In the dirt and the dark and the muck of her sin, she bravely sows seeds of His word. She buries them deep in the mess and the mud. Hands dirty, soul scarred, heart broken. She waits by faith for His truth to take root.

Cold and storms. Ice and sleet. The elements pound the seeds planted deep by faith. It is the season of Lent of the soul. Waiting, weeping, hoping, striving.  Ages and seasons.

Finally.

Darkness gives way to sunrise. Death gives way to life. Seeds of suffering, watered by tears, groan and grow. Against the odds, in the dark of the earth, they push through the debris of seasons past.

Because He is stronger. Because He rose from the ground. Because His death brings life. A shoot comes forth delivering hope. Buds, blossoms, fruit. It is finished.

Great suffering yields great fruit.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16 is one of the most well known Bible verses in the world. Perhaps you already know it by heart. I’ve had it memorized for a long time. But for years I had a problem:

The truth of that scripture wasn’t penetrating into my soul. I had head knowledge but not heart knowledge.

Whenever I had a bad attitude, skipped my devotions, or sinned, I felt so guilty and was certain God was angry with me. I felt like I had to slink around Him, and sometimes I even avoided my Bible for a few days -which made me feel even worse!

God Loves You

I had to learn the truth that God’s love for us is not conditional. It is not based on our behavior, on what we do or don’t do, on how long we read the Bible, or how often we pray. God loves us because God is love. That is His nature and character. When we accept Him as our Savior, He becomes our Father, always and forever. His love for us does not change.

It can be hard trying to break a faulty mindset we’ve had for a while, but that’s what we need to do when what we’re thinking doesn’t line up with scripture. How can you get the truth that God loves you into your heart? 

5 Ways to Accept God Loves You

1. Make time in your day to spend with God. Pray. Read your Bible. The more this becomes a habit, the more His love will seep into you.
2. Pick one scripture about God’s love and meditate on it. Read it over several times, emphasizing a different word each time. Take notes on what stands out to you about the verse. Put your name in the verse and read it aloud. Ask God to show you what you most need to understand about this verse and then listen for Him to respond. Write that down too.
3. Memorize your verse. Write it on a card or use a digital app like Verse Locker. 
4. Monitor your thoughts. When you find yourself thinking negative thoughts about God not loving you, self-correct. Affirm what is true by speaking “God loves me, and I am His child.” Then recite the scripture you’re memorizing.
5. Keep it up! The enemy will try to discourage you, but keep practicing the above steps.

Want More Teaching?

If you’d like more teaching on this topic, Mary and I have written a two-week Bible study about God’s love for us called be loved, Beloved. Click on the link for more information. If you’d like a sample of the study, click on Sample Day to download a day’s work of the study to try it out!

Our prayer is that your heart fully knows and grasps how much God loves you! Please let us know any tips or questions you may have about living fully in God’s love.

Re-Advent Your Life

Are the hectic holidays derailing your devo time with God? If so, we’d love to have you join us in our new digital Advent study called Re-Advent Your Life. We know you’re busy, so we’ve designed it to take only 15 minutes a day. This downloadable (immediate access) PDF works on any of your devices including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. It’s fillable, so you can type with your keyboard or write with a smart pencil directly in it. And for those who prefer paper, it’s also printable.

28-Day Advent Devotional

Join us on our 28-day journey of small daily steps to life transformation. Each day in the Advent devotional you’ll answer three questions and choose one small step to take toward your ultimate Re-Advent Your Life goal for the study. We’re hosting this study at our new sister website Spaces of Grace.

More Information

For detailed information about our Advent devotional, click on the button below. We’d love to have you join us as we journey through Advent to Christmas together.

MORE INFO

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. As a child, I remember the solemn mass of Ash Wednesday and being anointed with ashes in the sign of the cross on my forehead. As an adult, I attend a Protestant church, but I’ve always loved the traditional church calendar recognized by the Catholic Church. There is something special about marking the start of church seasons, don’t you think? 

What is Ash Wednesday?

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. It is called Ash Wednesday because of the practice of putting ashes on worshipers foreheads as a sign of humility before God and as a sign of mourning for the death and destruction that sin brings into the world.

What Is the Purpose of Lent?

The season of Lent spans 40 weekdays beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending with Holy Week: Holy Thursday, (Maundy Thursday),  Good Friday, and concluding the Saturday before Easter. Today, Lent is used as a time of prayer and preparation for Easter. We can look inward to see what needs to be confessed and changed in our lives. Some Christians fast and/or give up something for Lent as a sacrificial offering, while others focus on doing good deeds to help others. 

I love author Ruth Haley Barton’s take on Lent. She makes us think deeply by recommending we all ask ourselves this question, “Where in my life have I gotten away from God, and what are the disciplines that will enable me to find my way back?”

Ideas to Make Lent Special

As Ruth’s question suggests, marking the time of Lent in a thoughtful way will help you to prepare your heart for Easter. Perhaps you could even invite a family member or friend to join you in this journey. If you have young children, they may enjoy starting their own mini-ministry (see the last bullet point) or reading short prayers or scriptures with you. Here’s a list of suggestions, or feel free to try one of your own.

• Give up a favorite food as a sacrifice to God.
• Work on breaking a bad habit you have.
• Add a new beneficial habit that you’ve been meaning to start that will improve either your body, soul, or spirit.
• Practice Lectio Divina, also called sacred reading.
• Practice a spiritual discipline that sounds interesting: meditation, prayer, fasting, study, self-denial, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance, or celebration.
• Read Lent selections from the Book of Common Prayer or other prayer books.
• Start a mini ministry of encouragement. Each day find some way to encourage others: a quick note, a piece of candy, a hug, and so on. (More on mini ministries coming soon).

