To the Church, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy,
together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ - their Lord and ours:
Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ -
(1 Corinthians 1:2-3)
Today marks the beginning of the season of Lent and the door is being opened for us to embark on a new journey these next 40 days as we walk towards the glorious celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Each year we pause to reflect on the extraordinary gift we have received through the great sacrifice of our Savior who offered His life as a ransom for our sins and paved the way with His blood for us to experience life eternal with our Heavenly Father.
"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert,
so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
that everyone who believes in Him
may have eternal life."
(John 3:14-15)
With one humble, painful, sacrificial act, Jesus set the standard by which all mankind would be judged. The cross, a symbol of judgment exercised against hardened criminals effected to hinder others from breaking the law, would become the banner through which the Lord would provide the pathway for sinners to experience His mercy, grace, and forgiveness.
"But I, when I am lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men to Myself."
(John 12:32)
Throughout the Scriptures we read that banners were "the troop standards around which the units rallied". A pole with a banner was set on a hill as a signal for the troops to prepare for battle and to lead them into action, or to call the troops to return home. The twelve tribes of Israel had their own standard identifying each family unit to march under as the camp moved from place to place (reference Numbers 2:2). As Christians, followers of Jesus Christ and children of the Living God, the standard we march under is the cross of Jesus Christ. It is the banner that called us to Christ and it is the standard we are to uphold to lead others to experience that same victory we have already received.
"In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner
for all peoples; the nations will rally to Him,
and His place of rest will be glorious."
(Isaiah 11:10)
In the eyes of the unbelieving world, the cross would only be seen as a tragic defeat rather than victorious result of a well planned and purposed military strategy. God's ways are not our ways, His ways are higher and marked by the supreme standard of His love. He uses the seemingly foolish, weak, lowly and despised things by human standards to reveal the greatness of His wisdom and power (reference 1 Corinthians 1:27-29). In the face of weakness He displayed His greatest triumph. It is in weakness that we find our strength (reference 2 Corinthians 12:9-10). It is through surrender we find success. It is through love that we experience the life we were meant to live (reference John 10:10).
"For the message of the cross is foolishness
to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved
it is the power of God."
(1 Corinthians 1:18)
All the power we need to walk, live, and face the battles in this life victoriously are rooted in the cross of Jesus Christ. "...Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:24). But instead of accessing and utilizing this divine power given through the Holy Spirit we often rest in our own strength and human understanding. We have found ourselves wasting more and more time reacting and responding to the world's ignorance and putting out fires, rather than proactively filling ourselves with godly wisdom and understanding and setting the world on fire for Christ.
The Lord's love for us is displayed like a great military banner set on a hill for all the world to see. "His banner over me is love" (Song of Songs 2:4b). But instead of leading the charge and pointing others to Christ we have become an obstacle in their path because we ourselves have neglected to put on the mind of Christ and seek after knowledge and understanding of Him and His will. God's highest priority for us is intimacy with Him. His greatest desire is that we would know Him. His cross stands as a beacon of love beckoning us to Him, but we have forgotten how priceless His gift is, how great a price He paid, how far He was willing to go to draw us to Himself. We have lost sight of our purpose, we have neglected our calling; we must repent, for the Kingdom of God is near (Matthew 3:2)!
"For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you
except Jesus Christ and Him crucified"
(1 Corinthians 2:2)
The apostle Paul knew the power of the cross and as a result the focus of his life and teaching became about nothing else but preaching Christ and Him crucified. His sole desire was to know Christ and make Him known. He knew firsthand the transforming and saving work of the cross. We, too, are ambassadors for Christ, having experienced His redemptive and transforming power at work in our own lives; and Paul's proclamation should be our own. His calling was not to a cause, but to a person - the person of Jesus Christ. These next 40 days provide a divine opportunity change our perspective and to fix our eyes on Jesus. To get our eyes off of our own individual circumstances and turn our attention towards our King and His Kingdom!
In preparation for this journey recognize that only God and our knowledge and love for Him is worthwhile, and the time and attention we give to nurturing our relationship with our Lord alone will yield extraordinary spiritual blessings and fruit. The season of Lent is traditionally a time for penitence and sacrifice, however, there is nothing we have to offer that God needs; but what He does desire most of all is us! "To obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22b). Our desire to set aside our busy schedules to spend time with Him, in His Word and in worship and prayer, brings Him the greatest pleasure. The degree to which the servants of God are willing to surrender our time and attention to spend time with the Lord and seek His wisdom and counsel would result in a radical shift in the outcome of this spiritual war - victory is assured when we rest in the Lord (Psalm 46:10)!
May we respond to the standard that has been raised as we walk these next 40 days!
