Lent Day 11, Pride Goes Before a Fall

Welcome to Lent Day 11 as we wrap up our study for the week on the topic of self-denial with a focus on pride. Pride is another topic that can be difficult to deal with, but God is faithful to point out the areas in our lives where we have a tendency to be prideful.

Thanks so much for joining us this week. Tomorrow we’ll start off a week of study on fasting. Just click on the link below to read today’s devotion.

Click here: Lent Day 11, Pride

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Lent Day 9, Words!

Welcome to Lent Day 9, Words. Today we are going to take a look at what words have to do with self-denial. How important is what comes out of our mouths? We’ll look at this through the eyes of Proverbs 25:11. Thanks for joining us and just click on the link below to open up today’s devotion!

Lent Day 9, Words

 

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Lent Day 6, Surrender

Welcome to Lent, Day 6. Today we talk about surrender and how important that is in our study of self-denial. Just click on the link below to read today’s devotional.

Lent Day 6 Surrender

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Lent Day 5, Follow Me

ID-10080988Welcome to Lent Day 5, Follow Me! Today we start our first full week of study, focusing on the theme of self-denial. I know–it’s not always a popular topic, but a much needed lesson for us as we journey towards Easter.

Just click on the link below to read today’s  Lent devotional.

Lent Day 5 Follow Me

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May God bless your reading.

 




Introduction to Lent

Lent is a time of preparation for Easter. It is a reflective time, where we focus on getting our “spiritual houses” in order. This year of 2012, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 22 and goes through Holy Saturday, April 7. Mary and I would like to invite you to join us each day with a scripture reading and a focus for that day. Just click on the tab Devotions and then Lenten Devotions for that day’s reading.

We will be exploring these themes during Lent this year:

  • Self-denial
  • Fasting
  • Simplicity
  • Spiritual growth
  • Seeking God’s will
  • Repentance

We are praying that all of our hearts will be changed as we embark on this journey together.

Won’t you join us?

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Lent and the Spiritual Disciplines

Depending upon which denomination you grew up in, Lent may or may not have been an important time in your spiritual life. The season of Lent originated in the 4th century A.D., and it spans 40 weekdays beginning on Ash Wednesday. The final week of Lent is called Holy Week and includes Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and concludes on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter. Colors in the church are coordinated with the church calendar. During Lent, the colors you typically see in a sanctuary are purple, red violet or dark violet. These particular colors are chosen because they symbolize both the pain and suffering leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, as well as the suffering of sinful humanity. But, purple is also a royal color, and that very much represents our king Jesus. Black is often used on Good Friday and Holy Saturday to symbolize the darkness that sin brought to the world. Those of the Catholic faith are familiar with Lent because it’s still very much a part of the church today. Not so much for those in the Protestant faith.

Before Martin Luther nailed the Ninety-Five Theses on the church door at the University of Wittenburg (Germany) in 1517, there was only one Christian church and everyone observed holy days, church feasts and the daily office in the same way. With the start of the Reformation, much of these observances were thrown out–because they were associated with “high church.” High church uses liturgical, ceremonial, traditional and Catholic elements in worship.

Today, however, some Protestant churches are finding that maybe they have thrown out “the baby with the bath water,” and are recovering some of these aspects of historical Christian tradition as a way to enrich their spiritual lives–especially in a culture that is becoming increasingly secular.

With that in mind, some Protestant Christians are putting a greater emphasis on Lent by praying and preparing themselves for Easter. Today, we can use this time for introspection, self-examination and repentance. At Only By Prayer, we are going to begin a series on the spiritual disciplines to help equip you to prepare for Easter. If you feel led to do so, you can incorporate some of these practices into your days throughout this season of Lent. We are looking forward to this journey and pray God will bless your through it.

We’ll start tomorrow with the first spiritual discipline. Join us, won’t you?

Pray on!

Some of this information is taken from “The Season of Lent” by Dennis Bratcher.