TerryLema

Anger is a major attitude of our culture, and it is becoming more prevalent. We are a frustrated society, often made more frustrated by the media. We are frustrated with politics, economics, big corporations, governments, etc. Violence is the frequent choice of many to alleviate frustration and violent responses are becoming more prevalent.

Anger, however, is one of the risk factors for our spiritual hearts. Paul wrote, “All bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.” [Ephesians 4:31-32]

There are many types of anger, some are justified. But anger becomes sinful when it is motivated by pride or bitterness. Then it becomes unproductive and distorts God’s purposes.

The Christian is to avoid anger. We are to guard our hearts against anger-type responses to circumstances and difficulties. We are instead to be kind, compassionate and forgiving – always with the focus that God forgave us through the sacrifice of Christ.

And we must always keep in mind that we do not battle as the world battles. “For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.” [Ephesians 6:12 HCSB]

And that battle is won on our knees!

“For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, the sheep under His care. Today, if you hear His voice: Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on that day at Massah in the wilderness.” [Psalm 95:7-8 HCSB]

One of the greatest risk factors for our spiritual hearts is to allow them to become hardened. Here the Psalmist reminds his readers that the Israelites fell victim to that during their trek in the wilderness.  The writer to Hebrews will repeat this warning three times in the Book of Hebrews. [3:8, 3:15, 4:7]

But what is involved in the hardening process?

Hardening of our hearts is an inability to see, understand, hear but most of all an inability to remember what God has done and continues to do for us.

When life gets difficult (or if we allow ourselves to grow complacent), we can forget how God has blessed us and what He has already done for us. That exact thing was often said of the nation of Israel … “They forgot the LORD their God.” [1 Samuel 12:9]

I have often said that if God never does another thing for me, I still cannot say thank you enough for His amazing grace and love and salvation in taking me out of my darkness and putting me into the Kingdom of His Dear Son.

LORD, keep my heart soft before you. May I never forget all you have done for me. Amen

February is National Heart Health Month. Everywhere we turn we are encouraged to do what is good for our physical hearts. It is a good thing to take care of our hearts, our bodies. They are the vehicles we use on this earth to serve the LORD.

But while the world encourages health for our physical hearts, the LORD reminds us that it is much more important to take care of our spiritual hearts. “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.” [Proverbs 4:23]

We live in a culture that is mainly concerned with the outside, visible part of us. God, however, tells us that he looks at the heart. And our hearts also include our mind. They are not separate.

Our hearts are the center, the source of life. They include our thoughts, will, desires and emotions. Our hearts determine our choices, and our choices will ultimately determine our life.

We cannot be too young, nor too old, to begin guarding our hearts. The enemy of our soul wants control of our hearts. The world seeks to influence and mold our hearts into its standards and attitudes.  Even our own inward rebellion can try to lead our hearts astray.

The Scriptures refer to risk factors for our hearts. I want to consider five of them in the next few days.

LORD, help us to keep our hearts pure before you so that we might always glorify you. Amen

Woke up this morning, climbed out of bed and realized I have my father’s noise. My dad always let a little groan escape as he got up from a chair or sofa. I knew some day it would come to pass to me!

That groan made me laugh and reminded me of the Scripture verse in 1 Corinthians. “Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life.” [5:4 HCSB]

2 Corinthians 5 tells us that this body we have here on earth is a temporary, earthly dwelling. The key word there is temporary! One of these days we will leave this temporary dwelling and trade it for a heavenly body (which will never have a groan!)

We will have to wait for our body to be a new creation until we reach our heavenly dwelling. But we don’t have to wait for our soul and spirit to be made new. That happened the moment we surrendered our life to Christ Jesus as Savior and LORD. 2 Corinthians goes on to promise …

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.” [5:17 HCSB]

Yesterday I wrote about the progression of spiritual problems found in James 1.

“But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death. Don’t be deceived, my dearly loved brothers.” [James 1:14-16 HCSB]

Entertaining temptation, allowing our own fleshly desires to draw us away, does not have a good outcome. It is like a row of dominos falling, one after another, ending in sin and death.

How do we reverse that progression? The Apostle John gave us that answer in his first letter – it is repentance. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [1John 1:9 HCSB]

Repentance and confession before God bring forgiveness and cleansing. (The dominos are upright once again.) But may I add something here, repentance, while it is an act that should immediately follow transgression, is also a lifestyle for the Christian. It KEEPS us as well as RESTORES us.

It is responding immediately to that nudge of the Holy Spirit which warns that we are just a bit off center, and we must turn back to our Savior and LORD before we “entertain” the temptation placed before us. Repentance keeps us on the narrow road.

LORD, may we ever heed Your Spirit in us. Help us live our lives in an atmosphere of repentance. Amen

Five years ago I was a spry 72-year-old. I walked 3 miles a day in addition to my 10K steps. I was pastoring and working a second “job.” Some people at the church called me the energizer bunny. I thought I had a good start growing older.

In the space of 2 weeks, everything changed. I could no longer walk even ½ mile, I had pain and fatigue and stiffness throughout my core. It took months for the doctors to diagnose polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR). By the time they did, I had a second auto-immune disease giant cell arteritis (GCA). Both are inflammatory diseases, one in the core muscles, the second in arteries.

Those auto-immune diseases are treated with high steroids, I was on two. They caused all types of changes in blood glucose and pressure and shut down my adrenal system. It was like watching dominos fall, one after another.

Now it is thought that the PMR and GCA are in remission. Steroids are being tapered down. I have eliminated one and am at the lowest dosage of the second. The problem is whether my adrenal system can be jumpstarted. It’s like trying to stand all those dominos back up, one after another.

Medical problems and treatments often have side effects that lead to more problems, you end up with more complications than you began with. James reminds us that this progression is also true of spiritual issues.

“But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death. Don’t be deceived, my dearly loved brothers.” [James 1:14-16 HCSB]

Let us not be deceived, dear ones. Entertaining temptation, allowing our own fleshly desires to draw us away, does not have a good outcome. The dominos will fall and the end results is sin and death.

More tomorrow.

The Super Bowl is in the rearview mirror now. There is almost as much commentary about it as there was hype before it. It was Super Bowl 58. The first Super Bowl took place in 1967, that was the year Bob and I married. I think I have seen all of them (at least I can’t remember missing any).

I like football. I have liked football and baseball as far back as I can remember. My favorite games are those peewee leagues where the little ones need to hold onto their helmets as they run all over the field chasing the one with the ball, or those little baseballers who have no idea which base to run to after they hit the ball.

There is much that can be learned in sports. However, I sure do not like what the Super Bowl has become. It seems it is now centered mainly on entertainment and hype. It has become all about who is singing before the game, who has the halftime show, and what commercial will be the best. We have lost sight of the reason for the day.

As I say that, I am reminded that it is very easy to lose our focus. The writer of Hebrews needed to remind his readers that they were in a race and that a lot of witnesses were observing them. He reminded them that they needed to keep their eyes on the source of their faith, Christ Jesus, the One Who would also finish their faith. AND, they needed to set aside the weight of this world and the sin that so easily finds us.

“Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.” [Hebrews 12:1-2 HCSB]

Holy Spirit, set my focus today on Christ Jesus, my LORD. May I always see and seek Him above all else. Amen.

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!