47 Faith Focuses

Next Tuesday is Mardi Gras - the French words for Fat Tuesday, the day you're to feast before the fasting of Lent. Lent is the 40 days plus Sundays leading up to Easter. Some people throughout history have sacrificed something during these days - candy, smoking, social media, television, video games - to remember Christ's sacrifice. But I'm going to suggest a different method of celebrating.

If sacrifice is your preferred method of focusing of the Lord in the days leading up to Easter, go for it. Fast from whatever you feel is pulling you away from Him. But you can also proactively approach these days in efforts to improve yourself spiritually. I've listed 47 things that you can do, one each day, leading up to Easter Sunday. You don't necessarily have to do them in order (although the last seven do coincide with some events from the most important week in history). Perhaps these will revive your soul, encourage your spirit and grow the Kingdom in some God-glorifying way. Have fun! Praise His Name!

47 Faith Focuses during Lent (40 Day of Lent + 7 Sundays)

1) Read your Bible every day. Even if for a short while. Document over these next 47 days what the Lord teaches you through His Word.

2) Pray all throughout the day, as you wake up, mealtime, before bed, devotion time – even at restaurants if you’re out to supper. And ask the server how you can pray for them.

3) Do an anonymous random act of kindness in Christ’s name.

4) Write a thank you to someone for their service to Jesus.

5) Honor your parents in some way. Write them a love letter, do something in remembrance of them or in honor of them.

6) Give to a charity in Christ’s name.

7) Care for God’s Creation in some way – compost, plant a tree, start a garden, clean the streets.

8) Find reasons to edify others throughout the day.

9) Spend some time in study – read a Christian biography, take a new Bible study.

10) Podcast sermons to hear what others called by God are sharing.

11) Switch your radio to Christian music and see what change it makes in your life.

12) Journal your prayers. Write down when God give a specific answer to prayer.

13) Find a devotional that works for you: couples, women's, men's, family, beach, etc.

14) Ask the Lord to convict your heart in forgiveness. Ask for forgiveness from those around you that you have wronged. Forgive those who’ve wronged you.

15) Find a cause you are passionate about that involves helping the oppressed.

16) Clean out your closets and donate to a local Good Will, Salvation Army or thrift store.

17) When you grocery shop, pick up a few extra items for the food pantry.

18) Visit someone who is lonely, in the hospital or a nursing home.

19) Boldly speak to someone about Jesus Christ that you know could really use Him in their life.

20) Watch a Bible DVD or movie and have a discussion together about its accuracy, theme or message.

21) Sing praise songs to the Lord all day long.All. Day. Long.

22) Memorize Bible verses, or entire chapters of Scripture, like Psalm 23, the Sermon on the Mount, Romans 8, 1 Cor. 13, etc.

23) Avoid watching garbage on TV. Yes, that may mean turning it off completely. Remember, garbage in, garbage out.

24) Write out your faith story for future generations to read.

25) Ask the pastor: “What need does our church have that I can fill?”

26) Ponder the names of God and praise Him for the name that means the most to you today.

27) Take a good look in the mirror: What do you need to do to improve your body as a temple for the Lord?

28) Count your blessings. Write down everything you have to be thankful for.

29) Ponder God’s majesty by spending sometime tonight under the stars. Look for constellations in the sky, watch for shooting stars, check out the phase of the moon.

30) If your Bible is worn and filled with notes and highlights, considering getting a new one or different version and reading it with fresh eyes. If it’s not worn – open it up. The best kind of Bible is a well-read one.

31) Whatever task you face today, do it as if serving the Lord Himself, with joy, respect, grace, love and enthusiasm.

32) What has been the high of your day? Your low? What did God teach you through both of those things?

33) Take a spiritual gifts test. See what your strengths are and utilize them for God’s service.

34) Invite someone over for supper and learn more about them as brothers and sisters in Christ.

35) Be creative today! Make something, paint something, fix something, all for God’s glory and in His Name.

