“I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” Acts 26:17-18 (NIV)

For out third devotion this week, we are looking at stanza three of the poem:

FAST from apparent darkness; FEAST on the reality of God’s light.

(Click for the entire poem and for Monday and Tuesday’s devotion.)

In this stanza, we have the contrast between darkness and light, which stands for evil and good or Satan and God. As I was meditating on darkness and light and therefore good and evil, the question popped into my head, “There’s such an obvious difference between good and evil. Why do so many people get drawn into darkness?” But then God sent the thought back to me, “Is it really so obvious to others? Remember this verse in 2 Corinthians 11:14, ‘And no wonder, for Satan masquerades as an angel of light.'”

I had forgotten about that verse. So many times Satan makes sin or darkness look like fun. I can remember many times when I was a child and wanted to do something that my parents would not let me do; I thought they were being overprotective and just didn’t want me to have fun, when in reality they could see something I could not: the inherent danger or darkness in that situation that they wanted to protect me from. As a child, I did not have the wisdom or discernment to see that; as older, wiser parents, they did. Satan often makes sin appealing, so that we will yield to it. Then the next time, it’s easier to say yes to a more egregious sin. Before we know it, we are on a slippery slide to doing all kinds of things we never thought we would do. We can see now how someone can commit an obvious sin, like murder. Probably in most cases, a person who commits a terrible crime has a long history of saying yes to lesser offenses, which lulled their conscience to sleep and set the scene for greater sins.

So in this Holy Week, we can see much darkness involved in Jesus’ crucifixion. The forces of evil thought they had won the battle, but, praise God, they underestimated the power of God, of light, to win over the powers of darkness. The Greek word for light is phos, and some of its meanings include truth and knowledge. God’s light is always the truth, the whole truth, and nothin’ but the truth, as the old saying goes. Another interesting meaning regarding light, is that we should be sharing this light and wisdom with others. Matthew 5:15 tells us that we should not light a candle and hide it under a bushel basket; no, we are to set it out so that it lights up the whole house and everyone can see it. If you doubt the power of little old you shining your light to others, try the experiment of going into a dark room of your home and lighting one candle to see the power that light has to dispel darkness!

Application: Is there a sin you have been allowing to continue in your life because you think it’s not a big deal? Let’s work on rooting out the sin the Holy Spirit is convicting us about before we reap a harvest of pain in our lives or someone else’s. Let’s also share the light we have with other people as God gives us opportunities in His perfect timing.

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for breaking the power of darkness by your death on the cross. May we never take that sacrifice lightly or become oblivious to the sin in our own hearts and lives. Give us the courage and discernment to know when to share that light with others. Amen.

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“See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” Hebrews 12:15 (NIV)

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13-14 (NIV)

Today is the second day of our Holy Week series, and the stanza of the poem that is our focus is the following:

Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.

(Click here for the complete poem. Here is the first day of the series on Judging.)

Imagine sitting down on a hot summer day to a bowl full of frosty, juicy, crisp grapes that burst in your mouth with… bitterness. Can you imagine how awful that would taste? Bitterness leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. According to Hebrews 12:15, we are to guard against bitterness because one bitter heart can defile and trouble many people. Bitterness is a sign of unforgiveness. In the original Greek, bitterness means “extreme wickedness, hatred, virulence and harshness.”  And as the Bible verse suggests, if left untended, bitterness will root and grow and produce a harvest of destruction. It’s true in our lives that a bitter root yields a bitter fruit.

The word bitter when traced back  to its origin means “to fasten, to fasten something together, to construct something by fastening it together.” So if we are bitter against a person in a literal sense by withholding forgiveness, we are fastening that person to us and dragging them with us wherever we may go! Do you see now one of the reasons why bitterness is so destructive? We are forever tying ourselves to that very thing we are bitter about, which is preventing us from healing. As Joyce Meyer says, “You may have a reason to be bitter, but by the word of God, you do not have a right.”

What is the antidote then for bitterness? Forgiveness. Forgiveness means to release someone from prison or from bondage. Forgiving someone does not mean that what they did to us is okay; it means we are releasing them from our own vengeance and giving them over to God. Sometimes the one we may be bitter against and need to release from bondage is ourself.  This Easter let us pray and ask God to help make us willing to lay aside our bitterness and trade it in for forgiveness. Let’s set a few captives free. That’s what Easter is all about, isn’t it?

Application: So during this Holy Week, what is it that you need to leave at the feet of the cross? Who or what are you bitter against that you need to let go, that you need to forgive? Let the first captive that’s set free be you.

Prayer: Dear Lord, it can be difficult releasing bitterness. That heavy thing we’re dragging around feels normal after a while. Help us to let go, release, and forgive so that we can experience the joy and lightness of living in forgiveness and freedom. Amen.

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“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:1-2

“To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:28

For our first devotion for Holy Week, we are looking at the beginning stanza of this poem: See here for the complete poem.

FAST from judging others: FEAST on Christ dwelling in me.

This is a good reminder for me. It’s all to easy to judge my family, friends, and people I see as I go about my day. Peoples’ appearances, language, lifestyle choices, and behavior can all have me rendering a split-second judgment when I have only a minuscule piece of the total picture of their lives. Would I want to be judged and found wanting in the same way that it is so easy for me to do to others?

