Lent Reflection, Day 28, April 1

And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.”
Matthew 26:39

Additional Reading: Psalms 22:1-11

The movement of soul from “what I want” to “what You want” seems to be a voyage of endless miles. Few experiences trouble us more than being abandoned to a ruthless situation beyond our choice and control. The telling of the story of Jesus’ struggle to accept his “cup” is covered by a few poignant sentences in the book of Matthew. The living of it was more like a long night with a desperately sick child, or a grief so large the tears don’t even end until your head pounds and you ache with heart-sickness.

It is during the terrible spasm between “if possible” and “yet not what I want” that Jesus’ life speaks most eloquently to our own innocent suffering. More words would not add to the message. In that prolonged moment of agony the One enthroned and adored identifies in every sense with the crushed heart in each of us. Let him cry out! Let him pull his head to his knees and rock with sobs! It is the only way a human can pass through the narrow door of woe and into harmony with God’s will.

When you are bent with pain, hopeless from grief, gasping for air – go to the “Garden” and find him there. Call to him when trouble is near, for no one else know so well the reality of the struggle.

Prayer: Father, who can speak of the measure of the heart-wrenching struggle your Son endured in the garden at Gethsemane? We are humbled by it and see our own suffering in its light. Grant that we would find the strength he found in you in our sufferings. Grant that we would be able to choose what you want more than anything else. Amen.

Lent Reflection, Day 27, March 31

And all the people said, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!”
Matthew 27:25

Additional Reading: Romans 3:21-26

What should I do with Jesus? Jesus’ night of suffering is reaching a climax. What begins as an intimate meal and conversation and loving gifts becomes a nightmare of pain and loneliness.

Jesus is now surrounded by people who do not love him. Surrounded, but alone. Terribly alone. He has been stripped of his friends, his dignity, even his clothing. He is a the mercy of the crowd. And they wish him to be gone, dead. The deepest darkness is just ahead.

Pilate has ultimate power. The state will carry out his edict – with will force. The crowd draws into a frenzy of alarming purpose. And there Jesus stands in the middle of the turmoil. Stripped of all but self-giving love. Prepared for death. Leading a great multitude toward eternal life.

What should I do with Jesus? In a sense, Jesus’ fate is in our hands, too. He stands before us, silent and waiting. He has come humbly, stripped. He could have come with demonstrations of frightening power and majesty. He could have come wrapped in burning wrath and judgment. But here he is, the suffering Jesus, quiet and attentive. He is again letting the crowd choose the place he will be given.

Prayer: Father, I choose to give Jesus first place in my heart. For all that will mean … for all that will look like … for all that will cost me … I will put him first. Amen.

Lent Reflection, Day 26, March 30

The word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” “Ah, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 1:4-8

Before you ever believed in him God was already pointing you in certain directions by giving you natural gifts. Whether you are smart, athletic, musical, mechanical, technical, encouraging, or helpful and hard working, God designed you to fulfill his purposes. Certain things just come naturally to each of us, and I believe God did this so we could narrow our focus in life. He made us limited so we would search for and find our gifts, while valuing and depending others’ gifts. He made us to thrive in our gifts and in doing so, learning to trust in an unlimited God.

Whatever your gifts are, dedicate those gifts to God – that’s one way to love him with all that is in you. Dedicating your gifts to God often means dedicating your gifts to serve others.

If you feel like a loser, or you feel like you don’t have any gifts, dig in and find them, because we all have them. If you have gifts that you don’t like, I encourage you to accept them and embrace them because until you do you will always lack confidence. I’m starting to understand that more and more my significance has little to do with things that the world deems to be important. In fact, the Scripture says that things of significance in God’s eyes typically don’t attract much attention from the masses. On the other hand, they quite often mean a great deal to those we come in contact with from day to day.

When we reach our final moment in this life, those around us will want to remember not how much we achieved; but instead how much we cared. Jesus never became emperor of Rome, nor was he recognized as the high priest before he died and rose from the grave, but those he touched while he was here in the flesh were eternally changed. He continues to change us today, and gives each of us the opportunity to use our gifts and talents to change lives. No matter what those gifts may be.

Prayer: Help me to embrace the natural gifts you’ve given me and understand my unique purposes in you. Help me to build up others through using these gifts.

Lent Reflection, Day 25, March 29

He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:13-14

Additional Reading: Hebrews 12:1-3

Perhaps this season we can see, as individuals forming this community, what it means to live in light of the fact that someday Jesus will return to take us to be with Him forever …

We’re reminded by Paul in Philippians 3:14 that we are all in a race, pressing on toward the goal, to win the prize that God has for us in heaven. I’ve been thinking lately that much of my life is spent in the pit stops instead of actually running the race. Much of my life is spent already in the comforts and rewards. When I really consider that Jesus will return again, it makes me want to tie on my shoes and go! It makes me want to make sure I am hearing from Him daily, and that I am serious about the things He is serous about.

One of the difficulties with running a marathon is that you can’t see the end from the starting line. The gun goes off and the great river of runners carries everyone along, as they all set out with an enormous amount of enthusiasm. Before long, however, the experienced ones spread out and find their pace determined to hold it to the end. The cheering of those who are watching and supplying water is an amazing encouragement, but the real strength comes for keeping the end in view. Knowing one’s pace and the ability to run a consistent, calculated, speed is critical. To keep one’s eyes fixed on the race, as a whole, is vital in avoiding the danger of using up all one’s steam in the first half.

If we are to run the spiritual race of life, we must fix our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfector of our faith. The error we might make is to calculate our own pace, taking life as it comes in our own strength and living by our own designs. As we focus on Jesus, we can take comfort in these verses that He is the “Author” and “Perfector” of our faith.

He is the one who writes and authors the story of faith in the race of my life. He is the one who takes that seed of faith, placed there with His own hand, and writes the script so that I can finish the race. And so I will fix my eyes on Him and ask Him to produce this life-changing faith in my life.

Prayer: O God, I am so aware of my inability to run this spiritual marathon. Gently draw my attention to You. Focus my eyes on Jesus, Your Son, in order to know by experience the story of faith You are writing in my life. Please produce the character and priorities of my coach and example, Jesus, in my life. I love you! Amen.

