First Day of Lent
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26
Lent is a time to come with a heart that is longing to be embraced by and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. It is a time to build a deeper relationship with Jesus. The age old disciplines during lent are Scripture reading, Prayer, Fasting and Acts of Love.
How should we read and listen to scripture? Lets look at what Johnathan Edwards the great theologian said, "Where there is heat without light, there can be nothing divine or heavenly in that heart, so on the other hand where there is a kind of light without heat, a head stored with notions and speculations, with a cold and unaffected heart, there can be nothing divine in that light.” “John was a lamp that burned and gave light.” John 5:35A. Here Jesus speaks of John’s ministry that brought light and heat, meaning it was enlightening to the mind and warming to the heart. The key to meaningful Bible study is to bring understanding to our hearts and minds.
During this time of lent let us try for the next 40 days to wake up 15 minutes earlier than usual. Use the time to read, thank and praise God for his love, joy, peace and blessings in our lives. It is a good time to give up some of our lavish or addictive habits and fast our way to a holistic life style. Let us use this time of lent to not only try to purify our hearts but also reach out and touch the hearts of our fellow men as well.
Lent is a time to draw ourselves from self-love to love for others. Are we not all equal in the eyes of God? With time our hearts become so judgmental of others that we forget that they are also people who need the Spirit of Christ to lead and guide them.
How can we become doers of God’s word? Where do we start? Pray for those in need of companionship, extend our hands to help those in need and be generous with our possessions by giving to those who have not. If there are friends or family that have been estranged from us over the years, make a conscious effort to get in touch and bridge the differences.
Mother Teresa's famous quotation is, "Works of love are works of peace." When we build bridges of love to those in need, we set in motion the flow of streams of peace.
Dear Lord teach us to love you with all our hearts and minds and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Amen
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26
Lent is a time to come with a heart that is longing to be embraced by and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. It is a time to build a deeper relationship with Jesus. The age old disciplines during lent are Scripture reading, Prayer, Fasting and Acts of Love.
How should we read and listen to scripture? Lets look at what Johnathan Edwards the great theologian said, "Where there is heat without light, there can be nothing divine or heavenly in that heart, so on the other hand where there is a kind of light without heat, a head stored with notions and speculations, with a cold and unaffected heart, there can be nothing divine in that light.” “John was a lamp that burned and gave light.” John 5:35A. Here Jesus speaks of John’s ministry that brought light and heat, meaning it was enlightening to the mind and warming to the heart. The key to meaningful Bible study is to bring understanding to our hearts and minds.
During this time of lent let us try for the next 40 days to wake up 15 minutes earlier than usual. Use the time to read, thank and praise God for his love, joy, peace and blessings in our lives. It is a good time to give up some of our lavish or addictive habits and fast our way to a holistic life style. Let us use this time of lent to not only try to purify our hearts but also reach out and touch the hearts of our fellow men as well.
Lent is a time to draw ourselves from self-love to love for others. Are we not all equal in the eyes of God? With time our hearts become so judgmental of others that we forget that they are also people who need the Spirit of Christ to lead and guide them.
How can we become doers of God’s word? Where do we start? Pray for those in need of companionship, extend our hands to help those in need and be generous with our possessions by giving to those who have not. If there are friends or family that have been estranged from us over the years, make a conscious effort to get in touch and bridge the differences.
Mother Teresa's famous quotation is, "Works of love are works of peace." When we build bridges of love to those in need, we set in motion the flow of streams of peace.
Dear Lord teach us to love you with all our hearts and minds and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Amen
7 comments:
Thanks for starting this blog for lent. Look forward to your postings over the lent period.I would draw your attention also to the christian aid website that has a daily reflection and a special fund raiser called count your blessings 2013 http://www.christianaid.org.uk/getinvolved/lent-2013/index.aspx .
Glad to see the restart of spiritual dimensions. Lent is a time when we can become aware of our shortcomings in our lives. We went to a lent service today and the sermon was on temptations of Jesus and it was pointed out that even the Son of God was put to test by satan. It made us realise how much more we can be tested in our life on earth.
It's great to see this blog active again!
I'd love to hear what people are "fasting" from, and how that discipline is impacting other aspects of their lives.
Fast from Sadness, irritation, laziness , cynicism, self-love, guilt, hopelessness, suspicion....
Feast on Thankfulness, forgiveness, kind-heartedness, hopefulness, word, patience, grace, joy....
well said Mani...I need to fast from sarcasm, laziness, lastiocrack of diligence, procrastination, conceit, self centeredness, self opinionatedness and so much of the self that needs annhilation...oh for grace to love and obey more
Also great to see the blog back.....
Thanks, and good to see you on my blog again.
I wish I had your humility and passion
Lastiocrack ... I wish I knew what that means??
Post a Comment