TerryLema

Our house was alive for a few days last week. Our California kids and grandsons arrived in Idaho and joined our two children and their families here. We went to the movies with our grandsons. The “girls” (me, my daughter, my daughter-in-love, and soon-to-be-my-daughter-in love) went to a little café in Nampa. The “boys” went to an outdoor range and shot guns and rifles for hours.

We went to Shindig Farms and zip-lined, rode mechanical bulls, swings and took a wagon ride. Some got lost in the maze and a couple ate corn dogs that were the equivalent of three regular-sized ones. Hot chocolate was a favorite.

In between adventures, we spent time together in our house. We watched a little football, ate, ate again, and ate some more. The house was noisy and messy and alive for three days. And I loved every moment of it!

Now the house is once again neat and quiet, and it is just Bob and me. We are looking at the new year. I know there are good things ahead to look forward to, but I also know there will be long days in between.

Funny how fast life can change from being chaotic every day and longing for just a little quiet when the kids were young – to being quiet every day and longing for a little family chaos once again.

I visited Psalm 139 again this morning – that wonderful song of David about “The All-Knowing, Ever-Present God.” I lingered awhile on verse 16. “Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began.” [HCSB]

God knew my today … every day … and what it would hold. God knows my days ahead and what they will hold. I can trust Him with each one.

I am heading out early this morning for a doctor’s appointment. Who makes a doctor’s appointment a few days into the new year? I mean, really, who does that? Apparently, I do. And not just today! I have another appointment tomorrow.

I will have to step on that scale today. It will report how well I did either maintaining or not maintaining my weight. Tomorrow my continuous glucose monitor will be downloaded into their files, and it will report how well I did at keeping my blood glucose under control.

I mean, really, who does this?

It seems like when the new year begins, we try to set aside all those bad habits we picked up in the holiday season. You know those bad habits – the added heavy meals, the additional sweets, the abandonment of exercise. We make resolutions about eating healthy, exercising, cleaning up our daily routines to once again be productive.

As I was reading Psalm 139 yesterday, I came to those final verses. “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.” [vs 23-24 HCSB]

As much as eating right and exercising might benefit my physical health, having a right heart before the LORD will do so much more. It will benefit spirit, soul, and body … and set me on a good path for not just the year ahead but also for the eternity in my future.

Right before the end of 2023 I posted a devotion on Facebook (FB) about the Second Coming of Christ. It ended with “Even so, Come Lord Jesus.”

As I clicked the FB button to publish it, I got a pop-up that asked if I wanted to “Create an Event!” I laughed because I really do want to “Create an Event” and schedule the Second Coming of Christ Jesus. Unfortunately, that is not my prerogative. Scheduling that event belongs to our Father God.

When questioned about God’s timing of events, Jesus reminded His disciples “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority,” and then reminded them of the privilege of receiving the Holy Spirit and the responsibility that was theirs. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” [Acts 1:7-8 HCSB]

(If it was my prerogative to schedule, grab your hat because we are on our way now!) But while I can’t schedule the “Day of the LORD’s Coming” as an event in FB, both Peter and Paul remind us that there is something we can do. Paul even promises a reward for doing it!

“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.” [2 Peter 3:11-12 HCSB]

“There is reserved for me in the future the crown of righteousness, which the LORD, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who love His appearing.” [2 Timothy 4:8]

We are to earnestly desire and long for and love His coming. That I can do!

The New Year 2024 is here. The old year has bowed to its successor. Some things will change, some things will remain the same.

In many places new laws and regulations will take effect on this first day of 2024. One thing that will remain the same in 2024 is the Goodness of God.

As the year 2023 drew to a close, I was sitting in my recliner listening to music when “The Goodness of God” came up in my list. As I listened to the words, I felt the Holy Spirit whisper to my soul and spirit, “Some things never change.”

 “I love You, Lord / Oh Your mercy never fails me / All my days / I’ve been held in Your hands. From the moment that I wake up / Until I lay my head / Oh I will sing of the goodness of God

“I love Your voice / You have led me through the fire. In the darkest night / You are close like no other. I’ve known You as a Father / I’ve known You as a friend. I have lived in the goodness of God.

“And all my life You have been faithful, All my life You have been so so good. With every breath that I am able / Oh I will sing of the goodness of God.”  [Jenn Johnson, Bethel Music]

“His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” [2 Peter 1:3 HCSB]

Thank God, some things never change.

O Holy Night, O Night Divine. That glorious night when Christ came the first time to redeem His own. It changed everything!

The angel who appeared to Joseph set the parameters for Christ Jesus’ first coming, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” [Matthew 2:21 HCSB]

God sent His Son to save us from our sins, from the death and punishment that our sins deserved. He brought grace and truth to us. He took our punishment. He suffered our death. He rose that we might have life and that life more abundant.

No matter how many times I write these things, no matter how many times you read these things, they still have an amazing and marvelous hold on our hearts. I will never grow tired of hearing them.  It is not all about the new things I can find in the Scriptures, it is about those old Gospel truths of our salvation which thrill my soul.  Tell me again and again about what my Savior has done for me!

