What Questions Will You Have To Face This Lent?
Good Morning Friends,
When our self-centered hopes and dreams turn to ashes of disappointment and heartache, we need to find our place, our fulfillment, in God’s mission of building His kingdom and our role in it. Even if it is a difficult one. Here we find scripture that speaks to our mortality and purpose. Here we find spirit-filled activities that tests us and then delivers us. Here we too are questioned by the devil and realize that we too will face the temptations of Eve and Christ…. the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. What Questions Will You Have To Face This Lent?
Scripture: Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.'” Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'” Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'” Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'” When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.
Luke 4:1-14 (NRSV)
But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 (NRSV)
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.
Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the Day of Judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.
1 John 4:7-21 (NRSV)
Message: Some will give up eating meat during Lent but the more important thing to give up is our indifference to others. People matter and the plans God has for them matters and maybe that is why God chose the cross as the means of salvation…giving up something so precious so that something better might become possible. A friend of mind was wondering when Jesus knew that he would have to face the cross. Maybe it was from the beginning. However there is a hint that something changed when Jesus stopped saying the Kingdom was near. There is certainly a question in the Garden when Jesus asked that the cup be taken from him. One would think that there could have been another way. Certainly the God of the universe had the power to choose another way. And it is impossible to think that our God is so cruel as to choose the cross because of the terror and pain it inflicted. No there must have been a good reason…a very good reason for the choice. It would seem that it was part of a plan for Jesus. And it was a plan that was in the works for a very long time. So too God has a plan for each of us but we have to choose it do we not? So it seems that Jesus would have had to choose the cross as well. After all Jesus’ ministry is one of deliverance, healing and redemption. And the cross combined with the resurrection accomplishes that for us all if we believe. He passed this on to the disciples and the sound of this salvation, this jubilee, this joy, reverberates in us when our hands and feet join with other believers who share Jesus’ love. Here we discover spiritual freedom from our pain. Here we forgive and find forgiveness. Here we see our mortality but also the amazing ways that God moves in our lives to heal, to proclaim and deliver. But what we are considering this morning is not so much our battle but the battle between Jesus and the devil. And the point that needs to be made is that means of Jesus winning and our sharing in the victory is not by conquering with power but with righteousness. You see the devil loves power and so the devil was to be conquered not by the power of God but by Jesus’ righteousness…. Friends that is why it is more fitting that we should be delivered by Christ’s Passion than simply by God’s good will and power. It seems strange but the decision to have Christ suffer to save mankind was rooted in love. Despite the pain and suffering of the Passion of His Son, it must be recognized that the resulting everlasting glory of the plan God the Father chose and the Son submitted to, far outweighed the horrors Jesus had to endure. The result of His Passion was everlasting grace that overflows in immeasurable abundance to all of mankind, uniting His suffering to our suffering so long as we have to endure this world. It is sacrifice that is perfected for all time and freely given to all generations until He comes again in glory to raise the living and the dead.
Pray that this Lent we gain a deeper understanding of Christ’s Passion. Pray we not have a shallow faith. Pray that we find God’s plan and purpose in our lives. Pray that we triumph over tragedy. Pray that we help lift the needy out of the ash heaps. Pray that the Spirit of the LORD be upon us, calling us out and empowering us to serve. Pray that we comfort those who morn with the oil of joy. Pray we survive temptations. Pray we be called trees of righteousness. Pray we are never indifferent to another’s suffering. Pray we ponder the right questions.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 