TerryLema

Last Friday night I watched a group of young high school boys play football, the Junior Varsity at Modesto Christian School.  My grandson was part of the team.  This team has struggled this year. They’ve had a lot of adversity and they lost members. The team is small, which means that most of them play the entire game as both offense and defense. They never get a rest, and it’s been that way in each game they have played this year. They scored a touchdown in this game, the first one this year.

They had heart and determination. They never gave up. They were exhausted when it was over. Some of them were going to be mighty sore the following days, including my grandson who took a lot of hits and ended up with a bad bruise on his hip. Still, the team never gave up.

Winston Churchill gave some great speeches in his day.  He is reported as having said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”   

Courage. Paul closed his first letter to the Corinthian Church with an exhortation about courage, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men (and women) of courage; be strong.” [1 Cor 16:13 NIV]

As I watched these young men stand strong even though exhausted and beat, I thought a lot of Christians could take a lesson from them in courage. It is the courage to continue that counts.

Our Jeep is getting a bit old and has a lot of miles, coming from years of 60-mile-round-trips between work and home and trips like this last one to California. The Jeep’s transmission has been overheating. The shop tells us “nothing to worry about. Just put it in neutral for two minutes until the warning light goes off and you can keep on going.” Really? Just put it in neutral? Well, if we don’t put it in neutral, it will put itself in neutral. It will slow down until it comes to a complete stop no matter how much gas it’s getting.

Sounds simple enough, put it in neutral.  Simple unless you are climbing up to Donner Summit, or in the middle of four lanes of traffic flying along a section of road with no shoulders. We were lucky this trip, it only happened twice on a portion of Highway 80 that had wide shoulders.  We put it in neutral and in two minutes it was cooled and ready to go again.

I’m chuckling this morning because not only did we need to put the Jeep in neutral on this trip, I needed to put me in neutral to cool down a few times. I’m usually pretty good with traffic but this trip really riled me up. I don’t know if it was the heat, the smoke from all the fires, the abundant traffic jams, the crazy drivers or if I was just tired from adjusting to a full-time work schedule. The one thing that was evident was the absence of my usual good cheer and patience!

My anger, of course, accomplished nothing except to make me miserable. No matter how I seethed inside, it remained hot and smoky, the traffic jams still delayed us, the crazy drivers still drove crazy and I was even more tired from all the energy expended with the anger. My anger sure did not reflect our God.

Multiple times in the Old Testament our God is described as slow to anger. “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”  [Ex 34:6-7 NIV]

Father, I should have heeded the Spirit’s warning that the way I was acting was not honoring You.  Forgive me. Create in me a heart that is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.  Amen.

Travel. We drove last Thursday from Caldwell, Idaho, to Modesto, California. We have made this trip countless times since 1993. It’s always been a long trip, and in winter months it can even be hazardous with snow in the Sierra’s. Last Thursday was perhaps the most frustrating trip of all.  Maybe it is our ages, 77 and 70; or perhaps, it was the fact that it has been 15 months since the last one and we’ve “forgotten.”

We hit a traffic jam outside Reno crossing into California. That delayed us an hour as we crawled along only to find the source of the jam was someone working on the side of a hill nowhere near the road and yet they blocked off one complete lane of traffic. Then we hit stop and go traffic eight more times before we arrived. We were on the road for almost 12 hours and arrived tired and frustrated.

Frustration. Our greatest frustration was in not knowing just when all the problems would hit. We were breezing along and then Bam(!) screeching to a stop. We couldn’t see ahead of us more than a few cars, and we didn’t know why we were stopped, just that we were.

Isn’t that like life? Breezing along and then Bam(!), stopped by something. We don’t always know the source, we don’t always know why; we only know we are stopped.  I came across a question on Facebook recently, “when something gets difficult and we are stopped in our tracks, is it God’s warning?  Or is it the enemy of our soul trying to hinder us? How can you tell?”

