TerryLema

The first day of the last month of 2017. I love December. (And before you say it means winter is here, I like winter. Yes, I do.) December is the month where we celebrate the birth of our Savior (whether He was actually born in December or not!). Everything is adorned with lights and evergreens, with colors and candles. Tonight a few of us will gather to decorate the church, and tomorrow Bob and I will put up a few decorations at home also.

We don’t do as much as we used to do. Getting up on a ladder to hang lights isn’t as easy for a man who turns 78 in a few months as it was a couple decades ago. We’ll put up a few (low-hanging), and set up the tree. Maybe a few other things inside. We will, however, put up an old outdoor manger scene that I have had for decades. Every year we must fix what was broken the previous year by the wind and weather conditions. Every year Bob thinks we should toss it, but I won’t let him. We’ll fix it and the lights on it until we can’t fix it any more.

To me that old manger scene with Mary, Joseph and the Christ Child, signifies what is truly important about this season. What is “Christ”mas after all without “Christ?” There is absolutely no significance at all in this “holiday” unless it is truly a “holy”day which reminds us of the great love of our God which endures forever.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” [John 1:14 NIV]

Let’s keep the season centered in Christ. If we take “Christ” out of “Christ”mas, all that’s left really is just a “silly commercial season.”

Last Saturday I had the privilege of going shopping for maternity clothes with a young mom-to-be from our church. The cashier in one store thought she was my granddaughter and asked me how many other grandchildren I had.  I told her, no, she was not my granddaughter, but she was a very special part of our church and I was having a great time with her that day.

I am reminded of what Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica. He told them, “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.”  [1 Thess 2:8-9 NIV]

There are young women in our church that are “dear to” me. I have grown to love them so much that it is a delight to not only share the Gospel of God with them, but my life as well. I find it so important that we “older women” impart as much as we can of what we have learned through our life experiences. We need to be a resource to them in daily matters as well as spiritual ones.  What will happen to the church, to families, if we fail to impart our wisdom and knowledge?

We must pass the torch on to the next generation.  I learned a while back that a young woman I had shared my life with in California was now doing the same thing with the younger women in her church.

And I will not excuse the men. They must also impart to the younger men the things of the Lord. They are to share their lives as well. This can’t be done from a distance. It requires getting close and spending time.

Thank you, Lord, for the privilege of sharing my life with others. Amen

Last Friday I did the filing at work.  I filed a very large stack of papers. It was a quiet day, lots of people took the day after the Thanksgiving Holiday off.

The room that the files are kept in is called, “the vault.” It is windowless and a bit stuffy, locked after hours. The difficulty with doing the filing is that there isn’t any room left. The files are crammed together on most of the shelves, even getting a manila folder or one of the larger cardboard files in and out is a challenge. So, I spent the first part of the day trying to make more room to add that large stack of paper.

By the end of the day I had cuts on three fingers, the corner of a file jammed under my thumbnail, a ripped nail on the other hand, a large bruise on my arm and a very sore back. Even though I was trying to be careful, work wounded me!

As I sat in my chair Friday night bemoaning my sore hands and stiff back, I was reminded of other wounds. Listen to what Peter wrote: “[Jesus] himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” [Read 1 Peter 2:21-25]

My miniscule wounds left me feeling miserable, Jesus’ massive wounds made me whole. How can I ever thank Him enough?

My dear Savior, thank you for being wounded so that I might be healed and whole. Amen

Isaiah 33:6: “[The LORD] will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.”   [NIV]

I still find it amazing after reading something so many times to find something new I never saw before. Yahweh (YHWH), the LORD, “will be the sure foundation” (the stability) “for your times.”  Whenever you see “LORD” in all caps in the Old Testament, the original language is usually YHWH, Yahweh. It is the name of God given in four consonants to Moses. It is called “The Tetragrammaton.”  In Latin, it became JHVH, Jehovah. It is the most sacred name of God.

Isaiah wrote that the great LORD (YHWH), the Powerful God of Moses, would be the sure foundation for Israel in her times. He then added that the LORD would be “a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge” and that “the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.”

