A lyrical reflection on the love of God.
Lent 2018 | First Sunday of Lent: “Reckless Love” by Cory Asbury
A lyrical reflection on the love of God.
Tag: Lent 2018
Lent 2018 | Day #3: Preparation
It does not matter what you will ever do in life, the better you prepare the more effective you will be at the task. This reality could not be truer of the Christian life.
It does not matter what you will ever do in life, the better you prepare the more effective you will be at the task. This reality could not be truer of the Christian life. In every facet of our walk with Jesus, we ought to seek out and engage in a continual process of preparation. To be more to the point, we should always be growing in our understanding of the things of God. We should seek to be challenged and stretched in every area of our lives.
Now, I am not saying that this will be easy. I’m not even saying that we will like it! We might. But that is not a guarantee. Nor is it something that we should be overly concerned about. The process of preparation forces us to anticipate what may be coming down the road or just waiting for us as we continue forward by faith.
Anticipation of what is to come is not an easy skill to hone. The truth is that for many of us, it will come through failure rather than “getting it right” from the start. But, that is the normal course of life. We try doing something new and we fall on our faces. This does not diminish us, it only serves as an opportunity for development, if we accept it as one.
As we end these first few days of Lent, I hope that you will journey with me as we see to better understand the impact and import of Jesus life, death, and resurrection. These Reflections Toward Easter will help us to briefly ponder the majesty of God’s Gospel as it is embodied in Jesus. We should not be afraid of preparation. We should grow to love the process and joyfully endure it. That sounds bad, but it really is not. Engaging in the process may produce fruit in your life you never believed possible.
Lent 2018 | Day #2: Surrender
The reason we lay down our lives is because any effort we make to preserve our own lives, under our own strength, by means of our own wisdom is futile and bound for failure.
Surrender is not a word that many of us like. If we are the ones who must make this decision we often feel weak, demeaned, or belittled. To surrender implies, in the minds of some (maybe many), that we were not strong enough to win. This may be the reason that for many Christians the call to surrender our lives and wills to God can be so jarring. Why so many fight against the call God has made to bend our knew to Jesus, our King.
This conceptualization of surrender is not the biblical understanding of the term or the idea. Jesus, who is our model for this concept, shows us that surrender can be a demonstration of immense strength. Jesus told his disciples that he chose to surrender his life for the sheep God the Father has entrusted into his care. Those sheep are every person who has come to Jesus and believed that he is the promised Messiah.
14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” (John 8:14-18)
Jesus is able to save because he has the power and the authority to both lay down his life and take it up. And, while we are not Jesus in this same exact sense—that we cannot take up our own lives—we can lay them down. And the reason we lay down our lives is because any effort we make to preserve our own lives, under our own strength, by means of our own wisdom is futile and bound for failure. Listen to Jesus’s call to those who give the cares of this world greater priority than surrender to him.
38And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:38-39)
John Gill, the great Bible expositor of the 18th century makes the following remarks about the implications of Jesus call to lose our lives for him.
He that findeth his life shall lose it,…. That man that seeks to preserve his life, and the temporal enjoyments of it, by a sinful compliance with his friends and the world, and by a denial of Christ, or non-confession of him; if he is not, by the providence of God, deprived of the good things of life, and dies a shameful death, both which are sometimes the case of such persons; yet he is sure to lose the happy and eternal life of his soul and body, in the world to come: so that the present finding of life, or the possession of it, on such sinful terms, will in the issue prove an infinite and irreparable loss unto him. On the other hand, Christ observes,
he that loseth his life for my sake, shall find it. That man that is willing to forego the present advantages of life, to suffer reproach and persecution, and lay down his life cheerfully for the sake of Christ and his Gospel, for the profession of his name, rather than drop, deny, conceal, or neglect any truth and ordinance of his, shall find his soul possessed of eternal life, as soon as separated from his body; and shall find his corporal life again, in the resurrection morn, to great advantage; and shall live with Christ in soul and body, in the utmost happiness, to all eternity.[Source].
As we continue in this time of reflection and anticipation of the celebration of Jesus’s resurrection, how are we practicing surrender? Are we cheerful in doing it? Or do we begrudge God this requirement of the crucified life?
Lent 2018 | Day #1: Self-Denial
When we know how loved we are by God we should make every effort to love others.
The season of Lent is a time where we are called to look at the totality of our Christian journey. The reason for this inspection is to better appreciate the glorious reality of the Gospel AND to better understand the implications of that same Gospel.
If we claim to have experienced the new birth, then we must not shy away from this process. To engage in introspection is to challenge ourselves to stoke the fire of faithfulness. We are not merely to be the beneficiaries of God’s goodness. We are to be the distributors of the same mercy that we have received. In many ways, this is the simplest and clearest way of demonstrating that we value God’s grace. If the Gospel of Jesus is good news to us, then it should also be good news to others.
It can be difficult to see this connection, but the truth is that we all find ourselves on the same sinking ship. We all are in need of saving from the same situation—our sin. Therefore, to recognize the predicament that we are in is to see the need that everyone we encounter has. My need and their need are the same. We may describe it differently or talk about it differently, but it is the same. We are all on the brink of eternal disaster.
This is why I feel that on this first day of Lent we should look at self-denial. We cannot share with others the message of hope if we are hindered by fear, doubt, or pride. In truth, it does not matter the reason. We have to value the reality of redemption in Christ, we have to esteem it greater than any and every obstacle we can conjure up. We must deny ourselves, not because we have some sort of self-esteem problem. No, we must deny ourselves because the very nature of sacrificial love should call us to care for our neighbors with the same love God has demonstrated in Jesus.
It is in this sense that we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves. When we know how loved we are by God we should make every effort to love others similarly, however imperfectly we end up doing it.
Lent 2018 | Ash Wednesday
With each passing day, the reality that every person who walks this earth needs Jesus grows.
It has been a while since I have posted anything. Life has been chugging along and work has been busy. However, as we begin another time of preparation heading toward Easter Sunday, I felt compelled to write.
With each passing day, the reality that every person who walks this earth needs Jesus grows. The reason I feel this weight is because of how much I know that I need him. The struggles of this life are too many to be able to handle them on our own. Even when we do not travel life’s road alone, we instinctively know that our fellow travelers are in the same situation we are. Just because we are not going through the same thing at the same time does not mean that we are not all subject to it.
Time, this unrelenting hound that chases after each of us, never gets tired. We can hear its charge every day, with some days being louder and more persistent than others. But, it is there keep a steady pace.
This in the end is what makes Ash Wednesday such an important day. It is a reminder that no matter what we do we all must face our eventual demise. The question we must ask ourselves will we die alone, or will we die with Christ. The latter is to be preferred.
I remember my time serving with United Methodist Church where I learned to appreciate this simple truth. Various words were used as the ashes were imposed upon my forehead by my pastor. They would say: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” and “Repent, and believe the Gospel.”
This is a powerful reminder. I hope that you remember that we will not live in this world forever, therefore, repent, and believe the Gospel. That is not merely a message for the lost, it is also the message of the redeemed. The former hear it and are put on the path of the life. The latter are given a chance to remember that life could have been different, but God who is rich in mercy has provided a sacrifice, Jesus the Christ, a propitiation for our sins. Amen!