Building One Another  

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

I Thessalonians 5:11‍

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Get Ready forSpring!

Dear Friend,          

I have always found Lent to be a hopeful season.  While it is a reflective time to consider our Lord’s sacrifice for us and the vitality of our own discipleship, it is also a time to re-discover the passion and love our Lord has for us today.

You could think of the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter as a cheerless time, a time of“giving up” something for 40 days, but I have always seen Lent as a time to take on something… to take on a fresh seeking of the Lord, to acknowledge that my spiritual life can feel run down just like everyday life and that I want to refresh my relationship with my Lord.

The very word Lent is a hopeful word. It comes from a Middle English word meaning springtime. We may not see spring if winter’s snow and ice are around us, but spring is coming. Our God promised the Jews in Exile in Babylon, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you...” Jeremiah 29:13-14a.

Just as we know spring is on the way, so we know that when we seek, we will find the Lord who loves us.

Be a seeker. Renew your own inner desire and to know God more deeply and personally.

Take on some specific spiritual discipline, some deliberate pattern by which you may seek the Lord during these few weeks of Lent.  For example, simply read a half-chapter a day of one of the four gospels and allow the ministry of Jesus to touch you personally. And/or keep a daily spiritual journal recording your own thoughts about your own experience of God and reflections about your Lord.  

Joy to you – E. Stanley Ott

©Copyright 2020 E. Stanley Ott
*Scripture from the ESV

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Between now and Easter, how will you give extra attention to the Lord who loves you?

Some of the ways to do that include reading some of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John every day. Pray for the people in your life to know and experience the reality of Jesus. Find a way to be of service to others such as through your local church.