May I be so bold to say that the LORD is the sure foundation for our times as well?  Stability is lacking in our nation as it was in Isaiah’s. Nothing is sure, no matter how much they try to make it so. The stock market could plummet (again); terrorism could raise its ugly head in our midst in greater measure; some kook with a nuclear device could devastate our cities. Nothing is sure if we are looking to nationalism to make it so.

Isaiah tells us that we do have a key to stability, it is the fear of the LORD. When we fear (respect, reverence, stand in awe) of the LORD we have the key that will open His rich store of salvation, wisdom and knowledge.

We, as individuals, and corporately as the church, must use that key; we must see a return of respect, reverence, awe of the LORD or we will never experience that sure foundation!

Today I begin my study of the final verses of Romans 8. At “The Way Assembly” we have been working our way through that marvelous chapter for several months. Now, we come to the conclusion. It begins with Paul’s final questions: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” [Rom 8:35 NIV]

His answer for those questions is the summit of Chapter 8, perhaps the summit of the entire Book of Romans. It may even be called the summit of the entire Bible. In Paul’s response he will also remind us that God’s love doesn’t just make us survivors (even when we face death all day long like sheep led to slaughter). God’s love makes us thrivers!  He uses the term “more than conquerors.”  “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” [Rom 8:37 NIV]

Too often we are just looking for ways to survive the difficulties and trials that come to us as Christians. Our Lord wants us to be more than survivors; He also wants us to be more than conquerors. He wants us to find that abundant life in Him even amid trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword!  Paul had faced every one of these things (except the sword) when he wrote this, so he knew of what he wrote. And he also knew that the sword was in his future and when the time came for his martyrdom, he would be more than a conqueror.

Trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword remain in this life, they cannot pass through the grave of a believer. They are rendered powerless forever and abandoned when a follower of Christ enters the presence of the Lord.  The abundant life, the “more than conquerors” life goes with us and will find its fulfilment and greatest expression when we see our Savior face to face.  Amen!

My new mystery novel came in the mail the other day. I enjoy reading mysteries to just give my brain a bit of a break from deeper things. I like the old-fashioned whodunits.  I do have one bad habit, especially if the book is a good one … I read the last page to find out how it ends. I do like to know the end from the middle!

Maybe that is part of what  I love about being a Christian … I know the end. I know how it is all going to turn out.  The Author of our Faith published it all so that we might know.

The evil instigator and tormenter and his cronies will get their just punishment.  Those who are faithful to the King of kings will receive their rewards. (Read the end of the Book)

I also know that the love of our Father will “endure forever.” Mercy and grace will be the password at the gate. Hope will no longer be needed because everything we hoped for (and more) will be realized. Faith will be retired; in its place we will see the One Who Gave It All for Us.  Love will flow endlessly. Loved ones will be reunited. Bodies and minds that failed will be strong and brilliant beyond imagination. There will be work to do surely; but, it will be glorious and we will never grow bored, tired, sick, old again.

Oh, yes, I love knowing the end from the middle!

Thank you, Father! We do not have to worry that You will accept and love us at the end; You have already told us that Your love endures forever. Thank you for giving us the reassurance of “the end of the Book” now while we are in the middle of it all! Amen.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:  Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. [NIV]

Paul wrote to the Thessalonians the above instructions. The Thessalonians were confused about the return of the Lord. They were also undergoing difficult times. Even Paul, himself, was having difficulties. He reports that he had longed to come to them to strengthen them in their faith, but Satan hindered him. (1 Thessalonians 2:18)

Paul’s instructions seem a bit odd in the face of such things–confusion, difficulties, persecution and Satan’s hinderance. But Paul understood that only the power of God in our lives will overcome such things. His instructions are a pathway to finding that power.

First, we are to be joyful always. Paul knew that in joy we find strength. “The joy of the LORD is your strength.” [Neh 8:10 NIV]

Second, he told us we are to pray continually. Jesus told us that “whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  Mark 11:24 NIV]

When we pray to God for wisdom that overcomes confusion, He will give it. When we ask for peace during difficulties, He will grant it. Paul also knew that if we need power to be an overcomer, we must “give thanks in all circumstances.”

