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Devotions

“X” Marks the Spot

by TerryLema

I was watching an easy-going murder mystery on the Hallmark Mystery Movie channel the other day. In the story, a young man found a treasure map in something he bought. He decided to search for the treasure.  He used Google Earth to find the lake, figured out the clues and rode his bicycle to the spot of the “X.” After getting permission from the property owner, he started to dig, certain he was going to find pirate’s gold.

Of course, there was no pirate’s gold, but he did find something precious to the old man who owned the property, a long-lost memento of his deceased wife and son. “X” did mark the spot for the old man.

For us, our “X” is in the shape of a cross, for it is in Christ that we find all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  Col 2:3: “Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” [NIV]

In one sense those treasures are hidden, and we need to search and dig for them by diligently studying our Bibles.  In another sense, however, they are readily open and available to us.

God is not seeking to keep His treasures from us. In fact, He has sent His Spirit to encourage and enable us to obtain the wisdom and knowledge of Christ. His Spirit empowers us, but there still must be cooperation and effort on our part.

Father, thank you that in Christ I may find all the wisdom and knowledge I need for life. Give me a great desire to discover the wisdom and knowledge of Christ. Amen.

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No Beauty

by TerryLema

Isa 53:2: “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” [NIV]

Ps 27:4: “One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.” [NIV]

Isaiah 53 paints a word picture of God’s Messiah, the Suffering Servant Savior. It is not a pretty picture. It speaks of bruising and crushing, punishment and wounds, judgment and slaughter and the grave. It breaks the heart to read it.

Many movies have been made about the life of Jesus and the portrayals of Him on the cross are more than I can bear to watch–even knowing that the portrayals are done with special effects and make-up. I cannot even imagine what those who loved Him witnessed that day so long ago. There was no beauty to behold then.

Yet, it is precisely because He endured the bruising and crushing, the punishment and wounds, the judgment and slaughter and the grave that we desire to gaze upon Him now.

Now this One who had no beauty or majesty to attract us, is the center of everything beautiful in our lives.

Now our one desire, all the days of our life, is to gaze upon Him and seek Him.

Lord, the most beautiful sunrise is nothing in comparison to you. The most elegant flower of creation pales when placed in Your nail-pierced hands. How I long to stand in Your presence and see with heavenly eyes the beauty which has so captured my heart. Amen.

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God of the Valley

by TerryLema

I got to church early Sunday morning and set up my computer and the projector, got my mic on. Then I rested (still dealing with fatigue). Bob had moved one of the rockers out of the nursery to the back of the church so I could sit before the service. I opened up YouTube and played some of my favorite music videos and prayed as I waited for people to arrive. One of the selections that came up was Lynda Randle singing “God on the Mountain.”  (Link below)

I cannot say for certain, but I suspect the idea for “God on the Mountain” came from 1 Kings 20. That chapter tells of an assault on King Ahab and the Kingdom of Israel by Ben-hadad King of Aram (with 32 other kings).  Ben-hadad first invited Ahab to surrender and allow Israel to be plundered. When Ahab refused, Ben-hadad and his armies took up positions against the capital city of Samaria.

A prophet came to Ahab and promised that God would hand over Ben-hadad’s great army in defeat, which is exactly what happened.

After the defeat, Ben-hadad decided to come back next spring and try again. His reasoning was that the “gods (of Israel) are gods of the hill country … we should fight with them on the plain.” [vs 23 HCSB]

In the spring, once again faced with Ben-hadad’s great army, a prophet of God promised Ahab, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Arameans have said: Yahweh is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys, I will hand over all this great army to you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’” [vs 28 HCSB]

Of course, God’s promise held true. The God on the Mountain was also God in the valley. And as the lyrics of the song say, He’s God in the good times and God in the bad times. The God of the day is still God of the night.

It is not about where we are right this moment – on a mountain or in a valley. It is not about whether we are enduring a long night or delighting in the sunlight. It is not about good times or bad. No, it is NOT about where we are … it is all about WHO He is!

