Category: Lent

Lent Spent with the Psalms Day Four

image“’For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.” (Ezekiel 34:11-12)

It’s easy to misread the skies and come to a faulty conclusion. Here in Colorado, the mountains can point you in the wrong direction as they hide the truth. Just yesterday a clear sky in the morning would have let you leave the house in a light jacket that would have offered little protection as you scraped the snow and ice from your car in the evening. We can fall into the same error in our spiritual lives, looking at the clouding skies and believe that God has let us go beyond his loving grasp.

The faith built of our ever more intimate relationship with our Father tells us something quite different. Look at the final verse of Psalm 11,

For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice;

upright men will see his face. (v7)

Though it might seem as though we have been lost by him and surrounded by trouble and challenge, His people will see His face. He will seek you out, there is no place you can go from which God will not bring you back. As we walk toward Calvary, faith lights the way. As we near the Cross, the light will lead us on.

The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne.

He observes the sons of men; his eyes examine them. (v4)

Grace and peace to you.

image m angel herrero

Lent Spent with the Psalms Day Three

imageThe focus of Lent is often on the deprivation that Christians volunteer to engage. The question “what are you giving up for Lent?” is often an introductory comment heard. I believe when we answer this question and go no further, we diminish the depth of this season of the Church year. To see the days as simply a fast from something runs dangerously close to self glory in unsophisticated eyes, even though this is not our purpose in the response. A better response perhaps is to say simply, “I am relieving myself of those things that fall between God and me.” Today we turn to Psalm 126 for a brief reminder of why we rid ourselves of worldly burdens.

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. (v3)

That single verse sums up our life in Christ. Even if the only(!) thing He ever did for us was to open the avenue for a restored relationship with Him, we would know unending joy. Earthly blessings and daily sufferings would both vanish in the passing of time as we process the magnitude of what we have been given to us through Calvary. We have been brought back from the wilderness.

When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed.

Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.

Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” (vv 1-2)

Let one person know see this joy today so that they too can say, the Lord has done great things for you.

Grace and peace to you.

image rickz

Lent Spent with the Psalms Day Two

imageMost of us know the sense of depression that weighs on us when we feel as though our words with God are met with silence. Maturity tells us that He says much through the silence. Perhaps it is to wait or a sign for us to draw nearer, to drape ourselves in holiness and creep closer to hear the whispered responses. The silence of the Lord can also be a result of something that we have allowed to interfere with the conversation. It might be something that is tarnishing our holiness, something that displeases the Father who will wait until we have purged it.

David issues a plea seeking an end to the silence in Psalm 28. Should God continue in His quiet ways, all hope would be lost.

To you I call, O Lord my Rock;

do not turn a deaf ear to me.

For if you remain silent, I will be like those who have gone down to the pit. (v1)

When His voice is again heard in the wind or in our hearts, we rejoice. God has heard our cries. This shouldn’t strike us as odd since He has known of and planned for our need for a Savior since the creation. The first Easter was no random event. It was a debt that God demanded of Himself in love. Are we squandering the price He paid?

Grace and peace to you.

  image infandum

Lent Spent with the Psalms Day One

imageWe’ve all spent time in the psalms. They are a source of challenge, comfort, and promise for us today in the same way that they were for the people of Israel. At times pleading and others praising, God and His incredible works remain front and center in this poetry. The Church enters the season of Lent today, a period of pointed reflection on the Lord that moves day by day toward the celebration of Easter. We meditate on the bloody and horrible cost of salvation, how the perfect Seder lamb had to be sacrificed so that you and I might be saved. It is at the same time a sober and celebratory time.

Psalm 85 expresses our need and desire perfectly. The psalmist pleads,

Restore us again, O God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us.

Will you be angry with us forever?

Will you prolong your anger through all generations?

Will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you?

Show us your unfailing love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. (vv 4-7)

Begin our walk through the desert toward Calvary by asking yourself, what am I contributing to prolonging God’s anger?  What must I shed on this trip through the wilderness? Our goal is to reach the cross rid of the dead weight  and dross that interfere with our relationship with the Savior.

Grace and peace to you.

