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Devotions

Knowing Eternal Life

by TerryLema

As Christians, we have eternal life now. When we came to God through Christ Jesus our LORD and Savior, our souls and spirits were made alive in Him. Our bodies, unfortunately, are still subject to the results of rebellion and sin, but we have the promise that they too will one day be reborn into eternal life.  That is something that as I age, I desire more and more.

Jesus, shortly before His death, prayed for His own. That prayer was not just for those who were gathered around Him at the time, that prayer was for all those who would come after them in faith believing.

“This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and the One You have sent—Jesus Christ.” [John 17:3 HCSB]

It is our great and wonderful privilege to know the “Only True God.” Jesus says that by knowing God we have eternal life. Knowing God means that eternal life is now … not just some promise for the distant future. We are made eternally alive right now!  What a blessing to live in the realization of that truth.

But there is another truth that blesses my heart even more.  Paul reminds us that not only do we know the “Only True God,” but the Only True God knows us! 

“But if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.” [1 Corinthians 8:3 HCSB]

God knows us, our name, our weaknesses, our failures, our delights, our passions, our desires. He knows what we need. He knows what we are going through. In spite of all my faults, He not only knows me, He loves me.

What on earth can compare with that?

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Safety!

by TerryLema

I apologize for getting all maudlin yesterday as I wrestled with God about my abundant hatred of death. I know that for those who place their faith in Almighty God through Christ Jesus, Savior and LORD, death is merely the conveyance into His Presence. There our bodies will experience the eternal life already enjoyed by our souls and spirits now. And Psalm 23 promises that as we walk through that Valley of the Shadow of Death, we will be comforted by the rod and staff of the LORD, our Shepherd.

The Gospel of John, Chapter 10, begins with Christ Jesus reminding His disciples that He is that Good Shepherd. He tells them that He will lay down His life for His sheep. It is a beautiful picture of the care we receive as His sheep.

Contained within that word picture of the Good Shepherd is an image that always brings joy and comfort to my soul. It is found in verses 27-29.

“My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish—ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. [John 10:27-29 HCSB]

Two things comfort me in Jesus’ words.  First, that we will never “perish.” We may have to pass through a shadow of death, but we will never “perish.” We will enter into the Presence of our Father, knowing who we are and Who He Is!  What great delight!

In the meantime, Jesus reminds us also that nothing can snatch us out of His Hands and the Hands of our Father. The image is of cupped hands, one underneath us, and one covering us. Inside those magnificent, all-powerful, compassionate, and loving Hands, we are safe.

No one, nothing, is strong enough to over-power our Father and Savior. Today I rejoice in that! 

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The Valley of the Shadow

by TerryLema

Last week was a tough week.  I spent some time with God telling Him how much I really hate death.

I am all too familiar with death. I was seven when my precious Aunt Eva died. I was taken to her service and up to her casket where I kissed her. I was eight when my Grandfather died and attended his funeral too. I drove our neighbor to his lung cancer radiation treatments when I was sixteen and watched him slowly dying in my car. I was a hospice chaplain for years and got to know many new people each year, all of whom died. Yes, I am all too familiar with death.

As a Christian, I know that when we die, we move in the blink of an eye from this life to our eternal one, purchased on the cross by Christ Jesus our LORD. Still, I hate death.

Death is a foreign entity in God’s creation. It came as the punishment for disobedience, the end result of condemnation for sin. It is the last enemy we will see completely abolished.  [1 Corinthians 15:26]

There is something inside us that senses God’s intent is for life, and when death strikes our bodies, we fight it. All last week, I wrestled with God in prayer, reminding Him how much I truly hate death. Then on Saturday morning, when I opened one of my Verse-of-the-Day emails, to my surprise I found this:

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” [Psalms 23:4 NKJV]

Even as we face the last enemy we will ever face—God is with us. His rod and His staff comfort us as we move through that valley. When we get to the other side of death and look back, I think we will find merely a “shadow of death” as we enter into that glorious presence of God.

I know all that with all my mind and my heart. Yet, I still really hate death.

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Keep Ablaze!

by TerryLema

Yesterday I thought about the fact that as Christians, we are not to quit. “There is no quitting in Christianity.”

Paul in one of his last letters reminded young Timothy that Timothy was not to quit. “Therefore, I remind you to keep ablaze the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands.” [2 Timothy 2:6 HCSB]

Just like Timothy, we are called to finish our race, not just begin one. We are called to be faithful to the end, not just at the beginning. We are called to endure during tribulations and challenges so that we might gain character and produce a proven hope.

