Lenten Devotional March 31 "God is With You"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.  When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.  “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”
The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”  “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed. (John 4:45-50)

CONSIDER. . . Signs provide an opening to faith, but signs in themselves do not guarantee faith dependent on them.  Jesus healed many people and performed powerful works, yet many still did not believe in him.  This scripture tells us that Jesus performed another sign and the royal official not only rejoiced in the miracle of his son's healing but also came to see beyond the miracle itself.  When a miracle is fully understood as a sign, it points to who Jesus truly is--the giver of life--and Jesus points to who God is.  This is the grounds for our faith. 

SO WHAT. . . Every Sunday I ask the congregation, "where have you seen God at work in your life, how have you been blessed by God this week". Many times, we have a difficult time identifying those "signs", identifying where God is at work, identifying where God's hand has made a difference. We don't recognize God at work because we overlook the presence of Christ in our daily lives. Good and wonderful things happen in our lives every day, even on the worst of days; we just don't attribute them to God. We have to be able to see beyond the sign and recognize the presence of  Christ in the situation. However, instead of asking for a sign, ask for the grace to know the presence of God in our ordinary human experiences.

• Where do you see God's hand in your daily life?
• How can you open your eyes to the answered needs in your life?
• Can you be more aware of the presence of Christ in every situation?

During this Lenten season may you remember that even in the most difficult of situations, every day, God is with you and all will be well, no matter the outcome.

PRAYER. . . Dear God, reveal to me your loving presence on this day and the days to come. Give me eyes to see and heart open to your amazing grace.  May you increase my faith and help me to place my life into your care. Amen.

You are always invited to comment on this post or any of the previous ones.

March 30 Lenten Devotional "Have Mercy On Me, a Sinner"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’" (Luke 18:11-13)

CONSIDER. . . I love to watch football. One of the things that seems to be on the increase on the football field is what happens when a player scores.  Many times after the touchdown is scored, the player drops to his knees, crosses himself and points skyward.  A wonderful gesture, if they are sincere in their praise. . .but I sometimes have my doubts.  Now, I don't know for sure, and have no way of knowing for sure, who is sincere and who is not. I'm just always a little uncomfortable with this grandiose display of prayer.

This parable speaks of both the posture and prayer of a Pharisee and of a tax collector.  the Pharisee separates himself from others in order to remain pure.  His prayer is all about himself and how righteous he is. He is aware of the tax collector in the temple and regards him and others like him with contempt.  He begins to become absorbed and impressed with his own virtue and asks nothing of God. The tax collector on the other hand, stands off to the side, feeling unworthy, trying not to be seen, and acknowledges his unworthiness before God.  He beats his breast and asks for mercy.

SO WHAT. . . This parable is not only about the proper posture for prayer but also speaks of the way the Pharisee regarded the tax collector.  The Pharisee totally disregards him. The Pharisee has lots of religious virtue and piety, but only judgment for his neighbor, the tax collector.

We hear the truth again--only those who show MERCY and FORGIVENESS to others will receive MERCY and FORGIVENESS.

• What areas in your life are in need of God's mercy and forgiveness?
• Do you struggle to show others mercy and forgiveness?

During this Lenten season is God calling you to be honest about how you share mercy and forgiveness. . .

PRAYER. . . Dear God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Bless me with the virtue of humility and give me a heart full of mercy, especially to those I find difficult to love. Amen

You are always invited to comment on this post or any of the previous ones.

March 29 Lenten Devotional "Spiritually Blind"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . .(If you are not familiar with the story of the Blind Beggar, you can read John 9:1-41. I have included an excerpt)  As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.   As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.  While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.  “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?”  Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.” (John 9:1-9)

CONSIDER. . . The story of the blind beggar gradually moving from blindness to sight and then sight to insight reminds us that conversion, too, is a process.  Jesus restores the man's physical sight, but that is just the beginning.  After Jesus heals him, he is asked what he has to say about Jesus. He begins by calling him a "man" who did a great deed for him.  Later, when asked again, he calls him "prophet" and then he finally professes Jesus as the "Son of God".

SO WHAT. . . Jesus, the light of the world, moves this man from blindness to sight and then more importantly, from sight to insight.

Lent is a good opportunity to reflect on your relationship with God and to have your eyes opened.

• Are you growing in your knowledge of and closeness to God?
• Are you living the Gospel more deeply?
• Are you moving and growing in your spiritual life?

