Lent, Day 33: A TIME TO EXAMINE OUR HEARTS

Scripture:   Jeremiah 33:1-9 

Focus on the Word

At the time of Jeremiah, and at other times, too, God refused to bless sin and its action.  God is holy, and He is calling forth a holy people.  When sin reigns, it steals, kills, and destroys, so God will bring judgment to call His people away for sin and back into relationship with Him.

God is just, not simply with His people, but with all His creation.  He will come against sin wherever it exists.  He will never cease calling His creation out of the folly and dead-end of sin so that He can pour into His creation His righteousness and love and mercy and grace.

 

Judah was in a time of great sin and separation from God.  Soon they would be taken into captivity by Babylon, and there they would live outside their homeland, dealing with what it means to mock God and throw His holiness away as if it meant nothing.  However, God is not about judgment.  He is about mercy.  So, even before His people were taken off into Babylon He says to them, "Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know" (Jeremiah 33:3, NASB).  His words flourish with hope and help.  He says, "I will heal them…I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel…I will cleanse them from all their iniquity…It will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them" (Jeremiah 33:6-9, NASB).

Lent is a time to examine our hearts, to see if there is anything in us that needs to go, to be jettisoned out of our lives.  It isn't a time to beat up on ourselves but a time to get real before God, and to own our lives.  In our relationship with God we have a standing promise, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteousness to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9, NASB).  What a mighty God we serve.

God has no desire to write off anybody.  Instead, He stands here with us crying out to us, "Call to Me, and I will answer you."

Today’s Prayer

Almighty, eternal God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Creator of heaven and earth and man, together with thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Word and Image, and with thy Holy Spirit: Have mercy upon us and forgive us our sins for thy Son's sake, whom thou has made our Mediator according to thy wonderful counsels, and do thou guide and sanctify us by thy Holy Spirit, who has poured out upon the apostles. Grant that we may truly know and praise thee throughout eternity! Amen. 

(Philip Melanchthon, Reformer, 16^th century)

 

Lent, Day 32: NEVER FORGET FROM WHENCE WE COME

Scripture:   Deuteronomy 16:1-8  

Focus on the Word

Passover, for the ancient Jews, was more than a season on their calendar.  It was a time to draw near to God.  It wasn't a celebration; it was time to remember a profound thing in their story – the Exodus out of Egypt.  God told then that for seven days during Passover they were to eat, "the bread of affliction," unleavened bread, that would remind them of the affliction they suffered in Egypt.  God arranged all this so that the people would, as He said to them, "remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 16:3, NASB).

A part of the journey of faith we are on, as is true of all people of God through all generations, is never to forget from whence we come.  Like ancient Israel we, too, need events of remembrance.  These events are not celebrations so much as altars where we look back and remember that God, in His grace, has been our Deliverer, our Savior, our friend, our God.  We taste the bread of affliction, as it were, so that in the present moment we are drawn into the very life of our God, who has so involved Himself in our lives that the past no longer controls or condemns us.  

Christians are a remembering people.  We know that we live only because God has lavished His grace on us.  We don't forget our past; in fact, in our hearts and minds and actions we are invited to go back to that day when God shook the foundations of our lives and brought us into His life.  "Remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of the land of Egypt."

In Lent we remember our Egypt.  More than this, we remember that God has delivered us for that Egypt.  We are no longer captives.  We are free in Christ to experience all God has for us.  We don't forget the past; we just place it on the altar and remember God's Amazing Grace.  The past doesn't hold us in bondage; it is a reminder that the present and the future are not dependent upon our past, but upon our God.  Our song is,

O to grace how great a debtor

Daily I’m constrained to be!

Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,

Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,

Seal it for Thy courts above.

