Past Devotions

PRIDE vs Humility

by TerryLema

Last Sunday and this Sunday at The Way the message is Pride vs Humility. One of my favorite events in Scripture is found in the Book of Esther. It is also one of the best illustrations of PRIDE vs Humility.

Mordecai was Esther’s uncle, a righteous Jew. At the end of chapter 2, Mordecai learns of a plot to assassinate King Ahasuerus. He reports it to Queen Esther who then tells the king on Mordecai’s behalf. The plot thickens in Chapter 3 when the king honors a man named Haman. The king promotes him in rank and gives the command that everyone must bow down and pay homage to Haman. Mordecai will not do so, which enrages Haman. Haman plots to execute Mordecai and annihilate Mordecai’s people. That is when God enters the picture. God prepares Esther to intervene with the king at Mordecai’s request. Her rescue comes in chapters 7-10.

But my favorite part of the book happens in chapter 6, before Esther’s daring visit with the king and the rescue of her people. Chapter 6 is the duel between PRIDE and Humility.

I believe that God caused the king to have a restless night without sleep. During that night, while reading the record book of daily events, the king learns that Mordecai had foiled the plot of the assassins but had never been rewarded for it.  He decides to honor Mordecai and looks around for someone to carry out that command. Wouldn’t you know, the first person on the scene is Haman who is coming to demand Mordecai be executed because of his refusal to bow.

Haman is commanded to put a royal garment on Mordecai, place him on the king’s horse and parade him around the city square shouting, “This is what is done for the man the king wants to honor.” [6:9 HCSB]

Haman’s PRIDE and Mordecai’s Humility came to blows and PRIDE lost. “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.” [Prov 16:18]

Makes we wonder how many people are going to be leading horses around heaven, and how many people will be seated on them!

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Behavior

by TerryLema

I read a report this morning released by the FAA regarding airline passengers. In any given year there are around 150-200 reports of unruly or dangerous behavior. This year so far that number has jumped to 1300 even though the number of passengers remains lower than pre-pandemic years.

These incidents are described as passengers refusing to wear masks, drinking excessively, and engaging in physical or verbal assaults, including political intimidation and harassment of lawmakers.  Flight attendants have been physically assaulted, pushed and even choked. Many are saying enough and simply quitting or retiring.

Unfortunately, this kind of behavior is not just found in the airline industry.  We see it everywhere. People are angry, frustrated, arrogant, unruly, self-righteous, and sometimes just downright mean.

And, this type of behavior is also not limited to the unsaved. It is found in the church and para-church groups as well.

At the end of Paul’s second letter to the Corinth church, he expressed his concern for them. He told them he feared coming to them and finding that “there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.” [2 Corinthians 20b HCSB]

After expressing his fears, he gave them a final command.  “Finally, brothers, rejoice. Become mature, be encouraged, be of the same mind, be at peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.” [13:11 HCSB]

I expect the world to often act in unruly, disruptive behaviors. I do not expect to see that type of behavior among Christians. What are we saying to the world when we act like them? What are we saying to the unsaved when we quarrel among ourselves or engage in selfish ambitions?

It is time we chase worldly behaviors from our midst. It is time we become mature and of the same mind. If we do not, we will lose the opportunities we have to change our world for Christ Jesus.

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Following Me …

by TerryLema

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” [Psalm 23:6 NKJV]

Have you ever wondered about that phrase … shall follow me?  What does it mean to have goodness and mercy follow us?

Actually, in this case, the Holman Christian Standard gives us a better idea.  “Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life….”

The word translated “follow” in most translations is “radah” in Hebrew. It means to pursue, chase, and even persecute. It is used often in the context of war. (Read Genesis 14:15, Deuteronomy 11:4, and Joshua 7:2 for examples.)

To think of goodness and mercy or goodness and faithful love simply following us is a bit passive. The LORD’s love and mercy do not just meander along behind us somewhere.

Instead, they have an intense focus … they chase after us like an army would, but unlike an army that seeks to harm, the LORD’s active and relentless love is not seeking to harm us, but to bless us.

Too often people think that when God pursues them it is to take everything away. They think that coming to Christ Jesus as Savior means giving up everything. Instead, God pursues us so that He might bestow His amazing goodness and love, His goodness and mercy upon us in bountiful abundance!

