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Devotions

King of My Heart (Bethel Music)

by TerryLema

I love the new music that I am hearing in church now. At the same time, I have been reading Facebook posts about the doctrine in them is not as good as the doctrine in the old hymns (which I do love also!). But as I listen to some of the modern music, I cannot help but find some pretty good doctrine in it also!

One of my favorite songs is “King of My Heart.” (Bethel Music)

Let the King of my heart be the mountain where I run

Psalm 18:2: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my mountain where I seek refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

(Let the King of my heart be) The fountain I drink from

Psalm 36:8-9: “They are filled from the abundance of Your house; You let them drink from Your refreshing stream, for with You is life’s fountain.”

 Let the King of my heart Be the shadow where I hide

Psalm 91:1: “The one who lives under the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almighty.”

(Let the King of my heart be) The ransom for my life

Matthew 20:28: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life—a ransom for many.”

Oh, He is my song!

Psalm 9:2: “I will rejoice and boast about You; I will sing about Your name, Most High.”

Oh, yes, I will rejoice for You LORD GOD are my song!

 

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Lavished Love

by TerryLema

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”  [1 John 3:1 NIV]

The KJV says how great is the love the father has BESTOWED on us, and the new Holman Christian Standard says how great is the love the father has GIVEN us.

I like the NIV translators best.  I think they must have been feeling like I feel today.  That English word lavished means bestowed, but it also means heaped, poured, smothered with, showered, covered, and loaded!

Nothing like being showered with the love of our Father God.  The closest thing I can compare to in my life is the love I have for my three grandsons.  I love spending time with them. I love taking them places and showing them new things.  I love giving them gifts.  I love smothering them with hugs and kisses.  As great as my love for them, God’s love is even greater for me and you.

Jesus put it this way, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” [Matt 7:11 NKJV]

How much more?  So much more!  So much more than we can even think or imagine.  And Luke 11:13 tells us these good gifts come to us through the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit comes to us through the sacrifice of God’s Son.  God’s Son comes to us through that great love that the Father has lavished on us.

My praises rise to you today, Father, for Your great love.

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When I Remember

by TerryLema

It was hot when we went to bed last night, and hot when we got up this morning.  I am so looking forward to autumn, my favorite time of the year. I love the days where I run neither the A/C nor the heater, days when I can leave windows open all day and feel the crisp, cool breeze flow in.

There is something about fall aromas which bring back childhood memories, playing in the leaf piles, catching fireflies in the evenings, riding bikes with neighborhood friends.

Memories.  Amazing what can trigger them.  I remember the first winter after we moved to Idaho following decades in sunny California.  I went outside and it was snowing!  The fragrance in the air, the snow on my face, suddenly I was a little girl back in Pennsylvania trying to catch snowflakes on my tongue.  Must have looked quite silly in my work clothes and heels!

I remember buying Jergens hand lotion … again after decades … and suddenly that original almond-cheery lotion had me in the arms of my Aunt Dee, long since gone home to be with the Lord. Aunt Dee was the one woman in my childhood who was stable and whose love I never doubted.   Memories.

Paul often spoke in his letters of remembering people, and almost always tied that to his prayers for them.  He wrote to Philemon, “I always thank my God when I mention you in my prayers.”  [Verse 4 HCSB]

The Lord will remind us of people for which He wants us to pray.  And sometimes He reminds us of people, like my Aunt Dee, who have moved from this life into His presence.  Then I am reminded to be thankful that I was so blessed to have them in my life.  Memories.

 

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A Song of Asaph

by TerryLema

I woke up at 4:30 this morning.  I usually wake up still singing my songs in the night.  Not this morning.  There were no songs in the night last night.  Just a bunch of crazy dreams and unsettled feelings and thoughts. I awoke with a lot on my mind. The Lord took me to Psalm 77, a song of Asaph.  Asaph sounds like he was having the same kind of night I had.

He begins, “I cry out to God; yes, I shout. Oh, that God would listen to me! When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven, but my soul was not comforted.” [vs 1-2 NLT]

Then Asaph begins to remember, not the troubles in the night, but the wonderful ways of the Lord.  He thought of times past, he remembered his songs in the night.  Asaph remembered the deeds of the LORD … the miracles of long ago.

He decided that instead of meditating on the things that brought him discomfort in the night, he would meditate on the works of God and all His mighty deeds.

His conclusion:  What god is so great as our God?

I cannot deny there are challenges in my life at present.  There are things that attempt to wipe out my songs in the night.

I must re-direct my meditations from the challenges to the greatness of our God.  Then the songs will return!

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Learning Christ

by TerryLema

The Greek word “manthano” means to learn or understand.  Paul used it in Ephesians 4 where he was talking about the old man (what we were before) and the new man (what we are now that we have been reborn in Christ).

“But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus.”  [Ephesians 4:20-21 NKJV]

Paul reminds us that it is not simply the doctrine of Christ that we have learned, but Christ Himself.  And it is not just getting to know the person, it is applying the knowledge of Christ as we walk.

This learning Christ changes us.  We walk differently than we did before.  We are no longer bound by the old nature, with all its lusts and futilities, ignorant of God and alienated from Him.

Now we are being moved into maturity.  Our minds are renewed by what we are learning of Christ.  Our new man is moving in true righteousness and holiness.  We think differently, we act differently, we are different.  At least that is what is supposed to happen.

