SATURDAY, DAY 4 OF LENT, 2025

 My chapter for today was John 4. The very first account in the chapter is of the Samaritan woman - the "woman at the well". I love, love, love this story! From this perspective, I do not see it as an accidental "just happening to go through Samaria on the way to Galilee", but a Divine Appointment. Today I paid attention to a portion of the conversation that I had not noticed before. In reporting the story, John states that the Samaritan woman asked Jesus if he was greater than Jacob. Jesus didn't take the bait. Answering that question in that timing could have diverted them away from what his intention was in engaging her in conversation. But - eventually actually he did give her the answer by stating that he, the one talking to her, was the Messiah! 

He met her where she was. Revealed more to her than she told him. Because of that she believed. And - she became one of the very first evangelist/ missionaries by going back to her town where people did know her past, and sharing the good news! 

In their era, Jews didn't talk to Samaritans. And certainly not a Jewish man speaking to a Samaritan woman. But Jesus did! 5 husbands and the man she was living with now was not her husband. No problem. Man looks on the outward appearance. God looks on the heart. She had sought love in all the wrong places, and now she met love personified. I love, love, love this story! 

There is a lot more in this chapter, but I have vowed to keep my posts this year short!

FRIDAY, DAY 3 OF LENT 2025

My daily Bible reading for today was John 3. What a magnificent chapter! 

We "read" the reminder that Nicodemus believed in Jesus - and that he came to him by night. We aren't told that Nicodemus did that because he was concerned about what others of his sect would think, but it is an easy presumption. 

And in the context of Jesus' explanation to Nicodemus, we have what I believe to be the most recognizable verse in the Bible - John 3:16:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life (followed by 3:17:) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. (From memory - I suspect it is closest to the NIV!) 

What an amazing God! That he would love his created beings - even me -  so much that he would take on human form by being born of a virgin, and then live life as a human for 33 years and become known to humanity before being crucified, dying on a cross to be the final sacrifice ever needed to redeem his created. There is a lot we cannot fathom in that story, but once we know HIM and learn to trust him, we just know that we know....  He is TRUTH! He loves us! He walks with us, guiding and directing us if we let him. AMAZING! He wants a relationship with every person who accepts him!

 If I "so love" what does that look like in the world I live in? That's a huge question!

THURSDAY, DAY 2 of LENT 2025

Oh my goodness. I left out the ellipsis in yesterday's entry.  Genesis begins "In the beginning God..." and I related the beginning of John 1 to the first words of Genesis, but in John it actually states, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."  If I were to connect the two appropriately I needed the ellipsis:  In the beginning...God. 

Interestingly, the verses beyond the ellipsis are equally foundational to our faith in Jesus - affirming Jesus for being whom he claimed to be: "All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (ESV) The pre-incarnate Jesus (before He was birthed into this world and given that name) was part of the Trinity, and was God, Creator. It's hard to wrap our finite minds around that - but the Holy Spirit made that reality clear to John, and John started his book with that truth.

My chapter for today was John 2. In John 2, we learn of Jesus' first miracle: turning water into wine so that the bridal couple - particularly, the groom - did not experience embarrassment by running out of wine. And Jesus didn't skimp on the volume or the quality of the wine. That one miracle cemented his disciples' belief in Him. 

The miracle that cemented my faith in God was in the Fall of 1970 when he saved my baby I was pregnant with from being miscarried. It is part of my testimony! I prayed and said, "God, I don't know if you really exist, but if you do, and if you will save my baby I will recommit my life to you." The bleeding stopped. God saved my baby, and he saved me! And through it all since that day, I am fully committed to faith in Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

What about you? What is your defining moment that propelled you to absolute commitment? 

ASH WEDNESDAY 2025

 I have not committed (yet) to write every day during Lent - but I at least have to start!

 My Bible Reading for today was John 1. In the beginning God....  Just like Genesis 1:1, an affirmation that God is the Creator, that He was there in the beginning, and is with us still. And one of the joys of the Lenten journey is that we know the end of the story! We know that no man has seen God at any time - but that Jesus made the Father known to us by God Himself taking on flesh and coming to be born as a baby so we could relate to Him. So - even if we come broken, battered, bruised...God is here with us.

It was touching to see several people on T V today with ashes smeared across their foreheads - honoring the day: the beginning of Lent! 

For each of us - whether we observe that tradition or not - I pray this will be a wonderful time of reflection and renewal.

If you do not have a Lenten journey reading plan, one option is to purchase an online version of the book, LEAD ME TO THE CROSS by Lola Rice Cain, on Amazon. Or, just choose a couple of books of the Gospels to read throughout the 40 days, and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you. That is the most profitable option. One on one with God. I highly recommend that as a discipline.