TerryLema

I was reading the first chapter of Colossians after prayer last Thursday. I focused on Paul’s prayer for the Colossians.

As I read through the second half of the prayer, it seemed to me the translators missed a word in verses 11-14. I inserted it in the scripture below.

“We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. [BECAUSE] He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.” [NLT]

Paul wants us to be strengthened with God’s glorious power and to have all the endurance and patience we need (and believe me, we need plenty!).

But he also wants us filled with joy and thanksgiving BECAUSE God has given us an inheritance. That inheritance belongs solely to people who live in the light … and notice … we live in that light BECAUSE He Himself arranged our rescue from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His Dear Son.

He purchased our freedom. We had nothing with which to buy it. He forgave our sins. We could not do enough “good works” to overcome our sin. It was solely His doing.

How could we not be filled with joy and thanksgiving? How could we not be praising our God with great enthusiasm and fervor?

I am not sure how I ended up in the first chapter of Colossians after prayer last Thursday morning, but I am glad I did. There is a marvelous prayer contained in that first chapter.  Along with a marvelous description of our LORD Christ Jesus and our reconciliation to Him.

Paul’s prayer begins … “We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.” [vs9-10 NLT]

I was never good with math, but I spotted the equation in Paul’s verse right away.

Complete knowledge of his will + spiritual wisdom and understanding = a life that will always honor and please the LORD.

The proof of that equation is a life that produces every kind of good fruit.

Too often when we pray for people, we are not specific. I think there are too many, “Bless them, God!” styles of prayer. Paul often prayed for people, and he was always specific in what He asked God to do in their lives. And his prayers often focused on spiritual wellbeing, things needed to live a life “that will always honor and please the LORD.”

Let’s make sure when we pray, we follow his example.

The other day we were blessed to go to a Little League game. It is such fun to watch youth as they learn and engage in team sports. Lots of lessons which I could expand on, but instead there was one priceless moment that captured my thoughts.

One of the younger and smaller players came up to bat. His dad moved to the fence beside home plate. I heard him tell his son, “Move closer to the plate,” as the boy was standing farther away than normal.  The son obeyed his dad and stepped closer.

The next pitch was wild inside and would have hit the boy had he not jumped back just in time. He turned slowly and looked at his dad … you can imagine a look that spoke volumes.

I admit, I have seen “that look” in my mirror on occasion. My Father God tells me to do something and wham(!) there’s a wild pitch coming straight for me. My reaction usually is not what I would call “saintly.” It is more like, “Really Father?”

When that happens, I am reminded of Teresa of Avila who on a mission for God ended up in the mud when her donkey cart flipped and tossed her in a ditch. She said something like, “No wonder you have so few friends if this is the way you treat the ones you do!”

But … as Teresa of Avila well understood, as I am growing to understand, our Father God cares deeply for our welfare and has promised to always be with us when those “wild pitches” are aimed at us. We can step up to the plate boldly and without fear.

“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God.” [Isaiah 43:1b-3a NLT]

“Life is hard, and then you die.” I have seen many versions of that rather pitiful view of life. Its origin is unsure. The one thing that is sure is that it is a cynical view of this world. But when you live in a world that has no hope of its own, it is a legitimate view.

I like Paul’s view better. He expressed it in 2 Corinthians 5:1-10. In fact, as I age, it becomes even more precious!

“While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.” [vs 4-5 NLT]

I admit I do a lot of groaning and sighing! I groan when I get out of bed, and sigh when I go to sleep! I have developed my “father’s noise” that always escaped his lips when he climbed out of his recliner.

Paul says, however, that for those who have surrendered their lives to God, these bodies that are weathered and beaten by time and living will one day be “swallowed up by life.” God has “prepared us for this” and to guarantee that promise He has given us His Holy Spirit.

There is even more … “So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord…. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.” [vs 6, 8 NLT]

So yes, “Life is hard, and then you die,” but for the Christian, that is when it gets REALLY GOOD! Amen

Ps 89:15: “Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD.” [NIV]

Each day is getting longer by a few minutes. Sunset comes later every day. The days are getting warmer and soon the summer heat will set in.  I am starting to walk in the early morning hours rather than later in the afternoon. My walking hours always change with the weather.

For now, I head out in the morning with my worship music, and I sing and worship as the day begins. I sense the presence of my LORD with me as I walk and worship Him.

Ethan the Ezrahite is the author of Psalm 89. You probably haven’t heard much about him. I know I haven’t. He began his song with, “I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever, with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.”

Further along he promises blessings to those who walk in the light of the presence of the LORD. While walking in the light, we also learn “to acclaim” or “make an acclamation of joy” about the LORD.