Robert Robinson, 1758)

Today’s Prayer

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace.  Amen

Lent, Day 31: GOD'S NEW CREATION

Scripture:   Haggai 2:1-9, 20-23

Focus on the Word

God's people had lived for decades in the exile of Babylon.  God was now opening the door for them to come home to Judah, to rebuild their sacred temple and to live again in their own land.  God raised up the prophet, Haggai, to speak God's Word into the lives of the people.  His message was simple.  It was time to go to work, to remember that God's Spirit was abiding in their midst (see Haggai 2:4-5), to rebuild the Temple that had been destroyed decades earlier, and to go forward in hopeful anticipation that God was "going to shake the heavens and the earth" (Haggai 2:21, NASB).

 

Their lives and times were in the hands of God.  They were caught up into the story of God.  God was on the move, and they got to be a part of it.  God was going to do something that would shake all heaven and earth.  In fact, God said He would shake "all the nations" and that His Temple would be filled with His glory" (Haggai 2:7, NASB).  

Some of the nations around them were not happy at all with the freedom of Israel to return home and rebuild the temple, and they fought to stop it.  But, this was God's thing, and He promised, "The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former…and in this place I will give peace" (Haggai 2:9).  

All throughout, the story of God was unfolding, and it would unfold all the way to Jerusalem and a cross and a resurrection.  It would unfold into the day of Pentecost where God did a work that literally shook the nations and the world and all heaven.  All that He was doing in the past led to what He did in Christ, which led to the creation of His Church, His new creation, "Living stones…being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (I Peter 2:5, NASB).  

 

In Lent we remember that in Christ, we are God's new creation, the new and living Temple where God dwells. God is present and His Spirit is at work in this world of ours.  So, we quiet our hearts, we listen, we pray, we remember that we are caught up in something not of ourselves.  This is God's thing.  

Listen.  Can you hear it?  The heavens and the earth are being shaken

Today’s Prayer

You’re all I want in heaven! You’re all I want on earth! When my skin sags and my bones get brittle, God is rock-firm and faithful….I’m in the very presence of God— Oh, how refreshing it is! I’ve made Lord God my home.  God, I’m telling the world what you do!    (Psalm 73: 25-28, MSG) 

Lent, Day 30: GOD HAS SOMETHING TO SAY

Scripture: Isaiah 44:1-8

Focus on the Word

God has something to say:  "I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God" (Isaiah 44:6, NIV). Yes, but what kind of God is God?  Is He judgmental, hard, harsh, cruel, always looking over our shoulders to make sure we're measuring up?  Is He a God one wants to be with or a God from whom one wants to flea in fear and terror?  A few verses earlier God said, "I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants" (Isaiah 44:3, NIV). So that's the kind of God, God is.  He is the God who pours out His blessings.  He is the one true God who is the first and the last, always bringing life into deadness, lavishing His creation with His grace, and blessing anyone and everyone who will take the blessing.

God is the God who is always saying to His people, "Do not fear" (Isaiah 44:2, NASB).  He is always inviting people to say, because it's true, "I am the Lord's" (Isaiah 44:5, NASB). Because of His ever-present nearness He is always saying, "Do not tremble and do not be afraid" (Isaiah 44:8, NASB).  And, then, as if to stagger our imagination, God says to His people, "You are My witnesses" (Isaiah 44:8, NASB).  

In Lent we seek the God who is already seeking us.  We remember that God is the one who has taken the initiative, not us.  We remember that He has poured out the fresh water of His Holy Spirit on the dryness of our lives.  We remember that God calls us to Himself and invites us into His life.  It is not a business arrangement.  It is a relationship, relationship in which we can relax and rest, look and live, face reality and know that God's grace is covering all. 

Our God is "the one reality that does not crumple, the one rock that will not be washed loose in the tide and onslaught of anything, the one reality that will hold firm, though the earth be destroyed and the mountains flung into the sea and the sun put out." (Emilie Griffin, Clinging: The Experience of Prayer (Harper & Row: Cambridge, 1984, page 56.)