36) Go to the highest point in your town and look over the vastness of God’s creation. What new things do you see?

37) Look up the author and back story of one of the old hymns and sing it out, sing it out, sing it out!

38) Ask the Lord to nudge you about a particular person that may need to hear from you today and then act on it.

39) Go the whole day being “third.” Putting God first, then others, then yourself. Humbly let others go before you.

40) Read the story of the Exodus and participate in a Passover Meal. See how Christ took the place of the Passover lamb.

41) Check out Biblical maps to see where the patriarchs lived, where the 12 Tribes of Israel settled, how the Kingdom divided after Solomon, where the Israelites went during the Diaspora, what the Holy Lands looked like in Jesus time and what they look like today.

42) Do a spiritual inventory. Are you worshiping, reading the Word, studying, serving others. Put it away to be opened a year from now and see how you’ve grown spiritually.

43) When out to lunch – pay for someone else’s meal without them knowing. Tell the server to tell them it was done in Jesus’ name, but not that you did it.

44) Take communion today in remembrance of Him.

45) Read the story of Christ’s arrest, trial and crucifixion in all four gospels to get all their perspectives on this most important week in history.

46) Put together an Easter treat for a friend – flowers, balloons, candy and a Bible verse or devotion. Tell them how much Jesus loves them.

47) Dance before the Lord because Jesus Christ is risen today! This is a day of completely glorifying the Lord! Hallelujah, Amen.

 

I Have You Now

My coworker and friend at The River radio station, Hiawatha, was sharing an amazing story with me yesterday. She said she had a friend who was going in for heart surgery that did not believe in Jesus Christ. Right before he was to go under, a man in the operating room leaned down close to his face and said, "I have you now." Under anesthetic, he wrestled with this man during the entire surgery, until he finally called on the Name Above All Names, "Jesus!" When he did, he heard a voice say, "Leave him alone" and Satan went away. Yes, he believes he saw Satan in his operating room prior to his surgery and wrestled with him all during surgery. And when he awoke, this man asked Jesus Christ into his heart. I got the chills when she shared that story.

Hiawatha and I were discussing what an interesting method of evangelism that could be in hospitals. A person is going in for a major surgery, a man comes up prior to surgery and asks "Do you know Jesus?" If the person says yes, proceed to pray with them prior to surgery. If they say no, whisper menacingly "I have you now." It may just scare the hell out of them ... literally.

We had a laugh about this, but thinking about it later I wondered what reaction people would have. Because, let's face it, if they don't have Christ in their lives and their life is cut short, the truth of the matter is, Satan does have them. Because Christ told us "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me." John 14:6. There is no other way to the Father. Not good works, not being a good person, not any other religion. It is Christ and Christ alone. He died the most horrifying death for the very purpose of bringing us to the Father. To pay the ultimate price for the sins we've committed.

I remember another friend telling me about two men in the trenches during World War II. During heavy fire, one man asked the other if he believed in Jesus and Heaven. One said he did. The other said he didn't. As the barrage continued, the one who believed said, "One of us is wrong and one is right. I'm thinking in a few minutes we're both about to find out. I'm pretty confident about my beliefs. I hope you are confident about yours."

There is no doubt in my mind about Jesus Christ. Not one. I believe in Him. I love Him. I want everyone to know Him. And my heart aches for the ones who do not. French poet Charles Pierre Baudelaire wrote: "The finest trick of the devil is to persuade you that he does not exist." And yet he does. And he's a liar, constantly trying to convince the children of God that the Word isn't true.

If you knew you were being lied to, wouldn't you want to know?

The Word is the Truth. Christ, the Son of God, died for you so that you could be in Paradise with Him. And Satan since the beginning of time has been trying to pull you from Him. Who do you want to believe? The liar? Or the one who loved you so much He died for you?

Because let's face it, if you believe the liar, then he can in all confidence say .... "I have you now."

