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TerryLema

…even in my old age…

by TerryLema

I returned to Psalm 92 this morning and to God’s promise that even in my old age I will still bear fruit.

My plans are to turn over the leading of The Way Assembly of God in Middleton, Idaho, to another person at year’s end. God has been clear that my time there is done and that He has another person waiting in the wings to take this church to greater heights.  The church is in the process of finding that person. When found, I will take my leave.

That has generated a lot of questions about what I plan on doing. It is something I have been thinking about also.

I plan on continuing the daily devotions—mainly because I need them. It nourishes my soul to get up early, open my Bible, read, think, and write about what I find. It keeps me on course in my relationship with the LORD (and sets me straight when I get a bit off course!). And hopefully, others find a benefit to their walk with the LORD in them also.

I also have the promise of Psalm 92. “The righteous thrive like a palm tree and grow like a cedar tree in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, they thrive in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, healthy and green, to declare: ‘The Lord is just; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.’” [vss 12-15 HCSB]

God has not been abundantly clear about how I will bear fruit in my old age, but I am getting a few hints. The other day a young pastor that I know asked me if I would lead a support group at his church (open to the community) on the journey through loss (grief), stress, and anxiety. My spirit soared with that request; this is something I am so passionate about.

So, it seems that God has some plans for me and that He will open the way clearly as I just continue to walk with Him in faith. I am so blessed to be His child … even His old-aged one!

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While We Wait

by TerryLema

Peter ends his second letter with a discourse on the Day of the LORD. If you have a chance, read 2 Peter 3.

In that chapter he speaks of the scoffers who do not believe Christ will return and instead live their lives according to their own sinful desires.

Peter insists, however, that history has proven that things can change in an instant and that when Christ returns heaven and earth as we know it now will be forever changed.

For those of us who wait for these things, Peter says … “It is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness as you wait for and earnestly desire the coming of the day of God.” [3:11b-12a HCSB]

Peter then becomes abundantly clear about what he means when he said we should be people of holy conduct and godliness. [3:14-18]

We should be people who “make every effort to be found at peace with Him without spot or blemish.”

We should be people who “regard the patience of our Lord as an opportunity for salvation.”

We should be people who are “on [our] guard so that [we] are not led away by the error of lawless people and fall from [our] own stability.”

And we are to be people who “grow in the grace and knowledge of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Seems to me that should keep us pretty busy while we are waiting.

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Waiting for the Day of the LORD

by TerryLema

On June 24, a building in Surfside, Florida, collapsed in the middle of the night. In an instant the lives of many people were changed. Many died. Some escaped from parts of the building still standing. Multiple families suffered devastating losses.

On Wednesday, July 8, about two weeks after the building collapsed, the search through the rubble changed from a rescue effort (looking for anyone still alive) to a recovery effort (finding the bodies of the victims). Fire authorities said that there was now “no chance of life.”

As I read the heart-breaking words from the officials and rescue workers, I was reminded of the phrase …. “like a thief in the night.” For many living in that high-rise condo, death truly came like a thief in the night.

Peter’s second letter ends with a discussion of “The Day of the LORD,” which is where the phrase “thief in the night” is found.

Peter tells his listeners that there will always be scoffers about the Lord’s return. There will always be people who willfully argue that Christ is not coming back, and that those who hope in such things are fools. These scoffers live according to their own desires.

Peter reminds; however, about how fast things can change. Long ago God changed the face of the earth in a day when the floods during Noah’s time came. With the LORD, Peter says, one day is like a thousand years. He reminds us that God is delaying His return because He is patient and does not want any to perish.

But, Peter says, the Day of the LORD “will come,” and it will come without warning. [3:10]

And for those of us who wait … “It is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness as you wait for and earnestly desire the coming of the day of God.” [3:11b-12a HCSB]

If it is not clear, Peter goes on to define what he means by “holy conduct and godliness.”  Tomorrow.

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A Beautiful Word – In Any Language!

by TerryLema

I found this devotion in my memories from 2018 and decided I wanted to repost it.  My grandson, Carter, mentioned in this devotion is now back in Boise and I am so blessed!

June 30, 2018

Carter, our oldest grandson, and I visited a local Bosnian restaurant on Monday. The food was delicious. I think I have found a new “favorite” place. Carter and I laughed and talked for about an hour and a half. It was fun, but it was also sad. He is leaving early July for Western Oregon.

Monday as we sat there, I looked at this now grown 6’2” man and remembered the little boy I first knew. Carter came into our life “ready-made” when he was a baby. He’s been my “bud” since he was around two when his parents moved to Idaho. There were a few years where we spent almost every Saturday together. We’d have breakfast at IHOP, then go off on some adventure, grab a little lunch, and finish the day at Baskin-Robbins where he would make me tell him what all the 31-Flavors were before he made his choice.