Let’s all take some time to settle in with God during the season of Lent. We’d love to hear your ideas on making this a sacred season. Please share below in the comments.

Blessings,

I love Christmas. I love the displays, the music, the food and the lights, but this was overwhelming. Despite the fact that it was night, I needed my sunglasses. The light emanating from the Christmas display of a neighboring house was overwhelming. Think air-traffic control tower…light house…l.e.d. headlights straight to the retinas. I’m sure this display can be seen from outer space.

In addition to the garishly flashing lights, I counted 25 plus Christmas inflatables ranging from a snowman sporting camo and a rifle to a shark with a Santa hat. To escape the multi-sensory overload, I shifted my eyes from the display to the house across the street. And what did I see?

Just Jesus

A simple manger scene graced the velvety lawn of the house across the street. silent. holy. calm. In the inky darkness, a simple cut-out of the Holy Family illuminated by a single soft light emphasized the beauty of the Gospel. Shadows whispering the simplicity of God’s plan.  Just Jesus.

Simply show them Jesus.

This simple display speaks a lesson directly from heaven straight to the heart. This is just what our lives should be, what our lives should do–leave behind the noise and blinding distractions of the world and simply point to Jesus.

He is all we need.

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.” 

Col. 1 :15-18

Just Jesus, each day, every hour, every minute. He is all we need. Merry Christmas.

Please leave me a comment below about how your heart is doing this Christmas. I’d love to hear from you!

By Mary Kane

All rights reserved. Copyright 2020

Resources:

Get to Know Jesus by Joyce Meyer

4 Steps to Become a Christ Follower

How can you go about “re-adventing” Advent and Christmas in the midst of the unfamiliar, the challenges of 2020? What does this look like for you and your family? If you’re feeling discouraged about your holiday celebrations, hold on. In this video and PDF, we have some suggestions.

That’s the topic we shared with a group of MOPS moms in St. Louis. We were honored to be invited to speak with them for an Advent event. Due to Covid, we recorded a video instead of speaking in person. We thought it might be helpful for others too.

Mary and Joseph in Isolation

In this Re-adventing Advent video, we discuss how Mary and Joseph responded to their unusual situation that first Christmas. Life changed in an instant for both of them. They had to deal with challenging circumstances and outright danger as they were isolated from family and friends and all that was familiar.

We also are having to give up much of the cherished and familiar in our lives this year. Let’s discover what we can learn from their example as we journey through an Advent and Christmas that looks different this holiday season. How can we make it special?

We hope you’ll join us by listening to the video. We’ve also listed some ideas in our Re-Adventing Advent PDF (available at the bottom of this post) that you can download and use through the season.

Ultimately, our prayer for you is that in Re-Adventing Advent 2020, as you have to let go of the familiar, you will find the Divine.

Thank you for journeying with us. If you would like more resources on Advent, you can check out our book Advent-urous, Seeking Jesus This Season and join our Advent Facebook group. We’d love to hear your comments on how you are re-adventing Advent this year. Questions? Contact us here.

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. Psalm 34: 17-18

I get the broken heart thing. If you’ve lived on planet earth for more than a few years, you do too. Unfortunately we’ve all been there before, and probably will be again. The good news though is that God meets us in the middle of our broken heart and trauma. He promises. Cross His heart and hope to die. He is near to those who have a broken heart.

How near is the Lord?

The original Hebrew word used in this verse is qarowb which means near of place, time, and personal relationship. God takes your broken heart very personally. He will comfort you in very meaningful specific ways if you draw near to Him when He draws near to you.

Broken

The word broken used in this verse bears studying. From the original Hebrew, broken transliterates as shabar which means to rend violently, to crush, to be maimed, crippled, shattered. Strong words for a deep hurt.  But within the violence and devastation of shabar is a glimmer of hope. This word which speaks of destruction also means to bring to birth. Can it possibly be, in some instances, that a broken heart is the beginning and birthing of something new and meaningful? Only God can do that.

But God’s not done yet

Go back and read the verse again. It also says God saves those who have a contrite spirit. But what is a contrite spirit? What does contrite even mean? Like myself, I think you’ll be surprised.

Contrite in the original Hebrew (dakka’)  means very much crushed, crushed to dust or crushed literally to powder. My heart has been very much crushed and literally crushed to powder. This kind of brokenness is broken beyond repair.  It reaches past I need to get the Elmer’s so I can glue it back together broken. There is no glue that repairs dust. This is hopelessly broken. But …

The Lord is near to the contrite

Psalm 34 promises God saves those whose who have a contrite spirit. Let’s say the verse out loud using words from the definition: God saves those whose spirit has been crushed to dust. You see dust is one of God’s favorite creating mediums ( see Genesis 2:7).  He fashions very good things from dust. God dives in with His holy hands and creates a new spirit from the dust and ashes of broken dreams, relationships, and failures.

A final word

The Hebrew word for save used in this verse is yasha’ which means, to save, to deliver, to free, to liberate, to be victorious. You will be liberated from the pain of your broken heart and shattered spirit.  Give Him your heart and trust Him to redeem, restore and recreate your life. In Jesus Name, Amen.

If your are struggling with brokenness, please leave a comment below. I’d love to pray for you.

By Mary Kane

All rights reserved. Copyright 2020

Resources on Brokenness:

Re-purposed

The Blessing of Brokenness