​Day 1 (5th week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: Lord, hear my voice!  Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!  (Psalm 130:2)
READ: Ezekiel 37:1-10
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.  He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry.  He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’  I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’  Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.  Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.  I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’
So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.  I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them.  Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’  I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
The word that comes to mind is macabre!  Or maybe the old spiritual: ‘Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones.’  But there it is; in our Scriptures, a reading for the 5th week of Lent.  As macabre as it is, it’s an appropriate reading, since it helps us today look ahead to what Easter promises—new life.  We can and will ‘live again.’
But I want to focus on Ezekiel’s response to God’s question, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’  I imagine Ezekiel looking at that scene of scattered bones and thinking, ‘Absolutely not!’  A bunch of old dry bones live?  I don’t think so!  But, it was the Lord GOD who asked and you know he expected more from you than that.  Better not say much and wait to see or hear what God, the Lord of life and death, has in mind.  And so the prophet Ezekiel humbly replies: ‘O Lord God, you know.’
I love that response.  Sometimes I don’t trust myself to say the right thing—my faith is too weak, my mind too small to comprehend; better not say much and wait for God to show me the way.  ‘O Lord God, you know,’ is the best response I can muster. 
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Yes, there is new life and God can give it.  Are you willing to believe this for yourself today; for those around you?
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Lord God, you know and I wait for you to show me the way today.  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 2 (5th Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: Lord, hear my voice!  Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
READ: Psalm 130
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.  Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! 
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? 
But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered. 
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 
my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning,
   more than those who watch for the morning. 
O Israel, hope in the Lord!  For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
   and with him is great power to redeem. 
It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
This is one of the Psalms of Ascent (Pss 120-134).  These psalms were prayed as Jewish pilgrims travelled up to Jerusalem for one of their festivals, especially Passover.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
As we approach the end of Lent we’re given a psalm of lament to pray.  Lament (i.e., complaint) psalms are common in the psalter and reflect the ‘ugly’ side of life.  Psalmists don’t pretend things are better than they really are and neither do they pretend they can handle the ‘ugly’.  They complain, sometimes softly, sometimes loudly; at times, briefly, at other times with many words.  Psalm 130 is brief and not too loud.  The pray-er is lamenting her/his iniquity that has blocked communication with God.  You’ll notice that the psalmist gets straight to the lament; no beating about the bush or attempts to show a mature spirituality.  He/she is in ‘the depths’ (a dire situation) and demands an audience with God.  “Lord, hear my voice!”  Which is repeated: “Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!”  And then comes an expression of trust in God’s willingness to forgive.  In fact, forgiveness is with God, suggesting first, that God alone can give us the forgiveness we need because God has it, and second, God can’t help but forgive.  Therefore, the pray-er waits for the Lord in confident expectation.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
What is your lament (complaint) today?  Bring it to the Lord and be assured of his help.
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Lord God with you is forgiveness and you’re always willing and ready to forgive.  May I live today as one who has been forgiven, one who is able to begin again and live freely.  In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 3 (5th Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: Lord, hear my voice!  Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
READ: John 11:17-27
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.  Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.  When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home.  Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.’  Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’  Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.  Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?’  She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Martha, Mary and Lazarus lived in Bethany (just outside Jerusalem) and were much loved by Jesus.  However, when the sisters sent him an urgent plea to come because Lazarus was ill, Jesus deliberately delayed his visit until after Lazarus’ death.  I encourage you to read the whole story and not just the short paragraphs assigned for today and tomorrow.  This event took place shortly before Jesus’ arrest and in fact was the reason the Jews (the religious leaders) finally took action to end Jesus’ life.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
Martha can’t wait for Jesus to reach her home.  She goes out to meet him, leaving Mary, with the Jewish mourners, behind.  Her first words to Jesus are something of an accusation—if you’d come my brother wouldn’t have died.  She quickly softens that with an expression of trust—“but even now” God will still give you whatever you ask.  She leaves Jesus to figure out what she wants.  We then have a brief but powerful dialog between Jesus and Martha about the resurrection.  We can be sure that on Jesus’ mind was his impending arrest, death and resurrection, none of which Martha knew or understood.  But she did know and understand about a future resurrection of God’s people, and says so.  In response to her belief about a future resurrection, Jesus made one of the boldest claims in John—‘I am the resurrection and the life.’  He then asked a very personal question—‘Do you believe this?’
Martha’s response is the most complete statement of faith of anyone in John: ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’  It’s significant that the writer of John includes this statement that came from a woman, suggesting that women were not sidelined and ignored in the early church.  Martha’s faith is recognized and made known.  She is a bold witness for Jesus, right up to our time.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
What do you believe about Jesus?  Write your own statement of faith confession and shout it out.
