Saturday, March 8, 2014 
Lenten Reflections

 

Diocese of Newark


Thank you for joining us in prayer and reflection during  the season of Lent. We will travel through daily scripture, reflection and prayer.  We invite you to explore the other resources of the season found and the bottom of the page as  we begin the journey together.

 
Christian Formation Commission

Scripture

  

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13

 

Reflection 

 

 

"Philippians 4:13 for Pete's sake!"

 

In Jan Karon's novel These High Green Hills, Olivia, a beautiful heart transplant patient, tosses this phrase back and forth with her priest as she bravely faces down her physical ailments and her own emotional turmoil. The characters repeat this refrain so often that, as I read, I felt compelled to look it up--- this verse that kept people going through their times of trial. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"

 

Once I read it, I took it as a life verse for myself. I find simply reciting that Scripture inside my head gives me a surge of energy and lifts my spirits. "I CAN DO all things through Christ who strengthens me."

 

Even hard things. Scary things. Things which loom larger than me. Things which seem undoable, maybe even unconquerable. Because I am bringing Christ with me, inside of me, when I face them down. "I can do ALL THINGS through Christ who strengthens me."

 

I don't need to live alone. I don't face my problems alone. I don't have to fix everything by myself. Jeremiah 32:27 says, "Behold, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?" Almighty God works in me and through me and with me." I can do all things THROUGH CHRIST who strengthens me.

 

When He walks with me, when I trust in Him, as He moves through my being, Jesus loves me into wholeness and sanity. He calms my fears. He stops the rapidly whirling vortex of worries and "what ifs" in my mind. He silences the clanging alarm bells. He stills the compulsively jiggling knee and the nervously tapping foot. Jesus lifts me into His heart and gives me peace to calmly deal with whatever befalls me. He never lets me falter or run out of energy to meet the obstacles or crises in front of me. He sustains me with His Holy Spirit. "I can do all things through Christ WHO STRENGTHENS ME."

 

God loves us that much if we let Him. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

 

Prayer
 
Lord Jesus, lift us up to that place where we may be still, 
and know that you are God.
Help us to remember that you are nearer to us than our own breath.  We need only to ask for you,
 and you have promised to come to us, that we will receive.  
Holy Spirit, dwell with us and in us today and evermore.  Amen.

 

   

You are invited to click these links and explore more resources:

 

 

 

Praying Lent - Resources for Lent - from Creighton University (A Jesuit Catholic University)

 

Holy Week and Good Friday Resources - from The Episcopal Church

 

The Meaning of Lent - from Vibrant Faith @ Home   

         

Prayers and Liturgies for Lent - from Faith and Worship   

 

Lenten Mediations and Bulletin Inserts (English & Spanish) from Episcopal Relief & Development

 

Lenten Giving Calendar - from Jenifer Gamber

 

Love Life - from the Brothers of Saint John the Evangelist (SSJE)

 

Lent Madness 

 

Resources for Lent 2014 - from Bread for the World 

 

Lent 2014-Hunger:A Matter of the Heart - from the Upper Susquehanna Synod/Evangelical Lutheran Church

 

Living the Easter Mystery - 5 session Ecumenical Lenten Program from the South Australian Council of Churches

 

Lent and Easter Ideas to Use at Home - from Barnabas in Churches (UK)

 

Labyrinth for Lent - from Barnabas in Churches (UK)

 

Lent and Easter Plays for Children - from Skiturgies  

 

Pro/Claim - Engaging the Baptismal Covenant - from the Diocese of California

 

 
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