I’ve taken him on a plane to California, train rides, a car trip to Eastern Idaho to see the T-Rex Named Sue, and lots of other places. We spent a week in Washington DC together, just the two of us when he turned 18. We’ve visited museums, new art exhibits, tea shops and ethnic restaurants. And we have talked about everything, no subject off limits. Now he is going off on his own and I am going to miss him greatly.

A couple of us were talking about adoption the other evening. I said that while Carter has none of my DNA, he has all of my heart.  From the first moment I saw those blue eyes and blond curls I was hooked, line and sinker!

Adoption is one of the most beautiful words in any language. It is especially beautiful in God’s language.

“In love [God our Father] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” [Eph 1:4-7 NIV]

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Even if He …

by TerryLema

Yesterday, I was reminded of those marvelous verses in Jeremiah’s Lamentations that speak of God’s faithful love, and His mercies which come to us new and refreshed every morning. [Lamentations 3:22-24]

Reading a few verses past that, however, is an interesting comment on the discipline of the LORD.

“For the Lord will not reject us forever. Even if He causes suffering, He will show compassion according to His abundant, faithful love. For He does not enjoy bringing affliction or suffering on mankind.” [3:31-33 HCSB]

Lamentations was written as Jeremiah wept over Jerusalem when it was taken into captivity by the Babylonians. It was a terrible time for the nation of Israel, yet God had a purpose in that captivity. It was a time of chastening because they had fallen into repeated idolatry.

They had ignored warning after warning until God finally did what He promised He would do if they did not repent.  He sent them into Babylon, the most idolatrous nation on the face of the earth. When a remnant emerged 70 years later and returned to their homeland, they never pursued idols again, but remained true to the LORD.

Proverbs 3:11-12 reminds us that God disciplines us in love. (That reminder is repeated in Hebrews 12.) “Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son, and do not loathe His discipline; for the Lord disciplines the one He loves, just as a father, the son he delights in.” [HCSB]

Even when the LORD disciplines us, it is not “forever.” Even when the LORD disciplines us, “He will show compassion according to His abundant, faithful love.” God has a purpose in our discipline – it is always to keep us from falling away from Him, always with the goal of restoring fellowship.

I love what Jeremiah said, “He does not enjoy bringing affliction or suffering on mankind.”

I remember what my father used to say when he disciplined me, “This hurts me more than it does you.” When I am disciplined by my Father God, I hear those same words.

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Compassions

by TerryLema

In a book called “Lamentations,” which contains the cries and expressions of grief of the prophet Jeremiah, there is a portion of Scripture that most Christians learn very quickly. Probably because we need to learn it very quickly.

“Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! I say: The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him.” [3:22-24 HCSB]

In almost the direct center of that book is a reminder that God’s mercies have no end, and that they are renewed fresh each morning.

Why is the reassurance of that so important?

I think there are two reasons. The first is that we are so used to things “ending.” We come to the end of various stages of life. We come to the end of our resources, energy, money, time, even our talents. Our jobs often end. Our relationships also do so at times.

There always seems to be something drawing to a close. Except the LORD’s faithful mercies. They have no end. We can never out distance them nor run out of them.

The other reason I think we cling to this verse is that phrase, “renewed fresh” each morning. Life often compounds things. We suffer not just a loss but multiple ones. We do not have one health issue; we have a couple. When things compound, they increase our suffering, grief, and stress.

But each morning, God’s mercies come fresh, absolutely, and totally efficient for whatever or how many needs we might see that day.

It is easy to cry out along with the prophet Jeremiah, “The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him.”

 

Amen!

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It IS Good!

by TerryLema

I was reading Psalm 92, a song of “God’s Love and Faithfulness” the other morning. It was the morning after the 4th of July celebrations in our neighborhood. I was tired. People were firing off all kinds of illegal mortars and fireworks from around 8 PM on the 4th to almost 3 AM on the 5th. To say I was grumpy would probably be an understatement.

Opening my Bible, I heard God speak to me to check out Psalm 92, which I did. It opens with those three words, “It is good …”

“It is good to praise Yahweh, to sing praise to Your name, Most High, to declare Your faithful love in the morning
and Your faithfulness at night, with a ten-stringed harp and the music of a lyre.” [vs 1-3 HCSB]

I was fussing a bit, maybe more than a bit. I was even being a little stubborn. I knew God wanted me to praise Him, to thank Him for His faithful love to me, but I was intent on bringing my complaints before Him instead. I even thought to remind Him that I did not have a ten-stringed harp or a lyre!  He whispered quietly in my spirit, “no, but you have a voice.”

