Past Devotions

His Child and Forever I Am

by TerryLema

The other night there was nothing on television worth watching, not even a baseball game. It was 7:00 PM and Bob and I were staring at each other. He suggested I find a war movie on that “other channel.” You have to understand that Bob is extremely electronically challenged. That “other channel” he was talking about was the internet which I occasionally bring up on the television.

When I switched us over and we futilely scanned for a war movie, I convinced him it would be great to spend our evening watching some Christian music videos on YouTube. He agreed, thankfully.

One of the videos that popped up was the old hymn “Redeemed.”  As they began to sing, my heart began to soar, especially when they hit the chorus. “Redeemed, redeemed, Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Redeemed, redeemed, His child, and forever I am.”

I was lifted into praise as I heard them sing that chorus. I was lifted even higher when they got to verse three. “I think of my blessed Redeemer, I worship Him all the day long, I sing, for I cannot be silent! His love is the theme of my song.”

His love is the theme of my song.

There are times when I cannot, and should not, contain the wonder of God’s love for me. No matter how difficult life gets, to know that I am “His child, and forever I am,” is overwhelmingly sufficient for every one of life’s moments.

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Wonder!

by TerryLema

Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the top of a mountain and was transfigured before them.  Coming down from that experience he found the other disciples arguing with some teachers of the law. A large crowd was standing around watching. The argument apparently was focused on a father with a son possessed by a spirit that continually tried to kill him. The other disciples had tried to cast the spirit out but had been unsuccessful. Jesus, however, cast out the spirit and set the young boy free.

This morning as I was reading that chapter, instead of focusing on the transfiguration or the events surrounding Jesus and this father and son, I found myself focusing on a verse between those two events. “As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.” [Mark 9:15]

The people were overwhelmed with “wonder.” The English does not do that Greek word justice. It is a very intensive word, used only in Mark’s Gospel.  It means to “astonish utterly, to greatly amaze.” It even carries a hint of fright.

The people were greatly amazed before they even saw the miracle. They were utterly astonished simply when they saw Jesus.

There is something undefinable that happens when coming face to face with holiness. Moses knew it on the mountain with God, Isaiah felt it when he saw the vision of God high and lifted up in the heavenly temple. The crowd recognized it when Jesus descended from the transfiguration on the mountain.

Oh God, how holy, how wondrous You are. Blessed be the Lord God Almighty. Amen.

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But God, Part 4

by TerryLema

But God. Acts 13:30: “But God raised [Jesus] from the dead.” [HCSB]

“Then He who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through His Spirit who lives in you.” [Romans 8:9-11 HCSB]

Hallelujah!

I hurt in various places. My right knee often gives me trouble. I ruptured a bicep (which they won’t fix at my age). My hair is getting more sparse. Lots of stuff droops and sags. I am sure the floor is further away than when I was younger. In other words, this old body just ain’t what it used to be!

In this life, our bodies are still subject to the curse of death, even though our souls and spirits have been set free.  We truly are in the ‘land of the dying’ heading, as believers, to the ‘land of the living.’ And what a promise God has given us—that He will one day give us a new body, one that will operate in the New Heavens and the New Earth.

I think everyone at some point in life looks back and thinks that their best days are behind them.  But, beloved, as followers of Christ the truth is that our best days are still ahead of us!

Hallelujah!

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But God, Part 3

by TerryLema

But God. Heb 12:10-11: “but [God] [disciplines] for our benefit, so that we can share His holiness.” [HCSB]

Discipline, not the most thrilling of words. In the NT Greek, it means “to train up a child, i.e., educate.” It is often translated as instruct, learn, teach, and part of teaching can be punishment.

When my middle grandson was a preschooler, his parents were trying to teach him not to use the word “stupid.” Saying “stupid” brought a short time-out to enforce the instruction. Grandpa and I were visiting with them in California and as we sat around the kitchen table, Grandpa unfortunately used the word “stupid.”  Immediately, of course, little Marcus said, “PapaBob, you can’t say ‘stupid.’ We don’t say ‘stupid’ and you said ‘stupid’ so you have to go to time-out.”

