Tag:

love

Christ-mas Decorations!

by TerryLema

My wonderful son-in-love, Mike, is coming over today to help us put up our Christ-mas decorations outside. Well, he is going to do the work like hanging the lights and connecting the cords, while we hover around and set up the easy stuff.

I love decorating the outside (and inside) of my house for Christ-mas. I do not do as much as I used to, simply because it is much harder to do now that I am aging. I have simplified.

But I take so much delight in seeing my outdoor nativity set up, the lights around the front of the house, the large wreath in the window. And Mike blesses my soul when he makes it happen (even though I know hanging lights is not his favorite thing to do). Still, Mike comes each year and helps us with our Christ-mas decorations because he loves us.

I looked up the word love in a Holman on-line concordance and got seven hundred results for that word in Scripture. Seven-hundred results! But when I think about love I always come back to that one Scripture we often see displayed in public gatherings and at sports games. Someone will hold up a banner or placard that says “John 3:16.”

“For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” [HCSB]

Love always comes back to this. God loved the world. God gave His Son.

And each day I am so very thankful for that gift!

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What We Live For

by TerryLema

Last Sunday Pastor Jerrod brought a message out of Psalm 91. He titled it “The Secret Place,” drawn from the first verse. “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” [NKJV]

The message was full of truth as Pastor Jerrod took verse by verse, pointing out so many wonderful promises of God to those who “dwell” in God’s protection. The church rang with “Amens!” so it must have been something we all needed.

He said one thing that ministered to me. We have a purpose—to love and be loved by God. That is what we were created for.

Among all the wonderful truths and promises pointed out, I think that stood out the most Sunday morning because of what I had heard just an hour before. Bob had on a news broadcast before we left for church. One story was about an actor who died this week. It ended with the actor saying, “Acting was my life.”

The second story was an interview with another personality. He said several times that “woodworking is my life.”

If we were asked what our life is all about, I wonder how we would respond. I was reminded this morning that this life is truly about one thing – to love and be loved by God. To dwell in that “secret place” of the Most High.

Amen.

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Blessed! Part Two

by TerryLema

I wrote yesterday about being blessed by God. Blessed is a word Christians use often because we see it often in our Bibles. But God’s blessings are far deeper and more profound than the way blessing is described in our contemporary thinking (as enjoying happiness, bringing pleasure, contentment, or good fortune.)

In Scripture, blessing is often linked to endurance and perseverance. It is not dependent upon circumstances and can be found even amid poverty, sorrow and other like conditions.

When I think of being blessed by God, I think primarily of three things. God’s love. God’s forgiveness. God’s inheritance for us.

God’s Love: “Who (what) can separate us from the love of Christ …. For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our LORD.” [Romans 8:35-39 HCSB]

God’s Forgiveness: “We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.” [Ephesians 1:7 HCSB]

God’s Inheritance: “He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” [1 Peter 3-4 HCSB]

I am blessed by God. I am loved. I am forgiven. And I have a future that nothing in this world can destroy.

And so do you. 

We are Blessed.

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We Do Love! We Do Grace!

by TerryLema

I have been pondering a bit on my church being adopted by Christian Faith Center (CFC). We will be changing our name from The Way Middleton to CFC Middleton. We will be transitioning over the next months.

Don’t you like that word transition? It is a less threatening way of saying “change.” We all know what most think of “change.” We will be changing, however, and that is both threatening and exciting.

CFC is a big, modern, growing church. The Way is small and not very modern. We will be adopting much of CFC’s outlook, philosophy, and vision. At first glance, it seems that we have nothing to really offer, except for a building in a city where commercial buildings are scarce.  But I wonder if that is true.

Yes, we have a building. But we have much more than that. There is a plaque in the foyer of the church which expresses what we really have to offer. It reminds me every time that I walk through those doors that we are much more than a building … we are a church that is truly family—a family that loves, that does hugs, that gives grace to all.

A new attendee at The Way told me recently, I have never felt such love as when I walked through the doors of this church. Then she said, “I hope that doesn’t change after we become part of CFC.”

The Way has always sought to give God’s greatest treasure (His grace) to the least deserving—which is every one of us. I trust that will be the heart of CFC Middleton too. We can relinquish all that temporal, external stuff in the change, but we must keep a strong grip on the heart of a family that loves, hugs, and gives grace to all.