Lent Reflection, Day 24, March 28

Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. When a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
John 16:20-22

Additional Reading: Psalm 16:1-11

Finding joy in pain is the great paradox Jesus used to prepare His disciples for the emotional trauma they were about to encounter. Three incredibly intimate years with their friend, the Son of God, would soon be only a memory. His death would initially leave them devastated. Yet just as a mother must endure tremendous pain before she experiences the joy of her new born child, so the disciples, by the necessity of Jesus’ cross, would know great sorrow before they would realize the reward of an unending relationship with the risen Lord.

Pain is the rich, fertile soil in which an intimate relationship with God is cultivated. There is a sweet side to suffering when we choose to embrace it rather than run from it. In times of deep sorrow and inconsolable grief, run, don’t walk, into the arms of your loving Heavenly Father. For only in His presence will you find the kind of joy that no one can take away.

Join me in praying the words of Teresa of Avila, “Lord, how You afflict Your lovers! But everything is small in comparison to what you You give them afterwards.”

Lent Reflection, Day 23, March 27

For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.
Luke 9:24

Additional Reading: Philippians 2:1-11; Colossians 1:15-23

We didn't climb up to heaven and beg to get into the family; rather, he entered into our broken world and surrendered Himself even to the point of death…

Philippians 2:6-11, I believe, is one of the most powerful passages in the New Testament. It is impossible for my finite mind to wrap itself around the idea that an infinite God chose to leave the glory of heaven to be born completely naked and dependent into this harsh world in the form of a baby. I cannot comprehend how Jesus, "who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." How is it that the path God chose to take in order to reconcile humanity was that of a servant? A servant who, "humbled himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross!"

This downward mobility is so counter-intuitive to our worldview that it is impossible not to mentally trip up over the idea. The first 3 verses describe the emptying out of Jesus, or what Henri Nouwen calls, “the descending way.” We are left questioning the logic of this move when we are suddenly shaken up in verses 9-11 where Paul reveals to us the true power of the descending way: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Amen!

The love of God has become visible in Jesus most clearly through the descending way. That is the great mystery of the Incarnation. God descended to us human beings to become a human being with us; and once among us, descended to the total dereliction of one condemned to death. It isn't really easy to feel and understand this descending way of Jesus. Every fiber of our being rebels against it. We don't mind paying attention to poor people from time to time; but descending to a state of poverty and becoming poor with the poor, that we don't want to do. And yet that is the way Jesus chose as the way to know God.

God's way can only be grasped in prayer. The more you listen to God speaking within you, the sooner you will hear that voice inviting you to follow the way of Jesus. For Jesus' way is God's way and God's way is not for Jesus only but for everyone who is truly seeking God. Here we come up against the hard truth that the descending way of Jesus is also the way for us to find God. Jesus doesn't hesitate for a moment to make that clear.

Henri Nouwen, Show Me The Way

Lent Reflection, Day 22, March 25

Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:7-9

I’ve been reading a great book by Donald Miller called, Searching for God Knows What. Many of the following thoughts were brought out through reading this book…

I’ve believed for many years that the most important thing for a person to have is a relationship with God, but as I look at the way I’m living this belief out, I can see that I’m not really practicing what I think is the most important thing with God or those closest to me.

A relationship is not easy, they never come with an instruction manual, and at times a certain thing that you do to cultivate a relationship works in one situation, but makes things hairy in another. A good relationship is unconditional. I want that kind of acceptance, but yet I’m reluctant to give it. One thing that’s hard in relationships is that every person I’ve ever known is different than me. They have different problems, they don’t always laugh at my jokes, I don’t always laugh at theirs, they have different opinions about everything over and under the sun, and they want me to alter my schedule to do things I don’t exactly care about. It’s like they don’t have the decency to be ME! I guess that’s what’s hard about a relationship with God. For God to be God he has to be different than me, me and everyone else for that matter, but a big problem I have, I guess since I can’t see him or something, is that I have the uncanny ability to turn him into a glorified alter-ego of myself instead of seeing him for who he really is. And as I write this it makes me kind of cringe to think about what a god like me would be like.

One of my greatest surprises has been that my wife is not like me. Back in our early dating days we seemed to have a lot more in common. Almost six years after walking down the aisle, I truly believe that I married an alien. She looks like a human, but just like Mork she must be from Ork. This discovery has been shocking and is still even frightening at times, but I’ve come to find out that in so many ways things were better on the planet she grew up on, and if you were to ask her, I’m pretty sure she would say the same about me. It’s pretty much the same way with God. If you are searching for God, realize that when you find him, he won’t exactly be who you expect him to be. In many ways he’ll exceed your expectations, he won’t let you down like most of the people you’ve known, and in other ways certain things about God will be hard to accept and understand. And I guess this should be expected. Shouldn’t our creator’s ways be higher than our ways, and his thought’s higher than our thoughts? If another person isn’t always predictable why would God be predictable? Don’t get me wrong God is constant and consistent, but the way he relates to us cannot be reduced to a formula or method. This thought might seem overwhelming at first, but in reality it is one of the first steps to knowing and even understanding God. We will never totally understand him, but this mystery is what makes him worthy of our awe and wonder.

Prayer: Ask God to help you see him for who he really is and not who you want him to be.

Lent Reflection, Day 21, March 24

By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, of whom he had been told, “It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.” He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead—and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
Hebrews 11:17-19

Additional Reading: Mark 14:53-65

Being a follower of Jesus means our faith is constantly being put on trial – being tested. Being put through the fire. But it is not for the purpose of exposing hidden flaws or of finding cracks in the armor. It is more about actually trying to strengthen it and develop it.

The lessons of faith learned at one level are intended to lift us to a new measure of trust at the next new level. Sometimes, like Abraham, the biggest tests come early. And other times, in his infinite kindness, the Father starts with simpler lessons and builds us up to where he can challenge us to trust him for far greater things. Our growing personal experience of God’s faithfulness is intended to build us forward to greater steps of faith.

