A Lenten Journey
We have begun the 40 day season of Lent: Ash Wednesday to Holy week.
Emilie Griffin says,
"Lent has been marked out by the church as a time to ask oneself the big questions:
What am I doing with my time? What am I doing with my life? How well am I expressing the imprint of Christ upon my heart? How devoted is my service? How is my life unfolding in terms of my primary goal of living with God forever?”
What questions might you ask of yourself during this season?
Our worship and study during Lent will focus on spiritual surrender. I hope our reflection will help you assess where you are with God and the places in your life you may yet need to surrender to God.
A surrendered life is a powerful life. It is Spirit-directed and Spirit-empowered. Rather than a life that quits in defeat, a life that is surrendered to God, trusts God and often enters places where fear would never permit us before.
Before Jesus began his ministry, he was led by the Spirit into the desert (Chapters 4 of either Matthew or Luke). There he fasted for 40 days. Jesus placed himself in the hands of the Father and opened himself to an experience that God put before him.
At the end of his fast he is famished, weak and vulnerable and is tempted by the Devil to end his fast (turn stone into bread) and to change his allegiance. Instead, Jesus surrendered to God and resists the evil one.
What temptations do you face? In what ways are you tempted to turn away from God and choose self-gratification or to please the powers around you?
Note how Jesus quotes scripture from memory when he was tempted. To live a surrendered life we will need to be scripturally-attentive. We’ll need to be people of prayer to sense where God is leading us. We’ll also need to walk with each other to be encouraged and challenged to be honest.
During this season of Lent, are we willing to place ourselves in God’s hands and practice surrender? Let us enter this together.
Faithfully,
Pastor Leon