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TerryLema

One Thing

by TerryLema

Psalm 37:4 promises, “Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” [NKJV]

I have heard that verse quoted quite often. Occasionally, however, I realize that the person quoting that verse may not fully understand that verse.  We may think that God giving us the desires of our heart means He gives us all the “wants” of our heart.

I have wanted (desired) a lot of things in my life that I should not have. Those things have included material possessions (I really do not need that new Porsche). My desires have sometimes wished not so nice things on others, or they have gone after things that lead to destruction of relationships or reputations. (Things that I am ashamed to even admit to!)

When the LORD says He will give us the desires of our hearts, He did not mean the wants of our old hearts of stone.  Remember the promise in Ezekiel 36:25: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” [HCSB]

Our old heart of stone contained a lot of unhealthy and unholy desires. But our new heart of flesh, our new spirit now desires far better things. In fact, our new heart of flesh has only one thing it desires. David expressed that beautifully.

“I have asked one thing from the Lord; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lord and seeking Him in His temple.” [Psalm 27:4 HCSB]

Today: Thank you LORD that you have removed my stony heart and given me a single-driven focus – one thing I desire from you – Your Presence with me all the days of my life.

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Living Our Vows

by TerryLema

Someone asked me recently what I am doing now that I am retired. That made me pause a bit and ask myself, “What AM I doing now that I am retired.”

Well, I am almost 76 and married to an 82-year-old chugging around the corner toward 83. I guess what I am doing is “living my vows.”

Bob and I have been married since 1967. That is a lot of years. As I look back across those years, I can see that we have lived our vows. We have seen the “for better or worse” part many times through the years. We have lived the “for richer or poorer” over and over and over again. (Working construction amid recessions will do that to you!)

As I look at us now, I see that we have entered into the “in sickness and in health” part. I laugh that between us we have one fairly good person, my mind is still pretty sharp, and Bob is still better in his body than I am. So we look out for each other.

Who would have thought that the vows we took so long ago would still be essential today.

I have taken another vow in my life. When I came to Christ nearly 50 years ago, I vowed to love and to serve Him for the rest of my life. That vow is still vital to me all these years later. I want to love God with all my heart and soul and remaining strength. I want to serve Him until there is no more breath in my body.

As I mentioned yesterday, “The Lord is my light and my salvation … The Lord is the stronghold of my life ….” [Psalm 27:1 HCSB]

Because the LORD has “been a refuge for me, a strong tower in the face of the enemy… I will continually sing of [His] name, fulfilling my vows day by day.”  [Psalm 61:3, 8 HCSB]

Today: I am thankful that I still have a voice to sing of my LORD and can fulfill my vow to Him.

 

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Ah, October!

by TerryLema

Every year about this time I think about this time of year. October. I have a love-hate relationship with October, which I usually vent right around – well – October.

I love the weather in October. If I could have October weather all year long, I would. Cool mornings, warm, but not hot afternoons. Perfect for walking. Perfect for sweatshirts. No intense heat. No intense cold. Yep, that is the “love” part of my relationship with October.

Then there is the “hate” part of the relationship. Halloween. Horrible movies on television. Darkness – well, you get it. I do not like Halloween. I think kids should have the fun of dressing up and getting candy. But I hate that we dress our kids in evil and by doing so, give them the impression we think “evil” is fun.

While making my rounds walking in my neighborhood recently, I have encountered a lot of homes decorated with spiders (and their webs), skeletons, witches, ghouls, ghosts, and gravestones. So, I decided to do two things to brighten my walk and my days.

First was to haul my Christmas socks out. I love Christmas and now I am reminded of it every day as I wear my fun Christmas socks. (And I have a lot of them!)

Second, I decided to just fly over Halloween and celebrate two months of Thanksgiving instead. So, I am making my list of things in my life for which I am truly blessed. I will be adding one blessing to that list each day and thanking God for calling me to His side.

Today: I am thankful that I no longer dwell in darkness and fear. I live in the light. “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom should I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom should I be afraid?” [Psalm 27:1 HCSB]

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Little Words, Giant Promises

by TerryLema

At The Way, Pastor Laura was bringing a message out of Ephesians 2, and I was taking notes as usual. We came across a two-word phrase that caught my attention. That was two weeks in a row that my attention was drawn to a two-word phrase.

“But now …” in verse 13 was the one that got my attention that Sunday. (The Sunday before it was “But God …” in verse 4.)

The “But now” phrase led to another two-word phrase in verse 13 that really made me stop and think – “…brought near …”

There are a lot of big words in the Scriptures. And there are a lot of big words when you study theology. I sometimes struggle with those big words, trying to bring them down to my level of understanding. I know I should get excited when I read or study those big words, but, honestly, it is the little words that often make my soul soar into the heavenlies.