It seems Abraham was ready to believe something that was not only impossible but something that in recorded history had never happened before or even been suggested as a way in which God might work. For us, we have the track record of Scripture, church history, and Christian biography to encourage our faith and give us hope that goes beyond our often limited view of God’s ways. Even when those ways have us in a place that feels like the Sanhedrin’s courts of Mark 14. Even when it seems that the way of Jesus bring us only difficulty and trial. Even when it feels like God no longer loves us.

And that faith journey begins with a resurrection. As with Abraham, and the “figurative” resurrection he witnessed, so for us it’s Jesus’ first, then our own. His, on that first Easter. Ours, out of the deadness of our sin and by faith into the fullness of his resurrection life. But never forget that the birth of faith is not the end of its development. Tests will come to it. Trials will prove its strength. And these will come not because He has stopped loving us or doesn’t notice the pain; but because he loves us too much to let us settle for a life too small to make a difference with.

Prayer: Father, I’m not Abraham and I am certainly not Jesus. But I want to be a candidate for great exploits of faith. So don’t give up on me. Strengthen me, in the inner person, by your Spirit. Please make me a person of growing faith. Amen.

Lent Reflection, Day 20, March 23

He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.
Isaiah 53:7

Additional Reading: Psalm 83:1-18

We sit, crouched in a corner, watching the horrible scene unfold before us. Let the truth be told! A person’s rights are being violated, trampled on. Let the truth be told! When it all comes out, then the wrong will be righted, the evil halted. Let the truth be told!

Why won’t he just SAY something!? Why will he not speak? Is it guilt that closes his mouth, or despair? The silence of Jesus fills the room. His life, almost gone, towers over the heads of those who call out their lies. The drama of salvation moves along at a snail’s pace and Jesus remains quiet. In the end he will speak … won’t he? No. Not now.

This fiery trial did not come upon him as a result of thieving, vice, or traitorous shame. Nor is his silence an indulgence in sullen hate. The contempt of the world comes to him by way of holiness. And holiness keeps him silent, baffling his accusers and tearing at his friends. The court before which he stands is not worthy of his defense.

To hold our tongue, especially when it’s in our own defense – this is strength. When we have been silent long enough, humbled under God’s mighty hand, then he will lift us up – “humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6)

Prayer: Father, I surrender my rights. I throw myself on your justice and your mercy as your beloved adopted child. May it be your will rather than my “vindication” that is served. Help me be silent when it serves your best interests. Lord Jesus, lead in holiness, that even in silence your life might speak through me. Amen.

Lent Reflection, Day 19, March 22

Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.
John 16:33

Additional Reading: Lamentations 3:1-33 (stick with this one, make it through the entire passage and you’ll be rewarded!)

I’ve been through some tests and trials lately and I think I’ve learned a lesson. Actually, I should say I’m in the midst of “learning” a lesson. I don’t live it yet, but I’m convinced it’s true: authentic joy comes from letting God love me the way God wants – whether it’s through illness or health, failure or success, poverty or wealth, rejection or praise. Yes, God can love me through illness, failure, poverty, and the like – not “in spite of,” but through these things, I can experience God’s love in a profound way.

It’s hard for me to say, "I’ll gratefully accept everything, Lord, that pleases you. Let your will be done." But I know that when I truly believe the Father is pure love, it will become increasingly possible to say these words from the heart. Sometimes God’s “blessing,” or God’s best for our lives will not come by him removing obstacles, or pain from our lives.

Charles de Foucald once wrote a prayer of abandonment that expresses beautifully the spiritual attitude I long to have. It seems good to pray this prayer often. These are the words of a guy who “got it!” They show the way I must go. I realize that I can never make this prayer come true by my own efforts; but by the Spirit of God living in me, I can begin to pray it and see it grow to fulfillment.

I know that my inner peace depends on my willingness to make this prayer my own:

Father, I abandon myself into your hands; do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you; I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures.
I wish no more that this, O Lord.
Into your hand I command my soul; I offer it to you with all the love of my heart, for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands, without reserve and with boundless confidence.
For you are my Father.

Lent Reflection, Day 18, March 21

I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.
John 17:15

Additional Reading: Colossians 3:17-24

From Show Me the Way, by Henri Nouwen:

“’Being in the world without being of the world.’ These words summarize well the way Jesus speaks of the spiritual life. It is a life in which we are totally transformed by the Spirit of love. Yet it is a life in which everything seems to remain the same. To live a spiritual life does not mean that we must leave our families, give up our jobs, or change our ways of working; it does not mean that we have to withdraw from social or political activities, or lose interest in literature and art; it does not require severe forms of asceticism or long hours of prayer.

Changes such as these may in fact grow out of our spiritual life, and for some people radical decisions may be necessary. But the spiritual life can be lived in as many ways as there are people. What is new is that we have moved from the many things to the kingdom of God. What is new is that we are free from the compulsions of our world and have set our hearts on the only necessary thing. What is new is that we no longer experience the many things, people, and events as endless causes for worry, but begin to experience them as the rich variety of ways in which God makes his presence known to us.”

Prayer: Lord, help me to be aware of your presence and to experience you in profound ways through the events, tasks, and relationships of this day.

Lent Reflection, Day 17, March 20

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
1 John 3:16

Additional Reading: 1 John 1:5-10

Often, when we think of God as our “light,” we picture ourselves walking down a dark path with flashlight in front of us to light our way. Here, these verses describe the brightness of God in such a way that it makes me think about walking in the all-encompassing daylight as opposed to stumbling along at night. When God invites us into a relationship, it is like walking out of a dark theater into the brightness of a summer afternoon. To think that you could walk in darkness and light at the same time is about as crazy as thinking that we would need a flashlight in the middle of the day while squinting in the sun’s brightness.

These verses teach us that we can’t have closeness with God until the darkness is dealt with. God’s offer is the removal of darkness through the brightness of the cross. Entering this “brightness” is to enter into a relationship with him. At the point when we come to realize the darkness around us, we confess (or “agree” with God concerning) our sins and the darkness is dispelled forever – his death on the cross brings forgiveness.

