breathing room for my soul: Lent 2019 Marks of Life Everlasting

Showing posts with label Lent 2019 Marks of Life Everlasting. Show all posts

Sunday, April 21, 2019

Easter Sunday - I AM the Resurrection and the Life!

Thank you for the opportunity to share the Extravagant Love of God with you during this Easter Season. For more devotionals throughout the year, follow BreathingRoomForMySoul.com Donna Oswalt, Mangrove Ministries ]

Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again. They are given eternal life for believing in Me and will never perish. John 11:25-26 NLT

Easter Sunday is full of joy, praise and hallelujahs that celebrate once again Extravagant Love! His love not only precedes us, it exceeds us. Resurrection marks the transition between life and overcoming death. His resurrection bears the marks of His Passion for mankind. This Everlasting Grace conquers the spiritual death. With certainty we find our Blessed Assurance even in the darkest times. The resurrection of Jesus restores life, offers new life to all, and gives enduring peace. Holy, Holy, Holy; Holy is the LORD. Christ is risen. Christ is risen indeed.

Celebrate the resurrection; consider Extravagant Love.
Share the resurrection; offer Christ to another.

Holy One, such love wraps my life with assurance of life, and Grace weaves my life into Your community of believers. Mark me as Yours; restore my soul. Hallelujah to the Love Most High! - dho

All rights reserved ~ used with permission of the author Copyright 2013 by Donna Oswalt/Co-Founder of Mangrove Ministries/Christian blogger and author Breathing Room For My Soul (blog) Follow on Twitter @soulchat

Friday, April 19, 2019

Good Friday - Mark of Transition

And they all continued in amazement and great complexity, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" Acts 2:1-13 NASB

These first verses of Acts 2 describe the beginning of Pentecost. This is the day God sends the Holy Spirit. The disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit and begin to speak in other languages. Symbolically, the languages confirmed that God's children would come from all nations. This marked the transition from Jesus' earthly ministry to the beginning of the church. All people can come into the Kingdom of God.

Weeks earlier, we find Christ arrested, beaten, and crucified. His death confuses those who had followed Him. Most all of them desert Jesus; fear rules. Believing that Jesus would become an earthly king, confusion and chaos take control. The cross, too, is a time of transition, a time of uncertainty. Who is this Jesus anyway?

Today, we often let fear rule; confusion and chaos disrupt. We live in uncertain times. Our mark of transition is when we choose to live for Jesus. This spiritual transition is just the beginning of the everlasting life that comes only through Jesus. Choose Life!

Can you mark your transition from lost to redeemed through Christ?
If you Choose Life, will you share this Everlasting Life with someone else?

Jesus, the cross gives me the opportunity to change, to make a commitment to serving You. In silence I consider the cost of my soul. The cross always wears the mark of transition from death to life. I choose Life! – dho

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Maundy Thursday - Mark of the Nails

But Thomas (who was called the Twin ), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

John20:24-25 NRSV

From fellowship to betrayal, so goes this day over 2,000 years ago. Christ knows His path, but the disciples do not understand. Now, over 2,000 years later, Christians can recount the story and explain its meaning because we have the Holy Spirit to lead us and teach us about God's word; yet, if we are honest, we struggle with understanding how God could love us so much.

Isaiah 49:16 God said, "Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands." God makes is clear that He will not forsake us, that His compassion and mercy will be with His children. This is the mark God bears. Jesus wears the mark of the nails, signifying His unfailing, unconditional love for His own. He has us engraved on the palms of His hands. Jesus bears the marks of total surrender, wounded and pierced for the sins of all people.

Write down words to describe the Divine Love.
Do you believe God really, really loves you? Believe it!

Love Most High, this unconditional love You give to me is more than I can understand. Just knowing that Your hands are engraved with Divine Love for everyone makes me fall to my knees. I do believe! - dho

All rights reserved ~ used with permission of the author Copyright 2013 by Donna Oswalt/Co-Founder of Mangrove Ministries/Christian blogger and author Breathing Room For My Soul (blog) Follow on Twitter @soulchat

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Mark of Suffering

Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

Luke is the only Gospel to record Jesus weeping over Jerusalem upon His triumphal entry into the city on the day we now call Palm Sunday. Praises and palm branches, hosannas and hallelujahs roar as plots and hostility whisper in secret. Why does Jesus weep for Jerusalem? Jesus knows the hearts of the people. In a few days, those with religious fears and political agendas along with some of these very people will cry "crucify!" Jesus knows the destruction of Jerusalem is coming; the rejection of the Messiah will bring divine judgment.

During the study of John, notes from Bible Study Fellowship give this insight: Indeed, throughout Jesus' suffering His joy was a distinguishing mark of character that separated Him from them. Jesus' suffering leads to joy. He accomplishes God's will on the cross of redemption and now sits at the right hand of God. Paul writes: for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus [Galatians 6:17] What does he mean? Paul bears the wounds and scars of persecution for Christ's sake. As believers, our joy is grown in trials, and our endurance is increased in difficulty. Soul-full joy in spite of suffering marks our true faith in Christ.

