Scripture: 30 If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am. 31 God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, who is worthy of eternal praise, knows I am not lying. 32 When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas kept guards at the city gates to catch me. 33 I had to be lowered in a basket through a window in the city wall to escape from him. [2 Corinthians 11:30-33 NLT] Not everybody has a great example in their life of what it means to be a father. I’m not necessarily talking about the really bad examples like the ones found on Jerry Springer, Maury Povich, or other shows. There just are some fathers who do not fulfill the role in an admirable way. Now, before we are too hard on the earthly fathers we have been given, let’s remember that there is no fatherhood manual passed out when someone becomes a father. Some simply do a better job of figuring it out than others. Some fathers truly work hard at becoming the best father they can. I can honestly say that I had a great example of what it means to be a father. My earthly father did not have the best environment growing up. He made a decision that he would give his children the best possible home life he could. I can say, as his son, that my dad did just that. Of course, he wasn’t perfect (only one human being ever was). My dad was an example of what it meant to be a supportive, loving, disciplined, providing, and faithful father here on earth. I will be forever in his debt for all of the life lessons he has taught me through his example of fatherhood. Our Scripture for today contains the Apostle Paul’s heartfelt love for his heavenly Father. Paul mentioned that he has gone through a lot in carrying out the ministry to which God called him. Paul had been beaten, falsely accused, in prison, and sent all the way to Rome to face trial. He says that he is weak and that in all of the things he has faced he still praises God the Father. In fact, Paul says, “God, the Father of our Lord Jesus … is to be praised forever …” Even though Paul went through a lot of suffering he still says God the Father is to be praised forever. Through all that Paul went through in life the one constant and faithful presence was God the Father. That is surely praiseworthy. God the Father is with you every step of the way as well. No matter what type of earthly father you experienced, your loving heavenly Father has been with you. God’s unchangeable presence is the one constant we have in our life as well. God is always there to comfort us in our sorrow, give us peace in the chaos of life, offer forgiveness when we sin, and love us beyond measure no matter what we have done. There is something powerful about knowing that God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is also our heavenly Father. Listen to the lyrics of the worship song “Good Good Father” by written by Pat Barrett and Tony Brown: You’re a good good father, it’s who you are, and I am loved by you, it’s who I am. Today praise God the Father for the example of what it means to have a Father in heaven who is good. Praise God for all the ways that God the Father has blessed you and your family. Some ways will be more obvious than others. Spend time today seeking to understand all the ways God the Father has been involved in your life and showered you with goodness. God is a good good Father, it’s who God is. You are loved by God, it’s who you are. For that alone, God is worthy to be praised forever. Prayer: Father God, you are such a good Father to me. I praise you for all the love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness you have extended to me. Empower me to praise you throughout today and every day. Thank you for showering your love on me today. Amen.

Scripture: 22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the far shore saw that the disciples had taken the only boat, and they realized Jesus had not gone with them. 23 Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten. 24 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. 25 They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”26 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. 27 But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.” [John 6:22-27 NLT] The first two years of college are filled with classes that are deemed general education requirements. I remember thinking the same thing in a lot of my classes, “When am I ever going to use this stuff?” I didn’t really know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and none of the classes I was taking seemed to help. With the help of my father I decided to stop college and work. The idea was that I could be earning money while I figured out what I wanted to do for a career. In hindsight, I was looking for my life’s purpose. I needed to know how my life would make an impact in the world before I could give myself to school. I needed purpose. When I went back to school to finish my degree and then go on to seminary it was because I had that purpose. God had called me into ministry. What a difference this sense of purpose made. No longer did I wonder when I would use the information I was learning. There was no sense of wasted time, energy, or effort. I had a purpose for which God had called me. Everything I was doing was to fulfill that purpose. Every class I took was preparing me to live into that purpose. It truly was amazing the power that purpose had given to my life and schoolwork. I needed that purpose. In our Scripture for today Jesus tells the crowd what his purpose was. He made it very clear. Jesus says he came to give eternal life. In another passage Jesus says, “I … have come to seek and save those … who are lost.” Jesus was given a distinct, and unique, purpose as the Savior of humanity. There was obvious power in this purpose and because of this purpose the world