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Jesus, you encouraged Martha to proclaim her faith in you.  I thank you for her words and use them today as I worship you and claim my own belief: ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 4 (5th Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: Lord, hear my voice!  Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
READ: John 11:38-44
Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb.  It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.  Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’  Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.’  Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’  So they took away the stone.  And Jesus looked upwards and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me.  I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.’  When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’  The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The prophet Isaiah promised that Messiah (God’s Servant) would come and command prisoners with the same words Jesus used to call out Lazarus—‘Come out’ (Isaiah 49:9).  I think John the Evangelist would like us to go back to the ancient prophet.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
‘Unbind him, and let him go.’  Jesus doesn’t say a word to Lazarus.  He’d been dead for 4 days and then walks out of the tomb at Jesus’ command, ‘Lazarus, come out!’  You’d think Jesus might want to say something to him, or give Lazarus a chance to speak to Jesus.  Instead, Jesus instructs the watching onlookers: ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’  I was intrigued and wondered about the people around me who need to be unbound (that is, set free) and then let go in order to live freely and fully.  We’re not meant to hold people close to us and impose our wills on them.  Our task is to offer free and friendly space so that others can go their own lonely way, as Henri Nouwen once suggested.  This doesn’t mean we all live isolated and individualistic lives.  Rather, it means we recognize that each person must, at the end of the day, travel their journey themselves; no one can travel it for them.  Each of us needs free and friendly space to travel our journey, shouldering our own responsibilities.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Are you willing to unbind the bound and let them, giving them free and friendly space to travel as only they can and must?
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Jesus, you called forth Lazarus and then asked others to set me free.  Help me set free the people you bring into my life today so they experience the joy of your salvation.  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Palm Sunday, April 9
In preparation for Holy Week, I have chosen to end Lent with Palm Sunday.
PREPARE TO LISTEN: O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!  (Psalm 118:1)
READ: Matthew 21:1-11
When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me.  If anyone says anything to you, just say this, “The Lord needs them.”  And he will send them immediately.’  This took place to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’  The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.  A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest heaven!’  When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, ‘Who is this?’  The crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.’
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In the church calendar, the Sunday before Easter is most often celebrated as Palm Sunday.  We remember the day Jesus made his final journey into Jerusalem on the back of an untrained colt.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
I loved Palm Sunday as a child and have many childhood memories, such as joyfully (and there is a lot of joy in this story) breaking off a real palm branch, not a few fronds, from the tree in the front garden and then being permitted to fidget and wriggle in church as I waved my branch around.  I also always loved (and still do) singing those hymns with the word hosanna in them.  Hosanna is a true singing word.  Repeat it over and over and you’ll start singing.  Hosanna means ‘save’ and was used mostly as an exclamation of praise shouted out to the conquering hero on return from a victorious battle.  The hero, however, would come riding into the city on a grand war horse, not a lowly donkey colt.
Jesus rode into Jerusalem in the posture of a conquering hero—except for the donkey.  That should have alerted the crowd that Jesus’ role was far more than rescuing Israel from the Roman occupiers.  I don’t think it did.  The problem is that too often we think of Jesus in a narrow role of rescuing me (or my country) from whatever is bothering us.  The donkey and its colt are a reminder that Jesus doesn’t come in ways that we anticipate or can event predict.  We’re called to follow a Savior who is different and who will rule in ways that are entirely unexpected, a way of peace not violence.  We’re called to expect the unexpected.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Attend to your expectations of Jesus in the world today.  Give them up and be open to surprise.
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Lord Jesus, you come in ways that are unexpected and surprising.  Help me willingly let go my expectations and be ready to welcome you, even as one I never anticipated.  Hosanna, Son of David.  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.

​Day 1 (4th week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear.  (Psalm 40:6)
READ: 1 Samuel 16:1-13
The Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you grieve over Saul?  I have rejected him from being king over Israel.  Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.’  Samuel said, ‘How can I go?  If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.’  And the Lord said, ‘Take a heifer with you, and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.”  Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.’   Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem.  The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, ‘Do you come peaceably?’  He said, ‘Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.’  And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.’  But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’  Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel.  He said, ‘Neither has the Lord chosen this one.’  Then Jesse made Shammah pass by.  And he said, ‘Neither has the Lord chosen this one.’  Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The Lord has not chosen any of these.’  Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Are all your sons here?’  And he said, ‘There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.’  And Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.’  He sent and brought him in.  Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome.
The Lord said, ‘Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.’  Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On two occasions the prophet Samuel rebuked King Saul for his rebellion against God and warned him that God would take the kingdom from him.  The lesson today picks immediately after the 2nd very serious warning from God through Samuel.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
Samuel was frustrated with the corrupt state of the nation’s leader, King Saul.  Many of us are living in countries with corrupt leadership and so understand.  We too long for God to come down and ‘anoint’ a new leader who will rule with justice, righteousness and integrity.  Samuel was sent to anoint such a new leader.  But he was the most unlikely person—a youngest son and still a child.  After anointing David, Samuel immediately returned home.  Nothing had changed.  Saul was still king.
Samuel went home confident that the God who provides, sees what mortals fail to see, was fully in control, ruling over all creation despite corrupt leaders.  God and God alone knew what he was doing when he chose a boy who still had to grow up before becoming king.  Samuel never lived to see the changeover in leadership.  He went back to Ramah and prayed: Even so, come King David.
Years later prophets realized David wasn’t the ruler to solve leadership crises, but the one through whom that Ruler would come.  They too understood the sovereignty of our God and so began writing about a son of David, a Messiah who would come one day.