It is interesting that John speaks about walking in the light, instead of walking according to the light. To walk in the light requires honesty and responsiveness to God, who is the light. While walking according to the light could be done in a kind of mimicking fashion without any relational connection at all.

But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another (us and God!). Today, walk in the brightness of God’s forgiveness in Jesus – in this sunny day, there is no darkness at all.

Prayer: Kind Father, please shine in full brightness to draw me closer to you. Illuminate the junk in my life that simply doesn’t fit with your plans for me. Search my heart and reveal the darkness. Give me the courage to open my entire self, dark spots and all, to your light. Amen.

Lent Reflection, Day 16, March 18

When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, “Surely, not I?” He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.”
Mark 14:17-21

Additional Reading: Matthew 26:69-75

This warning of Jesus is a way out for Judas. It is a chance to stop what is about to happen. It is a moment to repent and turn from his intention. Jesus knows what Judas knows. He looks deep into Judas’ heart and declares Judas’ intentions before everyone in the room. There is no secret now. This warning is perhaps his greatest kindness to anyone on earth. With this warning, he offers the chance for Judas to change his mind.

This is the Passover meal. Jesus, taking the lead in the ceremonial meal, has just dipped the bread in the bitter herbs and the stewed fruit. It is that time in the meal when Jews recount the salvation story and their deliverance from the bondage of Egypt. The gesture and the dish are traditional signs of Israel’s suffering. Now, understanding this bigger picture of what was happening, do you see how the gesture of dipping the bread and the dish of bitter herbs symbolize the horror of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus? If he doesn’t stop himself from what he is about to do, he will freely take on the responsibility for Jesus’ suffering. Judas will be to Jesus what Egypt was to Israel.

But, like all betrayals, it doesn’t have to be. It can be stopped with a right response to a strong warning. Let us remember then, that the stern warnings that come to us in Scripture are not to keep us from some unrealized happiness in life. They are to keep us from being Judas to Jesus. From being Judas to the Body of Christ, the church. In this we discover that the warnings of God are perhaps his greatest kindness to us.

Prayer: Kind Father, many of us can feel like we have betrayed your Son times beyond number and feel like we cannot find our way home to your loving heart. Remind us of Peter finding his way home; impress us again with your unrelenting kindness. Amen.

Lent Reflection, Day 15, March 17

Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no case against him.”
John 18:38

Additional Reading: Matthew 27:11-26

An immigrant is deported back to the Philippines because she works too hard. Life is unfair.

A man driving under the influence streaks down a highway in the wrong direction, slams into a school bus, kills innocent children. Life is unfair.

A baby is born infected with H.I.V. because of her mother’s promiscuous lifestyle. Life is unfair.

A teenager, walking into school is shot by a classmate for no discernable reason. Life is unfair.

A man is convicted for the rape and murder of a woman. After serving 20 years, it is determined he is innocent. Life is unfair.

A perfect man is tried, convicted, and executed for all the evil that ever appeared on earth and all the sins that were ever committed by every person he ever created. Life is unfair.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we
might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Life is unfair.
But God is good.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, you understand how it feels to be treated unfairly. Help me to look beyond my experience, beyond my circumstances to you. I can’t always make sense of this life but I can always rely on your character. Amen.

Lent Reflection, Day 14, March 16

So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.
1 John 4:16

Additional Reading: Psalm 23

A lesson from my day-to-day life with my wife … On any given day I’m content to simply know that I love her without necessarily showing her and reminding her that I love her. I can be content with this and not think it’s a big deal to her because simply knowing it is all right with me.

The God I read about in the Bible isn’t like that. Throughout the Bible you find constant reminders that God loves us. God doesn’t stop with just telling us he loves us, he shows his love through the way he interacts with the numerous people between the covers of the book. A key teaching in the Bible is this: for love to be made complete it must walk hand in hand with action. This isn’t easy for me because I am by nature, lazy. Even when I am able to make this leap, I’ve found that I’m actually so messed up that I turn many of my actions into a kind of system of obligation. Yes, many times I do things because I’m supposed to, and not because I want to (sorry, honey). I’m sure she already knows this because often I can tell that she picks up on my insincerity.

I tend to gravitate toward a system of duty because once again by my original nature I’m lazy. It’s easier to perform tasks out of habit, or from a checklist than to sincerely be interested in another person. I guess it is safe to say that good actions don’t always equal love; sincere love must come first. This is an amazing thing about God, he loves us sincerely, and not out of obligation. This is part of His true nature.

Prayer: God, thank you that you don’t operate from a “checklist,” marking off our names as you go down the list. Thank you for you you are, God - love, sincere, spontaneous, thoughtful love. Amen.

Lenten Reflection - Day 13, March 15

Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup.
Psalm 16:3

Additional Reading: Luke 22:39-44, Philippians 4:6-7, James 1:2-4

Many times in my life so far I have struggled with the “portion” and the “cup” God has chosen for me. The choices He makes for us and the situations He allows us to find ourselves in are often beautiful and often heartbreaking. It’s easy to give thanks for the beautiful times He sends, and not quite so easy to be thankful for the heartbreaking ones. In fact, not only do we have trouble giving thanks for them, we have a hard time accepting that they could have come from Him in the first place. Enter Lie #1 from our enemy: “God must not be in control, because a loving Father would not give me this suffering.” Sound familiar?

Sometimes the hardest part of suffering is knowing that God could have stopped it but chose not to. I think we all understand that suffering is part of living in this world. It’s the feeling that God has disappointed us when we were hoping in Him with all of our heart – that really hurts.

Biblically, there are so many reasons for God-given suffering. One of those vital purposes for suffering in the life of a follower of Jesus is accepting God’s authority and submitting under it. Authority (when you’re the one doing the submitting) has never been fun, and it might never be. However, this concept is one of the first steps to maturity as a believer. Accepting what God, in His wise authority, chooses to hand out to us not only brings us maturity, but also it brings us peace, contentment, and a deeper understanding of faith.

One of my favorite authors, Linda Dillow, taught me a lot about this in her book, Calm My Anxious Heart. She writes, “Sometimes we don’t like what’s been poured into our cup. Remember the Lord Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane? When He saw the suffering He was about to endure, He pleaded, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Christ grasped the handle of His cup and lifted it to God and said, “I accept my portion. Infuse me with Your strength that I may drink.”

