Fifth Day of Lent

 Monday, February 22, 2021

Hallelujah!  He is risen!

A Lenten Devotional Guide
anonymous

As a result of this, many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore. Jesus said therefore to the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do you?"
John 6:66-67 NAS

Jesus had been talking about blood sacrifice, a practice not uncommon to the Jew to whom he was speaking. The chief priest sacrificed animals on their behalf for redemption from sin, so blood sacrifice did not seem as foreign to them as it does to us today. However, when he spoke of it so personally, explained to them that he was going to die, talked about himself as the "bread of heaven" and his blood as the atoning blood, they actually cried out, "This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?" (John 6:60)

Many disciples had followed listening to his teaching, but the twelve whom he had specifically called were the ones he was teaching carefully to send out after his death to establish his church, the very church that we love today.

When he saw that many of the greater crowd walked away because his teaching was "too close for comfort," he turned to his little class of twelve learners and asked, "Are you leaving, too?" I think I can almost hear the pain in his voice. He had so little time, and he desperately wanted them to understand what he was saying.

I wonder if he doesn't say that to us today. In this country -- at least in recent years -- we have suffered little. Life has been easy -- perhaps too easy. We have heard much in church and we know a lot about what Jesus has said and about what he expects. But when we really hear Jesus say to love the one who hurts us, to give and not to hoard what he has given us, to study his Word that we might come to know him intimately, do we feel tempted to grumble that this is a "hard teaching?" Do we hear him saying to us, "Do you want to go away also?"

Father, I often take poor care of the wonderful relationship that you have established between us. Forgive me. Even when I must admit with the crowd that your teaching is sometimes difficult, help me not to go away but instead to say, "To whom shall I go? Only you have the words of eternal life." 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

Sunday, February 21, 2021

 Sunday, February 21, 2021

Hallelujah!  He is risen!
A Lenten Devotional Guide

 

Sundays are not counted in the 40 days of Lent.

Worship well today.

 

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

The Fourth Day of Lent

 Saturday, February 20, 2021

Hallelujah!  He is risen!
A Lenten Devotional Guide

By Jack Eldridge

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?... We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ we believe that we shall also live with him. For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died he died to sin, once for all but the life he lives he lives to God So you must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:1-14

Open my eyes, Lord, that I might see
The power of sin that hangs over me.
Jesus, my Savior, please show me the way,
To follow and serve you every day. 

Held tight in Your arms, Lord, I belong.
Your Strength and Power will make me strong.
To fight the battle against Satan's power,
I need you with me every hour. 

I want to be my own person, Lord, do it "my way."
Please show me "Your Way," Lord, I pray.
I need your Spirit as my guide,
Please keep Him ever by my side. 

Open my eyes, Lord, that I may see,
How I was meant to follow Thee.
Give me Your Love, so I might feel,
Its Strength so bold, its Power so real. 

Lord, sin is a very powerful source.
Please don't let it force me from my course
Of following You and accepting Your Love,
That will lead me to You and Heaven above.

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

 

The Third Day of Lent

 Friday, February 19, 2021

Hallelujah!  He is risen!
A Lenten Devotional Guide

By Marge Dilling

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
I Thessalonians 5:18 

In the fall of 2000, Walt and I began our first Disciple studies. Having always been in some kind of a Bible study group, I thought this would be a snap. I was wrong! It was a challenge that changed my life.

Sandra Garner was our teacher. She had one phrase, "Thank you, Jesus," that was heard during our classes. I wouldn't know its impact until several years later. I started early in the morning before sunrise, when I would take a walk and say, "Thank you, Jesus, for my health and enthusiasm to take this walk.” It continued.

·  Thank you, Jesus, when I trip over something in the kitchen but don't fall.

·  Thank you, Jesus, when my intestinal problems seem to be improving.

·  Thank you, Jesus, when our pastor delivers a sermon I need to hear.

·  Thank you, Jesus, when my headache disappears without need of medication.

·  Thank you, Jesus, when, after 3 days of searching, I find my glasses in the freezer!

·  Thank you, Jesus, when I recall mentoring a child in Lakewood. We were helping Fran Graham up a slope on her way to her cabin. One little boy asked if he could help us. Great! We needed help. Later I heard him say to his friends, "We have to help these people; they're old!"

