Terrie's Tender Touch

“My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth;…” Song of Solomon 2:10 – 12 My beloved is the Lord, my God. At some point in every Christian’s life the Lord will come to us and tell us that it is time that we grow closer to Him. He is very longsuffering with us and our weaknesses, however, there comes a time when He tells us that it is time to rise up and come away from where we are. “When I was a child, I spake as a child, understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” I Corinthians 13:11 The Lord will tell us when it is time to grow. He will speak to us through His Word, the preaching of His Word, or as we read it; through song, or through trials in our life. As Christians we must be constantly growing and “rising up” or we will find ourselves slipping or sliding backwards. In Song of Solomon, this C...

“For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” Ephesians :32,32. The marriage relationship is likened unto the church’s relationship with Christ. In Revelations: 2:4 “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” In Proverbs 5:18, God commands the husband, “Let thy fountain be blessed; and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.” Knowing all of this, I realize that God does not go for “the honeymoon is over.” I believe that he wants us to keep the love in our marriages new and fresh. Below is a test to see if you have held to your first love or if you showed your husband the best fruit on top while dating only to have him find the sour, green fruit now that you’re married. 1. Do you dress to look nice for your husband now as you once did? (Remember when you were dating the great pains you took to...

My husband and I have had the privilege of raising four awesome children. All too fast they are all grown, married, and now raising children of their own. I praise the Lord that all of our children are Christians (and 2 of our grandchildren have come to know Christ as their Savior), and are all actively serving the Lord. This post entitled "R" kids is an ingredient list all beginning with the letter "r." 1. Real – be real; your kids will spot a phony in a flash! 2. Relationship – develop a good relationship very early with your children. Talk to them and LISTEN when they talk to you! 3. Request – pray for your children. Phillipians 4:6, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 4. Rules – make sure your kids know your rules and understand them. It is okay to teach your children WHY you have the rules you do have. It should not be okay for them to ask “why?” when you te...

For 10 years my husband taught a young married couples Sunday School Class. Each week we produced a bulletin that had information for the class - a schedule of upcoming events, details about activities we were having, etc. Another part of the bulletin was different articles or devotional thoughts for the women. The article addressed to the young mothers was called "Baby Talk - Tips for Mom." When my first grandchild was born I compiled all of the articles and put them in a booklet form for my children. So for today, here is some "baby talk - tips for mom." Tell Them Recently I saw a bumper sticker that said, “I love my kids ...and I tell them.” It may sound silly to some, but so often though we love our children deeply, we neglect to tell them. Telling them does not simply mean saying the words. It also means showing them in your actions, by giving to them. Here is a list of things to give: Their needs Thousands of reassurances of your love for them Hugs a...

“And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.... that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.” Joshua 3:3—4 The Ark of the Covenant is of course symbolic of the Word of God. The Ark contained the 2 Tablets of Stone containing the Ten Commandments and the Rod that Aaron used. These 2 symbols showing God’s promises and provisions to us if we will obey His Word. As I read the verses above this morning, I pondered the phrase in Joshua 3:4 that says, “...that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.” You know every day is new and we are presented with new circumstances that we have not faced before. When we are very young almost every experience is new, as we get older we become new at being a wife, new at being a mother, new at having school aged chil...

This past October I celebrated my 51st birthday. On the morning of my birthday my husband wished me a Happy Birthday and I responded by saying that I have 19 years left. “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away” (thus the 19 years 70 – 51 = 19). Now, while that may sound morbid, let me explain what I mean. The previous week in my Bible reading I read the following verse from I Thessalonians, “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?” As I read that verse, I had mental picture of being in the presence of the Lord and bringing the people that I had won to Christ with me – as my joy and crown of rejoicing in His presence. Then I starting asking myself how much preparation or planning have I really put forth toward that awesome time? So, I started thinking ...

