ENTER INTO HIS KINGDOM

"What are you giving up for Lent?" We hear that question every Spring. It is a custom to give up something we enjoy, as a sacrifice before Easter, to help remind us of the greater sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

Someone said, "I’m not given up anything for Lent. It’s just another way for me to feel guilty." We don’t have to have negative feelings about ourselves. The idea is to be thankful for all God has done for us, not what we have not done.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the gateway to Lent. We have forty days to get ourselves right with God, to learn of Him and to know ourselves more fully before Easter.

I would like to suggest another type of sacrifice. To live in the presence of God is to stand in the light of pure love. Everything that is not love, must be set aside. For Lent, let us enter into God’s kingdom, His presence, as we shed that which is dark in our lives.

I’m afraid I’m not able to point out your shortcomings. It’s a full-time job just facing my own. But, for these forty days of Lent, you and I may try being honest. For Lent, we may want to give up hate and jealousy. We might let go of anger and resentment. What about laziness and greed? Use the time of Lent to make an inventory of your life and rid yourself of whatever is other than Love, and what is left is fit for the Kingdom of God. Let us pray:

"Father of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, we seek your Holy presence, your precious kingdom. May we open our secret thoughts to you, oh God, knowing that you already know us better than we know ourselves. We ask this day for insight into the chains that bind us to the dark places of our soul and bring us into your Light. Give us a noble heart that we might be brave enough to face the truth about ourselves. Forgive us when we have been lazy and refused to make an honest assessment of our lives. What will be left after the fire of sin has been burned away, is more beautiful and loving than anything we can ever imagine. In the name of Jesus, your son, we pray. Amen"

Doris
"God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine."
Copyright 2012 Doris Gaines Rapp

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Also: http://www.lengthofdays2112.blogspot.com
http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/DorisRapp-1207656-length-ofdays-the-age-silence/