·  Thank you, Jesus, when one of our precious Youth Singers recalls something they have been told a week ago.

·  Thank you, Jesus, when I see the love of grandparents in our congregation who are raising their grandchildren.

·  Thank you, Jesus, for Sandra, and thank you, Sandra, for introducing us to Jesus and making Him an ever-present part of our lives.

·  Thank you, Jesus, for Wallace Nave, for used to say, “Lord, please guide me through this day in all that I think, all that I do, and all that I say."

Thank you, Jesus!

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

The Second Day of Lent

 Thursday, February 18, 2021

Hallelujah!  He is risen!
A Lenten Devotional Guide

Author: Marsha Bader

 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears by voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
The Revelation 3:20 MSG

"Here I am Lord, it is I Lord, I heard you calling in the night." How glorious is that refrain, knowing that Jesus wants to have a relationship with ME! From earliest childhood, one of my favorite pictures is of Jesus knocking on the door of my heart. I answered that knock and opened wide the door so He could enter. For a long time it was a "parlor" relationship with me the hostess and Jesus the guest. But gradually through the years I found that I wanted much more than this. Little by little, I opened up all the rooms in my heart and made Jesus a part of the family.

There is a wonderful book that is a lot like my relationship with Christ. The title is, “My Heart—Christ’s Home,” by Robert Boyd Munger. "The text speaks of the unbelievable good news, that the crucified and risen Lord will be at home in the heart through believing and will be available as Savior and Friend in all situations and conditions." As in most books, the final chapter is the best part. For years I was trying to keep this heart clean and available for Christ, and it was hard work. It wasn't until I let Him take over the deed and ownership of my heart and have the full responsibility of keeping this heart right that the atmosphere changed. From then on I have been His forever. He is the head of the household and I am His servant.

Dearest Lord, to think that you truly desire a relationship with me is almost too much to take in! You want to make my heart your dwelling place. Help me to keep it clean, full of love, and to share it with all who will listen and want to know you. I know that I can’t manage this Christian life without your strength. Thank you for being ever present in my life and making me your own. 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

 

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

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Hallelujah! He is risen!
A Lenten Devotional Guide

Introduction
Written by Patience Fort

Many of my readers knew my mother, Patience Nave. When she was 50 years old, she graduated from Western Kentucky University with her Bachelor’s degree. She went on to earn her Masters in English and then taught in South America, China, and Florida. After serving for eight years on the Citrus County School Board in Homosassa, Florida, she began a short career as Education Coordinator/Minister in two churches: Homosassa First United Methodist Church and Rehobeth United Methodist Church in Greensboro, North Carolina (where, by the way, she celebrated her 80^th birthday).

As a minister in church education, mother did all kinds of things. She went to Haiti I-don’t-know-how-many times. She wrote the curriculum for and directed vacation Bible schools. She discipled many. And she taught countless Bible study classes.

Some of the things that I cherish from Mother’s years at her churches in Florida and North Carolina are the devotional guides she developed for Advent and Lent.  I have about six years of them. And now I am able to reproduce them on my blog for all to read and enjoy. Feel free to share them with others.

I think this particular devotional guide is from the spring of 2011. She was still living in Florida and working at First United Methodist Church of Homosassa. Here is an excerpt from her introduction.

 

When I assumed my new responsibilities at the church, I realized that I had only three weeks to assemble this Lenten devotional booklet. Because you are such a wonderful congregation, the daunting task became much less threatening, and we met our deadline! Lyn Romano did a great job in organizing the volunteers (to write the majority of the daily entries).

 

Faithful disciples at Homosassa United Methodist Church have carefully and prayerfully prepared this Lenten guide.

 

Many people submitted a devotion; some are identified and others remain anonymous. I used almost every one that was given to me. I edited some because of length. I believe you’ll find words from people of serious faith.

 

We pray that our thoughts will challenge and encourage you, as you “set your face toward Jerusalem” and we celebrate the triumph of our Lord!

As you prepare for Easter 2021, my prayer is that this devotional guide will bless you beyond measure. Rejoice in the fact that Jesus Christ is alive. We do not worship a mere man. We worship the God who created life itself and who conquered death, himself.  

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