Devotional Guide “bonus day”

Monday, April 22, 2019

Praise:  Our Response to
God’s Generosity and Grace

“Worthy art thou to take the scroll and to open its seals, for thou wast slain and by thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and that made them a kingdom and priests to our God and they shall reign on earth.” Revelation 5:9-10

I encourage you to go to this passage of Scripture and read for yourselves the entire portion, perhaps beginning in Chapter 4. John, in his vision, has been invited to walk through an open door into the presence of Almighty God. The throne room is beautiful, light flashes and thunder rolls, angels and supernatural creatures are everywhere.  And there in the midst is God on his throne. They are all sad because the scroll with the names of all who have chosen Christ is sealed and no one can open it. Then it is given to the Lamb, who is declared worthy to open the scroll and read.

No Star Wars movie, no Indiana Jones spectacular, not even a C.B. DeMille production of the Ten Commandments can come near the glory of what occurs there! It is spectacular! The Scripture says “millions and millions and thousands and thousands” of voices begin to praise the Lord Jesus for what he has accomplished in bringing men and women to God.

We sing, “Jesus paid it all” with great enthusiasm. Our voices are nothing compared to the great scene that will occur in heaven when the scroll is given to the Lord to open!

Prayer: Father, we praise you that our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Thank you for the Resurrection and the Life. 

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director

Devotional Guide—April 21

Easter Sunday

April 21, 2019
Praise:  Our Response to
God’s Generosity and Grace

“But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” I Corinthians 15:13-14

Do you wonder why we come to church every Sunday, gather to sing, pray, and listen to the pastor teach? Sunday is resurrection day, the day the Lord came from the grave, telling the world that he has overcome death, that we no longer fear, that he has provided eternal peace with God! Thus, Sunday worship!

And that changes our outlook on everything. Oh, we grieve when someone we love goes before us into that eternal realm that we read about but cannot imagine. We miss the person and long to have him/her back. But we know that those who have committed their lives to Christ live on in their resurrected lives!

How do we know? History. Josephus’ Antiquities records that Jesus was alive, seen by many after the crucifixion! And our Bible assures us of resurrection! Paul says if resurrection is not a fact, nothing in our faith means anything!

Yes, Jesus is alive! And one day we will be like him! Scripture tells us, “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it entered into the mind of man, the wonderful things that God has prepared for those that love him!” And some day we will be alive in a way that we cannot even imagine!

Prayer: Father, we praise you for our resurrected Lord! Anngels sang when he was born! Today we sing that we have been born through faith in him.

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director

Devotional Guide—April 20

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Praise:  Our Response to
God’s Generosity and Grace

“And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were split.” Matthew 27:51

This is one of those verses that we may just read right over and miss the awesome truth it holds! In Exodus we read about the holy place where the Lord God dwelt, and how once a year the chief priest went into that place to make an offering for the sin of the nation. A great curtain covered the opening to that place, and no one but the chief priest could enter – on penalty of death!

Matthew tells us that when Jesus died, that curtain to that place was split from top to bottom! Now nothing stops us from freely entering into the dwelling place of God! We no longer have a priest speak on our behalf. We can go to Almighty God ourselves, without fear, for the curtain no longer exists, thanks to the vicarious death of Jesus. Because he died for us, ending the separation that existed between us and God, we have access to the Father without another’s intercession! Jesus was/is our intercessor!

It was such a shattering event that God’s creation, the earth, trembled when it was accomplished! We lie in the bed, or sit in our favorite chair, or in our favorite pew on Sunday and talk to God, without realizing that nothing separates us from him because Christ’s sacrificial death satisfied the requirements for our forgiveness. The curtain between him and us is gone!

Prayer: Father, thank you, thank you that because of Jesus’ tremendous sacrifice, no curtain – nothing – separates us from you! Amen.

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director

Devotional Guide—April 19

Good Friday

April 19, 2019
Praise:  Our Response to
God’s Generosity and Grace

“But when Christ appeared as a high priest…he entered once and for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. Hebrews 9:11a, 12

There is so much about God’s provision and plans that we will probably never understand, and surely this passage is one of those. Long before Christ came in the form of man, God ordained that there would be “no remission of sins without the shedding of blood.” I only understand a little of what that means.

First we have to remember that there are not little sins and big sins. There is just sin. Period. When we sin, the deed is more repulsive than we can imagine. It is a terrible travesty, and someone has to pay for what we have done. So to atone for the sin of man and for the whole nation of Israel, once a year – every year – the priest went into the temple to offer a blood sacrifice, an animal sacrificed as a substitute for the sin of man and nation.

