Lenten Devotional for February 23

Into the Wilderness

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Romans 5:12-19
Psalm 32

Matthew 4:1-11

Focus: The Shadow of Temptation

We have fallen into the temptation of separating ministry from spirituality, service from prayer. Our demon says: "We are too busy to pray; we have too many needs to attend to, too many people to respond to, too many wounds to heal..." But to think this way is harmful...Service and prayer can never be separated; they are related to each other as the Yin and Yang of the Japanese Circle.
--Henri J.M. Nouwen

The water of Jesus' baptism is still dripping off his chin, and the voice of God still echoes in his ears--"This is my Son, the Beloved; with whom I am well pleased"--when suddenly, at once, immediately, the Spirit launches Jesus, heaves him, catapult-like, out into the wilderness.

Only a moment before, the Spirit has appeared as a dove; now the Spirit is a cutting horse, separating Jesus from everything and everybody that would hinder the moment. Away from the river, away from the crowds, away from city and town, away from Temple and synagogue, away from family and friends, away from everything except the scorpions and scruff grass--now it is just Jesus and the Tempter.

Every year we begin the season of Lent by recalling the temptations of Jesus alone in the wilderness. Why alone? Because alone, away from the distractions, Jesus faced his temptations. That is where the real work begins, for him and for us.

Sometimes we vainly imagine our problem is in the muddle, the mess, the noise and busyness of a day. Too many voices, too many demands--that is what's keeping us from the kind of life we believe we would live if we had more time and quiet. If we could just get everything and everybody else settled, then we would be settled: we would have time for prayer, for service. We could be the kind of Christians we intended to be when first we made our vows.

Except the problem may be more inside than outside. I too blame my lack of faithfulness on external forces, but if I purpose to be alone, I will be forced to confess a deeper truth: it is not just that I have other stuff to do but that I find things to do. I create busyness if it is not already there.

We are so practiced in the daily maze, so at home in the briar patch, that unbusyness is the real puzzle and thorn. How do we do nothing? Or if not nothing, then create space enough for prayer? This mostly unacknowledged spiritual dilemma is both unconfessed and, more gravely, devoutly unassaulted.

Reflect

If you are resistant to being alone, try to imagine why. Pray that when you are alone during Lent, whether by choice or circumstance, you will use that time for spiritual discernment.

Source: Shadows Darkness and Dawn: A Lenten Journey with Jesus by Thomas R. Steagald

Lenten Devotional 2012 - Ash Wednesday

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Psalm 51
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

If somebody comes to me and says, "Teach me to pray," I say, "Be at this church at nine o'clock on Sunday morning." That's where you learn to pray. Of course, prayer is continued and has alternate forms when you are by yourself. But the American experience has the order reversed. In the long history of Christian spirituality, community prayer is most important, then individual prayer.
--Eugene Peterson

I am made of dust. I know because I love dusty things. When I was a boy, I played with dirt. Now that I am an old man, I pray with ashes.

I was conceived in the darkness. I know because I have always loved dark places. Even now I am too often content in the lightless little hut of my soul.

But I also know this: I was gestated in the life-giving water of my mother's womb. I know because I thirst for the water, the living water that will bathe me, that will wash all my dust and dirt and darkness away. I long to be made clean and I dread it too, for I have been dangerously exposed to the world's idolatrous radiations. Rough brushes and hoses are required, hard scrubbing, to peel away the poison. There are deep impurities in the ore of my soul, mined as I have been from the broken earth. I desperately need the Refiner's fire, God's purifying heat, to burn the carbons out of my spirit...

...The sanctuary is dark as a womb, silent as a grave. Candles chase the gloom, but shadows threaten to swallow the few who are gathered. The pastor prays:
Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth. Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence, so that we may remember that only by your gracious gift are we given everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

On Ash Wednesday, at the pastor's invitation, I come to the rail and, in sure and certain hope of healing, I acknowledge my brokenness. I confess the darkness, at least as much of it as I can see, in hopes that light will soon dawn. In sure and certain hope of the Resurrection I embrace the Cross.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," the pastor says, smudging my forehead with a cross of palm ash. Particles fall onto my eyelashes. "Repent, and believe the gospel."