Clear Winner

The other day we were invited to play a card game with friends called Raupoly. Oh, you've never heard of it? Well, that's because our friend's uncle's wife's brother's friend's cousin's mother's someone-or-other made the game up. And it's a hoot. It's a combination of hearts, the bidding process of pinochle and poker. You need at least five people to play (six max). You all have chips and anti-up, bid for the free hand, bet on your poker hand (which I've learned I do not entirely comprehend - but sure had fun trying), then start laying down your cards with hopes of winning even more chips. There is very little strategy involved and little you can do to alter your hopes of earning more chips short of just paying attention.

Here's the interesting part. This group that was playing, we were not gambling with money. We were using chips without monetary backing. And it was an endless supply of chips. When you ran out of chips, all you had to do was turn to my sweet friend, Katelyn, who was maintaining the bank and say, "I'm out." She'd hand you ten more chips. I think I was out of chips at least three times, and others had similar experiences. It allowed us to play endlessly.

We sure had a lot of fun. I honestly don't know if there was even a winner. There were two folks with more chips than everyone else at the end, but remember we all ran out of chips periodically, so no one knows truly how much in debt they were before they accumulated all the chips they had. So anyone's win was truly meaningless.

Someone commented that in future we might want to set a limit to the number of chips we start with so there's a clear winner. Perhaps, but it certainly wouldn't be as fun. Because then we'd have folks run out of chips and they're out of the game. If you drop below five players, the game is over, and with the max number of players at six, that would happen pretty fast.

It did get me thinking about our government-supported programs and national debt, however, which at this writing is over $17 trillion. How fun it is to continue to spend, spend, spend when there's an endless supply of money. How easy it is to continue to take at someone else's expense, and never have to earn it. The problem is, in the real world, there isn't an endless supply and we do need to earn it. Not so that there's a clear "winner," but that so when you do succeed it really means something.

Raupoly is a fun game. Life on the other hand, isn't one. It's a journey, and a spiritual one at that. We learn from our successes and failures on this walk with and to the Lord. We will have times when it seems the bank has an endless supply, but more often then not, the purse strings will be taut. We are not guaranteed happiness nor excess. But we are guaranteed an abundant life in our belief in Christ (John 10:10). In that sense, there are - we are - clear winners.

So Very, Very Loved

Last April on a Friday when I was praying for 30 minutes during a prayer vigil for the Kairos Prison Ministry weekend that my husband was lay director of, I tried something different in my prayer time. Instead of uplifting all these inmates in prayer and talking to God about them, I instead asked God to do the talking.

With a list of their names beside me, I prayed for each one by name, asking the Lord to tell me what I needed to pray for them. He would reveal words or images to me, so I wrote them down next to the person's name. When Brad came home that Friday night, I showed him the list and said, "This is what the Lord wants you to pray for for these men." As he read over the list, his jaw dropped. Many of the things I had written down, I couldn't possibly know because I hadn't met the men, but he said the prayers were dead on about them. Some he didn't know. For example next to one man's name I wrote: "He misses his Mom." Brad went up to him the next day and hugged him saying, "I know you miss your Mom. I'm praying for you." The guy just stared at him and walked away. Later in the day, he asked Brad how he knew that, then explained that his mother had been paralyzed years before, couldn't come visit him in prison and that it was his birthday that day. It was a confirmation for Brad and me about that prayer time.

Brad shared the prayers I had written down with several of the other inmates over the weekend as well. When several other men were added to the weekend, he asked me that next day to pray for them. One kind of interested me when the Lord had me write the word "energy" next to his name. I thought that was strange. Was I supposed to pray for energy for him? At closing when this man went to the podium to tell what the weekend had meant to him he said, "What amazed me most about this weekend was the energy I have felt from all of you." I nearly fell out of my seat, and tears rolled down my cheeks. Apparently he needed to feel that energy from the people there that day. It was such a profound experience for me from a prayer standpoint, and I have reexamined the way I pray. I am usually a talker with the Father. I decided I need to make a better attempt at being the listener. But since that weekend, I hadn't prayed that way.

