Lent 31 - Casts out Fear

Apologies if this image is sacrilegious.
Liberty is angry.  

    

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear him;

12 

as far as the east is from the west,

    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Psalm 103:11-12

Is the word Fear a contronym? "Fear of the Lord casts out 'fear'." 

Most 'fear' is seen to relate to fear of death.  Much of it is unfounded.  I have only recently realised that the way to deal with the meniscal pain inflicted by a needle is to allow the pain to exist, and appreciate it.  It is there for a good reason and I am thankful that I experience pain.  What a mercy.

But there are many real fear, often associated with 'fear of death'.  I noticed when I experienced two threats to my life from melanoma, that I was also give the greatest gift I could possibly be given at the same time.  This is an almost complete absence of 'fear of death'.  It would be most inconvenient and upsetting of course, but  it does not have any control.  I did have a fleeting fear of death when I looked out over the wooded hills of Arkansas from a tiny single prop aeroplane, with just rushing air, and Dustan (instructor) strapped to my back, complete with his parachute. 

PRAYER: I may feel fear, but I know I am safe with you.

Lent 30 - Love never Fails

 

Jakub Stefansk

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17 

The lord loves us.  In the West we tend to focus on 'me' as an individual.  But just as important is me as a community.  The English language does not help us her, because the singular and the pleural and not specified.  The Lord has saved us.  He rejoices over us.  Our community spirt is quietened.  As we join together in worship, listen to the choirs of angels we join.

PRAYER:  Perfect love is a duet of equality.  Dare we believe that you have made us your equal?

Lent 29 - Love never Fails

Harold Gilman 
Credit: Gallerythane.com

 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,  the Lord has forgotten me.” 

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. Isaiah 49:15

The people feel forsaken, but they are not.  The baby cries out in panic.  "Have you forgotten me?  You are not here, and it is dark, the middle of the night. Come quickly"  The invisible cord remains.  You feel.  You hear my panic.  You come; comfort and feed me with you life blood.

I am calmed.  I am reassured.  My trust grows as I feel the certainty of your presence and response.  I cease to even have to think.  Your love is taken as a given, like the rising of the sun in the morning.   Your love is the smile of pleasure when we meet.

PRAYER:  I thank you for your perfect constant love for us.

Fifth Sunday in lent

Merkel in the Chagall state hall of Israel's parliament
 just before giving her speech to the Knesset 2008.

 Foto: Getty Images

• You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
• You shall not covet.

Lent 28 - Love Perseveres II HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRANCES

Didier Viodé, Run 9, 2022. Source: www.artsy.net

 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

What an incredible verse!  We all live by the power of hope.  People who say they have no faith do not realise that they do have hope.  We are blessed because the hope is put within us.  Habakkuk 13:17-18 says...

Though the fig tree does not bud

    and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails

    and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen

    and no cattle in the stalls,

18 

yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

    I will be joyful in God my Saviour.

This is a miracle.  Hope is place within us.  It is not a false hope based on crossed fingers.  This hope is given by the one who is there at the end of time, and has seen the whole story.  It's a plot spoiler.

 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  This is what the ancients were commended for.

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. Hebrews 11:1-3

PRAYER: I treasure the hope that you have put within my heart.

This picture reminds me of my favourite school building- Evelyn Grace Academy in Lambeth.

Credit: ArchDaily

Lent 27 - Love Perseveres

Endurance by Renee Mendell
Credit: stewart-gallery.co.uk

 He remembered us in our low estate

His love endures forever. 

and freed us from our enemies.

His love endures forever. 

He gives food to every creature.

His love endures forever. 

Give thanks to the God of heaven.

His love endures forever.

Psalm 136 23-26

All I truly know is this; the words of Jesus; "I will never leave you or forsake you." 

Only hold onto these words if you know them to be true.  How do I know they are true?  Have I ever felt left and forsaken.  There I time when I have wondered, but then I was realised I was wrong.  I have been in states when there is no way I could have summonsed up this belief.  Like the children of Israel, I have a list of times to remind me when it get dark, of years of wonderful faithfulness.  

PRAYER:  Thank you for loving me.

Lent 26 - Love Hopes II

Andrea del Sarto 1528
Holy Family. St John passes the orb (or world) to Christ
The Met Art Gallery- New York

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1

When a young couple conceive their first child, they are full of hope for their child/children (twins?) They imagine what joy is ahead.  They hear tiny feet, and fun and laughter.  Baby can't do much to begin with, but the belief exists that the future will be different. We believe in a wonderful future, one of exploring the world, and connecting.

Some couples are given a message of no hope however. Destruction of the foetus may be discussed.  Sadness and worry about the future pervades their spirit.  What should they do?

The Creator must have also have felt joy when they created life, and put us into a special relationship with them.  But they must have known the full story before they started, right to the very end.  And they still went ahead.  This is a message of hope.

PRAYER:  Thank you Lord for believing in me.

Lent 25 - Love Hopes

Eaglein the Sky  by Frank Weston
Benson 1918 Cleveland Museum of Art
clevelandart.org

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31

A colleague of mine had her five month scan.  Her third child is growing within her.  We bring our children into the world full of wonder and hope.  We wonder what they will get up to?  What experiences they will have?  What they will achieve?  We hope that they will be well, joyful and loved.

When the Creator brought life into the planet we call home, was this full of the same yearning?  Initially the hope was that our relationship with the Creator would be enough, and life would be fulfilled.  We wanted more, and so we set off one pace from the track.  Soon we lost our way, forgetting our birth rite.  We stumbled and fell.  Battered and broken the Creator picked up us.  As with divorce, a wound had occurred.  The relationship was marred.   But the Creator was not satisfied with this half-life.  The error had to be corrected.  To know that for  life in all it's fullness, you must be 'married again'.  The union is freely offered to us again.  The marriage costs are covered.  All we must say is 'I do'.  This is a commitment for a lifetime.  It will come into it's own in the next world.

PRAYER:  I willingly rush to you, by Lord, saviour and friend.