D365 LENT: Temptations

INVOCATION.....(d365.org - Grier Booker Richards)

It's a long, hard road that leads to becoming our true selves. There are so many things to distract us along the way, things that draw us towards self-absorption and destructive behavior.

The next few moments of reflection offer the opportunity to focus again, to see more clearly who God is and who we truly are meant to be.

SATURDAY, March 15  Clean Slate!
Psalm 32:1-2, 5  MSG
Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be -
You get a fresh start, your slate's wiped clean. 
Count yourself lucky - God holds nothing against you
And you're holding nothing back from him.....
I let it all out;
I said, "I'll make a clean breast of my failure to God."
Suddenly the pressure was gone - 
My guilt dissolved, my sin disappeared. 

     Lent. The season of opportunity, not dirge and gloom!  The time to take a deep breath of confession - and exhale the failures, disappointments, shortcomings and fears and inhale a clean fresh breath of the Spirit-God.  God has the Grace-eraser to wipe our slate clean IF we bring the slate to God!  
     At the sake of being redundant, I am going to re-post a poem I wrote last year on this passage from Psalms:

Lucky I am! My heart feels free! 

Happy I am!  God's forgiven me!

Blessed I am for a lightened load,

Debts forgiven, no longer owed. 

God does not tally up our sin,

If we practice not to hold within;

And pass it on to all around,

So forgiveness-love the world abound. 

Lucky I am! My slate's wiped clean

The past now lit with God-like sheen!

Rejoice with joy, kick up my heels!

Resurrection power, grace reveals.  

FRIDAY, March 14  Pi Day

Romans 5:15b  GNT
 But God's grace is much greater, and so is his free gift to so many people through the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ.
    I'm not sure if my thoughts really center on the Romans passage, but more on the Pi Day card I received from my sister.  It spoke of having 'infinite fun' today.  Infinite.  That describes God's grace.  But like pi, grace that comes in an ever-changing sequences of opportunities and ways in which grace is granted.  One number Pi, infinite numbers; one God, infinite possibilities, an infinite amount of grace. 
     Happy Birthday, Mac!  May you sense an infinite amount of God's grace in your life!   

THURSDAY, March 13   Freedom from Apples

Genesis 2:15-17 MSG

God took the Man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order.

 God commanded the Man, “You can eat from any tree in the garden, except from the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil. Don’t eat from it. The moment you eat from that tree, you’re dead.”

    What is it that makes us passionately desire the one thing we have been told "don't touch"?  Adam and Eve found the forbidden tree tempting, and we seem to always want what is off-limits today.  Perhaps in modern times it is more of a glass half empty rather than half full.  We aim our focus on what we don't or can't have rather than the abundance of God's grace and freedom that we do have!  

    And really, with the wealth of choice, relationship, and beauty God has given us, do we really want to 'play God' and have it all?  I don't!  God has given us the choice to appreciate all his gifts, to revel in them, to celebrate them.  He has set us free from the apples of temptation and the responsibility of being God.  Celebrate!  Look for the positive choices, the opportunities to use our gifts, the relationships we can create, all because of God's grace.  

WEDNESDAY, March 12  Angels!!

Matthew 4:11  MSG

The Test was over. The Devil left. And in his place, angels! Angels came and took care of Jesus’ needs.

The game is over, 
The battle is won.  
Rounds of scripture,
Innings of hunger, heights, and 'have-it-all'. 
Final Score?
God-Jesus 3, Devil 0. 

Jesus won hunger versus stones,
Jesus was victor over tall buildings;
Jesus stood firm in a contest of materialism and power.  
Jesus won the game.  
And we can too.  

The after-game celebration?  
ANGELS!  
Angels with food!  
Angels to satisfy and comfort!
Angels to reassure
That the victory is worth the battle.  
That God is with us.  

We play the game every day,
Our opponents are tough,
But we can be the victor also.
God is always playing with us.  
And Angels will be there to celebrate our victory.  

TUESDAY, March 11   Quick Fix

Matthew 4:8-10  GNT

Then the Devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness. 9 “All this I will give you,” the Devil said, “if you kneel down and worship me.”

10 Then Jesus answered, “Go away, Satan! The scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!’”

     Our society tempts us, 'Just do this or that' and you will have it all.  Listen to me and I'll give you the quick fix to success, power, and fulfillment.  Empty lies.  It just doesn't work that way!  
     God doesn't promise us quick fixes, a guarantee of a problem-free life or lack of struggle.  God promises to be with us, to lead us and guide us.  Christ has set the path for us to follow.  We can't be defined by our temptations, but rather by our relationship with the God who leads us through them.  

MONDAY, March 10  Temptation of Hesitation

Matthew 4:5-7 MSG

For the second test the Devil took him to the Holy City. He sat him on top of the Temple and said, “Since you are God’s Son, jump.” The Devil goaded him by quoting Psalm 91: “He has placed you in the care of angels. They will catch you so that you won’t so much as stub your toe on a stone.”

Jesus countered with another citation from Deuteronomy: “Don’t you dare test the Lord your God.”

