Lenten Lessons - Thursday, March 2

These are my notes from my Lenten readings today.  I am going to type them up here, when I can so that when Easter comes, I can come back and really see what God is trying to teach me in this season.  Because I know he has something for me to learn.


Lent for Everyone - NT Wright  - Devotional on Bible App
Matthew 3
John the Baptist fulfilled one of the most famous OT prophesies of all time.
The God in heaven will come back and be king of the earth......what the Jewish people of the time were waiting for.

John the Baptist shows up saying that heaven is going to take charge of the earth again,
He is the Voice in the wilderness -- preparing the way

Not to take God for granted -- God is reshaping Abraham's family

"Produce fruit in keeping with repentance" Matthew 3:8



40 Days of Decrease by Alicia Britt Chloe

"Christian spirituality, the contemplative life, is not about us.  It is about God. The great weakness of American spirituality is that it is all about us: fulfilling our potential, getting the blessings of God, expanding our influence, finding our gifts, getting a handle on principles by which we can get an edge over the competition.  THe more there is of us, the less there is of GOD." --- Eugene Peterson

Insatiable narcissism.   " Lent invites us to walk with Jesus through our darker seasons that we want to avoid -- grief, conflict, betrayal, misunderstanding, rejection, pain, etc....

The disciples are disillusioned by the things Jesus is now doing.  They had seen his power.  He had raised the dead, healed the sick, calmed the waves and silenced the Pharisees.  He now allows himself to be arrested and refuses to defend himself to the same Pharisees.  He refuses to save himself.

John 12:12-19 -- The crowd waves palm branches and waves them, shouting "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!  Jesus rides in on a donkey,  The disciples are confused.

Calm My Anxious Heart  by Linda Dillow - Chapter 1 (My Journey To Contentment)  - Day 4  --

Ella was a missionary with pygmies in Africa for 52 years.   She had a "holy habit" of contentment.
She wrote her prescription for contentment in her journal:

*Never allow yourself to complain about anything - not even the weather.

*Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else.

*Never compare your lot with another's.

*Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.

*Never dwell on tomorrow - remember that (tomorrow) is God's, not ours.

Can't wait to see where all of this goes!