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Devotions

Pain

by TerryLema

My doctor reduced the dosage of my infusion medication. It is a trial period to see if I am in remission or if the auto-immune diseases are just under control. The proof will be if the PMR and GCA pain returns. So now I am on the watch trying to determine if the pain I have is from the diseases, from old age, or from the side-effects of the medications or the lingering effects from the virus I had last year. And if that pain is going to stay at the level it is or get worse.

Pain. Ugly four-letter word. Three years ago I was doing well. I did not wake up each morning thinking about pain. Then in the span of two weeks, pain invaded and has never left. Some days are worse than others, but all days I battle some sort of pain.

Pain, of course, is a warning that something is wrong. It is not always physical; it can also be mental or emotional or spiritual. That makes a promise in the final book of our Bibles the most welcome of promises.

John saw a new heaven and a new earth. Everything that was – was no more.  Then he heard a voice shout from heaven.

“’Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous thing have passed away.’” Then the One seated on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.’” [Revelation 21:4 HCSB]

See that little phrase tucked right in the middle?  “Pain will exist no longer.”

Pain tells us that something is wrong with us – but there is coming a time when there will never be anything wrong with us again – forever. I wonder if we will even ‘remember’ what pain was like?

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One Small Act

by TerryLema

I’ve been thinking about my friend Nella today.  Nella was actually my mother’s friend.  They were as different as two people could be.  Nella over six foot, my mother under five.  My mother was brash, self-involved, and difficult to love.  Nella was soft spoken, doted on others and easy to love.  I can still hear her say, “Oh, sweetie,” followed by her smile or gentle laugh or a loving pat on the cheek.

I remember when my first child was born more than 52 years ago.  First time mom, I was stuck at home for about 10 weeks since Bob took our one vehicle to work.  I didn’t have a lot of friends, and my one close friend had given birth to her first child about a week before me.  She too was home.

I was feeling very blue one day, crying a lot, tired, trying to adjust to my suddenly changed lifestyle when the doorbell rang.  Standing on my welcome mat was a very welcome sight, Nella.  I can still hear her words, “Hey, kiddo, thought you might be lonely so pack up that baby and let’s go for a ride.”

So, I packed up the baby and we went for a ride.  Nella’s kindness that day broke the baby blues, and they never came back.

Whenever I read the verse in 1 Thessalonians 5:15, ” …always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else,” I immediately think of Nella.  She lived this verse.

One small act of kindness more than 52 years ago, and it is as alive today as it was then.  I don’t think Nella ever knew how much that afternoon ride meant to me, but one of these days I’ll have a chance to tell her.

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Boldly

by TerryLema

The last three days we have been in Hebrews 4. We have seen the Sword that judges and heals (the Word of God), we have noted that God sees everything (and we will one day give an account to Him), and we have met my great aunt Julie’s Jesus (our High Priest Christ Jesus who knows what it is to be us!).

There is one last thought I want to draw from Hebrews 4. It comes in verse 16. “Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness [confidence], so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.” [HCSB]

What an amazing thought, that we may approach the throne of grace with boldness [confidence] to seek all the mercy and all the grace we need.  The King James uses the word boldly—let us come boldly to the throne of grace.  We are to come boldly, but not arrogantly! There is a difference.

We have a picture of this in the book of Esther.  Esther was King Xerxes’ wife.  She was Queen.  She was also one of the Jewish exiles.  Yet even for the queen to approach the king when he was on the throne could be a dangerous proposition.  The king could choose to not only reject the supplicant, but he could also choose to have him/her put to death.  The signal of acceptance was the king’s golden scepter.  If he held it out to the person, they lived; otherwise, they died.

When Queen Esther approached King Xerxes on a mission to save her people from the annihilation plotted by the evil Haman, the king held out His golden scepter to her, signaling his pleasure to have her approach and make her request, which he did grant.

For us, Jesus is our Golden Scepter.  When we approach the throne of our Father, we can come boldly – with confidence – knowing that the Golden Scepter is always extended to us.  There we make our pleas for the grace and mercy that He is eager to supply.  He is eager to give us all we need to live godly lives.

 

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Great Aunt Julie’s Jesus

by TerryLema

Heb 4:14-15:  “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to the confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin.” [HCSB]

I had two great aunts who loved the Lord, Augusta, and Julie.  I met them for the first time when we moved to California from Pennsylvania.  Augusta came straight at our Catholicism with guns blazing.  Needless to say, even as a young girl I thought her idea of God wasn’t what I wanted.

Julie on the other hand, was full of smiles and wit and overflowing with grace.  She spoke of a Savior who was loving and kind, One who understood how tough life could be, One who loved me personally and wanted me to love Him personally. One, she said, I already knew from a distance, Jesus Christ.

