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TerryLema

A Complaining Spirit

by TerryLema

One last thought about our spiritual heart health this month—that is the danger of possessing a complaining, grumbling, murmuring spirit. Philippians 2:14: “Do everything without grumbling and arguing.” [HCSB]

As a society we have become professional complainers. We complain about everything. Prices, politics, neighbors, roads, traffic, restaurants, products. Name something, anything, and you have probably heard someone complain about it.

As believers, we cannot allow a complaining habit to develop in our lives. The Greek word translated “complainer” means “one who is discontented with his lot.” It is a cousin to the word grumbler.

Complaining, grumbling, murmuring destroys the peace, patience, and joy that the Spirit of God wants to produce in our lives. It shifts our focus from the plans and purposes of God for us. It also causes us to forget the love and blessings God worked in our lives in the past.

The opposite of a complaining, grumbling, murmuring spirit is a spirit of gratitude, thankfulness, and trust. That is what should permeate the life of a believer. I would add that we can be honest with God when things are difficult and trials abound, but honesty is different from whining about our lot, or complaining about God to others!

Give us LORD, instead a spirit of gratitude for all you have done for us. Amen

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Anger

by TerryLema

I have been thinking a lot about the things that are risk factors for our spiritual hearts. Hardening of our hearts, that I wrote about yesterday, is certainly one. Another is anger. Anger acts like a poison on both our physical hearts and our spiritual hearts.

In my concordance there were 259 references to anger. Ephesians 4:31-32 commands us to “get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” Then goes on and tells us we need to “be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave [us].” [HCSB]

James tells us that we must be “quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger,” and explains why, “for man’s anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.” [1:19-20 HCSB]

We are an increasingly angry culture. Anger makes us want to lash out and hurt others. Every day there are newscasts informing us of someone (or some group) becoming angry and striking out at the focus of their anger with words or even weapons.

Anger is a danger and has no place in the life of a Christian. (Yes, I understand there is a righteous anger, but we must admit, most of us do not “suffer” from that.)

Unrighteous anger will damage our spiritual hearts. It certainly will not accomplish God’s purpose. It will, in fact, undermine God’s purposes in our lives and in the lives of others.

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Hardened Hearts

by TerryLema

I am a recipient of the promise of God found in Ezekiel 36:26: “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]

Fifty years ago this August, I surrendered my life to the personal care of Christ Jesus my LORD and Savior. It was the best and greatest decision I have ever made. In that moment, God took my stony heart, set in rebellion against Him, and changed it to a heart of flesh capable of loving Him and desiring to serve Him.

While I was given that heart of flesh, I still must guard against things that pose risks to my spiritual heart. One such risk is found in the Book of Hebrews.  “As the Holy Spirit says: Today if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” [3:8, 3:15, 4:7 HCSB]

We can harden our hearts when we are shown God’s truth and refuse to accept it. We can harden our hearts when we hear God tell us to do something, and we do not do it. We can harden our hearts when the Holy Spirit checks an attitude in us and we fail to heed His warning.

Every time we reject or ignore or disobey, we run the risk of hardening a part of our heart. Do that often enough and we can grow deaf to the voice of God.

The only way to soften that hardened part of our heart is to repent and allow the forgiveness of God to flood our heart, bringing back the tenderness to God that once was there.

Wouldn’t it be ironic if we allowed that beautiful heart of flesh given us by God to be hardened once again because we failed to heed Him?

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How Much?

by TerryLema

I receive a daily verse and comment from “The Berean.” The other day the verse was 2 Peter 1:2-8. Part of the comment by Richard T. Ritenbaugh answered the question about what real conversion is: “It is the transformation of our characters, our intellects, our emotions, our actions, our words, and our very thoughts, from the evil way inspired by Satan and man’s carnal nature into the divine nature—the very nature of God Himself!”

Then he asked a few questions. I halted on the first one. “So, how much like God are we?” I looked at that question for a long time, knowing I needed to change two words. “So, how much like God am I?” Ouch!

Recently I spent some time in 2 Timothy 2:22. It reads in part, “… pursue righteousness, faith[fulness], love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” [HCSB]

I realized that the things I am to pursue (righteousness, faithfulness, love, and peace) are all attributes of God. They are the things that once acquired, will make my character come in alignment with His.

I also realized that we sometimes get a wrong impression of the word pursue. Do you remember greyhound racing – where a mechanized rabbit ran down the track always out of reach of the pursuing greyhounds. Sometimes we think that pursuing God is like that – God always out of reach.

But pursuing God is not like that. It is like the finish line of a marathon. It never moves or changes, it remains where it is while we run the race, getting closer and closer all the time. We pursue that line; we pursue our God who never changes. As we pursue, we get closer and closer to Him. We become more and more like Him.

Let us pursue with great diligence and perseverance. Amen

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Angels Unawares

by TerryLema

A group of us from The Way went to breakfast last Saturday. It was an early Valentine’s Day celebration and included singles and couples. Some of us were from The Way, and others were neighbors or relatives of church members.

As we were gathering and getting seated a lady joined us at the end of our long table. You could see the confusion on faces as no one recognized her. Someone decided to go around the table and have us “introduce” ourselves and say if we were there as part of the church or a neighbor/friend. She introduced herself as part of the church.

She seemed to have a great time during the meal, interacting with people, laughing, and acting as old friends with all. When the meal was over, I went over and introduced myself as the former pastor. As we talked, it became clear that she was a bit confused over which church we were from. It was also clear that she was lonely and hurting (telling me she lost her son).

I told her anytime she was close to our log-cabin church in Middleton to drop by. We would welcome her and enjoy seeing her again. I had a few dollars in my pocket and blessed her with that and a hug.