But the preacher in Hebrews reminds us that when Jesus, our great high priest, went in with the blood offering, it was his very own perfect blood. That offering would never have to be made again. It would last for eternity to satisfy our sin debt!

And that’s what Good Friday is all about!

Prayer: Father, we can never adequately thank you for this priceless gift made on our behalf. We praise you for eternal redemption through Christ’s priceless blood. Help us live in a way that shows you how grateful we are. Amen.

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director

Devotional Guide—April 18

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Praise:  Our Response to
God’s Generosity and Grace

“He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:5-6

Years ago, I talked to a professor at Western Kentucky University about Easter. As I tried to explain this and other verses to her, I told her that when Christ was on that cruel cross, it was my sin that drove the nails, my sin that bruised him. I was bad, and Jesus got the beating! She covered her ears with her hands and cried, “No! No! I don’t want to know that!”

Well, whether or not we want to know, it is the truth. We go our own ways, sin without thought, hurt ourselves and others, ignore God, and our loving God lays not that blame on us but on Christ. We do naughty things, and Jesus took the beating!

Through love for the unlovely, Christ bore the brunt of our wrongdoings – our sin – so that by grace we could be spared the horror of that death. How can we ever thank him?!

Prayer: Father, we don’t want to admit that we crucified the Lord. We blame the Romans, the Pharisees, or the mob. But honesty requires us to admit the truth. We sing, “What wondrous love is this… that caused the Lord of bliss to bear that cruel curse for my soul.” We don’t understand, but we praise you that you allowed it, and we sing out, “Grace, grace, marvelous grace! Grace that can pardon and cleanse within!” Amen.

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director

Devotional Guide—April 17

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Praise:  Our Response to
God’s Generosity and Grace

“But God showed us his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

Years ago a prominent man in Bowling Green – I’ll call him “Joe” – called us one night and asked that we come to his house. Joe was an educator and a good fisherman – some said the best in the county – who taught people how and where to fish.

We found our friend in deep distress. His life was a mess and he was threatening something terrible. He had tried to straighten things out, but he just could not. We must have talked for two hours when Wallace said, “Have you been fishing lately.” I looked in shock at my husband. This was certainly no time for a fishing story! Joe immediately began to tell of some extraordinary catches, and Wallace finally interrupted to ask what seemed foolish, “What kind of shape were the fish in? Gutted, cleaned, and ready to eat?”

Joe looked at Wallace in disbelief and explained that he had to clean them. Wallace then said, “Isn’t that what’s wrong here? First God wants to catch you; then he’ll clean you up.” I was stunned! My husband had taken what this man knew best and hit the nail on the head with it. Joe was trying to clean up his own life before he allowed God to land his catch!

Today’s wonderful Scripture makes a fantastic promise to us that in our dirty state, scales and all, God loves us and died for us. Amazing!

Prayer: Father, never can we deserve your love. Thank you. Amen.

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director

Devotional Guide — April 16

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Praise:  Our Response to
God’s Generosity and Grace

“Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his might firmament! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his exceeding greatness…! Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” Psalm 150:1-2, 6

Years ago, I went to an alternative school for students who could not function in an ordinary school setting. Their disruptive behavior prevented serious students from learning, so they had to be removed. The school, designed just for them, had high concrete walls all around so the students could not see out. The main door – a big steel plate – slammed behind us as we entered, and I felt very threatened by the whole atmosphere. The students’ behaviors had cut them off from all that we would call a normal learning environment. It wasn’t pretty!

I wonder if that is not somewhat like it was for us before we came to know of Christ’s atonement for our behavior. Were we not shut away from all that could bring pleasure in a relationship with God, separated by our sin from God and often from each other?

Well, not anymore! Like the Psalmist, we can praise God that we are no longer trapped. God himself has set us free. Easter is a wonderful reminder of what Jesus did for us. Christ lives. And because he lives, we too can live.

Prayer: Holy, holy God, how we praise you! How we thank you for our freedom bought by your son! We long to run through the fields to shout and sing, to laugh and cry in our joy at being free! Thank you, Father. Thank you for Good Friday and Easter. Amen

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director

Devotional Guide—April 15

 Monday, April 15, 2019 

Praise:  Our Response to
God’s Generosity and Grace

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” John 15:11

Isn’t it amazing that Jesus can be just hours away from the worst kind of death man can devise, and yet he talks to his disciples about joy? No hint of complaint. No pity party. He knew that his Father wanted the awful chasm between him and man removed. Though agony awaited him, he could honestly speak of the joy he felt in completing what his Father had sent him to do. Right to the bitter end he was about his Father’s business.

