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Devotions

I Got Nothing

by TerryLema

I have been reading a new book. I am not sure how it was picked for me on my Amazon Kindle Daily Deals email, but I am glad it was. It is “Defiant Grace: The Surprising Message and Mission of Jesus” by Dane Ortlund.

The book looks at “Defiant Grace” in each of the Gospels. So far, I have made it through Chapter 1 on Matthew. After finishing that first chapter, I realized that this is one of those books that I am going to have to read, and then go back and read again, and read maybe a third time to fully appreciate the message. But one sentence in Chapter 1 brought me up short.

“… in the kingdom of God the one thing that qualifies us is knowing that we don’t, and the one thing that disqualifies us is thinking that we do. In other words, all we need is to know our need. To put it briefly, the only thing to offer is the single statement: ‘I have nothing to offer.’” 

That sentence made me stop and ask God, “Why?” “Why me?” “Why would you call me to be your child?”

I was a difficult child, a rebellious teenager. I’ve been a thief, a liar, am often arrogant, impatient, and unkind. I fail often. In other words, I have been (and am still) a sinner. But I am also something more because two of the most wonderful words ever uttered appeared in my life … “But God ….”

“We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!” [Ephesians 2:3-5 HCSB]

“But God” rich in mercy saved me and made me His child.

I am a sinner, now saved by His amazing grace. I am a child of God. And when I realize that I am not qualified to be His child, that I have nothing to offer Him, I am overcome with “Why me?” I will never be able to answer that question, but I can rest in His love, mercy and grace.

Thank you, Father!

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Today

by TerryLema

Today is the day The Way Middleton will meet the pastoral candidate selected by the Recruitment Committee to replace me. There will be a message, a Meet & Greet Potluck, followed by a vote. If this candidate is voted in, my last day will be December 31 … and my last Sunday will be December 26.

It is becoming very real that soon my life will change dramatically. I am soon to be 75 years old. I am not going to be doing the same thing I have been doing for so long. I am sure God has something for me, I am just unsure of what that might be. And not knowing is definitely not my favorite place to be!

I am a planner. I am a little bit OCD. I like knowing where I am going, how I am going to get there and when I will arrive. Right now, I have no idea.

I feel a bit like my son when he was little. Before we left the house each morning for school, he wanted to know what was for dinner that night. If I did not know, he would become upset and his whole day would be more difficult. Of course, if I told him we were having meatloaf and he came home to spaghetti, he was still upset. I think I know from whom he got those attitudes!

I am praying that God has His best for The Way going forward. I am praying that God has His best for me going forward.

I am just fussing a bit this morning that He has yet to reveal what His best for me is. I want to know, am I having meatloaf or spaghetti! (Smile!)

 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.” [Proverbs 3:5-6 HCSB]

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Everything We Have

by TerryLema

In the middle of last Sunday’s song service, I was overcome with a truth. One of those “Ah ha” moments that can come when we sing a song or read a Scripture or pray a prayer.  It may be something we already know or have studied in the past, but now rather than just knowing … we KNOW!

This “Ah ha” moment came as we sang the song, “Above All.” As I was singing the chorus, I felt the LORD touch me deeply.

“Crucified, laid behind a stone. You lived to die, rejected and alone. Like a rose trampled on the ground: You took the fall and thought of me above all.”

I realized in that moment that everything I have, everything I am as a child of God is mine because Jesus sacrificed something of Himself.

“For [God] made [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” [2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV]

“[Jesus] Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness; you have been healed by His wounds.” [1 Peter 2:24 HCSB]

And that is just the beginning. For every blessing, every benefit, everything we have in God, Jesus sacrificed something that those things might be ours.

As we count our blessings this month – as we gratefully come before our God with praise and thanksgiving, let us be reminded of what our salvation and acceptance cost our LORD and Savior.

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I Want My Song Back …!

by TerryLema

We welcomed a beloved evangelist and his wife at The Way Middleton last Sunday. They have been with us a number of times in the past years, and we love having them return. (David & Loretta Hoole, The Joseph Company)

In the past when David brought his message, God always had something special for me. This time was no different.

During the message, David talked about a recent bout he and Loretta had with a well-known virus. It was just around the time I had my bout. Loretta had a more severe case, and it took her a bit longer to recover. One day she suddenly felt better and said, “I have my song back.” Apparently, Loretta likes to sing throughout the day.

