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Devotions

Really, I Need a Sign?

by TerryLema

I opened my newsfeed the other morning after I had posted my devotions. The caption on one of the articles caught my attention. It read: “Undeniably True Signs You Are Getting Old.”

I just had to open that article. It turned out to be a slideshow with amusing thoughts, such as “you’re given the senior discount on sight,” “you take much longer to get up,” “you actually know what probiotics are,” “you forget at least one thing every day,” and other funny signs.

My first thought was that I no longer need a “sign” to tell me I am getting old. (Life itself is a sign.) My second thought was about what one of the other slides said, “you become more spiritual.”

When I was younger, a group of ladies from the church went to a convalescent hospital every Friday morning. My mom played the piano, and I played the organ. We had a sing-along of songs from when the residents were young, and then transitioned to Christian hymns and a small message about how much God loved them.

We would also ask them if they wanted prayer. Most of the time, almost all of the time, those who wanted prayer were already Christians. They were at the end of a life that had revolved around the LORD.

The hospital administrator (a Christian) told us that seldom did she see anyone turning to Christ at this stage of life. They came to our meetings on Friday because they liked the old songs from their youth, not because of the Christian message.

It reminded me of how important it is to introduce our children to Jesus at a very early age.  Proverbs 22:6 is so true, “Teach a youth about the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” [HCSB]

Today: I am thankful for churches who make children’s and youth ministries a priority. Thank you for every teacher and helper who gives of themselves to bring little ones to Jesus.

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Dire Threats!

by TerryLema

The mid-term elections are around the corner. If you have not noticed, both sides of the aisles are issuing dire predictions about what will happen if the other side wins. Both sides claim they are focused on differing issues, claiming their issues are the most important and that is why we need to vote for them.

From what I have observed, I think the only issue is power. I read a statement that once elected to a position of power, the only goal going forward is to get re-elected.

Earthly leaders want power, dominance, authority to put forth their own agendas and ideas. Yet in contrast to our Blessed LORD, even the most powerful have no real power.

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn [preeminent] over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” [Colossians 1:15-18 HCSB]

And this Blessed LORD we serve was willing to not demand His own agenda but do the will of the Father and die for us.

“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation….” [Colossians 1:19-22 HCSB]

Today: Thank you LORD that I live in a country which gives me the right to cast my vote, but never let me forget who has the real power and authority! Let me honor You in all I do.

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Frustrations!

by TerryLema

I cannot remember where I read it, but I recently came across a thought-provoking statement … “even our blessings have complications.”

I am so blessed to have the opportunity to write my thoughts about our LORD and our walk with Him. It gives me such pleasure to publish them daily.

I started by just emailing devotions to people who requested that. Then I was given a blessing of finances to set up a website, TerrysDevotions.com, where I publish daily. The third way is my Pastor Terry Lema Facebook page. It is a public page that anyone can see.

Recently, Facebook made some changes in how I add a devotion/picture. If they sent me a notice that they were doing that, I missed it. When I went out to post, it would not let me add anything. I tried everything, logging out, changing my password, using a different browser, but nothing worked. After several hours I was so frustrated I could have “spit nails!”

In the afternoon, I tried again and found a little notice that told me to go to my Meta Business Suite. (Honestly, I didn’t know I had a Meta Business Suite). There I found a new way to post my devotion and add a picture. I was still frustrated but getting less so.

Sometimes even our blessings have complications. Sometimes even our blessings leave us frustrated. So, guess what my Verse-of-the-Day was today?  “He restores my soul.” [Psalm 23:3]

Today: Thank you LORD that when I am frustrated amid so many complications in life (some even in my blessings), You come and You restore.

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Everyone Else!

by TerryLema

Ah, we have come to the last obligation found in 1Thessalonians 5:14: “And we exhort you, brothers: warn those who are irresponsible, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” [5:14 HCSB]

That last command is pretty all-purpose. “Be patient with everyone.”

I think Paul left it for last because he knows a lot about the attitudes of people who might excuse themselves from the first three commands.  We may claim to not know anyone who is irresponsible, discouraged, or weak … but we all know an “everyone.”

The person who is “patient with everyone” is one who is even-tempered and slow to anger. We may need that trait abundantly when we deal with the idle, timid, or weak. We may need that trait abundantly when we deal with unbelievers.