“But God ….” Before God ever created mankind, He knew mankind would need a “But God.” “But God” set up the plan of salvation. “But God” brought Jesus to pay the penalty for our sin, our shame, our punishment.

“But now ….” Everything has changed. “But now” God has provided a new life. He didn’t just scrub up the old exterior and give us a shiny new look. He changed our hearts, taking out the old heart of stone and replacing it with a new heart, a heart that is being conformed (made like) the heart of our Savior and LORD.

“Brought near ….” If there is one two-word phrase that thrills my heart, it is “brought near.” We are not away from God anymore. We are “brought near” to His precious side. We are “brought near” to His heart of grace, mercy, and goodness. We are “brought near” to His presence for all eternity.

Little words. Giant promises! Changing our lives for all eternity.

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Then I Saw …

by TerryLema

Take a moment and read Revelation Chapter 5. It’s only 14 verses and takes about two minutes. It is full of music and full of worship. First the four creatures and twenty-four elders play their harps and sing. Then the thousands upon thousands and ten thousands upon ten thousands join in. Finally, the “Cosmos Choir” made up of every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth and in the sea begin to sing.

While I can only imagine what that will be like, there is a verse in that wonderful chapter that reaches deeper in me than I can even express. The NKJV renders the wording beginning verse 6, “And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain ….”

But it is the way the NIV renders it that grabs my soul, “Then I saw a Lamb ….”

I saw a Lamb … I saw THE Lamb.

As John stood before the Throne in the heavenlies, John saw the Lamb, the One slain from the foundation of the world. He saw the One upon whom he had rested his head at the Last Supper. He saw the One who loved him so. He saw the One who died for him, stripped naked upon a Roman cross. He saw the One laid in the tomb and he saw the One risen from the grave. He saw the One who ascended before his very eyes into the clouds. He saw the One who took away his sin and his guilt. He saw the One who alone now has the authority to open the scroll that signals the beginning of the New Heaven and the New Earth.

I want to see what John saw. I want to see THE Lamb. I want to hear the heavenly choir. I want to stand shoulder to shoulder with the saints of all the ages and worship the One who sits on the throne and the Lamb forever and ever.

I want to see what John saw.

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Back to Wholeness

by TerryLema

Day before yesterday, I wrote about the command of God in both the Old and New Testament to “Be holy for I am holy.”  

Holiness has another meaning, not just “wholly other/wholly above” as God is, and “wholly set apart” as we are, but “wholeness.” It means to be completely healthy. We see this expressed by our Savior in Luke’s Gospel when Jesus met up with the ten lepers in Chapter 17. Luke tells as that as Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee, He was approached by ten men who had leprosy. They called out to Him, “Jesus, Master, have mercy (pity) on us!”

Jesus’ response was to tell them to do what the Scriptures outlined, go show themselves to the priests to have their leprosy evaluated. Along the way all were “cleansed” or “made clean.” When one of the lepers saw that he was healed, he did an about-face and headed back to Jesus. There he began to shout praises to God and threw himself at Jesus’ feet thanking Him.

This amazed Jesus, first because he was the only one who returned when all ten were healed, and secondly because he was a Samaritan, one considered an outcast by the Jews. Jesus’ response, “Get up and go on your way. Your faith has made you well.”  [v 19 Christian Standard Bible]

The word Luke employed and often translated as “well” is sozo (sode’-zo), and the King James translates it as “whole.” It means to be or make whole. Wholeness. No longer broken apart or fragmented by sin and guilt. No long torn asunder by failure, addictions, bondages, perversions, or oppression. All our pieces are brought together and re-created into a whole, new, creation.

Jesus not only cleanses and heals, He brings holiness, “wholeness,” to those who come to Him by faith. Praise His Holy Name. Amen and Amen.

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Football & Fellowship

by TerryLema

This morning I am taking Bob, picking up our son Dan in Boise, and dropping them off at the airport. They are headed to Phoenix Airport, then to Glendale, Arizona. Our grandson plays football at Arizona Christian University (ACU) and Dan is taking his dad to a game.

It will be a fast turnaround. The game is tonight, and they will return tomorrow afternoon. I am sure Bob will be exhausted. But he will also be happy. He has wanted to go to an ACU game since Marcus got a scholarship to attend and play. The greatest joys in our life are the things done with the ones we love.

Although he won’t admit it, Bob is also a bit nervous about this trip. He has not flown anywhere in a lot of years, and he is not as robust at 82 as he was the last time he took a plane trip.  I keep reminding him to just let his son help him. Dan is young and strong, and he has everything planned out, the flight, the rental car, the hotel. He has even been to a game at ACU before, so he knows everything about the college, parking, the stands, etc.