But there is another truth, a promise that also thrills my soul – that is, Christ is coming again. He promised He would come back for His own. [John 14:3b HCSB]

This time when He appears it will not be about sin – that issue has already been settled. This time it will be about taking us home to the Father’s House.

“We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” [1 Corinthians 15:51 HCSB]

“Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the LORD in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” [1 Thessalonians 4:17 HCSB]

Are you listening for the trumpet?

We have spent much of the last few weeks with an inversion in the Treasure Valley, which means bitter cold, damp fog and no sunshine for days on end. The colder air is trapped in the valley by the warmer air above it.  If you travel a little way, about 1000 feet higher, the sun is shining and warmer temperatures abound.  It’s the one part of living here that I hate.  It happens almost every December and/or January.  Sometimes it lasts for weeks.

Going weeks without sunshine really depletes my good cheer.  In other words, I get a bit grumpy.  I like light.

I realized this morning that I’ve gone weeks without reading my Bible.  I’ve been in the Scriptures looking up verses for messages and devotions.  I’ve studied some, but I have been busy, or distracted, and haven’t picked up my Bible just to read.  I’m finding that without that daily Sonshine my spirit has become a bit depleted as well.  My prayer life has suffered, my praise and worship has been lacking.

I was reading a commentator who said we should be studying our Bibles, not reading them.  I both agree and disagree with that.  Yes, we should be studying our Bibles, delving into original words and meanings, into the culture of the day, understanding the problems that prompted the writing of the letters, etc.  That is vitally important to our understanding and growth.

But I also think we should just be reading.  The Scriptures are God’s voice to us.  Reading is one way we listen to His voice.  For me reading causes my spirit to swell with praise and worship.  Hearing God speak to me personally through His Word, powers my prayers and refreshes my thoughts.  I fall in love again with our great and wonderful God.

Lord, open my eyes and ears as I read your Word – let me receive Your words into my heart.  Amen.

“Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” [Luke 1:30-33]

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  [Isaiah 9:6]

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”  [Luke 2:11-12]

“I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.  His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God . . .. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” [Revelation 19:11-16]

His name is Jesus, Jehovah saves.  His name is Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  His name is Savior; He is Christ the Lord.

His name is Faithful and True.  This babe who was born in Bethlehem, this man who died on a cross on a hill called Calvary, who ascended into the heavens to sit at the right hand of the throne of God, He is Faithful and True.  He is the KING of Kings and the LORD of Lords.

We celebrate His coming to Bethlehem long ago.  We rejoice in His Promise to return one day to claim the kingdoms of this world as the Kingdom of our God.  Amen, even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!

“O Holy Night.” It is one of the most beautiful of the Christmas songs. I especially love the second verse.

“Long lay the world in sin and error pining, ‘Til He appeared And the soul felt It’s worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new And glorious morn…”

Those words, those beautiful words, remind us that when Christ Jesus came as that Babe in a Manger, it assured us of just how much God loved us and just how much we are worth.  (Remember, we are not worthy of that love, but we are worth what God was willing to pay for us, the precious life’s blood of His Very Son.)

Knowing that, and allowing that to dig deep into our souls, brings a thrilling hope that cannot be destroyed!  No matter how bad this world may get, nothing can destroy that new and glorious morning when God became Immanuel, God with Us.

He is with us in our sorrow and tears. He is with us in our weaknesses, our hungers, and our thirsts. He is with us in our dying and with us in our death!

That truly was a “Night Divine.” And now as we celebrate it, we fall our knees in worship to our Great God who came for His own.  O Holy Night!

Bill & Gloria Gaither - O Holy Night (Live) ft. David Phelps - YouTube

One of my favorite traditional Christ-mas carols is “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.”

It came upon the midnight clear / That glorious song of old, From angels bending near the earth / To touch their harps of gold! Peace on the earth, good will to men / From heaven’s all gracious King! The world in solemn stillness lay / To hear the angels sing.

Ah, but if we are honest, we must admit there is no peace on this earth.  Daily we see war in nations, battles on social media and in government, discord in families and among friends and neighbors.  We are always at odds with someone.  We long for the “peace on earth, good will to men” that the Christ-mas carols remind us of each year.  Have we mistaken the message of the angels?

No, not mistaken, but perhaps misinterpreted?  The old KJV says, “On earth peace, good will toward men.”  The NIV says, “On earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”   (Luke 2:14)

Neither one promises a world-wide, all-encompassing peace—at least not yet.  The promise of peace sung by the angels, flowing from heaven’s all gracious King, is not a general peacefulness with prosperity and a trouble-free life.

Scripture is clear, our most fundamental need for peace is peace with God.  We have been at war with God since the rebellion in the Garden.  We are hostile to Him and His rule in our lives.  We do everything we can to keep control for ourselves.  There is no peace on earth because there is no peace with God.

But that all changed that night.  Peace was now born into this world.  The true peace had come and will never depart – that true peace lives in the hearts of all those who accept God’s offer.  We now look forward to a time when the King of King comes to reign and all war will be banished forever.  Only then will true peace be world-wide and all-encompassing.  We look forward to that time  …

When peace shall over all the earth / Its ancient splendors fling / And all the world give back the song / Which now the angels sing.