That was a new revelation to me.  It took a number of years and other sets of experiences and circumstances before I embraced my Aunt Julie’s Jesus in my early 20’s.  But I trace those seeds planted back to her.

We have a Savior who understands how difficult temptation is because He too suffered it.  Unlike us, however, He never succumbed to it.  Now this sympathetic, empathetic Savior sits at the Right Hand of God and makes intercession for us.  His Spirit gives us strength to overcome.  And if we should fail, His blood covers us, and He reminds the Father that He has already born our punishment.

I truly love my Great Aunt Julie’s Jesus.  And I am so grateful to my Great Aunt Julie, who has long since gone to be with her Jesus.  She supplied what I was missing growing up … the truth that God loves us so much, so much¸ He provided a way to know Him personally, the way to be drawn to Him through His Son.

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To Whom We Must Give Account

by TerryLema

I wrote yesterday of the Word of God, that double edged sword that is living and active and able to penetrate and separate and judge the ideas and thoughts of our hearts.  It is a sword that not only judges but also heals. [Hebrews 4:12]

The scary part of Hebrews 4 happens when the writer goes on to tell us that God sees everything.  EVERYTHING!  “No creature is hidden from Him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account.” [Hebrews 4:13 HCSB]

That’s not a very comforting thought for some.  That may not be a very comforting thought for many.  God sees everything, nothing is hidden from Him.  The good, the bad, and the ugly are all within God’s view.

I was raised in the Catholic Church.  My father was a cradle Catholic, and my mother converted when they got married.  I learned very early two important truths (for which I will be eternally grateful).  First, there is a God.  Second, I have a responsibility to Him.  Or as the writer above notes, “Him to Whom we must give account.”

Those two truths have accompanied me throughout my life. However, there was one problem with the things I learned as a child, that is, the thought of giving an account of all my actions to God brought in fear and guilt.

The God to Whom I must give an account seemed to be a God who was looking for my every mistake, who was reminding me of my unworthiness at every turn, who was seeking ways to keep me out of His presence rather than a way to draw me in closer.

It was not until I reached adulthood that I learned God was very different than what I thought.  I met my great aunt Julie … and then I met my great aunt Julie’s Jesus. And everything changed. More tomorrow.

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The Sword That Heals

by TerryLema

Somehow, I ended up in Hebrews 4 this week in my personal reading. I love this chapter. It begins with a warning to not miss the “rest” God has for us – as Israel missed the rest God had for her through disobedience.  “Let us then make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience.”

My favorite part of Chapter 4 immediately follows that warning. “For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart.”  [4:12 HCSB]

Ever been stabbed by the Word of God?  Boy, I have.  That double-edged sword has found a work in me on many occasions.  I’ll be going along in life, unaware of (or ignoring) the fact that parts of my life are not fully surrendered to my Lord, and then the Word of God will leap off the pages and stab me in that very place.

It will penetrate thoughts and attitudes to reveal the ones that are rightfully reflecting the image of Jesus, and the ones that are not, effectively dividing my spirit in Christ from my mind, will and emotions still operating in my flesh.

Yet, the one thing that makes that double-edged sword different is that it not only divides, judges and separates, it also heals.  The cut is sharp and straight and slices away those parts that are not fully surrendered to God, those parts where my attitudes still sit on the throne of my heart.  Then healing floods in and wholeness is restored.

I think sometimes those parts where God has had to cut the deepest are now places where He is strongest in me.  Those wounds that were the rawest and hurting are now the places of greatest joys and comfort.

This walk of faith will require costly changes in our minds, our attitudes, and our behaviors.  But as we pay the price of surrender here, we will reap the rewards in eternity.

 

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Brought Out … Brought In

by TerryLema

Deuteronomy 6:23: “But he brought us out from [Egypt] to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers.”   [NIV]

“He brought us out … to bring us in.”  The Israelites were camped next to the Jordan River just across from the Promised Land.  Moses is reminding the nation about everything that has happened to them since God brought them out of Egypt, which included 40 years of wilderness wanderings while they got their act together.

God had brought them out of Egypt to bring them into the land He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  They could have gotten there in 11 days. That was all – 11 days; instead, it took them 40 years.

Why so long to realize the wonderful inheritance they had in God?  Because they were stiff-necked, rebellious murmurers and grumblers. Every time they encountered a challenge or difficulty they wanted to run back to Egypt, to the land of “cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.”  Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 10 that what happened to Israel after their exit from Egypt were examples and warnings to us so that we might not follow in their footsteps.

