This is the last week of lent. How was the Lord's prayer this past week?
Each
day this week we'll focus on a Beatitude...walking us to the Passion
week. I also wanted to add something to our times with the Lord this
week. I don't know about you, but spring has totally come up and
arrived. With the adjustment to daylight savings under our belt (was it
hard for you as well to loose that hour?! man!) our evenings are
lighter and just inviting an after dinner walk. This is a perfect time
to also experience the Lord as you are walking. Take in the shades of
the scenery around you - in the light of the sunset. It's by far the
best lighting of the day. Take pictures on your walk-either mental, or
photographed, or if your draw-take a moment to sketch a moment of your
walk - slow down and enter into this last week of Lent. Take your walk
time to go through the beatitude of the day. Talk through it with your
kids as you walk...take the time to memorize it.
Begin
each day before your feet even hit the floor and end each day before
your light turns off with the Lord's prayer. Just slowly pray it and
allow it to begin and end your day. Journal about your time in the
beatitude.
Blessings to you as you walk with Jesus
this week. May the peace and grace of our Lord and Savior be with you
as you journey with him.
Here is a map for the week-this is only a suggestion. You can spend the time in the Beatitudes however you want.
Monday: verse 3-4
Tuesday: verse 5-6
Wednesday: verse 7-8
Thursday: verse 9-10
Friday: verse 11
Saturday-3-7
Sunday: 8-11
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.
The Beatitudes
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely
say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be
glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they
persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Monday, March 4, 2013
Lent day 20-24
We are half way through the Lenten season
today. In just 20 more days we will walk a road with Jesus that is
full of triumph and then the weight of defeat, despair,
humiliation...then victory and freedom!
This week let's begin to journey to the cross with Christ. This journey begins with a passage back from the Old Testament that is a foreshadowing of Easter through Abraham and Issac. Here is the passage. Read this passage for the next few days. Enter into the passage-who are you in the scene? Is it hard for you to be in the scene? What emotions come up for you as you read and re-read the passage each day? Are you angry? Scared? Anxious? Anticipatory? Relieved? Rejoicing?...Take each emotion that comes up in you as you read the passage each day and go to God with it. Talk to him about it and journal your responses, your reactions and prayers.
Then close the day by reading this Psalm. It's a hard Psalm to read and pray about, trust me-I've often avoided it! But as you read Genesis 22, begin to see how this is just a picture of what the next 20 days will be in the life of our Savior-and what God sent his son to do on our behalf...I honestly am left stunned...amazing...humbled...I can feel my defenses coming down...walls being removed...a desire to go to my Lord-my Lord who bore the weight of my sin and conquered it and to trust him to search my heart. When I think about that-then this Psalm doesn't feel so daunting, it's an invitation to trust...surrender...obey.
Genesis 22:1-14
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven,
“Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” — Genesis 22:1-14 (NIV)
Closing Psalm of each day:
Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting
Psalm 139:23-24
Peace to you, dear ones.
This week let's begin to journey to the cross with Christ. This journey begins with a passage back from the Old Testament that is a foreshadowing of Easter through Abraham and Issac. Here is the passage. Read this passage for the next few days. Enter into the passage-who are you in the scene? Is it hard for you to be in the scene? What emotions come up for you as you read and re-read the passage each day? Are you angry? Scared? Anxious? Anticipatory? Relieved? Rejoicing?...Take each emotion that comes up in you as you read the passage each day and go to God with it. Talk to him about it and journal your responses, your reactions and prayers.
Then close the day by reading this Psalm. It's a hard Psalm to read and pray about, trust me-I've often avoided it! But as you read Genesis 22, begin to see how this is just a picture of what the next 20 days will be in the life of our Savior-and what God sent his son to do on our behalf...I honestly am left stunned...amazing...humbled...I can feel my defenses coming down...walls being removed...a desire to go to my Lord-my Lord who bore the weight of my sin and conquered it and to trust him to search my heart. When I think about that-then this Psalm doesn't feel so daunting, it's an invitation to trust...surrender...obey.
Genesis 22:1-14
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven,
“Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” — Genesis 22:1-14 (NIV)
Closing Psalm of each day:
Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting
Psalm 139:23-24
Peace to you, dear ones.
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