If you are not moving forward, maybe you are stuck. Maybe it's time to get back to church if you haven't been there in awhile.  Or maybe it's time to find a church.  Or maybe. . .if you are going to church, you should join a study or a small group, somewhere that you can go deeper than just a sermon on Sunday.  This is the season to move forward and grow closer but you have to be ready to move.

PRAYER. . . Jesus, you are the light of the world. Shed your light on this day and my life that I might know you more deeply. Help me to see where I can grow closer to you and that I can grow in my spiritual life. Amen.

You are always invited to comment on this post or any of the previous ones.

March 28 Lenten Devotional "Walk on Two Legs"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . . One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.

CONSIDER. . . .Catherine of Siena wanted to live a contemplative life devoted to prayer, but she heard God calling her to an apostolic life. She resisted this call because she worried that her intimacy with God would diminish if she reached out to her neighbor. As God spoke to her heart, she came to understand that her care for others would be an avenue for a greater expressions of her love for him.

How could she walk with only the "one leg" of love for God if she also didn't walk with the "second leg" of love for God's people? She could not truly love the unseen God without giving herself in service to her brothers and sisters in need. Catherine traveled the streets of Siena alone, ministering to the sick and poor whom no one else would touch.

SO WHAT. . . This scripture calls us to walk on "two legs"--love of God and love of neighbor. The commitment to help our poorest sisters and brothers IS NOT AN OPTION, but an expression of our love of God. Lent is a time that invites us to turn away from sin and turn toward God with a singe-hearted devotion. But it's more than that. . . it's also a turning toward our neighbor with generous hearts and an empathetic spirit.

• Are you "crippled" in your spiritual life by walking only on "one leg"?
• Are you reluctant to walk on "two legs" because you refuse to see the need around you?
• How might you do a random act of kindness today as an expression of your love for God?

PRAYER. . . Loving God, help me to imitate the way of St. Catherine of Siena, walking as a disciple on "two legs" with a heart for you and a generous love for my neighbor. Lead me to see the needs around me and stand on my "two legs" and offer myself as Jesus would. Amen

You are always invited to comment on this post or any of the previous ones.

March 27 Lenten Devotional "How Many Times to Forgive?"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . . Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”  Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." (Matthew 18:21-23)

CONSIDER. . . .In 2006, in rural Pennsylvania, a man barricaded himself in an Amish Schoolhouse and shot and killed 5 young girls and then himself. Less than 48 hours later, the grandfather of one of the slain girls urged the community to forgive the killer. The community itself embraced the widow of the killer including sharing monetary donations with her.  This story of the Amish response to such a horrific act is a sign of God's amazing grace at work within a community; healing broken relationship, effecting harmony, creating peace and restoring wholeness.

Peter's idea to forgive seven times sounds incredibly generous until Jesus responds. Jesus goes far beyond solely increasing the number of times to forgive. Jesus' response is about the nature of forgiveness--deep and radical Gospel living.

SO WHAT. . . Whoever counts has not forgiven. . . This kind of forgiving is beyond all calculations and is possible only through God's amazing grace. During the Lenten season, we seek mercy and forgiveness from God but it is also a time for us to be reconciled with our brothers and sisters. Not seven times. . . but beyond counting.  Who is it in your life that you are struggling to forgive?  What wrongs are struggling to let go of? During this Lenten season can you express the kind of forgiveness that Jesus talks about?

PRAYER. . . Dear God, forgive me for my transgressions and help me to forgive those who have wronged me in my eyes. Help me to show mercy and Christ's compassion in this broken world. May I share the kind of forgiveness that you taught Peter. Amen.

March 26 Lenten Devotional "All Are Welcome"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . . "Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.  I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land.  Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.  And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.  They got up, drove him out of the town. . .

CONSIDER. . . .The kingdom of God preached by God is open and inclusive, all are welcome. Jesus is in his own town preaching and healing. At first the neighbors are delighted to have a profit in their midst. They consider it to be a great blessing until it becomes clear that Jesus is reading the scriptures differently than they are. That hometown group is interpreting the scriptures to mean that God's kingdom is open exclusively to them.  Jesus' philosophy is opposite--ALL ARE WELCOME to receive God's gracious love and blessings. JESUS LEAVES NO ONE OUT.  He connects his ministry to the prophets Elijah and Elisha; like them, he opens his ministry to those beyond the Jewish community. In fact, he welcomes the whole world in.

