Wednesday, February 17, 2021

Ash Wednesday, The First Day of Lent

 Wednesday, February 17, 2021

Hallelujah!  He is risen!

A Lenten Devotional Guide

Author: anonymous

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God – to those who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28 NAS

Our marriage was good and our children brought us a lot of joy. We did fun things together as a family: camping, swimming and skiing in the beautiful northeastern United States. We worked hard and were by most standards a good family that most people would want to have for neighbors.

All our lives we have been in the church. We sang in the choir and loved the church music. We listened to the pastor and tried to live in the way we thought we should. The natural thing was to take our children with us to church and so we faithfully did that. I worked when I was asked to do something and didn’t even complain much when I was asked to do more than I thought was my share! I believe that you would not have found much to criticize if you had known us back then. We were pretty decent. We thought that was enough!

But then something happened. I am not sure I could have told you then what it was but I know that everything began to look different. I seemed to hear God speaking to me in the sermons. I heard a clearer and more personal message to me in the music that I’d known and loved for so long.

When I look back, I realize that my faith in Jesus moved from my head to my heart and I have never been the same. All along, God had been “working together for good” the things in our lives, doing what He knew had to be done to bring us to Himself and to help me understand Him. Now Easter brings tears to my eyes as I realize what Jesus had to do to make things right between God and me. And at the same time Easter makes me want to shout for joy as I know that because He died I will not!

Father, thank you for coming, for living, for dying, and for rising again so that life for me could be filled with such abundance. Amen

Hallelujah! He is Risen!
prepared for First United Methodist Church of Homosassa, Florida
Spring 2011
compiled by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator
reproduced by Patience Fort

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