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WATCHWORD:

¹⁵ After breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Master, you know I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶ He then asked a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Master, you know I love you.” Jesus said, “Shepherd my sheep.” ¹⁷ Then he said it a third time: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was upset that he asked for the third time, “Do you love me?” so he answered, “Master, you know everything there is to know. You’ve got to know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. John 21:15-17 The Message

Meditation:

Do You Love Me?

Peter has his hands full. Jesus knew the worth of Peter, but Peter didn’t understand his real worth. Peter, the impulsive one, whose words often got him into trouble. Peter whose heart was golden, but he had a lot to learn, and some of those lessons were painful. Can you relate? Peter loved Jesus in the same way that we love a truly good person – emotional love.

Jesus says to us: “Do you love Me?”.  Then in Luke 12:8 we read His words that define Love, “Whoever confesses Me before men [that is confesses his love by everything he does, not merely his words], him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God.” That is a definition of love that strips away all pretense, all deception, anything that interferes with the work of the Word of God in our lives.

How can we measure up to that? We can’t on our own. Jesus asks us. How do we answer? The unvarnished truth hurts too much because so much of our lives are out of whack with the evidence that we truly love Him.

Oswald Chambers sums it up this way: “When the Lord asks us this question, it is impossible to think and respond properly, because when the Lord speaks directly to us, the pain is too intense. It causes such a tremendous hurt that any part of our life which may be out of line with His Will, can feel the pain. There is never any mistaking the pain of the Lord’s word by His children, but the moment that pain is felt is the very moment at which God reveals his truth to us.”

We are like Peter, Jesus knows our true worth, but we don’t fully understand. We still have a lot to learn, regardless of our age. If divine pain is the marker where we divert from a life in Christ, then that is what we prayerfully bring to our Lord, and place at His feet in repentance. A hard lesson to be learned. Amen.

Tuesday’s Lenten Passage to Ponder:

Matthew 6:1: 1Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Bulletin Board:

Daily Scripture passages through next Tuesday –

Wednesday, Philippians 3:10-11  ✞  Thursday, Luke 13:3  ✞  Friday, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10  ✞   Saturday, Psalm 35:13  ✞  Monday, Psalm 42:1  ✞  Tuesday, Colossians 3:1-5a  ✞  Wednesday, 2 Corinthians 5:17

Lenten Prayer:

Lord, in these 40 days, help me to focus on you above all else. Show me how I can be your hands and feet in my community – may I live out my faith in this season in new ways that give you glory.  Thank you for not expecting perfection from me. You know I make mistakes, and that’s why you sent Jesus to save me from all my sins. Here I am, Lord, trying again, despite all the times I have fallen short. Thank you for your grace. Amen.

WATCHWORD:

All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 4:15

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.  James 1:17 Continue reading

WATCHWORD:

¹ Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. ² A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. ³ He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. ⁵ When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” ⁶ So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. ⁷ All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” ⁸ But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” ⁹ Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”  Luke 19:1-10 Continue reading

WATCHWORD:

Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7

 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Genesis 3:19

 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:7-10

Meditation:

Ash Wednesday (Tomorrow)

Ash Wednesday is always 46 days before Easter Sunday. Ash Wednesday is not considered a Holy Day, it simply marks the beginning of Lent, a period of spiritual renewal which informs us and helps us prepare for the celebration of the mystery of Christ, his passion, death and resurrection.

Many churches hold Ash Wednesday Services during which ashes are imprinted on the forehead of worshippers as a reminder of our earthly mortality and a call to repentance.  The ashes are made by burning the palms that were distributed the previous year on Palm Sunday. The ashes are blessed by the pastor, who then dips his thumb in them and makes the Sign of the Cross on each person’s forehead, while saying these words: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” or “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”

The season of Lent is 40-days (not counting Sundays) which is marked by repentance, fasting, and reflection. The season ends with Maundy Thursday, which commemorates the foot washing and Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Disciples. In many churches, a Seder, representative of Jesus’ Last Supper, is held on Maundy Thursday.