If I did not believe, I could not repent. If I could not repent, I could not go on. But already the ash itches. I think to reach up, to wipe it off, but kneeling here I am determined to let the cross, the ashes, do their full work. I will not try to remove them. I will try not to lay down the cross...

...Embracing the cross is hard; bearing it is harder still. The cross's beams are rough to the touch and burdensome. We never get all the splinters out. The cross is awkward to maneuver through the house and the office, and many days almost seems to work against whoever would carry it. The cross chafes the shoulders, bends the neck--and breaks the heart. No wonder that I want to lay it aside, throw it down, unburden myself of the cross and its demands. Easier to lay aside the weight of the cross than to "lay aside [my] every weight and the sin that clings so closely" (Heb. 12:1).

But choosing the cross means life; choosing life without it means death. Only by entering the darkness can I begin to find the light...

We make vows today, pledge small dyings in hope of greater, holier living, but we do not make them in order to be seen by others. We "sacrifice," not because God requires it, but because we desire the kind of deep intimacy only empty spaces can begin to harbor. Indeed, God has "no delight in sacrifice" (Ps. 51:16), which means to say that God does not love us more when we make sincere offerings, any more than God loves us less when we don't, or when our gestures remain silly or superficial. But when we confess our need for God, our desire for more of God in more of us, when we create for God a space in our heart and routine--"the sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit" (Ps. 51:17)--then God, I believe, is very pleased indeed...

...We pray to be emptied, that we might be filled. We pray to be enhungered, that we might be nourished on that which abides. We pray to die to self, that we might live with God at last.

Reflect

Take time to write down your Lenten vow: something you will deny yourself as a kind of sacrifice; something you will take on as a kind of service. You might put that paper in your Bible, or take it with you to Ash Wednesday services and leave it at the altar.

Excerpt from: Shadows Darkness and Dawn: A Lenten Journey with Jesus
by Thomas R. Steagald

A powerful story you should see

Over the past few weeks I have been preparing to post on my blog. Time and time again I prepare a post and find myself distracted from posting. I started the year with a resolve to post more in 2012 but have failed with that resolve. As I type these words I sence a renewed resolve to begin to post again. Lenten Season is upon us and I plan to post often about what this time of the year means to me.

I was moved by a recent video clip that came my way. I felt I had to share it with you. This is a powerful story of a Satanist who plotted to kill Pastor Craig Groeschel and instead finds new life in Christ.

Practical Thought: Watch this video and share your thoughts on this story. How does this video change your perspective on reaching the lost?

Happy New Year - No Fear in the New Year

This past Sunday was January 1, 2012. AT NRN we held a family worship service to begin the New Year. I received several encouraging comments about my message and thought I would post some of the text of my message in this first posting of 2012.

No Fear in the New Year
Isaiah 43: 1-7; 18-19
Jeremiah 18:1-6
Ecclesiastes 11:3

A New Year is simply a change on the calendar – but today could serve as a time of change.
How do you respond to change?
Many people are resistant to change – yet every growing organism changes. That includes you and me.

A lot of times, the way we respond to change is what determines the outcome of
that change. I have also found that being prepared for change, and even embracing change is a key to living the abundant life.

Could 2012 be the year that you need to make a change?
Today’s message is unique in that all the scriptures are from the Old
Testament. The children of Israel needed change, but resisted it. In fact, a
study of Israel shows that the people were wandering. Following the Exodus from Egypt – there were times of great obedience, followed by times of total disobedience. God sent prophets to share His message because the people were in need of a change. They needed to move from dependence upon themselves to dependence upon God.

