20th Day in Lent (Thursday)
Read 2 Timothy 2:1-13
“Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory” 2 Timothy 2:10 (NIV) ‘Grace is the basis for our holiness’. John Charles Ryle, Anglican bishop of Liverpool in the 19th century speaks of holiness. He says, “It is not knowledge... nor great profession... nor doing many things... nor zeal for certain matters in religion...” He continues that holiness is not “morality and outward respectability of conduct, nor taking pleasure in hearing preachers, nor keeping company with godly people. These things alone are not holiness. A person may have any one of them, and yet never see the Lord.” I had to read through the above quote a few times to understand what then is holiness. Holiness is the ‘state of being holy – living a life of total devotion to God.’ To live a life of total devotion is to rely not on our ability to try to become holy, but rather to rely on the Holy Spirit to work in and through our lives to help us live our lives in devotion to God. Holiness sounds hard to obtain and impossible to earn, but with the grace given us through the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we can be given this holiness through the washing clean of all our sins in baptism and opening our lives to be filled with His love. Holiness is to access the true person of holiness – Christ who is in you – to live His holy life through you. As we walk in the Spirit each day, we take the provision of Christ’s life to obey His will. The ‘fruits of the Spirit’ are then shown through the holy person we have become, and then gifts are given to others through us – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) I am now holy because of what Jesus did for me on the cross. This holiness is a true gift from God by His grace. Live out your state of holiness through Jesus! Prayer: My dear loving Saviour, thank you for making me holy through your death and resurrection. Help me to live in total devotion to you and in so doing spread your love to others through me. Amen.
19th Day in Lent (Wednesday) Read: Romans 5:12-17
“These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:7 (NIV) ‘Grace is the basis for our living’. The Lord’s team was playing Satan’s team in a baseball game. The Lord’s team was at bat, the score was zero to zero, and it was in the bottom of the 9th inning with two outs. The Coach and the Lord stood by observing the game. As they watched, a batter stepped up to the plate whose name was LOVE. Love swung at the first pitch and hit a single, because “love never fails.” The next batter was named FAITH, who also got a ingle because faith works with love. The next batter was named GODLY WISDOM. Satan wound up and threw the first pitch. Godly Wisdom looked it over and let it pass…. ball one. Three more pitches and Godly Wisdom walked, because Godly wisdom never swings at what Satan throws. The bases were loaded. The Lord then turned to Coach and old him He was now going to bring in His star player. Up to the plate stepped GRACE. Coach said, “He sure doesn’t look like much.” Satan’s whole team relaxed when they saw Grace. Thinking he had won the game, Satan wound up and fired his first pitch. To the shock of everyone, Grace hit the ball harder than anyone had ever seen. But Satan was ot worried, as his centre fielder let very few get by. He went up for the ball, but it went right through his glove, hit him on the head and sent him crashing on the ground. Then it continued over the fence for a home run! The Lord’s team won. The Lord then asked Coach if he knew why LOVE, FAITH, and GODLY WISDOM could get on base but could not win the game. Coach answered that he didn’t know why. The Lord explained, “If your love, faith and wisdom had won the game you would think you had done it by yourself. Love, faith and wisdom will get you on base, but only My GRACE can get you home.” (story by: Kraig Pullam) Living by grace through Christ gets us home to our Heavenly Home. Prayer: Lord, your grace is the only way I can get to my Heavenly Home. Jesus through His love has paved the way for my salvation. Your grace is sufficient for me! Amen.
