Ash Wednesday - Living What We Claim

Deus caritas est! “…God is love.” 1 John 4:16

As we enter this season of reflection and renewal, let’s rediscover God calling to His children, revealing His goodness, and transforming each one with Perfect Love. "This is real love – not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins" (1 John 4:10) ~ Donna Oswalt

It's tough in the desert. It's bewildering. It's destructive. It's hellish. Yet the testimony of the Old Testament, and ever more strongly, of the New, is that out of it comes new growth, new insight, new certainty that a God of love is a home among us. Charles Elliott 

This is the day Christians around the world come to His altar to receive the mark of a sinner. It symbolically reminds us that God alone is Sovereign; God alone is Grace. Humanity will never find salvation or peace or eternity without Jesus Christ. It is His forgiveness we need, His presence we seek, His love we offer. Today begins a journey of renewal, a time to reflect on our own individual faith-walk.

If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.  1 John 1:6-7 The Message

READ 1 John 1:1-10

consider this!
- Where does "this Light" originate?
- If believers are forgiven, why do we still stand before God marked as a sinner?
- Does my living what I claim reflect Jesus?

Light of the World ~ You have come that I might love. I am a sinner, but You are Grace. I confess You are Absolute Truth. Dress me in righteousness, forgiven and redeemed. May my words of living reflect the Word of Life. Amen. - dho

All rights reserved; copyright 2017 by Donna Oswalt/Co-Founder of Mangrove Ministries/Christian blogger and author;  Breathing Room For My Soul (blog)~ Follow on Twitter @soulchat

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Deus caritas est! God is Love!

Lenten Season 2017 – Deus caritas est! God is Love!

Beginning this week on Ash Wednesday March 1, 2017 and throughout the Easter season, you can read daily devotions on my blog. You can also sign-up to receive emails each day at Breathing Room For My Soul if you are not currently getting emails. Join me as we reflect and renew our personal relationship with Jesus. Please share this with your friends. The devotions will also be available on Facebook and Twitter @soulchat. 

This is real love – not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son                               

as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (1 John 4:10)

This year the readings will explore God’s Perfect Love and include topics like “Love One Another”, “The Righteousness of Christ”, “Fellowship Defined”, “Too Full”, and “God’s Testimony” to name a few. Each Sunday we will look at our Oneness in Christ, with topics such as, the “Live Deeply in Christ”, “Living as Christ”, the “Christ Living Through Us” and more.  When we encounter Jesus Christ, this Perfect Love speaks our needs to the Father, brings light into the darkness, and teaches us how to love each other. Let’s take this journey together as we choose this holy love defined by Christ. Deus caritas est! ~ Donna Oswalt

Want other options? You can order my Lenten devotional book, Kindled Soul, Holy Fire from Amazon.com  which has daily devotions from Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday! Order now for yourself and some for your friends!!

Power to Change the World - Living the Gospel Series

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16-17

From prison in Rome, Paul writes to the church in Colosse, a young congregation likely not more than five to six years old. The conflicts then in Colosse are the same here today. Humanity's rules and customs and lack of religious beliefs clash with the true gospel message of grace through Jesus Christ. The endless sources of media flood our minds and home daily with excuses to ignore God's message, with rhetoric to diminish God, with threats to marginalize Christianity. Paul's words that Christ is "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15) exceeds logic and scientific explanation. Although we are not imprisioned in Rome, we find ourselves surrounded by darkness that desires to take us captive

Instead of constantly engaging in verbal retaliation of what's wrong with the world's message, maybe the better approach would be to simply share the majesty and wonder of our God. By allowing the Gospel message to thrive in our lives, we become living testimonies of God's love and compassion, of Christ's humility and grace to those within our spheres of influence. Deep faith, especially in crsis, reveals the magnitude and power of God. Lives full with hope, even in times of difficulty, speak loudly of the God who dwells in us. An attitude of love toward others, whether we agree or disagree, becomes the righteous fruit of worshiping a holy and sovereign God. In his letters, Paul frequently utilizes the themes of faith, hope, and love distinguishing them as "gifts from God". He writes, "Above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection." (Colossians 3:14 NKJV) David Jeremiah calls this bond with Perfect Love the "power to change the world." Love within this bond of perfection becomes the living, true Gospel. - dho