As we left, I thought of the Scripture in Hebrews. “Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.” [Hebrews 13:2 HCSB]

I don’t think she was an angel. I think she was a child of God in need of some love and fellowship with other children of God. I’m glad she found us. I’m glad our group was kind, accepting, and loving to her.

 

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Valentine’s Day

by TerryLema

Today is the celebration of Valentine’s Day. Card companies, candy companies, florists, and restaurants rejoice. Servers not so much. Apparently, people spend so much on cards, candy, flowers and fancy dinners that they run low on funds by the time they get to servers.

Not sure how this celebration got started. Some tie it to a mid-February festival in ancient Rome that celebrated fertility. Other attribute it to a St. Valentine, although there are a few saints named Valentine in the Catholic church.

Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s, and in 1840 Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America. If you google Valentine’s Day, you will get many different origins.

The world thinks of Valentine’s Day as a day of love, but it is more about romance than love. And while romance is great, and should be practiced, love is much more enduring.

We have probably all read 1 Corinthians 13, which describes what true love looks like. “Love is patient, love is kind.
Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not conceited, does not act improperly, is not selfish, is not provoked, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” [HCSB]

This is the kind of love our Father has for us. It is the kind of love we are to have for each other. It takes us far beyond romance. It reaches out to the lonely, the unlovely, the sick, the dying, the forgotten, the misunderstood, the rebellious and the defiant. And yes, even reaches as far as our enemies.  This kind of love changes everything in its path.

 

Amen

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February

by TerryLema

February is the shortest month. It is also a month that has a few observances, such as, Canned Food Month, National Bird Feeding Month, National Cherry as well as Grapefruit & Hot Breakfast Month. It is also American Heart Month.

I had the privilege of bringing the message yesterday at The Way. It had been over a year since I stood behind a pulpit, and I must admit I was a bit nervous. I decided to talk about our heart health, after all it is February. Just as it is with our physical hearts, there are risk factors to spiritual heart health.

God must want us to consider our heart health as the heart is mentioned almost 1000 times in the Scriptures. Proverbs 4:23 tells us the importance of heart health: “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.”

In the OT, the word for heart is often translated as “mind.” The NT also links our hearts and minds using the Greek word “kardia.” That is because the Scriptures integrate the inner being into a “whole” much more than we do now. (How often have we heard someone tell us to “Listen to your heart, not your mind.”)

Our hearts are that spiritual part of us where our thoughts, emotions, desires, and will dwell. It is the inner core of who we are as a person and it determines the choices we make, and the actions we take. That is why Proverbs 4 doesn’t end with simply reminding us to guard our hearts. It also reminds us about our thoughts, our speech, our focus, and our actions.

“Don’t let your mouth speak dishonestly, and don’t let your lips talk deviously. Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead. Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established.”  [4:25-26]

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The Christian Life

by TerryLema

Just a final thought out of Colossians. There is a paragraph in Chapter 3 that talks about the Christian Life and what it should look like. You’ll find it in verses 12-17. If you get a chance read it today.

As I started to read that paragraph, I got stuck on how we are described in the beginning of verse 12. We are “God’s chosen ones, holy and loved.” [HCSB]

We are God’s chosen. Not because we are something special, but solely by the grace of God. We responded to an invitation to come to Him because we were weary and weak and worn and bankrupt.

We are holy. Not by our own efforts but because “He [Christ Jesus] has reconciled [us] by His physical body through His death, to present [us] holy, faultless, and blameless before Him.” [Colossians 1:22 HCSB]

We are loved. Not because we are lovable, but because He is love and has showered His mercy, grace, and love upon us. In fact, He loved us when we were His enemies, when we were rebellious, when we were shaking our fists at Him and shouting that we would not have Him rule over us. Still, He loved us.

Now we have a choice – to live like we are chosen, holy and loved.

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Back to ….

by TerryLema

The first four verses of Colossians Chapter 3 always bring me back to the single most important thing in my life in the past, back to the way I should be living and thinking now, and back to what is in store for me in the future.

 “So, if [since] you have been raised with the Messiah [Christ Jesus], seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” [HCSB]

What is the single most important thing in my life in the past? It is that I surrendered my life to Christ Jesus. I died to my former life and now am “hidden with the Messiah in God.” I was “raised with” Him in newness of life. Can anything be more important than that?

So how should I be living and thinking now? I am to set my mind on what I have in Christ Jesus in the heavenlies. I am not to be focused on the things of this world. I am to seek the things of God, not pursue worldly pleasures. My reality is not this world. My reality is Christ Jesus who sits at the right hand of the Father. And as Paul wrote in Ephesians 2, by the grace of God we are raised up and seated in the heavens with Him. [vs6]

And as glorious as our now is, even more glorious is our future. Read Colossians 3:4 again, “When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”

 There is absolutely nothing in this world that can compare to that! Amen!

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Our Certificate of Debt

by TerryLema

One of my favorite verses in Colossians Chapter 2 is verse 14. Christ Jesus “wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” [NKJV]

The Holman Christian Standard says it this way. “He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross.”

Jesus canceled not just our debt, He canceled the record of our debt. Hallelujah!

There was an ancient practice in Paul’s day of nailing the written evidence of a canceled debt in a public place. That served notice to everyone that the creditor (God’s law in our case) had no more claim on the debtor.

Paul’s original readers would have understood that a person’s debt, as well as any legal consequences, was erased. They no longer had to live under the threat of punishment or enslavement for a debt they could not pay. And neither do we!

Christ took our sin and its debt to the cross. There, He publicly posted freedom for all who come to Him. When we enter the presence of God, our sin, our punishment, and every evidence of it, will never follow us.

Glory to God!

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