Quote from Forum Archives on March 6, 2003, 9:27 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

As of yesterday, the Lenten season has come once again. For
some people, it's nothing more than a "Fat Tuesday" celebration,
a "Mardi Gras", or something similar, a traditional reason to
party. But for those who know and love Jesus Christ, it's yet
another season to remember not only the day to day personal
relationship with Him, but the depth of His love, the extents to
which He went to demonstrate His love for us, and a chance for
each of us to respond to Him, fresh and new, and also to reflect
upon all of this.

I don't know about you, but for me, as much as I deeply and
dearly love my Lord, and as much as I love my family, my
friends, and people I come into contact with regularly, I really
need to be renewed, and often at that. I believe the Bible
supports and encourages that, in fact, we DO renew ourselves -
in the Word of God, encouraging one another, reading the Bible,
praying for one another, and constantly seeking the face of God
Himself.

As we do these things, they don't save us, for we have already
been saved, assuming we've placed our hope and trust in Jesus
Christ. What they do is purify and renew our lives, and they
free us to acknowledge God in every way, and choose each day to
continue to serve Him. That's the kind of stuff I can
understand and appreciate.

Dear Lord,

Please direct our attitudes and actions as we meet, and further
encourage us to continue to meet and encourage one another,
remembering that it is You who is our real object of love and
attention. Enable each of us to love one another by the power
of the love that comes from Your Spirit. Amen.

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The following is excerpted from "The King, Crucified and Risen,
Meditations on the Passion and Glory of Christ" by Benedict
Groeschel, C.F.R. (Servant Publications, 2002).
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
March 6, 2003

I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse;
therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live,
loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to
him.--Deuteronomy 30:19-20

If you love me, you will keep my commandments.--John 14:15

Lent is a time for choosing. For most people reading these
pages, it Is a time for renewing choices made many times
before. That can be a problem. The recognition that we often
take two steps forward and one step back can be discouraging in
itself. We begin to question our own sincerity.

The fact is that we must repeat and renew our choices over and
over again. This is especially the case when the behavior we
want to get rid of or avoid, or the new approach we want to
take, is at odds with our true deep feelings or when we have
mixed motives. "I would like to choose the right, the love of
God, life," many of us say, "but not if it's too demanding."
Moses knew very well what he was saying when he told the
Israelites: Choose life or choose death.

Even people who work hard at being good Christians will find
areas in themselves that are still in need of conversion. St.
Paul's advice, "Press on!" is very much aimed at this
realization of our divided inclinations and desires. Conversion
is a lifelong process.

Often our conscious resolutions to change come to nothing
because we don't know ourselves. We all have powerful dynamisms
or energies operating in us--the need to live, or to love and
be loved, or to be happy. We may have a disproportionate need
for security or acceptance. We may hate and love ourselves at
the same time. To begin, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to
know ourselves better is to prepare the ground for deeper
conversion.

Get to know yourself, and make this Lent a time of choosing, of
going down inside and asking, Do I really choose life? Do I
really keep the commandments as Christ indicated they must be
kept by those who love Him?

Prayer
Lord Jesus, give me the light of Your Holy Spirit that I may
more clearly choose the life You came to give. Help me to
really repent on a truly deep level, and help me genuinely to
lead others around me to a more Christian life and a more
honest and complete discipleship. Amen.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If you enjoyed the abridged version of today's devotional, you
may want to purchase "The King, Crucified and Risen" at:

www.christianbook.com/html/static/52892.html?p=1016078

Sincerely,
Your Friends at Christianbook.com
www.christianbook.com

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=====
--
Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

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