Worthy of Worship - Living the Gospel Series

The Cross is a Reality, not a symbol - at the wall of the world stands God with His arms outstretched. Oswald Chambers

Some scholars refer to this passage of Scripture (Colossians 1:15-20) as the "most developed reflection of Christ's divinity in the New Testament". Others call this section Paul's doxology to the "grandeur and glory of Jesus Christ". Many believe Paul may have been giving this as a hymn for the early Christian church. During the first century in the Colossian church, various opponents question the deity and divinity of Christ. Paul intentionally brings the focus back to Christ as Sovereign and Savior. Christ is the grace that rescues us from the control of darkness and transfers us into His kingdom of love.

In purchasing our freedom on the cross, Christ's forgiveness of sins fulfills the Old Testament's true gospel message and reconciles us to the Father. Christ reigns as Creator and Redeemer, Spiritual Ruler and Sustainer. Even now, Believers in Christ intentionally share the true gospel message with praise and worship. This ministry of reconciliation invites others to know the peace and joy of a relationship with Jesus Christ, invites others to worship the true and living Son of God. These worship words in Colossians should define our hearts as we live for Christ! - dho

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

    He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,

for through him God created everything

    in the heavenly realms and on earth.

He made the things we can see

    and the things we can’t see—

such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.

    Everything was created through him and for him.

 

He existed before anything else,

    and he holds all creation together.

Christ is also the head of the church,

    which is his body.

He is the beginning,

    supreme over all who rise from the dead.

    So he is first in everything.

 

For God in all his fullness

    was pleased to live in Christ,

and through him God reconciled

    everything to himself.

He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth

    by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

 Colossians 1:15-20 NLT 

Live Worthy - Living the Gospel Series

Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; Colossians 1:10 NKJV

As Paul writes to the church at Colosse, he confronts the "religious counterfeits" that surround and challenge their beliefs. In verse 10, "walk" is the Greek word peripateo meaning "how to walk" and  translates to "walk with devotion to God". Often this word is used like the Hebrew word halakhah which suggests a behavior or more literally "live". We are to "live" our lives in a manner worthy of the Lord.

The question of where to live and what to do is really insignificant compared to the question of how to keep the eyes of my heart focused on God.  Henri Nouwen

Today, we encounter the same spiritual counterfeits. When considering how to live the Gospel, our hearts must first be focused on God. Without God, even times of abundance will reveal a poverty of spirit within us. Putting God first transforms our hearts so that even in times of material emptiness, the soul experiences spiritual contentment. We are to live the Gospel, no matter our circumstances; we are to live as Christ to others. - dho

Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours; yours are the eyes through which He looks with compassion on the world, yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good, and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.  St. Teresa of Avila

Influences of the World - Living the Gospel Series

 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. Colossians 1:9-12   

Colosse, a Roman-controlled province of Asia Minor, geographically rests 120 miles East of Ephesus on a great trade route. In its early days, around 400 BC, Colosse reigns as a major city for textiles and trade. Known for dyed material and soft wool, with its strategic location and successful wool industry, the city thrives. By the time Paul writes to the Colossian church, new growth in nearby cites has altered its once prosperous status to a less than important "market town". The citizens of Colossa and the church are being influenced by a variety of cultural and philosophical beliefs systems. They are discouraged and confused by the chaos, a true characteristic of Satan.  

"God's love mysteriously satisfies God's justice... [His] love will ultimately prevail to mend the world and bring God's purposes to full fruit." Richard Foster

Paul writes that we have not stopped praying for you and reminds this community of believers that knowledge and wisdom comes through the Holy Spirit. Along with some false teachings and pagan religious practices in Colosse, these young Christians are being influenced by Greek philosophies, the occult, and "worship of angels". Paul reassures them living a worthy life pleases God, and that in God they will find all the knowledge and wisdom and strength necessary for fruit-full living. Today, we are surrounded by the same distractions, leaving us disillusioned and often disappointed. As believers in Christ, God provides all we need and expects us to press on with endurance and patience and thanksgiving to Him. We are called to bear fruit in all our good works, giving all glory to the Father. So, with each deed, we should ask ourselves if we are trying to appease humanity or please God. Whose approval do we really seek? - dho