Jesus,
burden me with what burdens You.
Make me willing to suffer
for that for which You suffered.
Help me find joy
in what brings You joy
and weep when You weep.
Teach me to despise what You despised
and reject all the lesser things
You rejected.
Give me a passion
for what impassions You.
Give me Your heart,
Lord Jesus.
Listen and sing:
Hymn: The Heart of Christ
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Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me,
he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel
will save it.” (Mark 8:34-35, NIV)Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy set before him
endured the cross, scorning its shame, and
sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men,
so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
(Hebrews 12:2-3, NIV)
Jesus calls all His followers to sacrifice themselves
as He sacrificed Himself.
He laid down His life “for the joy set before him”.
He freely submitted to the cross, “scorning its shame”;
that is, He viewed the shame of the cross as insignificant,
unworthy of consideration.
He modeled this definition of sacrifice:
to turn loose of something good
in order to grasp something greater.
This is the sacrifice to which our Lord calls us.
Listen and sing:
Hymn: Lay Aside Your Passing Pleasures
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My wife and I have enjoyed browsing through antique shops. I got hooked on them years ago when I collected old books. So when she and I got the chance to spend a weekend away together, we decided to tour the small towns nearby and visit their shops.
The weekend was wrapping up, and we were in Gower, Missouri. In a small store there I came across a funeral card for a man who had died in 1887. Reading the card, I couldn’t help thinking about that man. He brought to mind the countless individuals around the world who have come and gone, seemingly unknown and unremembered. So many people. So many generations. We are like flowers. We bloom and proudly spread our petals toward the sun, only to die as quickly as we came, leaving little sign of our coming or our going. What difference does our living make? What does it matter that I, or any of us, were ever here?
We are surrounded by a stream of death that flows unceasingly through our world, engulfing all life, threatening to wash away all concept of meaning and significance. For me, antique shops quietly testify to that. They are graveyards for our treasures. When we’re gone, the things we counted precious are left behind to sell for pennies or to gather dust. They sit there on the shelf, mocking the foolishness and futility of our lives–lives hungrily invested in what is doomed to quickly pass.
As I stood there and saw myself as part of that stream of death, I was reminded that there is more.
I am not just a physical body that is dying even now. The life in me is the life of my Creator. He has shared it with me, and His life is unending. He is not a God of death and darkness, but of life and light. His life will not die with this body, and this world is not His final arena of existence or meaning.
What is more, I can know Him. I can know Him personally and live in a relationship with Him. I can please Him and talk to Him. I can learn of Him and grow in Him. I can fulfill the purpose for which I, and all this, was created.
That’s what I want above anything else. I want to become the person He designed me to be.
Listen and sing:
Hymn: Ash Wednesday Hymn
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During Lent, Jesus is the Father’s Servant,
leading us on the path of obedience and trust.
“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24, NASB)
When we take the truth to a dark and rebellious world,
we meet fierce opposition from the Evil One.
We are going against the strong current of our culture.
As we do, we are called to disregard all personal costs,
to let our entire life fall to the ground like a seed and die,
in order that eternal fruit will grow.
But Jesus does not drive us out into such self-sacrifice.
He leads us.
He goes with us.
He goes before us.
He demonstrates that such a life is
abundantly joyful,
permeated with
peace,
love, and
constant sufficiency.
During Lent, Jesus is the Father’s Servant,
leading us on the beautiful path of obedience and trust.
Let all who are looking for the very best of life
respond to His personal call, “Follow Me”.
Listen and sing:
Hymn: Come and Follow Me
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We hear no smooth-talking persuasion from Jesus. He describes the path ahead of us clearly and plainly:
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me.” (Mark 8:34, NIV)
Who would want to follow Jesus straight into His storm of suffering?
But look at Him. See the person He is and the way He lives. He has experienced all that we have, and so much more. Yet see His peace, His patience, His sufficiency in every situation. See His deep, constant relationship with the Father. See His love, never fearful and never strained.
I want to follow Him. I want to finally lay down this perpetual burden of petty self-concern. I want to pick up my cross and go with Him wherever He goes. I am held captive by the magnificence of Jesus Christ.