“But Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping...and they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.” John 20:11-13. Mary was weeping because when she went to the tomb of Jesus, He was not there. Now, today we know it was a victory over death because Christ arose triumphantly! Mary however, was the one that felt the loss. Often in our lives we are faced with different types of losses; perhaps the loss of a job, a financial reversal, the loss of a home, even the loss of a friend. When these things happen we usually weep as Mary did because we fear the unknown. We say to ourselves, “now that this has happened, what are we going to do?” I think about the loss we suffered when we had a fire in our church auditorium—and yet God gave us a beautiful new auditorium and the ability to do many improvements that we might otherwise not have been able to complete. I recall hearing a preacher ...

Last week as I was reading my Bible in the book of John I came across a verse that always means so much to me when I read it. It is John 17:20, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.” I have noted in my Bible that Jesus prayed for me. Jesus’ prayer is recorded in John 17. My question and what I believe is important to know is what Jesus actually prayed. If Jesus prayed for me, it is important. If it is recorded in the Bible it is important. I know that what He prayed is the will of God for my life, and that the Holy Spirit will speak to my heart to do what God will, but whether or not it is fulfilled is up to me, because I have freewill to do as I please – God does not force me to do His will. Just as Jesus died to pay for the sins of whole world and only those that believe will receive the salvation that He purchased; so the answer to Jesus’ prayer is answered to those who believe and submit themselves to His will. 1. ...

Yesterday my husband and I enjoyed a fun day of shopping for our granddaughter’s birthday gift, and then spontaneously drove up to San Francisco to walk around and have a meal. Throughout the day we kept hearing advertisers capitalize on the new buzz words… "Stimulus Package" or "bail outs." As we were talking about it, my husband decided that we should provide a Christian Stimulus Program. The program would provide necessary ingredients that will Stimulate Christian growth and guarantee receipt of God‘s precious promises. 1. PRAY “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Matthew 21:22 2. PERUSE the Bible – that word peruse means to analyze, browse, glance over, inspect, look through, pore over, read, scan, scrutinize, skim, study. “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” Revelation 1:3 3. PRACTICE – Don’t just per...

I have been pondering further on the whole idea of waiting. When we are in the "waiting" position there are a few facts that I have been mulling over. 1. When we are waiting, we are at the mercy of what or whom we are waiting. In other words, we have to do it their way. 2. If you want what you are waiting for - you have to stay in line, be available and ready for when it is your turn or when they call or you will miss out on what you are waiting for. 3. If you try to cut in line you may lose your turn altogether, or possibly go to the end of the line and start waiting all over again. Now considering those facts let's look at Isaiah 40:31 again... “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” So...if we want our strength renewed, to be able to mount up with wings as eagles, run without growing weary, and walk without fainting we need to reali...

Waiting is one of the most difficult aspects of every event in our lives. It seems that we are always waiting for something. We wait in line, we wait for time to pass, we wait for results…on and on it goes. One thing that most people have in common is that nobody likes to wait; we want what we want now. Right now it seems that I find myself in a position of waiting for major things. It can be trying. The Lord brought Isaiah 40:31 to my mind yesterday in my devotion time. It says, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Waiting brings many things other than the hoped for outcome. 1. When we wait upon the Lord He will renew our strength…strength as Christians, strength in faith, strength to do His will and work for His glory. 2. As I ponder the idea of mounting up with wings as eagles I imagine soaring through the next phase on a “Spiritual Hi...

In today's society it seems that women believe they will feel more important if they have their own name. Married women tend to hold on to their maiden names - perhaps so that people they have known in the past will recognize who they are, or maybe they feel that by so doing they will not lose their own identity. As a Christian woman I find that often God does not even give the women He honours a known name at all. To name a few I think of Noah's wife, Lot's wife, the Virtuous Woman, and the one I am thinking about today...Manoah's wife. In my Bible reading I found it interesting that Samson's mother (Manoah's wife) doesn't have a name. She is referred to as "the woman," "Manoah's wife," or "Samson's mother"...yet God spoke to her, not her husband when announcing the soon coming arrival of their son Samson. It is clearly evident that she was respected because the angel of the Lord appeared to her, and when Manoah t...