Life Lessons

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Overcomers

It’s been quite a year
      as I look around.
Some dreams were lost
      while others were found.
When life doesn’t turn out
      quite as I planned,
I still trust the Holy One
      who is holding my hand.
It’s my faith in Jesus
      that helps me get through.
I hope and I pray
      that is true for you, too.

When people mistreat you
      and life seems unfair,
Look to your Savior
      ’cause He’ll always care.
It may take much longer
      than you think it should,
But God still does promise
      it will be for your good.
When this life is over,
      if you can recall,
All of those hardships
      will seem kind of small.

So look at what matters
      and see what will last.
Having such vision
      can conquer the past.
The things thought important
      may not really be.
If they last for a moment
      instead of eternally.
So don’t be too worried
      what people might say.
As long as you’re ready
      for God’s judgment day.

When living in this world
      it’s so hard to think.
That all of my “good” stuff
      could be gone in a wink.
So handle possessions
      with a very loose grip.
Then it’s not so painful
      when they start to slip.
Invest all your treasure
      in what cannot be lost.
For it has great value
      no matter the cost.

I pray that these words accomplish the purpose for which God gave them to me.  Perhaps part of that purpose is for you.

In prayer,
Tom Lemler

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New Year’s Opportunity

As the days slip away
     and the new year does come,
Look back for a moment
     and see what you’ve done.
Don’t look for too long
     or you’ll fail to see,
Good things are coming
     and great things will be.
The hard times aren’t over
     for they help us grow.
So trusting in Jesus
     is the only way to go!

So, what will the year bring?
     I’ll just wait and see.
I’ll be looking and watching
     while on bended knee.
While my view is clouded,
     there’s One who does know.
What I will be doing
     and where will I go.
There’s only one answer
     that will get us through.
It’s to follow the Savior
     as He makes us new.

So, don’t you be worried
     and don’t you go fret.
God’s work within us
     is not over yet.
We’ll take the good times
     along with the bad.
And trust that our Father 
     will soon make us glad.
And as we’re rejoicing
     at what He has done.
We’ll be looking toward heaven
     and life with the Son!

I pray that these words are an encouragement to you. It continues to amaze me that these are not only in my head, but they somehow come out.  May God lead and guide you throughout the new year!

In prayer,

Tom Lemler

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Christmas Reminder (Matthew 25)

Christmas is here,
     the day’s finally come.
When people will gather
     for good family fun.
As you come to dinner
     and pull up your seat,
There are people are out there
     who have nothing to eat.
You have two choices,
     what to do with that news.
Sharing with others
     is the one that I choose.

God tells us clearly 
     to help those in need.
But often I fail to
     because of my greed.
I need reminded
     to care for the weak.
To stand up and speak out
     for those who can’t speak.
It doesn’t take too long
     to notice out there,
Someone who’s hurting,
     then show them you care.

To visit the lonely
     and care for the sick,
Give food to the hungry,
     and the message might stick.
It’s all about doing
     what God said is best.
To hear Jesus tell you,
     “Enter into my rest!”
I pray that this Christmas
     you’ll clearly see,
Hope is for everyone,
     not just you and me!

I pray that you consider the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:31-46 this Christmas as you celebrate the birth of Jesus. His birth, death, burial, and resurrection was meant to be good news for all the people! What are you and I doing to make that good news known?

In prayer,
Tom

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God Cares

The squirrels are all playing
      in the midst of the trees.
The birds’ song is carried
      along in the breeze.
As I sit and ponder
      all that’s out there.
I’m always reminded
      that my God, He does care.
 
Sometimes I wonder
      if a difference I make.
As I seek to serve others
      all for His great name’s sake.
As I’m using my talents
      and attempting some good,
it’s so very easy
      to be misunderstood.

That shouldn’t matter
      if this is my aim.
God calls me to faithfulness
      not world-wide fame!
And so I get busy
      in doing some good.
In sharing of Jesus
      as He says I should!

I pray that you find some encouragement in these words.  As I was noticing the squirrels and birds outside my office window today it was a great reminder of the care God has for His children.  It was also quite amazing how quickly these words found their way out of my head and through the keyboard to my computer screen.

In prayer

Tom Lemler

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Pure Religion

The world is all grumpy
      and people act mean.
It’s all about “my rights”,
      or so it would seem.
We look at each other,
      instead of within.
Yes, I have a problem,
      it’s caused by my sin.

God gives us an answer,
     I believe this is true.
He sent us a Savior
      to make me brand new.
When I live for Jesus,
      He calls me to care,
for widows and orphans
      and people out there.

To examine my own self
      to see what is wrong.
Then allow Him to change it
      while I praise Him in song.
My faith is not visible
      by what I might say,
so I must act different
      and reject my own way!

This little writing
       is really quite plain,
I live for Jesus
      and He keeps me sane.
The life that He gives me,
      I pray for you.
That the glory of Jesus
      is all that shines through!

I pray that you find some joy and encouragement through these words.  I’ve been preaching a sermon series through the book of James and as I spent time preparing to wrap up that series, these lines just flowed from my mind.  I figure that God put them there and He brought them out, so He has a purpose to use them in someone’s life.  I pray that someone is you!  🙂

In prayer,

Tom Lemler

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Elementary Christmas

‘Twas the week before Christmas
      and all through the schools,
Not a student was listening
       nor following the rules.
Their minds were all elsewhere
      and thinking with joy,
That Christmas might bring them
       the latest new toy.

Then quite unexpected
       and out of the blue,
the meaning of Christmas
      came shining right through!
They sang of sweet Jesus
      and remembered His birth,
that very first Christmas
      when God came to earth.

