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| No pagan gods. Shiva Nataraja, The Lord of the Dance, Early 13th Century At Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City |
A prayer of David. Bend down, O LORD, and
hear my prayer; answer me, for I need your help. Protect me, for I am devoted
to you. Save me, for I serve you and trust you. You are my God. Be merciful to
me, O Lord, for I am calling on you constantly. Give me happiness, O Lord, for
I give myself to you. O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of
unfailing love for all who ask for your help. Listen closely to my prayer, O
LORD; hear my urgent cry. I will call to you whenever I'm in trouble, and you
will answer me. No pagan god is like you, O Lord. None can do what you do! All
the nations you made will come and bow before you, Lord; they will praise your
holy name. For you are great and perform wonderful deeds. You alone are God.
Teach me your ways, O LORD, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me
purity of heart, so that I may honor you. Psalm 86:1-11
From this Scripture passage…You alone are God. Teach me your ways, O
LORD, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so
that I may honor you. Teach me. I am
willing to learn more about God every day so that I may know God’s purity. That can come only from a living, loving God--our God, not a pagan god.
David is asking for a lot from God: mercy,
happiness, forgiveness, love, purity, teaching, salvation, and to hear his prayers. Don’t
we ask the same things? Just look around you…people want to be happy. Would
they believe in God as their Savior IF He gave them happiness? I doubt it. They
would probably just live the good life and bask in their happy times, being in
their happy place. I think what we need in life is really joy. Joy doesn’t
depend on circumstances. You can even feel joy
in the midst of chaos, grief, unhappiness, or even war.
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that
all who love your name may be filled with joy. Psalm 5:11
Grief will turn to joy.
I tell you the truth, you will weep and
mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will
grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy.
John 16:20
Be glad. Rejoice.
So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy
ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These
trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests
and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So
when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much
praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the
whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do
not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious,
inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of
your souls. 1 Peter 1:6-9
During Lent, can you look for the joy that
Jesus brings to your life?
Prayer
~ A prayer for the beginning of the season of Lent, by Henri
Nouwen:
The Lenten season begins.
It is a time to be with you, Lord, in a special way, a
time to pray, to fast, and thus to follow you on your way to Jerusalem, to
Golgotha, and to the final victory over death.
I am still so divided. I
truly want to follow you, but I also want to follow my own desires and lend an
ear to the voices that speak about prestige, success, pleasure, power, and
influence. Help me to become deaf to these voices and more attentive to your
voice, which calls me to choose the narrow road to life.
I know that Lent is going
to be a very hard time for me. The choice for your way has to be made every
moment of my life. I have to choose thoughts that are your thoughts, words that
are your words, and actions that are your actions. There are not times or
places without choices. And I know how deeply I resist choosing you.
Please, Lord, be with me
at every moment and in every place. Give me the strength and the courage to
live this season faithfully, so that, when Easter comes, I will be able to
taste with joy the new life that you have prepared for me.
Amen.
©
2020 Text
and photos by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
Unless
otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,
copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of
Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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