Daily Devotions

Pope Francis, in his succinct and humble way announces that “Lent comes providentially to awaken us, to shake us from our lethargy.

In many ways, the word lent is a clue to this journey of awakening, where some think that it derives from the old English word for lengthen. Of course throughout the Lenten period, we are becoming aware that the whole of creation returns to life and growth as it leaves the darkness of winter behind.

Five times in Mark 13 Jesus tells us to be attentive. Yet, we would so often rather settle down to a comfortable life. But just as the buds of nature are reawakening, the world of God is breaking in everywhere, like an invasion. 

Jesus' message and life was to make a difference and save the world. That's the call - to do the world a world of good. We are called to stay awake, to see how we can make someone else's life that bit better. We need to believe that each of us can make a difference to our families, to the neighbourhood in which we live. 

One way is to keep in touch with God through Lent is to wake up through prayer, the sharing of fellowship, helping the very poor and keeping in touch with God. In short, we allow God's grace and care to flow through us.

A new world order began with Jesus, and we have a part to play in it. Every day through Lent we can review what went on, and as G M Hopkins says, ‘I greet him the days I meet him, and bless when I understand’.

Lord, we ask you to give us more strength to stay awake!, to seek you more deeply in prayer, and to rely on your help to live fully in your  ways. May we stay awake! to become more fully alive in you and so remain watchful, stand firm in the faith, out of my love for you. Amen.

Daily Devotions

Today, on our Lenten Journey,  we have a question to answer from Megan Westra, a children's and worship pastor who asks, “What if we view this desert time of Lent as not just a time to reflect or to lament or to confess or to fast, but a time where we learn to be free?" 

I wonder, have you ever placed yourself in wilderness of temptation and considered the things  Jesus faced? 

Jesus, like Moses before him, retreats into the wilderness where he fasts for forty days. Each temptation involves a seizure of power: power over the elements of creation by turning stones into bread, political and military power by gaining power over the kingdoms of the world, and the power to force God's protection in an inappropriate manner. That Jesus was tested throughout his ministry was widely held in early Christianity. The Letter to the Hebrews tells us, "For do we not have a high priest (Jesus) who is unable to sympathise with out weakness, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin."

Yet, what do we make of Megan’s second premise, “a time where we learn to be free!”

In John 8 we have the astounding words, “that the Truth will set us free” and specifically “If the Son has set us free we are free indeed!”

Jesus hearers were stuck in their sense of themselves, in the pride they took in their heritage. Perhaps we can admit that we too have sometimes climbed the wrong heights, have mistakenly congratulated ourselves. We need to realise that our true dignity lives in our being a children of God. We pray that we may show our true worth in how we live and call others to a deeper and richer sense of themselves.

Jesus wants to lead us into truth so that we may be free. If we truly desire freedom, we need to be ready to accept the truth. There is nothing threatening or accusatory here-it is about being known fully and loved deeply.

Lord, you told of these temptations to your disciples - how else would they have known? Can I put words on my own temptations, the weaknesses or wickedness that draw me in particular? Can I see my temptations as you did, against the backdrop of the vocation to which you call me and find your promised freedom today. I pray so in Jesus name.  Amen

Daily Devotions

Our second Lenten thought for this week comes from Chuck Colsonn. He became an evangelical Christian in 1973. His mid-life religious conversion sparked a radical life change that led to the founding of his non-profit ministry, the Prison Fellowship and three years later, the Prison Fellowship International. His intention was to  focus on teaching and training around the world. He claimed, “Lent affords us the opportunity to search the depths of our sin and experience the heights of God's love." 

Perhaps the one Psalm that constantly challenges me is Psalm 139 and particularly the words “If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”

This is the unfolding mystery of honestly journeying through Lent, but it can depend on what we call the heights and depths of this path towards Easter. Surely it is the fact that Jesus is the one walks who alongside us whether we are in the deepest darkness or the glorious light of his glory. Let me share another element of this ever present light of Christ, for in 1John 1:5 we read, “This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him.” (the Message)

A young girl once consulted with her minister. "I cannot stick it out any longer. I am the only Christian in the factory where I work. I get nothing but taunts and sneers. It is more than I can stand. I am going to resign." 

