7th Day of Lent - God's Word

Words are powerful. As James writes, "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing." (James 3:9-10). Words can be good and kind and build others up; or they can be hurtful and damaging and ruin lives.

 

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He said not to babble or use lots of words. God knows what we need, before we ask Him (Matthew 6:7-15). The Lord's Prayer is concise, simple, to the point. We honour God and call Him 'Father'; we ask for His will to be done; we request forgiveness and our needs to be met, and to be taught to forgive; and we beg to be protected from evil and temptation.

 

 God's Word is more powerful than any of ours. When God speaks, His words will achieve His purpose, no matter what attempts to get in the way. "It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11). As we've seen over the past few days, God speaks for the poor, the oppressed and the broken. He calls us to do the same. We have a choice to follow God's Word, and speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, or we can leave that mission to someone else. Either way, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." (Psalm 34:18). Isn't it better that we choose to join God and use our words to promote social justice?

 

How will you use your words to build up the oppressed and broken today?

5th Day of Lent - Freedom

But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor. Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.” Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him. (Deuteronomy 26:6-10)

How wonderful freedom is, and how easily we take it for granted. Each morning I can decide what to do with my day. I can take my daughter out for a walk, or we can read stories, or build a tower of blocks and knock them down. We could even do all three! There is no one, but her, telling me what to do or where to go. But how often do I thank God for my freedom? How often do I thank Him that I was born into a loving family in a country where I am free to be educated, to be paid for my work, to speak as I think?

It is only when our freedoms are curtailed that we begin to recognise the wonders of freedom. When our beliefs are mocked, when our religion is used as a reason to fire us, when we cannot speak our thoughts for fear of being sued. 

4th Day of Lent - Sabbath Delight

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday...
“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath

    and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
    and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
    and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
then you will find your joy in the Lord,
    and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
    and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
    For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 58:9-14)

The Sabbath is here inextricably linked to social justice. Our fasting is pleasing to God if we do away with oppression; our Sabbath is pleasing to God if we use it to put the needs of others before our own. Here in Isaiah, God tells His people, "Don’t use my holy day for personal advantage." (Isaiah 58:13, The Message)

3rd Day of Lent - Loose the Chains of Injustice

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke? 

Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,     
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 

(Isaiah 58:6-7)

Why do we fast during Lent? Our priest said, the other day, that fasting helps us to remember what Jesus gave up for us: He gave up Heaven, power and glory, and then He gave up His relationship with God the Father and He gave up His life. Puts our fasting from chocolate/TV/Facebook/caffeine/(insert other pleasure here) into perspective, doesn't it. Fasting during Lent also helps us to identify with Jesus' 40 day fast in the desert after His baptism. Jesus' fast was part of His preparation to do God's work, and similarly our fasting should enable us to get closer to God in order that we can do the work He has planned for us. Fasting also affirms our dependence on God and upon each other. We can do nothing alone, and, as John Donne wrote, "No man is an island, Entire of itself."

2nd Day of Lent - Choose Life

The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. (Luke 9:22)

As we journey through Lent, we are preparing to remember and celebrate Jesus' death and His resurrection. Jesus gave up His place in Heaven to live on earth like us and He died so that we could enter Heaven with Him. But His return to life 3 days after His execution was His victory over death.

Victory over death. Death is wrong. It's a result of our departure from the perfect creation. It is meant to make us angry, sad, grief-stricken. So why is it that we now live in a culture where death is campaigned for? We can kill babies in the womb, merely because they are inconvenient; we can kill babies up to birth for being disabled, or even for having a cleft lip; we want to kill criminals, rather than spending time and energy rehabilitating them; we call for euthanasia. Where did we start to go wrong? When did we decide that death was so simple and life of so little worth? Jesus died to give us life.

Ash Wednesday

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)

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. We have entered a period of fasting, pentitence, reflection and preparation, as we approach the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Today we are marked with ashes as a sign of penance and as a reminder that we were created by and for God, and not the other way around.

Shrove Tuesday

Pancake Day goes by many names: Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Carnival.

Shrove Tuesday is the day before Lent, a period of fasting, begins. Fasting used to be much more severe than it is now. During the Middle Ages, people fasted from meat, dairy and eggs, as these were thought to be the foods that gave the most pleasure. They also abstained from festivities and from sex! So, in preparation for the desert time ahead, the people celebrated and partied and ate. Many of the foods eaten on this day were rich, sweet delicacies, earning it the name 'Fat Tuesday' or 'Mardi Gras'. Its other name is Shrove Tuesday. The common belief is that shrove comes from the old English word 'shrive', meaning 'confess' as people were expected to attend confession and receive absolution before entering the season of Lent.

Pancakes were useful for using up the milk and eggs in the house before the Lenten fast. We continue the tradition today with Pancake Day. Ah, Pancake Day. I love pancakes. I love them covered in lemon and sugar, or maple syrup, or chocolate sauce. I even like savoury pancakes. You have to be a pretty special foodstuff to get your own day of celebration.