He came; born of a peasant girl in a dirty stable.  People called him Son of David and Messiah.  By the time we get to the end of our Bible, we know he, not some human ruler, is our only hope; that he is even “now the world’s rightful Lord, and all other lords are to fall at his feet.”  Only he, not our choice of a human ruler, will solve the world’s leadership crises.  They kept praying, Even so, come Messiah.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Wonder about God’s timing.  Israel needed a new king immediately.  God sends Samuel to anoint a boy and the nation had to wait.  Can we keep trusting as we wait for God to act and raise up a righteous and wise leader?
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Almighty God, you anointed Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords and yet I too often look to some human leader as I struggle with failed leadership.  Help me today to rest in your timing, to trust you to do what is best for your Kingdom.  Even so, come Lord Jesus.  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 2 (4th Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear.
READ: Ephesians 5:8-14
For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light.  Live as children of light— for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true.  Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.  Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.  For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light.  Therefore it says, ‘Sleeper, awake!  Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Paul’s quotation in the final line is from a source not known to us today.  It may be a summary of some Old Testament passage or part of a saying familiar to his readers of that day.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
As you maybe noticed, Lent began with calls to own and confess our sin to God.  Saints referred to this as the way of purgation, a very necessary stage in the journey, and one we return to again and again.  In biblical imagery, this way is often termed darkness, which is a symbol for ignorance and evil.  The next ‘way’ happens when we begin to see things a little more clearly.  That is, we experience the light, a biblical symbol for true knowing and goodness.  This way was called the way of illumination.  Paul brings the two together in this passage.  Once we were darkness; now, in the Lord, we are light.  Did you notice Paul hasn’t used the little word in.  We weren’t merely in darkness, and we’re not now merely in light.  We once were darkness (all that’s evil and wrong and false) and now we are light (all that’s good and right and true).
But here’s the thing, this privilege comes with responsibility.  First, “try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.”  This isn’t about looking for a needle in a haystack type of deal.  Rather, it means testing in order to discern and approve all that is light.  In other words, remain diligent about reading and responsibly understanding God’s Word.  Second, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”  Only once we’ve discerned what is light, will we be able to discern and expose what is dark.  We learn what is dark, not by studying evil and lies, but by becoming more and more familiar with what is good and right and true.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Ponder what it means for you today to be light in the world in which you live and operate.  What darkness might you be called to expose today?
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Jesus, Light of the World, you amazingly have transformed me to be light in you and like you.  Help me to live today as your light in the world.  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 3 (4th Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear.
READ: John 9:1-12
As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’  Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.  We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’  When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent).  Then he went and washed and came back able to see.  The neighbours and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’  Some were saying, ‘It is he.’  Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’  He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’  But they kept asking him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’  He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.”  Then I went and washed and received my sight.’  They said to him, ‘Where is he?’  He said, ‘I do not know.’
MEDITATIVE WORDS
Jesus and his disciples happen upon the blind man as they “walked along”.  He didn’t approach Jesus for healing; didn’t even know who Jesus was.  The disciples, aware the man had been born blind, are rather callous, I think.  Instead of suggesting Jesus heal him (which you’d expect from followers of Jesus), they want to engage in a theological debate about the man and the cause of his blindness.  Jesus’ response to them is abrupt and difficult to grasp.  He heals the man, but in a rather strange manner, sending the man to wash and then Jesus vanishes.  The man is left to explain to his skeptical neighbors what happened.  The lesson ends when the former blind man is asked where this Jesus is and he has to admit he didn’t know.  He can see, physically, but his spiritual sight is still unclear.  More needs to happen and we need to keep reading.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
A man, blind from birth, Jesus and his disciples and then skeptical neighbors.  Which of these characters do you most resonate with today?  Jesus gave sight to the man and then ‘hid’ himself.  Have you ever experienced Jesus as ‘hidden’?  What happened?
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Lord Jesus, you give sight to the blind but sometimes you seem to then ‘hide’ yourself.  May I be alert today to discern and see your presence in all that happens.  In your name I pray, amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 4 (4th Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear.
READ: John 9:35-41
Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’  He answered, ‘And who is he, sir?  Tell me, so that I may believe in him.’  Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.’  He said, ‘Lord, I believe.’  And he worshipped him.  Jesus said, ‘I came into this world for judgement so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.’  Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, ‘Surely we are not blind, are we?’  Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would not have sin.  But now that you say, “We see”, your sin remains.
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
You should read the full story; it’s a good read.  The former blind man had a run-in with the Pharisees and “they drove him out” of the Synagogue.  And that’s when Jesus once again came to him.  The blind man hadn’t seen Jesus since washing in the Pool and receiving his sight.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
Without Jesus’ presence, the former blind man had experienced tough stuff, including excommunication from the synagogue by his religious leaders.  When Jesus ‘finds’ him again he’s ready to believe in him.  Jesus’ question—‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’—is somewhat vague.  The man asks who this is so that he can believe, showing his readiness to learn and commit.  On learning that Jesus is the Son of Man, he boldly confessed, ‘Lord, I believe.’  And then he did what every true believer will do—he worshipped Jesus.  The warning Jesus gives at the end wasn’t given to this humble believing man.  It was given to those who excommunicated him because they were so sure they knew (could see) but had no idea they didn’t know (were blind).
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
The healed blind man ‘worshipped Jesus’.  Wonder what this looked like then.  What would worship of Jesus look like for you today as you go about your daily business?
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Lord, I don’t want to be one of those who thinks they see when really they are blind.  I truly want to see you more clearly and follow you more nearly today.  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 5 (4th Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear.