18th Day in Lent (Tuesday) Read: 2 Corinthians 2:12-17
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.” 2 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV) ‘Grace is the basis for our behaviour’. Smells to me are very important. I like a nice smelling house. So, I burn candles, put the fragrance sticks out that sit in an oil and put on my diffuser. The smells then tend to permeate the house, and anyone who enters is ‘blessed’ with a nice smelling house. It is interesting how a smell is able to spread far and wide and even after cooking fish the night before, the smell of fish is still evident in the morning. The free grace of God is a little like all these smells – a bit of grace given here, a bit there and soon the whole place has been influenced by all that it touches. How can grace do this? By acting through our actions and behaviours to others. When the Holy Spirit works in and through people, the fragrance of God’s grace spreads and with that, as it mentions in the Bible passage above: “… in Christ and through us spreads verywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.” (2 Corinthians 2:14b) God’s gift of grace and blessing to us is so powerful that our essence of behaviour is also affected to act in a way that glorifies God in all that we do and say. Just like the domino effect, the Holy Spirit works in and through every life that acknowledges Jesus Christ as Lord of their life. “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love. Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love…” You may remember this song from the 60’s (or not), but it was re-released by Jars of Clay in 2005. Basically, the song was saying that there is something different about Christians that seems to permeate their entire being and behaviour. he Holy Spirit is always working in and through our lives to produce in our very being the essence of God’s grace. Fill your life with the grace and love of God so that your ‘smell’ will reach far and wide. Let your behaviour show your love of Jesus! Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, for being a part of my life and very essence. Please help me to grow in your knowledge and grace that will bring others to know you. Amen.
Standing Before God 17th Day in Lent (Monday) Read: Romans 5:1-11 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” Romans 5:1-2a (NIV) ‘Grace is the basis for our standing before God’. What does it mean to ‘stand before a King’? I enjoy reading the historical fiction books by Philippa Gregory. It is obvious in these books that there was a hierarchy in society in the Middle Ages. There was the upper class consisting of the kings/monarchs, nobles, knights, and clergy. Then the middle class tended to be the merchants, doctors, and those with important jobs; and then there was the lower class – the peasants and serfs who performed all the menial tasks and jobs. Firstly, to see the king you had to get through all the secretaries and make an appointment – only if you had an important issue. If it wasn’t important or considered necessary or beneficial to the kingship, there would be no way to stand in the king’s presence. Through the saving action of God in His Son Jesus Christ, God has allowed us to come directly into His presence and talk to Him freely. Back in the Old Testament times, the common people had to talk to God through the priests and offer sacrifices to make themselves worthy. Now we are reconciled with God. Reconciliation is talked about quite freely in society and between cultures and nations, but the essence of reconciliation is to bring people together with differences or conflicts and help them understand each other. Being reconciled with God means that He has come to us directly and made us clean through the act of Jesus on the cross. He opened Himself up for us to understand more of the nature of God. So, we can stand in His presence – the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We don’t have to ask for an audience from a priest or secretary. Through the grace of God, we can stand in His presence and ask Him for whatever is on our minds. We can understand and accept the grace and love that He offers us every day. Jesus’ act of suffering allowed us to stand before God. Prayer: Dear Lord God, thank you for your reconciling love and act of grace toward me. Being able to stand in your presence is humbling, helps me always to be appreciative. Amen. 2
3rd Sunday during Lent
Read Philippians 2:1-11 “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.” 1 Corinthians 1:10 (NIV) ‘Grace is the basis for our Christian Identity’. I was brought up in a Christian home. I was baptised in St John’s Lutheran Church, Ipswich, QLD at 10 days old. I went to Immanuel College, Novar Gardens, SA where I was also confirmed in 1979 in year 9 with about 30 of my classmates. I went to a Lutheran church – St Stephen’s in Adelaide for my formative years – Sunday School, youth, volunteering in the church. When I started teaching, I taught at Good Shepherd Lutheran School, Noosa; St Mark’s Lutheran School, Mt Barker; Golden Grove Lutheran School, SA, then moved to the USA to work for Lutheran Youth Encounter. I married a Lutheran Pastor moving to many congregations – Wodonga, Hampstead, Loxton and Noosa. Looking back through the above history, it is amazing to see God guiding and directing my life. Have I earned any of it through what I have done? No, I found my identity as a Christian through the pure grace of my God who entered my life in my baptism at 10 days old. The Holy Spirit has worked in and through my life shaping and moulding me to be the person that He wants me to be – a servant, blessed with many gifts and with a loving Christian family. God continues to work in and through me to guide me to bless others as I also have been blessed. Could I have done anything without God’s grace? No, His gift of love and mercy has shaped and formed me as He also does with each of you. I am sure that your life is also filled with blessings where God has guided, shaped, and moulded you to be the person you are today. We are who we are purely through the grace of God and the love He has and gives us every day. Look over your life. Make a list of what you have done and see how God fills each part of your life. Your life in Christ is pure grace! Prayer: My loving Father God, you have worked in and through my life and continue to do so – thank you. Help me always to bless others with your love as I have been truly blessed. Amen.