SO WHAT. . . This particular Gospel scene reminds us that God's grace cannot be fenced in like a private garden.  It is not limited to the boundaries of any town, nation, church, group, race, gender or sexual orientation. GOD'S LOVE IS OPEN TO ALL WHO ENTER IN FAITH.  All means all. . .

Where have you excluded someone unnecessarily? Where have you neglected to welcome another into conversation or have just been inhospitable? How might this scripture call you to change your attitude or learn to be more open to those different than you?

Here we go again. . . asking questions that make us look at ourselves and our behaviors. Let us continue with the self-examination. . .

PRAYER. . . Dear God, help me to expand my notion of community and welcome all kinds of people into my heart and life. Lead me to transcend the boundaries of love that I have built. Teach me to welcome everyone and to love like you love. Help me to understand that all means all. Amen

March 25 Lenten Devotional "For What Are You Thirsting?"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . . "Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,  but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
"The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” (John 4:13-15)

CONSIDER. . . .A couple of years ago, I spent 10 days in Thomas, Haiti. I absolutely fell in love with the children and the people of Haiti. Despite the devastation from the earthquake there was such a beauty in the people that touched me deeply.  While I was there, we had to be very careful about the water that we drank. We could only drink the water that was provided for us. Of course, I was constantly thirsty. In fact, so thirsty that when I was offered fresh coconut juice, right from the coconut to drink, I gulped it down. I expected it to quench my deep thirst. Unfortunately, all it did was make me quite ill. . . and I was still thirsty.

The Samaritan woman had been searching, and her search had led to five different husbands, leaving her empty and bitter--that is, until the day she encountered Jesus at the well and received the water of eternal life. She left her water jar behind and ran back to her village to witness to her transforming encounter with Jesus.

SO WHAT. . . For what are you thirsting?  Where do you quench your thirst? Are you drawn to certain wells?  There are many wells out there, but they often make us more thirsty or even addicted.  These are wells of superficial pleasures and quick fixes that satisfy only for a moment and leave us thirsting for more.

When you are tired and discouraged, be refreshed and strengthened by the Word of Christ.  Allow yourself to be fed by his body and blood so you might go forth and tell of Christ's saving love!

PRAYER. . . Dear God, help me to turn to you when I am in need of emotional or spiritual refreshment. Direct me toward the well filled with the water of eternal life and not to the wells that leave me thirsting for more. Help me to bring others to the well. Amen.

March 24 Lenten Devotional "Are Your Eyes Open?"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . . “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.  At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores¹ and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.  In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side." (Luke 16:19-23)

CONSIDER. . . .Our parable today tells us that the rich man stepped over suffering Lazarus each day. Did he ever look Lazarus in the eye? I doubt it. Did he even notice the hunger and sores of this brother or was he too busy with his own life to notice? This is a shocking parable that shows very little mercy to the rich man who neither dressed Lazarus' sores nor fed his hunger. The rich man chose to serve his own wealth instead of God and, at his death, paid the consequence.

SO WHAT. . . This parable clearly urges us to share food with the hungry, but it goes even deeper than that. It insists we be good neighbors, especially to the most needy.  True charity is more than giving a few coins to someone begging on a street corner, or writing a check at Christmas time.  It is noticing, caring, and acting on the needs of our brothers and sisters--it is about cultivating a heart that suffers with our neighbors and compels us to respond compassionately. 

•  Do you see with Christ's eyes?
• Are your eyes open to the brokenness around you?
•  Is God calling you to respond with more of you than just a check?

 Lent is a time for self-examination, how do you answer. . .


PRAYER. . . Dear God, please give me a heart of mercy, help me to see with your eyes and to respond to my neighbors with compassion and care.  May I look the needy in the eye and show the face of Christ in my response. May I be filled with a spirit of committed love for your children, rich or poor. Amen

March 23 Lenten Devotional "Knocking on the doors of Mercy"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . . "Ask and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For anyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8)

CONSIDER. . . .Locked doors can seem daunting.  Sometimes even after repeated knocking that grows into pounding, the door is unrelenting. Other times, our perseverance is rewarded; the door creaks open. . .and we breathe a sigh of relief. This scripture comes from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is encouraging his disciples to pray--to ask, to seek and to knock. "Knocking on the doors of mercy" is a Jewish expression of prayer. Prayer opens the doors of mercy and God acts. Prayer is about our relationship with God..