Today’s Prayer

O Lord my God, I believe in you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Insofar as I can, insofar as you have given me the power, I have sought you. I became weary and I labored. O Lord my God, my sole hope, help me to believe and never to cease seeking you. Grant that I may always and ardently seek out your countenance….Enable me to remember you, to understand you, and to love you. Amen.     (Augustine, Late Fourth, early Fifth century) 

Lent, Day 29: LISTENING

Scripture:   Isaiah 43:8-13

Focus on the Word

In a world of a myriad of religions and philosophies and beliefs and creeds and convictions and faiths, God raises up a people to be His witnesses.  Upon this sea of conflict and disagreement and difference, in His people God takes His stand.  Bring on religions and creeds and dogmas and doctrines and worldviews.  Stack them up, long and deep, and compare what they are about to what God is about.  God can take the heat.

We believe our God when He says, Before Me there is no God formed, and there will be none after Me" (Isaiah 43:10, NASB).  Religions say what they need to say, and that's okay; we do the same thing.  What we say is that there is only one God.  God says of Himself, "I, even I, am the Lord, and there is no savior besides Me" (Isaiah 43:11, NASB).  Others have unique things they say about their faith, and that's okay; we do the same thing.  We say God is holy and just, that He is a God who doesn't demand His pound of flesh but that He is a saving and redeeming God.  God says of Himself, "I am God. Even from eternity I am He, and there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse" (Isaiah 43:12-13, NASB).

In Lent we lay everything on the altar again, and we listen to the One voice that has never let us down, never been unfaithful to His Word, has always been redemptive, and who "emptied Himself of all but love and bled for Adam's helpless race" (Charles Wesley, 1738).   Before God we humble ourselves, put everything on His altar, and we listen and pray and remember who our God is.  We reflect and ponder and remember to whom we belong.  

We worship.

Today’s Prayer

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.   (From Psalm 63:1-8, NIV)

 

5th Sunday in Lent: A NEW WAY OF SEEING

Scripture:   John 12:20-33 

Focus on the Word

All through His life the journey Jesus was on was taking Him to the cross.  He saw His death on the cross as the “purpose” for which He came (John 12:27, NASB).  He invites us into His journey.  He said, “if anyone serves Me, he must follow Me” (John 12:26, NASB).  It will be a costly journey for us as it was for Jesus.  At one point he prayed, “Father, save me from this hour” (vs. 27).  Then He yielded to whatever that hour might mean.  

We are invited, even called, to be with Jesus wherever He might be and in whatever He might do.  He said, “Where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serve Me, the Father will honor him” (John 12:26, NASB).  In His death He redeemed a world.  We cannot die for our sins so that they are forgiven.  We can come to be with Jesus so that in Him our sins are forgiven, our lives are cleansed, and our destiny redirected.

We are a Called-out people.  Jesus calls us to Himself so that in the brokenness of the world and of our own lives we are drawn to God.  

In Lent we are called to remember from whence we come.  We are called into a new way of seeing where we understand that in our lives, the good, the bad, and the broken, God is pleased to honor us.  Jesus said, “If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him” (John 12:26, NASB).  

Today’s Prayer

Lord, be with us this day,

Within us to purify us;

Above us to draw us up;

Beneath us to sustain us;

Before us to lead us;

Behind us to restrain us;

Around us to protect us.

(Patrick c389-461)

Lent, Day 28: THE POSSIBILITIES OF GOD'S AMAZING GRACE

Scripture:   Psalm 51:1-12 

Focus on the Word

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, 

and renew a steadfast spirit within me."

There aren't a lot of people in our culture crying out to God, "Create in me a pure heart."  There aren't many people even in God's church who are crying out, "Create in me a pure heart."  They're crying out, "Bless me…Help me…Meet my needs…Give me a miracle…Open doors… Increase my income…Heal me, but not much, "Create in me a pure heart."

