Author

TerryLema

BirdSong

by TerryLema

“The birds of the sky live beside the springs; they sing among the foliage.” [Psalm 104:12 God the Creator, HCSB]

We have a cedar tree in our front yard on the side of our house. It has grown higher than the roof now, and wide enough to fill the space between the house and the fence. It was the first tree we planted when we moved in.

Lately, that tree is full of birds, little birds. (I think they are nesting now.) Whenever I exit our front door, I can hear the birdsong coming from that tree. Often, I will walk around the front of the house to get a bit of fresh air and the birds will sing all the while I walk.

Hearing them sing always reminds me of Matthew 6:26: “Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?” [HCSB]

That Scripture is a reminder that we are not to worry or be anxious about our lives. Whatever happens, whatever circumstance arises, whatever situation changes, God knows. And He not only knows (and knew before it happened) but He also cares. And He not only cares but is able to provide for us just as He does those little birds.

As I listen to the birds singing, I imagine that they are praising their Creator. I imagine they are thanking Him for His care. And as I listen, I want to add my voice to theirs, praising my Creator and thanking my LORD.

“I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I live.” [Psalm 104:33 HCSB]

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Songs in the Night

by TerryLema

Have you ever woken up in the night and had a song—or just a piece of a song—running repeatedly in your mind. Often it is a song we have heard on television, either a show or especially a commercial.  Remember, “My bologna has a first name, it’s O S C A R. My bologna has a second name, it’s M A Y E R?”

(You might find that resounding in your sleep tonight if you tried singing it in this devotion.)

Psychologists call this “involuntary musical imagery” (INMI)—more commonly known as “earworms.” These “earworms” play in a loop in an estimated 98% of people in the western world. I know they happen to me all the time. I’ll wake up after a couple hours sleep and a song will be looping, back to sleep and it is still looping.

That is one of the reasons I love to go for walks each day and listen to my worship music as I walk. If I walk and listen to my worship music, singing my praise to the LORD in the daytime, the songs that “loop” while I sleep are much more likely to also be praise and worship to my King.

Psalm 42:8: “The Lord will send His faithful love by day; His song will be with me in the night—a prayer to the God of my life.” [HCSB]

This morning I woke to “The Goodness of God” looping in my mind. What a lovely way to sleep and to wake up in the morning.

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by TerryLema

Sometimes in the evening I play a game on my phone called Match 3. I only have one game on my phone. I usually play it when I am tired of reading, or when Bob is watching a western before bed. It is a rather mindless game.  Because I will not pay money to buy the game, it contains ads. I usually pay little attention to the ads.

There is one ad, however, that did get my attention. It is for a keto gummy that – according to the ad – will make you lose weight without dieting or exercise. In fact, according to the ad, you can lose like 60 pounds in just 3 weeks.

I have struggled with my weight all my life. I have been on a lot of different diets and eating plans. I have never lost 60 pounds in just 3 weeks, and I doubt chewing one gummy a day would accomplish that.

Truth in advertising? Not hardly. But in our society, I doubt we expect truth anymore. We certainly do not always get truth from politicians, or news broadcasts, or scientists, or educators, or manufacturers, or corporations, or banks – need I go on?

The one place we should always expect truth, however, is from our churches, but unfortunately, even there, truth is sometimes corrupted.

When Moses went back to Mt Sinai to get the second set of stone tables (after breaking the first ones when he found the people idolizing a golden calf), “God came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed His name YAHWEH. Then the LORD passed in front of him and proclaimed: ‘YAHWEH—YAHWEH is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth.’” [Exodus 34:5-6 HCSB]

Our LORD is compassionate. Our LORD is full of grace. Our LORD is patient. Our LORD is faithful. Our LORD is loving. and our LORD is truth. We need to be very careful when speaking for Him, because He will not allow His truth to be compromised.

 

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Me, Me, Me!

by TerryLema

The other day I turned on the television as I headed into the kitchen to begin preparing dinner. I sometimes listen to the local news as I work. Too early for the news, I ended up listening to Judge Judy for a time. And I could not help wondering … are people really that dumb?  (They must be … because Judge Judy seems to be making a good living off them.)

Judge Judy was ruling on the case of a mother suing her daughter for breaking a window to get into the mom’s house, around $500. It sounded like a trivial thing for a parent to sue a child over until that mother’s child began to talk.

