Tag:

Glory

Glory!

by TerryLema

I am going to physical therapy. My doctor thought it might help my mobility after years dealing with PMR. She also suspected I have lumbar stenosis since I have cervical stenosis. Spinal stenosis is where the spinal column narrows and puts pressure on the spinal cord. I also have degenerative discs in my neck. To sweeten the pot, the physical therapist also thinks I have an arthritic left hip.

My goal with physical therapy is to be able to walk inside the house without the cane, walk a mile outside (I’m at .6 miles), stand and greet at church, and be able to stand for an entire song service to worship my LORD.

The physical therapist took me through a few exercises, then printed them out so I could follow them at home. The next day I read the sheets. The first four words on each sheet were “Lying on the floor ….”

What? I haven’t been on the floor except by accident for four years! Well, I really want to achieve my goals, so I got on the floor. Getting up when I finished was an entire other experience. This is going from bad to worse. (The spare bedroom firm mattress is now my “floor.”)

As I thought about all the fun I am having growing old in a body that is deteriorating, I heard the LORD remind me that while this old body is going from bad to worse, the “true me” is being transformed from “glory to glory.”

“We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.” [2 Corinthians 3:18 HCSB]

Transformed into the “same image!” That is an incredible promise of God. My earthly image is crumbling but as I fix my eyes on Jesus, as I seek Him above all things, I am being transformed into His image. From glory to glory.

Thank you, LORD, for the promise that one day I shall leave this old image here on earth and reflect Your glory forevermore! Amen

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Wrestling with Suffering

by TerryLema

It is difficult to watch the unimaginable suffering happening now in the Middle East. As Americans we are still a bit removed from such tribulation, even after 9/11. That event reminded us that we are not immune from the terrors of this world, but for many it has faded into the past. We remember, yes, but … the fear and horror have faded.

Suffering. How often have we heard people question, “If God is good, why do we suffer? Why doesn’t He do something about it?”

That is probably the greatest question about Christianity. Why do people suffer?

People more intelligent than I have tried to answer that question, so I’m not even going to try.  I will acknowledge two truths, however. God IS good, and yes, we DO suffer.

I understand that God granted mankind free will, and with that free will comes all the underlying dangers and disasters mankind can think up. I understand that the suffering in this world is directly linked to the rebellion that began with Adam and Eve in the Garden and that continues in us.

But I also understand two more great truths. God did not wipe us out because of our rebellion, neither did He leave us in our squalor. He sent His Son Christ Jesus our LORD so that we might have life eternal. [John 3:16]

And I also know that our suffering is confined to this world. It will not, cannot, enter the next. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.” [Romans 8:18 HCSB]

Thank you, LORD, that suffering is only in this present time, and for the glory that will be revealed in us. Amen!

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The Hope of Glory

by TerryLema

It is Christ.

“God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” [Colossians 1:27 HCSB]

“When [Christ], who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” [Colossians 3:4 HCSB]

“For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.” [2 Corinthians 4:17 HCSB]

Since Christ is our eternal hope of glory … since our destiny is to be revealed with Christ in glory … then we must seek to make Christ our only hope in every part of our life here.  That means He is our only hope in every trial, every difficulty, every circumstance of this life.

We can know His comfort in our trials because we know that nothing we will experience in this life compares to that “incomparable eternal weight of glory” that is ours in Him.

He enables us to look at the struggles of this life as “light affliction.”

The things of life that nearly crush us, the deep losses we all will experience at some time, when put side by side with Christ (the hope of glory in us) will hardly make us pause in comparison. Once we bask in that light of glory, everything else will dim.

It is Christ. Completely. Gloriously. Everlastingly. Ours.

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Things that are superior …

by TerryLema

I do not know about you, but I am bombarded every day with so much stuff. It comes through the television, the online news pages, Facebook, emails, snail-mail, and a host of other avenues. It wants my attention. Often it wants my money too.

Just the other day I was invited to pursue hearing aids, burial insurance, life insurance, new windows for the house, lawn care, a new home, a new car … and that was just in the mailbox. The commercials on television were worse. The ads on Facebook popped up constantly. My phone rang with robo-calls telling me my auto warranty was up on cars we no longer own!

Bombarded from every side. Even as I am writing this, an ad for faster wi-fi flashed on my screen!  Perhaps that is why I was captured by Paul’s prayer for the Philippians.

“And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you can approve the things that are superior and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.” [Philippians 1:9-11 HCSB]

Paul prayed for his readers to have a growing knowledge and discernment so that they could “approve the things that are superior.”

Then he described those things. He wanted his readers to be pure, blameless, filled with the fruit of righteousness. He wanted them to lead lives that brought glory and praise to God.

I really was struck by that phrase “approve the things that are superior.”

The world bombards us with things that are inferior. It demands our attention to stuff that will pass away with the using. It wants us consumed with consumerism. Our Father God wants us to grow in the knowledge of Christ Jesus so that we might live superior lives, consumed with the desire to know eternal things that will last forever.

Maybe we should all be praying Paul’s prayer – for ourselves and for each other.  Amen.