Praise the LORD God Almighty and Bless His Holy Name Forever! Amen

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Bountiful Abundance

by TerryLema

While we are considered a rich nation, we must honestly admit that there are many people in our society who are “just getting by.” They live marginally. Finances are tight or fixed. Housing options are limited. Health problems dominate their lives. Some do not have good medical care. Some are lonely or isolated. Some live on the very edges of acceptable society.  They are “Just Getting By.” Or perhaps “Barely Getting By” would even be more appropriate a description for many.

And still, those who live marginally in our society may still be better off than the populations of many nations around this world who do not have access to even clean water or a secure, stable food system. If we look closely at our world, it may not be such “A Wonderful World” after all.

David, in writing Psalm 23, was not looking at our world, he was looking at his LORD (JEHOVAH, YAHWEH). He saw the amazing promises of God and could boldly proclaim that he lacked nothing. He acknowledged that in his LORD, he was not “just getting by.”  In fact, in his LORD, he had bountiful abundance.

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” [Psalm 23:5 HCSB]

David was not the only one to remind us of our richness. Jesus told us that He came to bring us not just life in place of death, but bountiful abundance in place of “just getting by.”  “I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.” [John 10:10b HCSB]

When we come to our LORD Christ Jesus in faith, His grace, His goodness, His love, and His mercy flood our lives with bountiful abundance. It is a promise that begins here and sees its final, eternal fulfillment when we enter into His presence!  Glory!

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Comfort Amid Dark Valleys

by TerryLema

Oh, what blessedness and goodness is found in Psalm 23:4: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” [KJV]

That is the way most of us have learned it and memorized it, from the King James. I am often reminded, and have often reminded others, that death for a Christian is simply walking through that valley of the shadow. We go straight from our last breath in this life to our eternal first breath in the next … directly into the Presence of our LORD.

But the comfort and goodness found in Psalm 23:4 is more than just for a death experience. When I read that verse in the Holman Christian Standard Bible it reads: “Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me.”

Even when I go through the darkest valley, the LORD is there. And, if He is there in the darkest of valleys, He is also there when we go through those valley which are perhaps a little less dark, but still dangerous and difficult.

While death is that final darkest valley, we are still going to go through other dark times in our lives.  There will be valleys which contain broken relationships, financial difficulties, health issues, wayward children, and a host of other experiences.

Our LORD protects us no matter the valley. He will use His rod and His staff, the equipment of a shepherd to ward off danger and comfort His sheep. He watches over us.

What a wonderful God we serve!

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Restoration & Purpose

by TerryLema

The words and thoughts found in Psalm 23 have been playing on a loop through my mind while I sleep.  Psalm 23 is so familiar. We hear it often in many settings, but perhaps most often when we need comfort such as at funeral services or hospital settings. I know I have quoted it at many celebration of life services.

But Psalm 23 has much to say to us at other times of life. As I drifted off to sleep last night, it was verse 3 that came to mind (and stayed there through the night).

Psalm 23:3: “He renews my life; He leads me along the right paths for His name’s sake.” [HCSB]

The LORD renews our life … other translations render it, “The LORD restores my soul.”

The word “renews” or “restores” means “to turn back, return.” The LORD returns our soul to what it is meant to be! Wow!  He set us back to our “heavenly factory defaults.”

But our LORD does more than just turn our souls back to what they are meant to be, He also gives us purpose. He leads us in righteousness “for His name’s sake.”

We cannot survive without purpose. To live without purpose is to have no goals, nothing to aim for, nothing to strive for. We need to know that we are made for, meant for, something greater and higher than our own selfish desires.

The LORD, JEHOVAH, YAHWEH, the Great Almighty Eternal God, gives us the purpose of knowing Him, loving Him, serving Him … Can there be a greater purpose found anywhere in this universe? I think not.

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Green Pastures, Quiet Waters

by TerryLema

I woke up yesterday morning with the first verse of Psalm 23 running through my mind. “The LORD is my shepherd,” David wrote. And because the LORD, YAHWEH, JEHOVAH is David’s Shepherd, he was able to testify, “there is nothing I lack.”

