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Lent: Preparing Our Hearts

2/22/2023

Wednesday’s Word
By Dorette Saunders

While many “give up” certain foods or abstain from certain behaviors during Lent, the season (February 22- April 8, 2023) gives us an opportunity to look more closely at Jesus and his life-giving sacrifice. By doing so, we are better positioned to look at ourselves, repent of our sins, and fast and pray.

At Christmas, a children’s hymn asks what one can give the baby Jesus. After finding several gifts out of reach, the following reply comes back, “Give him my heart.” The same is true at Lent. Jesus, the Savior of the world, wants our heart. And, it is a worthy gift if our hearts have been prepared by the Savior himself.

The psalmist, David, realizing that he has sinned, begs God for a “clean” heart.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10, KJV).

We all need a clean heart. We cannot fix ourselves because our cleansing comes only from God. And, we are only acceptable to God when we acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and we can only approach God through Jesus Christ.

Try to focus on the Scriptures during Lent more than the idea of abstention or taking on projects or new behaviors. Allow the Spirit of God to remind you that Jesus is the suffering servant, your sustainer, satisfier, and Savior.

As you pray and/or fast, ask God to replace selfishness with generosity, worldly desires with self-discipline, and personal pride with a hunger for God’s righteousness.

Do your part as you endeavor to walk in Jesus’ footsteps. Seek out and feed those for whom nothing has been prepared. Care for the least of Jesus’ brothers and sisters, who are our brethren, too (Matthew 25:40). Bind up the wounds of those who are ill or brokenhearted. Visit those imprisoned with metal bars, or mental bars. Love with a heart prepared for service.

We journey with Jesus during these long Lenten days, vicariously experiencing his pain and rejection, and wrestle with understanding how Jesus’ heart is big enough to embrace each of us despite our many sins and shortcomings. There are no pat answers. But we know from Scripture that Jesus loves us—all of us—more than we realize. By celebrating Lent, we recognize and honor Jesus Christ’s love and redemptive sacrifice on the cross of Calvary.

Lent is a period of looking at Jesus, and then at ourselves. It’s a time for accepting Jesus’ love, and loving those whom he loves…and it all begins with having a clean heart.

PRAYER: Heart-cleansing God, give each of us a clean heart that we may worship and serve you, and your people. We are forever grateful for your love and sacrifice on Calvary’s cross. Help us to use these days to love you more dearly, and to follow after you more closely. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

©M©dytations 2023

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God's Love Builds a Bridge

2/15/2023

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Wednesday’s Word
By Dorette Saunders

Today is Valentine’s Day. It’s almost midway in the U.S. tax filing season, and a week before the start of Lent. Strangely enough, but those little reminders seem to pose a number of questions. Our answers may require check marks in a real or figurative box.

She loves me? He loves me not? Am I married filing single? Am I divorced but head of household? What do I give up for Lent? What do I do after Lent is over?

All these questions, and others like them, can make us feel fragmented, as if our lives are compartmentalized. But don’t let them. If there is one box God wants you to check, it’s this one. And, surprise…! He’s already checked it off for you. Which one is it? It’s a box with the word “LOVED!” checked off in bright red.

Whether today finds you reminiscing former intimate times, or basking in the light of a forever love, or bitter because your life or love didn’t turn out the way you planned it, or sad because there’s a gaping hole in your dreams, take a long look at the box God checked off…LOVED!

You are loved! Let the words marinate in your mind. God loves you like crazy. Of the billions of people in the world, he chose to love you. God knows that his love builds a bridge to all that you seek. And love starts with God. God is love. No one has ever loved you like this, and no one ever will. Not today. Not ever.

Think about it. God says you are the apple of his eye (Zechariah 2:8). Like a young man in love, God has written your name on the palm of his hand (Isaiah 49:16). He takes delight in you and sings over you (Zephaniah 3:17). God further demonstrated his great love for you by sending his only Son, Jesus, to die for your sins (Romans 5:8). There is no greater love! And nothing can separate you from the love of God which is found in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39).

So seize the day! Share God’s love with those around you. God’s love is the bridge that will carry you safely across to accomplish all that God wants you to do.

Banish anger. Deflect regret. Forgive what seems unforgiveable (this includes forgiving yourself!) Serve cheerfully. Love with abandon. Cross the bridge to all the things you hope and dream about. God’s love is the span. It can carry more than the weight of the burdens that you need to cast off.

God’s love builds a bridge…and in his faithfulness, he tenderly carries each one of us across it. Look once more at the box God has checked off and say these words out loud, “I am loved! Yes, I am loved by God!”

