LENT 2016 BE HOLY: Week 1 - Set Apart

This series of meditations is from the Presbyterian Today Lenten devotional BE HOLY Brian Coulter. Copyright 2015 by Presbyterian Mission Agency.  

ASH WEDNESDAY, February 10
Job 42:6  MSG
I admit I once lived by rumors of you;
    now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears!
I’m sorry—forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise!
     Today is Ash Wednesday.  The start of the Lenten season leading up to Holy Week and ultimately the Resurrection of Christ.  Lent is a time for reflection, for re-assessment and re-connection with our God. It is a time to take measure of our gifts and our shortcomings.  Where is repentance necessary?  How can I open up and share the gifts God has given me?  Who do I need to forgive?  
      I wasn't able to attend the service tonight at the Methodist Church because Rick and I were serving dinner to the PYGs.  But I am going to use the BE HOLY devotions written by Brian Coulter and published by Presbyterian Today for this season's meditations.  I also copied off a list of 'alternate' tasks to take on during Lent rather than giving up something.  Tasks that emphasize relationships and service.  
      Each devotion ends with a breath prayer, a simple, slow and short prayer phrase that corresponds to inhale, exhale.  I will try to incorporate the prayers into my drawings.  

Lord, I repent...in dust and ashes.  Amen. 

Thursday, February 11
Exodus 23:2  VOICE
Even if the majority of people are doing evil, do not follow them. Also when you are called to give testimony in a dispute, do not let the crowd pressure you into perverting justice. 

     How often did I witness 'Group Pressure' in the middle school teaching years.  It can be so very hard to go against the crowd, to let your conscience with God overrule friends pulling hard against that conscience.  Yet, at other times, a sense of teamwork as a group can get things done, when consensus can rule for good.  In all, however, God and God alone must be our guide.  

Help me to follow ... you and only you, God.  Amen. 

Friday, February 12
Romans 12:2 VOICE 
Do not allow this world to mold you in its own image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind.

 

   Some translations use the term conform.  Conform and transform.  The first implies against the will, molded by society and standards beyond our control.  But to be transformed is to be changed for the good into something altogether new.  And to be transformed from the 'inside-out' is really appealing.  That takes the essence of who I am and creates something of great potential and beauty.  As an artist, it is like taking a stack of junk materials and transforming them into beauty.  They are no longer what they used to be.  God is the artist.  Am I the junk material?  (My drawing is based on my propensity to take abandoned Habitat materials from the dumpster and try to transform them....:)

Creative God....transform me.  Amen.  

Saturday, February 13
John 17:17 MSG
Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth; 
Your word is consecrating truth. 
    Jesus is praying in the garden of Gethsemane prior to the crucifixion.  He is praying on behalf of the disciples, beseeching God to sanctify them, to make them holy.  Other translations say to dedicate them to God in truth or to immerse them in God's truth.  
     How rarely do we start our day with the request to be made holy this day!  How often do we immerse ourselves in God, in God-speak or God-action?  Yet, that is our call if we are to call ourselves followers of Christ.  We are made holy, set apart for God's work.  We belong to God.  May we act in such a manner every day.  

Holy Spirit....sanctify me.  Amen.  

Sunday, February 14  FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT
1 Timothy 6:17  MSG
Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.  
     Culture tells us to get rich.  We are bombarded with prosperity plans, accumulating 'stuff' to show we have succeeded.  But the gospel message is to be rich in God.  To be holy means to revel in the abundance of God-light; to live a life of true LIVING! To leave a legacy of abundant service, generosity, and good works, is all the success we need measured.  And it is a legacy to our future heirs that is of far greater benefit.  May I strive to accumulate God-wealth....not material things.  May I strive to constantly share and be generous with God's blessings. May I let go of the 'thing' strings and open myself to the abundant living in God.   

Holy God....open me to life. Amen.