Thinking about the sufferings of Christ, do you think Christ was ever discouraged?
Can others see Christ's mark of suffering [JOY] on my life?

Jesus, my heart weeps at the suffering You endured for me. You were able to look through the suffering to the future with Joy because You knew the Father. I look with Hope and Joy because I know You! - dho

Thursday, April 04, 2019

Mark of False Teachers

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you shall know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. 1John 4:1-3 ESV

Scofield’s commentary on this Scripture suggests two marks of false teachers: “(a) Erroneous doctrine concerning Christ’s Person and (b) Erroneous attitude toward the world." To assume that everything we hear or read about God is “true” can open our hearts and minds to false teaching. Those who have a world viewpoint use this as their reference and may have many followers. Some who speak the name of Jesus can lead others down the wrong path. Scripture tells us to discern the Spirit of Truth from a spirit of untruth by comparing the truths of God’s Word against the words we hear. The world will tell you there are “no absolute truths” and unfortunately, you can even hear that in some churches. "What's true for you is true!" is not compatible with the Word of God.

What absolute truths do Christians believe? One truth is found in 1 John 4:7-21. God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God but that He loves us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. . . We love because He first loved us. Christ’s deity is an absolute truth, just as His humanity, miracles of healing, ministry of love and forgiveness, experiences of betrayal, crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection. Listen carefully to the rhetoric of others; read prayerfully the words in books. Listen for the Spirit of Truth.

Read 2 Kings 6:15-17: How are you encouraged by this account?
Read John 3:16-21: What absolute truths defend the Christian faith?

Lord, give me courage to seek the Spirit of Truth. Open my mind to corrupt views that diminish who You are. Help me listen with a discerning spirit! – dho

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Mark of Sanctification

Sanctify them [purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them holy] by the Truth; Your Word is Truth. Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. John 17:17-18 AMP

Make them holy – consecrated – with the truth; Your word is consecrating truth. In the same way that You gave Me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world. John 17:17-18 MSG

The follower of Christ is made pure and holy, first by believing, and secondly by obeying the Word of God. With salvation comes the forgiveness of sins, but it is the daily walk that purifies the Christian’s heart and mind. As Jesus prays for His disciples, He acknowledges that it is Truth that makes them holy. Jesus is that Truth. He then tells us where to find the Truth – in God’s Word.

Not only is Jesus the path to forgiveness, He asks us to take His Truth to the world. Sanctification marks a person for a specific use or empowers one for God’s use. Christians are set apart to give glory to God and share the Good News. Daily being in His word and searching for His truth, praying for guidance and listening for God’s voice provides the tools necessary to share Christ in the world. Be pure and holy in Christ!

Do your daily routines involve spending quality time with God? If not, will you commit to do this?
What opportunities do you have to share the Good News?

Holy One, open my heart to Your Truth that I may see the need to sit with You, to read Your word, to pray more sincerely, to listen more intently. Make my mind and heart pure and holy for Your glory. - dho

Thursday, March 21, 2019

Mark of Testing

At once the Spirit sent [Jesus] out into the desert, and He was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended Him. Mark 1:12-13

‘Forty days’ is a recurring period of time in Scripture. Many Bible scholars point out that “40” is a familiar number and measures days or years. A few examples include “it rained for 40 days and nights” with Noah’s family inside the ark, twice Moses spent “40 days and 40 nights” on the mountain with God receiving the Ten Commandments, and the Israelites spent “40 years in the wilderness” for their unfaithfulness before they could enter the Promised Land. In our Scripture, after Jesus’ baptism and before His ministry begins, Jesus is led into the wilderness for forty days during which time He is tested by Satan. There are others, but scholars suggest these all represent times of need or struggle or testing; some convey the time is spent in preparation for something important. These examples certainly confirm this with a renewed earth after the flood, God’s covenant is renewed after Moses intervenes, the Israelites enter the Promised Land, and Jesus begins His public ministry. In all these times, God is working a transformation in the lives of the people.

Another phrase that recurs in my reading is the “wilderness experience”. Through this wilderness experience, the lessons of God’s Provision and Power are clear. Like Jesus in the desert, we too face extreme circumstances where our faith is tested. The world always tries to challenge us to a different set of values than God chooses. Jesus must reject Satan’s offerings of power and glory. We, too, must reject these temptations when tested. In my times in the wilderness, I want it to end sooner than it usually does. Sometimes, I will find the world’s choices look very appealing. When testing comes, the experiences reveal our hearts. During Lent, we can examine our values and renew our covenant with God, learning from our failures and being strengthened by grace.

How is my wilderness experience preparing my heart?
Am I transformed in the wilderness? Can anyone tell?

