Posts with the category “lent”

HONESTY WITH GODSCRIPTUREYou desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.-Psalm 51:6 (NRSVUE)My husband and I enjoy many places in our community where we can walk. I especially love the wooded trails just minutes from where we live. Regardless of the season, the trees are our allies and secret keepers as we walk and talk together. It reminds me of the garden walk...  Read More

A WORD OF FAITHSCRIPTUREWhen Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel."—Luke 7:9I love the story Luke told of the centurion's faith. The centurion was a gentile asking for help from Jesus, who was Jewish. This Roman officer sent Jewish elders to deliver a message to Jesus that the officer'...  Read More

LOOKING FOR SIGNSSCRIPTURESo we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.-Colossian...  Read More

ROOTEDSCRIPTURELet your roots grove down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grove strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.-Colossians 2:7 (NLT)We lived in Portland, Oregon, where rain was mostly a fine mist or light shower and umbrellas were optional. Occasionally, hard rains soaked the ground, and old-growth trees without deep r...  Read More

FINDING HOMESCRIPTUREDo not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.-Romans 12:2I love the GPS "go home" command. It means that, no matter how lost I feel, there is a way home, and GPS will take me there. Don't you wish GPS could help us find God's will t...  Read More

LETTING GOSCRIPTURESo humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.-1 Peter 5:6-7 (NLT)One morning I was listening to a piano solo on my music app. The melody called to me. Usually, I don't pay attention to song titles, but something about the gentle runs and rhythm of this partic...  Read More

A BURNING DESIREWORSHIP FOCUSDesiring God FirstSCRIPTUREAnd I will make an everlasting covenant with them:I will never stop doing good for them.I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me.-Jeremiah 32:40 (NLT)God wants to accomplish a spring cleaning in our hearts as we take this thoughtful journey to the cross. This cleaning involves God's examination of our he...  Read More

WE NEED MORE HELPSCRIPTUREHe has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again.On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us.-2 Corinthians 1:10We live in a hopeless culture. Post-pandemic, we have lost what we believed would never change. We understand "tentative" in a way we never wanted to. We've collected more maybes about a future we can't predict. We'v...  Read More

FATHER KNOWS BESTSCRIPTUREYour Father knows what you need before you ask him.-Matthew 6:8bIn the television program Father Knows Best that aired in the 1950s, the character Jim Anderson seemed to always know the right words to say or the best advice to give. We knew it was just a show with a written script and actors, but sometimes we wished it was true. We wanted Jim Anderson for our own dad.Toda...  Read More

I WANT TO SEESCRIPTURE"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him.The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see."-Mark 10:51When our daughter began to lose her eyesight, her world changed. She could still see light, but it wasn't enough. Shapes lost their edges, and faces ran together. Words drowned on pages without hope of rescue. What she couldn't see with her eyes, she began to see with he...  Read More

MORE GRACESCRIPTUREBut he gives us more grace.-James 4:6aWe always need more of something: money, closeness in relationships, sleep. I usually need more time. I often put more on my to-do list than I can reasonably finish, and then I pat myself on the back when I accomplish half of my list.I am slowly learning that God's list for me is shorter and more focused. God reminds us that he is the first ...  Read More

ALL MY NEEDSSCRIPTUREAnd my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.-Philippians 4:19Can God really meet all our needs? Paul, the writer of the letter to the Philippian church, is the true poster child for allowing God to define and meet needs. He testified to accessing glorious riches in Christ that met everything he needed. I am glad God doesn't give me ...  Read More

AN ACCOUNTINGSCRIPTUREWhat will I do when God confronts me?What will I answer when called to account?-Job 31:14Few people look forward to annual reviews, regardless of whether the evaluation is medical or professional. We're afraid we may not pass some sort of test. When someone else holds the power to change our lives with a review, it can be scary. Lent is a good time for a spiritual review. We ...  Read More