When we can’t tell, or don’t know, we should remember those opening verses of James 1. James reminds us that there will be times of trouble. When we are unsure how to handle those times when life goes Bam(!), we should ask God for wisdom and He will provide it to us. “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” [James 1:5 NIV]

We still may not know why life’s Bam(!) happened, but God promises us wisdom and strength to handle it. PTL.

“What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.”  [2 Timothy 1:13-14]

Every morning I go to work I enter a building and the first one I meet is the guard. He sits at a desk just inside the public entry. He’s there to make sure that all who enter that building belong there. He’s also there to protect those who do belong there.

Yesterday, we looked at the previous verse and Paul’s conviction that God was able to guard everything Paul had entrusted to Him, including his very life and death.  Now Paul turns that around.  He goes on to urge Timothy (and us) to guard what God has entrusted to him (and to us). Paul calls it that “good deposit.”

What is that “good deposit?” It’s the Good News—the Gospel. Paul refers to it as sound teaching, faith and love in Christ Jesus. It is the knowledge of God the Father as seen through the life, death and resurrection of the Son. Paul knew that the enemy of our soul is constantly on the prowl to steal that “good deposit” from us. He wants to rob us of the truth, destroy faith, and kill love.  We need to be ever on guard against his efforts.

However, we must not think we are left alone in our efforts to guard that “good deposit” because Paul also reminds Timothy that the Holy Spirit who lives in us helps us to guard it.

Father, thank you for sending Your Spirit to give us the strength and wisdom to guard that “good deposit” You have left with us. Amen.

“I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.”  [2 Tim 1:12 NIV]

I am convinced He is able to keep what I have committed into His Hands. Paul had committed everything to God from the moment He met the Master on the Road to Damascus. He had turned over his dreams, his desires, his understanding, his health, his years. All had been placed in the hands of Christ Jesus.

Now He stood close to death’s door. He was facing martyrdom and knew it. It would be understandable to waver a little – after all Paul was not supernatural, he was human as we are. It would be reasonable if he looked back as well as looked at what was facing him in the immediate future and wondered if it was all worth it.  Would he have regrets, would he wish he had done some things differently, or even would he wonder if he had taken the correct path through life.

It is evident as he writes to Timothy that Paul was assured he had taken the correct path. He was, in his own words, convinced. He knew intimately the One in whom he had entrusted everything. And that knowledge persuaded him he had done the right thing. His Savior and Lord, His Master was able to take it all – Paul’s dreams, desires, understanding, health, years, and now even his death – and guard it against any thief or corruption. When Paul entered into the very presence of the Lord, it would all be waiting for him. Every reward, every crown, every praise from the Master would be his.

We, too, have entrusted everything into the hand of our Savior and Lord. Jesus is guarding all we have committed. Like Paul, when we enter into His Presence on the other side of the veil, rewards, crowns and praise will be waiting for us. PTL.

September 9

“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” [2 Tim 1:6-7 NIV]

The letters to Timothy are believed to be the last ones Paul wrote from prison before he was martyred. How he loved Timothy! He remembered Timothy in his prayers, he longed to see him and he remarked about Timothy’s sincere faith in the opening words of his letter.

What we also learn from Paul’s opening remarks is that Timothy was perhaps a bit timid. Paul knowing that he was soon to be martyred and would be leaving the Gospel in the hands of the younger men wanted to make sure they were as on fire for God as he was. There wasn’t room for timidity.

Paul tells the young man to fan into flame the gift God had placed on his life. He reminds Timothy that God has provided all that he needs for ministry … power, love and self-discipline are his through the Holy Spirit.

Fire needs two things, oxygen and fuel. Remove either and flames will be reduced to embers and will eventually go out.  But as long as there is even a hint of fire left in those embers, fire can be fanned back into roaring flames with just a little oxygen and a little fuel. We need to make sure we are fueling the fire of that gift of God in our lives, and we need to make sure we are allowing the Holy Spirit to breathe power into it.

Holy Spirit, breathe on me! As I awake every day, re-ignite the embers of desire to carry Your Gospel to others! 