How is that possible?  With all the problems and ills of life, with all the trials that come our way, how is it possible to overcome the fear and “keep ablaze the gift of God”?

Well, Paul did not just tell Timothy not to quit, he told him how not to quit. First Paul reminded Timothy that fear is not of God, then he tells him what God has made available to overcome fear and “keep ablaze the gift of God.”

 “For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.” [2 Timothy 2:7 HCSB]

We must recognize that fear does not come from God. What comes from God is power, love, and sound judgment. As we turn to God and appropriate His power, His love, and the sound judgment that comes from the Holy Spirit, we are made able to throw aside the fear with which the enemy threatens to overwhelm. God always provides what we need – even what we need to keep walking our walk with Him.

Of course, that means filling our hearts and minds with His Word, and learning to walk in His Ways, not our own. Amen

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There’s no quitting

by TerryLema

One of my favorite movie lines comes from “A League of Their Own.” When one of the female baseball players starts to cry, their manager played by Tom Hanks whines, “There’s no crying in baseball!”

Every time I hear that line it makes me laugh.

This morning as I was working on my message for Sunday, I was reminded of that line … and I paraphrased it as “There’s no quitting in Christianity!”

Paul, in his advice to Timothy said it this way.  “Therefore, I remind you to keep ablaze the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.” [2 Timothy 2:6-7 HCSB]

Paul in one of his last letters reminds his young protégé “keep ablaze the gift of God,” as the HCSB translates it. The NKJV translates it this way, “I remind you to stir up the gift of God.”

Either translation reminds us that in life, sometimes in the midst of difficulties and sometimes in the midst of triumphs, we can allow the fervor of our Christian to walk to grow cold. Sometimes we are even tempted to turn back to old ways and relinquish the gains we have made, or even to quit. But, there really is “no quitting in Christianity.”

We are called to finish our race, not just begin one. We are called to be faithful to the end, not just at the beginning. We are called to endure during tribulations and challenges so that we might gain character and produce a proven hope.

Truly, “There is no quitting in Christianity.” No matter what the day brings, we remain ablaze for God! 

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From the Rising of the Sun …

by TerryLema

The days are getting longer now. The Winter Solstice 2020 happened on December 21, marking the shortest day / longest night of the year. Since then we have added a few more minutes of daylight to each day. Up until last weekend, we have had a mild winter. Temperatures in January hit the 50s and even a few days of 60s. Unusual for this part of Idaho. But then “unusual” is often the word we use to describe the weather in Idaho.

The way our house is situated, our big living room window and glass front door get the winter sunshine. From mid-day the sun (when the clouds are not blocking it) shines through the window and door and heats our house. I have a big lounge chair sitting by that window and I can get all toasty and warm spending the afternoon sitting in it reading.

I enjoy the shorter days and winter months; I am not a summer person at all. I do not mind if sunset is early in the day. I do, however, like the earlier sunrises.  Being a morning person, it is nice to have the light when I am at my best.

I was up early last Monday morning, sitting in my bonus room where I pray and study, read and write. It was still dark outside. I was waiting for sunrise when I checked my inbox and found one of my daily Bible verses for that day.  It was out of Psalm 113:3.

“From the rising of the sun to its going down The Lord’s name is to be praised.”  [HCSB]

That verse made me smile.  Praising the LORD is one of my favorite things to do. I love to think of all the wonderful things about God and praise Him for them. I love to think about the ways He blesses me and bless Him for them. It doesn’t really matter if it is during the time from sunup to sundown, or if it is early in the morning when it is still dark and I am waiting for sunrise.

It is good to simply praise Him whenever I am awake, even if that be the midnight of the day. Amen & Amen.

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The Increase

by TerryLema

Our daughter and son-in-love came over last week to take down the Christmas lights that decorated the front of our house. We had taken down and put away most of the Christmas decorations on January 1, but the lights hanging from the roof required a ladder to remove and my almost 81-year-old husband does not need to be going up and down a ladder. My son-in-love, who put the lights up, came to take them down.  Appreciate him so much!

While we were all together Bob and our daughter started a conversation about this year’s garden and what Bob was going to plant.  I am still appreciating last year’s garden … at the time in the slow cooker was a stew that contained tomatoes, green and yellow beans, peppers from last year’s harvest.

After my daughter and son-in-love left, I was reminded about Paul’s description of a spiritual garden in his first letter to the church at Corinth.  It came after he described some of the problems ripe in that church, problems that included division, envy, strife, and blatant sin.  Paul reminded his readers that there should be no divisions, we all participate in God’s spiritual garden in different ways.