READ: Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil;
for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. 
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
Some years ago I was in hospital, thanks to chemo therapy.  I was in the weakest state I’ve ever experienced.  I was too weak even to pray, except a few lines from the Psalms.  One of those lines was from this, everyone’s favorite psalm.  I kept repeating: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”  I knew I was beginning to get better when my mind recalled other lines of the psalm and I began wondering about ‘a table in the presence of my enemies.’  Why would I want that, I asked myself and why is that something to praise God for?  I’m not sure I fully understand yet, but I do understand the comfort of knowing that, even if I’m surrounded by enemies, God will be there and will ‘prepare a table’ for me so I can eat and flourish in peace.  Things may be bad all around me, but God, our Shepherd will protect and ensure that we live and flourish.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Psalms are poetry and thus full of symbols and metaphors.  It’s up to us to imagine the images and relate to now.  Reflect on the symbolism of ‘table’.  What images come to mind?  What message is there in that for you today?
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Shepherding Lord, I come to you today for the comfort and guidance of a shepherd.  I desire your protection in the places I’ll be in today so that I may live, truly live.  In the name of the Good Shepherd, Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.

​Day 1 (3rd week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!  (Psalm 95:6)
READ: Exodus 17:1-7
From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the LORD commanded.  They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.  2The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.”  Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me?  Why do you test the LORD?”  3But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?”  4So Moses cried out to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people?  They are almost ready to stone me.”  5The LORD said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.  6I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb.  Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.”  Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.  7He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”
MEDITATIVE WORDS
From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation journeyed by stages, as the LORD commanded.  They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water to drink….  The LORD said to Moses, ‘Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink’.
Israel journeyed in stages through the desert just as the LORD God commanded.  One of the stages was Rephidim, where there was no water to drink.  This desolate place was not a dreadful mistake that should have been avoided.  It was a necessary stage in their journey.  It was the right place at the right time.  There in Rephidim Israel experienced the astonishing presence of God—the miracle of water from a rock, flowing freely and abundantly.
As you journey through Lent God may very well lead you to your Rephidim, a place of dryness and desolation.  Like Israel, you may be tempted to quarrel with God or blame others; and like Israel you may fail to notice this is a necessary stage in your journey to a deeper relationship with God in Christ, and also fail to notice God’s surprising presence in your desert.  While never welcome, the desert is often the place where we experience God’s grace most noticeably—if we will pay attention and be open to God’s surprises.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Wonder about God’s deliberateness with Israel.  Notice that he didn’t immediately give them water to drink.  Moses had to lead them to the rock where God was standing (vv5-6).  Where is that rock for you today?
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER.
Almighty and Eternal God, you led Israel in stages and continue to lead me today in stages, inviting me to live life as it comes—bit by bit.  Sometimes the next stage is Rephidim, where there is no water to drink.  Forgive me for so often avoiding the desert stages and missing out on your gracious gifts that only come in the desert.  Give me the grace to enter it, alert and attentive to the surprising work of your Spirit in and around me today.  In the name of Jesus, Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 2 (3rd Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
READ: Psalm 95:1-7
O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 
In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. 
The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed. 
O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 
For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
O that today you would listen to his voice!
MEDITATIVE WORDS
For many of us, these are familiar words.  We sing them; pray them; use them when leading praise groups; or simply return to them when in need of comfort or encouragement.  Perhaps our familiarity with this plasm blunts its edge for us and we overlook or ignore its challenge.  The psalmist reminds us that the LORD our God “is a great God and a great King above all gods.”  An ever-present danger for us is that we may forget this great truth and wander off after other ‘gods’—something that gets our allegiance and even devotion.  It may be sports, a movie star, hobbies, a political party or leader; the list could go on.  Idol worship is very tempting and very prevalent.  Hence, the psalmist urges God’s people to worship and bow down, to kneel before the Lord, our Maker.  Physically bowing and kneeling helps us “bend the knee of my heart,” as King Manasseh prayed, and thus fully grasp that the LORD is our God, not those things that demand and too often get our allegiance and worship today.  We belong to this Great God.  Today, listen to his voice!   
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
I encourage you to act out the invitation to bow down, to kneel before God—physically, as you are able, and let it ‘bend the knee of your heart.’  In that bowed position know you belong to the Lord who is above all kings and gods and in humility listen for his voice.
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
I bend the knee of my heart before you alone, Lord God.  I submit to your Sovereign rule over all of life, including my own.  I praise you for your greatness and seek your grace to worship you and you alone and so fulfill my vocation as one created in your image.  In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 3 (3rd Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
READ: Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.  And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
Paul suggests two things to boast about in these verses.  1) Boast in your hope of sharing the glory of God.  Hope has to do with longing for what we know is a certainty, unlike the way we use this word today.  We may say things like, ‘I sure hope there’ll be no snow or rain over Easter.’  However, we can’t be certain about that.  That’s not what Paul meant.  We can be certain of sharing God’s glory because we stand before him in grace, God’s grace that is free and generous.  2) Boast in your sufferings.  This one shocks most of us today.  We do everything we can to avoid suffering, and sometimes that’s a good idea.  But, suffering is necessary and it finds us for whatever reason.  Paul boasted about his sufferings because suffering leads, ultimately to experience God’s love through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
What do you boast about, or hope to boast about?  I don’t mean the things we brag about to prove we’re better than most, but what we truly want or desire to be.
