Past Devotions

Believing

by TerryLema

A couple Sunday’s ago The Way had a guest speaker. Her message was about “Crazy Faith” and she shared some of the miracles God had done in her life and the lives of others that she witnessed. At the end, she asked anyone who needed a miracle to come forward. I do, so I did. I was the only one who did.

She prayed for a miracle healing from the auto-immune diseases that want to control my body. I am believing for that miracle.

My auto-immune diseases had been under “control” until recently. In the last month, they flared up again. In addition to the diseases, I have had to deal with the side effects of the medications. Yes, I need a miracle.

I will admit that I have learned a lot dealing with chronic disease. That said, however, I think God now wants me to be healed. So, I am putting this in writing … I received a miracle on Sunday.

I am believing with “crazy faith” that God is healing my body of chronic disease. He is opening up a new way for me.

I want “crazy faith” to believe for a miracle – not just for me, but for you also!

“Way Maker, Miracle Worker, Promise Keeper, Light in the Darkness … my God, that is Who You are!”

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My God

by TerryLema

I love music. My mother played a mean piano, and then eventually a home organ. My dad had a collection of records that ranged from Dixieland Jazz to classic. Music was part of my life growing up. My tastes run a bit like my dad’s. I love almost all kinds of music with a few more “modern” exceptions. Not fond of Hip Hop or RAP or a few others that appeal to these latest generations.

A couple Sunday’s ago we had a guest speaker. That allowed Pastor Laura to do worship. She included the song, “Way Maker” written by Nigerian gospel singer Sinach.

I really love that song.  The chorus lists characteristics of our God. “And You are Way Maker, miracle worker, Promise keeper, light in the darkness, My God, that is who You are.”

 A friend from church gave me a lovely coffee mug inscribed with that chorus on one side and my name on the other. I use it every day for my afternoon iced coffee. And as I use it, I am reminded that …

I am reminded that my God makes a way where there is no way. I am reminded that He is a miracle working God. I am reminded that all the promises in Him are “Yes” and “Amen.” I am reminded that my God has taken me out of the darkness and brought me into His Kingdom of Light.  That is my God – that is Who He is!

What do you need today? Do you need to find which way to go? Do you need a miracle? Do you need to be reminded of one of the promises we have in God and how we can appropriate it today? Is your way dark, do you need to be led to the light?

That is my God. That is your God. That is Who He is. Call on Him!

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Be Filled by the Holy Spirit

by TerryLema

In that lovely passage in Ephesians 5, titled Consistency in the Christian Life in my Bible, Paul reminds us of a number of things imperative in our Christian walk. First, we need to make the most of our time, and second, we are to avoid any action or thought that leads us away from God as His beloved children.

Third, we are to be “filled with the Spirit” of God. In case we might not know what being filled with the Holy Spirit means, Paul goes on to show us just a tiny bit of what the Spirit does in us.

“…speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music from your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.”  [vs 18-21 HCSB]

Being “filled with the Spirit” involves action. It is not a passive event but one that promotes activity in our own hearts and in the lives of others. Look at those verbs … speaking to one another, singing, and making music, giving thanks, submitting to one another.

There is so much in the Scriptures regarding the Holy Spirit. There is fruit born through Him. There are gifts that He grants to flow through us. He teaches us how to pray. He is our Helper. He is the guardian of our inheritance. You could spend a year or more just searching the Word of God for all that the Holy Spirit does.

For me, I love those verses in Ephesians 5. He enables us to sing and make music from my heart to the LORD.

LORD, let me always make music in my heart to You! Amen

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Consistency in the Christian Life

by TerryLema

Yesterday as I was reading in Ephesians 5, I was led by the Holy Spirit to think about the last seven months of my life—those months where I have been adjusting to retirement. I wondered if I had been “making the most of the time,” or simply whiling it away. That thought is contained in a passage labeled in my Bible as “Consistency in the Christian Life.”

After Paul reminds his readers (and me) about redeeming the time, he goes on to other things. First, he tells us what we should avoid, and second, what we should be doing instead.

“And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit.” [vs 18 HCSB]

We are not to get drunk with wine because that leads to reckless actions. So often we breeze by that warning because we do not drink and alcohol is not a temptation for us, but I think the warning is far deeper than just a warning about wine.  If we go back to the passages that begin Ephesians 5, we see far more and broader warnings.

The chapter begins by telling us to be “imitators of God, as dearly loved children.” We are to walk “in love.”

