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Devotions

The “How To’s” Day 6

by TerryLema 
(I apologize for missing yesterday, the hard drive on my computer died and I needed to get a new one.)

I am working my way through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Today and tomorrow I am in Chapter 6. The first half of that chapter in my Bible is titled, “How to Give,” “How to Pray,” (which includes “The Model Prayer”), and “How to Fast.” [5:1-18]

That pretty well covers three of the Spiritual Disciplines Christians are to exercise. As I read through these passages, I noticed one pertinent item in each.

Giving: Don’t practice it in front of people to be seen by them.

Praying: Don’t practice it to be seen by people.

Fasting: Don’t show your fasting to people.

We are not to practice these spiritual disciples so that others will pat us on the back and remind us what good Christians we are. We are not to practice these to gain a good reputation or to earn points in our churches. Jesus is quite clear where the rewards will come from if we do these the way God intends.

“Your Father who sees in secret will reward you” for giving. [vs 4]

“Your Father who sees in secret will reward you” for praying. [vs6b]

“Your Father who sees in secret will reward you” for fasting. [vs18b]

I guess my “Am I?” question today is “Why am I giving, praying and fasting?”

Where does my heart’s motivation spring from? I pray from a heart focused solely on the One who loves me so much.

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How Many Miles? Day 5

by TerryLema

I have combined the final two sections in Matthew 5 this morning. They bear labels in my Bible which read, “Go the Second Mile,” and “Love Your Enemies.” [vs 38-48]

Jesus tells his listeners “Don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary ….”  

Instead of resistance, we are to turn the other cheek, give them our coat as well as our shirt, add a second mile to a forced one mile, and give to those who ask to borrow from us. That all sounds a bit strange to me—until I get to the next passage.

There Jesus tells us to “love [our] enemies and pray for those who persecute [us].” When we do that, we will be “sons of [our] Father in heaven.”

Many listening to Jesus that day may not have understood what He was saying. Perhaps even His disciples thought it strange. But after His death and resurrection, I am sure they grasped the full weight of His words.

Jesus, God’s Son, came because God the Father loved His enemies. Jesus, God’s Wonderful Savior and Redeemer, did not resist the evildoers who nailed Him to a cross. On the contrary, He forgave them.

Now I stand at the foot of His cross and ask myself, “Am I loving my enemies and praying for them?”

How can I do otherwise if I want to be a “[daughter] of [our] Father in heaven.”

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Tell the Truth, Day 4

by TerryLema

If there is a passage in the Sermon on the Mount that has been ignored in our culture, it may be the one found in Matthew 5:33-37. In my Bible, it is titled, “Tell the Truth.”

The key is the direct command, “But let your word ‘yes’ be ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no.’ Anything more than this is from the evil one.” [HCSB]

The things “more than this” include lies, misdirection, embellishments, exaggerations, deceptions, falsehoods, misrepresentations, and a host of other things.

Who engages in “more than this” can be corporations, politicians, all forms of media, employers, employees, and even people like me (who should know better).

Things “more than this” have become an acceptable part of our culture. So much so that we expect and even accept the untruths around us.

But as much as I would like to direct attention to corporations, politicians, the media and such, the Holy Spirit is directing in a different direction with those two words, “Am I?”

“Am I truthful” or do I exaggerate, embellish or misrepresent? I think I have a long day of contemplation ahead of me today.

God be merciful to me, a sinner. Amen

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The Heart – Where Things Begin! Day 3

by TerryLema

I am loving my stroll through the Sermon on the Mount. My Bible divides it into 19 passages. I am not going through all 19 passages, but I am stopping along the way when one tugs at my heart. When I do stop, I ask myself that two-word question, “Am I?”

Today I sat for a while in Matthew 5:21-30. My Bible titles those two passages, “Murder Begins in the Heart,” and “Adultery Begins in the Heart.”

My question this morning is, “Am I monitoring the condition of my heart regularly?”

In another part of Matthew, Jesus spoke about a storehouse, a place of treasure. “For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. A good man produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil man produces evil things from his storeroom of evil.” [Matthew 12:34-35 HCSB]

Our hearts will either be storerooms of good, or storerooms of evil. It is from our hearts that we both speak and act. We have a choice what we allow to remain in our hearts. That means we need to be monitoring our heart’s condition regularly.