will never be the same. Even Jesus needed purpose. We need purpose. God has a purpose for your life. One of the greatest joys in our journey of faith is finding our purpose. Once we have found our purpose we can spend the rest of our life living for that purpose. Your purpose may not be to serve God as a pastor, but God has a purpose for your life. I met someone this past week whose purpose is to share his testimony with the clients of his business. His business takes him into all kinds of different people’s homes. He was telling me that every time he is at a client’s home the Holy Spirit lets him know whether he should share his testimony or not. When the Holy Spirit tells him to share, he shares. This is his purpose. What is your purpose? Where has God asked you to join in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ? We all need purpose. Today ask God to reveal your purpose, if God has not already done so. If you are not sure what your purpose is for your life, start with your purpose for today. Ask God how you can join in the work of Christ today. It could be sharing your testimony, praying for a friend, talking to a relative, being a listening ear for someone who is hurting. Whatever the answer is, do everything in your power to fulfill God's purpose for your life today. After all … God has created and called you for that purpose. We all need purpose and our main purpose is to bring glory to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Prayer: Holy God, thank you for the purpose you gave Jesus Christ, your Son. I thank you for the purpose you have called me to today. Help me to pursue your purpose today in everything I do. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Scripture: 19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. 20 Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. 22 And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him. 23 And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. 24 Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us. [1 John 3:19-24 NLT] As the story goes … my paternal grandmother had eight grandchildren and every one of them was a girl. This count included my older sister and seven of my cousins. When my parents became pregnant with yours truly there was an assumption made, it would be a girl. My parents assumed that the long streak of girls in the family would continue when I was born. They believed this so much so that they had not even picked out a name for their soon to be child. My dad says that when the doctor came to the waiting room and indicated that he had a son, he didn’t believe him. It was true, however, that my dad had a son. The long list of names of grandchildren would now include a boy name. Again, there was only the small problem, my parents had not picked a name. I mention the story above to tell you that there is power in a name. A name gives us part of our identity. Along with our DNA, our family of origin, and where we were born, our name helps shape us and our identity. Whether you like your name or not, it is a part of what identifies you as you. As my parents prepared for their new child almost 52 years ago, they had picked out a girl’s name only. So when the doctor told them it was a boy they had some work to do. As they deliberated on a boy’s name they decided to name me after my father. So for almost 52 years I have been named Paul Timothy Machtel, Jr., after my father. While the name may not have been planned out months in advance, there is something special about that name. I am very proud to be named after my dad and hope to continue living into the example and legacy he has been in my life. Our Scripture for today is all about a name. John writes to the original readers that they must believe in the name of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. There is power in that name. Jesus Christ is the name to which every knee will bow and every tongue confess. The name of Jesus is the name that when we ask for something it will be given. Jesus is the name that angels cheer and demons despise. There is power in that name. When John says we must believe in the name of Jesus he is saying we must believe in all that Jesus is. The name represents who Jesus is and what he has done and will continue to do. We must believe in the name of Jesus Christ who gave sight to the blind, made the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, and raised Lazarus from the dead. There is power in the name of Jesus. John also says that we should believe in the name of Jesus AND love one another as Jesus commanded. As the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13 power without love amounts to nothing. We must believe in the name of Jesus in order to release the power to love one another. We cannot say we believe in the name of Jesus and not love each other, they are incompatible. We must believe in the name of Jesus AND love one another in order to truly follow Jesus. Today believe in the name of Jesus. Believe that Jesus was who he said he was, that Jesus did what he said he would do, and that Jesus will complete what he promised to complete. Place all of your trust in the name of Jesus today. As you do this today you will be freed to love the “one anothers” in your life. Invite God to release the power of Jesus' name to love the people around you and to fall more deeply in love with God. Repeat this mantra throughout the day. When you lay your head on the pillow tonight, take inventory of all the ways that God allowed you to love more deeply because you intentionally believed in the name of Jesus. Prayer: God of love, help be to believe in the name of Jesus completely. I desire to place all of my trust in you. May I love the way Jesus does and release the power of his name. May you receive all honor, glory, and praise through my life today. Amen.