The daughter was 22 years old, with two children by two separate men and had moved back into her mom’s house. Mom set some rules, rules the daughter broke when trying to get into the house after spending the night with a boyfriend.

After listening to this daughter argue with Judge Judy about her rights and needs (she did not even pay rent), I realized she would make the perfect poster child for “Entitled.” Entitled means believing oneself to be inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment. It means thinking that the world and everything in it revolves around you.

Unfortunately, entitled is a sibling of sin. It was the reasoning the serpent used in the Garden of Eden when he approached Eve. He asked her about eating from the trees in the garden and when Eve responded that they could eat from every tree except one, the serpent responded that she was entitled to eat from that one also.

“In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” [Genesis 3:4 HCSB]

The serpent convinced Eve she was entitled to disobey God, Eve convinced Adam. And with that choice, sadly, sin, death, and judgment entered humanity. Only the sacrifice of God’s Son would be enough to overcome what that original “entitled choice” cost us.

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God’s Love & Faithfulness

by TerryLema

One of my favorite psalms is Psalm 92. It speaks of God’s love and faithfulness. It has become much more to me as I have gotten older, especially verses 12 to 15.

“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.’” [HCSB]

I love that part about bearing healthy and green fruit in “old age.”

When I stepped down from active ministry at the end of 2021, I thought I would just retire, spend my time maybe writing a little, but not doing much. After all, I have two auto-immune diseases, which combined with the medications, leave me often fatigued and hurting. I have every excuse to just rock away my “old age.”

But know what? I’m bored. I am not made to sit and rock away my “old age.”

Now suddenly, I am eager again to be in the “house of the LORD,” I am looking to once again “thrive in the courts of our God.”  And that excitement has brought a renewed energy to my soul (and hopefully even my body!).

Psalm 92:4: “For You have made me rejoice, LORD, by what you have done; I will shout for joy because of the works of Your hands.” [HCSB]

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A Desire Fulfilled

by TerryLema

I have been thinking a lot about last Sunday. In the morning many of us from The Way Middleton went to CFC services, some in Caldwell and a few at the main campus in Nampa. That is where we will be spending our Sunday mornings while the building in Middleton is being refurbished. It will hopefully be completed late summer or early fall.

Last Sunday night, some of us gathered at Pastor Laura’s home. We shared our experiences. I shared a bit of my excitement about seeing so many young people that were so happy to be in the house of the LORD that morning at the CFC Caldwell campus.

I could not share all my excitement, because I could not yet put it into words. I have for so many years wanted to see our church in Middleton packed with young people praising God. I guess I just never knew how to accomplish that … or perhaps it just wasn’t God’s timing (or my mission to fulfill?).

But now, with just a taste of what it might be like, I can hardly wait for the property renewal to be done. I want to be on the CFC Middleton campus and watch what God is going to do. I want to see that building full of people, young and old, this generation and the next, praising and serving God.

I want to see the dream fulfilled. I want to see what I have hoped for and desired for at that Middleton campus come to life. I guess I will need some patience while they work on the property … but oh, I sure hope they work fast!

Proverbs 13:12: “Delayed hope makes the heart sick, but fulfilled desire is a tree of life.” [HCSB]

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According to …

by TerryLema

I went back today (after I wrote Sunday’s devotion) and reread Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3. One small phrase stood out. It is “according to …” found in Ephesians 3:16.

Paul prayed, “I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit ….” [3:15-16 HCSB]

As of April 2023, Elon Musk’s net worth is estimated at $180 billion. Of course, that is a big drop from what he was estimated to be worth in November 2021 ($320 billion). Elon Musk could write me a check out of his net worth, and it could be a pittance, maybe $1.50 out of $180 billion. But if he decides to write me a check “according to” his net worth that will be a far different story.

God doesn’t just give us out of the riches of His glory – a little bit here, a pittance there. God never skimps. He is never stingy. He is not tight-fisted.

He gives us according to the riches of His glory. The strength and power we receive in the inner man flows from His glorious riches through His Spirit and it is everything, all, to the fullest extent of what we need.

And there are some prayers which God will always respond to with a resounding “Yes!”. One of them is to ask Him to strengthen our inner man with power through His Holy Spirit. That is a “Yes!” prayer.