"Will you tell me," asked the minister, "where lights are placed?" 

"What has that to do with it?" the young Christian asked him rather bluntly.

"Never mind," the minister replied. "Answer my question: Where are lights placed?"

"I suppose in dark places," she replied. "Yes, and that is why you have been put in that factory where there is such spiritual darkness and where there is no other Christian to shine for the Lord."

The young Christian realised for the first time the opportunity that was hers. She felt she could not fail God by allowing her light to go out. She went back to the factory with renewed determination to let her light shine in that dark corner. Before long, she was the means of leading nine other girls to the Light.

Father in Heaven, You made me Your child and called me to walk in the Light of Christ. Free me from darkness and keep me in the Light of Your Truth. The Light of Jesus that has scattered the darkness of hatred and sin. Called to that Light, I ask for Your guidance. Form my life in Your Truth, my heart in Your Love. Through the fellowship of our Holy presence, give me the power of Your Grace that I may walk in the Light of Jesus and serve Him faithfully. Amen

Daily Devotions

As we continue our journey through Lent, we will now look at different ways  holding the 40 days of reflection. We start with Elizabeth Hyndman, a Christian writer and editor who wrote, “There are three elements that are almost always part of Lent: prayer, giving something up, and giving something back." 

Sadie Sieker, for many years served as a house-parent for the children of mission partners in the Philippines. Sadie loved books. Though she gladly loaned out some books, others she treasured in case under her bed. Once, in the quiet of the night, Sadie heard a faint gnawing sound. After searching all around her room, she discovered that the noise was coming from her beneath the bed in the case. When she opened it, she found nothing but an enormous pile of dust. All the books she had kept to herself had been lost to termites. The moral to this tale seems to say, “What we give away, we keep. What we hoard, we lose.”

The familiar words of Jesus in Mark 8:34–36 come to mind, “He called the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?”

Following Jesus means making choices and choices mean that we leave some possibilities behind even as we pick up new God-directed opportunities. As we deny ourselves this Lent, we ask Jesus to help us not to become regretful or nostalgic but to face the future confidently.

Eternal God, holy and faithful, 

what can we give in return for our life? 

Teach us to take up the cross of Christ 

with grateful hearts and humble spirits, 

offering all for the sake of the gospel, 

so that we may receive life in fullness; 

through Christ, who is coming in glory. Amen

Daily Devotions

It can be said that sometimes a mother's love has to be a tough love.  Deuteronomy 32:18 “You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.”

 It was Helen Rice who penned the poem

A Mother’s love is something
that no one can explain,
It is made of deep devotion
and of sacrifice and pain,

It is endless and unselfish
and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it
or take that love away . . .

Solomon Rosenberg, his wife, his two sons, and his mother and father were arrested and placed in a Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust of WWII. It was a labour camp and the rules were simple: As long as you can do your work, you are permitted to live. When you become too weak to do your work, then you will be exterminated.

Rosenberg watched his mother and father being marched off to their deaths when they became too weak to work. He knew that his youngest son, David, would be next because David had always been a frail child. Every evening when Rosenberg came back into the barracks after his hours of labour, he would search for the faces of his family. When he found them, they would huddle together, embrace one another, and thank God for another day of life.

One day Rosenberg came back, but he didn't see those familiar faces. He finally discovered his oldest son, Joshua, in a corner, huddled, weeping, and praying. He said, "Josh, tell me it's not true." Joshua turned and said, "It is true, Poppa. Today David was not strong enough to do his work, so they came for him."

"But where is your mother?" asked Mr. Rosenberg.

