Day Eleven - Lenten Devotionals 2010

Scripture Text: Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. – John 15:4-10

Abiding in Christ: Missionary pioneer J. Hudson Taylor of China was working and worrying so frantically that his health was about to break. Just when his friends feared he was near a breakdown, Taylor received a letter from fellow missionary John McCarthy that told of a discovery McCarthy had made from John 15—the joy of abiding in Christ. McCarthy’s letter said in part:

Abiding, not striving or struggling; looking off unto Him; trusting Him for present power … this is not new, and yet ’tis new to me.… Christ literally all seems to me now the power, the only power for service; the only ground for unchanging joy.

As Hudson Taylor read this letter at his mission station in Chin-kiang on Saturday, September 4, 1869, his own eyes were opened. “As I read,” he recalled, “I saw it all. I looked to Jesus, and when I saw, oh how the joy flowed!” Writing to his sister in England, he said:

As to work, mine was never so plentiful, so responsible, or so difficult; but the weight and strain are all gone. The last month or more has been perhaps the happiest of my life, and I long to tell you a little of what the Lord has done for my soul.…

When the agony of soul was at its height, a sentence in a letter from dear McCarthy was used to remove the scales from my eyes, and the Spirit of God revealed the truth of our oneness with Jesus as I had never known it before. McCarthy, who had been much exercised by the same sense of failure, but saw the light before I did, wrote “But how to get faith strengthened? Not by striving after faith but by resting on the Faithful One.”

As I read, I saw it all!.… As I thought of the Vine and the branches, what light the blessed Spirit poured into my soul! – Nelson’s Complete book of stories.

Meditation: Connected with Him in His love, I am more than conqueror; without Him, I am nothing. Like some railway tickets in America, I am “Not good if detached.”—Corrie Ten Boom

Day Ten - Lenten Devotionals 2010

Scripture Text: ^“For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:21-24)

Inspiration: A missionary in Brazil who discovered a tribe of Indians in a remote part of the jungle. They lived near a large river. The tribe was in need of medical attention. A contagious disease was ravaging the population. People were dying daily. A hospital was not too terribly far away — across the river, but the Indians would not cross it because they believed the river was inhabited by evil spirits. And to enter its water would mean certain death. The missionary explained how he had crossed the river & was unharmed. But they were not impressed. He then took them to the bank & placed his hand in the water. They still wouldn’t go in. He walked into the water up to his waist & splashed water on his face. It didn’t matter. They were still afraid to enter the river. Finally, he dove into the river, swam beneath the surface until he emerged on the other side. He raised a triumphant fist into the air. He had entered the water & escaped. It was then that the Indians broke into a cheer & followed him across. Isn’t that what Jesus did? He entered the river of death & came out on the other side so that we might no longer fear death, but find eternal life in Him. Max Lucado, "Six Hours One Friday.”

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord, I pray today for your blessing of patience in suffering, suffering for the sake of your kingdom to be established in the hearts of everyone. Amen.

Day Nine -Lenten Devotionals 2010

Scripture Text: “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33)

Discipleship occurs only in community: Very few people are expert in anything all by themselves. They need a supporting community. Do you know a good musician who was not trained, nurtured and sustained by the music community? Show me an athlete who achieves excellence all alone, apart from the athletic community. Very few wise men become so without the accumulated wisdom of the centuries as expressed in colleges and universities and libraries. Medical people are more like ensembles and symphonies than soloists. What business tycoon does it all on his own without dedicated experts in finance, engineering, personnel, and marketing? Excellence requires participation in, and support of, a community of like-minded people.

Likewise in the church- a forerunner of the new kingdom. Very few achieve Christian maturity all by themselves. Seldom is the Bible studied diligently without the aid of scholars and teachers. Rarely are people led to generosity by their own impulses. - Maurice A. Fetty.

The Cost of Discipleship: “The cross is laid on every Christian. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death–we give over our lives to death. The cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Prayer for today: Dear Lord! Help me to walk closely with you each day amidst life storms, suffering, difficulties, temptations, and trials for the sake of Your kingdom. Amen.

