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Tag Archives: Lent
Lenten Devotional 7
“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” – Mark 2:22 (NIV)
| New Wine for New Wineskins: Lent 2011 Imani MCC • Durham NC USA |
Tuesday, March 15, 2011 |
I Will Speak to You in Your Language
by Max Lucado
Pilate wrote a sign and put it on the cross.
It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. John 19:19
The framer of our destiny is familiar with our denseness. God knows we sometimes miss the signs. Maybe that’s why he has given us so many. The rainbow after the flood signifies God’s covenant. Circumcision identifies God’s chosen, and the stars portray the size of his family. Even today, we see signs in the New Testament church. Communion is a sign of his death, and baptism is a sign of our spiritual birth. Each of these signs symbolizes a greater spiritual truth.
The most poignant sign, however, was found on the cross. A trilingual, hand- painted, Roman-commissioned sign.
Every passerby could read the sign, for every passerby could read Hebrew, Latin, or Greek – the three great languages of the ancient world. “Hebrew was the language of Israel, the language of religion; Latin the language of the Romans, the language of law and government; and Greek the language of Greece, the language of culture. Christ was declared king in them all.” God had a message for each. “Christ is king.” The message was the same, but the languages were different. Since Jesus was a king for all people, the message would be in the tongues of all people.
There is no language God will not speak. Which leads us to a delightful question. What language is he speaking to you? I’m not referring to an idiom or dialect but to the day-to-day drama of your life. God does speak, you know. He speaks to us in whatever language we will understand.
There are times he speaks the “language of abundance.” Is your tummy full? Are your bills paid? Got a little jingle in your pocket? Don’t be so proud of what you have that you miss what you need to hear.
Are you hearing the “language of need”? Or how about the “language of affliction”? Talk about an idiom we avoid. But you and I both know how clearly God speaks in hospital hallways and sickbeds.
God speaks all languages – including yours. Has he not said, “I will … teach you in the way you should go” (Ps. 32:8 NIV)? Are we not urged to “receive instruction from His mouth” (Job 22:22 NASB)? What language is God speaking to you?
And aren’t you glad he is speaking? Aren’t you grateful that he cares enough to talk? Isn’t it good to know that “the LORD tells his secrets to those who respect him” (Ps. 25:14)?
Think a word of thanks to him would be appropriate? And while you’re at it, ask him if you might be missing any signs he is sending your way.
From He Chose the Nails © Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2001) Max Lucado
Tagged Lent, Max Lucado, sign from god
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Lenten Devotional 6
“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” – Mark 2:22 (NIV)
| New Wine for New Wineskins: Lent 2011 Imani MCC • Durham NC USA |
Monday, March 14, 2011 |
Untangling Life’s Knots
by Max Lucado
It’s your best friend’s wedding. “I’ll take care of the reception,” you’d volunteered. You planned the best party possible. You hired the band, rented the hall, catered the meal, decorated the room, and asked your Aunt Bertha to bake the cake.
Now the band is playing and the guests are milling, but Aunt Bertha is nowhere to be seen. Everything is here but the cake. You sneak over to the pay phone and dial her number. She’s been taking a nap. She thought the wedding was next week.
Oh boy! Now what do you do? Talk about a problem! Everything is here but the cake …
Sound familiar?
It might. It’s exactly the dilemma Jesus’ mother, Mary, was facing. Back then, wine was to a wedding what cake is to a wedding today.
What Mary faced was a social problem. No need to call 911, but no way to sweep the embarrassment under the rug, either.
When you think about it, most of the problems we face are of the same caliber. We’re late for a meeting. We leave something at the office. A coworker forgets a report. Mail gets lost. Traffic gets snarled. The waves rocking our lives are not life threatening yet. But they can be. A poor response to a simple problem can light a fuse.
For that reason you might want to note how Mary reacted. Her solution poses a practical plan for untangling life’s knots. “They have no more wine,” she told Jesus (John 2:3). That’s it. That’s all she said. She didn’t go ballistic. She simply assessed the problem and gave it to Christ.
It’s so easy to focus on everything but the solution. Mary didn’t do that. She simply looked at the knot, assessed it, and took it to the right person. “I’ve got one here I can’t untie, Jesus.”
“When all the wine was gone Jesus’ mother said to him, ‘They have no more wine’” (John 2:3).
Please note, she took the problem to Jesus before she took it to anyone else. A friend told me about a tense deacons’ meeting he attended. Apparently there was more agitation than agreement, and after a lengthy discussion, someone suggested, “Why don’t we pray about it?” to which another questioned, “Has it come to that?”
What causes us to think of prayer as the last option rather than the first?
From A Gentle Thunder © Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2006) Max Lucado
Tagged knots, Lent, Lenten devotional, Max Lucado, prayer, tangles
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Lenten Devotional 5
“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” – Mark 2:22 (NIV)
| New Wine for New Wineskins: Lent 2011 Imani MCC • Durham NC USA |
Sunday, March 13, 2011 |
When You Speak, God Hears
by Max Lucado
Those who pray keep alive the watch fires of faith. For the most part we don’t even know their names. Such is the case of someone who prayed on a day long ago. His name is not important. He is important not because of who he was, but because of what he did.
He went to Jesus on behalf of a friend. His friend was sick, and Jesus could help, and someone needed to go to Jesus, so someone went. Others cared for the sick man in other ways. Some brought food; others provided treatment; still others comforted the family. Each role was crucial. Each person was helpful, but no one was more vital than the one who went to Jesus.
John writes: “So Mary and Martha sent someone to tell Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is sick’” (John 11:3, emphasis mine).
Someone carried the request. Someone walked the trail. Someone went to Jesus on behalf of Lazarus. And because someone went, Jesus responded.
In the economy of heaven, the prayers of saints are a valued commodity. John the apostle would agree. He wrote the story of Lazarus and was careful to show the sequence: The healing began when the request was made.
The phrase the friend of Lazarus used is worth noting. When he told Jesus of the illness, he said, “The one you love is sick.” The power of the prayer, in other words, does not depend on the one who makes the prayer but on the one who hears the prayer.
We can and must repeat the phrase in manifold ways. “The one you love is tired, sad, hungry, lonely, fearful, depressed.” The words of the prayer vary, but the response never changes. The Savior hears the prayer. He silences heaven so he won’t miss a word. The Master heard the request. Jesus stopped whatever he was doing and took note of the man’s words. This anonymous courier was heard by God.
John’s message is critical. You can talk to God because God listens. Your voice matters in heaven. He takes you very seriously. When you enter his presence, the attendants turn to you to hear your voice. No need to fear that you will be ignored. Even if you stammer or stumble, even if what you have to say impresses no one, it impresses God – and he listens.
Intently. Carefully. The prayers are honored as precious jewels. Purified and empowered, the words rise in a delightful fragrance to our Lord. “The smoke from the incense went up from the angel’s hand to God” (Rev. 8:4). Incredible. Your words do not stop until they reach the very throne of God.
One call and heaven’s fleet appears. Your prayer on earth activates God’s power in heaven.
You are the someone of God’s kingdom. Your prayers move God to change the world. You may not understand the mystery of prayer. You don’t need to. But this much is clear: Actions in heaven begin when someone prays on earth. What an amazing thought!
When you speak, Jesus hears.
And when Jesus hears, the world is changed.
All because someone prayed.
From For the Tough Times: Reaching Toward Heaven for Hope and Healing © (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006) Max Lucado
Tagged Lent, Lenten devotional, Max Lucado, prayer
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