~In Christ Alone, Is Peace~

Psalm 42:5 (The Message)

⁵ Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God—
soon I'll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face.
He's my God.

A Joy For The Soul!

Ash Wednesday
A Joy For The Soul

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent for Western Christian churches. It's a day of penitence to clean the soul before the Lent fast.

Churches hold special services at which worshipers are marked with ashes as a symbol of death and sorrow for sin.

Ash Wednesday services

The service draws on the ancient Biblical traditions of covering one's head with ashes, wearing sackcloth, and fasting.

The mark of ashes

In Ash Wednesday services churchgoers are marked on the forehead with a cross of ashes as a sign of penitence and mortality.

The use of ashes, made by burning palm crosses from the previous Palm Sunday, is very symbolic.

God our Father, you create us from the dust of the earth.

Grant that these ashes may be for us a sign of our penitence, and a symbol of our mortality.

Traditional Ash Wednesday prayer

God our Father, you create us from the dust of the earth.

Grant that these ashes may be for us a sign of our penitence, and a symbol of our mortality.

The minister marks each worshiper on the forehead, and says remember you are dust and unto dust you shall return, or a similar phrase based on God's sentence on Adam in Genesis 3:19.

The modern practice in churches nowadays, as the ashes are being administered, is for the minister to say something like Turn away from sin and believe the gospel.

Keeping the mark

At some churches the worshipers leave with the mark still on their forehead so that they carry the sign of the cross out into the world.

At other churches the service ends with the ashes being washed off as a sign that the participants have been cleansed of their sins.

Symbolism of the ashes

The marking of their forehead with a cross made of ashes reminds each churchgoer that:

• Death comes to everyone
• They should be sad for their sins
• They must change themselves for the better
• God made the first human being by breathing life into dust, and without God, human beings are nothing more than dust and ashes

Beginning on Ash Wednesday, Lent is a season of reflection and preparation before the celebrations of Easter. By observing the 40 days of Lent, Christians replicate Jesus Christ's sacrifice and withdrawal into the desert for 40 days. Lent is marked by fasting, both from food and festivities.
Churches that observe Lent use it as a time for prayer and penance. Only a small number of people today fast for the whole of Lent, although some maintain the practice on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. It is more common these days for believers to surrender a particular vice such as favourite foods or smoking. Whatever the sacrifice it is a reflection of Jesus' deprivation in the wilderness and a test of self-discipline.

~A Light In The Darkness~

~A light in the darkness~

There will always be light in the darkness...
"The JOY of the LORD is My Strength...."

Book Of Job:

What Have I Done Wrong?

²²Have I ever asked any of you

to give me a gift

²³or to purchase my freedom

from brutal enemies?

²⁴What have I done wrong?

Show me,

and I will keep quiet.

²⁵The truth is always painful,

but your arguments

prove nothing.

²⁶Here I am desperate,

and you consider my words

as worthless as wind.

²⁷Why, you would sell an orphan

or your own neighbor!

²⁸Look me straight in the eye;

I won't lie to you.

²⁹Stop accusing me falsely;

my reputation is at stake.

³⁰I know right from wrong,

and I am not telling lies.

Today I Complain Bitterly

¹Job said:

²Today I complain bitterly,

because God has been cruel

and made me suffer.

³If I knew where to find God,

I would go there

⁴and argue my case.

⁵Then I would discover

what he wanted to say.

⁶Would he overwhelm me

with his greatness?

No! He would listen

⁷because I am innocent,

and he would say,

"I now set you free!"

⁸I cannot find God anywhere--

in front or back of me,

⁹to my left or my right.

God is always at work,

though I never see him.

¹⁰But he knows what I am doing,

and when he tests me,

I will be pure as gold.

¹¹I have never refused to follow

any of his commands,

¹²and I have always treasured

his teachings. ^{[a] 13}But he alone is God,

and who can oppose him?

God does as he pleases,

¹⁴and he will do exactly

what he intends with me.

¹⁵Merely the thought

of God All-Powerful

¹⁶makes me tremble with fear.

¹⁷God has covered me

with darkness,

but I refuse to be silent. ^[b]

"GIVE THANKS!"

GIVE THANKS!!

Psalm 118:29

²⁹Tell the LORD

how thankful you are,

because he is kind

and always merciful.

Listen to the Truth...

Timothy 4:1-4

When Christ Jesus comes as king, he will be the judge of everyone, whether they are living or dead. So with God and Christ as witnesses, I command you
to preach God's message. Do it willingly, even if it isn't the popular thing to do. You must correct people and point out their sins. But also cheer them up, and when you instruct them, always be patient.
The time is coming when people won't listen to good teaching. Instead, they will look for teachers who will please them by telling them only what they are itching to hear.
They will turn from the truth and eagerly listen to senseless stories.
But you must stay calm and be willing to suffer. You must work hard to tell the good news and to do your job well.

Trust...and dream~

Genesis 37 through 41...the story of Joseph

"These uncertain days have been reminding my soul that I need to be resting and relying on God completely, waiting in patience for his perfect timing. This week I have been considering some of the mysterious ways that God worked in the life of Joseph.

You will recall that Joseph encountered six significant dreams in his life.
This is all a very familiar story, but what has impressed me is the path of divine providence through it all.

The first pair of dreams told how God would make Joseph a ruler. Yet, as a result of that first pair of dreams he was sold as a slave into Egypt. There, Joseph honored God. And, providentially, it was only because of these eleven years of unjust slavery and imprisonment that he was brought to hear the second pair of dreams. Again Joseph faithfully interpreted the second pair of dreams, yet he was forgotten. Had the butler remembered Joseph might have been freed, but, providentially, it was only because he was forgotten in prison for two more years that Joseph was brought to hear the third pair of dreams. And God overruled so that in interpreting these dreams, after thirteen years of seeming injustice and disappointment, the first pair of dreams was fulfilled.

Take heart. The path may be dark, but it is His will and leads to His appointed end. Trust God!" (from Living for Christ, Morning Meditation)

~~WE WILL PRESS ON~~