Day Eight - Lenten Devotionals 2010

Scripture Text: “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Mark 8:35

Inspiration: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the great German theologian in the first half of the twentieth century said in his The Cost of Discipleship: “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die” These were not ivory tower academics for Bonhoeffer, who paid the personal cost of discipleship in execution at age 39 on April 9, 1945. He had bravely resisted Hitler and the Nazi State when most of Germany’s clergy supported the Third Reich. In 1943 he was part of a group that tried twice but failed to assassinate Hitler. The word “fuehrer” in German literally means “leader or guide.” Standing up as Christ’s disciple on a radio broadcast in Berlin he had bravely rebuked the German Church for having allied with the Nazi, “There can only be one Fuehrer for Christians, and it isn’t Adolf Hitler.’ The radio address was brought to an abrupt halt, a foreboding prologue to things to come” - Ron Walters

The Cost of Discipleship: “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Prayer for today: Dear Lord! Help me to be a true discipleship of you and use me as your instrument for your Kingdom of Love. Let my eyes see what you see people and let my feet go where you have gone in Heavenly Father’s will. Amen.

Day Seven - Lenten Devotionals 2010

Scripture Text: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18).

Little Boy’s Idea In Tennessee: When approaching the railway town of Harriman in eastern Tennessee, passengers are attracted by a huge, illuminated Cross on top of one of the surrounding mountains. The cross is lighted at night, the city furnishing the current free. The originator: Five-year-old Dan Denny, while visiting in a neighbor’s home, received a little cross to play with. He hung it on his window. When his mother inquired about the display, little Dan said: “Because someone might see it and think about Jesus and try to be good.” His mother was so impressed with the idea that she spoke of it to her friends and suggested that a large cross erected at some suitable place might do a great deal of good. The churches in that area took up the matter, and the cross was set on the mountaintop.

Meditation: I saw that just as Christian came up to the Cross, his burden loosed from his shoulders and fell off his back and landed in the sepulcher. Then was Christian glad and lightsome and said with a merry heart, “He hath given me rest by His sorrow, and life by His death.”—John Bunyan, in Pilgrim’s Progress.

Prayer for today: Dear Lord! Thank you for reminding me with the sign of your cross to live better life for others. Your cross has changed my life, saved my souls, reconciled with enemies, and giving peace of mind. Thank you for such a blessing. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Day Six 0 Lenten 2010

Scripture Text: “Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24)

THE CASE OF CHRIST: [Richard] Bandler tells one story about visiting a mental institution and dealing with a man who insisted he was Jesus Christ - not metaphorically, not in spirit, but in the flesh. One day Bandler walked in to meet this man. "Are you Jesus?" he said. "Yes, my son," the man replied. Bandler said, "I’ll be back in a minute." This left the man a little bit confused. Within three or four minutes, Bandler came back, holding a measuring tape. Asking the man to hold out his arms, Bandler measured the length of his arms and his height from head to toe. After that, Bandler left. The man claiming to be Christ became a little concerned. A little while later, Bandler came back with a hammer, some large spiked nails, and a long set of boards. He began to pound them into the form of a cross. The man asked, "What are you doing?" As Richard put the last nails in the cross, he asked, "Are you Jesus?" Again the man said, "Yes my son." Bandler said, "Then you know why I’m here." Somehow, the man suddenly recalled who he really was. His old pattern didn’t seem like such a good idea. "I’m not Jesus. I’m not Jesus!" the man started yelling. Case closed. - Source: Robbins, Anthony.

Meditation: Only one act of pure love, unsullied by any taint of ulterior motive, has ever been performed in the history of the world, namely the self-giving of God in Christ on the cross for undeserving sinners.—John Stott

Prayer for today: Dear lord! Strengthen me to be able to carry the cross you commanded me to carry. Help me to remember to take the cross and carry every day. In your name. Amen.

Day Five - Lenten 2010

Scripture Text: “Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man. After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue. ³⁴He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means, "Be opened!" ). At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement. "He has done everything well," they said. "He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak." (Mark 7:31-37)

Inspiration: There is a story about a little girl who proudly wore a shiny cross on a chain around her neck. One day she was approached by a man who said to her, "Little girl, don't you know that the cross Jesus died on wasn't beautiful like the one you're wearing? It was an ugly, wooden thing." To which the girl replied, "Yes, I know. But they told me in Sunday school that whatever Jesus touches, He changes."- Howard Strickland

Meditation: The touch of Jesus T-ransforms (2 Corinthians 5:17), O-rdains (John 15:16), U-nifies (Psalms 133:1), C-onquers (Romans 8:37), and H-eals (Matthew 8:3).