Last Wednesday Brad went back to the prison for a visit. One of the inmates went up to him and explained that his wife had gone through the Kairos Outside weekend for spouses of inmates. It helps them better understand the changes in the lives of the inmates after a Kairos weekend. The inmate walked up to Brad and handed him a slip of paper with the name of his wife, Shantel, on it. He said his wife had an amazing weekend and he wanted me to pray for her to get a message from God about her.

I have to say, I was a little uncomfortable with this request. I hadn't prayed like I did that Friday night in April since then, so I wasn't sure the Father would necessarily give me a message about Shantel. But I promised Brad I would pray for her.

A couple days ago, I sat in my office on the bed in there to pray for Shantel. It was a dark cloudy day. As I prayed, with my eyes shut, I saw light. Lots of it.

I opened my eyes to see the low-hanging sun peaking through the clouds and beaming right on me through a soft steady rain. I thought how beautiful it was, then went back to praying as the clouds covered it back up again. As I started to pray for Shantel again, it happened again, the sun burst through the clouds right on me. Then I felt it. "It's a time of steady soft rain for her, but she will be a light through it all. And there is a promise." That was it. I wrote it down and went back to pray as the clouds covered the sun back up. But as I prayed, I thought "Lord what if that was just a coincidence - that whole sun thing. Is there something else you have for her?" And the sun burst through yet once again on me. The Lord likes to work in threes with me. Apparently, I am not easily convinced a first, or even second, time. And then the Lord did something for me that had never happened before. For just a brief moment, seconds even, He allowed me to feel the love He has for Shantel. And it was overwhelming. I started to cry. Oh my, how He loves her! An all encompassing, fill-your-heart-to-overflowing love that just surrounded me, made me feel safe, special, embraced. I wept as I realized this is how He feels about every single one of us. How blessed we are that God loves us so very, very much! Christ coming for us made complete sense to me in those moments. He loves us that much.

After this moment of worship with Him, I went back to praying, saying "God is this what you want me to tell Shantel? I just want to be sure I have it, that I'm not imagining all this." And the Father spoke to my heart, "Close your Bible, Jill. That is it."

It was my closest moment to Christ this week. To feel the love He has for her. To open my heart to God's direction. Let me tell you, there is nothing like it. We need to open ourselves to the Almighty. He wants to use us. He wants us to be willing recipients of His Word, direction and love. We just need to be available for it.

I think it's about time I started praying that way more often. I look forward to hearing what He has to say next. Open your heart to Him. He's waiting.

The Right Tool For The Job

Several months ago, both of my children, at separate times, approached me about a situation in their life dealing with an acquaintance. Each of them had a relationship where someone was doing something that was annoying them. I remember asking each of them at the time, "Is this thing something worth losing a friendship over, or is it something you can just put behind you?" Both thought about that question and decided the annoyance was not worth losing a friendship over and moved on in love.

See, I'm pretty sure in friendships - and marriages for that matter - Satan tries to bring bubbly little annoyances to the surface to see if they will boil over in an effort to destroy those relationships. Correction: I'm not pretty sure, I'm certain of it. How many times in your life have things happened where someone says or does something that just drives you crazy? Then you notice something else, and something else, to the point where you wonder why you've even associated with this person at all.

Recently I commented to a co-worker about someone who did something I was frustrated with. She said to me, "Don't you let Satan use you as a tool." That was all she said. No empathy. No sympathy. No "That's terrible, so what are you gonna do about it?" Just one deeply profound sentence. And I realized I was going through the same thing my children had talked about. I was being used as a tool of destruction. I went home that night and prayed God would help me put that ridiculous thing behind me to focus on the beautiful, positive things.