Seeking to live a pure life in a tainted and broken world is a tricky business, and very often makes one the object of ridicule and laughter, if not disdain.  People who have never experienced the real Jesus in their lives simply won't get it.  Unless God awakens a spiritual hunger in them, faith in Christ will never make sense to them.  Going with the flow of a stream that will take them away from God and His lavished grace will be their story.  We ought not be surprised at this, however, because the Bible teaches us that people love darkness rather than light (See John 3:19).  

 

C. S. Lewis reminds us that, "It is easy to say ‘Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God,’ for only the pure in heart want to see God."  It's true, isn't it?  There are lots of people in the world who simply don't want to see God.  Once people have gotten a glimpse of the real Jesus, not the one so often presented in cultures, however, something awakens in them that opens up their hearts to the possibilities of God's amazing grace.  They then begin to understand the thoughts of A. W. Tozer when he prayed, "O God, I have tasted Your goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more."

Lent is a time to slow down and experience God in fresh new ways, to listen, to taste His goodness, and to receive an inner satisfaction that feeds the hungry heart and quenches the thirst of the thirsty.  It really is okay for us to slow down, to draw near, to open our hearts to the outpoured grace of God, and to let God speak His purity into our lives. 

 

Want to put a smile on the face God?  What to put a smile on your face?  Pray this prayer, "Create in me a pure heart."

Today’s Prayer

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of my heart by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that I may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.  

(Based on The 1979 Book of Common Prayer 

published by The Episcopal Church

Lent, Day 27: THE FRAGRANT INCENSE

Scripture:   Exodus 30:1-10 

Focus on the Word

A part of the worship of ancient Israel centered on what was called, The Altar of Incense.  On that portable altar the High Priest maintained the burning of a "fragrant incense" (Exodus 30:7, NASB).  Every morning and evening he would tend to it so that, as God had instructed, it would be "a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations" (Exodus 30:8, NASB).  Matthew Henry shares the story this way:

The altar of incense represented the Son of God in his human nature, and the incense burned thereon typified his pleading for his people. The continual intercession of Christ was represented by the daily burning of incense thereon, morning and evening. Once every year the blood of the atonement was to be applied to it, denoting that the intercession of Christ has all its virtue from his sufferings on earth, and that we need no other sacrifice or intercessor but Christ alone.

A fragrant incense powerfully permeates a space without a word being spoken.  It is breathed in through the nostrils, and in the breathing one is refreshed by the aroma and by the worship of the God who cares more about His people than they could ever imagine.  Every day those of us who follow Jesus breathe in the fragrant aroma of Christ (See Ephesians 5:2, NASB).  He gave Himself up as an offering and a sacrifice to God, and everyday the incense creates an aroma in our lives that reminds us who we are and whose we are.

In Lent we breathe deeply at the altar of Incense.  We let the aroma fill us with the wonder and mystery of God.  In ancient Israel the altar was portable, meant to be moved from time to time.  Today, the fragrant aroma of Jesus is everywhere. North, East, West, and South; Sunday through Saturday; in the valley, on the mountain, in the victory and in the failure; in the up and down, the good and the bad.  Wherever you are, whoever you are, breathe in deeply and receive the fragrant aroma of Christ.

Today’s Prayer

Holy Spirit, living Breath of God, breathe new life into my willing soul. Bring the presence of the risen Lord to renew my heart and make me whole. Cause Your Word to come alive in me; Give me faith for what I cannot see; Give me passion for Your purity. Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me. (From “Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God,” by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend © 2006) 

Lent, Day 26: RESTING

Scripture:   Isaiah 30:15-18 

Focus on the Word

    One more time Israel found itself in a most difficult place.  The people were in contempt of God's Word.  It seems they found it impossible to stay faithful to their God.  Consequently, their culture was falling apart.  Cultures without the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, seem to fall apart, don't they?  Saying they are of God means nothing.  Being of God means everything.