The Bible is very clear that we have a part in our maturing.  God has a plan for us to mature (to be conformed to the image of His Son).  Christ is the way of maturity. The Spirit guides us along the way of maturity. We provide the will to embrace maturity.

Without the involvement of our will, we will never learn Christ.

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Be Quiet!

by TerryLema

Recently God told me to be quiet. I was fussing about something out of my control. I was trying to figure out ways to “fix it.” That is when God told me to stop, take a step back, and be quiet. (FYI, I am not very good at being quiet—about anything!)

Of course, the verse that immediately came to mind was Psalm 46:10a: “Be still and know that I am God.”

 The second half of that verse continues: “I [God] will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” [vs 10b NKJV]

As I considered what God was saying through the Psalmist, I realized that God would not be “exalted” by my fussing and scheming trying to “fix” anything. He will be exalted when I stand still and patiently wait to see what He will do.

Moses said the same thing to the Nation of Israel when they were facing the Red Sea with Pharoah’s army closing in behind them. 

 “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today…. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” [Exodus 14:13:14 HCSB]

God is not exalted by our fussing. He is exalted when we allow Him to have His will in our lives. He is exalted when we quiet our soul and relinquish everything to Him.

I am still learning that! PTL

 

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The Brokenhearted

by TerryLema

I saw a meme on Facebook that resonated with my soul.  “How we walk with the broken speaks louder than how we sit with the great.”

It also made me think about my mentor Pastor Jim. He had a medic’s heart. He used to say that he wasn’t interested in leading a mighty congregation first through the gates of glory. He was interested in being the last one through, gathering up all the wounded and broken along the way.

I think he instilled that passion in me. I feel far more comfortable with the brokenhearted than I do with the mighty. I feel closer to the LORD with my arms around the shattered and grieving.

I think Psalm 34:18 explains why that is. “The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He saves those crushed in spirit.” [HCSB]

When we gather near the brokenhearted, we gather near the LORD who is near to them. We gather near the One who saves those crushed in spirit.

Most of us at some point in life will experience brokenness. Something in life, a loss, a struggle, an illness, will crush us. It is during those times that we need others to come alongside us. It is during those times that we will find the LORD is very near to us. We just need to reach out to Him.

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Grief

by TerryLema

Recently I learned of the passing of two people. The first was a sweet 14-year-old. The second was an old saint of God, 101 years old. Family and friends are grieving their loss.

Succinctly, grief is the price we pay for loving someone. When we love someone, we become vulnerable to loss and to grief. Yet, to me, not loving at all would be a far worse way to live.

The Scriptures remind us that as Christians we do grieve but we grieve differently from the world. We grieve with hope.  “And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.” [1Thessalonians 4:13 NLT]

That does not mean we hurt less. It means we have something incorporated into our mourning that those do not have who live apart from the LORD – HOPE.

We have the hope that this life is not all there is … in fact, this life is a brief burst that will take on eternity when we enter the presence of the LORD we love. There we will gather around the throne with the saints of all the ages. There we will be reunited with loved ones who have entered that eternity before us. There our hope will be fulfilled.

And still, I remember that short little verse in John 11:35, “Jesus wept.”

The very LORD who is our Living Hope stood outside the tomb of His friend, Lazarus, and His Heart broke for all those affected by death—even while He knew that in the next few moments, He would raise Lazarus from the grave.

Loss hurts. We grieve.

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Never Apologize

by TerryLema

Last Sunday, Pastor Paul brought a message out of Psalm 119:9-16. At one point in the message about the Word of God, Pastor Paul said, “never apologize for the Word of God.”

That reminded me of a time when I did just that.

I was in Bible College and going to a church affiliated with the college. There was one professor, a pastor, that I did not like very well. I really did not like his style of preaching. Sometimes I did not agree with his teaching either. My philosophy for taking exams in that class was, “you may not agree with everything, just give him what he wants on the tests.”

One Sunday I invited a friend to church and as it would happen, that pastor was the one bringing the message. I cringed as he spoke and wondered what my friend was thinking. Then came the end of service and the altar call. I was ready to apology for this pastor and the message when my friend brushed me aside and literally ran down to the altar.

In that moment I heard God say, “never apologize for my word or the vessel I use to bring it.”

Had I been able to block my friend and apologize for the message and the messenger, my friend would not have surrendered her life to Jesus that day.

God was gracious to me. Stopped me in my tracks. God was gracious to her. Set her on the right track. Praise His Holy Name!

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As Examples for Us

by TerryLema

There is a quote many of us have seen about serving as an example. “Everyone in life has a purpose, even if it’s to serve as a bad example.” (Carroll Bryant)

My mother often served as an example. She had emotional and mental insecurities and was often unstable in her relationships with family. She gave me some wonderful things – a love for music, reading, writing. But she also gave me an example of the type of mother I did NOT want to be to my children.

I used her example and tried to do things in a better way than she did. Did I always succeed? (You’ll have to ask my children.)

Twice in 1 Corinthians 10, Paul reminds us not to follow the things done by the nation of Israel in the wilderness.

Vs6: “Now these things became examples for us, so that we will not desire evil things as they did.” [HCSB]

Vs11: “Now these things happened to them as examples, and they were written as a warning to us.” [HCSB]

Paul discloses “these things” as desiring evil, becoming idolatrous, committing sexual immorality, testing God, and complaining.

We are to allow the bad examples of the Nation of Israel to warn us not to do the same things that brought death and destruction to them.

 

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