I am loving this lent exercise by #rethinkchurch! It forces me to go back to scripture, not that I don't go to scripture, but it has forced me to look at it in a new way. Is it theologically correct or very exegetical, NO! but God has been moving through this. "The word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Each morning I see the word that is given for the day on the screensaver of my laptop. The first thing I do is go to biblegateway.com and look up the word for the day in scriptures. I look down through the list reading through many of the scriptures that are listed. I read and listen as to what verse clearly displays that very word? Once I find that word I find a picture that goes along with it. 

This morning I was struck by the passage of scripture I had read many times yet this afternoon one thing stood out to me. The passage was Matthew 28-7-9 "Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” so the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him." 

What struck me was, of course they were afraid, they left with joy! They did not question as to what happened to the body, they did not cry because he was missing. They simply believed! I'm not sure why it struck me this way, but it did.  This week dear friend, ok my brother from another mother, Todd Porter lost a dear friend and who was also his youth pastor.  He was honored to be asked to do his eulogy and in that eulogy he shared this: "When Dan was the youth pastor at another church he broke his leg playing basketball with the teens. Dan fell to the ground screaming in pain, “praise Jesus, I broke my leg!” I can assure you that if it happened to me I would not have even thought to say that. But that is who Dan was. A teen that was there during the incident made the decision to receive Jesus as his Leader and Forgiver that day, because of Dan’s example of faith." Now... like Todd I'm not sure that I could not have had that kind of joy, but Dan did and I believe that both Mary's did as well. May we live each day, whatever the circumstance, with the joy that He has risen from the dead.

Lent, the season of the Christian Year that is observed as a time of simple living, prayer and fasting leading up to Easter, begins today! Many spend the time in self-examination and reflection as modeled by Jesus in Matthew 4: 1-11 where he prayed and fasted for 40 days before beginning his ministry.

What happened during those 40 days of fasting and praying in the wilderness? Our friends at the Upper Room say that maybe Jesus needed some time with God to sort through the major changes happening in his life. Maybe he needed a break from family, friends and his regular routine in order to see God [and himself] more clearly. Maybe he sought more time with God as he searched for direction and answers to the question that we, too have from time to time: “What are you calling me to do, God?"

At my previous church a wonderful lady by the name of Deb Vaughn used to put together a Lenten devotional for our church to use and our church would observe this season using this devotional. I had been missing it the last few years so last year I came across reTHINK churches idea of a picture a day to help us slow down, self-examine ourselves, fast and remember. The graphic below is the challenge for this year. It's fairly simple, just use the words for each day and take a picture that best depicts that word, it can be your own picture, one you've used in the past, or something you've seen, maybe even something you have drawn  or created. Place that photo on Instagram and hashtag with #rethinkchurch and #lentoverflow so we can encourage each other.

Whatever you decide to do... take the time during this season, leading up to Easter, to slow down, self-examine yourselves, fast from something and remember what Christ did for you!