    God could have written the people off at this time, but He is not a God who writes people off.  He is the God who continually reaches out and seeks to draw people to Himself.  He never forces but He does woo and call and draw and lead and pursue.  However, whether or not we turn to Him is a decision He leaves with us.  The bible says, "This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved.  In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it" (Isaiah 30:15, NLT).

    What a sad indictment.  All they had to do was return to their God and find rest in Him, but they "would have none of it."  As a result of their choosing they would fall into judgment, not for the purpose of judgment but for the purpose of waking them up to see the error of their ways, and then to choose to "return to their God and find rest in Him." 

At this point an amazing statement is made, "So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help" (Isaiah 30:18, NLT).  Isn't that incredible.  God is a waiting God.  He longs to show His love and compassion, but if it isn't wanted at the time, He will wait and wait and wait.

In Lent we wait before God who waits for us.  His love and compassion are one turn away; a turn we decide whether or not to make.  We are on the journey of Life with God.  May we find in Him the rest for which we long.

Today’s Prayer

My Father, you are never away from me … never forget me … never fail to surround me with your love.  Where can I go from your Spirit?  Nowhere—except in the doubts and spiritual blindness that make a cavern of my own mind.  Into those darknesses, bring the brightness of your presence now.  Be the light that blazes in every dark doubt within me!      (Augustine)

 

Lent, Day 25: REMEMBER

Scripture:   Psalm 107:1-16 

Focus on the Word

Sometimes it is in looking back we are enabled best to see what lies ahead.  For ancient Israel looking back was a worship experience that took them into the presence of God where they remembered and reflected and drew near to God.  They looked back and remembered that their God was a redeeming God, an Exodus God, a God who drew near and delivered His people.

In looking back the people got a fresh new look at their God, saw His faithfulness and His power, looked into their story and realized again that God is good (see Psalm 107:1).  Their story had not been an easy story but God was always in their story, leading and guiding and directing and teaching.  In looking back and seeing the hand of God all throughout their history they worshipped.  In their worship they called the people to "give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of me!  For He has shattered gates of bronze and cut bars of iron asunder" (Psalm 107:15-16, NASB).

We followers of Christ have a history with God in which, though we have failed and stumbled and faltered, God has been faithful.  Time and time again He has saved us out of our distresses and brought us out of darkness and the shadow of death (See Psalm 107:13-14, NASB). Like the ancients we, too, have "wandered in the wilderness" of our own world.   We have experienced trouble so that our souls, too, have "fainted within" us (See Psalm 107:4-6, NASB).  

Nobody gets out of this life without being banged up a bit, or a lot.  Yet in this life there is God who does not abandoned His people.  When we cry out to God He hears, and He is listening.  His life in the midst of our lives ignites a praise from deep inside our very being that gives thanks to God "for His lovingkindness is everlasting" (See Psalm 107:1, 13, NASB).

Lent is a set-apart time to bring our lives to God and cry out to Him for His mercy and grace and delivering presence.  It is a time to remember that we are not alone but that God is with us.  We're going to make it.  We might be banged up a bit, and the road may not always be easy; but we're going to make it.  God has "shattered the gates of bronze and cut bars of iron asunder" (Psalm 107:16, NASB).

Today’s Prayer

Behold, Lord, an empty vessel that needs to be filled. My Lord, fill it. I am weak in the faith; strengthen me. I am cold in love; warm me and make me fervent, that my love may go out to my neighbor. I do not have a strong and firm faith; at times I doubt and am unable to trust you altogether…Strengthen my faith and trust in you…I am a sinner; you are upright. With me, there is an abundance of sin; in you is the fullness of righteousness. Therefore I will remain with you, of whom I can receive, but to whom I may not give.  Amen.      (A prayer of Martin Luther) 

Lent, Day 24: CHOOSING WISELY

Scripture:   Numbers 20:1-13 

Focus on the Word

At the heart of the Christian message is the overwhelming and grace-filled truth that God is faithful.  Building our lives on this truth can be a challenge.  When the pressure is on us and the stress is growing it is easy to assume an authority we have not been given and try take control and help God out. 