In that moment, I realized I have lost my song. At end of service, I acknowledged that need and David & Loretta prayed for me.

I have not lost my love for my Savior. I have not lost my amazement at God’s grace and mercy for me. I sing and praise My beloved LORD at every opportunity.

But, I have lost the song of passion in my heart. Maybe it has been the struggle with pain and medication side effects over the last three years that took that song from me. Maybe it was my own neglect that allowed that song to silence. Maybe it the uncertainty of what I will be doing in the new year. But as I stood in church last Sunday, I realized my song was gone. And I realized I want it back.

It is time to “sing a new song to the LORD.” [Psalm 96:1, 98:1, 149:1, Isaiah 41:20]

It is time for a new passion.

It is time to seek a deeper awareness of the LORD’s presence.

I will yet “sing a new song to the LORD!”

 

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Checkup Day

by TerryLema

I have my six-month checkup with my primary provider this morning, along with my Medicare annual checkup. I started a list of things last week that I want to run by her. With each passing year I find more and more things populate that list! I used to be able to remember the things I needed on that list, but I find I now need to write them down.

As I thought about my checkup for physical things, I was reminded that we should do a spiritual checkup on occasion. I run my physical and mental health past my primary provider on a regular basis. Maybe I should run my spiritual health past my LORD and Master on a regular basis.

David, in his wonderful Psalm 139, ends his song with a “check-up” request.

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.” [vs 23-24 HCSB]

David went to the Great Physician and asked Him to check out his heart. He asked God to test him, to see if there was anything spiritually unhealthy in him. That is a prayer that God always answers. After putting that prayer before our Maker, however we need to be prepared for His answer!

David knew God would reveal anything spiritually unhealthy in his heart, but he also understood one very important truth. God would lead him “in the everlasting way.” God would provide the way, the healing plan, for David to follow.

When we ask God to reveal our hearts to us, it is with a comforting certainty that while He might find things that should not be there, He will always provide a way (the everlasting way) for us to overcome those very same things.

Bless His Holy Name! Amen

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Pieces & Parts

by TerryLema

I was talking with someone recently about how society (and even the church) has a distorted comprehension of the LORD Christ Jesus, how we pick out the parts of His life and His words that we like and ignore the parts we do not like.

While we probably do not care for hell, fire, and brimstone messages (we are lovers of grace and mercy), still we cannot ignore the things Jesus said about hell and judgment.

“Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” [Matthew 10:28 HCSB]

God created us. As our Creator, He has the authority to determine the standards by which we live. He has been very clear about those standards and the consequences of not abiding by them.

God, however, in His gracious mercy, knew we would need His help. He sent His Son who brought grace and truth to us. He took our punishment and judgment and offered His righteousness to us. He provided us with a “great salvation.”

Now we have a choice, a choice that the author of Hebrews reminds us not to ignore. “How will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.” [Hebrews 2:3 HCSB]

We cannot remove the pieces and parts of Jesus’ life and words that we do not like to hear. We cannot ignore the fact that He spoke about hell and the consequences of rejecting God’s provided salvation. We do harm to the Gospel if we do not speak the whole truth about God’s “great salvation.”

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Fullness

by TerryLema

The other day someone said to me, “I need more of Jesus.”

That comment started me thinking about the word fullness.

“For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him.” [Colossians 1:19]

“For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ” [Colossians 2:9]

“Pleroma” is the Greek word translated as “fullness” in those passages. It means to fill up to completion, an abundance.

All of God’s fullness dwells in Christ Jesus. All of it. There are no gaps, no insufficiencies, no inadequacies. Nothing has been left out nor withheld.

That has profound meaning for us because Paul goes on to explain that now Christ Jesus who has all the fullness of God lives in us.

“God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” [Colossians 1:27]

“Christ in you ….” That is a most profound and mysterious truth. We have the fullness of Christ in us through the Indwelling Spirit given to us at salvation. We do not just get a little piece of Jesus and “earn more” as we learn to follow Him as His disciples.

We do not need more of Jesus. What we need is to develop a greater awareness of His presence in us and become more obedient to His will and His ways.

