Day 3: Sacrifice

ThanksLiving: living a thankful life

 “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.” Hebrews 10:12

sacrifice: [sak-ruh-fahys]noun; verb

1. the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.
2. a surrender of something of value as a means of gaining something more desirable or of preventing some evil
3. (verb) to surrender or give up, or permit injury or disadvantage to, for the sake of something else.
4. (verb) to make a sacrifice or offering of.

Please carefully read the definitions above and highlight the sections that mean the most to you.

Sacrifice in the Year of 2020

In this year of 2020, we have seen a demonstration of sacrifice lived out right before us on the part of our health care workers as they have tenderly cared for our Covid patients. Many doctors and nurses have contracted the disease themselves, and sadly, some have given the ultimate sacrifice of their lives.

Sacrifice for Sin

The first sacrifice for sin was accomplished by God in the Garden of Eden. The last sacrifice for sin was confirmed by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. The road to the cross was paved with sacrifice. Most of the definitions above speak of the giving of One for the sake of another. God gave Jesus, His Son in sacrifice for us (for you , for me) not only because of our great need, but because of His great love.

In this season of ThanksLiving, let’s give thanks to God for those who sacrificed to give us life.

For Jesus: Thank you, God, for giving Jesus as sacrifice for our sin. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, we now live an abundant life.

For Caregivers: Thank  you, Father, for the sacrifice of our caregivers; for their struggle to feed, clothe, love and care for us, often at the expense of their own needs and comfort.

For First Responders: Thank You for those You’ve set in place who sacrifice their comfort and safety to cover us with their protection and service. Give them your strength and courage to go forth in the work You have given them; the defense and care of those in need.

For Health Care Workers: Thank you, Father, for the tireless service and ministry of health care workers,  who often risk their own health for the healing of others.

For Teachers: Father in heaven, thank you for teachers who are often underpaid and overworked. Many teachers give from their own resources to supply their classrooms, and provide food and clothing for their  students. Give teachers rest and peace this ThanksLiving season.

More Sacrifice

Please click on a link for more information on sacrifice.

Serving Others an article by Joyce Meyer Ministries

A Servant’s Heart a short Bible study by Mary Kane

Sacrifice  a blog post by Jane VanOsdol

Comment

Please leave a comment below on what God teaches you today about sacrifice in the Comment section.

sacrifice. Dictionary.com. Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sacrifice (accessed: November 15, 2014).

all rights reserved. copyright 2017

Day 3:Sacrifice

 “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.” Hebrews 10:12

sacrifice: [sak-ruh-fahys]noun; verb

1. the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.
2. a surrender of something of value as a means of gaining something more desirable or of preventing some evil
3. (verb) to surrender or give up, or permit injury or disadvantage to, for the sake of something else.
4. (verb) to make a sacrifice or offering of.

Please carefully read the definitions above and highlight the sections that mean the most to you.

The first sacrifice for sin was accomplished by God in the Garden of Eden. The last sacrifice for sin was confirmed by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. The road to the cross was paved with sacrifice. Most of the definitions above speak of the giving of One for the sake of another. God gave Jesus, His Son in sacrifice for us (for you , for me) not only because of our need, but because of His great love for us.

This Thanksgiving, let’s give thanks  to God for those who sacrificed to give us life.

For Jesus: Thank you, God, for giving Jesus as sacrifice for our sin. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, we now live an abundant life.

For caregivers: Thank  you, Father, for the sacrifice of our caregivers; for their struggle to feed, clothe, love and care for us, often at the expense of their own needs and comfort.

For First Responders: Thank You for those You’ve set in place who sacrifice their comfort and safety to cover us with their protection and service. Give them your strength and courage to go forth in the work You have given them; the defense and care of those in need.

For Health Care Workers: Thank you, Father, for the tireless service and ministry of health care workers,  who often risk their own health for the healing of others.

For Teachers: Father in heaven, thank you for teachers who are often underpaid, and overworked. Many teachers give from their own resources to supply their classrooms, and provide food and clothing for their  students. Give teachers rest and peace this Thanksgiving season.

More Sacrifice

Please click on a link for more information on sacrifice.

Serving Others an article by Joyce Meyer Ministries

Sacrifice  a blog post Jane VanOsdol

Comment

Please leave a comment below in the Speak Your Mind section on what God teaches you today about sacrifice.

sacrifice. Dictionary.com. Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sacrifice (accessed: November 15, 2014).

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,

Hand rolled beeswax candles will add a spark of warmth to your days and holiday traditions. These beautiful candles will grace the table of all your holiday celebrations including Thanksgiving and Christmas. They’re also perfect for adding cheer to everyday meals too. After dinner, set them on the mantle to continue to let their lovely beeswax scent infuse the room. This is a set of two taper candles and is a part of my Blessings Beeswax Candles line.

Each beeswax candle measures about 8 inches tall by 3/4 inch wide. There may be slight variations in the width due to the nature of hand rolling, but they should all fit in a standard taper candle holder.

Make any day special by enjoying the ambiance of a candle-lit room.

Another idea is to use botanical beeswax candles while you are praying. Sometimes you may be discouraged to keep on praying for a request when you have not seen any progress. I had the idea of lighting a taper candle while I was praying for these requests as a type of “covenant” with God that I would keep praying for them. Blow out the candle at the end of your prayer session. This also serves the purpose of giving you an actual visual reminder to pray. And as the beeswax candles get smaller and smaller, you’ll know that you have prayed for that request for a few hours!

I love this verses: Psalm 141:2 : “May my prayer be set before You like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.”

Ash Wednesday marks the start of the season of Lent on the Christian calendar. Lent is the time when believers prepare our hearts for the coming of Easter; it’s the time for reflecting on the sacrifice that Jesus made for each one of us when He went to the cross. We can do this in several ways:

• Prayer
• Repentance
• Practice of spiritual disciplines
• Attending services
• Denying ourselves something (such as giving up a favorite food)

Let’s Humble Ourselves

On this first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, we humble ourselves before God. Some faiths remind us of this by placing ashes on their congregants’ foreheads with the words, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

In that spirit, we’d like to revisit a post we wrote previously to help you start Lent in a humble, reflective manner. Here is the link to the Ash Wednesday pdf:

Ash Wednesday

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below, and we pray you and your loved ones have a blessed start to this season of Lent!

I have always thought of love as a beautiful, lovely, emotional experience that begins in the heart and ends with I do. And I love that part of love, bouquets of roses, sweets for the sweet, perfume, a lovely dress, a midnight supper, and whispered words. The greatest expression of love however looks quite different.

True truth about love

It starts with the heart and ends with a cross. Blood, agony, nails. Not roses but thorns. Not midnight supper, but last supper. Instead of a lovely dress, garments stripped and gambled. Whispered words become cries of pain. Why have you forsaken me? And God shows us what true love is. A decision of the mind and pours out through the heart. Raw and bare for the world to see,

because God so loved the world.

The truth about true love is there is no love without pain, sacrifice, or loss. But in the sacrifice we are blessed, in the loss we receive and in the pain we are healed.

Help me Lord Jesus to so love my husband, to so love my children, and to so love my world, my teachers, my students, and my school families. Help me to so love beyond the beautiful into the depths of true love. Amen.

 “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8:

Thank you, Holy Father. Amen.

By Mary Kay Kane

copyright 2018. all rights reserved.