How’s your Lent going? Are you keeping up with our Lent Devotional for Women? Living a “Go big or go home” Lent or quietly squeaking by? I pretty much feel like I’m living on fumes right now; it’s a season and as my old English teacher used to say, “This too shall pass.”
Those of us following along with the Lent Devotional for Women know everything is grace…everything. In addition to living on fumes, I’ve been living on Joey+Rory’s CD, Hymns That are Important to Us. Do you know how in the Bible David played the harp to soothe Saul? This CD soothes my soul.
Let’s get into our daily devotions for Lent and visit a little bit about Saint Paul and his words to the Philippians about this life.
A few years ago a group of us used to meet on Periscope in the mornings for a short and sweet Bible study time. (Now we meet at least weekly in a private Facebook group and Live Zoom call for our Online Bible Study Community.) One morning we talked about how Paul mentions in Philippians 3:8 everything is nothing compared to knowing Jesus.
That’s what gets us through Lent right? Well actually, that’s what gets us through life. If we couldn’t live on the promise that everything is grace, can be grace and will be grace…we’ve got nothing. And by nothing, I mean no hope. (We did a month-long Bible Study on the Promises of God.)
What are you head-down, plowing through right now friends? Let me encourage you to keep going! It’s all grace: the hard, the messy, the darkness, the no-light at the end of the tunnel, the first glimmer of light, the other side.
But, let me also warn you, if you’re trying to make it through without Jesus, on your own merits, strength, or intelligence…you won’t make it.
One of my greatest fears in life has been cancer. Well, on Good Friday 2019, at 3pm, the Hour of Mercy, I was having a biopsy on my face that lead to a Melanoma in Situ diagnosis. Gulp. You can read more about that here, May and The Littlest Way. Here’s what I can tell you about that time, God infused so much grace, mercy, and peace into that time period. And I have come out on the other side with more intention and purpose than before. All grace baby…all grace.
So what does head-down plowing through with Jesus look like?
First, lift our head. Head-down plowing through looks like an accident waiting to happen; we have no idea where we’re going or the beauty around us as we’re passing through. Since I mentioned music in the opening paragraph, I might as well mention it now. Have you heard the song, “Lift Your Head Weary Sinner”? I love the chorus
If you’re lost and wandering
Come stumbling in like a prodigal child
See the walls start crumbling
Let the gates of glory open wide
Second, let’s tell ourselves “I am a friend of Jesus.” Do you know what might help us with this? I have a free printable I mentioned before in our Lent Devotional for Women. It’s full of verses about how God feels, thinks, and takes care of us. We have one hanging in each bathroom as a daily reminder.
I recently had the one for the main bathroom, which is the one our children use and the one visitors use, I had it blown up poster size at my local office supply store. You literally cannot get away from that thing! If you’re not looking at it straight on, it’s the reflection in the mirror behind you!
Third, repeat numbers one and two until we no longer need to, which may be until Jesus comes!
Finally, be a friend. What do we do for and with our friends? We learn about them, we spend time with them, we think about them, right?
To help us learn about Jesus, print off this Bible Journaling page, Character Traits of Jesus and as we read our Bible, let’s start listing the characteristics of Jesus with chapter and verse for reference. Or, there’s a Names of Jesus Bible Study in my shop.
Doing this spiritual exercise of identifying and making note of the characteristics of Jesus, we’re spending time with Jesus, the Word of God, and we’re learning more about Him. The more we learn about Him, the more we’re growing in closer friendship with Him.
As we grow closer to Jesus in friendship, we can ponder Him and His characteristics as we go through our day. Pondering Jesus through the day means keeping our heart and mind turned toward Him, or redirected back toward Him.
Carry on ladies! We’ve got more Lent ahead of us!
Essential Oil Notes:
thank you for sharing this song Jenny, the Lord is so good to us. I am sharing a witness talk on Wednesday night on the topic of reconciliation and I was trying to find a song to share, the one you shared here spoke to my heart so thank you SIC
Yay! I’m glad you found this helpful. Crowder has some really great music that I think speak into our raw, wounded hearts.
I’m in for the pvt facebook group bible study a few days a week!
Yay! I miss our Bible studies.
Jenny,
My hubby got me the Joey + Rory CD Hymns for my birthday. He had to go to every Cracker Barrel within 100 miles of our home to find the special “story book” edition. Those hymns are just so beautiful and soothing! And speaking of Phillippians, my daughter and I are reading the 40 days of 4:8 (her’s is the teen edition) for Lent. So good!
What! I didn’t know there was as special edition at Cracker Barrel?!? If you’ve read enough posts here, you know I love Tommy Newberry and his 4:8 Principle. Great job momma, teach her young to think about what she thinks about.