Lent Day 27: An Encounter with Christ

Today marks the twenty-seventh morning on our lenten journey. I praise God for all the miles He has graciously allowed us to cover together. Might we pause a bit and take stock?

How are you?

How is your stamina?

How are your spiritual legs and feet doing?

Are you acknowledging your thirst for God more readily?

Are you rending your heart to Christ or are you holding part of it back?

Is your faith being strengthened with all power according to God's gracious might?

Are your feet being fitted with the readiness that comes from the glorious gospel of peace?

I pray today you and I both will go over and over to the well that never runs dry. Let us draw water from the Lord's cistern and let us drink . . . and drink . . . and drink the living water which alone can quench our thirst. And as we go the well, may we encounter the Lord there just like the Samaritan woman in John 4!

"Lord, I come to You

Let my heart be changed, renewed

Flowing from the grace

That I've found in You

And Lord I come to know

The weaknesses I see in me

Will be stripped away

By the power of Your love

Lord, unveil my eyes

Let me see You face to face

The knowledge of Your love

As You live in me

And Lord, renew my mind

As Your will unfolds in my life

In living every day

By the power of Your love"

-- Extracted from Power of Your Love, Don Moen

Indeed, I pray that you and I will live a life that mirrors the beauty and grace of encountering Christ face to face, a life that images forth the overwhelmingly transformative power of the gospel.

The following story is an amazing account of an encounter with Christ:

"In Damascus 

the governor under King Aretas 

had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. 

But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall 

and slipped through his hands." 

(2 Corinthians 11:32-33, NIV84)

What an amazing story of grace to ponder! 

In the book of Acts, we are given much background info aiding us in grasping the divine favor inherent in the above passage. Saul had left Jerusalem with the determination to persecute the Church. However, Christ confronted Saul in a radical fashion -- a "face-to-face" encounter on the Damascus road that turned his mission of death into a new vision for eternal life. The luminous presence of the Savior blinded his physical eyes so that, through divine grace, Saul’s spiritual eyes could be opened.

Thus, God transformed Saul (the enemy of the Church) into the apostle Paul (a prominent father of the Christian faith expressed in the New Testament). Instead of destroying this self-imposed enemy, our Lord chose to equip and employ him -- allowing him to spend the next three years studying and preparing in Arabia before he returned to Damascus and began to preach the saving truth of the gospel. Once there, the locals and governing authorities (who still thought of Paul as a traitor) were planning to have him killed. Gratefully, God spared Paul’s life by allowing him to escape over the city wall in a basket, leading him to become a powerful instrument in the propagation of the Good News. Praise be the name of Christ!

Have we, like Saul, had an encounter with Christ? Have we, too, been blinded by the sheer penetrating gaze of the King of kings, the Light of the world? Have we, too, experienced the gracious unveiling of the fog clouding our vision from real truth, sincere love, genuine faith, generous forgiveness, boundless grace, and the free gift of salvation? Have we surrendered to the Holy Spirit’s leading as He seeks to equip and employ us to become instruments that are perfectly tuned to the Father’s voice and uncommonly resonant with Christ’s message? Have we become aware of the enemies that dare to oppose God’s work in us, waging war within us through sin?

As we pray, let us remember that Christ’s tête-à-tête approach is not only reserved for the likes of Saul. In fact, He approaches us daily—shining His light on us, speaking His Word to us, calling us to action, protecting us, lowering us in His own basket over walls of pride and anguish, and guiding us to slip through the fingers of our fierce enemies (the devil, the world, and the flesh) to become necessary instruments of His peace in this world. 

Amazing grace! 

Unending Love! 

Amazing Christ!

Lent Day 26: Zion's Song

On this twenty-sixth lenten morning, my heart is drawn to the following verse: 

" ‘Sing, O barren woman, 

you who never bore a child; 

burst into song, shout for joy, 

you who were never in labor; 

because more are the children of the desolate woman 

than of her who has a husband,’ says the Lord" 

Isaiah 54:1, NIV

This barren woman is a metaphor for the original Zion/Jerusalem in light of the greater purposes of God -- " . . . through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me" (Genesis 22:18, NIV). The original Zion (Israel) was the chosen people of God—having received God's salvation, favor, love, blessings, precepts, etc. 

Israel was given the express assignment to be a model for other nations, to be a light to the Gentiles, to bear fruit in bringing other nations to know and serve the Lord. However, far from remaining faithful to the Lord, Israel rejected the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—prostituting herself by worshipping foreign gods and pursuing worthless idols. Thus, the original Zion became "sterile" or barren, spiritually speaking.

Gratefully, Isaiah 49 talks about how the Lord promises to extend salvation not just to His beloved Israel, but to all people who accept Him—a sentiment echoed in Galatians and Colossians as Paul clarifies, “whether Jews or Gentiles, circumcised or uncircumcised, male or female, slave or free”—thereby creating the new Zion, the New Jerusalem, the Church, the bride of Christ. 

"In Christ there is no East or West,

In Him no South or North;

But one great fellowship of love

Throughout the whole wide earth.