16th Day in Lent (Saturday)
Read Hebrews 4:14-16 “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 (NIV) Grace = mercy, not merit. This was a struggle for Martin Luther (1483-1546), a Catholic priest, theologian, author, hymn writer, and professor who began the Protestant Reformation in 1517. He grew up knowing God as a God to be feared, a God who punished. So, how do mercy and grace fit in? This was what Luther struggled with for us, to understand the grace-filled nature of God. In searching the Scriptures, he found that there is nothing we can do to earn God’s grace and favour (merit), God did it all when He sent His beloved Son to earth to live life as a human. Jesus was the Son of God, without sin who then died an innocent death to take away all our sins and offer forgiveness once and for all time. God’s grace is without measure, unattainable, and a pure gift. There is nothing we can do on our part to gain our salvation or God’s favour. Because of His great love for His world, He planned for our redemption through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. What is a gift? Usually if you are given a gift, most likely you will give one in return (even at a later date) – there appears to be a necessity for reciprocation. Also, a gift is given through love, not because of any deserving act. I can understand Martin Luther battling with it, and I am so glad he did so that our understanding of God’s grace can be more complete. In His mercy, God does not give us the punishment we deserve, namely hell; rather in His grace, God gives us the gift we do not deserve, namely heaven. God’s mercy and grace are a gift of love given by God with no strings attached. Due to this great act of mercy, we will want to love Him with all our heart, soul and mind. God’s grace is all we need. Prayer: Merciful God and our loving Saviour Jesus Christ, let me live today with the freedom you have given me. Help me to share this undeserved grace and mercy with others. Amen.
15th Day in Lent (Friday)
Read Romans 12:1-8 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2a (NIV) ‘Grace transforms our desires, motivations, and behaviour.’ When I was younger, I used to like to watch the cartoon ‘Underdog’ - “There is no need to fear, Underdog is here.” Does anyone else remember this? Well, it was a cartoon dog named Shoeshine, who when he saw an injustice could change into his cape and get this amazing strength, fly, and help his girlfriend Sweet Polly Purebred from some danger or rescue the cat stuck in a tree, not unlike Superman. In each episode, this unassuming dog in his regular life was ‘supercharged’ with a Super Energy pill. But we are never told how he gets them nor why his powers wore down. Maybe that is why it only ran for 3 years in the 1960’s and only had 62 episodes. God’s grace is transforming. This is a total transformation, not just a change when we need it. With the Holy Spirit actively working in our lives, our entire life can be changed and transformed – our desires, our motivations for actions and our behaviour toward others. The forgiveness God offers and gives us through the ‘Means of Grace’ (Baptism, Holy Communion, Absolution, and God’s Word) changes our hearts, hands, souls and minds; everything we do, think and intend. In the Romans text above, Paul talks to the people of Rome telling them that when God fills their lives they will be changed and that they are then to use the gifts that God gave them to bring others to know Him. With our hearts full of love for God and thankfulness for all He has done and given us through sending His Son to be the sacrifice for all our wrongdoing, we will want to open our hearts and lives to let Him work in and through us. Our ‘Super Energy pill’ has been given to us once and for all time through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Let this change your life so much that others can see a difference in you and want to know more. Shine your light for Jesus every day – let it transform you! Prayer: Dear Jesus, transform my life to be loyal to you and be able to be bold in sharing your grace, love and forgiveness with others. Amen
14th Day in Lent (Thursday) Read Ephesians 1:3-10