SO WHAT. . . No matter what you face today, no matter how many closed doors you encounter, keep calling on the God who loves you for help.  We are encouraged to bring our needs to prayer, not in order to in form or change the way God acts in our lives, but to express our relationship with God as Disciple of Jesus Christ. What doors seem closed to you today? Have you given up in knocking on those doors? God wants you to "keep knocking on the doors of mercy", lifting our prayers and concerns to Him. He hears your knocking. . .


PRAYER. . . Dear God, thank you for inviting me into a relationship with you and for answering my prayer with gracious and wise gifts.  Bless me with a portion of your generous spirit so I may freely give to others wherever I find an open door.  Amen.

March 22 Lenten Devotional "Seize the Day for Christ"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . . "While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, 'This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.'"

CONSIDER. . . .Above the entrance to our church is a sign that says, "God is Love". Some people have said that the sign caught their attention in their most difficult times and brought them closer to God--although some in our community have hardly even noticed the sign.  There are signs all around us that point to God--the beauty of a sunset, the roaring of the waves on the ocean or even Lake Michigan, the birth of a baby, the spontaneous hug from a child, or the care and concern of a friend--if we only have eyes to recognize them.  However, the greatest sign of God's love and presence is JESUS, the power and compassion of our God.  After Jesus heals a man of an evil spirit, the people in the crowd respond by saying his works are by the power of the devil, and others call for him to give them a sign.  His healing of the man is not enough but Jesus refuses to give them another sign and calls them to hear and obey the Word of God.  The Ninevites hear Jonah's preaching and repent and change their lives, and yet those seeing Jesus healing this man, refuse to hear and obey Jesus, the Word of God.

SO WHAT. . . Lent is an opportunity for us to hear once again Jesus' call to change our hearts and live according to the Gospel.  Are we like the crowds following Jesus and asking for yet another sign?  Or will we take the opportunity we have to repent of our selfish ways and follow Christ?  That's what the Lenten season is about; seizing each day to repent and choosing to follow Christ. No half-hearted response to God's unconditional love revealed in Jesus will be sufficient. Are you ready to seize today for Christ and in each subsequent day of Lent?  It's your choice.

PRAYER. . . Dear God, please open my eyes to the signs of your love today and in the coming days.  Cleanse my heart, open my ears to your voice and renew my spirit today and every day. Amen.

March 21 Lenten Devotional "Walking in the Wilderness"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . . "At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.  The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”   Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’"
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.  “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: "‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”  Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.  “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”  Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him." (Matthew 4:1-11)

CONSIDER. . . .There are many life happenings that can throw us into a kind of wilderness experience, which can breed disorientation, loneliness and vulnerability. A wilderness journey is a time of testing, but also an opportunity to choose life in the midst of impending despair; an opportunity to choose God's way instead. It is a time that takes advantage of our human weakness and opens us to temptation. But it also can be a time for growth.

SO WHAT. . . Jesus didn't choose the wilderness, but instead was LED there by the Holy Spirit. The early readers of Matthew heard about those 40 days they equated it with the their own Exodus event. And that didn't turn out so well for them--they failed the test and turned their backs on God. HOWEVER, God remained faithful to them.  Wilderness times test our faith and challenge us to be transformed.

Can you remember an experience of wilderness wandering in your life?  Maybe you are experiencing it today, this Lenten season. If you experienced it in the past, can you look back now and see it as a time of growth for you?  If you are in the midst of it now, can you look for ways that God is working through the experience to give you an opportunity to do His will, to choose God?  Again today, tough questions that challenge each of us to self-examine during this Lenten Season.

PRAYER. . . Dear God, when I experience wilderness times, and I know I will, let me never forget God's mercy.  As I face these times of testing, please give me the grace to choose you. Guide me through this Lenten season with a renewed desire to entrust my life into your hands. Amen

March 20 Lenten Devotional "Are you willing to share Jesus?"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . . "Why do you eat with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus answered, "Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:30-32)

CONSIDER. . . .This brief scripture text describes not just the calling of one disciple, but Jesus' call to every person. Jesus didn't handpick the smartest and the purest, but instead the castoffs of society.  Jesus called forth a new community of disciples based on association with sinners rather than separation from them.

