P.K.’s Corner
Psalm 51: 16,17
“For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
The Lenten season is upon us. For the next few weeks, the churches that follow the Liturgical Calendar will be sharing in Lenten sacrifices. But, contrary to popular belief, giving up something is not the intent of Lent.
The Psalmist points out how sacrifice alone is not pleasing to God. Just going through the motions of holiness does not bring us closer to God. Showing up at church, reading the bible, while all worthy activities mean nothing if you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You can fast for 40 days, give up all of your income, live in rags to show how pious you are, and with out giving yourself to Christ, those actions are naught.
Lent is meant to make room for God in our lives. We give up something that takes us away from God. The ultimate abstinence if you will would be to give up our selves. The broken spirit, the one that says I am yours, dear Lord, that is the sacrifice God will rejoice in.
Lent is not a time of self-deprivation, but a time of self-forgetfulness. God’s call to us is to focus on God, not on ourselves.
If you are going to give up something during these 40 days of lent, why not give something to God that God desires most, You.
Amen
Pastor Kent
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
If you choose
Mark 1:40 “…if you choose, you can make me clean”.
This excerpt is taken from a discourse between a leper and Jesus. Picture if you will a man, begging to be clean. It would have been so easy for Jesus to just walk the other way. I’m sure the disciples would have rather been somewhere else. In this one statement, the leper expressed his faith in the abilities of Jesus.
“If you choose”, are words not meant to shame our Savior, but to acknowledge that life and death, health and sickness, are all in the realm of his glory. In order to have a full relationship with God, we must realize that it is up to Jesus to make us clean.
As we read on in the story, Jesus chose to make the leper clean. Like the leper, our sins make us unclean. A leper is cast out from society, and sin keeps us away from knowing God fully, yet Jesus chooses to cleanse us so we can know God. Jesus will clean whatever it is, so that we will no longer be cast out from the kingdom.
The only thing separating us from God is our inability to ask Jesus to come into our hearts and wash away the muck and grime that sin has put there. When we ask, we hear those words in verse 41, “I do choose. Be made clean.” The wonderful thing about Jesus is this; He will choose to make you clean.
Have you asked?
Pastor Kent
This excerpt is taken from a discourse between a leper and Jesus. Picture if you will a man, begging to be clean. It would have been so easy for Jesus to just walk the other way. I’m sure the disciples would have rather been somewhere else. In this one statement, the leper expressed his faith in the abilities of Jesus.
“If you choose”, are words not meant to shame our Savior, but to acknowledge that life and death, health and sickness, are all in the realm of his glory. In order to have a full relationship with God, we must realize that it is up to Jesus to make us clean.
As we read on in the story, Jesus chose to make the leper clean. Like the leper, our sins make us unclean. A leper is cast out from society, and sin keeps us away from knowing God fully, yet Jesus chooses to cleanse us so we can know God. Jesus will clean whatever it is, so that we will no longer be cast out from the kingdom.
The only thing separating us from God is our inability to ask Jesus to come into our hearts and wash away the muck and grime that sin has put there. When we ask, we hear those words in verse 41, “I do choose. Be made clean.” The wonderful thing about Jesus is this; He will choose to make you clean.
Have you asked?
Pastor Kent
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