Instead of simply listening to God and acting accordingly, Moses and Aaron added their own script to the story, put a little show time into their faith, acted a bit more holy than they really were, and God called them to task over it.  In fact, God told them the future of Israel would no longer rest with them.  It would be turned over to others for leadership.  God was faithful and He met the needs of the people, but Moses and Aaron forfeited their role in the ongoing story of God.  They would receive all the honor due them, and their lives would go down in Hebrew history in a favorable light.  One wonders, however, how different the story might have been had they simply obeyed God and left it right there.

        More than anything else the Old Testament is the story of God and of His relationship with the people He called to be His children.  Learning to let God be God seems to be an ongoing challenge for people of faith in all generations.  God's word to Moses and Aaron was simple and to the point, "Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them" (Numbers 20:13, NASB).  

    From these words we are called to remember that this is God's story.  He is the author of the narrative.  He doesn't need us to amplify and magnify the storyline.  He simple needs us to live the story He has given to us.  God is looking for people who will simply be faithful.  If there is any drama to be had, that will be up to God.  

In Lent we come near God again in fresh new ways to listen to the story He is telling, and seek to find our place in that story.  And, in our seeking we do well to treat God as the Holy One He is.  This will bring a smile to the face of God.

Today’s Prayer

My Father:  Who will govern my life today?

Me – or You?

Help me to choose wisely,

Moment by moment.  Amen.

-- Augustine 

Lent, Day 23: THE CENTERPIECE OF EVERYTHING WE BELIEVE

Scripture:   Hebrews 3:1-6 

Focus on the Word

In The Message paraphrase of Hebrews 3:1-6 we are challenged to

Take a good hard look at Jesus. He’s the centerpiece of everything we believe, faithful in everything God gave him to do. Moses was also faithful, but Jesus gets far more honor. A builder is more valuable than a building any day. Every house has a builder, but the Builder behind them all is God. Moses did a good job in God’s house, but it was all servant work, getting things ready for what was to come. Christ as Son is in charge of the house.  Now, if we can only keep a firm grip on this bold confidence, we’re the house!

"Jesus is the centerpiece of everything we believe."  Because Jesus is who He is, and because we believe in Him, we are called to "keep a firm grip on this bold confidence."  In keeping a firm grip God models through us that we are His house, the house where "Jesus gets far more honor."  Jesus "is in charge of the house," and "in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28, NIV).

  

In Christ-centered faith it is when people let God be God in their lives they see the dramatic new reality God has in store.  We don’t worship a principle, a theology, a doctrine, or an ideology.  Rather, by grace we are drawn to a person, Jesus.  In Him we see who God really is. We see God not as the unknown but as the one who in Jesus makes Himself known, so known that renewal is always at hand.

In Lent we revisit what it means to keep a firm grip on the bold confidence we have in Jesus.  We take a good hard look at Jesus.  We keep coming to Him because He really is the centerpiece of everything we believe.  We keep drawing near to the throne of grace with a prayer in our soul, 

Just as I am, without one plea, 

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee. 

O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

Today’s Prayer

Lord, if you withdraw your hand, there is no grace. If you cease to guide us, we have no wisdom. If you no longer defend us, we have no courage. If you do not strengthen us, our chastity is vulnerable. If you do not keep a holy watch over us, our watchfulness cannot protect us. By ourselves we sink, we perish; when you are with us, we are uplifted, we live. We are shaky, you make us firm.  We are lukewarm, you inflame us.    

-- Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471)

4th Sunday in Lent: WE ARE INCLUDED IN THE STORY OF GOD

Scripture:   John 3:14-21 

Focus on the Word

Jesus has a unique way of taking us right into the heart of the Father, where He shows us the depth and scope of God’s Love.  It is a love that brings us into abundant and eternal life.  Jesus didn’t come to judge people. He came to save them.  Knowing full well that people love darkness rather than light, Jesus came and brought the light of God into the darkness.  Jesus calls us to the Light and challenges us to practice the truth we see when we stand in the light.  