Prayer for today: Dear Lord! Touch me and transform me to be your hands so that people will be transformed with my touch. Let me be your healing tool. Amen.

Day Four - Lenten 2010

February 20, 2010

Scripture Text: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. (John 15:9-10)

Mother Charges Nothing: A mother found under her place one morning at breakfast a bill made out by her small son, Bradley, aged eight—Mother owes Bradley: for running errands, 25 cents; for being good, 10 cents; for taking music lessons, 15 cents; for extras, 5 cents. Total, 55 cents. Mother smiled but made no comment. At lunch Bradley found the bill under his plate with 55 cents and another piece of paper neatly folded like the first. Opening it he read—Bradley owes Mother: for nursing him through scarlet fever, nothing; for being good to him, nothing; for clothes, shoes and playthings, nothing; for his playroom, nothing; for his meals, nothing. Total: nothing. —Selected

Meditation: Everything we receive from Jesus is “free of charge” and it is “His Grace” for us. Our lives, our voices, our time, our treasurers, our families, and our salvation… all free of charge, sufficient grace, His unconditional love. And He wants us to obey His commend to love others.

Prayer for today: Father, thank you for your unconditional love and gracious grace upon me. Help me to realize each day and to be able to share your love to my family and friends through my lips, my life, and my heart. Amen.

Day Three - Lenten 2010

February 19, 2010

Scripture Text: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

Illustration: There are certain things when you are in a foreign country that you can’t bring back into the United States. Adrian Rogers tells of a time when he was coming back into this country and he was going thru security. There was a man in front of Adrian Rogers who had some gourmet cheese. The inspector said, “I’m sorry sir, you cannot bring this cheese into this country.” The man and the inspector argued for a few minutes, until finally the man said, ‘oh yes, I am going to bring it into this country you just watch.” Walked to the back of the line and ate the cheese then walked right on thru. They may say we can’t take Jesus into the public schools but as long as He is in us we’re taking Him everywhere we go.

Texts for Meditation: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. ²¹To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.” (Revelation 3:20-21)

Prayer for today: Lord Jesus, I open my heart for you today. I prepare my heart with sincere repentance and obedience to your word. Dwell in me and make me your servant. Amen.

Day Two - Lenten 2010

February 18, 2010

Scripture Text: “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

Christ and Judas In “Last Supper”: When Leonardo da Vinci was painting his masterpiece The Last Supper, he sought long for a model for his Christ. At last he located a chorister in one of the churches of Rome who was lovely in life and features, a young man named Pietro Bandinelli. Years passed, and the painting was still unfinished. All the disciples had been portrayed save one—Judas Iscariot. Now he started to find a man whose face was hardened and distorted by sin—and at last he found a beggar on the streets of Rome with a face so villainous, he shuddered when he looked at him. He hired the man to sit for him as he painted the face of Judas on his canvas. When he was about to dismiss the man, he said, “I have not yet found out your name.” “I am Pietro Bandinelli,” he replied, “I also sat for you as your model of Christ.” —Indian Christian

Meditation: Who am I? What is my image look like? Am I sometime look like Jesus and sometime Judah? Always look like Jesus or always look like Judah? It depends on how close or how far I am away from Jesus.

Prayer for today: Dear Father, help me to walk closely with Your Son Jesus Christ so that I will be like Him, and will think the way He thinks, will speak the way He speaks, will do the way He does, and will love the way He loves. Amen.

Ash Wednesday 2010

Lent Devotional 2010
Day One – February 17, 2010 - Ash Wednesday

Define: “Ash Wednesday” is the seventh Wednesday before Easter and the first day of Lent, on which many Christians receive a mark of ashes on the forehead as a token of penitence and mortality.

Scripture Text: If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9)

Meditation: A flippant youth asked a preacher, “You say that unsaved people carry a weight of sin. I feel nothing. How heavy is sin? Is it ten pounds? Eighty pounds?” The preacher replied by asking the youth, “If you laid a four-hundred-pound weight on a corpse, would it feel the load?” The youth replied, “It would feel nothing, because it is dead.” The preacher concluded, “That spirit, too, is indeed dead which feels no load of sin or is indifferent to its burden and flippant about its presence.” The youth was silenced!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for your unconditional love upon me. Thank you for your salvation through your Son Jesus Christ. Forgive my sins and help me to walk with you on the way you want me to go. In Jesus’ name. Amen.