 

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Where the Glory Resides …

by TerryLema

I visited my primary physician this week. I am blessed to have a doctor who listens and takes the time to respond to all my questions and concerns. She is a delight and I know she has my back … she has told me that on multiple occasions. She will also be completely honest with me – even when it is difficult to hear what she has to say.

At one point in my recent visit I asked a question about the cause/correlation of these auto-immune diseases and if a particular surgery done about a year before they developed was the reason behind them. I said, “did I do this to myself?”

She smiled, looked at me, and said “you can put that guilt aside right now! Even if there is a correlation, you did not know, and you need to give yourself more grace and love!”

I left with the reminder that the Spirit of the Living God abides in me … that means I am a temple of the Living LORD and I need to love this house wherein the LORD dwells.

In Psalm 26, a prayer for vindication, David tells the LORD how much he loves the house where God’s glory resides. “Lord, I love the house where You dwell, the place where Your glory resides.” [Psalm 26:8 HCSB]

David was looking at a temporal dwelling place, built with earthly materials that would eventually deteriorate. But we have a different house … an eternal one where the LORD God Almighty dwells in the power and presence of His Holy Spirit.

We need to love ourselves with the same love with which God loves us. Not always easy, but I got a gentle reminder this week that it is abundantly necessary.

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The Presence of His Glory …

by TerryLema

My last thoughts on Joy! for now.  I touched just a bit on it yesterday as I thought about the Joy! that will be ours when we stand in the presence of the Glory of God Almighty…that Joy! that will be ours when we see our Savior and our LORD face-to-face.

“Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless and with great joy.” [Jude 1:24 HCSB]

Jude reminds us that Christ Jesus is able to protect us from stumbling. He is able to make us stand in the presence of God’s glory. He is able to make us blameless and fill us with great Joy!

As I have aged, and as I have been beset with these auto-immune diseases, I find that the danger of stumbling is much greater than it used to be. I must be ever vigilant to maintain my balance and not trip over things. I have also discovered that standing is much more a chore than it used to be! That is in the natural, governed by the rules of my body and situations.

In my spirit, however, my LORD’s protection is abundant and merciful. His Holy Spirit in me warns me, guides me, enables me to walk without stumbling and to stand firm in Him. One day He will present me blameless (not because of anything in me, but because of all He has done for me through His cross). Then my Joy! will be great and it will be complete.

How I long for that day to come! Amen & Amen!

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Joy Unspeakable and Full of Glory!

by TerryLema

Yesterday I said that James and I have differing views of experiencing “various trials” with great joy. While I might disagree initially with James (and that is only initially), I certainly agree with Peter’s “joy unspeakable and full of glory.” [KJV]

I like the way the Holman Christian Standard Bible translates it.  “You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy.” [1 Peter 1:8 HCSB]

Joy! is often inexpressible, but oh, how glorious it is when we find it resident in our hearts in every and all circumstance!

It is difficult for those who do not know Christ Jesus to understand the kind of joy we have. As Peter reminds us, we have not seen Christ Jesus face-to-face and still we love Him. We have placed our trust in Him, and that trust generates a Joy! that is beyond measure. That Joy! reaches down deep, it takes root, and it grows and blossoms into an unshakable faith that no matter the outward appearances, Christ Jesus is in control.

That, of course, makes no sense to the world. How can we know, deeply know, that Christ Jesus is in control amid things that seem so out of control? It might not make sense to the world, but it certainly makes absolute sense to us. God has a purpose and a plan, and God has the authority and power over His creation to do exactly what He purposes and plans. That holds true for our individual lives as well as for this world.

And one day, this One we love so much now, this One we have not yet seen face-to-face will come for His own. Then our Joy! shall be forever in the light of His Glory and Grace. Amen & Amen, Come quickly, LORD Jesus!

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Thinking on His Name …

by TerryLema

I have been thinking more about the name of Jesus. Thinking about all the amazing and wondrous things we have in that name.  The name Jesus was a quite common name in first-century Israel. The one thing that sets apart the name of Jesus of Nazareth, however, is the Person it belongs to and what He did for us. We are saved, healed, protected, justified, and redeemed because of the Person and Work of Christ Jesus.

When we see Jesus, we see the fullness of God. Paul tells us in Colossians 2 that “the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ,” and then goes on in his next thought to remind us that “[we] have been filled by Him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.” [V9-10 HCSB]

The writer of Hebrews also reminds us that Christ Jesus, the Son of God, “is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of His nature, sustaining all things by His powerful word.” [Hebrews 1:3 HCSB]

How many times I have read those verses and they still thrill my heart. The world may look at Jesus as a great teacher, a good man, a self-help guru, self-esteem builder, a political liberator or transformer of cultures. They may think of him as progressive, caring, resolute, or determined.

But I know He is so much, so very much more. He is God in human flesh who came to save the lost, forgive and redeem the sinner … of which I am.

He brought the love and glory of Our Father God to us, and now He sustains all things ll, just as He created all things, by His powerful word.

No wonder the Person and the Name of Jesus is so precious to us. Amen & Amen.

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