PRAYER: Ever-loving God, I am forever amazed that you chose to love me. Thank you that your amazing grace reaches even me. Help me, as I luxuriate in this overflow of undeserved love, to share the love I have received from you with those around me. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

©M©dytations 2023

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Love Letters

2/8/2023

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Wednesday’s Word
by Dorette Saunders

Do you remember when people used to write letters? Love letters? If the truth be told, there is something about pouring out your heart on paper for someone else to read. If you have your own stash of such letters hidden in your basement or at your parents’ house, you’ll understand how absolutely priceless this is.

Perhaps you’ll say that you don’t subscribe to love letters—but if you think carefully about it, you do. Do you realize that the Bible is God’s love letter to us? Book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. While some may classify the Bible as a rule book, we can equally view it as a love letter from God to guide us over treacherous paths while we live in this world. It’s precisely because God loves us that he doesn’t want us to make missteps.

Think about your love relationships. You navigate each one knowing what the other person likes and expects through conversations and spending quality time with them. The same is true for God. God has recorded his conversations for us in the Bible, telling us what he likes and what he expects from us.

God expects us to have conversations with him and to spend quality time in his presence. In turn, he tells us on every page of his Word just how much he loves us. God also shows us what we must avoid if we are to live a life of victory.

But that’s not all. When we, with rebellious hearts, refuse to believe him, God sent Jesus to tell us of his love for us. God sent Jesus to remind us, to prove it, by writing the letter with his own blood!

Here are some lines taken from the love letters:

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.”
                                                 (Jeremiah 31:3, NIV)

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
                                                (John 3:16, 17, NIV)

“God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
                                               (Romans 5:8, NIV)

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”
                                              (John 15:11, NIV)

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
                                              (1 John 3:16-18, NIV)

Are you willing to read more of the letters? First, pray and ask God to unlock more of his loving words to you so that you may know without a doubt that God loves you, and that his letters were written with you in mind.

Remember, God shares his heart in the Bible by giving you his most precious possession—his Son. How will you respond?

PRAYER: Loving God, write your letter on the door of our hearts. Seal it with your gracious love. Help us to honor and worship you in loving obedience. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

                                                                                   ©M©dytations 2023

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Heart Matters

2/1/2023

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Wednesday’s Word
by Dorette Saunders

The month of February is often seen as a time when diehard romantics celebrate “love” — on the 14th day—Valentine’s Day. This is when chocolates, teddy bears, red hearts, expensive meals, and wedding proposals accompany hugs and kisses and other signs of loving affection.

And, there is nothing wrong with such fancy display of love. Indeed, love is to be celebrated. Yet, in the midst of such joyous celebration, there are many who do not have such attention directed toward them and dread the day.

Perhaps this year we can view it differently. How? By examining what truly matters. Over and over the Bible gives us guidelines on how we are to love. The apostle Paul tells us:

“Be sincere in your love for others. Hate everything that is evil and hold tight to everything that is good. Love each other as brothers and sisters and honor others more than you do yourself. Never give up. Eagerly follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord” (Romans 12:9-11, CEV).

We cannot truly love unless we learn how to love from God. If we “eagerly follow the Holy Spirit,” there is no doubt that he will change the posture of our hearts, and allow us to truly love as God loves.

This love that God gives us encompasses the whole spectrum—from learning how to love strangers and family to offering sacrificial love to our spouses.

Yet, love makes us vulnerable. And true love requires that we hold nothing back as we demonstrate our willingness to put something or someone else above ourselves.

Here is what the Scriptures declare:

“…The Lord our God is the only true God! So love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, CEV).

Jesus reiterates it, saying:

“‘You must love him [God] with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.’ The second most important commandment says: ‘Love others as much as you love yourself.’ No other commandment is more important than these” (Mark 12:30,31, CEV).

When we celebrate love, we cannot leave God out of the equation. Love starts with God because God himself is love (1 John 4:16).

This year Lent begins on February 22. It gives us an opportunity to pause and look at the heart of Jesus and his sacrificial love for us. His was a love that would not let us go. Jesus’ love was not for a day, but for eternity. It was a love that surpassed human understanding. None of us deserved it, yet our Lord freely gave us his love—all of it.

Let’s take time to examine our own hearts, it’s a matter of life and love.

PRAYER: Loving God, our attempts at love pale in comparison to your great love for us. Teach us to love not only those who delight our hearts, but also those who are often considered the “least of these.” In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

©M©dytations 2023

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Lent: Preparing Our Hearts

God's Love Builds a Bridge

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