 

image wolfgang staudt

Lent 2009 – 3 Final Steps to the Cross

PeterSteps

Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:

“I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.”

But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”

But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you,” And all the other disciples said the same. (Matthew 26:31-35)

And so, Peter ultimately remains self-deluded. In a life altering moment, he tells the One whom he has acknowledged as The Christ that he will never deny him even when all others may. Does Peter honestly believe that or is he demonstrating an ignorance of the true condition of his heart? We are not told, but given our experiences with him, it wouldn’t be far fetched at this moment in history to lean toward an inner ignorance. Peter may have actually convinced himself that his loyalty to Jesus was pure and strong despite his numerous stumbles in the preceding three years. Do you think he was surprised at his first denial?

If any incident in Peter’s life puts a mirror up in front of us, it is these moments of denial. If asked when we are clear eyed and caffeinated, no Christian would perceive of a moment of stress when they would deny their love and allegiance to the Lord. Think hard though. Denial takes many forms beyond simply answering no to a question of association. Was there a moment when you didn’t speak up and should have? Has there ever been a time when being a Christian became an inconvenience and you put it in a secondary position? Failed to speak the truth when challenged by a non-believer?

Denial takes many forms. If you’ve read this far, it’s unlikely that you can claim ignorance. Are you unwilling to suffer the consequences of claiming Christ? The answer looms large this close to the Cross…

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Lent 2009 – 4 Final Steps to the Cross

PeterStepsAfter a day of parables and teaching, Jesus and the disciples withdraw from public ministry to spend time in fellowship and rest. This time for rest, especially before an important ministry effort, is clearly a critical component and yet, we allow worldly standards to define our work ethic. To halt action for rest in the middle of a ministry is called into question. The expectation is that the pastor is given his one day off per week and he is to be available all of the rest.

The Spirit speaks to us in the quiet and we must be intentional about seeking out the necessary moments of rest and restoration. Be accountable to God more and people less. Follow the habit of your lord.

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Lent 2009 – 5 Final Steps to the Cross

PeterSteps

Tuesday of Passion Week

As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts our of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” (Luke 21:1-4)

Peter must have been still mulling over Jesus’ previous scorn toward the Pharisees who made a great show of their religiosity but who possessed no true faith in their hearts. Pointing out the sacrificial giving of the widow, the Lord makes the same point a second time. While others give for show a small portion of their wealth, the widow was fully committed. She gave all that she had to live on as a gift to the temple treasury, trusting in God to provide for her needs. Sacrifice is the name of the game.

Are you all in?

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Lent 2009 – 6 Final Steps to the Cross

PeterStepsMonday of Passion Week

The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing  but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. The he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it. (Mark 11:12-14)

What an odd little vignette the disciples had just witnessed. Why would the Lord curse something so seemingly innocent as a fig tree, especially because He and they both knew that figs were not expected this time of year? As they considered this act, they followed Him into the temple where he again cleaned the temple, casting out those who would treat it like a cheap bazaar. Now, Jesus’ curse made sense. When Jesus speaks to and of the fig tree, he is directing his ire at the Temple and Israel. The ‘season’ spoken of in Marks recollection, is not Spring but the time of the Kingdom of God. He speaks prophetically of the Temple that he approaches and its lack of fruit, despite having the appearance of being fruitful.  

As we approach the cross with our Lord, we should carefully examine our own fruitfulness. Do you have leaves and make an appearance of your devotion to Christ but bear no fruit?

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Lent 2009 – 7 Final Steps to the Cross

PeterStepsThe next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the King of Israel!”

Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written, “Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, you king is coming seated on a donkey’s colt.” (John 12:12 – 15)

We cannot turn away now,  the Cross looms large with all that it means. For some Christians, the celebration of the Triumphal Entry colors the solemnity of the week that follows. They want to shout Hosanna and remember the humble Lord descending in strength in Jerusalem only to avoid the humiliation of His Passion.

Walk with the Lord, all the way to Cross. Don’t turn away, don’t deny him. Carry your sins for yourself up the rugged wood of the cross and hang it there as you view the sacrifice made on your behalf.

Know the pain to know the joy.

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