“He brought us out … to bring us in.”  God through the salvation of Jesus Christ brought us out of sin and darkness for a purpose – “to bring us in….” He brought us out so that we “may know the hope to which he has called [us], the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”  [Eph 1:18-19 NIV]

I guess my thought today is, are we really living in the hope, the riches, the inheritance, and His incomparably great power, or are we, like Israel was, still wandering around in the wilderness, saved but still stiff-necked and rebellious, murmuring and grumbling?

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Equals

by TerryLema

Often when I am reading through a passage of Scripture, I will read it in a number of verses. Doing that expands my understanding.  I was reading in Nahum the other morning … I know … who reads Nahum in the morning!

Nahum the Elkoshite wrote down a vision of God’s vengeance against Nineveh. Inside that vision God speaks of the destruction, attack and downfall of Nineveh and her king.  Tucked in that first chapter, however, is a verse of comfort for those trust in the Lord.

Nahum 1:7: “The Lord is good, a stronghold in a day of distress; He cares for those who take refuge in Him.” [HCSB]

Nahum 1:7: “The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him.” [NKJV]

As I read that verse in both the Christian Standard and the New King James, I noticed a couple of things.  Both translations are identical when they state the guarantee that in the day of trouble or distress, the LORD is good and a stronghold.

But then I noticed the complementary way the translators described His goodness and strength in times of trouble and distress.

When God knows us, it is equal to God cares for us.

When we trust in Him, it is equal to taking refuge in Him.

Simple thoughts today about great truths tucked away in a book about God’s vengeance on an ungodly nation.

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What a Contrast!

by TerryLema

I have a Bible-reading plan that I use to go through my Bible once a year.  I have been using it for decades. Each day has two OT chapters, one Psalm or Proverb, and one NT chapter. Also, it is designed so that the Psalms, Proverbs and Gospels are read twice.

The year begins with Genesis 1, Psalm 1, and Matthew 1, and continues on from there. It also bounces around a bit when you get to the history books and the prophets. But in June there are six days of very interesting contrasts. In June you read Ecclesiastes and Ephesians side-by-side.

That is what I was doing last week.  (I know it is not June, but I am a bit ahead this year.)

Ecclesiastes begins with “Absolutely futile, everything is futile,” or “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” [HCSB, NKJV]

Ephesians begins “Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.” [1:3 HCSB]

After Solomon speaks of the futility of everything, he goes on in 1:12-18 to write of the limitations of wisdom, ending with “For with much wisdom is much sorrow; as knowledge increases, grief increases.”

Paul, however, works his way through God’s rich blessings in 1:3-14, a wondrous prayer for believers in 1:15-19, and ends the chapter with God’s power in Christ Jesus in 1:20-23.

Tucked in Paul words are some of the most glorious thoughts every put to paper. Instead of futility and the limitations of earthly wisdom we have from Solomon, we find glorious grace, redemption, and forgiveness.  We find God has made lavished on us wisdom and understanding and has made know to us the mystery of His will.  We find we have an inheritance and a Savior who is seated at the right hand in the heavens – far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

If you have a chance, read Ecclesiastes 1 and 2 and then Ephesians 1. You will be transported from the lowest to the highest – all because of Christ Jesus our LORD and Savior.

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Surrender

by TerryLema

Kay Arthur wrote, “For believers, surrendering to God is not a one-time occurrence; it’s a matter of continually bowing our hearts before the Lord, laying our desire for control at His feet, and rising again to do whatever He asks us to do, through the power of the Holy Spirit.”  [from “Lord, I Give You This Day,” Waterbrook Press, 2006]

As Christians, we speak a great deal about surrender.  I know I’ve preaching on it numerous times over the years.  Yet if you go to your concordance, you will find very few occurrences of the word “surrender.”  In fact, the King James doesn’t even have one such occurrence. I did find six in the NKJV, 14 in the NIV and 16 in the HCSB, but none of those verses speak of surrendering to God.

The Scriptures use other words to imply surrender, words such as commit … “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in  Him, and He will act, making your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice as the noonday.” [Ps 37:5-6 HCSB]

Or the word bow … “Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.” [Ps 95:6 HCSB]

Or that word worship … “Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth.  Say among the nations: “The Lord reigns.’”  [Ps 96:9-10 HCSB]

Or kneel … “ For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.”  [Eph 3:14-15 HCSB]

Kay Arthur was correct … committing our ways, bowing in worship, kneeling before the LORD our Maker, are not a onetime occurrence, they are to mark our everyday, sometimes every hour, surrender to our Lord and Master.

Father God, I must surrender daily, sometimes hourly, especially as this world and my own flesh far too often assert themselves.  By the power of your Spirit, may I always rise ready and willing to do as You command.  Amen.

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