If we find ourselves angry or bitter, if we find ourselves judging others with unkind words, it is time to look into our storeroom and see what is there—good or evil. Then we might just need a time of repentance and confession, knowing that God is willing to forgive.

 

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Salt & Light, Day 2

by TerryLema

I am only in Day 2 of this multi-day reflection on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and I am already finding that this is a far more difficult deliberation than I anticipated. As I approach some of the sections of the sermon, I must face the answers to a two-word question, “Am I?”

The first question was “Am I teachable?” and the second was “Am I poor in spirit?” Both questions caused me to bare a part of my soul to examination.

Today is another question, “Am I salt and light?” [Read Matthew 5:13-16]

As believers, Jesus tells us we “are the salt of the earth.” Salt was a valuable commodity in the ancient world. It was used to preserve food (there were no freezers or fridges), heal wounds and treat illnesses. Our word “salary” comes from the ancient word for salt and means “salt-money.”

Jesus also tells us we “are the light of the world.” We are a beacon in the darkness that draws people to the light of Christ Jesus and the truth of God’s Word.

I noticed one thing of great importance as I read this passage. That is the use of the verb “are.” Jesus did not tell us to struggle “to be” salt or light. He said we already “are.”

So, I guess this question was easier than the first two. I “am” salt and light because God’s Spirit within me has made me so. So I guess today I am considering if I am flowing in those roles as God has determined me to do.

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The Beatitudes, Day 1

by TerryLema

I have decided to do a multi-day reflection on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. My Bible has divided Matthew chapters 5-7 into 19 passages. I am approaching some of those passages from the perspective of two words, “Am I?”

Yesterday, after reading the first two verses in Chapter 5, I asked myself “Am I teachable?” Those verses tell us simply that Jesus sat on the mountain with the crowds that followed Him and with His disciples and began to teach them.

He began with what we call the Beatitudes. [Read 5:3-12] These are the blessings. They set out to remind us that the blessings of God come from far different circumstances than the blessings of this world. They flow out of mourning, gentleness, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, mercy, purity of heart, peacemaking, and even persecution.

It is that first condition of blessing, however, that sets the precedent for all the others. “The poor in spirit are blessed, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” [vs 3 HCSB]

Poor in spirit means to recognize that before God I have nothing to offer. I cannot save myself. I have nothing to barter with God. I cannot deliver myself. I cannot make myself worthy of the salvation that is offered to me freely in Christ. I can only be made worthy BY the salvation offered in Christ Jesus. I am spiritually poor. And not just poor, I am bankrupt.

“Am I poor in spirit?” As I contemplated that question, I admit my poverty is what brought me to Christ Jesus in 1973. It is why I surrendered my life to Him. But … and here is where the Holy Spirit took me today … “Am I still poor in spirit?” or have I allowed pride or arrogance to subtly creep in?

Do I see myself as “better” because I am saved? And how does the world see me? As arrogant, or humbly acknowledging that without God’s grace I would be utterly lost?

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“Am I?”

by TerryLema

I was required to memorize the Sermon on the Mount in Bible College. That was in the early 1980’s. If I stick to my Yearly Bible Reading Plan, I am reading that sermon in the early days each January. I memorized it in the KJV and have read it in every other translation I have. This year I am reading it in my Holman Christian Standard Version.

The problem with memorizing a Scripture, and then reading it at least once a year for decades (not counting the multiple times I have brought a message from it or heard a message from it) is that it becomes so familiar that it often loses the impact it had at the beginning.

So I took a new look this year at Matthew chapters 5-7. I want a fresh look. I am not sure why but the first thing I noticed were the “titles” over the various passages. My Bible divides the Sermon on the Mount into 19 passages.

I sense the Holy Spirit telling me to do more with the Sermon on the Mount than just read through it again this year. I sense Him telling me to approach it from the perspective of two words, “Am I?”

I am going to spend the next few days going through some of the passages of the Sermon, asking myself “Am I?”  I invite you to join me.