It was quite a lesson
      I pray we did learn,
The real gift of Christmas
      was given, not earned.
These lines are over,
      the rhyming is done.
My prayer for each person,
      that we’d follow the Son!

I pray that you find some joy and encouragement through these words.  I’ve not even made an attempt at writing a poem since high school English when I was required to.  Yet as I considered the school and preschool children that are in the building every day as I work, these lines just flowed from my mind.  I figure that God put them there and He brought them out, so He has a purpose to use them in someone’s life.  I pray that someone is you!  🙂

Merry Christmas!

In prayer,

Tom Lemler

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The Least of These

Get ready to hang on to your hat and open up your wallet, this could be a bumpy ride. 🙂  The Christmas season in America tends to make many people more willing to open up their wallet now than at any other time of the year.  As they do so, it seems everyone would like to find a way to take something out for themselves. 

There simply aren’t enough hours in the day for Black Friday to have the financial impact that some businesses want, so many now begin with what I would call “Gray Thursday” in an attempt to get a jump-start on their efforts to take something out of your wallet.  Not to be left out, small business has laid claim to Small Business Saturday as they seek to keep at least a portion of your Christmas spending local.  I don’t know of any special spending emphasis for Sunday — maybe it is a day of rest for your wallet.  Anyhow, if you have anything left in your wallet — or at least some available credit on your cards — Cyber Monday comes marching in with on-line deals “too good to pass up”.  See, I told you this could be a bumpy ride. 🙂

So, are your credit cards maxed out and your wallet empty yet?  They better not be, because there is another group lined up wanting their piece of whatever financial bounty you may have.  Giving Tuesday is a recent addition to the post-Thanksgiving line-up — this being only its second year of existence as “a movement” but only the first year that I have heard of it.  My first reaction in hearing of this was one of excitement.  I thought someone with a national voice was calling people to live out the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 25, “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'”  I expected it to be a call for each of us to reach out to “the least of these” that surround us in our community and in our daily life.  I was wrong.  The stated goal of the official “Giving Tuesday” movement isn’t really any different from the goal of any of the other post-Thanksgiving “special” days — it just focuses on non-profit organizations rather than the for-profit ones.

I work for a non-profit organization and lead a non-profit prayer ministry so don’t get me wrong, I understand the need for funding and know many such organizations rely heavily on year-end gifts.  I guess I was just hoping for more from a national movement focused on giving.  More than the standard “Give . . . to me”.  I was hoping for a call that left the “to me” out of the request and replaced it with the simple phrase, “to the least of these”. 

I don’t know exactly who “the least of these” are in your life, but I do have an idea of what some of them look like.  Jesus describes them as the hungry, the thirsty, the lonely, the impoverished, the sick, and the prisoners — it is these, and others like them, that Jesus says when we give to them we’ve given to Him.  I pray that as you give of the time, abilities, and resources that God has given you, you would not overlook “the least of these” even as you continue to support the ministries that God has connected you with for the sake of His kingdom and His righteousness.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’  Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’  The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'” 
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,  I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’  They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’  He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’  Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

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I Can Do This! Really?

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”
Proverbs 14:12

Have you ever watched someone do something that looked so easy you were convinced you could do it?  No instruction, no training, no guidance . . . I mean, seriously, if “they” can do it then anyone can, right?  I tried that with a skateboard once. 🙂  I was working with youth full-time and while they were skateboarding, one of them asked me to give it a try.  I thought, “Why not?  If they can do it, it can’t be that difficult.”  Whoops!  That was a very literal case of pride going before a fall!

While that example may seem humorous, at least to you, it seems many tend to live with that attitude about matters that are much more serious.  Because it is often unseen, we tend to discount the work that goes into things that at first glance appear easy.  This is especially true when you seek to live a godly life and allow prayer to be the fuel that powers all of your accomplishments.  Because effective prayer isn’t done to be “seen by men”, it is easy for people to see what God accomplishes all the while discounting the unseen power of prayer — and therefore, the person praying.

This really shouldn’t come as a great surprise because we see it in the disciples as they observed Jesus.  For the most part, Jesus seemed to make miracles look easy — a word here, a glance there, a touch of the hand, a mix of spit and dust — all easy to see and do by anyone, right?  Well yes, except what they weren’t recognizing was the real power behind all of it was the connection Jesus had with His Father through prayer!  I see this as Jesus comes off the mount of transfiguration and his disciples have been trying to heal a boy by casting out a demon — something they had seen Jesus do with apparent ease prior to this yet it wasn’t working for them.  When the man brings his son to Jesus and the boy is  healed, the disciples seem to be confused.  They ask, “Why couldn’t we do this?”  The response of Jesus is straight to the point — and to the heart — “This kind only comes out with prayer and fasting.” 

Even when we know and have experienced the power of God working through prayer-based ministry and life, why do we have such a tendency to keep trying to do things in our own strength and power?  I think one of the biggest reasons is pride — it is very difficult to take credit for what God accomplishes when we know it has come about through prayer.  We want noticed and we want the credit so we make every effort to do things in our own power and strength until our failures bring us to our knees.  When satan tempts you to lead out of your own strength and wisdom, realize that the way that seems right to the mind of man is the way that leads to death.

I pray that you would think twice about the work that goes into an effective life and ministry.  When you see God accomplishing great things in and through a person, know that there is an incredible unseen prayer-base powering that.  I believe that the most effective thing that you can do in accomplishing the will of God in your life and ministry is to build a mighty foundation of prayer by being a person of prayer and by recruiting those who will consistently join you in prayer.