A BURNING NEEDWORSHIP FOCUSYearningSCRIPTUREMy soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.- Psalm 84:2God is generous in ways we will never understand. He has promised to meet our needs, and he also blesses us with surprises. Too often we elevate our wants to needs. We fear we won't get what we want otherwise. It is a useless game because...  Read More

DON'T FORGETSCRIPTUREYou forget the LORD your Maker, who stretches out the heavens and who lays the foundations of the earth.-Isaiah 51:13aHow often does someone remind us: Don't forget the milk, your lunch, to pick up the kids, or some other task? Do reminders sear the instruction in special memory cells of our brains? Not unless we do something like write a note, set an alarm, or take care of th...  Read More

HUNGER AND THIRSTSCRIPTUREBlessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.—Matthew 5:6Many of us live in a culture that doesn't understand thirst. So many of us have known only the kind of periodic hunger that can be immediately sated, rather than the kind of gnawing, painful hunger that persists because there is literally no food. Many of us carry bottled water ...  Read More

TEMPTEDSCRIPTUREThen Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.-Matthew 4:1 NIVWhen Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, he used his experience to settle the trajectory of his life and confirm his mission to be the bridge to bring people to his Father. False accusations didn't distract him. Debate didn't unnerve him. Misunderstanding and betrayal from his followers...  Read More

INTO THE WILDERNESSSCRIPTUREJesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.-Luke 4:1Some translations of this scripture say "desert" instead of "wilderness." My personal deserts aren't hot, sandy expanses where a merciless sun threatens and thirst could kill me. My deserts are places where I feel alone in all the wrong ways. Illness that drags on or a...  Read More

COME FASTINGSCRIPTURECome fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!Change your life, not just your clothes.-Joel 2:12b-13a (MSG)We don't like to do without things. We live in a culture that pushes getting more in every category we can think of.But the call to the cross is to set something aside that our heart does not need, in order that we may grow. God invites us to get rid of whatever makes it ...  Read More

RETURN TO MESCRIPTURE"Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning."-Joel 2:12No voice should ever take priority over God's voice. However, we often prefer our own thoughts and perspectives, even as we long to hear what God has to say. God's invitation to return to him is crucial because God invites us to return to who he knows we can be in...  Read More

A BURNING INVITATIONWORSHIP FOCUSJust Come!SCRIPTURECome, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.-Psalm 95:6What increases our desire for everything God wants to give us?What makes us recognize how God delights in rescuing us from a self-reliance that will never save us?What understanding, gratitude, or obedience will this realization birth?This week, listen for God's v...  Read More

JUST COMESCRIPTURECome to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.-Matthew 11:28Rest is the biggest unmet need in our get-it-done culture. We push and exhaust ourselves with the useless goal of finishing what we think we need to get done.Jesus isn't inviting us to a nap--at least not most of the time. He is inviting us to hear his heart. He whispers this invitation. Maybe ...  Read More

No More HidingSCRIPTUREFor I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. -Psalm 51:3David is confessing his sin against Bathsheba and God. David tried to ignore that he had done something against God. He wouldn't admit his wrong motives and actions. He was hiding I imagine him during those days as a worried, troubled man who was sick of himself and more afraid than he admitted. He knew...  Read More

Have MercySCRIPTUREHave mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. —Psalm 51:1We are not quick mercy givers in the United States. Our courts aren't known for giving mercy, and our corporate and political systems distribute even less. Instead, power rules. The more power, the better, and mercy is locked out.I have learned tha...  Read More

Today we begin a purposeful journey to the cross. We pray that we will receive everything God intends with the gift of his Son, Jesus. Without him, we are paupers unnecessarily. We can't give ourselves a pep talk worthy of the journey we need to make. We must come before God and humbly acknowledge that we are emptier than we want to be and weaker than we should be. We need a fresh coal of fire in our hearts that begins to blaze for what God wants to do in us, through us, and for us. We want to burn with a desire to grow in Christ.  Read More