1. Pray. Take time today to prepare your heart for these next 40 days. This journey is not meant to be solely a fast, but, more importantly, a feast as our focus will be completely on our First Love - the Lord Jesus Christ! His desire is for us to know Him and this journey will lead us into the depths of who He is and what He has done for us. Prepare your heart to receive what He has prepared especially for you.
"I have treasured the words of His mouth
more than my daily bread." (Job 23:12b)
2. Fast. As you pray and seek the Lord He may direct you to offer a sacrifice of your food - offering a sacrifice of food puts us in a place of greater dependence upon the Lord and allows us to experience greater clarity in our hearing and understanding. Taking this step of faith will yield far greater rewards than what you ever had to give up. Be careful not to get distracted by the legalism of the physical food you may not be eating and pay more attention the spiritual food the Lord is nourishing you with each day of this journey. His desire is to empty you of all that is unhealthy, unholy, unnecessary and fill you instead with His more or Him - His holiness, goodness, righteousness, and glory.
3. Ask the Lord to reveal to you those areas of your life that have dampened or are currently hindering you from experiencing the deep, abiding, intimate relationship He desires you to have with Him. We all have experienced a lull in our fervor and passionate pursuit of the Lord at differient times and seasons in our walk. His desire is that appetite for Him be restored. Confess areas of busyness, laziness, conflict, weakness, unforgiveness, sin, disobedience, rebellion, and other areas that are keeping you from spending time in His Word and prayer each and every day. Repent that you have put anything or anyone ahead of Him; especially sinful behaviors and activities that are disrupting your relationship with the Lord altogether. The closer we walk with the Lord - the closer we get to His holiness - the more aware we become of those things that are not worthy of Him. It's time to rid ourselves of anything that is not of Christ!
4. Prepare a 3-ring notebook and prayer journal for this journey. This is an indepth devotional journey and you will find that printing out the devotionals each day (instead of reading them on your computer or phone) and placing them with your Bible and a notebook will make it easier to read and meditate upon [You will receive a devotional email each morning for the next 40 days. If you do not want to receive these emails you can unsubscribe or send a note to info@trumpetandtorch.org so you can remain on our mailing list but not take part in this journey]. Take time to dig deeper as the Lord leads. This is about your personal journey with the Lord and what He wants to reveal to you about Himself and His plans and purpose for your life and ministry. Record all that He shows you - Scriptures, prayers, people. Journaling is an important part of these journeys as the Lord leads you further down the path He has planned for you.
5. Put on your Spiritual Armor. The Lord blesses those who seek Him, but the enemy can't stand it when we do. The more we seek the Lord the stronger we become, but the more intensified the enemy's efforts are against us. Be prepared for daily atttacks that are directed at keeping you from spending intimate time with the Lord in His Word and prayer. Be vigilant and intentional about your devotional time with the Lord. Pray Ephesians 6:10-18 before you step out of bed and onto the spiritual battlefield waiting for you each day.
6. Worship. This journey is all about Jesus Christ. He is the standard we are to live and walk by. Our goal in this journey is to raise up the standard He has set before us. Today, take some time to just worship at His feet and exalt His glorious name. A great worship song to take you to the throne room is: Revelation Song - click here to listen to the YouTube video.
7: Pray, again! (and without ceasing!). We are in a spiritual battle and we must become adept at wielding our spiritual weapons. "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every though to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
Heavenly Father,
"Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come."
While we wait for "the blessed hope -
and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior,
Jesus Christ" we offer our lives as a sacrifice
to You in response to the standard You have
given us through Your Son's sacrificial death on the cross.
We have been bought with a price and our lives are not
our own. Complete the work You have begun in us,
no matter how painful Your refiners' fire may be.
Strip away everything that hinders us from being wholly
and holy Yours. Open our eyes to see Your holiness
and convict our hearts of our unworthiness . Examine our
hearts and rid us of anything and everything in our lives that offends
Your holy and glorious name. May our lives become a
fragrant offering, holy, pleasing, and acceptable to You
and may others be drawn to Your beauty because of the
sweet reflection of Jesus that we represent as we
live in accordance to Your perfect will as salt
and light in a tasteless and dark world.
Take pleasure in us as we delight in the precious time
we get to spend with you. Multiply the hours of our day
as we surrender these moments with you that they
may become more impactful for Your glory and
the furtherance of Your Kingdom.
"To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!'
In the exalted, glorious, and holy name of Jesus Christ,
the name by which every knee will bow and every tongue confess,
we pray. Amen.
[Psalm 26:2; Malachi 3:2-3; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:20; Ephesians 5:2; Titus 2:13; Revelation 4:8b; 5:13b].
