Dear Friends,

Our son takes some of his coworkers to an Ash Wednesday service each year. As they were preparing to leave for the service this past week, one person asked, “What is the significance of Ash Wednesday?” While most Christians know that Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season, some of the deeper meaning of the day may be obscure, as was shown when another coworker started to talk about putting ashes on the forehead, giving up ice cream, and eating fish.

Our son interrupted and said, “Ash Wednesday is about a guy … a very special guy! Do you know who I’m talking about?” Blank stares! “It’s about Jesus,” he said. “Ash Wednesday, like Christmas, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter all point to Jesus.”

Why 40 days? In Matthew we read, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Matthew 4:1-3 (NIV)

When Jesus taught the disciples what we call the Lord’s Prayer, he included the phrase, “Lead us not into temptation.” Jesus knew temptation from the beginning of his ministry to his death on the cross. At any time he could have said, “Enough is enough,” and yielded to temptation, but he resisted temptation and became the perfect offering for our transgressions.

The Lenten season can be a period of meditation and reflection. It can be a time when we make decisions to resist the things that may tempt us. In this effort, we can look at how Jesus chose to resist the devil; he relied on prayer and he relied on the Word of God. “Jesus said to him, “Away from me Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” (ibid Verse 10)

Why ashes? Ashes remind us of our mortality. “ Then Abraham said, “I am only dust and ashes. Yet I have been brave to speak to the Lord. Genesis 18:27 (ICB)

Ashes represent humility and repentance. “I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”” Job 42:6 (NLT)

Ashes represent mourning. “ Put on sackcloth, my people, and roll in ashes; mourn with bitter wailing as for an only son … “ Jeremiah 6:26 (NIV)

Traditionally the ashes used on Ash Wednesday are the burned palm branches from the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebration. The burned palm branches remind us of Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem, followed on Good Friday by his death on the cross. We mourn in remembrance.

But our grief is turned to gladness as we reflect on the words of the Apostle Paul, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 1 Corinthians 15:55 (NLT). We look forward to Easter and our celebration of the resurrection.

Verse for the week: John 11:25 (NIV) “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;’”

Blessings,

Your Friends in Christ

Dear Friends,

This week we turn our attention to the devil. Now, we’re not talking about that fictional character with a red satin suit, neatly trimmed Van Dyke style beard, and horns; we are talking about Satan, the accuser, the deceiver, the adversary. We are warned about him in 1 Peter 1:5 (NLT), “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

The Message Bible offers the following ending for the Lord’s Prayer: “Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.” Luke 11:4

The Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:11 (NIV), “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.”

In James 4:7, James, the brother of Jesus wrote “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”  The devil will do everything he can to tempt us; our challenge as Christians is to avoid taking the devil’s bait.
 

THE DEVIL’S BAIT SHOP The devil crossed his arms and smiled with delight.
He didn’t need to interfere, he’d simply let them fight.
He’d let them tear each other down; he’d let them castigate.
No need for him to stoke the fire; he merely had to wait.

Oh! He might whisper in her ear To kindle thoughts of shame;
Or give a nudge to those who judge to show them who to blame.
The devil uses each of us to spread his deadly bait;
With unkind words or selfish deeds we seal another’s fate.

So watch the words you’re casting, and watch which hooks you take.
Reflect, instead, the love of Christ with every choice you make.
And pray the Holy Spirit will guide you through life’s maze,
Avoid the Devil’s bait shop. Let Jesus name be praised.

Comedian Flip Wilson popularized the expression, “The devil made me do it.” Each of us, like the Apostle Paul, can say, I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13 (NLT) We don’t have to take the bait!

Verse for the week: Colossians 3:13-15 (NLT) “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.”

Blessings, Your Friends in Christ

Dear Friends,

“Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)

Christian pastor and author Max Lucado, in his book Grace for the Moment defined faith as “a conviction that He can and a hope that He will.” Now I have never had a problem believing that God can; it’s that “hope that He will” part can be a challenge. Recently I was working on a project that involved rewriting a 98 page training manual. The project carried over several days so I was careful to save my work regularly.

As I was finishing up on the third day of the project, I saved my work and closed my word processing program. About an hour later I decided to edit the document. When I tried to open it, I discovered that I had somehow saved something else over it by accident. All of my work was gone. When Bonnie heard my loud, “Oh NO!” She entered my office to see me sitting dejected with my head in my hands. “I think we should pray, she said.

“Right now I don’t feel very much like praying,” I responded; nevertheless, she took my hand and we prayed. After she left the room, I tried everything I could think of to retrieve the lost file, but it was hopeless.

Bonnie had to run an errand, so she left me in my despair. She had only been gone for about twenty minutes when my phone rang. It was Bonnie. “It’s in ‘the Cloud’, she exclaimed.”

I had already checked that option, so I thanked her for her suggestion and decided to pull up the original notes for the project to start all over. Three days of work gone!

But, when I started to read, I discovered that instead of the old document that I was expecting and dreading to see, I was reading the document I thought was lost. As we read in Hebrews, “faith… gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” The answer to my dilemma was not in “the Cloud”; I have faith it was beyond the clouds. Thanks be to God.

Verse for the week: Psalm 36:5
“Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.”

Blessings, Your Friends in Christ

Dear Friends,

“The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.^” John 1:45

Verse for the week: Psalm 32:7 “For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory.”

Blessings, Your Friends in Christ

Painting Our Self portrait
God gives us all a canvas; we paint it as we choose.
It isn’t paint by numbers, nor paint it wrong, “you lose.”
We’re free to choose our pallet – the thickness of our strokes;
Sweeping strands of color, or spots from careless pokes.
And when we feel we’re failing and cast our paints aside,
There waits the Master Artist who wants to be our guide.
He’ll take our feeble efforts, if we will just release,
And guided by his steady hand, we’ll paint His masterpiece.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10

The Greek word that is translated masterpiece “poiēma” is where we get the English word poem. As we read this Scripture we are reminded that “God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Philippians 1:6

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow may have had this in mind as he wrote the final stanza of his epic Poem “A Psalm of Life.”

“Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.”

Blessings, Your Friends in Christ