Lent Devotional 2020

Reclaiming the Truth

“After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So, he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!’” Luke 15.14-17

Redeeming the Time

Can you remember a time when you were in desperate need…I mean, really in need?  So desperate that you were trying everything to get out of your situation or circumstances. Maybe like the younger son in the story, you were so hungry and thirsty for some kind of help that you would do anything.

It is at this point we usually find ourselves broken. Out of all solutions, fixes, and answers. All that is left is a desperate cry for help. I remember a story of a man who was on an airplane, and the turbulence got so bad everyone thought they were surely going to crash. The man grabs the hand of the woman sitting next to him and says, “Should we pray?” She responded, “Oh NO!  Has it really come to that!?”

What do you do when you are in a desperate situation? What do you do when you find yourself hungry and thirsty for more than what this life has to offer? What do you do when you are in a place that feels very distant from the loving embrace of the Father? 

God allows brokenness to happen in our lives for true redemption and healing to happen. It is in this place He turns our despair into praise! He does not delight in our desperation or brokenness but allows it so that we finally leave the tired methods of coping and hiding, or staying in our hurt so that we might feast on what He has prepared for us. Here, we will not hunger or thirst, rather we will be satisfied to the fullest and praise will be the cry of our hearts!

Reflection

• Describe a time when you were at your lowest. 
• Where was God and what was your belief about God at that time?
• Looking back, how might you praise Him for his allowance of that time?

Resting in His Redemption 

Rest and receive His truth in these verses of life.

“I will bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” – Isaiah 63.3

“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” – Psalm 34.8

“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name, I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.” – Psalm 63.1-5

Reclaiming the Truth

“The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.” – Luke 15.12-13 

Redeeming the Time

We can all probably relate to the younger son. Demanding from God what we want from Him and not realizing how much we need Him…not His stuff, just His presence. As the song says, we are, “prone to wander, prone to leave the God we love.”

The younger son is in all of us. When things aren’t like we hope they would be, our tendency is to take what we can get and run. God, in His perfect love, allows us to run. He gives us the freedom to chase after what we want and what we think will make us happy. He knows His way is better, but He doesn’t force us into it. He invites us. The invitation is always available.

Are you running from someone or some situation today? Do you hear the invitation of the Father? It is usually a quiet whisper. It requires stopping and listening. Seeking and finding.

Before you run any further, take a moment and be still before the Father. Be reminded of what He has done for you. What He has done for you is exactly what He is inviting you to do for others.

Reflection

• Is there a time when you knowingly turned away and ran from God?
• Describe a time when you realized your need for God’s presence over His gifts.
• As you are still before God and listening, what is He saying to you?

Resting in His Redemption

Rest and receive His truth in these verses of life. 

“I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” – Psalm 16.7-11

 “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” – Psalm 139.7-12

Reclaiming the Truth 

Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.” So he got up and went to his father.

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”

But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” So they began to celebrate.

Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. “Your brother has come,” he replied, “and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.” The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!”

“My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”  Luke 15.11-32

Redeeming the Time

If you are like me, you can find yourself all over this story. It is a familiar parable to most of us and usually centers around the two sons and the mistakes they make. We all can likely relate to them on some level. This week, however, we will focus on the father. The father in this story reflects the character and nature of our Heavenly Father, and we are created to reflect and bear His image.

The story of the prodigal son reminds us of our God who doesn’t just forgive but loves us so extravagantly and lavishly. No matter how far we have strayed, no matter how long we have strayed. It is a love that He is inviting us to rest in and receive. It is also a love that He is inviting us to respond to. 

When we are able to move our focus from being one of the sons in the story to become like the father, redemption takes on a whole new meaning. There, we are able to move from being the victim of our past sins and failures to living as a victor of who we are in Him…fully redeemed and completely beloved. Once we are able to make that move, we find deeper the love of Christ in us and it can’t help but to spill out to those around us.

 Reflection               

• What does this text show me about the loveliness of God?
• What is it about God in this text that calls for your love for him?
• What does this text show you about people and what love requires of you on their behalf?
• As one what has been shown mercy and love from God, what empowerment from Him do you need to overcome your obstacles to love?
• What about the love of God in Jesus gives you hope and provision for your own lovelessness?
• What does it look like to rest and receive His redemptive love today? 

Resting in His Redemption

Write a prayer of thanksgiving in response to His redemptive love.

Singing the Redemption Song – Psalm 25

“Praise the Lord, my soul;    

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, my soul,
    

and forget not all his benefits—

who forgives all your sins
    

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit
    

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things
    

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The Lord works righteousness
    

and justice for all the oppressed.

He made known his ways to Moses,
    

his deeds to the people of Israel:

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    

slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse,
    

nor will he harbor his anger forever;

he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    

or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    

so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,
    

so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,
    

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

for he knows how we are formed,
    

he remembers that we are dust.

The life of mortals is like grass,
    

they flourish like a flower of the field;

the wind blows over it and it is gone,
    

and its place remembers it no more.

But from everlasting to everlasting
    

the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
    

and his righteousness with their children’s children—

with those who keep his covenant
    

and remember to obey his precepts.

The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
    

and his kingdom rules over all.

Praise the Lord, you his angels,
    

you mighty ones who do his bidding,
    

who obey his word.

Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
    

you his servants who do his will.

Praise the Lord, all his works
    

everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.”

Celebrating Redemption

Each Saturday, we celebrate a redemption story of someone in our Faith Family. Today we celebrate God’s redemption in the life of Genesis & Destiny Cabassa along with their mom and dad, Sarah and Jason. You can watch their story here.

Reflection

• Where specifically do you see God at work in the Cabassa’s story?
• How do you see God at work in your story today?
• Where are you currently celebrating redemption?

Resting in His Redemption

Jason and Sarah bless their children with the following truth. Spend a few moments receiving His truth today.

“The God we serve is forgiving. He restores. He is loving, beautiful, real, and powerful. My prayer is that you know that you and the situations that come before may not always line up perfectly. We too have an example of Christ to follow…You are a part of a testimony that shows God’s grace and mercy, and you are a blessing. Know who stands with you and walk forward in boldness…I thank God that His mercy is sufficient.”

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” 1 Timothy 4.12