God of Mercy and Grace, I want to be found faithful when testing comes, knowing patience and truth. When the idols of life and selfish choices scream for attention, take me to the wilderness and teach me, heal me, prepare me. Lord, transform me to be more like You. ~ dho

Thursday, March 14, 2019

Mark of Reverance

. . . The LORD merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born. He gave the sea its boundaries and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs . . . let everyone stand in awe of Him. . . The LORD looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race. From His throne He observes all who live on the earth. He made their hearts, so He understands everything they do. . . the LORD watches over those who fear Him, those who rely on His unfailing love. . . We depend on the LORD alone to save us. Only He can help us, protecting us like a shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we are trusting in His holy name. . . our hope is in You alone. Psalm 33 NLT

I invite you to read all of Psalm 33 as it describes the characteristics of our Sovereign God, the LORD of all creation. In these verses we are reminded of Genesis chapter 1 as it reflects the beginnings of the world. God is referred to in Genesis 1:1-3 as Elohim, the All-powerful One, the Creator. The LORD in Psalm 33 is the Hebrew Yahweh, I AM, the One Who Is. God never changes, and His promises never fail. He is always faithful, even when we are not.

I don’t know about you, but my imagination cannot begin to understand this kind of holy power. Just thinking about the minute details of every living thing brings a sense of awe to my mind. This reverent awe, this overwhelming wonder brings me to my knees in worship and praise of God. This kind of fear transforms the heart, mind and soul; this is the mark of reverence.

Why do I forget to fear God like this?
Does being in awe of our Sovereign God truly transform my life?

LORD, Yahweh ~ You are the beginning and the end of all things, of all time. Your whisper can change the wind, calm the storm, light the night sky, and water the earth. Your Protection covers me, but I do not notice. You are the Source of life, yet I forget. Forgive me as You fill me with holy wonder. Transform me as You teach me unfailing love. May my life reveal a mark of reverence for the Creator of all! ~dho

Thursday, March 07, 2019

Mark of God's Faithfulness

[God...made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus. Hebrews 13:20 MSG
During this season of reflection and renewal, join me, and let's explore the visible evidence, the Marks of Life Everlasting - that identifies us as faithful followers of Jesus. Can others see Jesus in our lives? ~ Donna Oswalt]

. . . and the LORD said to Joshua, “. . .Take twelve stones from here out of the Jordan”. . . And those twelve stones, which they took up out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know. . . For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over. . . so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.” Joshua 4 ESV

This account in Joshua describes the scenes as the Israelites finally enter the Promised Land. Their unfaithfulness had kept them in the desert for 40 years after being freed from Egypt. Despite their lack of faith, God’s promise to them remains. Now Joshua leads as they enter the land promised to them through Abraham. God tells Joshua to take twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes, and make a memorial. This is the first of seven stone memorials described in Joshua. What does it represent? Israel safely crosses the Jordan River into the long awaited Promised Land; God’s faithfulness prevails, and this memorial is to become a reminder to them and all the generations to come that God is always faithful. It is the mark of God’s faithfulness.

What stories do you tell family and friends about God’s faithfulness in your life?
Will the generations to come pass along these stories?

LORD, my God, Your faithfulness to me comes from before time began and will continue after time ends. In the middle of my circumstances, sometimes I forget to tell my stories of how You never leave me, always go before me, protect and provide for me. I take Your strength but do not share it. Let me tell Your stories of faithfulness to me – tell them now and pass them to the future. ~dho

Breathing Room For My Soul (blog) Follow on Twitter @soulchat

Wednesday, March 06, 2019

Ash Wednesday - Mark of Ashes

[God...made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus. Hebrews 13:20 MSG During this season of reflection and renewal, join me, and let's explore the visible evidence, the Marks of Life Everlasting - that identifies us as faithful followers of Jesus. Can others see Jesus in our lives? ~ Donna Oswalt]

"For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6

[Jesus said] "Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:13

Jesus came for sinners, those who need His mercy. All of fallen humanity meets the requirements of ‘sinner.’ Only through Jesus can we be made holy, only through His Grace can we be made righteous. It is only our soul’s sincere repentance that invites Grace to enter. On this Ash Wednesday, Christians around the world gather together and receive the sign of the cross on their foreheads. These ashes remind us of our need for Grace, remind us that without Jesus we are only sinners. With Jesus, however, we are sinners who find forgiveness and redemption. We can trade our ashes for a robe of righteousness with Jesus!

- How will I praise God for such unconditional love?

- Will others see only my ashes or will they see the Grace of Jesus?

Jesus, I kneel at Your altar wearing the mark of a sinner. With humble awareness I examine my need for grace, my desire to serve You more. Let my love and service always be mindful of Your mercy. - dho

Breathing Room For My Soul (blog) Follow on Twitter @soulchat

A New Beginning

"This is my [new] life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details . . . God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities.

And so here I am . . . writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along."
Ephesians 3:7-10, The Message

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Sunday, April 21, 2019

Friday, April 19, 2019

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Thursday, April 04, 2019

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Thursday, March 21, 2019

Thursday, March 14, 2019

Thursday, March 07, 2019

Wednesday, March 06, 2019