      Perhaps one of our biggest temptations in society today is to think that we must be a superhero, able to leap from tall buildings, able to conquer all the sins of the world, able to achieve perfection - all in a single bound!  Western society especially has added that extra boost to everything, the desire for bigger, better, flashier.  And for what?  The end result may just be a society who thinks they can't make a difference because they don't have the 'power'.  

     We have the power of one - individual power granted to us from God.  I read this morning a story about a man in NJ who is making a difference one bottle of hot sauce at a time.  All profits are split between microloans in Ethiopia and a local food pantry.  His church and community have rallied around the business. One man, changed communities.  

     When we can resist the temptation to take the easy way out, the temptation of hesitation and doubt, then we can truly glorify God by our actions.  We have the power, but it comes from God and God alone.   

SUNDAY, March 9  Into the Wilderness
Matthew 4:1-4  GNT

Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the Devil.  After spending forty days and nights without food, Jesus was hungry.  Then the Devil came to him and said, “If you are God's Son, order these stones to turn into bread.”

But Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Human beings cannot live on bread alone, but need every word that God speaks.’”

      Lent is time in the Wilderness.  This is an opportunity for the Spirit to lead us on our Spiritual Outward Bound experience.  A time to grow out of our comfort zone, to release bad habits, poor relationships, and negative attitudes.  Hunger, whether physical or spiritual, can open us to God at work within us.  Lent is a time to examine our relationship with God, our faith, and our fears that hold us back from truly living out that faith as God calls.  

     May I spend some time in the coming days being strengthened, fortified, and freed for the new life, the transformation and metamorphosis of Easter.  

   

BENEDICTION BLESSING.....(d365.org - Grier Booker Richards)

Go now with faith into your struggle.

Avoid distractions of the spectacular;
See beyond the illusions,
And recognize you have what you need
To move beyond guilt to freedom.

You have been claimed by grace
And are called to celebrate the life of joy..


(I have been using Scribbles from the Gospel of Luke to illustrate this section, but the scripture passages are almost identical in the two Gospel books!)  

FORGIVEN to LOVE

INVOCATION....  d365.org (Sara Hunt)
Love itself may be at stake. If we are unable to forgive one another, we will not be able to love.

Perhaps this is why we can declare with confidence that God is love; it is because, first, God is forgiving.

With so much at risk, God will see to it that love does not leave room for resentment. Instead, God will lead in the cause of mercy.

SATURDAY, June 22 "Lucky I Am!"
Psalm 32:1-2  (The Message)

Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be—
    you get a fresh start,
    your slate’s wiped clean.

 Count yourself lucky—
    God holds nothing against you
    and you’re holding nothing back from him.

Lucky I am! My heart feels free! 
Happy I am!  God's forgiven me!
Blessed I am for a lightened load,
Debts forgiven, no longer owed. 

God does not tally up our sin,
If we practice not to hold within;
And pass it on to all around,
So forgiveness-love the world abound. 

Lucky I am! My slate's wiped clean
The past now lit with God-like sheen!
Rejoice with joy, kick up my heels!
Resurrection power, grace reveals. 


I HAVE THOROUGHLY ENJOYED THIS WEEK'S THEME OF FORGIVENESS!!  

BENEDICTION.....  d365.org    (Sara Hunt)

There's a gate just ahead, inviting you to pass through. It is marked "Forgiveness." It leads the way to acceptance, confirmation, recognition, being embraced and held. It takes you down the pathway that brings you love.

Reach out and open easily the latch. Step lightly through the gate's portal. Our forgiving God welcomes you there.

FRIDAY, June 21 "Chain Reaction"
Luke 8:1,3  (Message)
He continued according to plan, traveled to town after town, village after village, preaching God’s kingdom, spreading the Message. The Twelve were with him. There were also some women in their company who had been healed ... who used their considerable means to provide for the company.

How can we 'provide for the company'?  What means do we hold to help spread the message of the gospel, a message of love and forgiveness?  Pure love for one another doesn't come naturally; we need help.  Forgiveness is not a natural response; it is God-granted grace.  We who have accepted and received the forgiveness of God carry the responsibility to 'pass it on'; to represent the power of forgiveness in our broken world.   Each time we forgive in love, we provide.  Each time we supply the daily needs of others, we provide.  Each time we use the our God-given gifts for the benefit of all, we provide. Within such a community of love, God's Kingdom grows, one link at a time in a chain reaction.  

Noted writer Henri Nouwen penned, "Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly. The hard truth is that all people love poorly. We need to forgive and be forgiven every day, every hour increasingly. That is the great work of love among the fellowship of the weak that is the human family.” 

-----------------------

As I searched the internet for Nouwen's quote, I found others that provide food for thought....