One of those prophets was Isaiah – who prophesied “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be
called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

Listen to these words from Isaiah Chapter 43: 1-7

But now, this is what the LORD says—he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you,
Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD your
God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to
the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

You were created for God’s glory! Your life is part of a tapestry of God’s glory.
I know, your part may be a little fuzzy – the colors may not match – but you are
a part of God’s plan to show forth His glory. You are loved by God – and you display God’s glory. God loves you with an everlasting love.

Now, hear from Isaiah 43:18-19: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on
the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive
it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

God brings change that last. That is the message of Christmas – God sent his only Son to save us and change our lives forever. This is the perfect God – molding us into Himself. God loves you – you are his son and daughter.

Is 2012 the year that you need a change? Will you grow in your…
Patience; Love for others; generosity; worry less; be more joyful; stop that bad habit; how you talk to your spouse or other people? Sometimes, change is uncomfortable.

Isaiah’s message was also:
You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the
clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter, “You know nothing”? Isaiah 29:16

Change is hard – scary – fearful – but I say to you – Fear NOT!

Isaiah also said: Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.Isaiah 64:8

Listen to the account of Jeremiah the prophet (Jeremiah 18:1-6)

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the LORD came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.

Do you remember playing with clay or playdoh when you were little? You could mold it and reform to make whatever shape pleased you, until it dried out and got hard. Once it became hard trying to reshape it just caused it to crumble and fall apart. God tries to do the same for us, reshaping us into something pleasing to Him, unless we harden our hearts and make ourselves unable to take on the new shape that He desires. Are you permitting God to use you or mold you into the instrument, device or pottery that will give honor to God?

CLIP: New Year’s Transformation

A few questions:
· What do you need to leave behind?
· What change do you need to make?
· What failures do you need to forget?
· What disciplines do you need to develop?
· What grudge do you need to release?
· What burdens do you need to give back to God?
· Do you need to trust God more in the New Year?
· What does God want you to do?

And - this is my New Year prayer for all my friends:

May God grant your heart’s desires and make all your plans succeed. May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory and raise a victory banner in the name of our God. May the Lord answer all your prayers. Psalm 20:4-5

Preparing for Sunday Jan 1 2012

Tomorrow is January 1, 2012. As I have prepared for the worship experience at NRN I have felt a change on my message. I will still speak about No Fear in the New Year however, God has laid several passages of Scripture upon my heart to share. One thing unique is that all the Scriptures tomorrow will be from the Old Testament.

We will begin with a great time of worship in song before the Lord. Here is the worship set for the first Sunday of 2012:











One more thing about tomorrow. I have had the message for Sunday prepared for several weeks. When God spoke to my heart about a needed change it was following a visit to Duke Medical Center to sit with Al Taylor a few hours before his precious Mary escaped this world and went to her heavenly reward. I came home that night and totally changed my message. The next day, a response came via email from the person I wanted to sing before my message on Sunday. She had no idea of the change in my message but told me the song she plans to sing. It was the confirmation from God that I has made the right decision about my message. Here is the song she plans to sing:



The worship experience for Sunday January 1, 2012 will be at 10am at NRN!

No Fear in the New Year

As I prepare the first Sunday of 2012, I am praying, and working on my message entitled

No Fear in the New Year. This is the final message in the teaching series - A Fearless Christmas.

I am really looking forward to a great time of worship and then to bring my message.

The New Year's Day Family Service at NRN will begin at 10am.

Since I have received several emails about my last posting - I thought I would share one more worship song - Chipmunk style. Enjoy....

Chipmunk Style

Over the past few days Sharron and I have spent time with family and having a great time. Now home - Alyse and Breeley are with us. Today we stopped at a McDonalds for short break and I purchased some chocolate milk for the girls. The friendly person behind the counter also gave us two items from the "kid's meal" featuring the Chipmunks.

I could not help but think of one of my favorite songs from Alvin and the Chipmunks. You may be surprised...




What do you think?