Lent 2010 – Page 3 – LOVE | ACCEPT

Lent Spent with the Psalms Day Nineteen

The closer we stay to the steps and path of the Shepherd as He helps us to negotiate the dangerous way through this world, the more confidence we have. Strengthened in this way, the inevitable struggles that appear do not perturb us. They are no longer insurmountable challenges that we have to confront on our own. Our Shepherd knows the way and will lead us through. We have peace.

You still the hunger of those you cherish; their sons have plenty, and they store up wealth for their children.

And I—in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness. (Psalm 17:14b-15)

As you enjoy the security and calm, count the cost as well. Look forward to Calvary and the know the darkness that had to be faced on that Friday and Saturday before the joy of the first light on Sunday.

image LiminalMike

Lent Spent with the Psalms Day Seventeen

Approaching the Cross at Calvary, the contemplative Christian cannot help but be struck by the juxtaposition of horror and joy portrayed in the event. The abuse and death of the Savior lead to the unspeakable joy of the Lord’s return. Logically, we can’t have one without the other. Our lives are similar in this division. We live with struggles in the midst of great promise. One of the best known of the psalms speaks directly to our condition. Most people, even non-Christians, know the first couple of lines by heart,

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. (Psalm 23:1-3a)

Yes, this is what we want Lord! Peace and well being and communion with you. Why then do the troubles continue to pop up each day? Why are we still challenged? Because, brothers and sisters, we’re called to be His people in the midst of a fallen world. Our lives show the strength of our Shepherd. They show that despite the challenges that surround us, our Shepherd has prepared a safe place for us, he has spread a table before us. We are able to face anything knowing that we are secure in His hand. We have peace, knowing that Easter morning is coming.

image Garry

Lent Spent with the Psalms Day Sixteen

We conclude this week of Lent with with a question. Do we take the grace borne of the Cross for granted? To varying degrees, Christians have been guilty of this for centuries. A promise like that found in Psalm 30 can make us complacent,

When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.”

O Lord, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; (vv 6-7a)

Easter becomes just a marker in the year pointing out that Spring is imminent. What if Spring didn’t arrive? Would we take notice or simply accept it, soon taking the new weather pattern for granted. Likewise, if God were to hide His face from us, would we soon accept that as the way things are?

… but when you hid your face, I was dismayed. (v 7b)

Don’t allow the soporific world around you to lull you into inattention. The Cross was an eternally history changing event on your behalf. Never allow that grace slip from view. Never take it for granted. The price was too high.

Grace and peace to you.

image Himalayan Trails

Lent Spent with the Psalms Day Fifteen

I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done.

I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. (Psalm 143:5-6)

It’s easy to become complacent in facing Easter. We look down the corridor of time back toward the Resurrection and want to know the power of seeing Jesus risen from the tomb. As the stores fill with Peeps and colored grasses for the baskets, we find it easy to satisfy our souls with trinkets and temporary fulfillments. Our often parched and dry souls are smothered by the cultural messages that bombard us with offers to fill us up with this or that. We drink the soda only to find ourselves thirsty again and hour later.

Many in the Church view Lent as ‘that time when we give stuff up’ at best and at worst, with a suspicious eye on the implied ascetic aesthetic. Sacrifice in emulation of our Saviors sacrifice is neither. Our purpose in observing the season of Lent is to put off the things that are controlling our souls and burying the dry, cracked surface of our hearts. Only when we reveal that surface can the grace penetrate deep within us.

Grace and peace to you.

image whiteoakart

Lent Spent with the Psalms Day Thirteen

In the quiet, we see ourselves for who we are despite the public image that we work diligently to craft. We like to appear as though we have it all together, that we are staying close to the shepherd when in fact we are wanderers. Sometimes we will wander only a little way, keeping the Rock that is refuge in sight while playing around the edges of the territory. The road back will be clear and straight.

In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.

Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.

Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. (Psalm 31:1-3)

Can you still see the Rock?

Grace and peace to you.

image eir@si

Lent Spent with the Psalms Day Twelve

In your meditations on the Cross, I’m sure that you have noted that we mark time by moving toward Calvary. The Cross never moves. It is our guiding light and our destination. God is immovable as well. When our relationship with Him seems broken or strained it is not Him who has moved away from us. It is us that have wandered. The Psalmist knows this truth and yet cries out in Psalm 27:

Hear my voice when I call, O Lord; be merciful to me and answer me.

My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.

Do no hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper.

Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior. (vv 7-9)

Look out over the weeks ahead and plan your course so that you seek His face. If His voice is absent or so quiet as to be difficult to hear, move toward Him. Recognize that we are prone to wander away from the Shepherd. The more we try to find our own way, the more lost we become. Look toward the light of the Cross and set your compass on its glow.

Grace and peace to you.

image cristina101

Lent Spent with the Psalms Day Eleven

The Lord reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment.

He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice. (Psalm 9:7-8)

Easter is the antithesis of justice. We do not receive the punishment that is so obviously due us. Rather, God, in His infinite mercy, sacrificed that which was so precious to Him on our behalf. The righteousness of Christ becomes our righteousness. We are able to stand before His throne without guilt, a condition that we could never achieve otherwise.

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. (vv 9-10)

As recipients of the gift of Grace, our meditation becomes action. We identify those oppressed spiritually and by the injustice of the world and point them to the Forgiver. Knowing the location of the refuge, it is our responsibility as Saints to lead others to its safety. Look about today and find those looking for direction.

Grace and peace to you.

image john linwood

Lent Spent with the Psalms Day Ten

The psalmist expresses his despair in Psalm 129 as he speaks of his (their) oppression from youth. His enemies have not given a moments rest in their persecution and he prays to God for their destruction. We can identify with these feelings so many centuries later. Who among us has not wished evil on someone else?

We’re often puzzled as we read near the crucifixion event when the crowds are given a choice to free Jesus or Barabbas and they choose the murderer. Were the crowds more evil than us? A better question for reflection today is whether or not we do the same thing in our daily life. Do we deny Christ in favor of something else? God knew our ways as He spoke through the prophet Isaiah:

He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.

He had not beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.

Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (vv 52:2-3)

image roujo

Lent Spent with the Psalms Day Eight

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;

for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. (Psalm 95:6-7)

Golgotha is still distant, its horror not yet in view. We feel secure but can’t quite identify why that is. Our pride may tell us that we have created a hedge around ourselves. We can protect ourselves and provide for all of our needs.

Rarely do we recognize how limited our perspective is.

God views us from His unparalleled perspective, seeing everything that approaches us no matter how distant. He sees us as His lambs, innocent and carefree in not knowing all that threatens us. The Good Shepherd scans the horizon without rest to keep the lambs and the good sheep reward him with loyalty.

Kneel down and worship.

image jen chan

Lent Spent with the Psalms Day Seven

Restore us, O God Almighty; make you face shine upon us, that we may be saved. (Psalm 80:7)

From John’s cry at the Jordan river to dark day of the Cross, Jesus made it clear that everything was changing in relation to man and God. Repentance would no longer take the form of external sacrifice of a prescribed nature. True repentance would require allegiance to the One Ultimate Sacrifice. Though there would be momentary darkness at Calvary, Resurrection morning would shine a warm, sustained light upon us.

We can meditate on the grace extended to us through that sacrificial act and be thankful that we no longer must plea to the heavens as the Pslamist does in Psalm 80,

Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock; you who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.

Awaken your might; come and save us. (vv 1-2)

God has extended salvation to all who will repent and name Him as Lord in their lives. The light shines on all and yet, some will continue to see the darkness. Let them see the effect the light has had on you and invite them out. God is good and His face shines upon us.

Grace and peace to you.

image rusty russ