The Sermon on the Mount begins with a simple Introduction.  “When He saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain, and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. Then He began to teach them, saying:” [5:1-2]

I guess I will begin this study with a simple question.  “Am I teachable?”  Something to reflect on today.

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Thinking About

by TerryLema

It is a Monday morning as I write this. I am sitting in my chair this morning thinking about Jesus. Woke up feeling loved and blessed. I have a busy week ahead, busier than I had planned, but all I want to do at the moment is just sit in my chair, open my Bible, and think about my LORD.

How blessed we are to know that God loves us. How blessed we are to know that God wants us near to Him. The amazing, wondrous God wants to gather us under His “wings,” as a hen gathers her chicks. Wants us!  Not needs us – our God needs nothing. He WANTS us!

We are flawed creatures. Often overcome by doubts and struggles. We rebel. We resist His desires for us. We ignore His voice. And still, He wants us.

Oh, the love of God. His mercy. His goodness. His grace. His compassion. He wants us to have it all. He holds nothing back.

He will even discipline us, correct us, so that we might walk in His paths of righteousness with Him. He does it out of love for us, wanting us to have His best. Wanting us to avoid sin and the shame and guilt and dying that accompanies it.

The precious love of God. His faithfulness. He never forgets us. He knows us and all the deep things that touch our hearts. He gives strength. He gives glory. He gives wisdom. He gives us the desires of our hearts so that we might realize them. He gives gifts, undeserved, yet welcomed.

Yes, just thinking about Jesus this morning, my LORD, Savior, Deliverer, Lover of my soul, my All in All.

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His Mercy is More

by TerryLema

Pastor Laura led worship again last Sunday. We sang the song “His Mercy is More” by Matt Papa. The melody is simple but oh, that chorus!

“Praise the Lord, His mercy is more. Stronger than darkness, new every morn. Our [My] sins they are many, His mercy is more.” 

The Scriptures are clear that we are to be holy like our God is holy. We are to avoid sin, even the appearance of evil. Yet, we still sin. Sometimes it is outward and noticeable to all. Sometimes it is an inner attitude or bitterness only seen by God.

At times, we are weighed down by the sin in our lives and the harder we try to avoid it, the more we seem to collide with it. The enemy of our soul loves to temp us. The world loves to sabotage us. Our own flesh even rebels against our good intentions.

As we sang that wonderful chorus on Sunday, I felt such relief. No matter my sin, God’s mercy to me is more. No matter how many my sins, God’s mercy to me is abundantly more.

I think when David wrote Psalm 23 and included the wonderful truth that “Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of our life,” he knew what it was to experience the mercy of God over his sin.

As I joined in singing the song last Sunday, I was reminded that I, too, know what it is like to experience the mercy of God over my sin.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [1John 1:9 HCSB]

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Aging

by TerryLema

A friend recently sent me a couple of her favorite books as a gift. One looks like an easy read, but with deep thoughts. The other is a far more difficult read, but also with deep thoughts. I started on the more difficult one, “Being Mortal, Medicine and What Matters in the End” by Atul Gawande.

The book, as far as I am into it (I am about halfway through it), deals with aging and medicine and how as a culture we care for people who age. It is not a cheery book, probably since I am dealing with aging and seeing some of the problems of medical treatments, safety, and decline in my not-so-distant future. But it is extremely insightful and has given me much about which to think.

One thing that stands out so far is that people who lose a reason to live decline faster than those who maintain things in their life which they enjoy and are still allowed to pursue (even if it means being a little less safe).

As I have been making my way through the book, I am reminded of what some might call my “life verse.”  It is found in Proverbs, and it often was part of my signature line in my work emails.  “A merry [joyful HCSB] heart does good, like medicine.” [Proverbs 17:22a NKJV]

I have tried to embrace this verse my entire life, no matter the difficulties or struggles I faced.  But there is a second part of that verse that might be even more significant, especially at this stage of my life. “But a broken spirit dries the bones.” [Proverbs 17:2b NKJV]

As unsettling as this book can be at times, as unsettling as my life can be at times, that verse reminds me that God understood the difficulties of aging long before modern man began to explore them, and I can be reassured of His faithfulness to me in every stage of life.

 

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