Of course, our part is to admit that we need God’s strength and power and to ask. If we do not acknowledge the need, God will not force His riches in glory upon us.

 

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Future Generation

by TerryLema

Yesterday Bob and I attended services at Christian Faith Center (CFC) Caldwell campus. The first person to give me a hug when we walked in was Mike. He came to The Way a few Sundays ago to tell us about Caldwell’s experience with joining CFC. He was still wearing the same smile!

Next, I met up with Nicole in the lobby. Nicole and I often attended prayer meetings together at another church. She reminded me that she has continued to pray for The Way. She cleans the CFC campuses and will be cleaning our Middleton campus beginning in September. She also wore a beautiful smile!

The message was great – Bob told me he enjoyed it too! The music was a bit loud for my taste … and maybe I’m not all that enamored with lights and other accoutrements to a worship service, but … BUT … I watched as the young (and the old) lifted their hands and praised our God. So many young people sitting up front with hands in the air, with voices raised to God, with excitement and smiles touched my heart.

One of the missions of The Way was to tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD. That is taken from Psalm 78. The HCSB says it this way: “We must not hide them from their children, but must tell a future generation the praises of the LORD, His might, and the wonderful works He has performed.” [vs 4]

That is what I experienced on Sunday. I saw the next generation of Christian believers hearing and responding to the wonderful works of the LORD Almighty! I saw our old mission statement in action. And I want to see it happening in our midst at CFC Middleton.

I could focus on the things that are different or not to my taste, but I choose not to! I choose to focus on what will reach this future generation for Christ Jesus! Oh LORD, let it be. Amen

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Thinking Too Small

by TerryLema

One of the most beautiful prayers ever recorded is found in Ephesians 3:14-19, Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians. He is asking God to grant them (according to the riches of His glory) strength, and power in the inner man. He asks that Christ Jesus dwells in their hearts. He prays that they would be rooted and established in love and that they are able to comprehend the enormity of God’s love … so that they may be filled with all the fullness of God.

We could spend weeks studying the depth of that prayer. It might be better, however, to spend our time praying that prayer for others and even for ourselves. But this morning, it was the following verse (vs 20) that caught my attention.  “Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us….” [HCSB]

The NKJV renders “able to do above and beyond all,” as “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all.”

Reading that verse was God’s way of reminding me that all too often I think too small!

And yes, I agree with God that all too often I do think too small and expect too little. How often are my prayers driven by temporal needs? How often is my vision focused on what is around me? How often do I pray a perfunctory prayer without much faith?

Paul lifted his eyes to the heavens. He prayed that his readers would comprehend – COMPREHEND! – the “width and length and depth and height” of God’s love for the purpose of being “filled with all the fullness of God.”

I am duly chastened, LORD, and I will strive to raise my eyes to the heavens … to Your glory … and pray with greater expectations about all You are able to do above and beyond all that I can imagine. Amen.

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56 Years

by TerryLema

On April 15, 1967, Bob and I were married in Citrus Heights, California. I was 20, he was 27. Today marks our 56th Wedding Anniversary. We have three children, a daughter and two sons, who have wonderful loving partners. We have three grandsons who are the delight of our lives.

Bob is a native of Wisconsin and I am a native of Pennsylvania. My family moved to California for work and Bob stayed there after his stint in the Marine Corp. That’s where we met and that’s where we raised our family.

We moved to Idaho in 1993 when a recession was still plaguing the construction industry in California. We left our youngest child with dear friends so he could finish his senior year in high school (that still breaks my heart), and I left a ministry in Hospice that I dearly loved.

Yet, God wanted us in Idaho and as I said recently, I didn’t want to be found “fighting God.”

We have had many ups and downs, as well as financial highs and lows. We’ve lived our vows, “for better or worse,” many times, and frequently had to handle the “for richer or poorer” times. Now we seem to be abiding in the “sickness and health” stage of life.

Those were the vows we took before God on that day that seems so long ago. And while it has not always been easy, we have kept those vows. (Why make a vow if you have no intention of keeping it?)

We have also taken vows before God, surrendering our lives to His grace and mercy, serving Him with what we have and what we are. We have kept those vows also, by the same grace of God indwelling our lives. To Him be the Glory!

Deuteronomy 23:21: “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will require it of you.” [HCSB]

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