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So if you have been raised …

by TerryLema

Every now and then when I feel a bit dry, I run home to one of my favorite passages.  It begins the practical part of Colossians. “So if you have been raised with the Messiah, 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.” [Colossians 3:1-4 HCSB]

This passage reminds me to reset my thinking. It starts with a bang! “So, if you have been raised with the Messiah ….”

I am reminded that my “if” has been changed to a “since.” It changed in August 1973! I was dead in my trespasses but now I have been made alive by God’s great mercy brought to me by Christ Jesus. Not only that, but I have also now been raised up and seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus my LORD. (Isn’t it amazing what changing “if” to “since” brings in our life!)  [Ephesians 2:1-10]

Since I have been raised, I now am to seek what is above where my LORD and King is seated in the place of authority, the Right Hand of God. My mind is not to dwell on the things of earth. (The things of earth seek to bring us down to its level, while our King seeks to lift us to be all we can be in Him.)

Oh, what an eternal protection He brings to me. My old life is gone, and this new life is hidden with Christ in God. (Nothing can take us out of the Hand of our Savior.)  [John 10:28-30]

And last of all I am reminded that my final and eternal state is glory with Him. (When our LORD returns, “[we] also will be revealed with Him in glory.”

 Funny how just reading that passage nourishes my soul! (I pray it nourished yours also.) Thank you, LORD Jesus. Amen

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Contented?

by TerryLema

It seems every time I turn on the news lately there is more and more about the supply shortages, the ships sitting waiting to be unloaded, not enough trucks or drivers to offload, etc., and how all of this will affect us this Thanksgiving and Christmas. We are urged to buy our turkeys early, buy our Christmas presents early, buy, Buy, BUY.

We live in a consumer economy. We are not a farming economy, nor a manufacturing one. Our economy is based on us buying “stuff.” In order to get us to the store to buy and keep the economy thriving, companies and corporations must make us want more. So, they want us discontented. What we have is no longer good enough, there is a new and improved version we just must have.

Learning to be contented in a consumer economy is a tough road. Contented means satisfied, happy, relaxed, comfortable, comforted. Those words do not describe many in our society or even in our churches. Contentment must be learned as it does not come naturally.

“I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.” [Philippians 4:11b-12 HCSB]

I think the first step to contentment is to realize that contentment is not found in things. We think if we just had a little bit more, we will be content. But when we get that little bit more, we find it is not as satisfying as we thought it would be and we crave just another “little bit more.”

Contentment is found in a person. “Be satisfied with what you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you. Therefore, we may boldly say: The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” [Hebrews 13:5-6 HCSB]

To know that the LORD Christ Jesus is our Ever-Present Helper is the only thing that will bring lasting contentment.

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Socks

by TerryLema

I am a barefoot girl. I love walking around barefoot, however since I have aged, and after three stress fractures in my left foot, I wear shoes and socks per doctor’s orders – even in the house. Does not meet I have to like it!

The one time I have remained barefoot is when I sleep at night. If I actually sleep at night. I have medication-caused hot flashes three or four times a night. They wake me up and it takes a while for them to disappear and allow me to go back to sleep.

A little over a week ago, I turned on the television to catch the evening news. The program before the news was still showing and it captured my attention. It was a sleep doctor who was outlining things people could do to sleep better. He had a number of items on his list, most of which I already do. But the last item caught me by surprise when he said to wear socks to bed. He gave an explanation I did not quite get, something about expanding veins in feet and dissipating core heat.

I thought it sounded a bit odd, but then what did I have to lose? So, for one week now I have worn socks to bed and have not had one hot flash. Not one. (Coincidence?)

How that works is beyond me, it sounds counter intuitive. I should be used to counter intuitive. Usually what God says seems counter intuitive to my human reasoning.

Luke 9:23-24: “Then He said to them all, ‘If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it.’” [HCSB]

One of the greatest tragedies of American Christianity is that so many who claim to be Christian do not seem to have a true understanding of what that means. Jesus said if we want to save our life, we must lose it. That is so counter intuitive to our human reasoning.

We too often forget that our purpose in this life is to be conformed to the image of Christ Jesus. Whatever we are to be in Christ, whatever we are to be as His disciples, can only come about if what we are is allowed to die. [Romans 8:29]

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