My daughter-in-law smiled and backed up little Marcus, “Yes, PapaBob, time-out.” So, there went PapaBob to the time-out chair, the little kitchen timer counting down the seconds of his discipline, with Marcus sitting there watching and wearing the biggest grin.

God disciplines us. He does it to educate us for a divine purpose that we may share in His holiness. At times that education is reinforced with a bit of punishment when needed, a time-out as it were.

We should never confuse God’s discipline with condemnation, however, for Jesus took our condemnation. Discipline is part of sanctification and designed to conform us into the image of Christ Jesus, God’s dear son.

Thank you, Father, for the discipline that makes me more like Jesus. Amen.

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But God, Part 2

by TerryLema

But God.  Paul had been worried about the church in Corinth. He had sent them a tough letter, urging them to deal with both the blatant sin in their midst, and the false teachers that seemed to be winning them over to a heretical gospel.  Paul had sent Titus to Corinth to get a feel for their reaction and report back.

Travel and postal service were a lot slower in those days. News was not instantaneous as it is now, so Paul had to wait, and while he did, he worried. He worried that the work he had begun in Corinth was being perverted. He worried that his “children” were being lured away from the truth of Christ.

Titus finally did return, and with his good report, brought comfort. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul identified that comfort as coming from God.

2 Cor 7:6: “But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus.” [NKJV]

God comforts the downcast. He comforted Paul through the good news that Titus brought back from Corinth.

God comforts us when we are downcast – and yes, even strong believers get downcast at times.  If it could happen to Paul (and David), it can certainly happen to us.  Good News from God, however, will always revive and lift us.

If you are feeling downcast, read Romans 8. It is full of God’s Good News, and it is a great cure for being downcast.

Glory to God. Amen.

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But God, Part 1

by TerryLema

But God. Two 3-letter words. But God. Have you ever thought about what you would be, what your life would be if those two little words didn’t exist?  But God. It is an interesting study looking up “but God” in a concordance. I want to spend a few days looking at some of my favorite “but God” occurrences in Scripture.

In Luke 16, Jesus tells the story of the master and the dishonest manager. He ends with a dynamic statement, “You can’t be slaves to both God and money.” [Luke 16:13 HCSB]

Luke then tells us that there were Pharisees listening, “who loved money…and were sneering [scoffing] at Jesus.” 

Jesus sees their sneers and tells them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts.” [v 14-15 HCSB]

But God knows your hearts. That is both a negative and a positive statement. For those who sneer at the things of God and hold themselves up for glory in the sight of men, God sees through the arrogance. He knows their hearts. But for those who by their very lives seek to honor Him in the sight of men, God also knows their hearts and they are pleasing to Him.

Father, my heart breaks when I see the sneers or read the insults to You. May I always remember to pray for those souls. May my own heart always honor You. Amen.

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He is Able

by TerryLema

“To him who is able … to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless [faultless] and with great [exceeding] joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.” [Jude 24-25 HCSB]

I do love this doxology that closes Jude’s letter.  Yesterday I wrote about our God and His ability to “keep us from falling,” the first praise expression of Jude.  But there is a second reason Jude is praising God, and that is God is able to present us before His glorious presence blameless and with exceeding joy.

Blameless/Faultless. The Greek word means simply unblemished, without blame or fault. Have you ever wondered what it will be like to be eternally faultless, no blemish on our soul ever again? Have you ever wondered what it will feel like to be completely, absolutely without shame?

I know that is the way God sees me now in Christ. I also know that is not how others see me, or even how I see myself. In this life, my blemishes and faults are often very visible. And inside my soul I am often reminded I have no one to blame but myself for my choices, my sins, my flaws.

But the day is coming … that day when all my blemishes, faults, shame will remain in the grave and I will exit into the presence of the Lord white as snow. No wonder Jude says that when that happens there will be great, exceedingly great joy!

