I am still in the "info-gathering" mode on preparing my own heart for Lent. I really don't have a set or systematic approach to this, because I wouldn't know how to really put one together anyway.
I can honestly say I am just going through different scripture as I am "tugged on the inside", and really try my best to get out of the way and let God put this thing together. I guess it is kind of like "connecting the dots"...all I have to do is draw the line to the next dot...I will let Him put the dots where He thinks best...and then when it is complete, all the dots connected will form something...or someone....hopefully it is Jesus!...that would be cool!
Anyway, I am being drawn (doesn't that sound spiritual? lol) to the Transfiguration in Mark, but before I really get going in that, in St. Mark 8, there were some interesting things Christ Jesus said in this section of scripture:
Gleanings from St. Mark 8: 34-38
" Then, calling the crowd to join His disciples, motioned for everyone to come in a little closer. (Note: I wonder if the Pharisees were there as well...I bet there were some there and they were probably "eatin' this moment up"...thinking they might get some hard core evidence to use against Christ Jesus...I can really visualize these guys leaning forward, eyes totally focused, ready to jump and twist any word that would come out of Christ's mouth.)
He then says to all who had gathered: " It is a good thing you inquire to want to learn to live as I do...but you must realize...you will no longer be able to live... the way you do.
If you truly intend to "Follow Me", to really come after Me, than here is what you have to do: you have to begin to "lose sight of yourself" and let go of your own interests as the primary thing in your lives now. In fact, it may require you to completely ignore and even disown anything that has "me "stamped on it. You will learn soon enough the requirement of "taking up your cross" (Note: imagine, when the people heard this the idea of taking up the cross, it was the Roman way a criminal would be forced to carry his own cross, to his very death... on the cross that he was "forced to lug on his own"....as would the Lord Jesus demonstrate to all of us a little later in St. Mark, but at this juncture...Christ and the Cross had not yet happened...let alone be understood...even His own disciples had not grasped this one at that point). You will give yourself entirely up.....for Me.
Why?...you ask. It is because I have something better...for you! If you really hunger for Eternal Life and the kind of lifestyle it offers...and you believe I am the way to Eternal Life, then it is of absolute necessity you give up "your old way of life" because it does nothing but deteriorate a little more each day and in the end...you have nothing.
You must embrace a new life...I am that Life...and you will instead grow more each day and in the end...it will be only the Beginning...to an Eternal Life...with Me!
Tell me, what value is it to hang on and even clutch to your way of life you have even now, along with all its way of thought on what constitutes peace of mind and happiness?
Look, do you not base life's daily decisions on selfish motives, and will you not do anything to avoid any type of suffering...even at the cost of others suffering so you won't?
What is the real value even if you were to gain everything in this life you could ever imagine...yet you did so by putting "you" in front of everyone and everything else, not even caring what harm it may do to others or to the entire world around you. Is it worth the forfeit of Eternal Life?...rejecting the Kingdom of God lifestyle that has been given to you to avoid such a bitter end?
Let Me ask you this then, " What good is it to gain all these things in this life through selfish motives and means...and then try to find anything good in your "successes" that you could possibly give in exchange for Eternal Life?"
Let Me make this perfectly clear to you: If any of you are embarrassed or perhaps ashamed of Me or in the way I choose to lead you...if My Words offend you...or your so-called "friends"...the ones who are unfaithful, fickle, and have the word "whore" written on their hearts...then consider this. What embarrassment and shame is in store for them when the Son of Man arrives in all His Splendor and Majesty of God the Father...with all the myriads of His holy angels standing before Him?
"Lent can be a journey accompanied by Christ Jesus...to the Cross."
I can honestly say I am just going through different scripture as I am "tugged on the inside", and really try my best to get out of the way and let God put this thing together. I guess it is kind of like "connecting the dots"...all I have to do is draw the line to the next dot...I will let Him put the dots where He thinks best...and then when it is complete, all the dots connected will form something...or someone....hopefully it is Jesus!...that would be cool!
Anyway, I am being drawn (doesn't that sound spiritual? lol) to the Transfiguration in Mark, but before I really get going in that, in St. Mark 8, there were some interesting things Christ Jesus said in this section of scripture:
Gleanings from St. Mark 8: 34-38
" Then, calling the crowd to join His disciples, motioned for everyone to come in a little closer. (Note: I wonder if the Pharisees were there as well...I bet there were some there and they were probably "eatin' this moment up"...thinking they might get some hard core evidence to use against Christ Jesus...I can really visualize these guys leaning forward, eyes totally focused, ready to jump and twist any word that would come out of Christ's mouth.)
He then says to all who had gathered: " It is a good thing you inquire to want to learn to live as I do...but you must realize...you will no longer be able to live... the way you do.
If you truly intend to "Follow Me", to really come after Me, than here is what you have to do: you have to begin to "lose sight of yourself" and let go of your own interests as the primary thing in your lives now. In fact, it may require you to completely ignore and even disown anything that has "me "stamped on it. You will learn soon enough the requirement of "taking up your cross" (Note: imagine, when the people heard this the idea of taking up the cross, it was the Roman way a criminal would be forced to carry his own cross, to his very death... on the cross that he was "forced to lug on his own"....as would the Lord Jesus demonstrate to all of us a little later in St. Mark, but at this juncture...Christ and the Cross had not yet happened...let alone be understood...even His own disciples had not grasped this one at that point). You will give yourself entirely up.....for Me.
Why?...you ask. It is because I have something better...for you! If you really hunger for Eternal Life and the kind of lifestyle it offers...and you believe I am the way to Eternal Life, then it is of absolute necessity you give up "your old way of life" because it does nothing but deteriorate a little more each day and in the end...you have nothing.
You must embrace a new life...I am that Life...and you will instead grow more each day and in the end...it will be only the Beginning...to an Eternal Life...with Me!
Tell me, what value is it to hang on and even clutch to your way of life you have even now, along with all its way of thought on what constitutes peace of mind and happiness?
Look, do you not base life's daily decisions on selfish motives, and will you not do anything to avoid any type of suffering...even at the cost of others suffering so you won't?
What is the real value even if you were to gain everything in this life you could ever imagine...yet you did so by putting "you" in front of everyone and everything else, not even caring what harm it may do to others or to the entire world around you. Is it worth the forfeit of Eternal Life?...rejecting the Kingdom of God lifestyle that has been given to you to avoid such a bitter end?
Let Me ask you this then, " What good is it to gain all these things in this life through selfish motives and means...and then try to find anything good in your "successes" that you could possibly give in exchange for Eternal Life?"
Let Me make this perfectly clear to you: If any of you are embarrassed or perhaps ashamed of Me or in the way I choose to lead you...if My Words offend you...or your so-called "friends"...the ones who are unfaithful, fickle, and have the word "whore" written on their hearts...then consider this. What embarrassment and shame is in store for them when the Son of Man arrives in all His Splendor and Majesty of God the Father...with all the myriads of His holy angels standing before Him?
"Lent can be a journey accompanied by Christ Jesus...to the Cross."
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