TerryLema

If someone were to ask what I consider the most difficult part of any job (other than spouse or parent), I think it would involve that word mentor. A mentor is a trusted counselor or guide, coach or tutor.

As a pastor or chaplain, I often dealt with people who were hurting, confused, beat down, or lost. During those times mentoring was essential. As a Christian mentor, however, it is vital that we learn how to mentor correctly and that means being able at some point to wean people away from us and turn them into Disciples of Christ.

In Luke 7, after Jesus had raised the son of the widow at Nain, the disciples of John the Baptist brought word to John as he sat in Herod’s prison of all that Jesus had done. John sent them to Jesus with this question, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else.”

Luke writes, “At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits and gave sight to many who were blind.” Jesus simply tells John’s disciples to go back and “report to John what you have seen and heard.” 

I’ve always wanted to ask John why he sent those men to Jesus. I’ve heard preachers say that John was confused at this point and didn’t know if Jesus was the Messiah or not. Maybe, but John the Baptist never sounded confused to me.

His mother and father firmly believed that Mary’s Jesus was the chosen one of God. John preached a fiery message of repentance and never wavered from it, even confronting rulers such as Herod. When asked if he was the Messiah, he firmly denied it. He said that the point had come when he must decrease, and Jesus must increase.

I don’t think John was confused about anything. I think John knew the time had come when as a mentor he must now release his disciples and turn their attention to Jesus. “Go ask him if he is the one to come,” he told them.  They did and they saw the work of God’s Anointed One firsthand. At some point in our walk, we must all see firsthand.

As a Hospice Chaplain I often officiated at funerals. I met about 150 new people each year, most of whom died. While I buried the young on occasion, most were up in years, many of whom had lost contact with a church or pastors. Some had moved to be close to family and never established a new connection. So I was the logical choice to do a funeral service.

I found out quite quickly that quirky things often happen at funerals. But as strange as some things I’ve experienced, I’ve never seen what took place in the town of Nain one day as Jesus was walking by.  Luke 7:11-17 tells the story of Jesus and his disciples as they approached the town gate.  He arrived just in time for the funeral. They were burying the only son of a widow.

Luke reports that when Jesus saw her, “his heart went out to her.”  Then he touched the coffin and told the dead young man to “get up!”  The dead came to life and started talking.

And with that, the funeral was over. The mourners were now rejoicing. The onlookers were filled with awe.  Everyone was praising God. And He did all that without being asked!

When I get to glory, I want to ask this woman and her son what it was like when they went home that night, when they were first alone. What did they talk about? How did they feel? How did this one miracle change their lives? Did they follow Jesus after that? How did they feel when He was crucified?

They surely must have believed when they heard He was raised from the dead. If anyone believed that was possible, these two must have.

People are all around us. People we have known for a long time, or people we are just beginning to know.  Each one brings something unique and special into our lives.

I often feel that way when I’m reading through Scripture. I’ll hit a place in Scripture where the people spring to life. Luke Chapter 7 is that way for me.  There are people in that chapter with which I would love to sit and converse. First is the centurion and his servant.

I have always loved this Roman commander of 100. He was a man of authority, and he had a sick servant.  The accounts in Luke 7 and Matthew 8 tell us that this servant was paralyzed and in terrible suffering, sick and about to die, and they tell us that this Roman commander cared about his servant so much that he dared to approach Jesus and ask for healing.

Two things always strike me about these men. First, what kind of person was this servant that a Roman commander cared so much about him? He must have exhibited such faithfulness and concern for his master and his master’s interests that the centurion grew to value him dearly.

And then there is the centurion. His words to Jesus are so familiar, “Lord don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof . . . but say the word and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority and with soldiers under me.”  [vs 1-10]

This Roman had first learned to be UNDER authority or he would not have ever been placed in a position to have soldiers under him.

A servant who was faithful to what he was called to do.  A master who understood that one cannot lead unless one first learns to follow.

Everything changes … The White House and Congress are soon to be under new leadership. What was is changing and probably will again in another few years. The Governor of California is looking to ban different foods from the state. Things like energy drinks, skittles, sodas, snack items, etc., that we once thought were good are now regarded as unhealthy.

Everything Changes. One of my health issues has gone into remission, but I picked up another one just for the fun of it. I have more wrinkles, less energy, and I have new pain in places I didn’t even know I had.

Every day is different, every season brings surprises of change. One year our tomato plants did not produce at all, this last year we had a bumper crop of tomatoes except they were extremely small. Who knows what next year will bring.

Everything changes. EXCEPT.

“I am the Lord, and I do not change.” [Malachi 3:6 NLT]

“[God] never changes or casts a shifting shadow.” [James 1:17 NLT]

Amid all the changing circumstances in life, our God never changes. There is not one scintilla of change in Him. What He was, He is, and What He was and is, He always will be.

The world can spin out of control, and our God remains the same. Merciful. Faithful. Holy. Almighty. Loving. Full of Grace and Truth. Good. Generous. All His Character. All His Attributes. Never Change. Amen.

I am feeling something in my spirit that I don’t think I have ever felt before. And it has nothing to do with who occupies the White House or Congress or the Supreme Court or any other governing body. It has everything to do with WHO occupies the Eternal Throne in Glory.

All my Christian life I have prayed for what is commonly called “Revival.” I have prayed fervently to witness God move in power and might, prayed for a mighty Wind of God’s Spirit across our land.

I woke up this morning with anticipation in my spirit for this new year unlike any anticipation I have had in a long, long time. As I was praying, I saw an ocean wave, beginning small and then becoming stronger and higher as it moved toward shore.