I have lost relationships in the past by being used as a tool, or being on the receiving end of another being used as such. Was it worth it? Christ said the second greatest commandment was to love our neighbors as ourselves. He was quoting something God told Moses back in Lev. 19:18. I think we as Christians, need to access situations before letting them get legs of destruction. Whatever little thing is bothering you, is it worth losing a friend or even acquaintance over? It may be this very person is going to team up with you to do great things for Jesus or you may be doing so already, and Satan just won't have that. Learn to see as Christ sees. Learn to listen as He listens. Forgive as He forgives. Love as He loves.

Don't allow yourself to be a tool ... unless - as it says in 1 Thess. 5:11 - it's one of grace for Christ in building one another up. Heaven knows this world could use a whole toolbox full of those.

2 Cor. 13:11 "Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you."

Dear 20-year-old Self

My husband always says he would never go back in time to change things because he is who he is today because of the joys and trials he's faced. I, too, am a product of not just genetics and environment, but of the circumstances that have come my way. I still wish I could change things in my past and honestly could provide my 20-year-old self with some wisdom. Since I can't, I am hoping my sweet 20-something friends and my children will heed what's here, and save themselves a whole lot of hassle...

Dear 20-year-old Self,

First of all, I just want to tell you that when you look in the mirror, you are gorgeous. I know what you're thinking, but you are NOT fat, you are NOT ugly and you are filled with potential. You are unique! Song of Solomon has it right: "You are beautiful, my love, there is no flaw in you." (4:7).

While you should enjoy the sun, understand that exposure to it causes one of the nastiest cancers there is - malignant melanoma. Please use caution. Do not get sunburned. You have a genetic disposition to it. And, it causes age spots and wrinkles that you're going to be surprised with around age 40.

Speaking of age 40, that's also about the time you'll need reading glasses to see anything up close. It's truly frustrating when you can't read the tiny print in your Bible and have to get a new one with ginormous letters. You might want to just start off with that one, because you'll even have trouble reading all those notes you wrote in the margins of things you didn't want to forget. Write big.

Make it a habit to eat right now. Yes, that means portion control and good food groups - not just chocolate and fried foods. If you get in that habit now, you're good to go in the future.

Don't be so afraid. Take some risks. Yes, you'll fail repeatedly, but you'll have plenty of successes, too. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. (Phil 4:13) Don't be so worried about people's approval. Just make sure you're pleasing the Lord.

When you have kids (and you will - two amazing ones) don't be in a such a hurry for them to grow up. Enjoy every single moment of their little growing years. They will move out around age 18 and rarely make it back home. You are borrowing them from God for that short period of time, so really soak it in. By the way, do NOT get that Playstation for them. More time in front of a screen is not what they need, trust me. And pray and read the Bible to them more.

Have fun with your grandparents. Their lives intersect with yours briefly. And they are so much fun. Really learn from and listen to them. Save all the letters from your grandma about gardening. You could really use them later.

I know you don't like to cook, but try anyways. You're husband will thank you later.

And speaking of him - yes, it's Brad, relax - pray for him without ceasing. Wait till you see what he does for Jesus! It will blow your mind. And he ages really well. :) By the way, that thing I just typed is called an emoticon and it's a smiley.

Seek countless opportunities to serve. The opportunities to learn and pray are endless and right in front of you, but if you don't look for the places to serve, you could miss them. The world does not revolve around you.

Save your money. You're going to want to spend it and you're going to wonder at many times on this journey how you could ever possibly save, but do it. Even if it's just a little. And for crying out loud, TITHE! Do not wait until you think you can do it. Do it immediately. You will be blessed beyond measure and it will help in that whole saving process.

Don't compromise your beliefs. You know what is truth, because you've read it in Scripture. The world is going to try to convince you otherwise, but stick to the Word. So much peace and abundant life there. You think Madonna's bad? Just wait to you see Lady Gaga. Yes, that's her name. Seriously. Stop laughing.