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” [1 Corinthians 3:6-7 HCSB]

As I look back on my life, I see that gardening principle in action. I have often planted seeds in people, and I have done a lot of watering through encouragement and care. Surprisingly, I have not harvested many of the seeds I planted or even those I watered, but I have been honored to harvest seeds that others planted and watered.

Our privilege is to plant and to water and to harvest – but it is God’s job to give the increase. He is the one who convicts and through the power of His Spirit enables a soul to respond in faith to His grace.  Each soul is to His glory!

How grateful we should be that God invites us to participate in His Spiritual Gardening of Souls. Let’s make sure we scatter a lot of seed and do a lot of watering. I anticipate a great harvest in the near future!

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Daily Bread

by TerryLema

We had our first real snow this past week. It began Thursday night and we woke up to about four inches where we live in Caldwell. It stayed cold so it did not melt in the afternoon and Friday brought even more. Looking out Saturday morning we had around six inches. It was beautiful!

Friday morning when Bob went out to fill the bird feeder, he had to scrape about three inches off the feeder before he could lay down the seeds. I was watching and apparently so were the little birds that had spent the night hidden in the deep recesses of the cedar trees we have in the back. Suddenly they popped out and began to chirp loudly. Some flew to the tree on the other side of the fence behind the feeder and continued to chirp.

Before Bob even made it back to the house, about 50 little birds swooped into the feeder and began their morning feeding.

Those little birds and their very vocal response to Bob feeding them always thrill my soul. I do not know what they are saying. Maybe they are chirping “it’s about time,” or announcing to others, “breakfast is being served!”  What I like to think is that they are saying, “thank you.”

“Thank you for our daily bread.”

When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray in Matthew 6 and Luke 11, he told them to include this request, “Give us today our daily bread.”

I pray that we remember each day to thank Our Father for His provision for us—like those little birds chirp their thanksgiving to Bob each day. Amen.

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Really?

by TerryLema

When I got up Saturday morning the world around me was white! It had been snowing for a couple days and staying cold, so snow blanketed the ground, the road, the trees, and shrubs. Beautiful!  I do like the snow, especially when I can spend the day inside looking at it outside.

When I opened my computer to send out and post the devotions and check my email, my online local news source had this headline, “Ice Melt Selling Quickly as Snow Moves into the Region.”

My response was, “Really? That’s news?” When else would ice melt sell quickly? In July? There are times when I worry about the intelligence of people who decide what is newsworthy.

Well, I have something “newsworthy.”  It happened about 2000 years ago and is still relevant for today. God, who so loved the world, sent His Son to seek and save the lost. His Son, Christ Jesus our LORD brought Good News!

“After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of God: ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!’” [Mark 1:14-15 HCSB]

Good News! The Kingdom of God has come near!  The door to God’s Presence has been flung wide and all who accept God’s invitation of salvation, all those who repent and believe may now enter!  Peace has been restored. Everything has changed!

Now that’s newsworthy! Amen & Amen

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Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

by TerryLema

February 15

Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

“Don’t Worry, Be Happy ” is a song by American musician Bobby McFerrin released in 1988. It was the first a cappella song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It stayed at number one for two weeks. The lyrics of the song present many of the problems of life … no bed, the rent is late, no money, no one to love. And throughout the song the advice is simple, “Don’t worry, be happy.”

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just tell yourself to stop worrying and be happy instead – and that actually worked?

I have tried to talk myself out of worry many times. It has never worked very well for me.  I might have postponed the panic for a while, put a smile on my face so that no one could tell, but I was never able to remove worry from my heart and mind.  Inside I still quaked!

Fortunately, God does not tell us to just “Don’t worry, be happy.” No, He gives us more than advice, He gives us a way to eliminate anxiety from our lives and to live in peace.

 “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” [Philippians 4:6 HCSB]

God tells us not to worry about anything. That is the goal. Then He tells us how to make that goal happen. In everything through prayer and petition, combined with thanksgiving, we are to take all our requests to Him.

Everything that might cause anxiety in us is to be presented first to Him. We do that through prayer. We petition God for His peace and His joy to flood us. We offer thanksgiving in anything and everything knowing that He will provide that “perfect peace” in our hearts and minds. It does not make sense on a human level, that is why “perfect peace” is defined as “a peace which surpasses understanding.”

“And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” [Philippians 4:7 HCSB]

There is much in this world which causes worry and anxiety. Just telling ourselves to ‘be happy’ is not going to work. But if we follow God’s direction, we can have a peace that is supernatural and perfect.

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