"The weak can never forgive.  Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."  (Mahatma Gandhi)

"When you release the wrongdoer from the wrong, you cut a malignant tumor out of your inner life. You set a prisoner free, but you discover that the real prisoner was yourself." --(Lewis B. Smedes)

"The best way to get the last word is to apologize." (Unknown)

"Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future." (Paul Boese)

 "To be forgiven is such sweetness that honey is tasteless in comparison with it. But yet there is one thing sweeter still, and that is to forgive. As it is more blessed to give than to receive, so to forgive rises a stage higher in experience than to be forgiven." (Charles Spurgeon)

THURSDAY, June 20 "Gateway"
Luke 7:48-50 (The Message)

Then he spoke to her: “I forgive your sins.”   That set the dinner guests talking behind his back: “Who does he think he is, forgiving sins!”    He ignored them and said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

There is a fence between me and love,
A broken portal in the middle:
The gate of forgiveness.
The weight of resentment 
Hangs heavy and
Bitterness has rusted the hinge.  
To forgive as God forgives
Is to repair the gate. 
"I forgive you" polishes the broken hinge, 
"God forgives me" realigns the entrance
And the door swings open wide.
Accept God's forgiveness,
Reconcile and forgive others. 
Experience the peace, the new life,
The LOVE on the other side. 

WEDNESDAY, June 19  "Forgive and Forget?"

Luke 7:44-47 (Common English Bible)

Jesus turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your home, you didn’t give me water for my feet, but she wet my feet with tears and wiped them with her hair.   You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but she hasn’t stopped kissing my feet since I came in.  You didn’t anoint my head with oil, but she has poured perfumed oil on my feet.   This is why I tell you that her many sins have been forgiven; so she has shown great love. The one who is forgiven little loves little.”

Forgive and forget!

A commonly used phrase,

Intended to encourage or remind. 

And it's ok to forget the wrongdoing,

To feel like the sin is wiped clean,

Or the slate erased. 

But forgiveness demands a response. 

You can't forget when you've been forgiven. 

You can't forget the gratitude. 

The call of God is to Forgive and Love. 

We must have a RESPONSE to forgiveness. 
We must demonstrate our thankfulness. 
We must return the love to the forgiver;
We must show love to the forgiven. 
It's easy to say, 'I forgive you'
Or to acknowledge God's 'You're forgiven!'
It's harder to wrap our arms around each other in love;
Much more difficult to sacrifice a piece of ourselves for another. 
But Forgiveness demands a response:
LOVE.

Proof that scribbling helps the scriptural memory.  As I worked through this morning's devotion, I thought 'I have drawn this passage before!  It was a 747 airplane!' Sure enough, in a review of Rev. Al's Sermons, I found the 747 airplane drawing from September 2010.  You can tell it was one of my earliest drawings! 

TUESDAY, June 18  "God-Bank"

Luke 7:41-43 (Good News Translation)

 “There were two men who owed money to a moneylender,” Jesus began. “One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other owed him fifty.  Neither of them could pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Which one, then, will love him more?”

 “I suppose,” answered Simon, “that it would be the one who was forgiven more.”

“You are right,” said Jesus.

     God runs a most unusual bank.  The Almighty makes loans right and left - loans of great abundance, blessings overflowing, home loans of incredible creation. As world citizens, we are patrons of the God-Bank. We nonchalantly accept the loans on a daily basis,  yet none of us can repay.  The amount we owe is meaningless to Banker God - we come as equals unable to cash out. The debts are constantly canceled at the God-bank.  Wall Street economics this is not, but the God Theology of Debt Management. 

     Somehow, our egotistical nature leads us to believe that those who have smaller debts are of greater 'worth'.  Big debt means big 'screw-up' in our minds.  As usual, God leads us to realize the opposite:  Those with the greatest debt are those with the greatest capacity for gratitude and love. 

     I am going to continue to do business with the God-Bank.  

MONDAY, June 17 "Pursuit"

Luke 7:37-38 (The Message)

Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume.

To seek Forgiveness 
We must acknowledge the Sin. 
We must pursue the Forgiver.
Actively.
This takes persistence,
A willingness to enter strange doors,
A boldness of emotion,
A public declaration of wrong.
The Lord is ready and waiting,
With open arms and a forgiving heart.
Poised to cleanse our souls and
Prepare the way for love. 
May we continually engage the pursuit.
May we daily seek the one who forgives.
Unashamed yet with humility.
And throw wide open the gate to love. 

SUNDAY, June 16 "Each Morning" 

Psalm 5:1-3, 8  (Common English Bible)

Hear my words, Lord!
    Consider my groans!
2     Pay attention to the sound of my cries, my king and my God,
        because I am praying to you!
3 Lord, in the morning you hear my voice.
    In the morning I lay it all out before you.
    Then I wait expectantly.....

Lord, because of many enemies,
    please lead me in your righteousness.
    Make your way clear,
        right in front of me.

It's a tough world in which to forgive, Lord. 

People wrong each other. 

People wrong me. 

Yet your call is for love. 

Vengeance gets in the way of love. 

Anger and resentment bar the door. 

Forgiveness opens the way. 

Each morning may I renew my resolve

To clear the path for love. 

Each morning may I come to you

For the strength to do so. 

Show me the door, Lord. 

Whisper in my ear, 'Forgive them'.

Lead me to Love.