 Paul, David, Daniel, and Jesus understood the power that flows into and through our lives when we live a life of thanksgiving to God. It is power to overcome.  It is also God’s will for us in Christ Jesus.

Amen! Thank you, Father.

It’s the day after Thanksgiving holiday. It used to be referred to as Black Friday because businesses opened early with great bargains and people rushed to buy anything and everything as the official start of the Christmas Season began. This enabled many businesses to turn the corner and finally become profitable (in accounting terms to be operating in the black rather than the red ink of deficit). Of course, Christmas Season now starts in September and businesses have been vying for our money for months now.

Giving thanks has not stopped simply because the holiday is behind us. Paul reminds us that we are to “always” be giving thanks to God. “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [Eph 5:19-20 NIV]

Our hearts are to be filled with singing and music. We are to be speaking the truths of God to each other in song. And we are to always be giving thanks. It’s a 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year thing.  Why? Because power in our lives flows through thanksgiving.  David knew it. Daniel knew it. Paul knew it. Jesus knew it.

Not only did Jesus give thanks before feeding the multitudes, He gave thanks on that last night of fellowship with His Disciples before He died. “And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.’” [Luke 22:19 NIV]

His command was to not just break bread in remembrance, it was to give thanks also. “Do this,” He said. “This” included the giving of thanks. Jesus knew His followers would need the power of thanksgiving in their lives. That need has not changed for any of His followers.

Giving thanks in the middle of the storm … while the ship is sinking!  That’s what Paul did. Acts 27 recounts the story of Paul, the prisoner, headed to Rome by ship to present his case before Caesar. The ship encountered all kinds of weather-related problems. They ended up in a huge storm, taking desperate measures to keep from sinking. In fact, Acts 27 gives one of the most detailed pictures of what sailors went through in ancient times when in such danger.

After not eating anything for weeks, Paul finally encouraged them to eat. The ship is being beaten apart, and Paul tells them that the ship will be lost, but all their lives will be saved if they just do what he says. God had promised him in a dream all the lives on the ship.

“Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. ‘For the last fourteen days,’ he said, ‘you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food-you haven’t eaten anything. Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.’ After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all.” [Acts 27:33-35 NIV]

Can you picture this scene in your mind? Waves crashing. Sea roaring. Ship groaning. Wind whipping all around them. Rocks pounding the hull. And Paul standing in their midst passing out bread and in a loud voice (I know it must have been a loud voice) giving thanks to His God.

Today our nation celebrates Thanksgiving Day.  Beloved, whether we are in the midst of a storm today, or peacefully resting in calm waters, we need to give thanks.  There is power in thanksgiving.

Thank you, Father. Thank you for my salvation. Thank you for conforming me to the image of Your Precious Son. Thank you for the promise of glory. Amen and amen.

It was late in the day. They had followed Jesus into a remote location and He had taken compassion upon them. He saw that they were like sheep without a shepherd, so He, the Great Shepherd began to teach them about the things of God. Now it was getting dark and everyone was hungry and probably a bit tired, so He told His disciples to feed them.

They balked at the task. They didn’t have enough money. They were too far away to go buy something even if they did have the money. The only thing they could scrounge up was a few loaves and a couple fish when they commandeered a young boy’s lunch.

The story is told in all four Gospels. And all four Gospel writers tell us the same thing. Jesus took those few loaves and fish and “gave thanks to God.” Then He broke them apart and fed the 5000 men plus women and children.

Later Jesus would send the disciples in their boats to the other side of the lake. He joined them by walking on the water out to them. You can read about it in John 6.  John also makes an interesting comment about the next day.  He reports, “Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.”  [John 6:22-23 NIV]

John connects the miracle of feeding 5000+ people from a few loaves of bread and a couple fish with “after the Lord had given thanks.”  John must have seen a great significance in the offering of thanksgiving. This was more than someone just saying “grace.” This was miracle-producing thanksgiving!  No wonder Paul urges us to “give thanks in all circumstances.” [1 Thess 5:16-18]