The Bible tells us in 1 Samuel 16:7 that man looks at the outside of the person, but God looks at the heart. That’s exactly what Jesus did. Jesus often seemed to seek out the people who had been judged and found wanting in Jewish society.

One such person was Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus would not have won any popularity contests in his village. As a chief tax collector, he was despised by his neighbors. Jesus created quite a stir when He invited Himself to Zacchaeus’ house for dinner. Luke 19:7 tells us that the town was buzzing about Jesus’ choice of a dinner companion.

Or how about the Samaritan woman Jesus met at the local well in John 4 at the sixth hour (about 12 p.m.) of the day? The very fact that the woman was getting her water at that time was unusual. Women were usually at the well when it was coolest outside–in the early morning and evening. She was there at a time when not many other people would be there. She was living an immoral lifestyle and was most likely rejected because of that, so she probably didn’t want to risk seeing the stares and hearing the whispers behind her back. Besides that fact, she was a Samaritan, and Jews would not associate with Samaritans.

Jesus knew that both this woman and Zacchaeus needed an encounter with forgiveness, and He freely offered it to both of them. Jesus didn’t reject a person based on their standing in the community; neither did He overlook the sin in a person’s life. He always dealt with it.

That’s a good distinction for us to make too. We need to address the difference between judging someone and speaking the truth in love. The one God may call us to do, the other He doesn’t. When we judge someone, we are making a decision that only God can make about a person–the personal state of their heart. That’s different than speaking the truth in love when a person that we know is living in a sinful situation. God may give us the go-ahead to address that sin with the person–especially a family member or close friend that we know well. Always approach that talk with prayer, a humble spirit, and in God’s timing. If God has laid it on your heart to have that difficult conversation about a person’s situation/behavior, that’s different than a quick pass of judgment that we can be prone to doing based on outward circumstances.

So, today, we want to put the focus on Christ dwelling in us. That means we take our eyes off of others and ourselves and put them on Jesus. The very fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in us (see John 16:12-15) is what makes Christianity different from all other religions. As Christ-followers, we have the amazing reality of Christ living in us as the Holy Sprit.We can change because we have God’s power at work in us. In John 16:12-15, Jesus introduces this cataclysmic coming change to his followers. The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth, teaches us, and changes us. Because of Him, we can lead an abundant life of serving the Lord.

Application: What is it in your life that would benefit from remembering you have “Christ in you, the hope of glory” in your life? What situation do you need a fresh dose of Christ’s transforming power in? Pray for a transformation of a situation, a heart, an attitude today.

Prayer: Lord, we pray that we would not take upon ourselves the job of judging others. Instead, may our focus and our eyes be on You. Fill us up and transform our lives to Your glory. Amen.

If you’d like to study more about judging and how that affects people, here’s a link to an Outcast Bible study Mary wrote dealing with this topic.

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As we head into Holy Week, I’d like to share an poem/excerpt that gives us much to focus our hearts and minds on as we walk through the sorrow and joy of this week. Being that this version of the poem True Lenten Discipline has seven suggestions, it works out perfectly to look at one each day during Holy Week. On Monday we’ll begin with a brief devotion to encourage us and start a discussion on the first topic in the excerpt–judging. We’d love to have your participation–a conversation is always better with more two or more people! If you’d like, please add your comments each day at the end of the devotion.

Feel free to adapt this to your life. Perhaps you want to spend a meal or a day in fasting. Maybe you want to take an afternoon and set aside some time for prayer to prepare your heart for Easter. Whatever you decide, I pray this blesses you.

(I received this poem in an email from my friend a few days ago, and the author was credited as “Anonymous.” I Googled the title  and several versions popped up, some much longer, but I wasn’t able to ascertain the true author. If anyone knows, please let me know.)

Here’s the version we’ll use this week:

TRUE LENTEN DISCIPLINE

FAST from judging others;  FEAST on Christ dwelling in you.

FAST from bitterness;  FEAST on forgiveness.

FAST from apparent darkness;  FEAST on the reality of God’s light.

FAST from thoughts of illness;  FEAST on the healing power of God.

FAST from words that pollute;  FEAST on phrases that purify.

FAST from discontent;  FEAST on gratitude.

FAST from anger;  FEAST on patience.

Author Unknown

You may also be interested in a podcast Mary and I will be recording tomorrow evening on this topic. I’ll insert a link to it as soon as it is up. We’ll see you tomorrow!

Pray on!

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Bad habits, bad relationships, bad thought patterns; God calls us to leave them behind so we can walk more closely with Him. Please join us for day 39 of our Lenten devotional,  The Withered Tree by clicking on the link.

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Our Lenten Devotional series has certainly sped past. It’s hard to believe we are in our final week’s journey to the cross and then to Easter Sunday. To start off this week, let’s spend some time reviewing the past five weeks of study. Thanks so much for joining us, and be sure you make some time to spend with our Lord this week as we journey through Holy Week. Just click below to read our review.

Lent Review

May God bless you this week!