Lent week 7: Preparation

In our journey to the Resurrection, we have established that we are mortal, alive only by the grace and breath of God. We have sinned, resulting in eternal separation from God and daily suffering in this life. The fact of sin in our lives and in our world should cause us to grieve deeply.

 

Yet God had a plan from the beginning to redeem us. Jesus came to pay the penalty for our sin so that we only have to believe in Him, surrendering our lives to Him, taking our punishment on Himself. God is calling us to repent, to acknowledge our sin, turn away from it and toward Him. He has promised to forgive us if we ask and is calling us to return to Him. He calls us to live lives of reconciliation, with Him and with others, and also to be agents of reconciliation between Him and the world, directing them to Him.

 

It is important to take this week of Passover as a time of preparation; preparing our hearts for the Resurrection. Preparation and examination are things we should do on a regular basis to keep our hearts and spiritual lives healthy. They are also important to do when taking communion, partaking in the Last Supper. It is an important ritual that carries deep symbolism. In taking the bread and cup, we are remembering the sacrifice Jesus made, how He broke His body and poured out His blood to pay for our sins. Taking communion while harboring sin, intentionally or unintentionally, is a serious affront to God and can cause significant damage to our spiritual lives. We need to look deeply into ourselves and invite God to reveal anything in us we do not see which needs to be dealt with.

 

Psalm 139:23-24 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Search me, God, and know my heart;
Put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there is any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.

1 Corinthians 11:23-32 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy way, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a person must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For the one who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not properly recognize the body. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number are asleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.

 

Passover and Easter are the times when we celebrate this happening. Every time we take communion looks forward to this week. Even if communion is not offered this Sunday, it is still important to come to the day with our hearts prepared. One of the best ways to prepare is to spend time in prayer and fasting. This opens our hearts to God and helps reveal things that are otherwise covered up by the callousness of the world. It makes us more open to hear from God and ready to receive what He says.

 

Use this week to prepare and draw closer to God, to humble your heart and open your ears so that you can appreciate what this Sunday means.

Call to Return: Lent week 4

The last couple weeks in our journey to the Resurrection we have looked at sin, ours and mankind’s. Sin is what separates us from God; He cannot tolerate it nor bear it in His presence. It caused spiritual death in the garden, and continues to cause spiritual death in our lives. The sin in our own lives, if left unchecked, spreads death and decay into the rest of our lives, and the sin of our society and country brings death and decay to everyone.

 

That is why Jesus came to die, to pay the debt of our sin so that we can gain His righteousness and be accepted by God. It is only through believing in His sacrifice that we can be saved from the eternal death and destruction caused by sin. And it is only through His power and deliverance that we can say no to sin and yes to God. That is the only way we can leave sin behind and have the true, abundant life of God. God loves us too much to leave us in sin. He accepts us as we are, but we cannot be in His presence while in sin.

 

In order to have a relationship with Him we must put off sin and put on Christ. This does not mean that we will be perfect, but that our lives will be devoted to living for Him, that our desire is to please Him and not ourselves. We must repent of our sin in order to have that relationship. We have to acknowledge that what we do is wrong, confess it to God, ask Him to forgive us and then turn away from it and strive to live in obedience to Him, and when we fall back into sin we repeat the process. Hopefully as time goes on the times when we fall become less as we grow closer to God. We must not get caught in the idea that we have fallen too far to come back. God is calling us to return to Him every time we fall away. As you read the verses below, surrender your whole heart to God. Ask Him to show you any part of your heart and life that are not surrendered completely to Him.

 

Joel 2:12-18 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“Return to Me with all your heart,
And with fasting, weeping, and mourning;
And tear your heart and not merely your garments.”
Now return to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in mercy
And relenting of catastrophe.
Who knows, He might turn and relent,
And leave a blessing behind Him,
Resulting in a grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God.
Blow a trumpet in Zion,
Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,
Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and the nursing infants.
Have the groom come out of his room
And the bride out of her bridal chamber.
Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers,
Weep between the porch and the altar,
And let them say, “Spare Your people, Lord,
And do not make Your inheritance a disgrace,
With the nations jeering at them.
Why should those among the peoples say,
‘Where is their God?’”

Then the Lord will be zealous for His land,
And will have compassion for His people.