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
At the end of the day, Lord I want to boast in the great truth I share your glory.  Help me live today with an awareness of this truth and of your presence (your glory) all around me.  For the sake of your glory, Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 4 (3rd Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
READ: John 4:5-15
So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well.  It was about noon.
 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’.  (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.)  The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’  (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)  Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink”, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’  The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep.  Where do you get that living water?  Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’  Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty.  The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’  The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.’
MEDITATIVE WORDS
The story begins when Jesus asked the lone Samaritan woman, ‘Give me a drink’.  In our lesson today it ends when she asked Jesus, ‘Sir, give me this water.’  The story in between is remarkable.  The Samaritan woman was unafraid to approach the well even though a male Jewish stranger was seated there, alone.  She has no qualms about entering into dialog with Jesus (an unknown Jew) and is even somewhat combative—you’re a Jew talking to me a woman and a Samaritan!  When Jesus maintains if she knew to whom she spoke she’d be asking him for water, she mocks a little: You have no bucket and the well is deep.  She takes Jesus literally.  But, I wonder whether she was beginning to suspect something deeper, not so literal, when Jesus responds with amazing words about living water.  She’s quick to beg Jesus for a drink of this living water, even though she still misunderstood it.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Jesus promised “a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”  This is not something we’re waiting for in some distant future.  We can experience it right now.  Become aware of that spring of living water within you today.
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Lord Jesus, like the woman in the story, I too beg: ‘Give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty.’  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 5 (3rd Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
READ: John 4:27-30; 39-42
Just then his disciples came.  They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, ‘What do you want?’ or, ‘Why are you speaking with her?’  Then the woman left her water-jar and went back to the city.  She said to the people, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done!  He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’  They left the city and were on their way to him.
Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I have ever done.’  So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there for two days. And many more believed because of his word.  They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.’
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
If you have time, read the entire chapter and take in the whole story.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
The Samaritan woman begins her encounter with Jesus with something of a protest (as we saw in the previous devotion).  She can’t believe a Jewish male would address her and lets Jesus know that.  As the story comes to an end, the woman moves from protest to ‘preacher’.  She returns to her village and proclaims (preaches) to the towns folk the good news of Jesus.  Many Samaritans believed in Jesus because of her word.  But the story doesn’t end there.  The Samaritan woman did what a good witness should do, stepped out of the way and let the people see Jesus for themselves.  The story ends, as any good witnessing story should end, with the villagers claiming: We believe, no longer because of your testimony, but because we’ve heard for ourselves and know that this is truly the Savior of the world.  I’d like to believe the woman was overjoyed when the villagers said this to her, wouldn’t you?
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Imagine yourself in the story.  Which character best reflects yourself or the self you’d like to be?  What do you think Jesus would say to you?
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER.
Lord Jesus, help me be more like this Samaritan woman—bold in speech to you and in speech to those I live and work with.  Most of all, like her may I too lead others to believe in you, not because of what I say, but because they’re able to experience and hear you speak to them.  For the sake of you name, Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.

​Day 1 (2nd week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word.  (Ps 119:169)
READ: Psalm 121
I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come? 
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 
He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. 
The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 
The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and for evermore.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
 “I lift up my eyes to the hills;” not because help comes from the hills.  In fact, the hills can be rather dangerous places for many reasons.  In the psalmist’s day, they were also places were people mounted their idols.  Looking to the hills wasn’t for comfort, but for remembrance.  The hills were created by the LORD, the only one true help.  And so the psalmist confidently prays, “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
This is a truth we all need to keep before us, especially in this day.  Politicians, sometimes pastors, maybe a significant other, hint that only they can offer help.  But, they will all “slumber and sleep” and fail to keep us safe.  Only the Lord God will keep our goings and comings “from this time on and for evermore.”
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Where does your help come?  I don’t mean what you know as the correct answer; I mean in reality.  Lift up your eyes to the hills, and ponder.
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Lord God, Creator of All, my help comes from you and you alone.  I trust in you today to keep me from all evil; to keep my life.  You will keep my going out and my coming in and so I rest in faith in you today.  With gratitude, I pray, Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 2 (2nd Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word.
READ: Genesis 12:1-4a
Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.  Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Abram (changed to Abraham—father of many) was married to Sarai (changed to Sarah—mother of princes).  I will, therefore include Sarai in my meditation even though she’s not mentioned in these verses.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
The story we’re a part of begins with this challenging call to Abram and Sarai—go from your country and your family “to a land I will show you.”  We’re not told why God chose Abram, only what God’s ultimate purpose was; to create, through Abraham’s family, “the means by which the problem of the human race would be resolved,” as N. T. Wright puts it.  I doubt Abram fully grasped this and our text fails to record what he thought and felt about God’s call or the incredible promises God made to him.  All we know is this: “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him.”  He had no experience of God’s leading; no stories about others who trusted God and found him faithful.  He and Sarai were out there discovering God for themselves, for the first time.
