40 days.

I grew up in the Roman Catholic church and remember Lent as the counting down of days until I could drink Vanilla Coke again (I always chose Vanilla Coke, year after year). The days dragged.

Now, a decade later I've finally glimpsed into the season of Lent and how it can so beautifully prepare our hearts for the day Christ sacrificed Himself, and just days later, when He was so powerfully raised from the dead.

This season is what makes Christianity so different. This whole God in the flesh, sin taking and death defeating thing is so different from anything I've ever heard. It is different from anything I have ever experienced. And yet so many of us don't intentionally open our hearts, minds or lives to marvel at what He has overcome. We pass through the time that builds up to the day of the Crucifixion and Resurrection and let it become another tradition, religious practise, and yet another commercialised holiday centered around us.

But this year I really want to stop, watch and act. I want to so intently look into the life and ministry of Jesus to better understand the depth of His death and resurrection.

Now I'm not used to truly practising Lent, but this morning as I was reading through the first few chapters of Luke I realised that I want to put myself in the same situation that Jesus did. Just after He was baptised and the Holy Sprit, along with the blessing of the Father, came down on Jesus, He went out willingly into the wilderness for 40 days. He was fasting, was hungry, and faced temptations all the while. God in the flesh put Himself in the wilderness so that He could fast, pray, seek God, and become even more dependent on His Father.

What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord... I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:8, 10 -11 

I want to willingly put myself in a wilderness that is going to teach me dependence on my Father and bring me closer to Him. I want to gaze into the mysteries of who Jesus is, the lessons He taught, the miracles He preformed, the rejection He experienced, the compassion He felt, the sin He took, the penalty He paid, the suffering He knew, and the battle He defeated. I want to know Jesus in His resurrection. I want to know Life.

I want to be aware and awakened to Jesus during this season leading up to Easter.

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple. Psalm 27:4

Maybe you're skeptical about the practicalities of Lent. Maybe it has always been a religious practise of, you know, "that" other denomination. Maybe you don't know what you could possibly fast or “give up”. I want to challenge you to seek God and ask what you could do. Ask what wilderness you could willingly put yourself into to see more of Him in the glory of His Son's suffering and resurrection.

So, if you're keen to do this with a few of us friends over here who want to do this Lent thing, check it out. Think about it. It might be different from what you've done before, but we are all wanting to challenge ourselves and see more of Jesus in our daily lives. We want to come to Resurrection day and know that our hearts have changed because we've met with Jesus. That is the point of all of this.

Seriously though, if you're interested and want to do this go on over to Brett's blog and let him know that you're in. There will be something new each day so keep your eyes on it.

Or, for other ideas that are extremely helpful, check out some of these ideas over here.

This season has the ability to change your whole understanding of Christ, who He is, and who you are in light of that. Don't take the chance of passing up such a beautiful season of dependence and awareness of Christ Himself.

Love is more than a feeling.

I know I've been posting a lot...but God has been showing me a lot of different amazing things! I love sharing and I hope it's relevant to you in some way. So this morning I was praying and asking God to teach me obedience and to be in tune with the Holy Spirit so that I can do what pleases Him and makes Him happy. And I had this mini epiphany! Let me try to explain:

Firstly, Sunday evening I heard an amazing sermon on John 14:15-31. The main theme in this passage is that to truly love God, we must be obedient to His commands and His Word. It was such a challenging sermon! And the preacher emphasised that when we are obedient to Christ, we are actually pleasing Him and for a lack of better words, making Him happy. He also spoke about the Holy Spirit who helps us and leads us to do the things that God commands. We have to be filled by the Holy Spirit and learn to listen to His voice and His leading, though. Ultimately, obedience deepens our relationship with God and binds us to Him in a more intimate way. We should be obedient because we love God and want to please Him.

I've also been reading through a book called "I kissed dating goodbye" by Joshua Harris. I read it in grade 10 or 11, but I wanted to just refresh my mind with some of the amazing truths in this book! Now before I start talking about romantic love, I've got to confess that I don't really have much experience. I can't honestly say I've ever been in love with someone. I've definitely been head over heals in infatuation, but I don't think I've been in love. But one thing that this book and many other Christian books that approach the topic of romantic love discuss is that eventually the warm and fuzzy feelings of being "in love" fade away, and love becomes a choice and an effort. Not that people lose all feeling of love toward that person, but the chemicals that were released in the beginning stages of a new relationship eventually fade and don't have the same effect on the brain as they once did. I read a quote on Pinterest last night that explained this perfectly!

But, this can actually relate to all of us. I know personally I was absolutely crazy about God when our relationship started about 4 years ago. I was seriously crazy in love! I remember reading my Bible for hours because I wanted to know more and more about God. I remember speaking to people daily about Jesus and what He had done in my life... I even pointed out people's sin and would tell them to repent (oops!). I wanted to be in church and around Christians as much as possible. Praying was easy because of the feeling and closeness of God's presence. Reading my Bible was a daily thing because I was absolutely enthralled, obsessed, and enamoured with this amazing God who had saved me and wanted to have a relationship with me! But now, 4 - almost 5 - years later, I struggle. If you look through my blog history you'll see a good 9 or 10 months that I barely blogged. That's because I wasn't in God's Word and I wasn't seeking to hear from Him. I wasn't eager to know more about Him. The feelings that I once felt had faded. I plain and simply didn't want to work at my relationship with God. I wanted it to come naturally and be easy, but it wasn't and it isn't. Love is something worth fighting for. Loving God is through obedience. Yes He will blow your mind at times and you will feel and experience the closeness and comfort and love of God's presence, but sometimes you won't. And that is when you must fight for obedience and love. That is when you must fight for closeness and intimacy with God, through obedience to His Word!

I always think of Psalm 37:3-7 when I struggle with this. Active verbs are repeated throughout this passage! "Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. "

Trust, do good, dwell, enjoy, delight, commit, trust, be still, wait patiently, do not fret.

Jesus replied, "If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." John 14:23

Make the choice to obey God even when you don't feel like it. Draw close to Him and love Him through obedience because it brings Him pleasure. In return, He will give you a lasting connection to Himself. This will be deeper than any feeling or experience, and a connection that is firm, secure, and lasting. God and Jesus will make their home with you. Do you see that? They will make their home with you!

I'm praying that we would be filled with the Holy Spirit and that we would love God daily through obedience to His word. I pray that we would experience love in a whole new way with the Father.. a love that is chosen rather than simply felt!

In view of..

God's mercy.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1

In view of God's mercy... How can I not try to please my God with my life?

In view of God's mercy... How can I not show gratitude towards Him, when He has given everything for me?

In view of God's mercy... When we truly consider how His mercy was shown and what it has done to our lives, how can we respond in any less of a way than "Here I am, Lord send me." Hands held high, opened wide, and full of surrender.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8

Then Noah built an alter to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, He sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in His heart, "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though all inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. Genesis 8:20, 21

God, how wonderful You are! PLEASE let my sacrifice to You be a pleasing aroma.. Let it cause Your heart to remember Your promises and Your covenant to all of mankind. Let it bring a smile to Your face, Jesus.