Scripture: 13 But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” 14 We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. 15 All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. [2 Corinthians 4:13-15 NLT] Do you remember the days when you might go to a friend’s house and they would pull out their “slides” from their family vacation? It was a big deal to get out the slide projector and set everything up so that your friends could see all the fun of your vacation. Of course, there was also the fun of taking the film to get it developed and made into slides. It could take a whole evening to go through all the slides together. There was always a lot of narration, questions, and laughter as these memories were shared. I remember moments like these very fondly and loved the fact that someone wanted to share those moments with me. It is very difficult to experience something very new, fun, and adventurous and NOT want to share it. Of course, Facebook and digital/electronic media enables people to do that virtually immediately today. The fact still remains that people want to share exciting experiences with those with whom they are in relationship. I can’t imagine something exciting happening to me and not wanting to share it with my family and friends. We like to share good news and we even want to share when we are struggling. We want others to celebrate with us when we are celebrating and grieve with us when we are grieving. This is what Paul is writing about in our Scripture for today. Paul has experienced the excitement of a new life devoted to Christ. He says he joins with the psalmist in saying, “I believed in God, and so I speak.” Now Paul had a very radical experience of God. Not all of us have had a Damascus road type of experience with Christ. But we have had experience with Christ. When we experienced salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, we experienced a new life devoted to Christ. I know when I experienced this saving relationship through Jesus Christ I wanted to tell anyone who would listen. It was amazing news and, if I had them, I would have pulled out the slides and the projector and shared with everyone. Today may be a slide show kind of day for you. It may be a day where you are asked to say I believed in God and so I speak. One way to have this type of day is to be open to it. Ask God to reveal to you at least one opportunity to speak in the name of Jesus today. Maybe someone you work with needs to hear your faith story today. Perhaps you can speak words of life into your family today. There may be an opportunity to offer words of comfort and support to a friend who is going through a tough time. Allow your belief in God to go verbal. If we believe in God we will have opportunity to speak. Prayer: Holy God, give me opportunities to speak about my belief in you today. I don’t know what the words will be and I trust that you will give me the words to say. May my words be a blessing to everyone I speak with today. May you receive all honor, glory, and praise through me today. Amen.

Scripture: 47 As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel — a man of complete integrity.” 48 “How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.” 49 Then Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God — the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus asked him, “Do you believe this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” 51 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.” [John 1:47-51 NLT] The truth is we live in a culture where seeing is believing. Another way we might say this is “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Maybe you have heard this concerning your favorite sports team? A fan says your team will win their next game, or a championship, and the response is, “I’ll believe it when I see it!” This can be the response to any number of situations: a promotion, a raise, a promise made, and the list goes on. We live in a culture where seeing is believing. We want to see the evidence, or proof, before we will place our belief in something as being true. In so many ways this is our human nature. Jesus encounters Nathaniel sitting under a fig tree. As Nathaniel approaches him Jesus tells Nathaniel that he is an honest man – a true son of Israel. Nathaniel instantly recognizes Jesus as the Son of God. This was a profession of faith that Jesus was a godly teacher and worthy of following. Jesus asks Nathaniel if he believes this just because of what Jesus told him about himself. Jesus has given Nathaniel a glimpse of what was to come. Jesus gave him evidence that he was the Son of God. Jesus knew about him long before they had ever met. Jesus was able to tell him who he was before they even were introduced. Nathaniel found that worthy of his belief in Jesus as the Son of God. Nathaniel saw evidence of who Jesus was before he really knew who Jesus was. This caused him to believe. The next thing Jesus says tells us how faith in Jesus Christ works. Jesus tells him, “You will see greater things than this.” Jesus turns the "seeing is believing" culture on its head. Jesus is telling Nathaniel, when you believe you will see great things. With Jesus, belief comes first. Jesus wants us to put our faith in him and then we will see even greater things. Jesus gives us a glimpse of who he is and what he can do before we believe. The really great things that Jesus does in our life come after we profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our life and truly believe. That’s when Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit on us and dwells in our hearts and minds for all eternity. With Jesus, believing means we will see even greater things. Start today by placing all of your faith in Jesus, believing that you will experience great things. Make an intentional decision to follow Jesus every moment of the day. Seek out opportunities to help others experience the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control that the Holy Spirit brings. Be sure to give God the honor, glory, and praise as you see the greater things God will bring your way in the name of Jesus. Prayer: God, help me to believe today before I see. I want to lead with faith in your goodness and grace. I will watch for the ways you show up today. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Scripture: 20 The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots up. 21 Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you cursed has withered and died!” 22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. 24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. 25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.” [Mark 11:20-25 NLT] There are a lot of life events that test our belief. I remember the first day of elementary school for our oldest daughter … like it was yesterday. It was such a big school and she was so little. There were so many students and teachers and she might get lost in the shuffle. She has a great experience in preschool, but would she have the same experience in elementary school? The first day we walked her into school and to her classroom. She was very excited to start school and meet her teacher and fellow kindergarteners. I think her parents were far more uncertain and maybe even emotional than she was. Okay, I know we were. It was a big day that tested my belief a little. The day I described above was one of the first among many in trusting my daughters to God’s love and care. It has been my experience in parenting, and in life, that one of the biggest requirements is belief. You must believe in yourself as a responsible parent that you have done everything you can to prepare your children for the next step in life. You must believe in the other people who invest in your kids through their school years, Sunday school years, and student ministry years. You must believe in your kids and know that they are ready for the next steps in life. Finally, you must believe in God and know that God goes with them wherever they go. All that is required is to believe. In the Scripture for today Jesus is telling Peter what is required to do the work to which Jesus is calling him. Jesus tells Peter to have faith in God and he can literally move mountains. Jesus probably knew that Peter would say something like, “I have great faith in God, Jesus!” This is why Jesus says, “All that is required is that you really believe and do not doubt in your heart.” In other words, Jesus tells Peter that there is more to moving mountains than just professing faith in God. In order to move the mountains of life, all that is required is to truly believe without any doubt in your heart. I can relate to this in that we are getting ready to experience another life event in a few months that will require this type of belief. Our oldest daughter will start college in August of this year. As difficult as it was to drop her off for her first day of kindergarten, I can only imagine what it will be like to drop her off for her first day of college. She will be in a different city, in a lot larger school, with a lot more students, and a lot more opportunities (both good and bad). All that is required of us as parents is to truly believe with no doubt that God will be with her every moment of every day. Today all that is required of you is to really believe and do not doubt in your heart. God is with you. God has gone before you preparing the way for you. God is with you in this very moment. God will be with you long after today is done and in the books. Believe this good news for you today. Thank God for the promise of God’s continuing presence with you every moment of the day today. You are God’s treasure and masterpiece, believe it. Believe that today will be a great opportunity to express your belief in the name of Jesus. Prayer: Holy God, may I really believe you will be with me today, no doubt. Thank you for all you have done in my life and all that you will do today. Help me to have mountain moving faith today. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Scripture: 20 So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. 21 “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied, “Since he was a little boy. 22 “The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” 23 “What do you mean, ‘If I can?'” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes." 24 The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” 25 When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit. “Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,” he said. “I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!” 26 Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, “He’s dead.”27 But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up. [Mark 9:20-27 NLT] It was a scene I never thought I would experience in my lifetime. About a thousand people gathered in a sanctuary to praise God through worship. I had been in worship experiences with many more people than that before. It was not the number of people in worship that caught me. It was the spirit of the people that stopped me in my tracks. There was one very evident characteristic of the people and the experience that was rare. The characteristic was surrender. It was very clear that everyone in the room that night had surrendered their life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The atmosphere in the room was thick with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. It was in that environment that the Holy Spirit got a hold of me and taught me something extremely valuable. At the time I was almost finished with seminary and I would be appointed to a church very soon. I was still wrestling with my readiness for this ministry. It could be said that I was still doubting God’s call on my life to follow and serve in this way. That