Perhaps we need it most abundantly when we deal with believers who provoke discontent in the church through their thoughtless or even intentionally hurtful acts. We all have run across those believers who are harsh or judgmental.

It is so much easier to have patience with people who are struggling in the circumstances of life. It is far harder to have patience with people we do not particularly like or who do not particularly like us! Yet, we all know those people exist both in and out of the church.

Paul does not leave us with much of an excuse … we are to “be patient with everyone.”

Today: Thank you LORD for giving me the opportunity to exercise patience with everyone, just as You exercise so much patience with me.

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The Weak

by TerryLema

I am in 1Thessalonians 5:14: “And we exhort you, brothers: warn those who are irresponsible, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” [5:14 HCSB]

Four commands are given by Paul in that one little verse. We are to warn or admonish (counsel, exhort) those who are irresponsible in their faith. We are to comfort those who are discouraged.

The third command is that we are to help the weak.  Paul gave a similar command in Romans 15:1: “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.  Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” [HCSB]

The strong in faith are responsible (we have an obligation) to support those who are weak.  Paul does not tell us what that weakness was in Thessalonica. Perhaps people were shrinking from the persecution and opposition so prevalent in that time. Maybe they were giving in to temptation or perhaps they needed to exercise their full Christian liberty.

Whatever the weakness was, Paul is firm about the obligation that we have to look out for our neighbors, to put their good before pleasing ourselves.

And if we are honest with ourselves, every one of us is probably “weak” in some area compared to others. When my weakness is voicing its dominance, I need the aid of others who are strong in that area to help. When I am strong in a particular area and another is weak, I need to put aside everything and build up my brother or sister.

Today, thank you LORD, that we are not in this battle alone. Thank you for providing the experiences in other’s lives to benefit us when we are struggling.

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The Irresponsible!

by TerryLema

I have been studying that one little verse at the end of 1Thessalonians. “And we exhort you, brothers: warn those who are irresponsible, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” [5:14 HCSB]

I started looking into that verse when I was a bit discouraged about the path my two auto-immune diseases were taking. It was that second command in the verse, “comfort the discouraged,” which drew me to it.

But then I looked at the other three commands. The first one is “warn those who are irresponsible.”

Irresponsible, or unruly as other versions render it, is ataktos. It means out of order or out of line. Paul is identifying those who refuse to observe God’s guidelines and live in faith.

Christians are given an injunction to warn (or admonish as some translations render the word) those who are idle or disorderly in their conduct. The order to warn or admonish was not given just to leaders but applies to all “the brethren.”

The church at Thessalonica faced a lot of opposition, both from the Jews and the Gentiles. They were vulnerable to threats of stoning, beatings, torture and even death. It would take all of them together to weather the storms that came against them.

While we, as believers in our culture, may not be vulnerable to those same kinds of threats, we do face opposition. It is imperative that we look out for each other and when we see one acting irresponsible in the faith, we should warn them – not harshly or from a judgmental spirit – but in love and with a big load of grace. (Remember: God always deals with us in love, giving us an example of how we are to approach others.)

Today: Thank you LORD for those who look out for other Christians. Give us a willingness to love and act in grace toward those who are irresponsible or out of line.

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Comfort

by TerryLema

As I wrote yesterday about the discouragement of having symptoms return from the two auto-immune diseases I battle, I thought more about the Scripture from 1Thessalonians 5:14. The entire verse reads:

“And we exhort you, brothers: warn those who are irresponsible, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” [HCSB]

Comfort the discouraged. Some translations use “encourage” instead of comfort.

For Comfort/Encourage the word is paramutheomai. It comes from two words that mean “Close beside” and “soothing speaking.”  It is comforting that shows sympathy (encouragement), cheering someone up by soothing speech with a personal touch.

It does not mean pumping someone up by false cheerleading! And yet, how often is that the way we interpret encourage. We say, “it’s gonna get better,” or “This too shall pass,” or we throw Scriptures at a person. We may get them revved up for a while, but I guarantee that discouragement will find its way back.

I associate the word “comfort” with a hug (that close beside part of the word), and with a quietness that springs from a gentle and peaceful spirit (that soothing speaking part of the word).

When I am disheartened or discouraged, I just want someone to put their arms around me, pray for me, tell me they love me. I know they usually cannot change my situation, but to know that someone is there for me when I need to reach out brings a deep peace of spirit.

Today: I am thankful for the hugs of fellow believers and their soft words of love.

