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waiting

NOW!

by TerryLema March 26, 2022

Wait.  The word wait always conjures up images of long lines in grocery stores, traffic at a standstill and backed up for miles, long months leading up to vacations, another year without a cost-of-living increase or raise, etc.  Waiting and agitation seem to walk hand in hand.

There are other things that Scripture is quite clear about besides God’s desire for obedience and the fact that we are not very good at it (which we looked at yesterday).

One is that is, our Father wants us to learn to wait upon Him. I do not know how you are with waiting on God, but I am usually like the writer of Psalm 119: “How many days must Your servant wait?” [vs 84 HCSB]

We are just not very good “waiters.”  Remember the two-year-old’s we thought about yesterday.  They have another word in their vocabulary, “Now!”  It’s the same word in our vocabulary as adults.  We want it and we want it “Now!”

It doesn’t take very long to learn that God’s timing is not our timing.  And that some of the biggest messes we can create come when we fail to wait for God to move and try to do it in our own strength “Now!”

There is a much-sung chorus based on Isaiah 40:31. It starts with the Scripture quotation: “They that wait upon the LORD, Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” 

It ends with the prayer, “Teach me Lord, teach me Lord, to wait.”

Much good and much strength come when we learn to wait on God.

March 26, 2022 0 comment
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The Valley of Rephaim

by TerryLema March 5, 2022

2 Samuel 5 recounts a number of events in the life of David. It begins with all the tribes of Israel acknowledging him as king. It tells of his taking of the “stronghold of Zion,” and of his getting wives and concubines and having sons and daughters born to him.

The Philistines, however, were not so happy with David’s successes and went in search to eliminate him.  David went down to the stronghold and the Philistine came and spread out against him in the Valley of Rephaim. [vss 17-18]

When David asked if he should go to war against the Philistines, the Lord told him to do so. David defeated them at Baal—perazim but the Philistines returned again to the Valley of Rephaim.  David once again inquired of the LORD if he should attack.

The LORD this time told him, “Do not make a frontal assault. Circle around behind them and attack them opposite the balsam (mulberry) trees. When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, act decisively, for then the LORD will have marched out Ahead of you to attack the camp of the Philistines.” [vss 23-24 HCSB]

David obeyed exactly as the LORD commanded him and defeated the Philistines.

The thing that amazes me about this event is not that the LORD went ahead of David, nor that God gave David the victory. What amazes me the most is David waiting until he heard the LORD move in the treetops. I would be out there shaking those trees trying to get them to sound like someone was marching in them. I am not so good at waiting!

I know, however, that victory comes only in God’s timing, and sometimes, it is preceded by waiting. Oh LORD, teach me to wait until I hear You telling me it is time to move!

March 5, 2022 0 comment
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Grace While We Wait

by TerryLema January 16, 2022

“…while we wait for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” [Titus 2:13 HCSB]

Paul in Titus 2:11 reminded us of the appearance (the epiphainó) of God’s grace for salvation for all people. That epiphany, a moment in which we suddenly see or understand something in a new or very clear way, came through Christ Jesus our Savior. The grace of God that was often cloaked in the Old Testament became very clear in the New when God sent His Precious Son to our earth to redeem us.

Paul goes on now to remind us of another appearing. The word is “epiphaneia” and it means appearing, manifestation, glorious display. We are now waiting for this appearing. It is our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.

We wait now. Amid the difficulties of life, grace enables us to wait for that promise given in Acts 1:11 when Jesus ascended into heaven: “This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” [HCSB]

This same Jesus who brought grace at His first appearance will one day appear again bringing the blessed hope and glory that God has promised. The assurance of that promise that Jesus will not only return but will return in glory and set everything right under the authority of the King brings comfort now.

Even so, give us grace to wait for Your return, LORD.

 

January 16, 2022 0 comment
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While We Wait

by TerryLema July 13, 2021

Peter ends his second letter with a discourse on the Day of the LORD. If you have a chance, read 2 Peter 3.

In that chapter he speaks of the scoffers who do not believe Christ will return and instead live their lives according to their own sinful desires.

Peter insists, however, that history has proven that things can change in an instant and that when Christ returns heaven and earth as we know it now will be forever changed.

For those of us who wait for these things, Peter says … “It is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness as you wait for and earnestly desire the coming of the day of God.” [3:11b-12a HCSB]

Peter then becomes abundantly clear about what he means when he said we should be people of holy conduct and godliness. [3:14-18]

We should be people who “make every effort to be found at peace with Him without spot or blemish.”