You think your memory is bad now,  you just wait. You'll take lots of pictures, so that will help. Your husband will insist that you've been to the Milwaukee Zoo in 1994. Be sure to take pictures of that, because you have no proof and it disappears into the abyss.

Emphasize cursive to your kids. Make them practice. It starts to disappear in the 2000s to the point that your children's generation will not be able to read it. Make sure your kids can.

Don't waste your time watching "Lost" (a TV show in the future). Trust me, you can use that time so much more efficiently elsewhere.

Take time every morning for devotions. I know you are not a morning person, but every day will go better if you start it with Scripture and prayer.

When you find something you really like, get two of them if you can. It never fails that when it wears out, you'll wish you had an extra.

Never let the devil get a foothold. He will try your whole life.To get you to be upset with the little things to destroy friendships. As soon as you feel that negativity, give it to God and remember what is important - love, love, love.

Remember to have fun. God has given, and will continue to give, you so very much. Enjoy it all and be sure to thank Him for every bit of it.

That's all for now. I don't have time to tell you about cellphones, Facebook and flat screen TVs. You will love all three, but keep it in perspective and use them wisely.

By the way, God loves you so very much. Loves you, loves you, loves you. You are never alone. Make good choices.

In Christ who died for you ~ 48-year-old You

The Whispers

You know the old cartoons with the character who is at the crossroads of a decision who suddenly has an angel appear on one shoulder and a devil appear on the other? Each is whispering in the ear of the poor confused soul as to what they should do. Sometimes the character follows the angel's advice, sometimes the devil, flicking the squealing angel off his shoulder. It's comical. We all laugh.

Recently some friends and I were talking about that "shoulder" advice. The whispers you get in your ears. Oftentimes, it's not about a decision you're about to make, but rather just continuous badgering about our frailties.

Let me give you an example. One friend said she'd sent a message to a relative. The relative didn't respond to several texts and phone calls. So it got her thinking: "I wonder what's wrong? Did I say something wrong? Did I do something wrong? Why wouldn't they accept my calls or respond to texts?" 

As you've probably guessed, the family member's phone had stopped working. They didn't dislike the other person, didn't think they'd done anything wrong at all. They just had a faulty piece of technology.

So where did the thoughts come from that brought my friend to this place of doubt, paranoia, frustration, disappointment, etc?

I'm going to go with the demon on the shoulder. Okay, that may be too cartoonish or comical for you, but is it really beyond possibility? Think about it. What better way to distract someone in a perfectly fine relationship than to whisper all those ridiculous things above.

I'm pretty convinced that is one of Satan and his army of demon's greatest weapons ... whispered deception. Let's face it, Christ himself called Satan the "father of lies" (John 8:44). He prowls around looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). So naturally, the demons are hovering around us all day long looking for kinks in our spiritual armor to whisper to our weaknesses.

"Can you believe that person is behaving like that?" "What did he just say about you?" "You can't trust them." "That is never going to work." "You look terrible." Relentless, continuous. You've heard them, surely.

I told a friend recently we should probably give them names: Fear, Disappointment, Confusion, Doubt, etc. If we would identify those crazy thoughts as they're happening as the enemy whispering, we could do a little rebuking, say the name of Jesus out loud, recite some Scripture (our one spiritual weapon) and start putting these demons in their place.

It takes a little work to get to that place where we recognize those thoughts as the demon badgering they are. And being continuously in the Word helps us identify them. None of us is immune from the whispers. Even Jesus dealt with it after 40 days of fasting in the wilderness prior to starting his ministry. And he rebuked the devil with Scripture every single time. He is our example.

My accountability group is one of the best discerners of those whispers. When we share our challenges and struggles with each other, we can identify the lies Satan is whispering and move forward in strength. I pray you have someone who helps you in those times.

We have an enemy we can't see daily waging war against us. But beautifully, we have a Champion that we can't see either, that has armed us with the most powerful weapon there is. And he already has the victory.

Who are you going to listen to today?