We might be broken and imperfect people but Jesus comes to us and shines the light of God into our story.  In the shining light we see truth, and in the truth we are set free (John 8:32, NASB).  

We are a Children-of-light people. Psalm 119:105 says to God, “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.”  Jesus said John 8:12, “I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” I John 1:7 says, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleans us from all sin.  

On this Sunday in Lent we journey forward in the light of God, taking whatever the journey brings, knowing that God is about light and truth, guidance and direction.  Jesus doesn’t write us off.  Instead He fills our lives with His light and includes us in the story of God.

Today’s Prayer

Gracious God, whose mercy is higher than the heavens,  wider than our wanderings, and deeper than all our sin: Receive again your bewildered and broken people. Forgive our folly and our excess, our coldness to human sorrow, our passion for things of the moment. Change our hearts and turn all our desires to your way, that we may love what you love and do what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

(From the Reformed Church in America) 

Lent, Day: 22: WHO'S IN CHARGE AROUND HERE?

Scripture:   Numbers 20:22-29

Focus on the Word

God is holy and just.  He invites us into His ways and means not to elevate us but to be God in our lives.  He calls us to faith and trust in Him.  Our problems begin when we trust more in ourselves than in our God.  That's what happened to Moses and Aaron at the mountain called "Hor."  

The people were tired and hungry and thirsty.  They began to turn on Moses and Aaron, chastising them that it would have been better for the people to remain in Egypt than to journey out into the desert only to die of thirst.  Moses and Aaron felt the pressure and stress created by the angry crowd.  They took matters into their own hands, took credit where only God should have gotten the credit, and even though God gave the people water, because of the way they acted God took leadership of the people away from Aaron and Moses; Aaron immediately and Moses a bit later on.  

Life with God is a matter of faith and trust.  It is about being in Him so that who He is and what He is about will permeate our lives.  The journey of faith works only because God makes it work.  If we begin to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think, life can get murky.  God loves us too much to allow a spirit of pride to dominate our hearts.  He will clean and purify where cleaning and purifying are needed.  

In Lent we open our hearts again to the cleaning and purifying process of God.  We are in the Faith only because we have been drawn there by the grace of God.  The journey is on His terms and His terms are always holy and just.  In Lent we come back to the fundamental issue that we are not in charge but that God is in charge.  Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart" (Matthew 5:8, NASB), not "blessed are the prideful in heart who need to take over and be in charge."  Life with God is a faith-walk, where His ways and means trump every other ways and means.  We are on the journey with God and victory is rooted in Him. 

Today’s Prayer

Father, I want to know You, but my coward heart fears to give up its toys. I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from You the terror of the parting. I come trembling, but I do come. Please root from my heart all those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that You may enter and dwell there without a rival. Then shalt You make the place of Your feet glorious. Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it, for You will be the light of it, and there shall be no night there. In Jesus' Name, Amen.     (A. W. Tozer)

 

Lent, Day 21: GOD'S LAVISHED GRACE

Scripture:   Ephesians 1:7-14          

Focus on the Word

God is in a process of redeeming His "own possession," and He has given to His Church His own Holy Spirit as "a pledge" to confirm His plans (Ephesians 1:14, NASB).  God is a redeeming God and in Jesus "we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses" (Ephesians 1:7).  In Jesus we understand that God's amazing grace hasn't simply been shared; it has been "Lavished on us" (Ephesians 1:8, NASB). 

 

Right now, even though our world is broken and splintered, God is working "all things after the counsel of His will," revealing that in this world God is "summing up all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth" (Ephesians 1:10-11, NASB).  

Now, because of God's love and lavished grace, we are invited to live our lives in praise of the glory of God.  We don't just live. We live with purpose and meaning, expressing the glory of God in the way we go about life.  We don't live as orphans in a huge world; we live as sons and daughters of God.  We don't simply live for what heaven may or may not be at some future date.  We live right now in the manifested glory of God who has come to us in the person of Jesus.

