A TIME TO WAIT

The Lenten season is a season of waiting. It begins in early spring when we are waiting for the dark days of winter to end and for spring to usher in the budding and greening up of nature. Have you ever tried to hurry up spring? It comes in it's own time. However, we know it will eventually be here so we wait and appreciate all the early signs that assure us it is coming.

Readings in the old testament told us of the coming of the Messiah. Some tried to hurry the time along by trying to set up kingdoms that were eventually crushed. God chose his own time and specific way to bring us his chosen Messiah. The prophets of old knew the Messiah was coming so they waited and looked for the signs. Even today, we look for signs, but no one knows the exact time or place of the second coming.

Yet, while we wait, we have assurance that Christ is at work in us. Our assurance is in our faith and belief in the Word of God and our response to it in our lives. I've accepted Christ into my life and ask for his forgiveness. But God, through his grace, has done the rest.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" Galatians 2:20-21

AMAZING GRACE

Have you ever seriously considered who you would be willing to die for? Who would deserve such  a sacrifice on your part? Is it a child, a parent, a good friend? When it really came down to that last breath, would you go through with it? What would you expect in return?

Have you ever considered what you have done that gave you the right for Jesus to give his life for you? You were a sinner. What had you ever done for him? Oh maybe you went to church and even sang "Amazing Grace" a time or two. But is that enough?

It is. Yes, it is, because of God's grace. It is not because of anything we have done. It's because of God's love and nothing else. That is enough! Isn't that amazing?

"Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Rom 5: 7-8

Oh, yes. God's grace is truly Amazing Grace.

SACRIFICE WHAT?

I've spent time talking with some of the crew on the cruise ship. Their stories are fascinating. It is a very international crew, most from third world countries. They are on ship for 9 months and home for 2-3 months. The men seem to all have families and are sacrificing for their families by working on board ship where they can earn more money than in positions where they live. All say the same thing.....they want their children to get an education and this gives them the money to be able to do that. The children show appreciation by doing their best in school.

What are you sacrificing? What do you want the outcome of your sacrifice to be? How important is it to you? What are you willing to give up. God sacrificed his son, Jesus, so your sins can be washed away. How do you show appreciation?

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. " Romans 12:1-2.

WIDE AND DEEP

I am in the middle of the Caribbean Ocean and as I look out over the vast area of water, seeing no land or anything else, I am reminded that the sea is wide and deep. I am reminded of this scripture passage of scripture:

" I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."Eph 3:17-19

Wow, God's love is wider and deeper than what I can see from this deck. That is huge. We definitely serve a very loving God. We can not even measure his love. We just trust that it has no beginning or ending. So let's just open our hearts and let his love flow through us.

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LEADERSHIP PRAYER

If you are having trouble praying.....don't know how or what to pray for...start looking through Psalms, especially for leadership. David has given us some beautiful prayers that cover almost everything we need or struggle with. He fought so many battles trying to keep Israel under God's rule. He opened his heart and soul to God, confessing all of his wrongs, asking for forgiveness, strength and direction in all things. His life and prayers are an example for all who serve as leaders. How do we assess our leadership? All have sinned and fallen short, but there is hope and encouragement for change.

This world is in a mess, would you agree? We tend to be heading toward a one world kind of government.  Some days the news is very scary. We talk about praying for our leaders and the leaders of the world. We need more David's out there who can examine themselves closely and ask that God's will be done through them instead of leaders who are pleasing others for votes. It's becoming a struggle to decide who is right. God alone is worthy of worship. We want to please him first.

"Among the gods there is none like you, Lord;
    no deeds can compare with yours.
 All the nations you have made
    will come and worship before you, Lord;
    they will bring glory to your name.
 For you are great and do marvelous deeds;
    you alone are God." Psalm 86: 8-10

God has made all nations. Are we as a nation coming to worship the one true God? Are we bringing glory to his name or are we bringing glory to  leaders who are following other gods whose deeds are not following him or his will for us? How do we know for sure? Prayer! Asking God for help and discernment. Listening for his word as David did. Following through in love. We are hearing that we are living in end times. So we must not waste time now.

DOING THE RIGHT THING

In the '70's and 80's, when the messages from motivational speakers was the hottest thing on the market, a professor at USC, Leo Buscaglia. emerged with an emphasis on teaching Love. No this was not the love written in the romance novels. This was loving and caring for each other. His popular class was Love 101. He recognized the importance of listening following the sudden suicide of one of his students. He emphasized the importance of genuinely caring about others, getting to know them and love being the root of our behavior. Had there been clues that everyone missed that resulted in the girl's suicide? Could it have been prevented?

The book of Titus reminds us of the importance of lifting others up. It emphasizes that we must be good examples to folks in all ages and stages of  life. We must teach others what scripture says is right. Jesus love and sacrifice is the root of our behavior. Because of him and the life he lived for us, we have a great example.

Older men, what are you teaching the younger men? Older women, what are you teaching the younger women? Church leaders, are you being responsible? It's all outlined in the 3 short chapters of this book. As Buscaglia emphasized, we must be loving and teach life. The book of Titus teaches us how, as followers of Christ, we are eager to live as examples of his love.

" For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.  It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,  who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is right." Titus 2: 11-14

ENCOURAGEMENT THRU LOVE

There are days when things are just not going well. It seems that God is far away and has just gone on vacation as far as my needs are concerned. Usually this lasts more than just one day. Do you get discouraged? What do you do?

Hebrews is our faith book. It tells us, never give up, never give up. We are reminded (Chapt. 11) of that great cloud of witnesses, those prophets of old, who put their lives on the line to follow God's will for them. They believed the promise even when they did not experience the benefits of their faith. Their stories serve as encouragement.

Christian fellowship is another way we can overcome those times of discouragement when we feel like just giving up "being good" and are tempted by non-Christian behaviors. Our Christian friends are there for us to encourage us and spur us on to follow God's will. When we meet together, we are told to encourage each other toward love and good deeds. This is why I love attending Bible Studies and small group meetings like the Stephen Ministry meeting I attended last night. The encouragement from Christian friends is very refreshing and praying with others strengthens our love and friendship.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching. " Hebrews 10:23-25

Where do  you go for encouragement? Are you an encourager? Even when my Christian encouragers challenged my thinking, I know their words speak the love of Christ.