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” Ephesians 1:7-8 (NIV) ‘By the ‘Means of Grace’ are meant those things by which God offers and gives His gifts of forgiveness of sins, life and salvation’ ~ Luther’s Small Catechism Broadly speaking, a ‘Means of Grace’ refers to all the ways by which Christians grow stronger in their faith and grow in the grace of Christ. They are the ways that God brings us forgiveness through our faith, which was gained for us when Jesus died for our sins. For Lutherans the ‘Means of Grace’ come through Baptism, Holy Communion, Absolution (Forgiveness) and God’s Word in the Bible. The Holy Spirit works through all these ‘Means of Grace’ to bring us understanding, guidance and comfort. I really enjoy baking and cooking. At special times of the year, I like to bake my special slices for family and visitors to enjoy and have a special little something with a coffee. One that I only make at special times is my peppermint log slice. It really is not hard to make and only has four ingredients: malt biscuits, crown mints, condensed milk and desiccated coconut. Each of these things by themselves work fine and you could eat happily (though you may feel sick after too much condensed milk), but together – just yummy! God gives us so many things which by themselves still leads us to our future hope and salvation, but He has also given us other ways to receive God’s grace which when put all together brings us into a closer relationship with our Heavenly Father. In our Baptism we are washed clean from all our sins and God’s grace comes personally to us. When we receive Holy Communion, we commune with Jesus as He offers us His body and blood granting us forgiveness from all our sins. When Absolution is given in worship, we can know that all is forgiven and forgotten, and we can go forward with a clean slate for the week. Every time we read God’s Word, God’s love, grace and forgiveness just flow out of it and the Holy Spirit then works. God’s recipe for our continued growth comes through the ‘Means of Grace’! Prayer: You come to me continually through the ‘Means of Grace’ which you have made available to me. May your Holy Spirit work in my life to help me grow and bring others to you. Amen.
13th Day in Lent (Wednesday)
Read John 11:25-26
“… for all have and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:23-24 (NIV). ‘In His grace, God is willing to forgive us and bless us, even though we fall short of living righteously.’ I remember when my children were smaller, and even not so small, asking them to do things – pick up toys, pack away homework books, pick up shoes and clothing, tidy your room, etc. I am sure that every family can relate to this. At times there may have been cajoling or rewards offered, I’m sure there were even privileges revoked. Were these things asked done? Were they done willingly and without complaining? I know for sure that they were not always completed in the timeframe nor always done joyfully, but even though things weren’t completed as asked my love for my children never changed and privileges always returned. Imagine our loving God. He asks us to obey ten things (Ten Commandments), the greatest is to love God above anyone or anything else. Do we do this? Ok, we try. We may even get through an hour or two without getting any one of the ten things wrong. But ultimately, we get it wrong, we disobey, we sin! Even though we can’t get things right in God’s eyes, He is prepared to forgive us over and over and tell us how much He loves us. That is a loving, grace-filled God! Day after day we are offered the gifts of forgiveness and love and the grace of a loving Saviour. God doesn’t withdraw His love from us every time we sin, rather He extends His blessing further into our lives and tells us how much we are loved. God loves us so much that He sent His beloved Son into the world to live a human life, die a horrible death and be raised victoriously. This was done out of love for you and me! So, even though we sin we will live eternally with God. Do you believe this? Can you answer with Martha in John 11:27 – “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” Even though we sin, we are forgiven! Prayer: Thank you, my loving God, for forgiving me over and over again. Even though I mess up constantly, your love for me never changes or wavers. Your grace is amazing! Amen.