Then it reminds us to avoid a number of things … some of which we can even find in the church today, things like, sexual immorality, impurity, greed, coarse and fooling talking, crude joking. We are told to not participate in the fruitless works of darkness, or partner with those who promote “empty arguments.”

I believe we could embrace Paul’s warning as encompassing anything that promotes the reckless actions that lead us away from God or diminishes or thwarts our walk as dearly loved children of God.

Instead, we are to be “filled by the Spirit.” (Tomorrow)

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August Already?

by TerryLema

Where has the time gone? Seems like I just retired at the end of 2021 and now we are more than halfway through 2022. And what have I done or accomplished in these last seven months. Ah, from my perspective my greatest accomplishment has been “adjusting to being “retired.”

Reading Ephesians 5 this morning gave me a bit of a shock. My Bible translation calls this passage, “Consistency in the Christian Life.” Verses 15-17 jumped off the page and into my heart.

“Pay careful attention, then to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise—making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So don’t be foolish but understand what the Lord’s will is.” [HCSB]

“Making the most of the time” is often translated as “redeeming the time,” meaning to intentionally walk in wisdom and in submission to the LORD. It means seeking His will. It means staying away from the sinful things of this world. It means walking each day in the ways of God that lead to holiness and maturity (as Paul goes on to explain in the following verses).

Time is the one thing we all possess equally. There are exactly 24 hours in each day, 1440 minutes. No one has more and no one has less.

Someone wrote, “Time is a gift of God,” and if that is true, then it means we need to carefully steward it like we must do with all God’s gracious gifts.

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Greed

by TerryLema

We live in a consumer economy. That is defined as an economy that relies heavily on how much people are buying and spending. I am not an economist, but it seems to me that this type of economy is dependent on making us either use up what we have so we need more (like food, gas, etc.) or making us desire or want more. In other words, encouraging us to be covetous or greedy.

Since retiring I’m spending a bit more time in front of the television than I did. I have been subjected to more commercials that are designed to make me want more … advertisements that feed greed.

I am 75 years old and I must admit I have seldom heard messages about greed, and I must also admit that I have seldom brought a message about greed.  All the while, greed has spread throughout our nation and, yes, even the church.

In Mark 7, Jesus had a confrontation with the Pharisees about the traditions of the elders involving the ceremonial washing of hands, vessels, couches, etc. He pointed out that it is not what goes into a person that is important but what comes out of them.

“What comes out of a person—that defiles him.  For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, promiscuity, stinginess, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness.   All these evil things come from within and defile a person.” [7:20-23 HCSB]

The word for greed is pleonexia, and is often translated as covetousness, avarice, aggression, or a desire for advantage. Pleonexia comes from two words meaning 1) numerically more, and 2) the desire for more (things), i.e., lusting for a greater number of temporal things that go beyond what God determines is eternally best.

I am not sure where I am going with these thoughts this morning, but it was that second meaning of the Greek word used for greed that really has me searching and thinking … “lusting for a great number of temporal things that go beyond what God determines is eternally best.”

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I Will Remember

by TerryLema

King David assigned worship leaders in 1 Chronicles 6:31-32. One of those men, a descendant of Levi was named Asaph. You may have noted his name in the superscriptions on some of the psalms, specifically Psalms 50, and 73-83. Like David, Asaph was a skilled singer and poet. He was a gifted individual, and he recognized his gifts as coming from God.

I was reading Psalm 77 this morning. Asaph is struggling in the beginning of the song with his emotions and expresses his troubles. He seems to be seeking God, but unable to find Him.  Then in verse 11, everything changes.

“I will remember the LORD’s works; yes, I will remember Your ancient wonders. I will reflect on all You have done and meditate on Your actions.” [HCSB]

What follows is a retelling of the Exodus when God parted the Red Sea and when Moses and Aaron led the people through.

“I will remember … I will remember … I will reflect … and meditate.”

Asaph retold the story of God’s glory among His people. Asaph remembered, reflected, and meditated.

When we are going through life-altering events, when we are surrounded by enemies of our soul, when we are stunned by the actions of others – it is a good thing to remember the story of God’s glory in our lives. We need to look back and see how God has moved in other life-altering events. We need to see His glory and grace as He has ministered to us along our way.

Have you ever told others your story? Have you shared the deepest, darkest moments of life that God brought you through? Have you recorded, as Asaph did, the glorious miracles God has wrought for you?

Might be a good time to start – leave a legacy of God for others to follow.

