Empty to Full: 7-Week Guide to Lent

Would you like to approach Easter this year with a heart that is prepared for the Resurrection?

Too often it seems, Lent flies by and before we know it, Holy Week is upon us and we’re rushing to prepare home and heart for Easter. At Only By Prayer, we’re ready to help you more mindfully prepare with our 7-Week Guide, Lent: A Season of Empty to Full and accompanying Facebook page.

Ready to sign up now?

What Is Empty to Full?

Each week of Lent we will identify a theme for that week and email you a multi-media bundle of posts, videos, podcasts, illustrations, and Bible studies that you can use to help prepare your heart. We’ll include a simple guide, just in case you want one, but feel free to do them in any order you choose and at your leisure. If the Spirit leads you to slow down and spend the entire week diving deep into one resource, by all means do that. We will also set up a private Facebook page for just this group to share insights, ask questions, and pray for each other. There is no cost. We simply ask that you sign up in the opt-in form below so that we may email you the resources each week.

Weekly Topics

We’ve chosen a different spiritual discipline for each week. Here’s the list:

Week 1: Simplicity
Week 2: Examen
Week 3: Prayer
Week 4: Fasting
Week 5: Study
Week 6: Service
Week 7: Celebration

Ready to get started? Simply sign up below. Be sure to reply to the email you should immediately receive (check your spam or trash if you don’t see it within a few minutes) so that you are added to our list. Your first bundle will arrive on Ash Wednesday, February 10, the first day of Lent. Thereafter, you’ll receive a bundle every Monday. We will also add you to our private Empty to Full Facebook page so that you can participate in the forum with us if you would like to.

We look forward to the next seven weeks! Thank you for journeying with us.

Sign up here:

The 12 Days of Easter: Day 12, Resurrection Life

Day 12: Resurrection Life

“I am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” John 11:25

resurrection [rez-uh–rek-shuh n]

noun

1. the act of rising from the dead.

2. the rising of Christ after His death and burial.

3. the rising of the dead on Judgment Day.

4. the state of those risen from the dead.

5. a rising again, as from decay, disuse, etc.; revival

Abundant life … eternal life … everlasting life … are all made possible by resurrection life. Not just life, but resurrection life; the kind of life that comes after a death. Only God can make life after death. Resurrection is not an action, a thing, or behavior; it is a Person, Jesus. The Great I AM.

Because of the resurrection there is life after death, life after divorce, life after theft, life after abuse, life after addiction, and life after lying, but it only comes from Jesus Christ. He endured an ugly, horrific death to make you (and me) beautiful.

Several years ago, a coworker asked me if I would share my testimony (my story of how I became a Christian) with her. I told her I would share my story, but to be prepared, because it wasn’t pretty. God stopped me and whispered clearly in my heart, “Your story is beautiful.”

My story is beautiful because God made it beautiful. He resurrected my life and called me forth from my grave that I dug with my own two hands to live in the beauty of His grace.

Though your marriage is dead, you shall live. Though your dreams are dead, you shall live. Though your reputation is dead, you shall live. God is in the business of raising things from the dead. It is His specialty.

Resurrection life. Forged at the cross by the love and the blood of Jesus.

Death where is the sting? He is Risen! He is risen indeed!

Action Points

1. Accept. If you haven’t accepted Jesus as your Savior, please do so now. Tell Him your sin and of your great need for a Savior and ask Him to come into your heart.

2. Live! Stop living in the shadow of a dead past, a dead relationship, or a dead dream. Jesus is calling you forth to new life. What step can you take today to live a resurrected life?

3. Share. Someone you know is dying to hear about Jesus. Tell them today.

Happy Easter.

Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/resurrection (accessed: March 08, 2015).

Coming Soon! The 12 Days of Easter

Days 1-12: Devotional Journey to Easter

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die …. ‘” John 11:25-26

At Only By Prayer, we invite you to join us for our 12-day journey to Easter. Starting Wednesday, March 25, we’ll post a short devotion every morning that will encourage you to pray, reflect, and prepare your hearts for Easter Sunday. Although the devotions will only take minutes to read, we think they will linger with you throughout the day, inviting you to draw closer to God.

Be sure to check our home page for the newest post each day. We’d love to hear your thoughts about how God is working in your life, so feel free to comment at the end of each entry.

Easter [ee-ster]

noun

1. an annual Christian festival in commemoration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, observed on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, as calculated according to tables based in Western churches on the Gregorian calendar and in Orthodox churches on the Julian calendar.

2. Also called Easter Sunday; the day on which this festival is celebrated.

3. the Easter season; the week following Easter.

Prayer:

Dearest Father,

As we look forward to Easter, we ask that you help us to slow down and ready our hearts to listen to what you have for us in this season. May we not take Jesus’ sacrifice lightly, but remember all He has done so that we can have eternal life. In His holy name, Amen.

easter. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/easter (accessed: March 23, 2015).

I Am the Resurrection by Mary Kane

Do you have something in your life that you need God to breathe new life into? Please click on the link to do the Resurrection study!