To know, love and serve Him brings eternal happiness.  The one thing that never changes about living life in this world is that everything changes.  Change is a constant companion. We either learn that early or we will be constantly frustrated and upset. Change affects the small things and change affects the big things.

I spent weeks looking for a good protein bar, one with high grams of protein and low grams of carbohydrates, and no sugar alcohols. Most high protein bars have lots of protein, but they also have too many carbs, some I’ve seen have as many carb grams as three slices of bread. And the ones with low carbs are often supplemented with sugar alcohols which I can’t digest.

I was so happy when I found one that exactly fit my needs.  And I enjoyed it for about two months and then they quit making it. When I asked why it was no longer stocked, they told me that the company was “improving” it. Change.

If only change would remain on that miniscule level, but it doesn’t. Often the change we must adjust to is accompanied by loss and grief. We lose loved ones, financial stability, employment, health. Those types of changes can rock us for a long time.

God promises us that when we know, love and serve Him in this life, we will have eternal happiness in the next. It’s hard to imagine a happiness that is never affected by change or shaken by loss, but that is the promise our God has given to those who love Him.

“And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.” [Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NIV]

To love Him is to serve Him.  I often think of Joshua’s words, “as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” [Josh 24:15 NIV]

Joshua understood that serving is a choice. We can choose to serve or not.  We can choose how to expend our lives. It is as simple as that. Joshua made the choice for himself to serve the Lord and he included his household in his declaration.

Can we make this kind of choice for others? No, and I don’t think Joshua forced those of his household to serve God either.  I think he exampled his choice before them and he instructed them in the knowledge and love of the Lord.

Eventually, every person must make their own choice how their life will be spent. The choice becomes easier when we know and love the Savior. We see His choice to exhaust His life for us.  Jesus said that He “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” [Matt 20:28 NIV]

When we truly appreciate all He did to ransom us, we will want to lay down our lives in service to Him. Read Philippians 2:5-8 today and ask God to open that passage up in your heart and mind in all its glory.

Thank you, Jesus. Amen

To know Him is to love Him. Have you noticed that often the more you know someone the less you like them?  The old adage ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ is often true. We usually put our best foot forward when we meet someone for the first time. We cover our flaws, we hide our imperfections. Eventually, however, all those things we wish we could bury forever rise to the surface. People are then known by what they really are.

That old adage, “familiarity breeds contempt,” cannot be applied to God, however. In fact, the opposite is true. The more we get to know God, the more we love Him. And the more we love God, the more we want to know Him!

Paul commands us to live a life of love in Ephesians 5.  He says the example for that life of love is Christ Jesus Himself.  “…live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” [Eph 5:2 NIV]

When we come to know, deeply know, the love God has for us as shown to us in Christ’s sacrifice, the more we will love God.  This One who loved us while we were still sinners, who sent His own Son to bear the awful penalty of our sin becomes our All in All.

Father, words cannot express my love for You. Thank you for all You have done to bring me home to You. Amen.

God made us to know Him. In the book of Jeremiah, God promised that He would watch over the small group of exiles sent into captivity in Babylon, the remnant of Judah. He promised that He would bring them back to the promised land. He made one other promise. “I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD.”  [Jer 24:7 NIV]

God wants us to know Him. Hebrews 8 reminds us that God gave a New Covenant, and in that New Covenant He will give us hearts and minds that know Him.  “I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.” [Heb 8:10-11 NIV]

As Christians, we are born under the New Covenant, the one sealed by the blood of God’s Son on the cross. God puts His laws in our minds and our hearts. His desire is that all know Him, personally, intimately.  We aren’t just to know of Him. A lot of people know of Him, but do not know Him.  After all, James reminds us even the demons believe there is a God. And that knowledge makes them shudder with fear.  [2:19]

We are to know Him, as Father, Savior, Redeemer, Lord. Our lives are to be spent knowing Him in ever-greater measure. The greatest search in our lives, our greatest pursuit, is to know our wonderful Lord and Master.

God, create in me a desire to know You more!  I want knowing you to be the all-consuming desire of my life. Amen.