As I read Psalm 92 a second time and a third time, the Holy Spirit gave me joy. He reminded me of the work of God’s Hands in my life, and his profound thoughts towards me. [vss 5-6]

He reminded me that He has lifted me up and anointed me and that I have freedom from my enemies. [vss 10-11]

He said that because of all He has done for me and in me, I will thrive like a palm tree and grow like the cedars of Lebanon. I am planted in the house of the LORD and even in my old age I will still bear fruit.  [vss 12-13]

Lastly, the Spirit of the LORD confirmed that no matter how old I get, I will still be able to declare that “The LORD is just; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”  [vs 15]

I finally did stop complaining about the awful night and started rejoicing that morning in my LORD’s faithful love.

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Once I Was Blind …

by TerryLema

John 9 is a chapter devoted solely to the healing of a blind man. It started when the disciples spotted the blind man and asked the question, “who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?”

Jesus’ answer must have startled his followers, “Neither this man nor his parent sinned. This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him.”

Jesus then went on to make a mud, applied it to the man’s eyes and instructed him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. After that happened, a host of other things transpired.

The blind man’s neighbors who noticed his healing questioned him on how it happened. They brought the man to the Pharisees who also questioned him and discovered all this happened on a Sabbath Day.  The Pharisees did not believe his testimony about his healing, so they brought in his parents and questioned them. His parent begged off answering for fear they would be ostracized from the synagogue and turned the attention back to their son.

So, for a second time, they bring the man back and question him again, trying to get him to say that the One who healed him could not be from God since the healing took place on the Sabbath.  The Pharisees finally declare, “We know that God has spoken to Moses. But this man—we don’t know where He’s from!”

Then the former blind man boldly declares, “This is an amazing thing, you don’t know where He is from, yet He opened my eyes!”

I was struck by that word “amazing.”  In the Greek it means marvelous, describing an awe-evoking sight, moving the beholder to their deepest emotions. This poor man who had spent his life begging for alms, who had none of the privileges or benefits of the educated Jewish leaders recognized that Jesus was from God. He stood “amazed” at their ignorance and spiritual blindness. And I think there was another part to his amazement … that Jesus had the power and the compassion to open his eyes.

I, too, am amazed, moved to my deepest emotions when I remember that Christ Jesus had the power and the compassion to touch my blind eyes! For once I was blind, but now I see!

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Rights or Privileges?

by TerryLema

Paul, in Romans Chapter 14 and beginning of Chapter 15 addressed the question, “How should a Christian exercise freedom in Christ?”

You see a number of principles about Christian freedom in those chapters. One of the greatest is that Christian liberty is not about pleasing ourselves.

“Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves. Each one of us must please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even the Messiah did not please Himself.” [Romans 15:1-3 HCSB]

Many Christians would be surprised to learn that true Christian liberty, unlike that of the secular world, is not a matter of demanding the “rights” we have. Before God we possess no “inherent rights.”  We forfeited all our “rights” in our sinfulness.

Now we exercise our “rights” as “privileges” obtained through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus our Lord. His sufferings obtained our freedom. The example Paul gives us is that even Christ Jesus, the Messiah, our LORD, did not live to please Himself.

That means we are now sensitive to others, especially those weaker brothers and sisters in the LORD. Whatever we do is not to please ourselves, but to build up our neighbors.

At times, that means we must restrain the exercise of our freedom if we know that our liberty will put a stumbling block in the path of others. (Of course, when the truth of the Gospel is at stake, we speak truth boldly and decisively.)

Americans may think in terms of rights – “live, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Christians set free by Christ, must think in terms of privileges granted by God. That surely tempers the exercise of such.

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Freedom to be Holy Before God

by TerryLema

Living in liberty requires an attention to inherent dangers. It is far too easy to become unbalanced, leaning too far one direction or another.

There is a danger for those who forcefully demand liberty that they can fall into undisciplined living (licentiousness).  “As God’s slaves, live as free people, but don’t use your freedom as a way to conceal evil.” [I Peter 2:16 HCSB]

I remember speaking to a man once who told me he was free to have an affair. After all, he said, he could just simply come back and ask forgiveness when it was over and maintain his Christian standing.

There is also a danger for those who forcefully limit liberty that they can fall into a legalistic lifestyle. “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now going to be made complete by the flesh?” [Galatians 3:3 HCSB]

These people become defined by what they are “against.” I remember visiting a gathering of churches where I was informed that I could not raise my hands during the singing because a certain member in the host church forbade such “emotional” worship.

The ultimate goal of freedom is to live a holy life that glorifies God, edifies our fellow believers, and maintains a good repute before unbelievers. Liberty neither hides iniquity (doing anything we want), nor does it restrict by rules or customs.

The only “rule” that we must submit to in exercising our Christian freedom is simple. Does what I am thinking, speaking, and doing, please my LORD and Master, Christ Jesus?

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