But let’s don’t miss the fact that there are two kinds of joy here. First there was the joy he felt in knowing that they had learned the foundational things they needed to continue the ministry he began. I think about my children and grandchildren, and the wonderful joy I feel inside when they have learned some lesson well. It’s a very tangible feeling. I have great joy in them.

Then there is the joy that he is giving to them, his joy in work well done. They are going to be devastated when the trial begins and the crucifixion occurs, but he says he wants their joy to be full. They will suffer persecution when they begin the church he’s commissioning, but he wants them to be full of joy.

We serve a joyful Christ. He wants joyful followers! Are we?

Prayer: Father, with David we pray, “restore to me the joy of your salvation and renew a right Spirit within me.” Amen

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director

Devotional Guide -- April 13

Saturday, April 13, 2019
Jesus, the Christ

“Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1

Bragging is a most unattractive trait. We are taught as little children never to brag. If we do something great, let someone else tell about it, not us!  If we are given an expensive gift, something very lovely that we are dying to show to others, wait  until someone asks to see. Don’t brag! Uncouth!

But today’s Scripture won’t fit into that category of social behavior. Today we read in Romans that we are justified and that we have peace! If God has given us these gifts, are they not too great to keep to ourselves – especially when they are available to others who may not know that they may have them?

We are justified, Paul says, so if I say that I stand before God justified, that is not bragging. That’s fact. We’re later told in the New Testament that our justification is “not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to his mercy.” So, if God has imputed his righteousness to me through no merit of my own, it’s gratitude, not bragging to recognize this lovely gift.

And if I have peace for the same reason – not through my own efforts but because he wants me to know peace and has given it to me, should I not share that with others?

Prayer: Father, thank you that you have given us the righteousness and justification that Jesus earned for us! Thank you that we know we are at peace with you because he earned that for us! Amen.

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director

Devotional Guide -- April 12

Friday, April 12, 2019
Jesus, the Christ

“I will sing a new song to thee, O God; upon a stringed harp I will play to thee.” Psalm 144.9

“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” Psalm 100:1

I would just love to be able to do what Joy Potts does, to sit at the organ and play wondrous melodies that come out of my own head in praise to God! Sunday after Sunday her music is worship, and I love the expressions on her face as she plays, her body erect and her hands and feet moving so perfectly. She worships and her music encourages me to worship. I will never be able to do what she does, but that is no excuse.

Psalm 100 says, “Make a joyful noise.” That I should be able to do. From Joy, God knows he can expect lovely music. From me, he may be able to expect only noise – but at least joyful noise! My guess is that he is equally glad to receive both, if out of our hearts we are singing a song of joy to him as we have and enjoy fellowship with him. If we are singing gratitude to him that we are his and he is ours, I’m hoping that even my noise sounds like a melody to him.

Perhaps our music isn’t beautiful to others, but God desires to hear our words and sounds bubbling up in thanksgiving for who he is and what he has done. Perhaps I should not complain that Joy’s music is lovely; mine is noise.

Prayer: Father, we want our songs to bring joy to you. Thank you for accepting both our melodies and our noise as we sing from our hearts. Amen.

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director

Devotional Guide -- April 11

Thursday, April 11, 2019
Jesus, the Christ

“O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor. . .? For from him and through him, and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” Romans 11:33-34, 36

Isn’t it sad that we know how to sing the praises of Roger Staubach’s feats, or Mike Hampton’s pitching, or Dale Earnhardt’s driving, or Tiger Woods’ incredible drives, or Michael Phelps’ extraordinary ability in the water, but we find our tongues tied when we try to just praise God. Oh, we do pretty well with thanking him, but praising him is usually not the kind of prayer that makes us comfortable. Well, Paul had a great ability to praise God, and we can surely learn from him.

Jesus is not only our Savior, but it was “from him and through him and to him” that all things exist! Through his incredible imagination trees are dozens of different shades of green, and no two species of trees have leaves that are alike. Through his understanding of the need of his creation, he made other creatures of the same kind to fellowship together. Through his realization of the wonder of taste buds, he planned many different foods to satisfy those taste desires. The list could go on and on until with Paul we would cry out, “O, the marvel of the mind of God!” We might even yet learn to praise him.

Prayer: Father, we do praise you with faltering lips. We praise you for skies so blue, for sun so warm, for wind so soothing, for rain so refreshing. We praise you for hearing us when we can’t speak, and for listening when we fumble. Father, we praise you that you are God and we are yours! Amen.