Why 40 days? This period represents Christ’s time in the desert of Judah, a time of temptation where He fasted and where Satan tempted Him. For Christians, the Lenten season is a time set aside of intentional focus on the life of Christ, His ministry, sacrifice, and His Resurrection.

Throughout these 40 days of Lent, we will be following the Scripture passages and the Prayers found on BibleStudyTools.com.

Lenten Passage to Ponder:

1 Peter 5:6:  Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

Daily Lenten Scriptures:

Daily Scripture passages through next Wednesday: Ash Wednesday, 1 Peter 5:6 •  Thursday, Psalm 118:25-26  •  Friday, 1 Samuel 15:22 • Saturday, Matthew 4:1-2  • Monday, Mark 1:12-13  •  Tuesday, Matthew 6:1 • Wednesday, Philippians 3:10-11

Lenten Prayer:

Lord, I am not my own. I am a sinner and I have fallen short of your glory, yet you became a man to die on a cross in my place.  Thank you for loving me that much, Jesus! In this season, may I be crucified with Christ so I can truly love. Amen.

WATCHWORD:

³ As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. ⁴ “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” ⁶ They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. ⁷ They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” ⁸ Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. ⁹ When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. ¹⁰ Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” ¹¹ “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” John 8:3-11 Continue reading

WATCHWORD:

So, in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Galatians 3:26-27

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38

And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 3:21

 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16

Continue reading

WATCHWORD:

⁴ Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Psalm 37:4

¹³ No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us. Philippians 3:13-14 TLB Continue reading

WATCHWORD:

¹ So there is now no condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus. ² For the power of the life-giving Spirit—and this power is mine through Christ Jesus—has freed me from the vicious circle of sin and death. ³ We aren’t saved from sin’s grasp by knowing the commandments of God because we can’t and don’t keep them, but God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours—except that ours are sinful—and destroyed sin’s control over us by giving himself as a sacrifice for our sins. ⁴ So now we can obey God’s laws if we follow after the Holy Spirit and no longer obey the old evil nature within us. Romans 8:1-4  TLB

 ³⁶ No, for the Scriptures tell us that for his sake we must be ready to face death at every moment of the day—we are like sheep awaiting slaughter; ³⁷ but despite all this, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us enough to die for us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, ³⁹ or where we are—high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean—nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us.  Romans 8:36-39  TLB Continue reading

WATCHWORD:

¹⁸ So, when God told Abraham that he would give him a son who would have many descendants and become a great nation, Abraham believed God even though such a promise just couldn’t come to pass! ¹⁹ And because his faith was strong, he didn’t worry about the fact that he was too old to be a father at the age of one hundred, and that Sarah his wife, at ninety, was also much too old to have a baby. ²⁰ But Abraham never doubted. He believed God, for his faith and trust grew ever stronger, and he praised God for this blessing even before it happened. ²¹ He was completely sure that God was well able to do anything he promised. ²² And because of Abraham’s faith God forgave his sins and declared him “not guilty.”  ²³ Now this wonderful statement—that he was accepted and approved through his faith—wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. ²⁴ It was for us, too, assuring us that God will accept us in the same way he accepted Abraham—when we believe the promises of God who brought back Jesus our Lord from the dead. ²⁵ He died for our sins and rose again to make us right with God, filling us with God’s goodness. Romans 4:18-25 The Message

Jesus was matter-of-fact: “Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you. This mountain, for instance: Just say, ‘Go jump in the lake’—no shuffling or hemming and hawing—and it’s as good as done. That’s why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything, ranging from small to large. Include everything as you embrace this God-life, and you’ll get God’s everything. And when you assume the posture of prayer, remember that it’s not all asking. If you have anything against someone, forgive—only then will your heavenly Father be inclined to also wipe your slate clean of sins.” Mark 11:22-25 The Message Continue reading

WATCHWORD:

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. Romans 8:26-28   The Message

For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow.  Romans 8:38  TLB Continue reading