TerryLema

For those who observe it, Lent began yesterday and will end Easter Sunday. I grew up in a family that observed the Lenten season.

That meant we had to give up something we really liked, such as candy or sweets, as a form of sacrifice. It also meant there was no meat on Friday’s. In my house, with a mother who was not a great nor creative cook, it meant alternating between creamed tuna on toast and creamed hardboiled eggs on toast (you cannot even imagine!)

As a teenager the emphasis on Lent (at least in my family) changed from giving up something to doing something each day, such as an act of kindness. It was still creamed tuna or created hardboiled eggs on toast on Friday.

After I came to Christ at 26, everything changed. Lent became irrelevant to me. I learned that God doesn’t need me to sacrifice sweets or do an extra act of kindness. God wants me – and expects me – to obey Him.

1 Samuel 15:22 is clear. “Then Samuel said: Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.” [HCSB]

And I have come to realize the greatest of truths, that my obedience (no matter what form it may take) flows from the realization of God’s love and sacrifice for me. And that is relevant for every day of my life, not just a few weeks before Easter.

“For God loved the world [me and you] in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” [John 3:16 HCSB]

I am so excited. I signed up to lead a small group at CFC-Middleton— “Journeying Through Grief.”  Ministry to the dying and grieving is where my heart beats.

When our heart is made new in Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes in and takes out those old “unredeemed” desires and gives us new ones. That is the promise Psalm 37:4 secures. “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.” [NLT]

When I look back on my life, especially the Before Christ (BC) part, I can see where God began to “expose” me to that future desire. I was 8 when my favorite aunt died and I attended her funeral, 9 when my grandfather died.  I was 16, with a brand-new driver’s license when I was recruited to take my next-door neighbor to his radiation appointments for lung cancer.

God continued that emphasis in my life After Christ (AC). Eventually, He led me to Hospice and carrying a pager for the local hospital when the Chaplain was off duty.

Sometimes I ask God “Why? Why this?” His response has always been, “Why not this?”

I love this ministry, even while hating death—this last enemy to be done away with.

I also rejoice in another promise. This one secured in Revelation 21:4: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away.” [HCSB]

Amen & Amen!

This morning, this Scripture was in my email. “For God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you showed for His name when you served the saints—and you continue to serve them.” [Hebrews 6:10 HCSB]

God remembers the love we show for His children. It does not matter how great or how small it may be in man’s eyes, in the eyes of the LORD the love we give to others in His name is monumental. He remembers it all.

I greet some Sundays at CFC-Middleton. I also go down to pray for people on other Sundays at the end of service. I am so blessed to be a very small part of this growing, thriving community of believers.

I love seeing the children come through the door. I love knowing there is an Espanol service in the afternoon. Seeing people baptized is amazing.

I cannot help on occasion think about the years The Way occupied that building. I know I am not supposed to compare what God did during those years with what He is doing now in the exact same place. Yet, I sometimes do.

This morning, I was reminded that God remembers it all and that whatever He has called us to do to love and serve the saints (small or great) is blessed by Him. Ministry to the 1 or to the 50 or to the 500 or to the 5000, when done in the name of Christ Jesus and for His glory, is not forgotten. Thank you, LORD.

I want to make a difference in this world. I want to see lives made new through Jesus Christ. I want to see our nation return to the Judeo-Christian beliefs which helped form it in its early development. I want to see my grandchildren and their children inherit a nation and culture that is alive and well, not weak and dying.

In my lifetime I want to hear just once what was shouted in Thessalonica when Paul and his fellow missionaries arrived on the scene and began to preach the truth of Christ Jesus, crucified, died, resurrected, and ascended to the right hand of the Father. “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” [Acts 17:6 NKJV]

If that isn’t what we are striving for, then what is? What are we spending our energy on? Our Time? Our Money?

When Paul set out on his missionary trips he had one goal, to preach Christ Jesus and share the Gospel with the known world. It did not matter the hardships or opposition. It did not matter if he was free or in prison. He preached and lived Jesus. And in one generation, through his work and that of his contemporaries, the world was turned upside down forever.

I want that kind of zeal in me…now…at 77 years of age…living on social security. I may not be able to turn the whole world upside down (or right side up!), but I can make a difference in every life that crosses my path if I’m willing.  I invite you to join me. None of us are too young or too old, too rich or too poor that we can’t all make a difference.

Father, give me the wisdom and zeal of those early disciples of Christ who looked upon this world as a harvest field for Your glory! Amen.

My last one thing comes from Peter.  He reminds that God’s timing and ours are not always the same.:  “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come .…” [2 Peter 3:8-10]

Down through the centuries man has been waiting and looking toward the return of Jesus Christ. Some may scoff at that thought, but Peter reminds us in this chapter just how quickly things can change … Noah was given 7 days after the ark was completed to gather the animals and food he would need, and then suddenly the flood came. And judgment covered the earth. [Genesis 7]

In barely a blink of an eye, Jesus can return. For now, God is patient, waiting for all who are called to come to repentance.  But, Peter says, don’t grow complacent because, “the day of the Lord will come….” 

The remainder of this verse goes on to say that Jesus will come “like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.”  [Vs 10]

Even though the verse goes on and describes the way in which the Lord will return, I chose to stop it with simply … “but the day of the Lord WILL COME ….”  WILL COME (emphasis mine).

If there is one thing we can bank our eternity on, it is that Jesus will return. Suddenly, one day the Savior of our soul will descend, and all will see Him. Everyone will confess that He is Lord. Some will do it by compulsion, and others from a willing and grateful heart. How blessed we are to be among those who are longing for His return.