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director

Devotional Guide -- April 10

Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Jesus, the Christ

“Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 25

If I were a pastor, these are the words with which I would close every service. I would say them over and over until all the ones in my charge had them buried in their minds and hearts forever!

Don’t we all constantly make mistakes? Yet, Jesus not only keeps us from falling but will joyfully present us to God without blemish! Imagine! We try and try to do what is right, but we mess up, confess and are forgiven; then Jesus cleans us up so well that we stand before God as he is, without blemish. Those are the words that are used to describe the lambs that are perfect enough to be used for a sacrifice. Those are the words that are used to describe Jesus, who went to the cross as our perfect lamb. Yet those are the same words that are used to describe how we will stand before God, and all because of Good Friday and Easter.

He presents us with rejoicing – both his and ours! His rejoicing that he can bring us and our rejoicing that he has done all necessary to bring us!

Prayer: Father, all glory and honor and praise to you for this incredible thing you have done, bringing us to you through the perfect work of your perfect Son. Amen.

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director

Devotional Guide -- April 9

Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Jesus, the Christ

“In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’” Jeremiah 23:6

Today when someone tries to explain something beyond words, they often say, “I just can’t get my arms around that.” I don’t like trite, overused sayings, but this one is appropriate for this verse. The knowledge that when we stand before Almighty God, we will have imputed – freely given – to us the righteousness of our perfect Lord, Jesus Christ, is simply more than my mind can comprehend. And you know what? That is not fair.

We complain that we don’t get what is fair. Well, in this case, it is not we but Christ who receives the unfair treatment. He is the one who earned the right to stand perfect before his Father. He is the one who never sinned. He is the one who was absolutely obedient, even unto the death of that cruel cross. He is the one who deserves to stand there in perfection, the only perfect one.

We should never be able to stand there like that. We are not perfect, seldom obedient, often deliberately sinful, yet we get to stand before God in Jesus’ righteousness. That’s just not fair! But thanks be to God, it is true! It’s called GRACE!

Prayer: Father, there are just no words to tell you how grateful we are for the truth of Jeremiah 23:6, written prophetically long before the birth, death, and resurrection of our Lord! Though we don’t understand, we thank you for your grace, we thank you for your perfect redemption, we praise you for what we cannot do that you have done for us. Amen.

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director

Devotional Guide -- April 8

Monday, April 8, 2019
Jesus, the Christ

“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:14-15

I was once in the home of a man in eastern North Carolina who had a most impressive study, beautifully paneled with every piece of furniture carefully selected for that room. It was a room designed especially for this man’s comfort.

One entire wall was filled with carefully placed pictures: Roosevelt, Churchill, Rockefeller (probably several of them), Eisenhower, Truman. And not just presidents and heads of state. Governors of several states, senators, congressmen. Country music stars, Hollywood starts. Each picture showed my new acquaintance as he smiled for the photographer next to the “dignitary of the day!” He had really been around, and he proudly showed us all the famous people he called “friend.” Had they met him on the street, they probably could not have called his name.

Not so with Jesus! We are not his servants but his friends! We don’t have his picture in our study; we have him with us constantly. We did not designate him our friend; he designated us his friend, his very own friends, whom he knows by name. We wouldn’t trade him for a whole wall of dignitaries’ pictures!

Prayer: Father, we love knowing we are your friends, that we don’t have to hang your picture on the wall to impress ourselves and others. Thank you for letting us be your friends. Amen.

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director

Devotional Guide -- April 6

Saturday, April 6, 2019
Jesus, the Christ

“For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise thee, for thou are fearful and wonderful. Wonderful are thy works. Thou knowest me right well; my frame was not hidden from thee, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth. Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance; in thy book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm 139:13-16

I understand that the astronauts can determine as they pass over an open field whether or not a person standing in that field is a man or a woman. How can that be possible when, as we look up, we can barely, if at all, pick a spaceship out of the starlit sky? We cannot see them, but they can see us well enough to know our sex!

That’s pretty amazing, but it pales into insignificance when we compare it to God’s knowledge of us. We cannot imagine ourselves en utero, but with no ultra-sound, God saw us in our mother’s wombs! With no calendar to mark the date of our birth, he calculated the extended time of our lives! Omnipresent, he is with me and knows what I am doing right now. Omniscient, he knows why I am doing it. God’s knowledge of us is not just what sex we are, but according to David, God knows us “right well.”