I know it may sound silly, but I decided to look up how a wave is created and found something I didn’t know. Waves are not traveling bodies of water. They are actually ENERGY passing through the water, causing it to move. And a wave’s energy source most often is caused by WIND blowing along the air-water interface.

My former pastor used to say in faith we crawl out on a limb and declare what God has said, then we saw the limb off. So, on my spiritual limb, by faith, I believe that before 2025 is over a great tsunami of God’s power and might is going to inundate us!

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?” [Isaiah 43:19 NLT]

It may only be a small wave now gathering energy. But “do you not see it?”

We put up our old artificial Christmas Tree this year on December 1. There were a few lights out on the bottom branches, but I turned those toward the back. After a few days, the lights on the top third of the tree went out, followed a few days later by the middle third, and then finally the entire tree went dark.

I posted that a Christmas tree without lights was dismal. That prompted a friend to respond, “I see a devotion coming!”

Well, not wanting to disappoint, here it is. We are people of light. We not only live in the light of life that Christ Jesus brought us, but we are also to allow that light of the life of Christ Jesus to shine through us. We can have all the pretty ornaments that life in this world offers, but if there is no light of life in us, we are as dismal as a Christmas tree with the lights darkened. Remember ….

Colossians 1:13: For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,

 1 Peter 2:9: …you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

John 8:12: [Jesus] said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

And finally, Matthew 5:14: You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Oh, and my friend who saw the devotion coming, she is such a bright light she could have written this devotion herself.

One of my daily Bible verses this week was Ephesians 5:1-2 and one of the phrases therein brought back a memory from long ago.

“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.” [NLT]

The phrase that retrieved the memory was “live a life filled with love.” Some other translations say it, “walk in love,” or “walk in the way of love.”

To be filled, or to walk, is a Greek verb used to describe one’s conduct or manner of life. It implies a habitual lifestyle and is used to encourage believers to live in a manner worthy of their calling and to follow the teachings of Christ. [Strong’s]

The memory that phrase prompted is from a half century ago. Newly saved, I was working for the State of California. I realized that my life and my attitudes were a far cry from “the example of Christ,” and I asked God to teach me to love like He loves.

I was looking for a miraculous and instant change. Instead, He brought the most annoying woman in the office to my side. Not only did I have to work with her, now she spent lunches and breaks with me. It took me a while to understand what God was doing – using the unlovable to teach me to love as He loves.

It made me realize that I was far more unlovable than this woman when God called me to Himself – and still He loved me. That changed everything! Funny the way God sometimes answers prayers!

“You were included in Christ.” “You were marked in Him with a seal.” “You who once were far away have been brought near.”

Can it get any better than that? Yes, it can. Just a little further on in Chapter 2 is another wonderful, simple, statement. “In him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”  [2:22]

In 2 Chronicles when Solomon built the Temple, he asked in his prayer of dedication “But will God really dwell on earth with men? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!”  [2 Chronicles 6:18]

Solomon could not fathom how the Omnipotent, Almighty, Eternal God would dwell in a building. Even though the building was the grandest building ever built in Israel, it was nothing – a mere whisper in time – in comparison to God.

In Ephesians Paul writes that now God is building a dwelling not out of stone and wood and gold, but out of believers. He will inhabit this human dwelling by His Spirit – and Paul says that “you too are being built together” to become part of this dwelling.

Amazing!  That God would choose to include us is amazing. That God would choose to mark us with seal as His own, even more so. And what a promise we have in knowing that we who were far away have been brought near and into fellowship with the One and Only God. But to hear that along with other believers we are being formed into a dwelling place for God, well, that is almost beyond comprehension.

Simple words; simple phrases. That is what I found in Ephesians this week. We “were included in Christ.”  We were “marked in him with a seal.” 

And there was a third phrase I spotted as I read the first three chapters. This one in Chapter 2:13, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.”

We “have been brought near.” 

One of the things I hate most about my life is that a part of my family is far away. They live in California and while we used to be able to make several trips a year to visit our son, daughter-in-love, and two grandsons, we are limited now to seeing them only when they can come in our direction. I hate being a faraway grandmother and not being able to visit when I want to.

Paul reminds us that as Gentiles, as people not part of the covenant of Israel, we were very far away from God. We were outside the circle of fellowship, outside the promises, without hope and without God in this world. But now all that has changed. In Christ Jesus, through the blood He offered at Calvary, we are no longer far away. We have been brought near.

Nearness means we are close to Him. We are in fellowship with Him. We have a relationship, we have a hope, we have the promise that as we abide in Him, and that He and the Father will abide in us.

We have been brought near. Wow. That’s a very simple statement, a simple thought, yet within those few words is a truth that boggles the imagination. We have been brought near to God.  Near to God!

When I worked, I was often privy to information that was confidential. Before everything was electronic, I had a locked file cabinet for confidential information and a “Confidential” stamp in red that I used to mark the papers that went into that cabinet.

That “Confidential” mark reminded people that what they were looking at needed to be treated differently. It meant that information and those documents were to be handled in a special way.

In Ephesians when I came across that simple phrase, “And you also were included,” I noticed that it was followed by another simple phrase, “you were marked in Him …”   [1:13-14]

Once we heard the gospel of salvation and believed and were included in Christ, Paul says we were marked in him “with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.”

Not just included but marked. We have been marked in Christ with a seal and that seal is the Holy Spirit in us. The Spirit of God in us is our guarantee of inheritance. The Spirit of God in us marks us as God’s possession and as such we are to be treated as God’s children.

The enemy of our soul is given notice by God’s seal in us that we belong to the Almighty God and when he messes with us, he messes with our Father.

And we are reminded that no matter what we see with earthly eyes, no matter our circumstances, no matter the fact that outwardly we are perishing daily, we have a seal that guarantees our inheritance in God.