Thanks to them, we now have a wealth of stories of people who experienced God and lived to tell the tale.  The journey from Abram and Sarai’s story to ours today has been long and fraught with rough terrain.  But, we now belong to those scattered families around the globe who have been blessed (received God’s salvation) because Abraham and Sarah took the risk and obeyed a God they knew so little about.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Put yourself in Abram or Sarai’s shoes and imagine what it cost them to leave country and family and enter the unknown.  They were people like us but willing to risk all in a radical obedience to the God who called.  What keeps you from taking your own leap of faith and obedience?
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
God of Abraham and Sarah, I admire the faithful obedience of these two servants of yours and desire to copy them, but so much holds me back.  As I journey through this Lent and prepare to once again remember and celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus, lead me to a deeper faith and more willing obedience.  In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 3 (2nd Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word.
READ: Romans 4:13-17
For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.  If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.  For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.
For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations’)—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
These verses can be confusing, even mind boggling.  For a moment, let go the need to understand and instead hear the Spirit speak into your heart and be amazed.  The passage begins by explaining that the promise (first made to Abraham) is this: “inherit the world!”  Too often we reduce our inheritance (and thus our salvation) to ‘heaven when I die.’  Paul stretches us to think much bigger.  In Jesus, through faith by grace we will inherit the world.  I don’t fully understand this, but it does make me think about salvation in much bigger terms and increases my desire to care for the world and all that’s in it.  This awesome promise is for all who “share the faith of Abraham,” and that’s you and I who look to Jesus for salvation.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
The promise to inherit the world is yours.  How does or should this make you think about salvation in Jesus today?
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
I stand amazed in your presence, Promise-Making God and say, Wow!  I don’t understand this, at least not very much, except you are a God who keeps promises.  Help me today to live in faith and gratitude for your gift of grace; help me freely give grace to those around me and also to myself today.  Thank you, Amen
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 4 (2nd Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word.
READ: John 3:1-10
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.  He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’  Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old?  Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’  Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.  What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.”  The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.  So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’  Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’  Jesus answered him, ‘Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
MEDITATIVE WORDS
Nicodemus comes to Jesus, confident he knows what Jesus is—a teacher from God.  His journey began with this knowing.  It ends with confusion and not knowing as he exclaims, “How can these things be?”
We all need to take this journey.  It begins with being sure we know who Jesus is and knowing what we believe, and then something happens that shakes our confidence.  For Nicodemus, Jesus made a puzzling demand—you must be born from above.  He took it literally (born again) and ridicules Jesus.  People can’t be born after having grown old, he mocks.  But Jesus persisted, stating the same thing in slightly different words and Nicodemus was left with no longer knowing.  I want to suggest that misunderstanding and not knowing are important stages in the journey.  Keep traveling, there is another stage, as you’ll see if you read on in the story tomorrow.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Think about your journey with Jesus.  What have been for you places of misunderstanding and not knowing?  What happened next?
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Lord Jesus Christ, you are truly our Teacher.  You want us to go deeper and you’re willing to risk taking us into difficult terrain because we need it.  Today, I choose to keep on following you, even through terrain that gets rough as I trust you to lead me to a deeper relationship with you.  In your name I pray, Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 5 (2nd Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word.
READ: John 3:11-17
‘Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony.  If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?  No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.  And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
 ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
 ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
The journey continues.  Because Nicodemus finally admits his not knowing, Jesus was able to teach him that he must go beyond knowing to believing.  You will notice that the word ‘believe’ is used four times in these verses.  Our journey begins with knowing Jesus and so we confidently follow him.  Then the questions and doubts arise (our own confusion and misunderstanding).  Some quit and turn back.  But those who go deeper into not knowing will hear words as amazing as our favorite Bible verse: For God so loved the world… everyone who believes in him… may have eternal life.  We’re not waiting for eternal life.  We have it right now, when we believe.  And that belief leads us into a new way of knowing and a deeper relationship with Christ.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
I’ve skimmed over these wonderful words.  Which ones attract you today?  Sit with them in the presence of Jesus and wonder.
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
God of Love, you gave your Son so I may have eternal life right now; that life that enables me to live in a loving relationship with you today.  Lord, I believe and long to know you better for the sake of Jesus, your Son.  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.

Day 1
PREPARE TO LISTEN: In your steadfast love hear my voice; O Lord, in your justice preserve my life. (Psalm 119:149)
READ: Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.  The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’  But he answered, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’
Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you”, and “On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”’  Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’  Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”’  Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. 
MEDITATIVE WORDS
Jesus was led by the Spirit “to be tempted by the devil.”  This sounds like a very intentional thing.  Jesus wasn’t preserved or protected from the onslaught of the devil’s wiles.  He was led into the place where he’d face temptation head on.  I wonder why?  The temptation comes at the end of 40 days of fasting.  Afterwards Jesus, we’re told, “was famished.”  Despite this, Jesus was able to resist the devil, 3 times stating, “It is written,” and quoting from the Law of Moses.  Jesus was able to use Scripture as a sword to defeat Satan, not because he’d memorized appropriate verses, but because he lived all his life in obedience to all God’s Word.  The devil was foiled because Jesus persevered in his commitment to live, as all God’s people are required to live, by every word that comes from the mouth of God.  And when he was tempted, it was this commitment to knowing and living God’s law, not his ability to quote scripture, which sent the devil packing.    
