Him. It amazed the Inner Circle.

The part of the chapter that always touches my soul comes next—when they come down off the mountain and are met by a desperate father with a son who was troubled by a demon. While Jesus and the Inner Circle were high on the mountain, this desperate father was seeking relief and healing for his son with the other disciples down below … and was coming up empty.

The father approached Jesus, and when questioned about how long the boy had been beset, responded. “’From childhood,’ he said. ‘And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.’” [vss 21-22 HCSB]

 Then Jesus repeats the father’s words back to Him, “If You can’?” and adds His own, “Everything is possible to the one who believes.” [vs 23 HCSB]

 Immediately the father of the boy cries out, “I do believe! Help my unbelief.” [vs24 HCSB]

How often I have cried out as the father of this boy cried out—I do believe, I really do, but if there is any part of me that harbors even the smallest element of unbelief, then help me LORD!

And just as Jesus helped the father that day, Jesus helps me.

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It’s Hot!

by TerryLema

It is hot here in the Treasure Valley in Idaho. It has been hot for quite some time now. We set a record of 10 days straight over 100 degrees. Then it “cooled down” to the upper 90’s. Since then, it has been bouncing just a bit above or below that 100-degree mark. I am weary of the heat. So are many farmers as the heat is devastating crops around the region and the coinciding drought has shut off water just as they need it.

The entire region is baking under extreme heat, drought, and now fires are popping up in our state and in the surrounding ones. Smoke is beginning to invade the Treasure Valley. I think one of the reasons I love autumn so much is that it is a confirmation that the heat, at least for the remainder of this year, is a thing of the past.

I look forward to those times of refreshing, cooler weather, hopefully rain to dampen the fires, and breezes to dissipate the smoke.

Peter, in his sermon in Acts 3 spoke of spiritual “times of refreshing.”

“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”  [Acts 3:19: NKJV]

Peter and John had gone up to the temple at the hour of prayer and approached a lame man who was begging for alms. Peter told the man they did not have money, but they had something better … healing in the Name of Jesus. When they lifted the man to his feet, his feet and ankles were healed and he began not just to walk, but to leap and praise God. That got the attention of those in the temple area and prompted Peter to turn this miracle into a sermon for surrendering to Christ Jesus as their Messiah and LORD.

Peter was forthright in telling them they had killed their Messiah, but, he said, they did that in ignorance.  Now there was no excuse to remain in ignorance since Christ Jesus was raised from the dead. Now they needed to repent and be converted; they needed to return to God.  If they did so, their sins would be blotted out and they would experience those “times of refreshing” that come from the presence of the LORD.

Those “times of refreshing” promised by Peter are here now for those who have placed their faith in Christ Jesus, and one day they will be the seasons we dwell in for all eternity! Praise His Holy Name. Amen.

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From Death to Life …

by TerryLema

This morning I was drawn to that magnificent passage of Scripture in Ephesians 2:1-10, labeled in my Bible as “From Death to Life.”

Ten verses describe what we were before Christ and what we are after surrendering our lives to Him. Take a moment and read those first ten verses in Chapter 2. They begin … “And you were dead ….”

Three verses describe how we were dead. We were dead in our trespasses and sins. We were dead as we walked according to the ways of this world. We were dead as we obeyed the ruler of this world (the enemy of our soul). We were dead as we lived and surrendered to all our fleshly (sinful) desires and thoughts. We were dead and under the wrath of God.

Then the most marvelous two words ever found anywhere appear and begin verse 4 … “But God ….”

We now live in all the things implicit in those two words … “But God ….”

Do you see what we now live in?

Verse 4: Mercy and God’s Love

Verse 5: Life and Grace

Verse 6: Relationship with Christ Jesus in the heavens

Verse 7: Kindness

Verse 8: Salvation, Grace, Faith – God’s gifts to us

This is what we were created for! To be His. To flow in the good works He has prepared for us!

If your soul is not soaring into the heavens as you read Chapter 2:1-10, read it again!

 

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Rejoicing

by TerryLema

Last December a friend sent me a quilt square with the words of Romans 12:12 embroidered on it. “Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.” [HCSB]

I do not remember if I thanked her, but I have read those words every day since receiving her gift. (I put the square next to my hearing device case so that I see it every morning and every night.) Those words have ministered to my soul over and over. As I repeated them once again this morning, I realized that they are the roadmap to take me [us] through those difficult times of life.

Over the course of the last two years, I have been hopeful that my two auto-immune diseases will one day go into remission. While waiting, I am trying to be patient in the midst of the debilitating symptoms. I am also persistent in praying for God’s most perfect plan for my life … whether that brings healing or simply His grace that is sufficient for my every need. [2 Corinthians 12:9: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”)

This morning I am “tentatively” rejoicing in hope. The past two weeks I have been relatively free of the PMR pain and GCA scalp and face discomfort. I have developed side effects from the medication that apparently has shut down my adrenal glands (weakness, lack of stamina, sweating and hot flashes), but the daily battle with pain has not been an issue.

That is amazing! And I am praising God for this, and cautiously hopeful that the PMR and GCA is in remission. I am also hopeful that I can deal with the new issues. To have two-weeks pain free after two years of constant pain is truly a blessing.

Rejoicing in Hope: “I put my hope in You, Lord; You will answer, Lord my God.” [Psalm 38:15 HCSB]

Patient in Affliction: “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]

Persistent in Prayer: “[Jesus] then told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not become discouraged.” [Luke 18:1 HCSB]

Bless the LORD O my soul! Amen

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