“Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.” (‭‭Psalms‬ ‭32:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

It’s Holy Week. A week where we tend to think about Jesus and His huge sacrifice for all mankind. We can’t forget to make it personal. “Blessed is ME whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.” My husband always says, “If it was only for me, Jesus still would have gone to the cross.” The sacrifice of Christ is incredibly personal.

Many Pentecostals have let go of Lent in disdain of church tradition. But if we let go of Lent, then when do we pause and recall all that we’ve been saved from? Lent is a time of reflection and gratitude. It’s an opportunity for inventory; here’s what I did and why I’m so thankful. Lent is creating a wide space in our annual calendar to remember just how much we need Jesus.

“Blessed are WE, whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.”

“Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you upright in heart!l (Psalm 32:11 NIV)

Easter is even better when we remember why we require it. Lent acknowledges the need and Easter acknowledges the glorious meeting of that need.

Lord, You have forgiven us of so much; from selfishness, lust, jealousy, bitterness, resentment, hatred, rage and so on. You have saved us from the worst we could be. You haven’t only covered our sin, but somehow, also, recreated us in the covering. You have taken our ugly and made it beautiful in the redemptive light of Your Kingdom. We don’t want to forget. We want to remember the miracles You have worked out and through us. As Easter approaches this week, may our joy and gratitude be ever-increasing. Amen.

“The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.” (‭‭Matthew‬ ‭21:6‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

Buried in plain sight, nestled in the pages of the Palm Sunday story; this week’s theme is repeated. “Obedient servants can expect a miracle.” The disciples did precisely as Jesus asked and by the end of the next week they would experience the greatest miracle of all time: Resurrection Sunday.

We believe who God is and in turn, we do what He says. The rest of the story is up to Him. He delivers the miraculous, we merely follow His instructions. Disciples have the easiest role in this relationship. We don’t have to plot or plan or wheel and deal or even understand. We just have to obey.

Obedience is the indelible mark of a disciple.

“Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” (John‬ ‭14:23‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

When obedience preoccupies us, God Himself can occupy us. He makes His home in our hearts.

Obedience is the difference maker between Sunday morning worship and still-following on Friday. Anyone can get caught up in a crowd and start worshipping, but obedience requires real commitment.

Jesus models that level of commitment to us, for us. He was obedient all the way to the cross. What are we willing to walk through on His behalf? What might we bear if He requires it? Will He still find us faithful on Friday or will we wander and wane as so many have?

Dearest Lord, this Palm Sunday may we offer more than brief waving branches and painless, passing accolades. May we offer ourselves; our wills, our hopes and dreams and aspirations. May we lay them at Your feet and refuse to pick them up again after You pass by. May we stay close past Friday, through the long dark weekend hours until the glorious resurrection and full redemption of Your bride. Amen.

“He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” (Deuteronomy‬ ‭32:4‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

We sang it last night; “You are perfect in all of Your ways.” We sang it over and over and I believed it with every fiber of my being. Several hundred woman have gathered in Des Moines this weekend for our annual conference and for me it serves as kind of a bookend, neatly capping off the most awful year of my life. The 2017 women’s conference was the last place I stood before the bottom fell out completely.

I stood at the altar last night and gave wide and deep praise for God’s faithfulness, His mercy and His perfect strength made completely available to me through this past year. The last five days have been nothing short of miraculous, made to shine all the brighter by the long and terrible dark I’ve forged through.

“He is the rock.” Not a rock, an ordinary stone or common pebble, but THE ROCK; the singular safe bedrock to build our lives on. He is a sure foundation that will stand through any and every storm. Trust me, I have tested this and it’s true. He is unshakeable and when we cling to Him, so we become.

“His works are perfect.” Perfection is complicated. It isn’t straight forward or easy. In fact, it’s hard for the imperfect to accurately perceive the faultless, especially amidst the fallout. But He is excellent and His ways are trustworthy, and eventually He always works it out for the good of His Kingdom.

“All His ways are just.” Not some of His ways, but the whole of His ways are without prejudice. We can lean in to His perfection and expect it to hold forever.

“As for God, his way is perfect.” (Psalm‬ ‭18:30‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

When my kids were still babies we set out to memorize the ABC’s of scripture. Naturally, the ‘A’ verse is long established in my mind. After the year I’ve had, I’m wholly convinced, His way is perfect. I have seen Him redeem so much that it exponentially increases my faith for the rest of it. I have watched Him take the most terrible mess and carefully, systematically cultivate it into something lovely, something live-giving.

How long does it take for a scripture to sink from mind to soul? We memorized it over a decade ago and I’m just now to a place where I truly, fully believe it. I suppose it depends on the scripture and it depends on the soul.

Dear Lord, Today I trust Your ways completely. I hope I can remember it tomorrow. I pray I won’t return to my precious ways of worry and fret. I want desperately to stay certain of Your faithful perfection. I want to keep proclaiming the truth of who You are forever. Amen.

“Meanwhile, Peter followed Him at a distance…” (Mark 14:54 NLT)

It seems that every year, no matter what Bible reading plan or Lenten devotional I am burrowing my way through, just before Easter, this verse always grabs me by the collar and holds me hostage a bit.

We are so quick to accuse Peter of abandonment, but here we realize it wasn’t all at once. He abandoned his Savior by degrees. And unfortunately, often, so do we.

“Meanwhile, Peter followed Him at a distance.”

Why do we allow hard times, persecution and accusation push us away from Christ?

Why is our strongest human instinct self-preservation?

Truly, isn’t our safest course of action still found in proximity? Sure, man may kill our body but Christ will always keep our soul.

Jesus warned His disciples of this moment, the moment where distance seemed safer than intimacy.

“Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: “ ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’” (Matthew‬ ‭26:31‬ ‭NIV‬)

What if we reacted differently than the disciples did during Holy Week? What if today, we decided that when hard times come, we will move closer? What if we decided to reinforce our relationship with Christ, rather than relinquish intimacy in in the hard light of affliction? What if we saw the heat and discomfort of trial as refining fire and allowed it to further purify our lives as we offer them to Christ?

“He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord.” (Malachi‬ ‭3:3‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

We can’t miss this; the Levites are the priests, the ones who came closest to God.

He allows hard things to refine us. He redeems all things and, somehow, in that heated process, purifies our hearts as we pull closer to Him.

For some reason, I’m reminded of Moses and the burning bush in the wilderness. The bush was not consumed. It was set on fire by the power and presence of God, but it wasn’t burnt up.

When trials come, when the fires of persecution and problems catch, if we’ll pull closer, we won’t be consumed. Refined, but not destroyed.

Lord, we want to pull close. Help us do that now, while it is easy, and again when it’s costly. We realize what You can reduce and produce in the fire and thus, we are willing to maintain intimate proximity to You in all circumstances. Sew our hearts to Yours in such a way that our flesh can’t flee when trials come. Amen.