night, in the environment where the Holy Spirit was clearly moving, God made something very clear to me. The Holy Spirit etched on my heart the fact that I didn’t need to doubt anymore, I needed to believe. At that moment in a sanctuary full of surrendered people, I joined their ranks. It was at that moment that I believe I fully surrendered to God’s will for my life. In the Scripture for today, a boy’s father asks Jesus to heal him from an ailment that had plagued him since he was very small. The father asks Jesus to heal him in a seemingly harmless way. The father says, “Do something if you can.” Jesus replies, “Anything is possible if a person believes.” Jesus is letting the father know that he needs to believe that Jesus can. He needs to remove the doubt from the equation and surrender to Jesus as the one who can heal. The father’s response is well known, “I do believe, but help me not to doubt.” If you are a follower of Jesus Christ and you have never experienced doubt, that is rare. Most of us experience doubt from time to time. What we need to have no doubt is to surrender to Jesus and ask him to remove even our doubt. Today ask God to reveal your doubts to you. Once your doubts are revealed, ask God to remove them. Seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance in believing without doubt today. Maybe you profess your faith in Jesus Christ, but doubt he can really provide for you financially. Maybe you profess your faith in Jesus Christ, but doubt that he can truly forgive you for things you have done in your past. Whatever your doubt, ask God to help you to have no doubt. Today surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ believing that he can. Whatever it is you need Jesus to do in your life he can! No doubt! Prayer: Merciful and all powerful God, thank you for your promise to always be there for us. You never leave us or turn away from us. Today help me to remove all doubt from my life. Help me to live in complete surrender and believe that you can. I thank you in advance for the ways in which you will reveal yourself to me today. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

Scripture: 27 After Jesus left the girl’s home, two blind men followed along behind him, shouting, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”28 They went right into the house where he was staying, and Jesus asked them, “Do you believe I can make you see?” “Yes, Lord,” they told him, “we do.”29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “Because of your faith, it will happen.”30 Then their eyes were opened, and they could see! Jesus sternly warned them, “Don’t tell anyone about this.” 31 But instead, they went out and spread his fame all over the region. [Matthew 9:27-31 NLT] I will never forget where I was on September 11, 2001. I was in class at Asbury Theological Seminary in Orlando. We were about to take a break when one of our classmates in another class came and told us we needed to come to the break room, something had happened. As we all gathered around the television there was stunned silence. The first tower had already been struck and smoke was billowing from the building. We watched in horror as the second building was struck, it was unbelievable. Then we watched as both towers collapsed and the country went into mourning for all of the lost lives. I will never forget that day. In the years since that day there have been many attempts to explain what happened. One thing I know for sure, I believe it happened. I saw it on live television and I mourned with a country that watched the same. I believe it happened and that it is something we should never forget. Last summer my family went to New York City on vacation. We saw all the sights and heard all of the sounds of New York City. One of the most profound experiences of my life was at the 911 memorial. As we stood where the twin towers once stood there was a solemn silence. The flowing water of the memorials was the loudest sound we could hear. We read the names of those who lost their lives and prayed for their families. I believed that 911 happened before that trip, but I definitely believed after having been at the memorial. One of the most inspiring aspects of the passage of Scripture for today is the amount of belief in the two blind men. The story indicates that they had belief that Jesus could help them before they ever asked. They asked Jesus to have mercy on them. We aren’t sure exactly what they meant by that. However, Jesus asked them a very important question getting to the heart of why they were asking him to have mercy. Jesus asks, “Do you believe I can make you see?” Their answer is clear, “Yes, Lord! We do.” Jesus then says, “Because of your faith, it will happen.” The most important question Jesus asked them was “do you believe?” I believe that Jesus is asking us that question still today… do you believe? Do you believe that I can provide for your every need? Do you believe I can heal your marriage? Do you believe I can bring you peace? Do you believe I can heal your physical ailment? Whatever we are facing … do we believe that Jesus can do it? Our faith in Jesus before the miracle will make it happen. Our faith after the miracle will grow even stronger. We won’t be able to keep it to ourselves either. Today take one thing you are facing and ask Jesus to have mercy on you. Believe that Jesus can make that area of your life whole. Pray throughout the day asking Jesus to have mercy on you in this area. You could even keep a journal for the day, or even week, and write down the ways in which Jesus is healing you and making you whole. The promise of this Scripture is that when we place our faith in Jesus, believe in Him, our faith will make it happen in the name of Jesus. Prayer: Holy God, I do believe in you. I believe that you are the only one who can heal me and make me whole. Help me to place all of my trust and belief in you today. Amen.