In Lent we draw near to God and embrace again and again that God has brought to us His very life right down in our very real world.  Amazing Grace is our mantra.  Undeserved, powerful, and awesome grace has been lavished on us.  We do well to slow down once in a while, catch our breath, and bask in the startling, staggering, and astounding amazing grace of God. As Julia Johnston said back in 1911 it is a

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,

Freely bestowed on all who believe!

Today’s Prayer

You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me. Among the gods there is none like you, Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name.  For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.

(From Psalm 86:5 -10, NIV) 

Lent, Day 20: THE GOD WHO KEEPS HIS WORD

Scripture:   Genesis 9:8-17

Focus on the Word

    One theme that runs throughout the Old Testament is the fact that God is a covenant making and covenant keeping God.  God gives His Word and keeps it.  People may fail the covenant but God never fails the covenant.  So it was after the great flood God made a covenant with Noah and the descendants that would follow him, and with "every living creature and every beast of the earth" (Genesis 9:9-11, NASB) never again would the earth be destroyed by a flood.  

As a sign of the covenant God established that the rainbow would forever be a reminder of the covenant.  In the midst of storms and rain and thunder and lightning and winds, the rainbow would be a reminder, "the sign of the covenant" (Genesis 9:12, NASB).

Signs that help us remember are good.  Memorials and markers and altars and sacred places are good for folks who live real lives in a real world.  It gets very dark out there sometimes, and one can lose his or her way.  The sign of the rainbow or the memorial of God's faithfulness or the markers that remind us God hasn't forgotten.  They are the altar where our shaken, broken, and traumatized lives bow before the God who keeps His Word and who acts in grace and mercy, and reminds us that after all the words have been spoken and all the deeds have been done and all the storms have done their deed, there is still one more word to be spoken and it is the Word of God who keeps His covenant and honors His Word.

In Lent we slow down and look at the rainbow, stare at the memorial, gaze on the altar, look into the face of Jesus and remember whatever is going on in our world Jesus stands before us, with signs of nails in His hands and feet saying, "Come to Me, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

Today’s Prayer

Make me know Your ways, O Lord; 

Teach me Your paths.  

Lead me in Your truth and teach me, 

for You are the God of my salvation; 

For You I wait all the day long.

(From Psalm 25:4-5) 

Lent, Day 19: GOD IS NOT A MEANS TO AN END

Scripture:   Mark 11:15-19 

Focus on the Word

The rare time we see Jesus angry was that time when He saw what the religious leaders had allowed the temple to become.  It had been turned into a place of business based upon the spiritual requirements for worship.  They had turned the place of prayer into a place of business; something the temple was never intended to be. It was so disgraceful an act that Jesus compared the activities to be nothing less than theft.

In capitalizing on true spiritual concerns, and turning them into profit making opportunities, God had been trumped, marginalized, and reduced to living under the authority of the leaders of the temple.  They used God to make a buck.  They used the place of prayer as the place of profit.  They used the call to worship as a means to material gain.  Sadly, it was all done in the name of God, the very God who had been placed under the authority of spiritually dead men and reduced to a means to an end.

In Lent we are called to make sure we are not using God as a means to an end but rather as a time to come to Him in sincere prayer that our lives will not be something they were never intended to be.  God help us if we ever start using God.  He is the Lord God, Maker of heaven and earth.  We don't use Him; we worship Him.  

Let the church be the church.  Let the place we gather be holy and set apart for God.  Let God be God.  Let us humble ourselves and live, shaped and formed by the Living God we meet in worship.  

Today’s Prayer

Come, O Thou God of grace,

Dwell in this holy place,

Even now descend!

This temple, reared to Thee,

O may it ever be

Filled with Thy majesty,

Till time shall end!

(William Evans, 1886)