Every cup- whether dainty china or rough-hewn pottery has a handle. God has placed our portion in our cup. We either choose to grasp it by the handle and lift it to Him, saying, “I accept this portion; I accept this cup,” or we choose to smash our cup to pieces, saying, “God, I refuse my portion. This cup is not the right size for me and I don’t like what You’ve put in it. I’ll control my life myself.”

Is there any situation in your life right now or in your past that you have had a hard time accepting? Does the idea of accepting that the suffering came from God make you question His character? As difficult as it is, the process to peace and healing can begin with telling God you want to trust Him whether or not you ever understand His ways. To submit without understanding the answers and reasons why is not a human response; it is only by the Spirit’s power that we can do it. Jesus was victorious and purposeful in His suffering, and by the grace of God we can be, too.

Lenten Reflection - Day 12, March 14

Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
John 12:3

Additional Reading: Mark 14:1-9

Every death comes as a shock. Even a death we have prepared for. When Mary takes her vial of costly perfume and pours it over Jesus, she can only have an inkling of the significance of what she is doing. But Jesus knows. How shocking it is to hear Him speak of his imminent burial. It is the last thing the disciples can bear to think about.

Driving past a graveyard, it is difficult to think of each stone as representing a real person, alive and sparkling, loving and working. Did all of them expect death to come? Were they prepared? And me—my death could come at any moment. It is not death that fills my mind with anxiety, but the raw truth is that it is I who shall certainly die.

The pathway to a holy death runs directly through a holy life. Living is the only available preparation for death. Holy living is life broken open and poured out on Jesus’ feet in small ways, every day. It is dying so many little deaths that the big comes to look like a beginning and not an end. Holy living fills the world with the sweet fragrance of sacrifice.

Holy living isn’t always practical. But it is always loving. Spill yourself out for the sake of love and you will discover that life and death takes on a new meaning.

Prayer: Father, we are so prone to live as if life will never end for us here. But today we acknowledge the certain truth that it will. Help me to redeem the time and use my days well. Lead me in holy living for your Kingdom’s sake. And strengthen my by your Holy Spirit to be strength to those who face the shadows of death unprepared. Amen.

Lenten Reflection - Day 11, March 13

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14

Additional Reading: Luke 11:1-4;

During this Lenten journey toward Easter, or during any time in our ongoing spiritual journey, prayer is something we must come to understand more fully. Henri Nouwen, in the Lenten devotional, Show Me the Way, writes this:

Deep silence leads us to suspect that, in the first place, prayer is acceptance. A man who prays is a man standing with his hands open to the world. He knows that God will show himself in the nature that surrounds him, in the people he meets, in the situations he runs into. He trusts that the world holds God's secret within it, and he expects that secret to be shown to him. Prayer creates that openness where God can give himself to man. Indeed, God wants to give himself; he wants to surrender himself to the man he has created, he even begs to be admitted into the human heart.

Wow - the statement, "God wants to give himself...he wants to surrender himself to the man he created," is so powerful. That really goes against the way some people view God, but is interesting to think about when you consider it was God who took the initiative in reaching out to us through His Son Jesus Christ.

For years in the Old Testament period, people lived as though God’s love, or God’s “favor,” was something to be earned. The Incarnation changed all of that. That God “became flesh” and “dwelt among us” is a cosmic statement that goes way beyond a Christmas story. It was the revelation for all time that God desires so much to be in relationship with his people that he will descend from heaven and change who he is and how he exists to be for us.

I think prayer is the first step to accepting that love relationship that God wants to give us. Like Nouwen wrote, prayer is about standing with open hands to the world, ready to see God, it is “acceptance” and “openness” to receive God. I can see a correlation between my inability to accept God's love and my paltry prayer life. And so I look at this day and say, along with those first disciples, “Lord, teach me to pray.”

Lenten Reflection - Day 10, March 11

“Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:32-34

Additional Reading: Matthew 25:39-40

If you haven’t been able to read all the Bible yet, Jesus gave us a great summary of what it says in a passage that is now referred to as the great commandment. When Jesus is asked what God’s greatest commandment is he gives a reply something like this: Love God with all that is in you, and love everyone else like you love yourself.

If you are able do this you can be assured that you are following God’s will in your life. So often we get caught up in trying to figure out the small details of what God wants us to do with our lives, that we forget what the main thing is. I believe if we would sit and think about what this great commandment means it would help us to better discern God’s will in our life from day to day.

For example, look into a current relationship in your life that might be strained. Maybe, you dread having to talk with them about something they’ve done to you or you’ve done to them. In the great commandment passage Jesus is actually telling us to respond to others in a way that we would want to be treated. If you respond in a way that you would like to be responded to, you are actually loving and pleasing God. To me, this is a much easier decision making process than the good old “What Would Jesus Do” test, because quite honestly I don’t always know what Jesus would do, but I do know and understand how I like to be treated.

It is so interesting to me that the great commandment didn’t end with Jesus just telling us to love God passionately, but that he finished his commandment by telling us to love other humans passionately. I think we can safely make the conclusion that we are actually loving him when we love others. A lot of religious leaders in Jesus day dedicated their lives to studying, fasting, and praying to God, but they allowed these disciplines to give them a sense of superiority over the people around them, even touting these disciplines as spiritual merit badges, if you will, instead of letting their spiritual disciplines lead them into more compassion for their fellow human.

As we live out the great commandment, and we begin to be more aware of God’s constant workings around us, we begin to see things, and he open doors we would not have been able to see otherwise. Of course, God does use many other avenues to speak his purposes for us into our lives, but if you are like me and feel a bit spiritually handicapped in the God hearing department, I hope that you will find this great commandment test helpful.

Prayer: Ask God to help you understand in a greater way that loving him equals loving others. Ask him to continue showing you how to recognize his voice.