Lynda Randle - God On the Mountain (Live) - Bing video
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I hope I never recover from this …

by TerryLema

Well, there was a one-day delay but William Shatner at 90 years old made it into space on Wednesday October 13.

The man who played Captain James T Kirk of the Starship Enterprise on movie sets for three seasons pretending to be deep in space finally touched the very edge of space for real. Seeing him exit his space craft last Wednesday, overcome with emotion, was touching.

As I watched him two things struck my soul. First, he remarked that he did not want to do somersaults in the zero-gravity environment, he simply wanted to look out the window. Pictures show the other astronauts flipping around the capsule while Shatner’s nose is pressed against the window.

The second thing that lingered with me was his comment, “I hope I never recover from this ….”  In other words, I hope I never allow the overpowering glory of this experience to fade or lose its intensity!

As I thought about those words, I remembered Peter’s words in his first letter. “For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.  He was chosen before the foundation of the world but was revealed at the end of the times for you ….” [1 Peter 1:18-21 HCSB]

“You were redeemed … with the precious blood of Christ.”

 I remember the moment that happened. At the time I may not have understood what it cost my LORD to do that for me, but I was aware of the emotion and my surrender. Over time, the cost of my redemption has become more precious as I grow closer to my Savior and LORD.

The more I think about my redemption and that precious blood of Christ (the Lamb of God chosen before the foundation of the world for me!), the more I echo Shatner’s words. “I hope I never recover from this ….” 

 

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Confirmations!

by TerryLema

I am often amazed by the LORD. I will sense His presence with me and stop in amazement that He loves me and wants to be with me. He will do something unexpected and delightful (like that parking place!) and I am amazed that He cares for even the smallest things in my life.

Then there are the confirmations – perhaps they surprise and amaze me the most.

I had spent the last few days reviewing the resumes and listening to sermons of candidates applying for my position. I had picked my top three and sent them on to the committee chairman. Maybe I was thinking a bit about what the new year might hold for me.

Then in the middle of the night while I was in one of those times when I was not sure if I was dreaming or awake, I heard the wonderful verse from Jeremiah 29:11: “’For I know the plans I have for you’—this is the Lord’s declaration—’plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’” [NKJV]

When I opened my computer the next morning, I checked one of my daily verses and just gazed at it. It was Jeremiah 29:11. God confirmed to my heart what He spoke to me in the middle of the night.

God loves us. He speaks to us often. He wants us to hear Him! He will confirm His word to us to assure us we are hearing correctly! Bless His Great Name!

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Seeing the Invisible!

by TerryLema

As I was reading in 2 Corinthians 4 yesterday about having the Light of the World treasure in our earthen vessels, I came to the end of that chapter and to verses that seem to take on more of an importance in my life as each year passes.

 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” [verses 16-18, NKJV]

Paul, a few verses earlier described his “light affliction” using words like “hard pressed,” “perplexed,” “persecuted,” and “delivered to death.”

Those words do not sound anything like “light affliction!”

The thing about those words that is extremely significant, however, is that they are “temporary.” They are what we see now, but they are not what we will see in eternity.

The eternal words found in those verses are “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory!”

Whatever temporary light affliction we experience here remains here. Whether it is “hard pressed,” “perplexed,” “persecuted,” “delivered to death,” or cancer, ALS, old age, or anything else, they remain in the grave while we walk straight through into that “far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory!”

It is those yet unseen things that we live for now! Amen & Amen!

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Broken Vessels

by TerryLema

I have one more thought about light this morning. It is a story I have told often, so you are probably already familiar with it.  But it is a story that illustrates the light in us that I want to think about again today.

My grandson Carter and I used to love to go to the Boise Art Museum (BAM) on our frequent excursions around town when he was younger. We usually timed our visits to the arrival of a new exhibit. One of those exhibits was vases. Now looking at vases is probably not high on my list of things I want to spend an afternoon doing, yet these vases made more of an impression on my life than any other art exhibit I viewed.

The vases were all different sizes and shapes and were uniquely “decorated” with woodland and ocean scenes. I originally thought they were simply painted, but when we watched a video of their creation, I was awestruck.