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Temptation comes subtly, as an idea, barely a thought and we often fail to notice it and therefore fall into temptation.  Wonder how you can become more aware of temptation today by thinking through what lies ahead and where the possible temptations my come.
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Lord, I know I can expect temptations to come.  When they do, give me wisdom to recognize them, strength to refuse to give in, and grace to keep on trying until I live more and more like you, Lord Jesus.  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 2 (1st Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: In your steadfast love hear my voice; O Lord, in your justice preserve my life.
READ: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7.  (Before you read this familiar story, forget all you’ve ever heard before, and read it as if for the very first time and as if you’re a participant in the story.)
The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.  And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.’
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made.  He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden”?’  The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.”’  But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.  Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
Sitting around the family fire one night, a little child asked, Where did sin and evil come from?  Let me tell you a story, the parent replies and the child sits enthralled as a story of funny-named trees, serpents talking and two grown-ups pathetically covering their nakedness with fragile fig leaves unfolds.  What does it mean, the child asks when the telling is done?  It’s quite simple, says the parent, God gave a command, the man and the woman disobeyed it and immediately knew their lives had been changed forever, and not for the better.  They then made a silly attempt to hide from God, their Creator.
The Christian Story has deep, very deep roots, all the way back to this puzzling story in the Garden of Eden.  It’s our story too and we’re in it.  Like the first humans, we know our sin, we’ve tried to cover it in awkward and useless ways (fragile fig leaves).  Like them, we wait for God to come down and restore us.  Lent is a reminder of our need and our waiting for full restoration.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
The woman is very confident about what she knows but easily swayed by the ‘crafty serpent.’  Reflect on what you know with confidence and what might sway you into discarding it and going astray.  Turn to God’s Spirit for the wisdom and strength you need to stay the course.
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Lord God this story is my story; I too often act too confidently and get it all wrong.  But, I know this isn’t the end of the story and you didn’t walk away from creation in disgust.  But, today, I’ll live with this difficult story so that I will be more prepared to humbly receive your gracious gift of restoration in Jesus.  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 3 (1st Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: In your steadfast love hear my voice; O Lord, in your justice preserve my life.
READ: Romans 5:12-19
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned— sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law.  Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.
But the free gift is not like the trespass.  For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many.  And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgement following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification.  If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
 Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.  For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
“But the free gift is not like….”  Paul uses this phrase twice.  Did you notice them?  The free gift isn’t like the trespass or its effect.  Paul contrasts what we now experience in Christ with what we once had because of the sin of Adam.  If, after reading the story of Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden, with some unknowing and angst, Paul’s words should give us hope and assurance.  Yes, Adam’s sin negatively affected us all, but Jesus has reversed that effect.  The free gift brings grace and justification (right standing before God) and life and righteousness.  This is what we have in Jesus, right now.  Live it.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Sit with these words of assurance and be emboldened to live freely and exuberantly today in Christ Jesus.
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Jesus our Lord and Savior, what you offer is a free gift freely given.  I stand in awe and wonder and can only say, Wow!  I also ask for help to live as one who has received this free gift of grace instead of as one who still seeks to deserve it.  I don’t deserve it and want to live freely.  Thank you, Lord.  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 4 (1st week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: In your steadfast love hear my voice; O Lord, in your justice preserve my life.
READ: Psalm 32:1-5
Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 
Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 
While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. 
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’, and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
This Psalm is attributed to David, therefore I will use the masculine pronoun.  But, all psalms were written for the faith community and therefore feel free to change the pronoun and make this your personal prayer.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
The psalmist has experienced the grace of forgiveness.  Unconfessed sin had become a weight, as though God’s hand were heavy upon him.  The feeling of such a weight isn’t pleasant (to put it mildly) but it led this pray-er to wake up and acknowledge his sin.  You’ll notice the psalmist spoke to himself, instructing himself on what to do with his sin.  We can only imagine the relief he felt as he wrote and prayed, “and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Talk to yourself!  Tell yourself what you need to do about your sin, the one that is a weighing you down.
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
You, Oh Lord, forgive, not just the sin, but the guilt that goes with it.  Give me, I pray, the courage to name my sin and the willingness to receive your grace and live freely.  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 5 (1st Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: In your steadfast love hear my voice; O Lord, in your justice preserve my life.
READ: Psalm 32:6-11
Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them. 
You are a hiding-place for me; you preserve me from trouble;
   you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.
I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. 
Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
    whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you. 
Many are the torments of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord. 
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
Notice the change of voice in these verses.  It begins with the pray-er speaking to the LORD (vv6-7), then the LORD speaks to the pray-er (vv8-9), concluding with the pray-er addressing a congregation.  The pray-er is confident in the power of prayer to hold him through difficult times.  God gives the assurance that he will teach and instruct him, “with my eye upon you.”  God also gives a warning, one that we all need to hear and never more so than during a season like Lent.  It’s easy to be like a horse or mule who lack understanding and need to be forced to stay near.  The psalm ends with the pray-er addressing a congregation (perhaps) encouraging them to rejoice and shout for joy.  Be encouraged.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
What phrase or word caught your attention as you read these verses?  Sit with it and let the Spirit speak.
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Lord God who gives warning and comfort, I bow before you.  When distress comes my way, may I be prepared through faithful prayer to hear your glad cries of deliverance.  Thank you, Lord.  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.