Phil 3:13-14:  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  

Forgetting what is behind is sometimes hard to do, especially since the enemy of our soul is always reminding us of our failures and those times when we were less than we should have been. I think it must have been a difficult task for Paul also, since he brought it up in his letter to the Philippians. He could have just as easily omitted it, simply stating that he strained toward what is ahead and pressed toward the goal.  But he didn’t omit it, he included it…

But aren’t we also to remember what is behind? Even Paul acknowledged his own sinful past: “I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” [1 Tim 1:16]

How can we both remember and forget our pasts? I think when Paul said that he was forgetting what is behind, he was saying he does not let what he once was (the worst of sinners) dictate to what he does now (pressing on toward the goal).

The enemy of our soul wants to use our past and the guilt associated with our sin to forestall moving on with God. If he can keep us focused on how unworthy we are, he can keep us immobile. Christ Jesus our Lord is calling us to keep moving, keep straining to mature and grow.

Father, I know I am a sinner saved by Your love and grace. I will not let the enemy of my soul drag me back into that past or load me down with a burden of guilt. You have saved me, forgiven me. Now may I strain to attain all that You have for me in Christ Jesus. Amen.

I am enjoying the “one thing” verses I am finding in Scripture. John 9 contains the story of Jesus and the blind man. There are many characters in this story. In addition to Jesus and the unnamed blind man, there are the disciples asking questions, the rulers throwing accusations, and the man’s fearful parents trying to dodge being involved in any of it. (Read John 9 today.)

I love the formerly blind man’s testimony when confronted by the rulers who were furious because Jesus healed on the Sabbath.  After all the accusations and responses, however, it was the personal testimony of this man that truly settled every argument. “He replied, ‘Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!’”  [vs 25]

One thing I do know … I was blind but now I see!  John Newton wrote, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”

The one thing in each of our lives that cannot be refuted is the healing that Christ brought to us. We who were lost and blind, are now saved and seeing. We are not what we once were. Each of us has a personal testimony. Christ met us one day along the way and nothing has been the same since. Glory to God.

Father, thank you for that divine meeting with the Savior. Thank you that I, who was blinded by the god of this age, now see the beauty and glory in the light of Christ Jesus my Lord. That You would save a wretch like me is almost beyond my ability to comprehend. I bow to Your amazing grace. Amen. 

Luke 10:41-42: “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”  

How many sermons and articles have been written about the one thing found in the story of Mary and Martha. I have heard some great ones, and I’ve heard some that seemed to me to miss the mark.

Most of the time we see ourselves as predominantly one or the other. We are either Martha, bustling around trying to feed and care for a bunch of guys who show up for dinner. (Who knows how much that big fisherman could eat all by himself!) All the while her sister is lounging with the guys in the living room.

Or we see ourselves as Mary, choosing the better part to remain at the feet of Jesus to hear what He is saying, ignoring the work that needs doing, resisting the strains of complaining from her sister bearing the burden of service.

I love these two ladies. Jesus loved these two ladies. I don’t think we are to choose between being a Mary or a Martha, between being in the presence of the Lord or serving. Martha’s problem was not her service, it was her worry and anxiety in her serving.

Our lives are to combine Mary and Martha. We are to sit at His feet and find there the motivation and power to then serve with humility and peace. Spending time with Jesus always results in the desire to serve Him more, and how do we serve Him? By serving others.

Father, give me the desire and power to both bask in Your presence and serve Your people. Amen.

The last couple days we have been looking at some of the “one things” I have found when I searched the Scriptures.  Yesterday’s one thing uplifted me – God is strong and God is loving.  Today’s one thing saddens me. It comes in the encounter Jesus had with a rich young ruler in Mark 10.

The ruler wondered what he had to do to gain eternal life. Jesus took him to what the law said. The ruler countered with the fact that he had always kept those external commandments.  Jesus then took him to what the heart was clinging to.  “’You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.’  But he was stunned at this demand, and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.” [v17-22 HCSB]

It all came down to a choice, either a heart that had only one treasure, that of loving God to the extent nothing else mattered, or a heart centered on earthly possessions.  The rich young ruler could not give up his earthly treasures.

Jesus asked the young man to pick up his cross. It was right there before Him. Jesus invited him to follow. But the call of worldly riches caused him to leave his cross at the feet of Jesus and turn away. It says, “he went away grieving.”

Still, he went away. There was only one thing he lacked, a heart that hungered more for God than for the treasures of this life.

How many go away because of similar one things?  I fear too many leave their crosses at the feet of Jesus and turn their backs because of their one thing.

I found another “one thing” in Psalm 62 when I was searching in the NIV:  One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done. [v11-12 NIV]

It reads a bit differently in other translations. “God has spoken once; I have heard this twice: strength belongs to God, and faithful love belongs to You, Lord. For You repay each according to his works” [HCSB]

God is strong; all power belongs to God.  The Lord is loving; mercy belongs to the Lord. God rewards / repays to each one according to what we have done.

Our God is strong, and all power does belong to Him. If we remember one thing about Him, we remember He is all-powerful. Would we want to serve a God who does not have the power to keep His promises? Every year we elect people to positions of authority based on the promises they make to us, and most often those promises are not kept because they lack the power to do so. God has the power to keep His promises.

But there is another one thing we need to remember about our God. He is loving, mercy belongs to Him.  The all-powerful Right Hand of God is extended to us in mercy and love.  We need never be afraid of rejection or refusal.

And our God will reward us – He will render to us according to what we have done. And the one thing we have done is trust in Jesus. Amen and Amen.