Thank you all for your prayers in regard to the windstorm. We did have a lot of wind, but it wasn't as bad as predicted. I've not noticed any damage around the house. Thanks be to God. Thank you for reading the blog this week.
Today, we will once again be looking into some of what the Scripture has to say on the subject of faithfulness. I want us in this message to focus on faithfulness in our sacrifice to the Lord.
This week, we began the Lenten season leading up to Holy Week and Easter Sunday. Lent is the time when we prepare ourselves through sacrifice and repentance recognizing what Jesus has done for us through His life, death and bodily resurrection from the grave.
One of the religious disciplines that believers engage in during the Lenten season is fasting. Another is renouncing something. When we fast, that is also a good time to engage in prayer. We are bringing our physical body into subjection as we focus our spiritual self on concentrating on the things of God.
In Matthew 16:24, Jesus tells us that be faithful in sacrifice for Him is like taking up our cross. He says, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let Him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me."
During this Lenten season, I want to challenge all of us to be faithful in our sacrifice to the Lord in three areas. First of all, let us be faithful in fasting. I am going to fast for lunch on Good Friday, and I am also going to fast at least one other time during Lent. I hope that all of us can do that much.
I also want us to be faithful in sacrifice in prayer. During this season, let each of us give more of our time to praying for the needs of others around the world, and let us spend more time praying for peace in the troubled areas of this world.
In the days of lent, people often give up as a sacrifice to the Lord something that is important to them. This Lent, I am giving up candy bars. That might not seem like much, but I really like them. I want to do it because I want to demonstrate to the Lord that I can do this small thing in thanks for the tremendous sacrifice that He made on the cross. I hope that all of us can find one thing that we can sacrifice during this Lenten season.
Being faithful in sacrifice means that we will do what we have set out to do in honor of our Lord. We might not be able to do it in our own strength, but we can do it through the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. Amen
Prayer Requests
Please pray that I can get the problem with my car taken care of.
Right now, I want us all to really pray about the situation in Ukraine. The actions of the President of my country are not right in this. Pray for a just peace in Ukraine. Pray that those who are the aggressors will stop their aggression. Pray that God will give wisdom to the leaders of the world in regard to this situation. Also, let us keep praying for peace in Israel and Gaza and pray for the release of all the hostages. Keep praying for peace in Sudan and in the other troubled areas of this world.
Continue to pray for those in Mayotte who need help recovering from the storms.
Pray for an end to the diseases plaguing the world right now including ebola, mpox, covid and the flu. Pray for an end to the measles outbreak in Texas.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Laos and Japan. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, we will continue with our current series. I will post the verses on Tuesday. May God Bless you all.
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