Scripture: Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. 2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. 3 For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. 4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just. 5 For I was born a sinner — yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. 6 But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there. 7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me — now let me rejoice. 9 Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you. [Psalm 51:1-13 NLT] Have you ever jumped off the roof of a house into a snow drift? I can say that I have. Growing up in southwestern Michigan there was no lack of snow to experience moments like this. I remember going down some pretty major hills on toboggan trails and having hours of fun in the snow. One of my favorite memories was the way the yard looked immediately after a fresh snowfall. I used to love looking out over the new snow and seeing it blanket everything. The snow was completely undisturbed and it was pure white for as far as you could see. This is the memory that hits my mind when I hear the words of the psalmist asking God to “purify me from my sins and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” In my experience snow is very white. When a fresh snowfall hits your yard, the hills and woods, and even the ski slopes in is crisp and white. So white that you need to make sure you are wearing sunglasses if you are out in that environment for very long. This is why the words of the psalmist stand out to me so much. The author says God will make him “whiter than snow” and that is amazing to me. It is as if the author is asking us to think of the whitest, most pure thing we can imagine. Once we have that image in our mind the author says you will be whiter than that. The implication is that before God purifies us and makes us clean, whiter than snow, we are marred by sin. It is not a pretty sight. We are covered in our own selfish desires, our own need to be right, our desire to control our own life and situations. All of this separates us from God and makes us stained by our own sin. One of the reasons Lent is so important in the life of the church is the time we spend intentionally reflecting on the fact that we are stained human beings and God’s ability to make us clean, whiter than snow. We realize that we cannot be pure, or holy, apart from God. We also realize that with God we have the ability to be purified, clean, and whiter than snow. Today take an inventory of the sins to which you are still clinging. Where do you prefer your plans over God’s plans? What do you know you shouldn’t watch, listen to, or do and yet you watch it, listen to it, or do it anyway? Make a decision today to ask God to purify you in these areas; to make you clean, whiter than snow. Take a few moments before you go to bed tonight and meditate on what God did with you today. Did God purify you? Was there anything different about today and the way you interacted with God and other people? I believe there will be! To God be all honor, glory, and praise! Prayer: God, you are Holy and you long to make me holy as well. You won’t force me to be holy. You wait for me to seek your holiness in my life. I want to be holy as you are holy. Purify me and make me clean. Cleanse me of my sins and make me whiter than snow. Amen.

Scripture: 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 6 As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. 2 For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.”Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation. 3 We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. 4 In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. 5 We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. 6 We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. 7 We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. 8 We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. 9 We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. 10 Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything. [2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10 NLT] In this passage, Paul is writing to remind the church at Corinth about their role as ambassadors of Christ. He urges them to be reconciled to God in relationship by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. It is because of Christ that we even had the ability to be made right. Paul reminds them that He who never sinned was made to be the offering for our sin. In other words, Jesus took our place so that we could be made right. There are a lot of theories about what happened on the cross. The theological term is the atonement. One theory is that Christ took on our sentence of death as in a court of law. We were found guilty of death because of our sin and Jesus took our place. Another theory is that Christ’s sacrifice is an example to all of us of love in action on our behalf. Another theory is that Jesus is the ransom that buys back sinners and gains victory over evil. One last theory is that Christ’s death on the cross satisfied the honor due God that has been robbed by human sin. None of these theories is adequate to explain how Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection made us right with God. The fact is we have been made right when we place our trust in God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. As we make our way through Lent this year it is important to remember we have been made right. Yet, this is a continuing process. We have been justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Yet, this is only the beginning of our being made holy. In essence we are made right every day of our life as we follow Jesus. When we seek to love God and love neighbor we are made right. We are being sanctified, or made holy, each step along our faith journey. Paul reminds us of this and of the fact that we do this as ambassadors of Christ in our family, our church, and our community. Today do not let this ambassadorship go for nothing. Make the most of it. Love God with your whole heart and love your neighbor as yourself. Look for one opportunity today to express the love of Christ to someone in your family, your workplace, your neighborhood, or any place you are able. Write a note to brighten someone’s day or make a phone call of encouragement. Be the ambassador of Christ that God has called you to be, today. Prayer: Holy God, the one who made Christ to die for me. Holy, God the one who raised Christ from the dead for me. Holy God, empower me to live as someone who has been made right. Show me how to love you with all that I am and love my neighbor with all that I have. Help me to do this today through the power of your Holy Spirit and in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Scripture: “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” 13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. 