This year, Lent begins on March 1 with Ash Wednesday.  To get you started reading your Bible during Lent, I’ve suggested Scripture and written brief devotionals for Ash Wednesday through Saturday.  I will continue, each week of Lent to give you suggested Scriptures to read and wonder about.  When possible, I’ll include a brief devotional as well.  Be open to God, who will speak in new and surprising ways through what spoke so long ago.  Drop me note if you have questions or comments.
 
Ash Wednesday, March 1
PREPARE TO LISTEN: I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me, hear my words.  (Psalm 17:6)
READ: Joel 2:12-17
12Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13rend your hearts and not your clothing.  Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing.  14Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain-offering and a drink-offering for the Lord, your God?  15Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; 16gather the people.  Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast.  Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy.  17Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep.  Let them say, ‘Spare your people, O Lord, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations.  Why should it be said among the peoples, “Where is their God?”’
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In this passage, heart essentially means mind and will and thus our whole being.  The rhetorical question in v14 is not casting doubt on God’s willingness to forgive, but rather emphasizing God’s sovereignty and freedom.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
Lent begins with the Way of Purgation, that is with the call to come to God in confession and penitence for sin and return fully to our God, with our hearts—our thinking, feeling, willing and being.  We’re encouraged to return to God with a reminder of God’s character—“he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing.”  The call in Joel is not merely for the individual, but for the nation.  We are to repent as individuals but we are also to name the sins of our nation so that others don’t have to say about us, “Where is their God?”
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Begin Lent with an examination of your own personal life; name your sins and receive the mercy of a gracious and merciful God.
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
I confess to you Merciful God that I have sinned against you.  I have done what I know I shouldn’t have; I’ve failed to do what I know I should have done.  Help, Lord.  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Thursday, March 2
PREPARE TO LISTEN: I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me, hear my words.
READ: Psalm 51:1-13
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 
4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgement. 
5 Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me. 
6 You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. 
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. 
9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. 
11 Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. 
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. 
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
This psalm is David’s prayer of confession for his sin of both adultery against Bathsheba and the arrangement of the murder of her husband, Uriah.
MEDITATIVE WORDS and PRAYERFUL RESPONSE
This is the most detailed of the penitential (confession and penitence) psalms and also the best known.  It is a prayer of confession that anyone, regardless of what sin they committed, can pray.  It was written as a confession of the sin of adultery and murder, but these words aren’t in the text and therefore anyone can claim this psalm of confession as their own.  I invite you to do so.  Read it again, this time as your prayer of confession and believe that God in Christ will indeed restore to you the joy of your salvation.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Friday, March 3
PREPARE TO LISTEN: I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me, hear my words.
READ: 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10
20So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
1As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain.  2For he says,
‘At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.’  See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!  3We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5beatings, imprisonments, riots, labours, sleepless nights, hunger; 6by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8in honour and dishonour, in ill repute and good repute.  We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
“So we are ambassadors for Christ….  As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain.”  We work together with Christ!  We’re not merely working for him, but with him.  Our work is to urge others to fully accept God’s amazing grace.  I listen to stories from many Christians and have discovered that the common theme is a struggle to receive and fully live in God’s grace.  One woman came to see me with this very struggle.  She was working so hard to earn God’s approval.  I urged her to give herself grace to fail and to receive God’s grace to help her.  She looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, ‘I can’t.’  I never saw her again, but often think of her tears and struggle to receive grace.  I urge you today, don’t accept God’s grace in vain.  Receive it with gratitude and enter into it fully.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
What holds you back from giving yourself grace and from entering fully into the grace God freely gives?
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
You are a God who delights to give me grace despite my undeserving nature.  Today, Gracious Lord, I choose to live as one who knows this grace.  When I fail, I’ll give myself grace and turn again to you with the help of your Spirit.  In grace, I dare to pray, amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Saturday, March 4
PREPARE TO LISTEN: I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me, hear my words.
READ: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
1‘Beware of practising your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  2‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others.  Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.  3But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.  5‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others.  Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.  6But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
16‘And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting.  Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.  17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.  19‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.  21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Piety is a term used to refer to devotion to practicing religious acts of obedience to God.  Today, we mostly use the language of spiritual disciplines.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
It’s not easy to act secretly, especially when we’re doing something we know is good.  We want people to know; we want to impress others.  Apparently, Jesus isn’t in the business of impressing others and denounces such behavior.  He assumes we are practicing giving, prayer and fasting, the 3 foundational spiritual disciplines.  What mattered to Jesus was for whom we did them.  Doing them for God’s eyes only is storing up for yourself treasure in heaven.  Not obviously, doing these acts entirely secretly is impossible.  Of course, others will see and know.  It’s not about hiding our acts of piety from the world; it’s about doing them freely without the expectation of recognition from the world.  We do them for God and God alone.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Reflect on when, where and how you can practice these 3 acts of piety during Lent, then commit to a plan and pray for the help of the Spirit to stick to it.
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER.
Heavenly Father, your watchful eyes are ever on me, your generous nature is ever wanting to reward me.  Help me live today, practicing prayerfulness, generosity in giving and fasting from what controls me in order to please you and you alone.  In the name of Jesus who taught us by his own example.  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.