I keep saying, “just let Dan guide you, he knows the way and what he is doing.”

Which reminds me!

Every night before I go to bed, I rest my soul in Psalm 23. Verse 3 promises that “He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

I need never be nervous about where I am headed. The LORD knows the way. He promises to lead me correctly (in paths of righteousness).  I am always reassured by the power of His Spirit in me that “nothing takes God by surprise” in my life – even my own willfulness and dumb mistakes.

Bob can trust Dan to lead him and guide him through this weekend and bring him home on Sunday evening. I can trust my Father in glory to lead and guide me through this life and bring me safely home to Him one day. Amen.

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Be Holy

by TerryLema

“Be holy for I am holy.”  That is the command of our God in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, but that also raises questions.  If we are to be holy, what exactly is holiness? Is our holiness and God’s holiness the same or is it different? And of course, the ageless question, how exactly do we achieve this holiness to which we are called?

We probably should begin with God’s holiness.  “… for I am holy.”  When we speak of God as holy, we are saying he is “wholly other” or “wholly above.” God is unlike any other being, He is absolute perfection. There is not even a microscopic trace of anything other than perfection in Him. He is high above all others, no one compares to Him. Every other attribute is governed by His Holiness—holy mercy, holy grace, holy love, holy wrath. We can’t even grasp that kind of holiness, let alone achieve it.

So what kind of holiness is God indicating for us when he says, “Be holy ….”  We certainly can’t be “wholly other” or “wholly above.” For us, holiness may be defined as “wholly apart.” When God called Israel out of Egypt, he set them apart from other nations. He gave them specific instructions to govern their lives so that the world would know that they belonged to Him.

When Peter repeated the command regarding holiness in the New Testament (1 Peter 1:16), he talked specifically to believers and indicated that we needed to be set apart from the world. We are to be governed by God’s standards not the world’s or our own. Holiness calls us to be distinct, “wholly apart,” not perfect.

That leaves the last question. How do we achieve this holiness to which we are called? That can only come from a right relationship with God through the work of Jesus Christ our Savior. We cannot achieve holiness through our own efforts. To try to be holy without first being born-again in Christ Jesus is to descend into legalism, not the freedom found in Christ. Remember what Paul wrote to the Ephesians? “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” [Eph 2:6 NIV]

Seated with Christ Jesus in the heavenly realm is truly “wholly apart” from the world. As we learn to live in that, we can truly “be holy for I am holy.”

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The Song of Our Soul

by TerryLema

Psalm 19 is one of my favorite psalms. David takes us to creation and shows how God speaks to everyone every day across this world. Then David turns his attention to the way God speaks to us in Scripture. Finally, he turns his attention to our hearts and applies the revelation of God to them.  It is the final verse of this song that always makes me think.

Ps 19:14: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” 

If there is a prayer that should be on the lips of every believer every day, it is this one. As we pray it, it reminds us that it is the meditations we allow in our hearts that will affect all the words that flow from our mouths (or our keyboards!)  It urges us to affirm that those meditations are pleasing to our LORD, our Rock/Strength, our Redeemer.

Jesus echoed David’s thoughts in Luke 6:45: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” [NKJV]

One other thought on this daily prayer. The word “meditate” carries the image of a musician plucking the strings of a harp.  In other words, meditation is the music of the soul. 

What song is your soul singing this morning?

 

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I Love Teachers!

by TerryLema

I had a long talk with a teacher the other day (not our sweet Pastor Laura). Up front I need to say, teachers have a special place in my heart. I know three things about teachers.

First, teachers have the second most important and difficult job in society. (The first? Parenting).

Second, teachers don’t get paid what they are worth. Many begin teaching in debt with student loans from the years of college required and their beginning salary is a mere pittance. They usually must set up their classrooms out of their own pockets and often they supply what students need from their own resources.

The third thing I know about teachers … they love to teach. They must, otherwise they’d take their education and find much better paying jobs. Yes, I love teachers. I think they should get the big bucks.

Jesus was a great teacher. He, the Son of God, came for a specific purpose, to bridge the gap caused when mankind sinned and rebelled against its Creator. He died and rose to save us. But, Jesus also loved to teach. Read the Gospels and notice how often it says, “He opened His mouth and taught them.” [Matt 5:1-2 NKJV]

Not only did Jesus teach, He passed the job of teaching on to His disciples, to us, “Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” [Matt 28:18-20 NKJV]

Father, give us the heart of a teacher so that we might teach others of the love You have for us, the salvation that is available, and the duty of a grateful heart.

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