We should be people who “regard the patience of our Lord as an opportunity for salvation.”

We should be people who are “on [our] guard so that [we] are not led away by the error of lawless people and fall from [our] own stability.”

And we are to be people who “grow in the grace and knowledge of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Seems to me that should keep us pretty busy while we are waiting.

July 13, 2021 0 comment
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Waiting!

by TerryLema January 8, 2021

“Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us.” [Hebrews 12:1 HCSB]

If there is a “let us” phrase in Hebrews that describes the past year (2020), it just might be this one … “let us run with endurance….”

Endurance.  The word is “hupomone” and means a cheerful or hopeful fortitude or constancy. It also carries the idea of waiting.

Endurance might also be the word in Hebrews that best describes the year in front of us (2021), especially that “waiting” part.  We are waiting to see if things are going to get better, stay the same, or get worse. We are waiting for politicians on both sides to get their acts together. We are waiting to see if the vaccine works. We are waiting to see how badly small businesses have been affected by the shut-down. We are waiting … and probably not as cheerfully as we might.

Waiting is a part of life.  It is something about which we often have no choice. We wait in lines, on freeways, in offices. We wait for good things to happen, such as the birth of a child. We wait and watch as not-so-good things happen.

It is not the waiting that determines our maturity – it is how we wait that will determine if we grow in spiritual maturity or if we allow the flesh to rule.

We must learn to wait with cheerful and hopeful endurance, fortitude, commitment. If we do that, we will “go on to maturity!”

 

January 8, 2021 0 comment
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Waiting on the LORD’s promises …

by TerryLema August 22, 2020

One of the important things about the two auto-immune diseases currently trying to make their home in my body is that there is the possibility that they will go into remission or even simply go away in 1-5 years. That is something I have been working towards, because as bad as they are, the side effects of the medication needed to keep the symptoms at bay are almost as bad. So, I take the medications and do the infusions praying for remission and healing.

I had a setback recently. After reducing the medication dosage following my infusion, my right temporal artery became inflamed again with throbbing eye and head pain, with the risk of losing the sight in that eye or suffering an aneurism. So, the medication dosage was raised again to a level that might be described as uncomfortable. It was disappointing.

Of course, that happened right between two Sunday messages on “waiting on the LORD’s promises,” as illustrated by the life of Abraham. What do I always say? “You have to live it before you can give it!” Okay, LORD, I am back to waiting again.

Psalm 27 is a song by David about the LORD our Stronghold. It begins, “The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom should I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom should I be afraid?” [HCSB]

 After David describes the wonders of the LORD as his stronghold and refuge and prays for God’s intervention in his life. He ends the psalm on both a certain assurance and a command to his own spirit. “I am certain that I will see the LORD’s goodness in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and courageous. Wait for the Lord.” [vs 13-14 HCSB]

So, I am back to waiting on my remission or healing. Like Abraham, and David, and so many before them, I am certain that I will see (and I do see) the goodness of my Savior and LORD, Christ Jesus now, and have the promise that there is so much more of that coming. And waiting in a green pasture by still waters is not all that bad!

August 22, 2020 0 comment
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Waiting for HIM

by TerryLema April 16, 2020

Jesus told us when we prayed, we were to seek God’s Kingdom … “Your Kingdom Come.”

He also told us this was our priority in Matthew 6:33. We must surrender every desire, every need, every ambition to the goal of seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness in us. We must allow God’s kingdom in us to change us through the Power of His Holy Spirit, or our testimony will be worthless.

There is a second part to praying “Your Kingdom Come” and that is to live each day in the awareness that it might be the day Jesus comes back for His own. The Book of Revelation is all about the return of our LORD Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

We have a hope beyond measure. Our LORD who came once to save us has vowed to come again. “Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” [Heb 9:28 NIV]

That’s His promise. The final salvation where sin and evil are forever banished from God’s Creation and His Eternal Rule is set in place, never to be challenged again. We are to be alert and seek His Coming. Revelation 22:20 contains both His promise “Surely I am coming quickly,” and our prayer “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” [NKJV]

Every morning when we arise and every night when we close our eyes in sleep we should pray, “Amen. Even so, come, LORD Jesus!”

Let it be today. Amen

April 16, 2020 0 comment
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Pastor Terry Lema

Pastor Terry Lema has been married for 53 years, and has 3 children and 3 grandsons. Terry graduated from Trinity Bible College, and and recently retired as Lead Pastor at The Way Church in Middleton, Idaho.

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Pastor Terry Lema's Daily Devotions
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