Fortieth Day of Lent

Saturday, April 3, 2021

Hallelujah!  He is risen!

A Lenten Devotional Guide

By Rayna Carlsen 

“When we get to Jerusalem,” he said, “the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die. Then they will hand him over to the Romans to be mocked, whipped, and crucified….”

Matthew 20:18-19

Unbelievable. At least four times God has recorded for us these words of Jesus. He knew what was coming. The betrayal, degradation, excruciating torture and agony of crucifixion. Not to mention the awful knowledge that He would be rejected by his Father when He took on our sins.

He knew all the time. Before He entered Jerusalem, Jesus tried to explain to his disciples what would happen. Even though they did not fully understand, Jesus knew. And he went anyway.

How many times in our own lives are we paralyzed by fear when we know something unpleasant is coming? Or how often do we avoid difficulty, making up excuses to change plans or looking for other roads to take so we don’t have to endure our own painful situations? We also tend to “pre”-live upcoming problems in our minds, not to prepare ourselves for it but building our apprehensions and devising potential methods of escape. Jesus knew what was coming – every  detail – and chose not to avoid it.

Jesus was God in human flesh. At any point He could have made a miraculous escape. When they spit in his face, He could have stopped it. When they ripped open his flesh with whips, He could have walked away unscathed. When they drove nails into his hands and feet, He could have freed himself, unharmed. He made the choice to stay and die.

What have we chosen to deny ourselves to show love for another – to show our love for Him?

Gracious Heavenly Father, thank you seems such an inadequate way to express our wonder at the expression of Your love through Your Son. Guide our hearts and minds to see and understand how You want us to love. Put your love in our hearts and change our selfish ways that others may see You and give You the glory. In the name of Him who chose to love us. Amen

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

Thirty-second day of Lent

 

Thursday, March 25, 2021

Hallelujah!  He is risen!

A Lenten Devotional Guide

By Rayna Carlsen 

Then Jesus shouted out again and he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

Matthew 27:30-31

Why was the tearing of the Temple curtain so important that God took care to record it for us in His word? 

The curtain is described in detail in Exodus 26:31-33. Specifically it says, “This curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place [the place where God dwells].” Man could approach in a specific way, at specified times, through a specific people.

We tend to have an Old Testament way of thinking today. We want to approach God by a specific set of rules in a place only a chosen few can enter. But when Jesus died on the cross, that curtain God had established to separate the “common man” from His presence was torn from top to bottom. The doorway to God was opened – to all of us!

I picture the hands of God tearing that magnificent curtain in half, delighted to open direct access to Himself for us. As Hebrews records, “we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. This is the new life-giving way that Christ has opened up for us through the sacred curtain, by mans of his death for us.”

God desires us to come to Him. Directly. He wants us to be in His presence, communing with Him whenever and wherever possible. What an honor! As a father loves having his children come to him to talk about their day and share their joys, sorrows, expectations and to look for advice, our Heavenly Father desires our personal contact with Him.

Dear loving Father, give me a better understanding of this marvelous privilege to be able to come directly into your presence because of Jesus. Give me the boldness to come directly to you with a trusting heart. Amen

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