Hello my sweet friends!! I am sorry I have been away from the blog. I was trying to heal my hurt hand. But now I am back!!
As you know yesterday was a big party for Mardi Gras. But did you know that the party stops at midnight so Lent may began? Lent is a time of sacrifice and focusing on Christ the forty days before Easter. This year, I would like you to sacrifice something that will help you set more time aside for God.
I do not want you to give up food or change your diet, but I want you to think of something that takes away your time like TV or Facebook. Would you be willing to give up 30 minutes each day of one of these things and dedicate that time to God for the forty days? I will post scripture and discussion each day on here for you. Will you choose for 40 days to give God 30 minutes of your time?
My life, I choose...
*to sacrifice_________ for forty days and give that time to God.
*to read scripture each of these days.
*to spend time talking to and worshiping God.
Day 1 Scripture: Jesus himself spent 40 days fasting in the desert and was tempted. Read the passage below.
Luke 4
Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted[a] by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’[b]”
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’[c]”
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[d]”
12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[e]”
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[f]
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.
23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”
24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy[g] in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.
Did you notice that Jesus withstood temptation because He used the Word of God to battle it? My question for you to think about today is do you know scripture in your heart to help you battle temptation? Are you willing to dedicate time to learn verses so you will be prepared next time you are tempted?
My life, I choose…
*to write the verse from above on my mirror and memorize it.
*as I brush out my tangles, ask God to forgive me for not knowing His Word.
*as I brush my teeth, thank God for His Word and its power.
*as I put on eye make up/contacts, help me see the importance of knowing His Word.
*as I get dressed, put on the armor of God.
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