Just as the Christians of the Middle Ages rid their homes of the foods they would be unable to eat for the next six weeks and confessed their sins, we ought to rid our lives of those thoughts and habits that do not befit Christians. You might not visit a priest to make your confession, but we can all bow our heads before God and tell Him we are sorry for the things we have done wrong. And as the Christians of old fasted through the weeks of Lent to identify with Jesus' fast in the desert and to bring them closer to God, we can pick areas in our lives that need to be cleaned out to enable us to walk more closely with our Heavenly Father.

When I was at school, everyone seemed to give up chocolate for Lent, with varying degrees of success. It's still a popular fast today. My dad, however, encouraged us to take something up instead; to start doing something that would help another or bring us into a better relationship with God. One year I washed up after dinner every night. Another year I determined to focus more on reading my Bible.

This year I feel called towards justice. God calls us to "Act justly, love mercy and to walk humbly with Him."(Micah 6:8). I intend to spend Lent reading more of my Bible, praying more and writing letters to my MP and others regarding issues where I can speak up for those who can't speak up for themselves.

What will you be doing this Lenten season?

More Than A Pillow

At the weekend we bought B her first pillow. It's a flat little thing, with a cute pillowcase covered in a bizarre mix of animals: lions, fish, hippos and alligators. And yes, it's from Ikea, of course. She loves it, and will lay her head on it and make little snoring noises, though she is yet to fall asleep by herself on it. I'm watching her now, in the wee hours of the morning, as she sleeps so soundly, secure in the sense that I am close by, her snuffles matching those of her father lying on my other side.

Bible in a Year - Day 245

Day 239 - Psalm 128, 129, 130 & 131; 1 Corinthians 7:25-40
But the Lord is righteous;    he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked. (Psalm 129:4)
But with you there is forgiveness,    so that we can, with reverence, serve you. (Psalm 130:4)
Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
    for with the Lord is unfailing love
    and with him is full redemption. 
He himself will redeem Israel    from all their sins. (Psalm 130:7-8)

Bible in a Year - Day 238

Day 232 - Psalm 112, 113, 114 & 115; 1 Corinthians 1
He raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes,
    with the princes of his people. 
He settles the childless woman in her home     
as a happy mother of children. (Psalm 113:7-9)

Day 233 - Psalm 116, 117 & 118; 1 Corinthians 2
I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
    he heard my cry for mercy. 
Because he turned his ear to me,    I will call on him as long as I live. (Psalm 116:1-2)
The Lord is gracious and righteous;
    our God is full of compassion.
 The Lord protects the unwary;    when I was brought low, he saved me. (Psalm 116:5-6)
For great is his love toward us,    and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. (Psalm 117:2)
When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord;
    he brought me into a spacious place. 
The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.
    What can human beings do to me? 
The Lord is with me; he is my helper.    I look in triumph on my enemies. (Psalm 118:5-7)

Day 234 - Psalm 119:1-48; 1 Corinthians 3
I run in the path of your commands,    for you have set my heart free. (Psalm 119:32)

Day 235 - Psalm 119:49-104; 1 Corinthians 4
Your hands made me and formed me;    
give me understanding to learn your commands. (Psalm 119:73)
Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
    you established the earth, and it endures. (Psalm 119:90) 

Day 236 - Psalm 119:105-176; 1 Corinthians 5
You are my refuge and my shield;    I have put my hope in your word. (Psalm 119:114)
You are righteous, Lord,    and your laws are right. (Psalm 119:137)
Yet you are near, Lord,    and all your commands are true. (Psalm 119:151)
Your compassion, Lord, is great;    preserve my life according to your laws. (Psalm 119:156)

Day 237 - Psalm 120, 121, 122 & 123; 1 Corinthians 6
I call on the Lord in my distress,
    and he answers me. (Psalm 120:1)
I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;

the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore. (Psalm 121)

Day 238 - Psalm 124, 125, 126 & 127; 1 Corinthians 7:1-24

The Lord has done great things for us,    and we are filled with joy. (Psalm 126:3)

Children are a heritage from the Lord,    offspring a reward from him. (Psalm 127:3)

  

  
     

Bible in a Year - Day 231

Day 225 - Psalm 93, 94 & 95; Romans 11:22-36
For the Lord will not reject his people;     
he will never forsake his inheritance. (Psalm 94:14)
When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
    your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. 
When anxiety was great within me,     
your consolation brought me joy. (Psalm 94:18-19)
  
Day 226 - Psalm 96, 97 & 98; Romans 12
The Lord has made his salvation known     
and revealed his righteousness to the nations. (Psalm 98:2)
He will judge the world in righteousness    
 and the peoples with equity. (Psalm 98:9)

Day 227 - Psalm 99, 100, 101 & 102; Romans 13
The King is mighty, he loves justice. (Psalm 99:4) 
Lord our God,
    you answered them;
you were to Israel a forgiving God,     
though you punished their misdeeds. (Psalm 99:8)

Bible in a Year - Day 224

Returning to the Bible in a Year after a break for December's Jesse Tree and Christmas celebrations.