SO WHAT. . . The good news is that we are all sinners called, redeemed and healed by the love of Jesus Christ! The only ones excluded are the arrogant who exclude themselves. Do you hesitate to associate with someone you might consider a "sinner", maybe those struggling with drug or alcohol addiction, the homeless?  How do you share the Good News with those who aren't in "your circle"? Or maybe the question is are you willing to share Jesus with those who aren't in your circle? Who can you share Jesus with today?

PRAYER. . . Dear God, please transform me by the power of your love so I may become your compassionate and welcoming presence to everyone, not just those in "my circle". May you renew your Church that we may become a true home for the lost, the least, the lonely and the broken. Give me the courage to share your love with all. Amen.

March 19 Lenten Devotional "Practice What You Preach"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . . " So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.  They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; (Phylacteries are boxes that are worn on the foreheads or arms containing Scripture verses) (Matthew 23:3-5)

CONSIDER. . . .Practice what you preach. Sounds almost cliché in today's world doesn't it? However, there is truth found in these words. A recent Gallup pole showed that only 12% of those who attend Sunday worship show any evidence in their daily life of their faith--in terms of cheating on taxes, lying, fidelity and other moral and ethical issues.

SO WHAT. . . Our actions should be consistent with our words.  Our conduct Monday through Saturday should match up with what we pray and profess during worship. Our worship should feed our faith and exhort us to live radically as Jesus taught us and not just comfort and console us.

Think about whether your actions match your words. Or more precisely, does your day to day life match your "Sunday life"? Does you day to day life reflect a life directed by Jesus' teachings or a life directed by ourselves? Would people around you be surprised if you told them you were a Christian? These are pretty pointed questions but Lent is a good time to reflect on whether we practice what we preach.

PRAYER. . . Dear God, please give me the strength to live in accordance with what I speak.  I pray that you will give me grace to be a faithful witness in this world by word and deed.  I seek to honor you not only with my lips but with my heart and life. Amen

March 18 "Listen and Live"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . . "Incline your ear and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David." (Isaiah 55:3)
"The hearing ear and the seeing eye--the Lord has made them both. (Proverbs 20:12)

CONSIDER. . . Our sense of hearing is an important way for us to gain information. Listening for the important sounds in our lives--like the silent sound of God which the prophet Elijah knew when he heard it--becomes more difficult the noisier our world and our lives become.

SO WHAT. . . Listening to God and to others in our lives is hard work, because we need to set aside our own interior noise as well as the noise from outside of us.  There is constant noise today, TV blaring, radio in the car, iPhones plugged into our ears.  The noise surrounds us making it very difficult to seek that "still, small voice".

Take a few minutes and answer these questions. Who is there in your life that you need to spend more time listening to? One of the "voices" not heard much in our society is that of the poor. How can you hear the cry of the poor, whether homeless or hungry, to be better heard?  Can you  take time each day to turn off the noise to listen for God's voice?

PRAYER. . . Dear God, please help me to take time to listen better to you, to my own life and to others in my life. To really take what I hear to heart rather than just taking it in.  Help me especially when what I hear makes me uncomfortable or not what I expect to hear.  Amen.

March 17 "Welcome the Stranger"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

CONSIDER. . . “I was a stranger and you welcomed me." (Matthew 25:35)  "Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me--you did it to me." (Matthew 25:40 The Message) 

SO WHAT. . . Jesus calls us to do good to those who are different from you and to welcome and love the stranger. Easy to say, harder to do. How we react to the stranger--someone alien to us--fundamentally tests our humanity. It's natural for the stranger and strange customs and ideas to evoke suspicion in us. Because the unknown may contain hidden danger.  We rightly tell our children not to go off with strangers. But, fear of the unknown may intensify beyond reason into blind revulsion and out and out rejection. 

Feared strangers easily become, in our thinking, less human than we are.  The stranger remains the same, less intelligent but more devious, morally inferior, more impulsive and less attractive. Jesus calls us to a different standard, to see everyone as fellow citizens  of the planet, children of God to be treated with inquiring respect and the love of Christ. 

• Have you ever experienced being the "stranger" in a situation? How were your treated? 
• Were you treated the way you would like to be treated?
•  Did that experience change the way you interact with strangers?  
• Who are the "strangers" in your daily life?
•  In what way can we "welcome the stranger" be specific.

PRAYER. . . Dear God, help me to greet the stranger as a child of God. Help me to not be suspicious or to be constantly looking for a reason to reject them.  Guide me to see everyone the way you see them and to treat them with respect and to share the love of God with all. Show me how to treat everyone as if it is you. Amen.