Thank you, Father, for Christ whose sacrifice makes me white as snow. I long for the day when I will no longer be able to see (or perhaps even remember?) the faults and failures of this life. Amen.

 

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Fall Risk!

by TerryLema

Every four weeks I go to the hospital for an infusion of a medication to combat the two auto-immune diseases that have taken up residence in my body.  In the infusion center there are signs around the rooms that remind people of a “Fall Risk.”  From what I understand, now they even have sensors on the beds that sound when a “Fall Risk” patient tries to get out of bed without assistance. When in weakened conditions, patients don’t always think clearly and or realize there isn’t enough strength to walk without falling.

At the very end of Jude’s letter is a doxology – an expression of praise to God. The first praise Jude expresses is for God’s ability to keep us from falling. “To him who is able to keep you from falling [stumbling] …- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” [Jude 24-25 NIV]

God is able to keep us from falling. Yes, He is! The problem seems to be that I often try to do it on my own rather than depend on God’s ability.  Remember the warning Paul gave in 1 Cor 10:12-13?  “So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it.” [HCSB]

When my children were very little and I would try to keep them from the everyday “disasters” of toddlers and preschoolers, they would often get miffed and yank their hand away and yell, “ME DO!” Ah, Lord, I think that is when I get in trouble also, when I think ME can DO anything apart from YOU!

Father, thank you! Thank you for enabling us to stand firm and not fall. Remind me, Holy Spirit, when I’m tempted to “ME DO!” life that I need You to keep me from falling. Amen.

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Live it to Give it

by TerryLema

I have always said that in order to give a message, you have to live the message. I think that may have colored the many messages that I brought at The Way, Middleton, when I was pastoring.  That thought was brought home in my soul recently as I have been listening to Pastor Laura now bring the messages. She has been hitting me squarely where I have avoided being hit!

One of her recent messages out of 1 Samuel was on jealousy and how that sin played in the downfall of King Saul. I sat there somewhat smugly thinking I had that sinful attitude licked, until that afternoon when it came back full force as I talked with a friend.  Sigh.

King Saul was annoyed, and jealousy flamed in him when he heard the songs of the people, “So the women sang as they danced, and said: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.’” [I Samuel 18:7 HCSB]

That song stung Saul and he was furiously about his reputation being less than David’s. I am not jealous about reputation. I am not jealous about what others have. I do not need a newer car or bigger house or more things. I am not interested in clothes or shoes or purses.

But, there is a spot in my heart that keeps flaring with jealously over a particular thing. I thought it was gone, but nope, it is still there.  Every now and again it raises its ugly head and reminds me that it is not yet dead.

So back to the cross I go.

“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”  [Colossians 1:13-14 HCSB]

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by TerryLema

When we moved into this house in 2007, I hung beautiful lace curtains on our bedroom window. I loved the look of those curtains – most of the time. There was only one problem with them, at this time of year when it stays light in Idaho until about 11 PM, it was difficult to get to sleep. I am a morning person, which means I am usually in bed to rest and recuperate the day around 9-9:30 PM. Two more hours of daylight streaming in my window was just annoying.

A couple years ago I grudgingly replaced my pretty lace curtains with plain blackout curtains. They block out those final hours of daylight very well and I rest better.

The other night before I went to bed, I was in my bonus room watching Christian music videos. (Bob wanted to watch war movies in the living room.) One of the videos was David Phelps’ “No More Night.”  I love that song, and I love his rendition. The chorus says, “No more night, no more pain, no more tears, never crying again. Praises to the Great I AM, we will live in the light of the Risen Lamb.”

I have always focused on the part of that chorus that speaks of no more pain, no more tears, never crying again, but that night I realized that the name of the song is “No More Night,” and the words “We will live in the light of the Risen Lamb” thrilled my soul.

The end of the Book of Revelation has the marvelous promise, “The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.” [Revelation 21:23 NKJV]

The Lamb is the Light … for all time. And we will not need darkness to rest and restore our weary bodies or minds anymore because the Risen Lamb has given us an everlasting rest. Hallelujah!

 

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