Where God is, there is light. The darkness for believers was DISMISSED the moment we were saved, and the light of God’s presence came into our souls and spirits in the person of God’s Holy Spirit. We may walk THROUGH valleys of darkness in this life, but the darkness that was once IN us has surrendered to the light of the glory of our Savior.

Thank you for the light of Your presence, O LORD.

Isa 53:2: “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” [NIV]

Ps 27:4: “One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.” [NIV]

Isaiah 53 paints a word picture of God’s Messiah, the Suffering Servant Savior. It is not a pretty picture. It speaks of bruising and crushing, punishment and wounds, judgment and slaughter and grave. It breaks the heart to read it.

Many movies have been made about the life of Jesus and the portrayals of Him on the cross are more than I can bear to watch–even knowing that the portrayals are done with special effects and make-up. I cannot even imagine what those who loved Him witnessed that day so long ago. There was no beauty to behold then.

Yet, it is precisely because He endured the bruising and crushing, the punishment and wounds, the judgment and slaughter and grave that we desire to gaze upon Him now. Now this One who had no beauty or majesty to attract, is the center of everything beautiful in our lives. Now our one desire, all the days of our life, is to gaze upon Him and seek Him.

Lord, the most beautiful sunrise is nothing in comparison to you. The most elegant flower of creation pales when placed in Your nail-pierced hands. How I long to stand in Your presence and see with heavenly eyes the beauty which has so captured my heart. Amen.

In Revelation 21 John describes the new heaven and the new earth.  He describes New Jerusalem, that heavenly city as he is shown it. He notes that there is no temple, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. He also notes that the city does not need sun, nor moon to shine, for the city is filled with the glory of God and “The Lamb is its light.” [Rev 21:23 NKJV]

Light in Scripture often stands for joy, beauty, knowledge, and the presence of the LORD.

In that glorious city Jesus is the very center of it all.  Charles Spurgeon wrote: “The joy of the saints in heaven is comprised in this: Jesus chose us, loved us, bought us, cleansed us, robed us, kept us, glorified us: we are here entirely through the Lord Jesus.”

Someone came to my door and showed me a drawing of the last days and asked if it scared me.  I smiled and said, “No! I am longing to see King Jesus return!”

I want to walk those streets of gold hand in hand with loved ones who have gone ahead of me. I am longing to sit and talk with great saints of God about deep things of God. I am yearning to abide in a place where all evil has been banished.  More than anything else, I want to bask in the light of the Lamb.

I want to spend eternity saying thank you to the One who “chose us, loved us, bought us, cleansed us, robed us, kept us, glorified us….”

Josh 23:14-15:  “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.” [NIV]

“Not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed.” That was Joshua’s testimony at the end of his life.  He then went on to remind the tribes of Israel of what God had promised and how He brought those promises to fruition. Every promise was fulfilled. Israel made it a lot harder on themselves than it needed to be because of their own stubbornness and rebellion. Still, God brought them out of bondage and into freedom in the Promised Land, just as He said He would.

Joshua then challenged Israel to live for the Lord and made the declaration that no matter what they decided to do, he and his household would remain faithful to Jehovah. [24:15]

Not one of the good promises the LORD our God has given us will fail either. And while I’d like to think that I’ve done better than Israel did and made it easier on myself, I know that I’m a lot more like they were than I want to believe. I, too, am stubborn and rebellious. I can be proficient at murmuring and complaining too!

Still as God brought them out of bondage, so He has brought me (and you).  As God brought them into freedom, so He has brought me (and you) into freedom in Christ Jesus.  And as He took Israel to the Promised Land, He will bring His children (me and you!) into His presence in Glory!

None of His good promises, no, not even one, will fail to be fulfilled.  Hallelujah!  Amen.

Fifty-seven years married, as of today at 2 PM PST. The church we were married in was in the shape of a cross, with a raised altar in the very center. It was very large, so the crowd looked sparse with just a couple hundred attendees.

I remember it was raining and I had to run from the car to the church in my wedding dress and veil. I remember the rain drops spotted the satin dresses the attendants wore. I remember that the communion cup contained “real” wine, not grape juice! And I remember how difficult it was to kneel during the service in a wedding dress.

But the thing I remember most was the look on the bridegroom’s face when he turned around and saw me coming down the aisle. It was one of love and amazement and tenderness – so much so that it is hard to describe and impossible to forget.

I wonder, church, what it will be like when our bridegroom, Christ Jesus, turns and sees His bride. I have a feeling it will be a look of love and amazement and tenderness.

It will be a look we will carry through eternity, one that is hard to describe, but impossible to forget.

“Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” [Rev 19:6-8 NIV]