Past Devotions

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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Oh my …

by TerryLema

I had an appointment last Friday with my Rheumatologist. Just a standing three-month appointment. He is located in a neighboring town about 17 miles from our home. I decided to drive myself, but Bob came along for the ride – just in case.

We got into the building and took the elevator up to the third floor. As we walked into the lobby, there were about 20 young men, all extremely fit, sitting on the left side in rows. On the right side was my Rheumatologist’s office waiting room with one old lady on a walker (and then me with my cane).

I immediately wondered about the young men until I walked past them and saw the title of the office on the left – Sports Medicine.  That explained it.

The comparison – youth vs elderly – was striking. I was reminded how fast time seems to fly when we look back. The saying is true … “Days drag and years fly.”

Psalm 90 is a song of Moses. It speaks of the eternal nature of God and compares it with the frailty of man. One verse is probably recognizable to all of us. Verse 12: So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. [NKJV]

To “number” our days is an act of recognition of the vast difference between the Infinite God and finite humanity. The wise think continually about God’s existence and their purpose and accountability to Him. The wise continually pray for “a heart of wisdom” and are receptive to divine revelation/instruction. “Teach us” is the cry of their hearts.

We know that a heart of wisdom begins and ends with the fear of the Lord. This much is sure: it should make us value every day of our lives and spend each one in obedience to Him, and in such a way that it will count for eternity.

Teach us LORD. Amen!

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A Parking Place

by TerryLema

Last Tuesday I had to go for an infusion. Since getting COVID the first week of September, I had not driven much, and the little I had driven, I had Bob with me in case I got too tired. This was the first time I decided to drive alone. It isn’t very far, just a little over three miles. I thought that would not be too difficult.

The one thing I was a bit worried about was where I had to park and how far I might have to walk. The building houses a hospital as well as doctor offices and outpatient centers.  That means there are always a lot of cars and sometimes you have to park pretty far away. Fortunately, the location of the infusion center is on the first floor and not far from the entrance.

My plan was to simply drive over early, rest in the car, then walk in. When I pulled into the parking lot, a car was backing out from the closest parking space to the entry. Wow! I could not have gotten any closer had I reserved it.

As I sat in my car, I began to praise my Father for His great love and kindness. I know it might sound silly, but at that moment I sensed the LORD’s smile and His delight.

I love doing things for the people I love. I love surprising them with gifts when they least expected it. I love showing my love and delight in others. When I do these kinds of things, they always made me smile.

As I sat there, I knew God was smiling … He surprised me with a gift of kindness knowing my weakness.

It was just a parking space, but sometimes it is the little things that drive the deepest into our hearts. God’s smile. God’s kindness to His child that morning still brings tears of joy one week later.

Psalm 36:7: How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! [NKJV]

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Great is the LORD!

by TerryLema

Ps 145:3-5: “Yahweh is great and is highly praised; His greatness is unsearchable. One generation will declare Your works to the next and will proclaim Your mighty acts. I will speak of Your splendor and glorious majesty and Your wonderful works.” [HCSB]

Psalm 145 is a praise song of David. It seemed fitting to me that we should read this song today and do what it says in verse 5 … “I will speak [meditate] on God’s wonderful works.”

I was blessed yesterday to be back in church after five weeks dealing with COVID. I so missed the Family of God!

Is the church in America what she should be? No. But making no excuses, I will remind us that the church has often not been what she should be. And still, God. God has fought for her attention and has cured her over and over of her sin.

He has provided the rain of His Spirit when she was dry. He has blanketed her in a spirit of holiness when she was devoured by the world. He has overpowered her sin and arrogance with His love and grace, drawing her to a time of repentance. We call that revival.

I agree with David, no one can fully fathom God’s greatness. We simply experience it and commend it to others.

We have a choice on what we meditate on today. We can focus on all that is wrong, and there is plenty of that to fill our thoughts. Or, we can focus on the greatness of the LORD. We can speak to others of His mighty acts and spread the praiseworthiness of our God.

I choose today to do the latter. My God is able … My God has a purpose … My God, my God, is glorious in majesty and has all power. My God will fulfill His purpose for His church. On that I rest my hope.

Thank you, Father, that You have called Your church for Your purpose. Amen

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Testing

by TerryLema

Yuck. No one likes to be tested. Probably because being tested means being thrown up against the most difficult of adversities. They test cars and airplanes in re-created adverse weather conditions. Who would want to be in an airplane that hasn’t been tested against such?

I wonder how many times they drop phones, tablets and laptops while testing them in labs? Or how many times labs test appliances, both large and small, before they go on the market. Testing is important. I certainly don’t want to buy a slow cooker that doesn’t cook, or a pressure cooker that builds up too much pressure and explodes.