“By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” [John 13:35 HCSB]

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Valentine’s Day

by TerryLema

Today is the celebration of Valentine’s Day. Card companies, candy companies, florists, and restaurants rejoice. Servers not so much. Apparently, people spend so much on cards, candy, flowers and fancy dinners that they run low on funds by the time they get to servers.

Not sure how this celebration got started. Some tie it to a mid-February festival in ancient Rome that celebrated fertility. Other attribute it to a St. Valentine, although there are a few saints named Valentine in the Catholic church.

Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s, and in 1840 Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America. If you google Valentine’s Day, you will get many different origins.

The world thinks of Valentine’s Day as a day of love, but it is more about romance than love. And while romance is great, and should be practiced, love is much more enduring.

We have probably all read 1 Corinthians 13, which describes what true love looks like. “Love is patient, love is kind.
Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not conceited, does not act improperly, is not selfish, is not provoked, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” [HCSB]

This is the kind of love our Father has for us. It is the kind of love we are to have for each other. It takes us far beyond romance. It reaches out to the lonely, the unlovely, the sick, the dying, the forgotten, the misunderstood, the rebellious and the defiant. And yes, even reaches as far as our enemies.  This kind of love changes everything in its path.

 

Amen

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In the Morning!

by TerryLema

How delightful that Psalm 4, which speaks of our prayers in the night, is followed by Psalm 5, our prayers in the morning!  “In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice. In the morning I plead my case to you and watch expectantly.” [vs 3 HCSB]

The early morning hours are often when I hear God’s voice best. They are also times when I am comfortable, with little or no pain. I stay snuggled in bed, trying to stall having to rise and face the day. I am like David in that I “watch” or “wait” expectantly for God to speak to me.

If you read Psalm 5 today, you will find three things that should thrill your soul and make you want to shout in praise.  They are abundant love (vs 7), blessing (vs 12a), and favor (vs 12b).

Abundant Love (Multitude of Mercies as some render it). “I enter your house by the abundance of your faithful love.” God’s love, His mercies, are more than can be numbered. That is exactly what keeps us day to day. His mercies are great, they renew every morning. His love is too much to even comprehend.

We see His abundant love, multitude of mercies, in the enormous sacrifice made by our LORD and Savior so that we might one day have entrance into the very presence of God Almighty.

Blessing. “For You Lord bless the righteous one .…” In Scripture blessing usually connotes preference, happiness, God’s approval. It is difficult to define, but it is so wonderful to experience that security found in the “blessings” of our LORD. Blessings come to the righteous not because they are morally excellent, but because Christ Jesus, the sinless One, took our sin upon Himself so that “we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” [2 Corinthians 5:21]

Favor. “You surround him with favor like a shield.” Favor means goodwill, delight, acceptance. Might we say, “Grace?” It is all because of God’s Amazing Grace!

Thank you, LORD. Today our praise focuses on Your Abundant Love for us that brings us into Your presence. We thank you for your blessings and favor to us. Amen

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Hate

by TerryLema

For decades Bob and I moved a lot. Because of that we did not accumulate “stuff.” But since we moved into this house in Caldwell in 2007, that pattern changed. I have a lot of stuff, much of which I do not need. I have been trying to rid this house of things I do not need, nor use, so that my kids will not have to do it one day.

A few months ago, I found a container in the garage. When I looked inside, I found all my old journals and a few books that I called “JoyBooks” where I would jot down sayings, jokes, and where I kept old comics and cards that I received in the 1990’s. I threw away the journals but kept the JoyBooks.

I have been posting things out of my JoyBooks on Facebook each day. The other day I found the following quote attributed to Booker T. Washington.

“I am determined to permit no man to narrow or degrade my soul by making me hate him.”  

We know that God is love. We know that we are to love God and allow Him to love us. We know we are to love not only our friends but also our enemies. Why? Because “love builds up.” [1 Corinthians 8:1 HCSB]

Love edifies others. It builds them up. And it builds us up as we exercise it. Hate, however, tears down. It degrades our own souls even more than those we aim it towards. Wonder why our culture is in such danger? One reason may be that we are allowing hate to flourish and degrade the soul of our society.