Lenten Reflection - Day 9, March 10

And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless…
1 Corinthians 15:17

Additional Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:12-20; Romans 6:1-11

As a parent, the season leading up to Christmas is one of the most fun times of the year. It reminds me of how excited I got when I was a kid and something big was coming up – the anticipation was the best part, I just didn’t know it! With my kids now, we’ve developed a bit of a tradition. Instead of telling the number of days before Christmas, we tell them, “you go to bed and get up … and then you go to bed and get up … and then you go to bed and get up,” and so on according to how many days are left. It makes for a lot of fun (for the parents at least!) and excitement (for all)!

For centuries the church did the same thing for Easter. The Sunday's prior to Lent were called Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima, telling us it was approximately 70, than 60 and then 50 days before Easter. Other cultures kept up the tradition in Lent. For example, in French, Lent is called Carême, an abbreviation of "quarantieme" the 40th day before Easter.
This name, survived from a long-since gone tradition, illustrates how much this season is focused on Easter. It is not merely about repentance per se; it is about turning from everything in our lives to focus on the one thing that is necessary namely, Christ's death and resurrection and our participation in it, even now. Lent is very much a season focused not on itself, but on entering ever deeply into Christ's death so as to enjoy his resurrection. It's almost as if each day in Lent should have its own name, the 39th, the 38th and so on until we get to the wonderful night of nights, when the tomb became filled with light and life!

Prayer: Prepare us, dear Lord, by allowing us to enter into this journey toward Easter. May the focus of this day and this season be on the one thing we need most, the resurrected Jesus, alive in our hearts.

Lenten Reflection - Day 8, March 9

When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent.”
Luke 23:47

Additional Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:14-21

He only saw him die and yet the centurion was convinced of the righteousness of Jesus – his “right-relatedness” to God the Father and to the people he came to love and to save. He never saw him heal the sick or raise the dead or cleanse the leper or give sight to the blind, but he was convinced.

What would it take to convince us? We may well already believe in Him, but we find that we live so little for him. We may well have a history of relationship bith him, but perhaps little real knowing of him in the manner that changes us with a convinced sense of never being the same again. We may well profess to love him, but a coolness has stolen Love’s fervor. We cannot see by faith what the centurion saw in person.

So Easters come and go and life piles up and we wonder when our full devotion to him will kick in or when I will understand, at the level of personal everyday experience, what I hear so many others talk about with such certainty and such convinced clarity. If the cernurion could speak across the years to you and to me, he would probably say, “Look at that cross and the one it holds. He is there for you and me. Let it grip your heart today.”

Prayer: Kind Father, today I humble myself all over again and look to the cross of Christ for a fresh reminder of what it means to be loved by you. May the true righteousness he gave me by faith on that day transform me this day. Amen.

Lenten Reflection - Day 7, March 8

While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Mark 14:22-25

Additional Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:17-28

I woke up this morning to a winter wonderland. (This is obviously a fictional tale, as there have been no such “winter wonderlands” in Kentucky this year!) Six inches of snow had fallen during the early hours of the day. Now, at 6:30 am the land outside my window had blue and lavender casts. It looked serene; it was magnetic!

I found myself being drawn throughout the day back to the window: watching, waiting, almost as if I was expecting something, anything, a change to have occurred between each visit. By noon the sun was high in the sky, shining radiantly and reflecting brilliantly off the snow. The blues of the morning landscape had gone, replaced now by the shining, sparkling white crystals. Then at 4:30, late in the afternoon, the glistening and the shadows combined to create a mesmerizing ivory blanket.

I remembered today my old Sunday School teacher’s explanation of forgiveness, that as a result of Jesus’ cross, our dirty sins will be washed away and we’ll be made “white as snow.” If you think about this image, you might understand it like I did for many years – that God’s forgiveness makes us blank. Our sins have been erased and nothing was left, just an empty white space.

But what if being made “white as snow” means more than being made clean; what if it also means being transformed into this intensely interesting, beautiful creation? A snow-covered day can teach us how we’re seen by God, washed and cleansed by the blood of Jesus … pure. It can also teach us more about being the church in the world today. As followers of Jesus, having accepted God’s forgiveness, the church is to be like this brilliant reflection in a cold, dreary season of history – the kind of stuff you can’t take your eyes off!

Prayer: Father, thank you for forgiveness in Jesus. In your mercy, you take the dirty, ugly stuff of this world and you transform it into true beauty. Remind us today that snow doesn’t create any light of its own, it simply reflects. Allow us to reflect the glow of your grace and the warmth of your love into our world today. Amen.

Lenten Reflection - Day 6, March 7

But seek His Kingdom & these things will be given to you as well.

Luke 12:31

Additional Reading: Luke 12:16-34; Matthew 25:31-46

One thing is very clear to me about the Kingdom of God. Learning about it is the key to understanding God’s deepest desires. Although we’ll never be able to understand it fully in this life, the aspects that we discover and make a part of our life will change our lives drastically - not overnight, but drastically. One of the transforming aspects of the Kingdom way of life is seeking to live for what God cares about more than seeking to live for what we care about.

There are many directions to go with that concept. One is focusing on those who God calls “the least of these.” These are the physically, emotionally, and spiritually needy - the outcasts and strangers, the forsaken and abandoned - the ones who have no hope, no chance, and no voice. God is so passionate about the least of these that He says in Matthew 25:45 that if we don’t live our lives being servants to these people, we have missed our opportunity to live our lives serving Jesus.

That is huge to me. I can’t get over it…and I don’t want to get over it. In our world, in my life, I really do want to seek His Kingdom and serve the least of these more than I seek my own career, money, comfort, and fun; but I don’t think I am…at least not to the degree God desires. That doesn’t make me feel guilty. It makes me feel like there’s a lot I need to let God deal with, a lot that needs to change. It shows me that I will have to lose a little for them to gain a little; and I’ll have to lose a lot for them to gain a lot. God’s words in Matt. 25 force me to see the connection between the Church and the least of these, and just how close that connection is.

Maybe a first step in seeking God about this is to make changes in our life that would give Him a chance to speak to us. Usually when we talk about fasting, we are referring to denying ourselves food. But a “consumer fast” is a fast to deny ourselves from buying things that we don’t need for a specific amount of time - perhaps for a week or for the 40 days of Lent. It’s not so much about the money we’d save as it is about how our hearts could be permanently changed. I believe God would show us the sin in our hearts that causes the excess we live in, and I believe He would show us ways to evaluate a balanced lifestyle of needs and wants. I believe also that God would reveal to us ways to better the lives of others instead of our own lives. Receiving God’s wisdom about money and possessions is a good place to start if we are desiring to seek first His Kingdom.