First the artist made the glass vase. Then he proceeded to cover it with applications of color, one on top of another, layer upon layer – browns, greens, yellows, blues, reds … firing each one after application.

Then he scored the vase, digging down into each color by cutting into the layers of color to “create” a scene. Finally, a light was inserted into the vase so that the beauty was revealed. Light shown through each “scar” created. As I stood there the Scripture from 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 flooded my soul.

“For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” [NKJV]

The Light of the World indwells us. In our earthen vessels, which are often beaten, scarred, and broken by life, He abides.

Often the more broken and scarred we are, the more of His light is revealed.

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Light on a Hill

by TerryLema

Jesus declared that He is the “Light of the World.” He said that if we follow Him, we “will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.” [John 8:12 HCSB]

Jesus also said something even more amazing. In His Sermon on the Mount, He declared, “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.”  [Matthew 5:14 HCSB]

When I have heard messages about our being “the light of the world,” I have usually heard that Jesus is the like the sun generating light, and we are like the moon reflecting light. I am not quite sure that is the way I would define it since that seems to describe things that are “far apart” (like the sun and moon).

Surrendered believers are indwelt by the very Spirit of Christ Jesus. The true “Light of the World” takes up residence in our hearts (that is about as close as it can get!).

As we commit more and more to obedience and to His guidance, we “allow” more and more of the brilliant Spirit of Christ to be seen in and through us. We become like that city on a hill that turns on all its lights when the darkness falls.

As the world becomes darker around us, our light should become brighter.

That is our prayer, LORD Jesus. Amen!

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Victorious Light!

by TerryLema

The days are getting darker.  The first day of autumn was September 22. This is also known as the autumnal equinox. An equinox happens twice a year, in the spring and in the fall. The equinox is when the sun’s center crosses the equator and day and night are of equal length everywhere.

Since that first day of autumn, we have more dark in our day than we have light.  For many, that signals a seasonal affective disorder from lack of sunlight. Energy depletes and moods are less stable. Treatment usually involves adding light therapy to our days.

I actually like the change from summer to fall. I do not mind the darker winter evenings. Summer where we live with the heat and light until 11 PM at night is much harder for me to handle.

What started me thinking about light and darkness was reading John 8:12 this morning. “Then Jesus spoke to them again: ‘I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.’” [HCSB]

I was reminded once again that when I surrendered my life to Christ Jesus as Savior and LORD, the Spirit of God came to indwell. Now the “Light of the World” is the “light of [my] life.” I never need be in the dark again.

Our days are getting darker – literally since the autumnal equinox. And if we look at the climate of our world, we might say that our days are getting darker socially, politically, and spiritually.

No matter what is happening outside of us, inside our hearts the light of life always shines. Nothing can put it out, overcome it or diminish it. Christ is victorious over my darkness.

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Cravings

by TerryLema

My brand of COVID did not include losing my sense of smell and taste. It was, in fact, the opposite. The nausea and stomach upset seemed to be affected by an increased sense of smell. Even the wax burner with the pleasant apple and cinnamon wax (which I usually like) was disagreeable.

Since I am now in the recovery phase, I find that my food desires have definitely changed. All I want to eat are carbs. My dinner last night consisted of half a baked potato with a little butter, salt, and a skim of shredded cheese. I crave potatoes, rice, pasta, bananas, apples … and, of course, cookies.

None of those things make a good diabetic diet. Usually, I eat a little lean meat, lots of veggies, and some fruit.  Now I don’t even like to think about veggies. And meat – not so much. I hope this doesn’t last … I want to get back to managing my diet as I should.

I find in my recovery that I have another craving … this one is a delightful one.  I want more of the LORD today than I had yesterday. I look at each day now as a gift from God. I need to … I want to spend more quality time with Him.

The psalmist put it this way: “As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, God. I thirst for God, the living God.” [Psalm 41:1-2 HCSB]

I do not know “why” God allowed COVID into my life. I do not know “why” the fatigue seems to linger. Maybe it is to remind me that my longing for Him had waned a bit and my focus on Him had dimmed.

This morning, my longing and my thirst for the living God has my attention. Thank you, LORD. Amen

 

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