I thought since God brought it up, there is perhaps a lesson (or two) I need to learn in Psalm 23. So I looked at the next sentence. “He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.” [HCSB]

(Just for the record, if the wording appears differently than what you are used to in this Psalm, it is because I love looking at Scripture through the eyes of different translations.)

The LORD lets me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. I am working on managing the auto-immune diseases in my life as well as the stress that often accompanies them. Boy did this verse speak to me today!

The world and the enemy of our soul want to keep us on the run. On a daily basis we see our time whisked away by needs and obligations. We are bombarded on every side with the noise of temptations and discouraging words. Pressures and trials, disappointments and difficulties, are loud and demanding. They are professionals at producing anxiety and stress.

The LORD, however, speaks to us gently. He invites us to his green pastures. There the water of His life flows gently and quietly. He lets us rest. He gives us peace. There in the quiet of His presence, we find everything we need to wipe away the noise of the world. Oh, I ask myself this morning, why don’t I go there more often!

Lead me today, gentle Shepherd, to your green pastures, to your quiet waters. Amen.

 

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THE LORD

by TerryLema

How often have we studied or heard messages on Psalm 23. Most of us have it memorized. We hear it often. When I awoke this morning, the first verse was running through my mind.

“The LORD [YAHWEH, JEHOVAH] is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.” [HCSB]

David lacks nothing because he has the LORD.

YAHWEH, JEHOVAH

Jehovah Nissi – The LORD My Banner

Jehovah-Raah – The LORD My Shepherd

Jehovah Rapha – The LORD That Heals

Jehovah Shammah – The LORD is There

Jehovah Tsidkenu – The LORD Our Righteousness

Jehovah Mekoddishkem – The LORD Who Sanctifies You

Jehovah Jireh – The LORD Will Provide

Jehovah Shalom – The LORD Is Peace

Jehovah Sabaoth – The LORD of Hosts

In the OT a name is so much more than a name – it is an identity. God reveals Himself to us through His names. When David said the LORD is his Shepherd, he would be saying that all God is, all He has identified Himself to be, provides all David needs … so that he lacks nothing.

The LORD is our Shepherd. We lack nothing.

Psalm 148:13: “Let them praise the name of the LORD: for His name alone is excellent; His glory is above the earth and heaven.”

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Count the Cost

by TerryLema

The end of Luke Chapter 14 is a section on the cost of discipleship.  Jesus begins by telling the large crowds that were following Him that there is a cost to becoming His disciple.  Sometimes that is the cost of family members or friends who do not embrace following Jesus. It is always the cost of bearing our cross and coming after Him.

Jesus used a couple illustrations of this cost, one being the cost of building a tower.

 “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?” [Luke 14:28 HCSB]

The thing that always gives me pause is that phrase, “enough to complete it.”

I am a great beginner. I am a not-so-great finisher.  You can tell that by the books on the shelf that have bookmarks in the middle of them, or the beginnings of things in my craft baskets, or the …. Well, the list is endless.

In the end it will not really matter if I finish books or blankets or scarves or paintings or …. It will matter if I have “enough to complete” my discipleship.

I am 74. The finish line is much closer now. I pray I have counted the cost and have enough to complete my discipleship. I want to be able to say like Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”  [2 Timothy 4:7 HCSB]

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Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah

by TerryLema

Their names were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. (Hananiah means Yahweh Has Been Gracious. Mishael means Who is Like God. Azariah means Helped by God.)

We know them better as Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego (pagan names given to them by their captors). They were the “Three Hebrew Children” captured along with Daniel and taken to Babylon.

They were commanded by the king to bow down and worship a golden statue when they heard the “sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music.” To refuse to do so meant being thrown into the fiery furnace (capital punishment).

They famously responded, “If the God we serve exists, then He can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can rescue us from the power of you, the king.  But even if He does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.” [Daniel 3:17-18 HCSB]

These three young men refused to bow down in idolatry, and God honored their response by rescuing them from the fiery furnace. They stayed faithful to JEHOVAH God, never considering what that faithfulness might require of them.

I have always considered it a shame that we remember them by the pagan names (Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego) given to them by their captors.

Should we not remember them by their names which were prophetic of their faithfulness to God Almighty? And God Almighty’s faithfulness to them!

Yahweh Has Been Gracious (Hananiah)

Who is Like our God (Mishael)

Helped by God (Azariah)

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