"Oh Poppa," he exclaimed. "When they came for David, he was afraid and he was crying. Momma said, ‘There is nothing to be afraid of, David,' and then she took his hand and went with him."

What was it Paul wrote to the Romans 5:6-8 “While we were still weak, at the right moment, Christ died for ungodly people. It isn’t often that someone will die for a righteous person, though maybe someone might dare to die for a good person. But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”

Lord,

This is love.

Not that you spoke words of comfort,

walked with the unclean and unloved,

shared wisdom, bread and wine,

brought healing into lives

and challenged the status quo.

This is love.

That you spoke the word of God,

walked a painful road to the Cross,

shared living water, bread of life,

brought Salvation to the world

and died for the sake of all.

This is love.

It is a seed

sown in the ground,

which germinates,

blossoms,

and spreads its sweet perfume. Amen

Daily Devotions

The Bible sometimes speaks of God as a Mother Hen. For example Jesus in the gospels says, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34)

A devastating fire broke out in Harrison, Arkansas. Police and firefighters worked to search burning homes to evacuate anyone inside. One of the homes was engulfed in flames on all sides. The firefighters ran into the house to check it. In the upstairs bathroom they found a woman, Katherine Benefiel, 41, heavily burned, arms wrapped around her five year old son, covering him from the flames. Both were rushed to hospital, but the mom succumbed to her burns. The son, while badly burned himself, remained in critical care, but lived.

Katherine Benefiel with her last strength, when it was apparent that there was no way out, used her self as a shield to protect her son.

What wouldn’t a mother do to rescue her children? She would give her very life. Is it any wonder  then why Scripture uses the metaphor of the love of a mother to teach us about God’s love for us? Isn’t that exactly what God did for us in Jesus Christ on the cross? God loved us so much that God would die to save God’s children. God died so that we could have life, eternal life.

So, it goes much further than that. God’s motherly love goes beyond any earthly motherly love. Creation is limited. God is infinite. Thus, the love of a mother is similar, but also infinitely dissimilar to God's all embracing love.

Tender Shepherd, my heavenly Father, thank you for your Son and my Saviour and Lord. Use me to be a blessing to the people where I live and empower me to share your saving grace given through Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen

Daily Devotions

A teacher gave her Key Stage 2 pupils a lesson on the magnet and what it does. The next day in a written test, she included this question: “My full name has six letters. The first one is M, and I pick up things. What am I?” When the school children completed the test, the teacher was astounded to find that almost fifty percent had written "MOTHER."

I recently came across the following description of a Mother. A mother is a curious mixture of patience, kindness, understanding, discipline, industriousness, purity and love. A mother can be at one and the same time, both "lovelorn counsellor" to a heartsick daughter, and "head soccer coach" to an athletic son.

In Isaiah 42:14 we find a definition of God as a woman in labour “For a long time I have held my peace, I have kept myself still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labour, I will gasp and pant.”

God speaks of his own restraint and patience, comparing himself to a woman in labour who has been silent for a long time but is about to cry out in anguish. This imagery of a woman in labour conveys a sense of urgency, longing, and pain. It indicates that God's restraint and silence are not signs of indifference or weakness, but rather a deliberate choice as he prepares to act powerfully and decisively.

Perhaps the essence of God's patient love can be seen in this quote by Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming

“The question is not 'How am I to find God?' but 'How am I to let myself be found by him?' The question is not 'How am I to know God?' but “How am I to let myself be known by God?' And, finally, the question is not 'How am I to love God?' but 'How am I to let myself be loved by God?' God is looking into the distance for me, trying to find me, and longing to bring me home.”

God, of endless love, may I love You in all things and above all things.  May I reach the joy which You have prepared for me in  Heaven.  Nothing is good that is against Your Will,  and all that is good comes from Your Hand.  Place in my heart a desire to please You  and fill my mind with thoughts of Your Love,  so that I may grow in Your Wisdom and enjoy Your Peace. Amen