14 Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing—grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God. 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. 16 Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber. 17 Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the portico and the altar. Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’” [Joel 2:12-17 NIV] One of the interesting things about being in a relationship with someone is the times when you are apart. If you love someone, and truly enjoy being with them, you don’t want to be apart. I know this to be true from personal experience. Debbie and I have been married for a little over twenty years. For most of the time we have been married she has worked in the pharmaceutical industry. She would have to travel quite a bit and on occasion was gone the whole week. It was not my favorite part of her career, but I came to accept it and we found ways to minimize the impact on our relationship and family life. Debbie was always very intentional about staying connected even when we were not all in the same town. There was one part of being away from each other that never got old. The one part of Debbie traveling I always looked forward to…her return. I always knew that she would return and that was the part we always looked forward to in every trip. Many times our phone conversations would end with the words “one more day.” There is something extremely important, meaningful, and filled with hope about returning to where you are loved. This is the story of Lent. God created all of humanity to be in relationship with God. All throughout the story of humanity – from the fall to today – we wander from God. In The Book of Joel we see that God wants for us to come home. God, through Joel, declares “Return to me with all your heart.” God longs for all of us who have wandered away to return to God with all our heart. God is waiting for us to come home from our journey. Maybe for us it was the journey of doing it our way, the journey of chasing financial success, the journey of trying to find pleasure in the things of this world. Whatever the journey we have been on God wants us to return to Him with all our heart. Today is the day to return to God with all your heart, there is no better day. Regardless of how far you have journey from God, God wants you to return. Make the intentional decision to return to reading Scripture today. Make the intentional decision to pray to God today. Make the intentional decision to journal, talk to a Christian friend about your faith, or have lunch with someone who can mentor you in your faith. Today is the day. There is no better day to return to God. Prayer: God of grace and glory, thank you for loving me enough to long for my return. Today I want to come home to your loving embrace and follow you more closely. Today I pray that your Holy Spirit would enfold me and I would take simple steps back into your loving arms. I want to live for you. Amen.

Scripture: “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. [Matthew 6:16-20 NLT] It was about a week before Christmas and I was excited. I was a normal eight year old boy who was excited about the possibilities of what would be under the tree. Would I get the G.I. Joe with the Kung Fu grip? Would I get the cool new matchbox set? I was excited and the excitement was about to burst out of my very being and explode over everyone. But, of course, I couldn’t let it show. My parents couldn’t know how badly I wanted these things because then they might not get them for me. At least this was what my eight year old boy brain was telling me. So I played it cool. There was one thing that was killing me though. While my parents skillfully hid all of their presents, my sister had made the classic blunder. My sister had left my wrapped Christmas present in plain sight, right behind all of her clothes in the back of her closet. There was the tag just calling me … to Tim from Jen! Can you believe it? She was toying with me leaving this present where I could find it and even letting me know it was for me. Well, I couldn’t take it! Yes, I opened it when no one else was around so that I could see exactly what I was going to unwrap on Christmas Day. It was a risky move for sure. I actually played with the toy for a little while before putting it back in the box and carefully beginning the process of rewrapping it. As I started the process I quickly found out we were completely, and I mean completely, out of Scotch tape. The only tape in the whole house that I could use to rewrap my own present was masking tape. So what did I do? I used masking tape to carefully wrap the present and stick it back in the back of my sister’s closet. I secretly prayed that no one would notice. As you can guess … it didn’t work, she noticed. I learned a valuable lesson that day. There are some things in life that you should not make obvious. In the passage of Scripture we are reading today Jesus tells his followers, when it comes to fasting, “don’t make it obvious.” When it comes to our inward faith, we should not make it obvious that we are working on our relationship with Jesus. There is a profound reason why Jesus says we should not do this. Jesus tells them that these are treasures that we store up in our heart. It is an inward journey that we travel with Jesus our Savior. We store up this treasure in our heart and thoughts knowing that it will overflow into our words and deeds. We don’t announce that we will be fasting, praying, serving, or growing in our faith. Instead, we do the inward work that comes out in our outward life. People will see and experience the evidence of our inward work through the actions of our life. Today is Ash Wednesday when many will receive the Ashes imposed on their forehead. This is a symbol of repentance and belief in the Gospel of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Today our challenge is to find a way for the overflow of our heart and life with Jesus to demonstrate Christ’s love and sacrifice. It truly is not about walking around with ashes on our forehead, it is about turning from our selfish desires and putting others first. Today I will put my faith into practice by sharing the love of Christ with at least one person in a tangible way. Prayer: Holy God, you have poured yourself out for me in the offering of your Son. Help me to pour myself out for you into the life of one person today who needs your love. Empower me through your Holy Spirt to not make it obvious, but to make it an overflow of my heart for you. Amen.