February 26, 2020

Rerun of Daily Devotional February 14, 2018

Tom L. sent the following devotional. I think it is very appropriate for Ash Wednesday. I agree with everything Tom said, except the very last line. That’s when he really goofed it up. I pray you get as much out of Tom’s devotional as I did.

These are Tom’s words:
Matthew 4:4 But Jesus answered, “It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.”

“A couple weeks ago I had the honor of bringing a message to the Wellspring service. I encouraged all of us to listen closely for God speaking to us.

This is what I said at that time.

One of the first things I was taught when I returned to the church was to pray. At first I wasn’t very good at it. But, I literally would just talk to God. Little by little, I came to see that answers come in many different ways.

Signs/answers can be in music, in affirmation from others, in dreams, in understandings that really come from no other explanation than the Holy Spirit.

So if you are looking for those answers, look broadly, listen, and continue to pray confident that God will answer.

So, I was reminded of those words Sunday in church when Pastor Tom spoke to us about the temptations Jesus faced after fasting for 40 days in the wilderness.

Man, or “One,” as the newer translations read, “does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

In Sunday’s service Pastor Tom also encouraged each of us to look at a Lenten discipline of “giving something up, or taking something additional on.”

Raise your hand if you have “given up chocolate, coffee, pizza, or Brussel sprouts” for a Lenten discipline. In other words, has the true purpose of a Lenten Discipline been lost on some of us as we go through the routine steps of the church calendar each year?

I don’t know the answer for you, but for me, I am afraid maybe it has. But, Sunday, I heard a clear answer in scripture, and the message from our Pastor, and the answer was simply to live on something other than bread, for the period of Lent.

So, please pray for me, as we enter into Lent, and I will pray that the Holy Spirit will lead all of us to a Holy and purposeful Lenten season.

Prayer – Gracious God, thank you for the power of your Holy Spirit, that answers our prayers, speaks to us through the words and actions of others, and leads us toward our heavenly kingdom home. Help us to observe a Holy, thoughtful, and meaningful time of preparation. Help us to study, learn, and listen as you lead us toward the cross. Amen.

Your Lenten discipline is between you and God, and no, Pastor Tom, giving up Brussel Sprouts does not count.”

Tom L. was on a roll until he wrote that last line. That’s when he went off the rails.

I pray your day is filled with joy and laughter.
Tom “Robbins