God’s Kingdom is a place where the first are last and the last are first. The American dream tells us it is great to have the best and be the first to get it. But this is the opposite of God’s dream for His church to be used to bring the world to Him. How will the world know that God is generous and loving? By our example. That’s the way He planned it, for better or for worse. We cannot say we love the least of these and at the same time seek a life far different from theirs. If we bridge the gap between them and us, we are bridging the gap between them and Jesus.

Let’s consider this Scripture together in prayer today: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need, but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words and tongue but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:16-18

Lenten Reflection - Day 5, March 6

Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next.
1 Timothy 4:8

Additional Reading: Ephesians 4:17-34

Author and community visionary, Henri Nouwen wrote a Lent devotional guide entitled, Show Me The Way. In it he writes:

The Lenten season begins. It is a time to be with you Jesus in a special way, a time to pray, to fast, and thus to follow you on your way to Jerusalem, to Golgotha, and to the final victory over death.
I am still so divided. I truly want to follow you, but I also want to follow my own desires and lend an ear to the voices that speak about prestige, success, human respect, pleasure, power, influence. Help me to become deaf to these voices and more attentive to your voice, which calls me to choose the narrow road to life.

I think Lent is, in many ways, a microcosm of life as a Christ-follower. It reminds us that it’s hard to choose God’s way, the way of the Kingdom. It’s a choice that has to be made every moment of my life. The discipline of choosing not to indulge a certain impulse for a forty-day period, when you think of it in the bigger picture, really isn’t that much of a thing to do! But, there’s no denying it – it is hard.

But what if we, together as a community, approach it like this: as kids learning from their dad, or maybe better yet, younger brothers and sisters learning from our older brother. There’s something that our older brother is really good at, he’s really mastered it. And we sit down with him to find out what it would take for us to be like that. “No easy way, really,” is his response, “you’ll have to train – practice and discipline are the keys.” It’s not that our place in the family is at stake, dad adopted us and has proven his love for us over and over. It’s just that, well, we really want to be more like our older brother.

Jesus is like that older brother who says, follow me, learn from me. You don’t have it mastered quite yet, but I can show you … it’s your choice. And the Lenten season is, for us followers of Jesus, a time of concentrated choosing! Nouwen offers these concluding words:

I have to choose thoughts that are your thoughts, words that are your words, and actions that are your actions. There are not times or places without choices. And I know how deeply I resist choosing you. Please, Lord, be with me at every moment and in every place. Give me the strength and the courage to live this season faithfully, so that, when Easter comes, I will be able to taste with joy the new life which you have prepared for me. Amen.

Lenten Reflection - Day 4

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Colossians 3:1-2

Additional Reading: Matthew 6:16-34

Wasn’t it only yesterday we were making New Year's resolutions – you know, those promises that inevitably got broken or forgotten about. And now, neighbors and friends are asking, what are you giving up for Lent? Sometimes it feels like being a follower of Jesus is like watching life go by through the lens of the South Beach Diet – give this up, don't eat that, don't do this, do that! Honestly, I never really understood the whole point of Lent until a couple of years ago. I would do the drill: give up something because everybody else would be doing it. But I never lasted through the first weekend. I then spent the next 35 days mad at myself because I wasn't "disciplined" enough. By the time Easter rolled around, I was so down on myself that the Easter "celebration" didn't have much meaning at all for me.

So, here is another year of Lent and I really want to see if I can get down to the real deal of it. After doing some “research,”(!) I found a lot of stuff that seemed very “Levitical,” if you know what I mean – lots of details and restrictions. What you can and can't eat; when you can eat, for how long … I'm telling you, some of this stuff, if your not careful, could lead you to miss seeing the big picture.

Anyway, in the midst of all of this, I also came upon something quite different. The story of a guy in a church community for his first Lent season. He wrote about it in his journal:

I started thinking about the Ash Wednesday service that was held at my church tonight. I think about the hundreds of people who came out and fought the traffic on a Wednesday night to be part of a service that marked the beginning of the Lenten Season, which is the 40 days preceding Easter. I am reminded of the tears that were shed and the smiles given tonight that revealed a community in awe of what God is doing in their lives.

That is the bigger picture that we can often forget about while looking at details and regulations. I want to be a part of a community that doesn't ask me, "so buddy, what are you given up for Lent?" Rather, I want to be part of a community that continually points me to the God whose love knows no end, a God who reaches out to me in my brokenness through His Son, Jesus Christ. I want to be a part of a community that reminds me that Jesus did more than just die for our sins on the cross but went so far as to give us new life by being raised from the dead by God.

If it takes giving up something during this time to remind me of that, then I am all for it. I just need to watch out that I don't fast for the sake of fasting, but rather fast so that I can be reminded of the love that sustains us and is given to us so freely by the God in Heaven. I also want to be on guard against thinking I’ve taken some kind of great spiritual stride just in the act of fasting. No, I’m giving up what I’m giving up in order clear away clutter in my life and grow more dependent as a follower of Jesus. No one has to notice. No credit needs to be received.

Prayer: Father, help me remember the big picture. The picture of your love, expressed through the cross, resurrection, and ascension of your son, Jesus. I want to receive it, understand it, live in it more and more everyday. That is why I fast. Please take this act and use it to make me more receptive of you, more perceptive as I follow Jesus in this world. Amen.

Lenten Reflection - Day 3

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

1 Thessalonians 4:17

Additional Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Psalm 51, Philippians 3:13-14

When I was a little girl, the Season of Lent meant one thing to me: Fish on Fridays. My Catholic grandmother would invite us to go with her to Moby Dick or to a fish-fry that her church was having. One time she explained to me that they didn't eat meat on the Fridays leading up to Easter because it helped them remember about Jesus. All of this no-eating-meat-on-Fridays-for-Jesus seemed very peculiar to me. I remember thinking that fish was a type of meatif it isn't meat then what is it? More importantly, I remember thinking, "Does Jesus really care if I eat meat on the Fridays before Easter?"