March 16 "Who Do We Judge"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

CONSIDER. . . “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.  “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." (Matthew 7:1-5)

SO WHAT. . . A simple message on this Sabbath Day. Please don't discount it because it is short and simple. Read it and ponder who it is in your life that you judge or make assumptions about.  Is it the co-worker in the next cubicle? Is it your neighbor?  Is it the person who cuts ahead of you at Wal-Mart?

Can this Lenten season be about opening your eyes and hearts to the ones that God puts into your life?  Can it be about those who God is calling you to lift, to restore and to heal?  Today think about those in your life who know it or not, need you to lift them up after they have fallen, who need you to restore there brokenness, who need you to heal their hurts.

PRAYER. . . Dear God, on this day help me to suspend judgment and to not struggle to be in charge of who needs help or not. Guide me to those who I may lift up. Help me to restore broken lives in my midst and help me to be the voice of healing in this hurting world. Help me to be more like you. Amen

Lenten Devotioinal March 15 "Do Unto Others"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . . "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. . . Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it for me." (Matthew 25:35-36)

CONSIDER. . . By word and deed Jesus challenges everything in us that keeps us from treating everyone we meet as a "near one" deserving the same decency and respect we wish to receive ourselves from those we meet. He pushes us to stretch the meaning of "love your neighbor as yourself" beyond our own kind to include whoever crosses our path at any time.

Our ego borders drop; compassionate "fellow feeling" arises; our generosity reaches out, overriding our more ordinary, less compassionate state.  Catastrophe brings out the best in people, revealing, at least for the moment, our innate capacity for God-like behavior. We think "this could be me or someone I love".  Jesus challenges us to make the "fellow feeling" that surfaces in emergencies, the heartbeat of our everyday consciousness.

SO WHAT. . ."Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".  Jesus summons us to bless, not just avoid harm.  He calls us to actively do good and to make that the center of our practice.  Jesus wants us to treat everyone in need as if God had just crossed our path.

• How do you treat those who serve you?  The wait staff at Appleby's?  The checkout person at Meijer? The person who cleans your room while you're at a hotel?
• Do you treat them as "God crossing your path"?  Or do you treat them as underlings with less than respect?
• Do you say "thank you" and "have a good day" or do you just ignore those who serve you?

Everyone we meet is in some sort of need, if only to avoid one more unpleasant or unjust encounter today.  How often do you treat others as if they are God crossing your path? 

I invite you to take some time during this Lenten season with these questions, think about God crossing your path and how you respond. How might you commit to treating others differently starting now during this Lenten season.

PRAYER. . . Loving God, show me how to do unto others as I would have them do unto me. Open my eyes to the needs around me and have me treat everyone with the same respect I want to be treated with. O Lord, help me to do good and  make it apart of my everyday life.  Amen

Lenten Devotional March 14 "God is Calling"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . . "Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 16:25)

CONSIDER. . . Jesus is really saying to let go of your defended self-image and find a truer self in God. So this challenge of Jesus to "lose your life" in order to find it doesn't require that we necessarily deny who we are essentially, but instead He invites us to discover our deepest and truest selves.  Only God knows the secret of that self, but we find it through the years by putting God's priorities first in our lives, challenging the fears that keep us from growing.

SO WHAT. . .Don't hold tight to your identity, your life, or your psyche Jesus tells us. We need to be willing to let go of the current boundaries of our identity for the sake of responding to God's call.  God's call has liberated people to find their truer selves; think of the stuttering Moses or Francis of Assisi  who sheds his finery to live a life of solidarity with the poor; the slave trader John Newton who becomes an abolitionist or Harriet Tubman who discovers the courage to shepherd slaves along the underground railroad. These examples demonstrate new aspects of the self coming to the forefront with struggles, doubts and resistance.

In what ways might God be calling you into a "bigger self", calling you to love qualities of yourself that you may underestimate?

How is God calling you to let go of the fear of criticism and the fear of failure to become a whole person and to a deeper security in God?

Again, don't rush. . . take your time to reflect on the ways that God is calling you.

PRAYER. . . Loving God, show me how to let go of my preconceived notion of who I am and to be open to who you have created me to be. Help me to respond courageously to the challenges in my life and discover my deepest and truest self instead of underestimating your calling in my life.  Amen

Lenten Devotional March 13 "Putting God First. . .Always"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . . "Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33)

CONSIDER. . . What God loves is good for the world.  Jesus calls us to put what God loves first. If we put what God loves first, everything else falls into proper place or order of importance.  Now that's a provocative statement to say the least. How many times we think that we can't possibly put God first, that our kids or spouse is more important.  What Jesus is saying is if you put his love first, it's easier to love and care for others.

