“Lent is a time of going very deeply into ourselves…What is it that stands between us and God? Between us and our brothers and sisters? Between us and life, the life of the Spirit?”
Catherine Doherty (1896-1985)
What stands between us and God?
Sin.
What to do?
Luke 3:19 (NIV)
Repent, then, and turn to God,
so that your sins may be wiped out,
that times of refreshing may
come from the Lord.
It’s Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, the 40-day (+ Sundays) season of repentance and preparation. Think of it as your personal mini-revival.
Psalm 23:3
(AMP)
He refreshes and restores my soul (life).
(VOICE))
He makes me whole again.
I work in a high school. I bemoan the students’ attachment to their phones — texting, TikTok, YouTube, and more. I often think the world was a better place without them.
On to the Asbury revival: leaders text to keep up with the ever-changing situation. Millions of young people are learning about it via TikTok. And I’ve listened to on-the-spot testimonies via, you guessed it, YouTube.
I’ve long prayed for revival. Never did I imagine how God would use things I dislike to make it happen.
Ephesians 3:20 (ICB)
God can do much, much more
than anything we can ask or think.
I’ve long been praying for revival in America. I’m excited to read that it’s really happening. I hope to see it happen closer to home.
“Let us return to the basic things of the Word of God and prayer and soul winning and revival. Let us pray, ‘O God, send a revival. Let it begin in me.'”
Lee Roberson (1909-2007)
In me? Oh yes. Can’t get any closer to home! 
I recently heard a discouraging report about Baltimore schools: only 7% of 3rd through 8th graders can do grade-level math. Last year I read that at one high school, less than 2% of seniors were able to read at grade level.
This makes me sad. Surely Baltimore isn’t the only place like this.
Something’s broken. Very broken.
Lord, give us, as a nation, eyes to see the broken homes, broken communities, broken spirits, broken systems. Break our hearts, O God. Give us wisdom to know what to do and the will to follow through.
Consider Christ’s parable of the workers in the vineyard. The landowner hired workers in the early morning, in the middle of the day, and at the last hour.
Matthew 20:9-10 (MEV)
When they who were hired about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius.
But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more, but each of them likewise received a denarius.
“It’s not fair,” the first-comers complained.
God rewards late-comers with the same salvation as early believers. I accepted Christ as a child. I’m an early-comer. And I’m not complaining.
Fair enough, Lord. It’s all good.
God is always enough.
The other side is never enough.
Proverbs 27:20 (AMP)
Sheol (the place of the dead) and Abaddon (the underworld) are never satisfied; Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied.
Which side are you on?
God goes beyond “enough.”
Ephesians 3:20 (MSG)
God can do anything, you know—
far more than you could ever
imagine or guess or request
in your wildest dreams!
Salvation would be more than enough. And yet God goes above and beyond, giving me more than I can ask or think.
Thank You, O God, for your extravagant generosity!