Day 218 - Psalm 75, 76 & 77; Romans 6
With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. (Psalm 77:15)
Your path led through the sea,
    your way through the mighty waters,
    though your footprints were not seen.

You led your people like a flock    by the hand of Moses and Aaron. (Psalm 77:19-20)

If we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. (Romans 6:5-7)
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

December 25th - Happy Christmas!

December 24th - Jesus is Emmanuel

Jesus is Emmanuel
Isaiah 7:14; 33:22

"What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home." (Joan Osborne)

Christmas. We celebrate the birth of a baby, not the arrival of a mighty power. (Though, if you've ever spent any time with a baby, then you'll know you don't have to be big and strong to be powerful!) The coming of another human being, not a heavenly army. An everyday event, not a great spectacle. And yet, each of those were happening simultaneously. While a young woman gave birth to a helpless babe, angels sang and a star moved. Peasants and wise men came looking for him. And God was on earth.

December 23rd - Jesus is the Light of the World

Jesus is Light of the World

John 1:1-14

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:5 TNIV)

Light guides.
Light dispels darkness.
Light reveals.
Light helps things grow.
Light shows things as they really are.
Light cheers us.
Light warns.
Light highlights.
Light breaks through.
Light reflects.

Jesus is the Light of the World. Amid all kinds of darkness, we celebrate the birth of Light.

"Dear God, thank you for your Son"

December 18th - Jesus is Lord

 Jesus is Lord

Exodus 20

Jesus is Lord. So easy to say. But what does it mean?

"If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9)

I can confess it with my mouth, but if I do not understand, then how can I believe it in my heart?

"And God spoke all these words:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
“You shall have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:1-3)

If Jesus is God, then He is Lord. He is the Supreme Ruler of all. There can be nothing and no one above Him. In every decision, every thought, every action and word, Jesus must come first, before our families, our friends, our jobs, our money, our free time, our Christmas presents!

"Dear God, help us to put you first this Christmas. Help us to remember why we are celebrating."

December 17th - Jesus is Wisdom

Jesus is Wisdom

Proverbs 8

"And as Jesus grew up, he increased in wisdom and in favour with God and people." (Luke 2:52)

Proverbs 8 personifies Wisdom, and makes clear statements about Wisdom's role in Creation:

I was there when he set the heavens in place,
    when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, 

when he established the clouds above
    and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, 

when he gave the sea its boundary
    so the waters would not overstep his command,
and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.

Then I was constantly at his side.
I was filled with delight day after day,
    rejoicing always in his presence,

rejoicing in his whole world     
and delighting in humankind. (Proverbs 8:27-31)

December 16th - John the Baptist

John the Baptist

Luke 1:39-45, Mark 1:1-8

John the Baptist was Jesus' cousin. They quite possibly spent much time together growing up, and perhaps knew each other really well. Jesus grieved when He heard about John's death. Even before they were born, John recognised who Jesus was. He leapt in his mother's womb when the pregnant Mary approached. There can be no argument that John was merely brought up thinking that Jesus was special - his spirit recognised his God before they even met in person!
It is difficult to acknowledge that someone you grew up with is better than you, more important, more special, and yet John willingly got down on his knees before Jesus. He reccognised God and responded to Him, acknowledging that he was not worthy even to touch his feet. Interesting to note that when Jesus was grown, He bent to clean the feet of others unworthy of touching Him.
John said of Jesus: "He must become greater; I must become less." (John 3:30)

Listen to the following song, written by Matt Redman, and meditate on what it means for Jesus to increase and us to decrease:
You Must Increase

"Dear God, help me to recognise you and respond to your presence. Enable me to become more like you. You must increase; I must decrease, Lord."

December 15th - Mary

Mary

Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38

What a brave woman Mary was. She risked being an outcast, and even being stoned to death, in order to be a part of God's plan for the world. She was the perfect example of obedience to bring up Jesus to also follow His Father's plan. I wonder how much she understood about what God asked of her. The Bible account doesn't tell us whether the angel told her more about the plan, or the sadness she would face, but the young virgin bowed to God's will and agreed to follow Him. The following link will take you to a beautiful song about Mary and her journey with Jesus:
"When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God."

"Dear God, help me to say, 'Yes,' to you, so that I can share in your plan for the world."

December 14th - Joseph

Joseph

Matthew 1:18-25

Joseph was chosen to be Jesus's earthly father. He agreed to bring up a child who everyone around them would have presumed was illicitly conceived, either through Mary's infidelity or through Joseph's premarital indiscretion. Either way, Joseph would have been the subject of a fair bit of gossip and perhaps pity. However, God revealed the truth to him. The child Mary was carrying was God's son. Not Joseph's, but not the son of any other man either.

Amid the gossip, the pity, the looks down noses, Joseph could be secure in the knowledge that he had been chosen to care for, bring up and teach God's own Son. What an honour. What a huge responsibility.