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Are We Done Yet?

by TerryLema

Are we done yet with the heat! It has been near 100 degrees for weeks, sometimes a few degrees over and occasionally a few degrees under, but usually right around that 100 mark. I know “it’s a dry heat,” but it is still miserable.

The worse part about this time of year is the compound effect of hot days. Sure, in the spring we get a hot day now and again, but usually that is followed by some relief. The house cools down, the AC is not needed, windows are opened and walking outside once again becomes delightful.

When we hit these summer months of consistent hot temperatures, the house never cools down, the AC blasts 24 hours a day, mornings begin hot and walking outside is unbearable before the day barely begins.

As I sat here this morning, at 5 AM and 75 degrees already, I thought about the compound effect of not just the hot days, but the compound effect of the storms of life as well.

We can handle the occasional storm, but when they follow one on top of another, we get increasingly worn down and discouraged. That is where our nation, our society is right now.  Pandemic. Rising cost of food, gas. People being priced out of their homes and apartments. Mass Shootings. War. There is little around us on a daily basis to delight our hearts and minds.

Well, that is not exactly true. There is little around us on a daily basis to encourage us if we are only listening to the evening newscast. There is much around us to encourage us if we turn our attention to the daily Holy Spirit Good Newscast!

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17: “May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal encouragement and good hope by grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good work and word.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father has loved us and given us eternal encouragement and good hope by His Grace. Eternal Encouragement. That is sufficient for each and every day.

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A Miracle Life

by TerryLema

I read a thought from Charles Spurgeon that stopped me in my tracks. “The life of a believer is a series of miracles wrought by ‘the Mighty God.’”

We love miracles, all of us do. Nothing better than to hear about a miracle. Maybe it’s a tumor that was there and after prayer suddenly isn’t. Or perhaps it’s an accident that should have happened while we were driving to work but somehow didn’t. Miracles do come in all shapes and sizes and to many different people.

But when I read Spurgeon’s comment that the life of a believer is a series of miracles, it truly made me stop and think. I came from a family whereby all indications I should be in therapy today! But God called me, me! He gave me an invitation to become His child. Then He provided the grace I needed to respond positively to that invitation. He did away with the old man inside me that had a dark, corrupted heart and made a new creation in me. He turned my hard heart into one that was tender before Him.

If that was not enough, He sent His Spirit to dwell in me, to lead, convict, guide, teach, enable me to become more like His Son, Jesus, my Savior. He speaks to me – God speaks to me! He speaks of His love for me – for me!

He has provided a miracle healing for a child of mine; He has kept a marriage going for 55 years; He has opened doors I needed to walk through and closed others.

He has promised me an inheritance kept for me in heaven. He’s promised rewards and crowns and the wonder of an eternity spent in His presence.

This is not limited to “me” – every believer can write a story like this of the miracles that have flowed into their lives from the Mighty God. What’s your story?

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The Good Shepherd

by TerryLema

I am seeking the care of my Shepherd today, looking for those green pastures and quiet waters He promises the weary and worn. What better place to find Him than in John 10, the chapter about our “Good Shepherd?”

Jesus says three things in that chapter that make my heart rejoice, but first he reminds us that He alone is the doorway to the sheepfold. There is no confusion, no uncertainty, no debate. We enter through Him, He is “the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but through Him.” [John 10:7, 14:6]

But then Jesus goes on and tells his disciples what we will have when we enter His sheepfold. First, we have life, but not just any life – abundant life. When we enter that sheepfold, we give up death. It must relinquish its hold upon us because Jesus has made us alive in Him. [v10]

Not only do we have life, abundant life, but we have the assurance and the security that our “Good Shepherd” lays down His life for His sheep. No foe can harm us. We may face opposition in this life, we may even be taken from this life by the wickedness and evil around us, but we go straight to the loving arms of our Father God because God’s Son, Christ Jesus our LORD, gave His life on that cross for us. [v11]

The third thing Jesus reminds His disciples is that He knows His own sheep (and they know His voice). He knows us! He does not just know about us, or lump us all together in a group, or see us all the same. He knows us individually, our deepest needs, regrets, desires and wants. He knows our voice when we call out to Him and responds to us so that we grow to recognize His voice. [v14]

Ah, beloved, what a wonderful green pasture by a quiet stream to rest in today. Think about the Shepherd who opened the door, laid His life down for us, protects us, and speaks words of love, grace, and mercy to us.

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