Marked: Lent week 3

Last week we considered our own sins that grieve us and God. Sin takes the life out of us and our relationships. It promises happiness and pleasure, but brings only pain and suffering. It also separates us from God and puts a barrier between us to the extent of hindering our prayers if we do not repent. Last week I had you write down on a piece of paper your own sin, those you were aware of and those God has revealed to you.

 

Ezekiel 9:4 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.”

 

Now consider the sins of mankind; of your nation, society, community, the Church and the world. What grieves you? Take out the piece of paper I had you write your sins on and write these down on the other side. Confess and repent to God for the sins of yourself and the people. Pray the prayer of Daniel listed below.

 

Daniel 9:1-19 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans— in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. So I gave my attention to the Lord God, to seek Him by prayer and pleading, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed, and said, “Oh, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and faithfulness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned, we have done wrong, and acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances. Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our leaders, our fathers, and all the people of the land.

“Righteousness belongs to You, Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You. Open shame belongs to us, Lord, to our kings, our leaders, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, because we have rebelled against Him; and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets. Indeed, all Israel has violated Your Law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has gushed forth on us, along with the oath which is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him. So He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great disaster; for under the entire heaven there has not been done anything like what was done in Jerusalem. Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our wrongdoing and giving attention to Your truth. So the Lord has kept the disaster in store and brought it on us; for the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice.

“And now, Lord, our God, You who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and made a name for Yourself, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have been wicked. Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the wrongdoings of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become an object of taunting to all those around us. So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his pleas, and for Your sake, Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary. My God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our pleas before You based on any merits of our own, but based on Your great compassion. Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

 

When you are done, set the paper on fire and let it burn in a metal dish. When it is in ashes, dip your finger in water, then in the ashes and draw a cross on your forehead or the back of your hand, marking your grief, and Jesus’ sacrifice, for sin. [This is traditionally done on Ash Wednesday, but I believe it is an important part of preparing for Easter and can be done any time we are penitent.]

 

Lent: Dust to Dust

This week marks the beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday. It is a time, similar to Advent, to prepare for Easter. The next several weeks I will focus on seven different topics that will help focus our minds and prepare our hearts for the Passover.

 

Genesis 2:7 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living person.

 

We were made from dust. That is our beginning and that will be our end apart from God. It is only because God breathed life into us that we are anything more. It is important to remember our beginning, where we come from, and why we are here. It not only helps to humble us in the presence of Almighty God, but also gives us purpose. We are here because God put us here. It is for His purpose and glory that we are alive.

 

Genesis 3:19 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.

Job 42:5-6 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.”

 

We are nothing compared to God, and we are nothing without Him. In light of His awesome majesty our only response should be humble adoration. How could we possibly question or doubt Him? How could we think that our way is better? Take some time to consider your true position next to God.

 

What does that inspire you to think, say and feel? Take some time to record your response, how it motivates you and what you are prompted to do.

 

Go outside and find some dust (if you can). Hold it, feel it, let it sift through your fingers. Remember your humble beginning.

Devotions: An Appropriate Sacrifice

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:5-8 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Easter is at the crux of Christianity. It was at Easter (then called Passover) that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins for all eternity. It was there that He established His deity, proving that He is God, defeated sin and death, and nullified our need to sacrifice animals for every sin we commit (for forgiveness only comes through blood). His death and resurrection accomplished all of this in one fell swoop. He sacrificed everything for us. He gave up heaven and everything He rightly deserved in order to take our place in judgment. What other response could we possibly have than to give everything back, not out of duty or obligation, but out of grateful love and adoration?

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, which is the 40 days of preparation before Easter. It was tradition to sacrifice something, give something up, during that period as a way to prepare for Easter, to be mindful of the sacrifice Christ made on our behalf. Would you be willing to give up something for these 40 days? It could be a traditional luxury like milk, eggs, or butter, or maybe sweets or coffee. It could be a bad habit like complaining, smoking, or gossip. Or instead of giving something up, you could take on something good that has been missing in your life, like praying or reading your Bible every day, or working on being more kind or loving. These are just a few of many possibilities, the point is to bring yourself closer to Christ through this time of preparation. Is anything too great a sacrifice for your Saviour?