Lent ~ Live Eternally Grateful

. . . [God] makes us passionately and spiritually unbalanced. God steers us in the direction of His kingdom, His purpose, His passions. His desire it not to conform us but to transform us. Not to make us compliant, but to make us creative. His intent is never to domesticate us, but to liberate us.
Erwin Raphael McManus from The Barbarian Way (pg.64)

God's plan for redemption was created long before time. God's redemption transforms us, gives us new life, grants us new freedom. We glimpse eternity now and find the longing for a more intimate relationship with God.

Read 1 John 4:9-10

This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that He loved us . . . 1 John 4:10

God sent His only Son to earth ~ Jesus was betrayed, beaten and buried for our sins. Yet, it is God's Purpose ~ salvation for the sinners ~ that had the last word. Christ lives! And all this for my sins and for your sins, for all sinners.

consider this!

• Define 'real love'.
• What did Jesus have to sacrifice to come into the world?
• What does 'real love' offer that the world cannot?

God of Mercy ~ I are not worthy of such love, such sacrifice. You love best of all. At best, my days are filled with token deeds and worthy gestures but none come near to Your sacrifice. I kneel at Your altar with praises for freedom through Christ. Transform me! Amen. ~dho

Lent ~ God Is Love

Open your hearts to the love God instills . . . God loves you tenderly. What He gives you is not to be kept under lock and key, but to be shared. Mother Teresa

Love is an action, one a person chooses to receive and chooses to give. Because the Spirit lives inside the believer, we are empowered to love, to love like Christ. Commentary in the Life Application Bible says it this way: God's love always involves a choice and an action.

Read 1 John 4:7-8

. . . God is love. 1 John 4:8 NCV

God's love is higher and deeper and wider and grander than we can begin to imagine. He loves us, calls us, draws near to us. God chooses us! When our response is to choose God, we discover more than enough. When we choose God, His love overflows into us. Loving each other is the action that demonstrates His amazing grace.

consider this!

• What is the source of all love?
• Is real love a feeling?
• How well do I really love?

Love Most High ~ You can only love one way ~ Completely, Generously, Perfectly. Kindle my heart with that tender Love. My heart weeps at such an offering. Forgive me when I hold tightly to Your love, when my selfish soul stops the flow of Perfect Love. Amen. ~dho

Lent ~ God Is Greater

I saw the Milky Way in full glory once, while visiting a refugee camp in Somalia, just below the equator. . . I could not lift my sights beyond that refugee camp situated in an obscure corner of an obscure country on the Horn of Africa. Until I saw the Milky Way. It abruptly reminded me that the present moment did not comprise all of life. History would go on. Tribes, government, whole civilizations may rise and fall, trailing disaster in their wake, but I dared not confine my field of vision to the scenes of suffering around me. I needed to look up, to the stars. Philip Yancey from Finding God in Unexpected Places (pg. 29)

Philip Yancey's words paint a true picture of this world ~ full of difficulty and full of God. Those who serve the world do not speak of God, do not listen to God. These unbelievers denounce Christians who faithfully witness for Christ.

Read 1 John 4:4-6

. . . because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. 1 John 4:4 NLT

We find ourselves surrounded by chaos and confusion, which always comes from evil; yet we are never alone, always have hope. The Holy Spirit resides within every believer. How easy to get lost in the negative and forget to look for God's Presence ~ It is everywhere! Just take time to look.

consider this!

• Can you identify evil influences in your daily life?
• How can you give God the "greater" place in your life?
• Is the Spirit abiding in you?
  
  Holy Father ~ The world speaks a language designed to rob You of glory. Sometimes, the burden of the confusion and disorder almost suffocate me. My Hope is Christ! Like fresh air, the Spirit breathes new life into the darkest moments. You are greater than anything in this world. Amen. ~ dho

2nd Sunday in Lent ~ False Prophets

Kathleen Norris recounts in Amazing Grace of preparing a Bible Study session on the "Antichrist" and her pastor's reply:
What the pastor said was so simple that it will remain with me forever. "Each one of us acts as an Antichrist," he said, "whenever we hear the gospel and do not do it".

Too often we believe what sounds good instead of searching for the truth. Satan is clever because there are always threads of truth in all his deceptions. We get tangled in the rhetoric and miss the point.

Read 1 John 4:1-3

. . . do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. . . every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist. . .
1 John 4:1,3 NIV

Many will try to confuse us ~ evil spirits and humans that are being used by the evil spirits. Scripture tells us that every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. To acknowledge Jesus requires our words ~ our confession of faith in Jesus ~ and our actions ~ our deeds done in response to our faith. Words are powerful but our actions evidence our faith to others. When we say we believe that Jesus is our resurrected Savior but act without love, we become the Antichrist.

consider this!

• What must one believe about Christ to be a Christian?
• Why is important to know The Truth?
• Does the Antichrist live at my house?

Father ~ I know the world is full of trickery, that Satan delights in my failure to listen for the Spirit of Truth. I want a discerning heart. Amen. ~dho

Lent ~ Fellowship Defined

We are saved so that we might know Him in intimate daily fellowship.
Steve McVey/ Grace Walk

The growing intimacy defines a deeper relationship. God calls us into community with Him, longs to have intimate daily fellowship with His children. Do we really desire this?

Read 1 John 3:23-24

And this is His commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. Those who obey God's commandments live in fellowship with Him and He with them. And we know He lives in us because the Holy Spirit lives in us. 1 John 3:23:24 The Message

Love defines this mutuality ~ His Love for us, our love for others. In our obedience to Love, we find ourselves both loved and loving. We are never alone when we live in fellowship with Him.

consider this!

• What is the character of Jesus?
• What is required for living in fellowship with Him?
• What evidence of God's presence is given the believer?

Spirit of Life ~ You draw near to me, call me to live deeply in Christ. Let Love shine through me however You desire. Amen. ~ dho

Lent ~ Completely Yielded

But many Christians have misunderstood the purpose of the law. The law was given so that people might see their own absolute inadequacy to live in a way that glorifies God.
Steve McVey / Grace Walk

We live in a world where anything goes; we live with its illusions of perfection. Success and wealth and beauty demand attention. In our disillusionment, we are discouraged when these self sufficient attempts do not bring satisfaction.

Read 1 John 3:19-22

For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves. . . We are able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we're doing what He said, doing what pleases Him. 1 John 3:20,22 The Message

We cannot save ourselves by following a set of rules. Only through Grace can a relationship with God be established. The world exploits the heart and mind by promoting "more and better". Soon the expectations are greater than the reality. When we focus on Christ and His unending Love, our hearts and minds are renewed. Realizing we no longer work for the world, we can live for Christ.

consider this!

• What lies is the world telling me?
• When God reveals my heart's intentions, what will I see?
• Do I depend on God or myself?

Jesus ~ My heart often settles for "more and better" when You offer me "the most and the best." My mind struggles with "greater" but You offer "enough." My desire is to completely yield myself to You. Let Your work be done through me. Amen. ~ dho