Let us be open to hear and obey the Lord, and live with love in our hearts and joy in our souls

Remembering Who You Are

Today’s message begins with a phrase that is spoken by priests or ministers in some Christian traditions as they rub ashes on your forehead on the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday. “Remember that thou are dust, and unto dust thou shall return.” As the author says, such a statement puts things in perspective, therefore, he encourages us to take advantage of our Stillpoints throughout the day to focus on who we are and recall something meaningful about ourselves. He ends the message with this task: “Determine what you want to remember today during your Stillpoints. Pick a symbol to express it.” As I am beginning Day 9 of the 40-Day Fast, I think of clarity, cleansing, and love. For this reason, I choose a red heart as my symbol. Red is a primary color, it is known to symbolize love, power, passion, and strength. This fast is cleansing and providing clarity in life, making me want to be of love like Christ, empowering me and further building my confidence, which are two other characteristics associated with the color red.

To my surprise as I looked up Galatians chapter 51, it stated that it is a “Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon”. Verses 10-12 read, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.” May this be our prayer and petition this day and each day so that we love and live with joy in our hearts.

FMBC Weekly Reading: 1 Samuel 15:22-23 “To Obey is Better Than Sacrifice”

“And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is no less a sin than divination, and stubbornness is like iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”

This is the second time in past 9 days that this scripture has been highlighted. I am taking it as a gentle reminder of the importance of obedience. As I Googled obedience versus sacrifice, I read “Obedience is following instructions or rules, while sacrifice is giving up something valuable for a cause or person. I read further, “Obedience is dependent trust in God. We trust God, we depend on him, we are interactive with him, but he takes the lead. Obedience is better than sacrifice because we are letting God be God and staying in our proper place with him, the place of dependence and surrender to his goodness.” Lets work to have the mindset of being obedient and sacrificing to remain obedient to the Lord.

Youversion Verse of the Day: Mark 4:9

And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”

Let us always be attuned to what God is saying to us explicitly and implicitly through others and situations.

Let us be open to hear and obey the Lord, and live with love in our hearts and joy in our souls, my friend.