Humanity's sorrow come about when retaliation and revenge rule; when grudges and hard-heartedness get in the way of reconciliation; when our refusal to share dominates public and private life; when millions live in want while a minority feasts. . .

SO WHAT. . .Can we choose reconciliation over revenge? Cooperation over conflict? Generosity over our own self-interest?  I have seen church member's unforgiveness and desire for revenge destroy flourishing ministries and literally break hearts.

• Where are we not putting God first in our lives?
• Where are we hanging on to grudges and anger that is getting in the way of showing God's love to EVERYONE? 
•  If your behavior was the only thing someone had to go on to know Jesus, what would they say is important to Jesus? 
•  If the way you treat others when things don't go your way is a way for others to see Jesus, what would they see?

These are not hypothetical questions, but questions to reflect upon and truly answer. Lent is a wonderful time to let go and let God. . .to forgive. . . to LOVE

PRAYER. . . Loving God, show me how to love what and who you love. Help me to always put you first so everything else in my life will fall into place. Help me to reflect who you are in my life. Amen

Lenten Devotional Day Seven "Love One Another"

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . . "Love one another, as I have loved you." (John 13:34) AND "I say to you if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment." (Matthew 5:22)

CONSIDER. . . We learn to love because we are first loved. We all need to experience, through other humans, a love that delights simply in our being. We are the "apple of the eye" to one or more persons, so much the object of devotion that we are reflected in the pupil of their eye. Jesus seems to say that we need to make the practice of love from the heart our aim.

Practice, however, soon reveals the difficulties we face in learning how to love well. Social creatures like us cannot avoid experiences in which love is wounded, pride punctured, self-esteem threatened and deeds misunderstood.

SO WHAT. . .Don't let wounds fester. Jesus makes forgiveness a centerpiece of his teaching because lack of it lies at the root of so much human misery. The resentment that festers in unforgiveness fuels most personal and social conflict. And remember this. . . God's forgiveness cannot flow to or through closed, unforgiving hearts. Who do you need to forgive this Lenten season? What wounds are festering and keeping you from experiencing the fullness of God's forgiveness.

PRAYER. . . Loving God, help me to forgive, help me to be open to who in my life needs forgiveness. Please remind me that I am called to love as you have loved me. . . fully and completely. Amen.

Lenten Devotional Day Six

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . . "The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, "Look here it is!" or "There it is!" For, in fact,  the kingdom of God is among you." (Luke 17:20-21)

CONSIDER. . . Jesus invited people then and not to see the world in a whole new way, through different eyes.  As we let this love have its way with our personal and communal life, we begin to enter, here and now on earth, the realm of God's active grace, what he called God's kingdom.

Jesus invites us to love each other and all earth's creation with heaven's love. The love Jesus received and gave is not only warm and comforting but challenging and purifying for the human heart.

To see the world through the eyes of God's love, Jesus calls us to "go beyond our present state of mind", to repent. This is the first challenge of the Good News.  Love is at its core, our affirming response to the goodness of life itself, our yes to existence.

SO WHAT. . .When we love (and live) the way Jesus calls us to love, we see both the good and evil in people but love the good; to see both the excellent and mediocre but to encourage the excellent; to see the wellness and the sickness and to strengthen the wellness.  Before all else, love is the capacity to see everyone and everything as interconnected and as God sees it.  What, in your experience, indicates God's love for the world? for others? and for you?

PRAYER. . . Loving God, our sensibilities are so dulled by the world we live in, awaken us to the Kingdom of God that is in our midst. Unmask our blindness and resistance beginning with our interactions with those closest to us, help us to see with your eyes and to love all.

Lenten Devotional Day Five

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . . "Thou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength and your neighbor as your self." (Luke 10:27)  AND  "Do not think that I have come to bring peace". (Matthew 10:34)

CONSIDER. . . Jesus' sayings are not rules to live up to but challenges to live into.  Rather than being impossible ideals, they provoke us to grow, step by step, by trial and error learning, into the best possibilities of our nature. 