As I grew in the Lord and started understanding the concept of fasting, denying yourself of something you want in order to pray, remember, or seek God about something, it started to make sense. It wasn't ever about the meat or the fish or the Fridays. It was about the heart. If my Catholic family really wanted meat but said no to it because they really wanted to pray, remember, and seek God about something, then that was and is a wonderful tradition.

This season of Lent will be just a thoughtless tradition to some. But I pray that we can get past the mere tradition of it and let this be a time when we open our ears, our eyes, and our hearts to experience God in a brand new way. This can be a time where God reveals practices and attitudes in our lives that are not pleasing to Him. It can be a time where He shows us how to go deeper in our walk with Him, and how to have victory over situations and hardships we find ourselves in.

Personally, I cannot hear from God and go deeper in my life as a Jesus-follower if I am not maintaining certain disciplines in my life. John Ortberg, in his book The Life You've Always Wanted, describes spiritual disciplines as "any activity that can help me gain power to live life as Jesus taught and modeled it." Denying ourselves things we really want for a specific amount of time is one of these disciplines. Fasting is important to me, because its like I'm saying, "God, every time I reach for that thing I am choosing to deny myself of, I am reaching instead for You." Prayer, solitude, meditation, and praise are some others. Spending time reading and studying the Word of God is to our spirits what a healthy meal is to our bodies. If we want to run the race the Apostle Paul talked about in Philippians 3:14, there are things we have to choose to make a part of our lives.

Today, spend some time asking God what spiritual discipline he might want to use in your life to train and strengthen you for the race. Making those practices part of your life during this season of Lent could be a great start.

Lenten Reflection - Day 2

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

John 10:10

Additional Reading: John 6:32-40; John 15

I used to have a roommate who kept a few plants in our house. One of them was a geranium. Most people hibernate their geraniums for the winter, but in our house there was no cool basement room, so we kept it in her room with less vigorous watering than the rest of the year.

About this time of year, that geranium would come back to life. It would notice something before my roommate and I would: the days were getting longer and the sun was getting stronger. With the longer days, the geranium would begin to stir. Its winter sleep was over. It wanted to grow. And so, we would prune off some of the dead and extra growth. Then, we would feed it a bit to get it going, and give it more water. The season of growth and flowering was upon it.

We, too, have entered this season of lengthening days. Did you know that the word, "Lent," is derived from the same word as "lengthen." It is our season for growing. We, too, must re-examine our lives and prune out what is extra and what is dead. We, too, must concentrate on growth and food, spiritual food such as prayer and reading scripture. We, too, long to bloom and flower and produce good fruits such as love and serving others.

And so in this season of lengthening days, let us enter more fully into the life of grace. Let us, where it's called for, repent and ask God's Spirit to turn us around and prune off the excess. Let us not only give things up but also do some "extras" for others. Find little, creative ways of serving the people you see regularly. Let us simplify our use of media such as television and computers, to eliminate distractions. Let us feed ourselves with spiritual food: extra time in prayer each day, or daily Bible reading.

I'm looking forward to this. Because for me, personally, I feel like I'm coming out of a pretty long season of "hibernation." I've not been too alert to the things needed to follow Jesus. I've been dormant. So, bring it on! Let this spiritual sleeper awake!

Lent Reflections - Ash Wednesday

...it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Hebrews 9:27-28

Additional Reading: Luke 12:16-21

Ash Wednesday is the first day of the Lenten season and begins with us remembering our own mortality that one day we will all die. Fun stuff. Allrighty then, got this devotional guide off to a good start, huh!?

Followers of Jesus all over the world will be observing this day, in various ways with various traditions. So, even though it's not something a lot of us may have thought about, perhaps there is something to be learned from this focus on our mortality. To be preoccupied with death is morbid, but to take death seriously is a mark of wisdom. The important question is how we will live between our living of today and our dying of tomorrow. It's a choice of great consequence and significant value.

One of the traditions of Lent is a powerful symbol that reminds us of our human nature, that is, we are created beings, mortal beings, and shape-able beings. Yes, all that can come from a little ash on the forehead!

In churches that traditionally celebrate Lent, the ashes for Ash Wednesday are sometimes the result of burning the palm branches from the past year's Palm Sunday service. And in the tradition, or "liturgy," the worship leader places a cross of ashes on each person's forehead and pronounces, "from dust you were created and to dust you will return." This is a visual symbol of our being "created." We must be reminded that we are the creation belonging to a much greater Creator! The ashes and the Scriptural reference from the book of Job is also a reminder of our mortality we will all be ash again one day.

There is another way in which the ash can be a helpful symbol. When the ash is mixed with olive oil, as is often done, the dirt becomes like clay. Like clay in a potter's hands, we are mold-able, shape-able creatures. It is God's design that we not stay the same, but continually experience his transformation. So, I'm reminded that I'm like clay in the hands of not just a potter, but an amazing Artist, who has an awesome design for each and every pot he creates. We are dust, yes, but the cool thing is we are God's dust! And that makes us a masterpiece!

Prayer: Father, help me to appreciate how much I matter to you. Let this growing understanding and experience of your love bring me closer to you so that all my choices will help me to become the person you have created me to be. Help me to realize that your dream for me can be trusted, that you can be trusted because you love me.

Lenten Devotional - Credits

Each day of Lent, I will be posting a devotional and Scripture readings. These are NOT all original with me. They appear in a devotional guide prepared for the people of The Bridge Community. The posts in this blog are primarily for the benefit of those in our community who would like to read them on their computer. And of course, by being here, they are open to whoever comes upon them!

I want to give CREDIT here to the contributors to the devotional guide: from The Bridge Community - Lyndsay Taylor, Matt Black, Wayne Cox; from First Alliance Church, Lexington, Ky - Steve Elliott, Marilyn Elliott, Dan Jansen.

There are also many references to other books and authors - in each case, I think there is enough information to be able to find that reference on your own.

I hope this Lenten season is a meaningful one for you.