Join hands, then, children of the faith,

Whate'er your race may be;

Who serves my Father as a child

Is surely kin to me." 

-- Extracted from In Christ There Is No East or West, 

John Oxenham (1852-1941)

Indeed, in Jesus, salvation and inclusion came to earth as a Light with a brightness that flared into the darkness, one that continues to enlighten and bless everyone who will run to its shining. As more and more hearts are surrendered to Christ, Zion who once was barren proves to grow more and more fertile.

Hence, Zion (the barren woman) is given cause to rejoice and sing instead of lamenting and mourning in disgrace as was common in the context of that culture. Barrenness, in those days suggested there was no one to continue the family line, no one to receive the inheritance of the parents, no growth, no love, no passion, no joy, no success, no significance, no notoriety, no recognition, no purpose. However, God, in His lavish grace, promised to water and plow the sun baked clay of barren Israel and transform it into rich soil (verdant Zion) that bears much fruit for the advancement of His kingdom.

“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion; 

Shout , O Daughter of Jerusalem . . . 

He is the righteous Savior . . . 

and He shall speak peace unto the heathen.” 

Zechariah 9:9-10, NIV

You and I are part of the reason Isaiah 54:1 was written. Pondering this concept, the Holy Spirit convicts me and enlightens my heart to see how often you and I allow ourselves to remain in a state of spiritual barrenness. 

We are barren when . . .

     -  we don't remain attached to the Vine

     -  we don't seek first the Kingdom and righteousness

     -  we don't confess Christ Jesus as Lord to the glory of the Father

     -  we don't rely completely on the grace and finished work of the blood of Christ

     -  we don't allow the Holy Spirit to manifest His fruit in us (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, temperance -- Galatians 5:22-23)

Lenten thought calls us to rend our spiritual barrenness and receive Christ's fruitfulness through total reliance upon the Father whose Spirit alone is able to transform hearts, adding more and more believers to His heavenly family. In other words, our lenten journey beckons us to see that we will remain spiritually barren as long as we keep trying to do anything at all in our own strength. We will be spiritually fruitful only when we accept that fruitfulness really comes from the Spirit of the Father alone.

So, Zion was called to sing because God foresaw and foreknew that we, too, would one day heed Christ's invitation to surrender our hearts to Him. You and I can join in the chorus, waiting with bated breath for future believers who will join the throng. We can pray and sing and worship in light of that hope. 

Soli Deo Gloria!

Lent Day 25: Forsaken

On this twenty-fifth lenten morning, I woke up with a strong sense of my sinfulness. The past comes to me like a percussionist drumming my head with strike after strike of failures and mistakes associated with my heart, my mind, my spirit, and my body. My own conscience reminds me of wrongs I have committed in thought, word, and deed -- the accuser is determined to use such remembrances as strong arms pinning me to the ground.

Thoughts of guilt and remorse abound:

I don't fit in.

I don't measure up.

I don't know how to live rightly.

I don't belong in the community of the saints.

Yet, there is grace.

I am loved by Christ.

I am chosen and washed clean.

I am His alone and He is mine.

I am a treasure in His strong arms.

"Oh praise the One

Who paid my debt

And raised this life

Up from the dead."

-- Extracted from Jesus Paid It All, Kristian Stanfill

I remember the day when I was introduced to the following song, 

“I’m forgiven because You were forsaken

I'm accepted, You were condemned

I'm alive and well, Your spirit is within me

Because You died and rose again.”

-- Extracted from You Are My King, Chris Tomlin

With no doubt in my mind, I picture a horrendous sight—a middle Eastern looking man whose skin is ravaged by thirty-nine lashes, whose forehead is dotted with drops of sweat and blood, whose eyes are filled with tears of sorrow and loving pity, whose ears are bleeding from insults and heavy blows, whose puffy cheeks are crimson red from repeated slapping, whose face reeks of human spittle and rancid vinegar, whose hands and feet are heavily scarred by rusty nails, whose flesh is cruelly mutilated, whose sides are pierced . . . Indeed, Jesus, my precious Lord was forsaken on that old rugged tree.

“He was despised and rejected by mankind . . . 

like one from whom people hide their faces 

He was forsaken, 

and we held Him in low esteem.” 

Isaiah 53:3

He was denied a quick, clean, clinical death by lethal injection; instead, He was forsaken for seemingly interminable hours of agony, hemorrhage, and unimaginable suffering. He was denied an advocate; no protestors begged for repeal of the death penalty after Pontius Pilate washed his hands. Rather, loud cries, angry shouts, taunting jeers, and discolored dribbles were hurled at Him. He was denied the seemingly glorified home-going of a smooth, dignified martyr’s face; in its place, He sported a grotesque appearance causing sensitive folks to hide their faces and rough individuals to ridicule His humiliating death.

Of course, we who believe in the power of the Cross have been called to forsake as well—we are to forsake everything else but Christ Himself. 

We are called to recognize the head that was once capped with thorns and briers as being now crowned with the glory of the Father. Through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord invites us to “seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and evil folks their thoughts” (54:6-7).