Make no mistake about it. Jesus is out to provoke us. Despite the Jesus of the Gospels who is healer, teacher, social critic and non-violent revolutionary--Jesus is one who challenges us to find and use our strengths. He wants to spur us into a spiritual maturity that meets His Love. 

Jesus' sayings are an invitation to discover the muscles of our heart, mind and soul--the movements of God's love made flesh, step by step, in our own lives. 

SO WHAT. . .What sayings of Jesus provoke you, maybe even make you mad?  Which of His sayings needs the most work in your life now?  Don't bother with guilt about past failures, just note that it's a cutting edge practice that you can work on during this Lenten season.  Spend some time with these questions, don't rush through but push yourself to answer these questions.

PRAYER. . . Loving God, help us, one step at a time, to take Jesus' words into our souls and begin the process of letting them get to work on our lives. Help us to ease ourselves into one challenge after another as we read your Word. May we open ourselves up to the biggest challenge in the words, "follow me". Amen.

What's Your Response?

I encourage you to respond to the devotionals that are posted here. I want them to be helpful in your Lenten Journey and if they are not I need to know. What questions do you have during this Lenten season? Where are you seeing God at work in our world?

Lenten Devotional Day Four

Day 4

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . .The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalm 18:2)

CONSIDER. . . the rock that you picked up on Ash Wednesday (or if you weren't there, just think of a rock). Rocks come in endless shapes and sizes. They provide the foundation of our earth. There's something comforting about a rock. Calling God a rock in scripture meant that God was the source of safety and security in times of trouble.

SO WHAT. . .Rocks can help serve as reminders of the importance of prayer . Having confidence in prayer and deep trust in God is a long-term process. Prayer can change our hearts of stone--the ways that we can too easily take God for granted and realize all the gifts God wants us to have.

PRAYER. . . Loving God, you invite me to change my heart, to ask for what I need and not to worry about others' faults but to be aware of my own.  Help this rock to remind me of all that you are calling me to and all that I need to let go of to make room for you. Amen

Lenten Devotional Day Three

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . .Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.  Create in me a pure heart, O God,  and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.   Restore to me the joy of your salvation  and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (Psalm 51:9-12)

CONSIDER. . .It's snowing again. . .we're tired of it, but today, take a few minutes and sit quietly and watch it come down. Or maybe even go outside and catch a snowflake or two on your hand or tongue.  Listen to see if it makes a sound as it falls. The snow transforms our world and the way we look at it in the same way that Christ transforms us and the way we look at the world.

SO WHAT. . . The clean and bright image of snow of Psalm 51 describes the way we feel when we realize that God forgives our faults and sins.  God's love is bigger than anything I can do to hide from it.  Just as the snow covers everything as it is and makes it white and beautiful, God's love takes us where we are and loves the beautiful us buried deep inside of what can seem like a real mess some days.

PRAYER. . .  God of winter and cold, please help me to remember the warmth of your faithful, forgiving love for me when I see the bright, white snow.  Amen.

Day 2 Lenten Devotional

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN. . .But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of God, for He makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous" (Matthew 5:44-45)

SAVOR. . . Spend a few minutes basking in the sun's rays today (if it's out and if not, try to remember what it feels like to soak up the sun's energy). Feel it warm you through and through, it's been a long, cold winter, soak it up. It is a gift from God, enjoy the warmth.

SO WHAT. . .Think about how we are called to love our enemies, those who irritate and test our patience and how we are called not to dwell in anger. God is calling us to see with His eyes, to hear with His ears and to feel with His heart in each of our relationships and in the way we treat others.

PRAYER. . .Lord, help me to understand at least one specific way that I can change the way I relate to someone in my life. Help me to let go of anger and resentment and embrace love and understanding. Help me to bask in the warmth of your love whenever I see the sun.  Amen.

Lenten Devotional

Every day during Lent I will be posting a prayer, scripture and sometimes a comment. May God bless you on your Lenten Journey

OPENING PRAYER: Loving God, Creator of all, here I am--today in this place, with all the senses you have given me. O Lord, help me to use them to come to experience you more deeply. You are present everywhere around me; open me to know you more, open me to know more of the many ways that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you and to listen. . . amen.

LISTEN. . . "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)

SO WHAT. . .If I am really to live in the light, then I need to realize that God's love and light is there for everyone around me, even the person I find it hardest to love right now.  (Think about a specific person or two for you right now)

PRAYER. . .O Lord, help me to bring the light of your love to all whom I meet and work with. Amen