Shirlee Abbott

Waiting for Spring

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Shirlee Abbott

What do you like most about snow?

Sledding and skiing
The fresh white beauty
It’s absence!

We’re tired of shoveling the walks. We’re tired of the gray goop beside the road. We’re anxious for the green of spring.

Lent is a time of waiting, a time to prepare our hearts. It is fitting that it falls for us at the end of winter, when we are waiting for the new life of spring.

We tend think that waiting is a waste of time— unproductive, uninteresting, boring.

Your Lenten wait should be expectant, not empty. New life is just around the corner.

Posted in other | Tagged Lent, new life, waiting | 1 Comment

Thank You, Johnnie

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Shirlee Abbott

Author Johnnie Alexander invited me to guest post on her website:
johnnie-alexander.com

You can read the short story of our bathroom renovation here, complete with Before and After photos.

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God Is Lion, God Is Lamb

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Shirlee Abbott

Do you remember this prayer?

God is great,
God is good,
And we thank Him for our food.

Great = Lion
Good = Lamb

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Lent: It’s Not Just the Lamb

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Shirlee Abbott

This week’s blog topic grew out of the intersection of the calendar and my Lenten meditation. We’re four days into March and on our third snow storm. March came in like a lion.

And as I ponder the “worthy is the Lamb” focus for Lent, Christ dropped an intriguing thought into my head:

I laid aside the Lion to become the Lamb.

Worthy is the Lion to receive honor and riches and glory and praise!

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From the Lion and the Lamb

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Shirlee Abbott

Posted in other | Tagged grace, mercy, Revelation 5, the Lion and the Lamb | Comments Off

Lion or Lamb? Both.

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Shirlee Abbott

We are familiar with the lion/lamb analogy for March. We are also familiar with the Lion/Lamb depictions of Christ:

Revelation 5:5, 12 (NIV)
See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.

Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain.

Our God is both Lion and Lamb.

Lamb: He is the willing sacrifice.
Lion: He abhors evil, He demands justice, He is all powerful.

lion & lamb: picture of peace.

Lion & Lamb: Prince of Peace.

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Is It Lion or Lamb?

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Shirlee Abbott

So, how does March look so far?

Day 1 – Lamb into Lion
Praying for a Lamb month compared to last month
Bring it on, Lion; we can take it!

As I write this, it is snowing. Again. The Lion is still here in NJ.

Our God is both Lion and Lamb. We tend to prefer the Lamb image, the God who sacrificed his earthly life so that we may have eternal life.

Don’t forget that our God is also the Lion. Awe-inspiring. Terrifying.

Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.

May you grow in wisdom.

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Lent: A Call to a Cause

Posted on February 27, 2015 by Shirlee Abbott

Tuesday, I suggested that you add prayer to your schedule as a Lenten sacrifice. Wednesday, I suggested that you make that a prayer for someone you don’t much like. Here’s another option.

Pray for a cause, a situation, circumstances that have been flying under your prayer radar–such as:

Christians on the run from persecution
Aids orphans
The spiritual climate of Washington DC (or your statehouse)
America’s failing inner-city schools
The sex-trafficking industry
End of the Ebola epidemic
A Wall Street Great Awakening

Did something on the list tug your heart? That would be your call to prayer.

Posted in other | Tagged AIDS orphans, Ebola epidemic, failing schools, Lent, persecuted Christians, prayer, sex trafficking | 1 Comment

It’s All about Me – NOT

Posted on February 26, 2015 by Shirlee Abbott

In another place and time, a coworker suggested that our mutual boss needed prayer. It was true. He was acting more like a teenager than a manager. He was moody, arrogant and distracted.

I took her suggestion to heart. But I didn’t seem to be connecting with God.

God: You are praying that he will change and be easier to work for.

Me: That’s a problem how?

God: Only when you pretend that you are praying it for his own good.

A humbled me: Bring him into a better place spiritually, Lord, even if it makes it harder for me to work for him. ‘Cause it isn’t about me.

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A True Lenten Sacrifice

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Shirlee Abbott

Give up a bit of yourself for Lent. Pray daily for someone who annoys you, aggravates you, drives you crazy.

Matthew 5:44-45 (CEV)
I tell you to love your enemies
and pray for anyone who mistreats you.
Then you will be acting like your Father in heaven.
He makes the sun rise on both good and bad people.

It may or may not change the other guy, but it will change you. For the better.

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