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A Sad Day

by TerryLema

I woke up the other night thinking about what a sad day we live in. People delight in “discovering” the weaknesses, failures, and sins of others. They become gleeful and gloat when they can then “display” those weaknesses, failures, and sins to the world. Sometimes they call it “informing” us, but it is nothing more than delight and triumph over others flaws and misfortune.

As I woke, I heard the verse out of 1 Peter 4:8. “Above all, maintain an intense love for each other, since love covers a multitude of sins.” [HCSB]

Proverbs 10:12: reminds us that “Hatred stirs up conflicts, but love covers all offenses.”

The passage in 1 Peter is about our interpersonal relationships with others. When we talk about “covering” sin, we are not talking about disregarding our own emotions or ignoring personal boundaries. It is not “hiding” a sin that it is hurting others (such as abuse) or sweeping sin under the rug.

To cover sin with love involves forgiveness and cannot be separated from loving others as God has loved us. It also means we do not gossip about sin or share the offenses of our brothers and sisters with anyone who will listen.

Love covering sin protects. It protects those who have been hurt … and is willing to protect and forgive those who do the hurting. It is a profound reflection of the sacrificial love that Jesus displayed on the cross when He not only forgave our sin but did away with it along with the shame and guilt associated with it.

The world loves stirring up conflicts. It loves displaying the sin of others for all to see.  Beloved, let us not be like the world.

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It Remains

by TerryLema

Recently I went to a church in Boise for the first time. I have known the pastor for a while, but never been to Sunday service. The service opened with a reading from Psalm 103 that declares God’s love for us.

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and rich in faithful love…. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His faithful love…. But from eternity to eternity, the LORD’s faithful love is toward those who fear Him. [Psalm 103:8, 11, 17 HCSB]

One of the worship songs was “One Thing Remains.” That one thing, the song reminds us, is God’s love. As the chorus says, “ [God’s] love never fails, never gives up, never runs out on me.”

I needed that reminder. Do you?

Too often we impose our attributes on God instead of allowing God to impress His attributes on us. Because we fail and give up on ourselves at times, we think God gives us on us also. Oh, we know with our heads that God will never run out on us, but our hearts experience something far different. Our ears too often bend to the message the enemy of our soul likes to promote – “how can God love you when you …?”

1 John 4:8 declares that “God is love,” and throughout Scripture God and His love are described as “faithful.”  God’s love never fails us, He is compassionate and gracious to us. God’s love never gives us on us, He is slow to anger and rich in faithful love. God’s love never runs out, from eternity to eternity He loves us.

That is the message we need to be reminded of each day and to remember always.

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I repeat myself …

by TerryLema

Fanny Crosby wrote, “Tell me the story of Jesus, write on my heart every word; tell me the story most precious, sweetest that ever was heard.”

Kathryn Hankey wrote, “Tell me the story often, For I forget so soon; The early dew of morning Has passed away at noon. Tell me the old, old story … of Jesus and His love”

Sometimes as I sit writing a devotion, I will think to myself, “I have said this before. It is nothing new.”  Then I will remind myself that it is okay to repeat the wonderful truths of God. Not only is it okay, but it is also necessary.

I began reading Galatians this morning. I got as far as verse 6 in Chapter 1. The first five verses are a salutation, a presentation of Paul’s authority as an apostle (not from men or by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father), and a declaration of the love of our LORD Jesus Christ (who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age). [vs 1-5]

Then suddenly Paul expresses the reason for his letter, and it is a reminder and warning to us also.  “I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from Him who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel ….” [vs 6 HCSB]

Paul was amazed that the Galatians so easily and quickly surrendered the truth of the Gospel. They had accepted the true Gospel but now had discarded it for a perverted message of grace and law. In the remainder of this letter, he will confront them on their readiness to accept error.

I would like to say that modern day believers are smarter than the Galatians, but are we?  We seem to also forget that old, old story and are looking for something new and “improved” to replace it or add to it.

But that old, old story still stands strong, and will stand strong throughout eternity. It never diminishes, it never dulls, its brilliance will light the cosmos forever. Tell it to me again and again and again and … the story of Jesus’ love.

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