Next time we feel that nobody understands us, we’d do well to remember that the God of the universe knows us intimately.

Prayer: Father, we have such a difficult time remembering a few friends. Thank you that you know us well! Amen

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director

Devotional Guide -- April 5

Friday, April 5, 2019
Jesus, the Christ

“Come to him to that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious; and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” I Peter 2:4-5

Christianity in America is often extremely easy. We come to church on Sunday – or some Sundays. We’re busy during the week, and probably don’t have a lot of time for other worship. We try to be pretty good people, not doing harm, giving food to the food pantry, and not turning the air blue with our language when someone encroaches on our space on US 19. But does that meet the standards of the verse above?

We will soon enjoy our new facility, built with the best materials by competent builders and overseen by the watchful eye of Dave Marquis and all his building committee. We’ll enjoy that “spiritual house” for years to come.

But Jesus Christ is a different kind of stone – a precious, rejected, living stone, the model of the stone we are to be to fit a different kind of edifice – the one Christ is building. We are grateful for and proud of our new building. But are we becoming the living stones that Peter talks about so that Christ can make of us the living church that he planned?

Prayer: Father, make of us the living stones you need to construct a living tabernacle, a spiritual house in which your Spirit may dwell. Amen.

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director

Devotional Guide -- April 4

Thursday, April 4, 2019
Jesus, the Christ

“Jesus said [to Thomas], ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” John 14:6

I drove to Kentucky during the Christmas holidays, and coming home, I stopped to visit friends. They live close to I-75, and getting back to the highway should have been easy. It was not. I hate being lost, and I was lost. Several people tried to help me, but they suggested first this way and then that. Good advice perhaps but not the way that I needed to find!

Driving along I was grateful for the verse above! Jesus does not say that he is a way. He says he is the way. We do not have to go wandering down some foreign spiritual road, hoping that we are traveling the right way. If Jesus is not the center of that spiritual road, no matter how good and inviting it may sound, it is not the way.

If he is not the focus of the teaching of a spiritual group, the group may be good, but it is not the church that Jesus said he would build on Peter’s statement of faith (Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God). If any spiritual group does not recognize him as the source of their life, the group is not the life that Jesus promises in John 14.

If we have a poor sense of spiritual direction, it is very easy to get lost, to get off on the wrong spiritual highway and have difficulty getting back. That’s where God’s Word comes to help!

Prayer: Father, thank you that we can follow your Son and your Word – that we can know the right road home to you! Amen.

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director

Devotional Guide -- April 3

Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Jesus, the Christ

“Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1

Bragging is a most unattractive trait. We are taught as little children never to brag. If we do something great, let someone else tell about it! If we are given an expensive gift, something very lovely that we are dying to show others, wait until someone asks to see. Don’t brag! Uncouth!

But today’s Scripture won’t fit into that childhood training. Today we read in Romans that we are justified and that we have peace! If God has given us these gifts, are they not too great to keep to ourselves – especially when others may not know that they’re available?

So if I say that I stand before God justified, that is not bragging. That’s fact. We’re later told in the New Testament that our justification is “not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to his mercy.” So, if God has imputed his righteousness to me through no merit of my own, it is not bragging to recognize this lovely gift.

And if I have peace for the same reason – not through my own efforts but because he wants me to know peace and has given it to me, should I not share that with others?

Prayer: Father, Thank you that you have given us the righteousness and justification that Jesus earned for us! Thank you that we know we are at peace with you because he earned that for us! Amen.

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director

Devotional Guide -- April 2

Tuesday, April 2, 2019
Jesus, the Christ

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” John 8:12

As some of you know, I sold my home in August, the home we built and in which I had lived for 20 years. I could walk around in that house in the dark, knowing exactly where every turn was, where every piece of furniture was, and any obstacle. Then I bought another, and I had to learn so many things!

Not only could I not navigate as easily in the dark, I often could not remember on which side of the wall the light switches were located. And I had no idea what several light switches were for! I flipped them, and nothing happened. It’s been six months, and I still have a couple that seem to have no reason for existence. So I flip them and no light appears. I still sometimes stumble around in darkness.

I often think of the verse above when I am trying to get some light in the darkness at night. It’s a terrible feeling not to be able to find light.

As Christians we don’t have to worry about that. We flip the light switch of our faith, and there is Jesus to give us light for our walk, to take us out of the spiritual darkness. His life-giving light removes our anxiety in the darkness and illumines our walk as we trust him.

Prayer: Father, we thank you that Jesus is the light of our own personal world, keeping us from walking in spiritual darkness. Amen.

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director