Greetings to you in Christ’s name.
Another message for this year’s Lent. Did you know there is no real basis for Lent found in the Bible. Lent is a church institution. However in the book Keep a True Lent, by Charles Fillmore, the idea has a sound spiritual basis. Moses, Elijah, and Jesus himself set a precedent for it. Each observed a forty-day period of prayer and fasting as a preparation for spiritual work.
It should be noted that the number forty is frequently used in the Bible to indicate a completed preparation for something to follow. Lent is a true season of preparation for Easter; a time of fasting, of denial, of giving up something. We can seek to express the indwelling Christ and to recognize such expression by others.
Lent can be an excellent time for self-examination, self discipline, and self-commitment; a time to work with habit
patterns in thought and to create new personal ways of being and expression; a time of preparation for the awakening of the soul, much like nature getting plant life ready to burst forth in the springtime. The very word, “Lent,” is derived from a word meaning “springtime.” So, during Lent we can experience springtime in our soul – the budding of new ideas and the unfolding of new awareness.
We can manifest inner growth that comes from using our energy in new, creative ways. We can blossom forth with joy
and enthusiasm.
Let us continue checking our words, spoken and unspoken.
Replace those that do not fit into the Divine pattern of harmony with health-building peace.
Refuse to indulge in conversation about things you do not wish to happen.
Magnify the good; emphasize that which is worth; talk only of those things that should live and grow.
When you have something good to say, say it! Wrong thinking makes us tired, irritated and nervous. We can’t improve disagreeable things by making ourselves just as disagreeable. If the day or night has been unpleasant or trying, do not dwell on that fact even for an instant. To talk about it will only produce further unpleasantness in your system. Change the trend of your thought, and Let Something Good Be Said by you!!
If we were to invent a God, we could do a lot better than the broken God of Calvary. Jesus reveals a God who is a victim. What kind of a God is that? In Jesus we see a God who is vulnerable, a God who betrays himself into human hands. God is at our mercy. What is the use of a God like that? It is even worse if we believe we are made in the image of this weak and vulnerable God!
How many times have we fancied a God of our own devising? We have even thought of ourselves in the role of
God. WELL, NOW IS YOUR MOMENT! NOW IS YOUR CHANCE. If you want to know what God is like, look at JESUS.
If you want to be like God, be like JESUS.
Peace & Joy
Rev Molly