40 days...preparation for triumph day 17

He looked at them and told them to do as he was doing..He washed their feet and talked about knowing when it was for them..to model this same way..to live life as their master did..to be cleansed and pure from things that are other-centered.

He had the aroma of the perfume from Mary. He was holding the towel half-wet, half-dry.....and he said to them that one would betray him. He told them it would be the one he handed the bread to. He handed it to Judas. He told Judas to do what he needed. Jesus was referring to what went down in the heart of Judas and the fulfillment of the scriptures. The evil one had entered Judas the moment he received/ate the bread.

The others thought Jesus was telling him to keep up with the finances and reserve cash for things like feeding the poor or handling their accounting.

Judas then left. It was night.

Intriguing isn't it? The one we have perhaps viewed as evil. The one who dedicated his life to Jesus. The one who took the bread...leaves in the dark. Leaves the Light...to enter the dark. Darkness. Evil. In exchange for what? Money. Mistake. Misery. Guilt. Hopelessness. Betrayal. Sounds familiar to me.

To live life one way...to give in to temptation...to run from life and experience a dark night of the soul.

Unfortunately this has been a familiar pattern for many of us. For me. For you?

Yet it was Christ who gave Judas the bread and then began to speak of the Glory of God.

May we consider our own guilt. May we consider the Glory of the Father.

Are you sitting in the upper room or walking out in the darkness?

Does it matter...the journey of Jesus:  for you and me.

Life is offered us.

Life that is from the Father.

Life that is.  Eternal.

Life infinitely greater than we can fathom.

Consider....

Blessings.

-ao

Triumphant preparation...day 16

How can I prepare my heart for what will occur over the next 24 days?

How will the Lord change me..my heart?

I will watch. I will listen. I will read His word and soak in the journey toward death..toward God-sized humility and obedience. A journey with Christ and my heart.

God...help me. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.

I belong. I still walk with you, Lord. Teach me.

Blessings.

-ao

40 Days…preparation for triumph!

Day 15.

25 days and counting in the remainder of this Lenten season. 25 days of preparation within me, my heart, my connection and trust and hope in Jesus. I am on a journey….with Christ…with my soul…in scripture…in my heart.

I am thankful, dear Lord. Thankful for the words of Jesus. Thankful for trust in God, the Father.

The Light of the World….making His way to death…preparing for death…preparing to be The Sacrifice…to love me greater than fathomable. To take the cup – the one that holds all of my mess – all of our mess, period. He knew. WE did not. He was in. We wanted Him out. He designed me. We designed the nails. He brought Life. We handed Him death.

I continue to watch and experience the Lord in this journey toward a surprise death with a surprise victor. I still wait…I won’t go there just yet. There is much to encounter in Christ as he journeys back in to Jerusalem and speaks to those close to Him….and to me.

Thanks is not enough.

Blessings,

-ao

Can you show me Jesus

They wanted to see Jesus. "can we see Jesus.."

They were outsiders. He said "times up, the time for the savior to do what he came for has come"

Then Jesus talked about death, being buried and holding onto life...that apart from dying (to self) that life couldn't be fully received...life believing in Him as its true source.

Do you believe? Is he mine..your source of life as intended.

I pray he reveals in me a deeper desire for him to plant in me the seeds to grow fruit that come from faith in Christ alone. Prepare my heart in this journey to the cross, Lord.

Blessings,

-ao

40 days...preparation for triumph

Reflection.

Examination.

My life. His entry into Jerusalem. My heart. Things written about Him. He had the new covenant on His mind when He rode a donkey in to town.

He had the forgiveness of the Father on His mind.

Love story.

Passion.

You. Me.

Thank you dear Lord.

Prepare my heart.

Blessings.

-ao

Preparation for triumph...day 9

Friday. 9 days into this Lenten season.

Michael Bolton is on PBS singing "When a Man Loves a Woman"

"He gives up all his comforts, sleeps in the rain....give everything (I got)...just holding on to (your precious love)....."

I wonder if we stop for a minute and consider music of a differentt kind...music from the heavens. Music from the legions of angels who have a sole purpose to sing glory and praise and honor to God...always. What if their music about the Savior..about Jesus..was something like what Michael Bolton sang on PBS? If it was about God putting on skin and becoming a man...so that Got would ultimately be further glorified..and faithful to Himself to rain down His own mercy on all of man.

That was Mary's song and prompted by an.....angel. Prompted by the Spirit of God. A song about love, about hope to come and staying power.

As I sit and dig in scripture looking at the life that Jesus Christ offers you and me, I trust in the revealing of my own heart by the Lord...that He will keep showing me more of myself and more of Himself. I hope I come to a simpler view of my own heart and its wretchedness..and can prepare for the incomparable greatness and love offered from Jesus.

Speak to my heart, Lord.

Help me to not look ahead to the next days in this Lenten season/devotion but to remain in today and in what you have for me.

Blessings.

-ao

Date night

Headed to a birthday dinner with my bride. Then spring break!!

Will catch up on 40 days of triumph..soon.

His peace.

Blessings

-ao

40 Days....preparation for triumph

Here I sit.

Ash Wednesday. An entrance into a journey with the Lord...a journey to prepare my heart for the cross, the resurrection, the assent, my calling, my life. A preparation for you, too perhaps.

Lent. Preparatiom. Waiting. Watching within. Longing. Desiring encounters that stretch and mold me.

A fast? Will you? I will pray. Will it bring me to greater understanding of Jesus and my faith? Then, yes,I will. I will pray for God to reveal His direction for me.

What if the gospel played out in your mind and life over the days to come...and in these days you encountered God the Father in ways you haven't seen before?

That is my desire. Maybe the same can be for you.

Lent. An Easter devotion to the Lord.

Blessings.

-ao

Unceasing Prayer

Excerpt by Martin Luther (in my devotion and prep for YL Staff today)

“There is no Christian who does not have time to pray without ceasing. But I mean the spiritual praying, that is:  no on is so heavily burdened with his labor, but that if he will he can, while working, speak with God in his heart, lay before Him his need and that of other men, ask for help, make petition, and in all this exercise and strengthen his faith.”

Amen.

Blessings,

-ao