Often God will put us to the test. In Deuteronomy 8, Moses explained to the people why God had led them through adversity. “Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna…to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD…. He gave you manna to eat in the desert…to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.” [vs 2-3, 16]

God brought His people through adversity so that in the end, it might go well with them. He exposed them to what was in their own hearts, and that wasn’t very pretty. He showed them their rebellion, their lack of dependence upon Him. In their testing they often came up wanting. Even Moses was disobedient at Kadesh and ended up losing the Promised Land.

But there were some whose hearts remained steady. Joshua and Caleb, to name two. They kept their hearts centered on God, and in the end, it did go very well with them in the Promised Land.

Father God, give us steady hearts like Joshua and Caleb. Center us in You. Amen

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Captain Kirk

by TerryLema

On October 12, William Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk on the old series Star Trek, will be heading into space for real aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket. Unlike the Enterprise’s five-year mission, this trip will only last minutes. Still, at the age of 90, it will make him the oldest person to travel into space.

People have made fun of William Shatner for the crazy things he sometimes does. But you have to give the old guy credit to be 90 years old and still doing crazy things!

“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, WOW !!!! What a ride!”

There are multiple renditions of that saying that pop up now and again on Facebook or Pinterest and other places. As I read it again this morning, I thought how aptly it applies not just to William Shatner and going into space at the age of 90, but how it also should apply to us as we follow our LORD and Savior Christ Jesus through this life.

Jesus was clear when He told His followers that they have to give all to Him. One of the hardest commands of Jesus is found in Luke 14:26: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.” [HCSB]

Does Jesus really want us to “hate” those closest to us when He tells us in other places we are not even to hate our enemies?  No, of course not. Jesus was talking not about actively hating, but comparatively hating.  He wants us to follow Him so fully, so intensely, and with so much passion that all other attachments in our life look like hate by comparison.

 That kind of passion for following Him as Savior and LORD, does not diminish as we age. I think it becomes stronger even as our bodies may become weaker.  When the exterior trappings of following Him fade, the interior relationship becomes so much more intense.

So, William Shatner may do something crazy like going into space at 90, but if I am still around at 90, I hope and pray that those who see me will say … she totally wore herself out following her Savior and LORD! Amen.

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Did You Ever Think?

by TerryLema

One day Jesus was walking along by the Sea of Galilee when He saw Simon and Andrew fishing. “Follow Me,” Jesus told them, and I will make you fish for people!” [Mark 1:16-17 HCSB]

They did just that. They left their nets and followed Him. A little way farther, He issued the same call to James and John, Zebedee’s sons. They left their father and their boats and followed Jesus. [Mark 1:18-20]

I do not know what these men, and the others Jesus called, were thinking when they turned away from everything and responded to Jesus’ call. Did they think they might be following a political leader or a religious one? Did they even consider that most all of them would end up martyred for placing their faith in Him?

In August of 1973, Jesus called a young woman in Orangevale, California.  “Follow Me!” He invited. And she did. At the time I gave no thought to what following Him would mean. I had no idea where He would lead. I did not even contemplate what the journey would be like or the places He would take me.

When Jesus calls, He does not reveal where we are going. The only thing I knew about the journey is that once you decide to follow Him, there is no turning back. There is nothing behind me that can ever entice me to leave the company of the LORD Christ Jesus.

As I was writing this, I remembered an old chorus, “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.” (Link Below)

Once the decision is made to follow, our eyes must be on Him – no matter where He leads, we go.

I Have Decided to Follow Jesus with lyrics - Bing video
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Great Mercy, New Birth, Living Hope

by TerryLema

“Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” [1 Peter 1:3 HCSB]

This verse was my daily verse last Sunday. Peter was praising God the Father for the new birth he was given through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. As I read it, I was once again captured by two small phrases.

The first was “great mercy.” Everything about this new birth – really everything we receive from God is given according to “His great mercy.”

The word for mercy is eleos, and it means mercy, kindness, or good will toward the miserable and afflicted, joined to a desire to relieve them. God does not want us miserable or afflicted, and yet so many people think that is His aim. I lived under that lie for years. I thought God was looking for ways to keep me out of heaven, all the while He was looking to bring me into His family through “His great mercy.”

The second phrase that caught my attention was “living hope,” especially that word “living.” The hope that is ours at the new birth is not wishful thinking. It is not the kind of wishing we do about the lottery or a big inheritance from a long-lost relative. The hope we have as God’s children is a “living” hope. It is alive, full of life and breath.

I like to think of it this way. The wishful thinking the world calls hope is a dead hope. The hope we have at the new birth is every bit alive as our Resurrected LORD and Savior. His resurrection from the dead breathed life into our hope.

Bless His Holy Name! Amen

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