Right Archives - Pastor Terry Lema's Daily Devotions

I was sitting in my rocker in my living room the other morning. Bob was off doing some banking and other errands. The house was quiet. I was thanking God for a good report from my bone scan. In spite of being almost 75 and spending nearly 2 years on Prednisone, my bones are “very strong” according to the scan. That is a marvelous blessing.

As I sat there thinking about what I’ll be “doing” next year after The Way, my God reminded me that He loves me for who I am, not what I do.

Who I am? I am His child.

John 1:12: “But to all who did receive Him, [Christ Jesus] gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name.” [HCSB]

Because I believe in His name and have received the salvation He offered, Christ Jesus has given me the “right” to be God’s child. The word John used for “right” is exousia, which means power to act, or authority.

I heard that word described once in relation to the Greek word for power, dunamis. The speaker said that when a bank robber with a gun meets a police officer with a gun, both have power (dunamis), but only one has authority (exousia) to use that power. The police offer has been given the authority by right of the one he represents. His badge symbolizes that exousia.

I have been given the authority by right of the one I serve, Christ Jesus. I am a child of God, not because I claim to be, but because He says I am.

As I sat in my rocker, taking all this in, I knew that I knew that I knew I am His child. And that He loves me, not because of what I can do, but simply because I am His.

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” [Romans 8:16 HCSB]

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) wrote a poem entitled, “Christmas Bells.” It was turned into a song with which we all are familiar. Longfellow wrote the poem as a 57-year-old widowed father of six children, the oldest of which had been wounded and nearly paralyzed in the Civil War. The poem captures the conflict in his heart.

He heard the bells on Christmas ringing from his home in Cambridge, he knew the promise of the angels in Luke 2:14 of “peace on earth,” but what he saw around him was a world of injustice and violence.

Like the psalmists of old, he wrestles with what he sees in this world, and what God has promised. I think we might have thought the same thoughts in this difficult year. But like the psalmists of old, Longfellow remembers that God shall prevail. Reading Christmas Bells this morning gave me hope … I pray it does the same for you.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

Right

God Loves Me

Christmas Bells