Therefore, as we approach the Father’s throne today, let us lay at the cross:

     -  every foul word

     -  every evil thought

     -  every known wicked way

     -  every compromising touch

     -  every greedy aspiration

     -  every impatient turn

     -  every ungrateful sigh

     -  every lustful command

     -  every adulterous glance

     -  every slanderous accusation

     -  every besetting sin

Let us ask the Lord for strength to forsake them on that rugged tree to be mutilated, ravaged, and absorbed into Christ’s sacrifice. Let us pray that we may be unburdened there so that we may worship in the Father’s manifest presence.

Lent Day 24: Praying for Spiritual Leaders

“Pray also for me that whenever I open my mouth,

Words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known

The mystery of the gospel.”

Ephesians 6:19

On this twenty-fourth lenten morning, the Holy Spirit has graciously brought to my conscience yet another item to rend -- my tendency to neglect praying on behalf of individuals placed in spiritual leadership positions.

In Colossians 4:12, we have a picture of a man of God who wrestles continually in prayer for the sake of the body of Christ in general, and for the sake of the local body of believers placed under his care. His name is Epaphras, someone the apostle Paul considers to be “a faithful minister of Christ” to the Colossian believers. A pastor who clearly understood that a successful ministry relied heavily on prayer, Epaphras worked hard on behalf of his Colossian brothers and sisters praying that they would “stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.”

Despite the fact that both Epaphras and Paul prayed fervently for the body of Christ, the Word of God plainly charges not only spiritual leaders but all believers to “pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests . . . to be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:18) 

Indeed, prayer is one of God’s most cherished gifts from His bride. He delights in His people and is so pleased when they call out to Him that the prayers of the saints are kept in precious bowls full of incense (Revelation 5:8)—a pleasing aroma to His nostrils. Christ also loves the church to such an extent that He places reliable leaders to care for, guide, and instruct His people under the direction of the Holy Spirit.

Still, being God’s co-workers, His grace to His people was not granted in vain because such spiritual and reliable leaders are only as strong and effective as the intensity of the prayers of the saints—hence, Paul requests the assistance of the believers (Eph. 6:19).

Should we not pray for our spiritual leaders? The body of Christ should tremble with fear should there ever be designated leaders who come forward without ample prayer support from faithful warriors. Indeed, the Word invites us to eagerly and graciously bathe in prayer and fasting every endeavor of our leaders to greet, pray, exhort, admonish, serve, encourage, or minister. When the people of God pray for those in leadership positions, the Word of God is proclaimed with boldness and clarity, new opportunities arise for the message of transformation to be spoken and shared, and hearts are further made aware of the full and gracious blessedness that is theirs in Christ Jesus.

As we approach the holiness of God, let us be mindful that spiritual leaders are human, too. Though they face the same challenges and temptations as the rest of us do, theirs are accompanied with unequalled scrutiny and responsibility. Let us eagerly pray that their ministerial tasks would cause neither physical nor emotional burnout, neither relational strife nor imbalance between the multiple hats worn by them.

Let us pray that their eyes and minds would be enlightened by the vision of Christ, that their hearts and faith would be strengthened continually, that their study sessions would grow increasingly more Spirit-filled and productive, and that their overall spiritual condition would become more reliant on Christ’s sufficiency.

Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace on behalf of our spiritual leaders -- today, tonight, tomorrow. Let us write them notes of encouragement and gratitude, and let us tell them we are praying for them.

Let us pray!

“If my people, who are called by My name,

Will humble themselves and pray

And seek My face and turn from their wicked ways,

Then I will hear from heaven

And will forgive their sin

And will hear their land.”

2 Chronicles 7:14, NIV

“As it is the business of tailors to make clothes and of cobblers to mend shoes,

so it is the business of Christians to pray.”

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Father, You alone are the sure defense of Your people.

It is so very easy for us

to look at pastors and other spiritual leaders,

to trust our own strategies and resources,

to rely on our own principles

instead of trusting Your help.

And so, we fail time and again . . .

Our spiritual leaders, too, fail when we fail to pray for them.

In fact, Your Word says in 1 Samuel 12:23, “Far be it from [us] that [we] should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for [the Lord’s anointed].”

Help us to remember that You determine the fate of Your people.

You raise up spiritual leaders and pull them down

according to their acceptance or rejection of Your truth.

We are at the disposal of Your wisdom, O Lord;

Our fate is in Your hands alone.

No power on earth,

No resource in this world,

No strategy, no growth plan, no seminary degree

but prayer in accordance with Your will and grace

can transform Your people

into the likeness of Christ.

Thank You for being poised to send heavenly resources to our aid.

Thank You for desiring our sincere, humble, and devoted intercession—

our brokenness, contrition, confession, repentance, and petition—

and for using it all for Your holy purposes.

May we put sackcloth on our hearts and souls

on behalf of our pastor—Your anointed!

Help us to remember that, we, too, are anointed through Your blood and sacrifice

to enter Your holy of holies on behalf of our pastor.

Hear our prayer, O Lord!