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The Discouraged

by TerryLema

Recently I suffered a bit of a setback in my battle with these two auto-immune diseases. I have been trying to reduce one of my medications (the one that has the most long-term side effects). I thought I was having some success, less medication, no sign of the PMR or GCA. Then one morning, the symptoms returned in the form of a lot of pain.

I always have fatigue (which can be caused by the diseases, the medications, or the long-term effects of the virus I had a while back). I try to ignore the fatigue. When the pain returned, however, I knew my plan to get off the meds was not working. It was certainly discouraging. But then discouragement is often part of life. And it is certainly a tactic of the enemy of our soul.

When the Jews returned from captivity in Babylon after 70 years, Ezra energized the people to begin to rebuild the temple. The inhabitants of the land did everything they could to discourage them. “Then the people who were already in the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build.” [Ezra 4:4 HCSB]

Later when Nehemiah came to Jerusalem and set to rebuild the wall to protect the city, he experienced the same thing.  “For they were all trying to intimidate us, saying, ‘They will become discouraged in the work, and it will never be finished.’” [Nehemiah 6:9 HCSB]

If the enemy can keep us in a state of discouragement, he knows the work will not get done. It is difficult to walk worthy of the calling of the LORD in good times, it is next to impossible to do it when we are beat down with discouragement.

But there is help.  Paul reminded the Thessalonian church to “comfort the discouraged” in 1Thessalonians 5:14.

God has provided a comfort and as believers we are to bring that comfort to those who are beaten down by the setbacks of life.

Today: Thank you LORD for Your comfort, and for Your children who share it with those who are discouraged.

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Fear!

by TerryLema

I have been listening to the news coming out of Russia and Putin’s threats of a nuclear war if he does not get what he wants. It was clearly a fear-tactic, common among megalomaniacs and dictators. It has been used down through history because it clearly works. Fear of what might happen often cripples people into compliance.

The news reminded me of Luke 21 when Jesus’ disciples asked Him “What will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” [21:7 HCSB]

Jesus responded, “Watch out that you are not deceived.” [vs 8 HCSB]

Then He began to outline the signs that would take place at the end of the age. He told them many would pretend to be Him, there would be wars and rebellions. He talked of earthquakes, famines, and plagues. Then He told them about persecutions and captivity that would come.

Finally, He spoke of the signs in the heavenlies in verses 25-28. I found it interesting that Jesus does not mention fear until that part of the prophecy. “People will faint from fear and expectation of the things that are coming on the world, because the celestial powers will be shaken.” [vs 26]

It is when God enters the picture that a fear unlike any other will enter mankind. “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” [vs 27]

And if you are reading along with me this morning in Luke 21, you must love how the next verse begins … “But …”

“But when these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near!”

Today: Amen, LORD, thank you, no matter what the world looks like, our redemption is assured!

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A Trip, A Chair, A Pizza

by TerryLema

Recently Bob and I took a little trip, and I do mean little. We got in the car and traveled about 20 miles to a nearby town. We ate lunch at a lovely little diner. Then we went to a furniture store in that little town and bought a chair.

I have been very uncomfortable lately. My back and neck ache. I thought maybe it was stemming from not having a chair in the house where my back is properly supported. We bought a mid-sized rocker/recliner and hopefully, that will help my back and neck.

We came back to Caldwell and decided to get a pizza from the local Papa Murphy’s to have for dinner. We were gone from a little before 11AM to 2 PM, about three hours. We spent the next few hours rearranging the furniture so we could put the new recliner in the same location as the old recliner. By the time we were done, it felt like we had worked a 40-hour week!

Growing old-er wasn’t so bad. Being old is a different story. Last night I would have traded every bit of wisdom I am supposed to have garnered over the years for a little strength from when I was young-er.

In one of Job’s discussions with his three so-called friends, Job spoke of old age and wisdom.  “Wisdom is found with the elderly and understanding comes with long life.” [Job 12:12 HCSB]

I agree with Job – and I also disagree with Job. Not all old-er people are wise. That is probably because they were not very teachable when they were young-er. If you will not learn at any age, you certainly will not become wise as you age.

Job went on, however, and in the next verse he told his comforters just where the wisdom of the elderly comes from.  “Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are His.” [Job 12:13 HCSB]

Today: Thank you LORD that I found life in You and the wisdom, strength, counsel and understanding that belong to You – and which You so graciously impart to Your children.

 

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