The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are at the very heart of Christianity. The good news of the gospel is that God has acted in history to conquer evil and reconcile sinners to himself through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For those who have been united with Jesus – who have submitted to Him as savior and The Lord – have been united with Him in the likeness of His death and will one day be united with Him in the likeness of His resurrection (Rom. 6:5). Lent, therefore, is about living out of our union with, and identity in Christ. Lent is first and foremost about the gospel making its way deeper into our lives.
Likewise, Lent is a season of preparation and repentance during which we anticipate the death (Good Friday) and resurrection (Easter Sunday) of Jesus. It is this very preparation and repentance – aimed at grasping the intense significance of the crucifixion – that gives us a deep and powerful longing for the resurrection, the joy of Easter.
Lent is a journey to the cross, meditating on our sin and weakness, looking to Jesus as our perfect example and substitute, and being heightened in our worship of his victory over Satan, sin, and death. On the cross, Jesus took our place to appease God’s righteous anger toward our sin and rebellion. He was separated from God so that we could experience union with God. Jesus was allowed to be crushed by God so that we could be adopted by God. He was raised with God so that we too might be raised with God.
The journey of Lent is to immerse our selves in this grand events so that it might increase our appreciation of Easter and love for Jesus. May we mourn the darkness in our hearts and rejoice in the light of God who came into the world to save us! God does not turn us away, but invites us to confess our sins and be cleansed. Give yourself to Jesus in this Lenten season through praising Him, worshipping Him, thanking Him, with meditation, preparation, repentance and confession.
Repentance is cleansing of our heart & mind. In everyday language, repentance means to “change your mind,” to reconsider how we are living our lives in light of our new identity. Every saint has a past and every sinner have a bright future. You too can become living saint in Christ Jesus during this Lenten journey. In the old covenant, the emphasis was always on the external “because of the hardness of men’s hearts” (Matt. 19:8). The law emphasized cleanliness in the external. The new covenant, in contrast, emphasized cleanliness “inside the cup” first (Matt. 23:25,26). Jesus said in that verse (v. 26) that once the inside was cleansed, the outside would automatically become clean so that there would be no need to clean the outside at all. One can see this clearly from Matt. 5:21-30. If one has cleansed his heart from anger, there would be no danger of his committing murder externally. Likewise, if he has cleansed his heart from sexually dirty thoughts, there would be no danger of his committing adultery externally. Clean the inside of the cup and the outside will automatically become clean. our emphasis primarily on the externals like – avoiding smoking, drinking, taking drugs, gambling etc., – The way to get rid of external evils is not by concentrating on them first but rather on the internal worldly attitude of mind and heart which produces those external evils.
Prayer for cleansing our heart and mind. Spend some time being still before God, asking the Spirit to search you: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps. 139:23-24). Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. In Jesus name I pray. Heavenly father Amen. (ps 51:1-2,6,10-12)
Good Friday. If any body is killed in our family or in our country we do not call that as a good day, but when Jesus was brutally crucified and killed we call it Good Friday, actually the death on the cross was a battle between God and the devil, by the death of Jesus devil was defeated and crushed that is why it is called Good Friday. God is a God of light: darkness cannot survive in his presence. We, who have dark hearts full of sin, should tremble at this fact. But Jesus, who was completely good, cloaked himself in the darkness of our sin and stood under the wrath of God for us. On the cross, he was crushed and cut off from his Father. It was to have been our fate. On the first Good Friday, in the midst of our darkest hour, God did not cut us off. Jesus Christ, our true light, plunged himself into the darkness so that we might live in the light.
Lent and Your Relationship with God. This is the perfect time to give 100% of our attention in glorifying our God. Make use of your time well and have a deep examination of yourself. Share this season’s blessings with words that will express the greatness of the Lord. Repent and live a new life free from sins. Take time to read the Holy Bible and get to know Christ more and thirst for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He lives in you and me. Experience the goodness of the Lord every day of our lives. Share your blessings and be thankful. Try to be closer to God. You will surely feel so blessed and at peace. This season opens doors for us to change into the person That God wants us to be. This is the time to be sorry for all the things we did wrong. He died for you and me. Make His death more worthy by being humble and following His will for us. Cleanse your mind, heart and actions and be the person that will honor Him more.
In every generation God needs godly people and godly leaders. We cannot depend on the wisdom of the leaders of previous generations, David could not rule over Israel forever. He would die, and someone else would have to take over. What would become of Israel depended on the type of person that the next king would be, God raises up a godly man to start a work in one generation. He becomes old and dies and go to heaven. Will the leaders in the next generation have only the founder’s knowledge and his doctrines but not his godliness and his knowledge of God? Then the people will certainly go astray.
it is good to venerate and honor Mother Mary, saints, and great men and woman of God but if we do not have the same beauty of holiness what they had certainly we will go astray. Have a more meaningful Lenten meditation and Celebration.
Dr. Jayanand