“I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him…I want to know Christ…and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” (Philippians 3:8-9, 10, NIV)
Listen and sing:
Hymn: Come See Our God
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“God so loved the world
that He gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish
but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world,
but to save the world through him.”
(John 3:16-17, NIV)
When Messiah came,
we expected the defeat of our enemies.
We expected them to be
crushed, condemned, and consumed in a fiery judgment.
When Messiah came,
He taught us that the enemy is our own evil hearts.
Instead of judging us, He justified us.
Instead of consuming us, He cleansed us.
Instead of condemning us, He forgave us completely.
Instead of crushing us, He was crushed.
When Messiah came,
we expected a show of power.
Instead He showed us the power of love.
Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Here Is Love
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Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’” [Deuteronomy 8:3]
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” [Deuteronomy 6:13]
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” [Psalm 91:11-12]
Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” [Deuteronomy 6:16]
When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:1-13, NIV)
The Heavenly Father drove His own beloved Son, with Whom He was thoroughly pleased, into the desert alone, for 40 days without food, to be tempted by His bitter enemy, Satan, who wanted only Jesus’ destruction.
How different is our Heavenly Father’s treatment of His children compared to us human parents! We do anything we can to spare our children unpleasant circumstances. The Father, knowing what is best for us and how much we can bear, regularly exposes His children to various types of pressure and need. We tend to focus on our children’s temporary comfort and preferences. Our Father focuses on our character and eternal well-being. We shouldn’t squirm or complain like selfish children when He puts us through difficult-but-necessary preparations for His service.
Here Satan tried to turn Jesus away from His Father. Knowing that the key to Jesus’ power was His relationship with His Father, Satan tried to separate them. He tried to turn Jesus toward His own needs.
Jesus stayed focused on His Father. In His responses to Satan, He always spoke of the Father’s will. That was His constant concern.
That is also our key in temptation. When you first sense Satan’s approach, turn to your Father. Ask for His provision, His will, and His glory. Nothing can shake you if you depend on Him.
I have set the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
(Psalm 16:8, NIV)
Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: With Jesus in Temptation
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“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34, NIV)
“Jesus, I lay aside my self-concern.
Lead, and I will follow.”
It’s easy to pray this in the calm, quiet moments.
But pray this way when
God places a challenge of service before you and
calls you to step out in faith.
Pray this when a situation demands that
you give yourself beyond your comfort level.
Pray this when you face a difficult relationship and
emotions cry out for
escape or
revenge.
Pray this when you have to give up your rights
in order to serve someone else.
“Jesus, I lay aside my self-concern.
Lead, and I will follow.”
During Advent, Jesus is the Promise of the Father.
During Christmas, He is the Gift of the Father. He is all the fullness of God embodied in a human infant.
During Epiphany, Jesus is the Light of the Father, drawing all people to Himself.
During Lent, He is the Father’s Servant, leading us on the path of obedience and trust.
During Holy Week, Jesus is the Love of the Father, humbly submitting to death on the cross.
During Easter, He is the Life of the Father, overcoming death and sin forever.
On Ascension Day, Jesus is at the Father’s right hand, reigning as Sovereign Lord and King.
On Pentecost, He pours out the Promise of the Father, baptizing every believer in the Holy Spirit of God.
During Ordinary Time, Jesus helps us order our lives by His teaching and example. He gives us His Spirit as a down-payment while we eagerly await His promised Advent.
Brothers and sisters, let’s constantly celebrate all God has done for us in Jesus Christ! Let’s make this year a Christ-centered year.
John 12:1-8
Nard was a favorite perfume of the time, extremely expensive. It was imported from India in sealed alabaster containers that were opened only on very special occasions.
Imagine taking your most precious possession–worth a year’s salary–and pouring it out in a moment of time. The treasure is expendable and irrecoverable. When it’s gone, it’s gone. Imagine the overwhelming love and gratitude that would motivate you to do this.
Think what this woman’s act must have meant to Jesus. He was about to die in excruciating pain and public humiliation, condemned by a jeering crowd. A close friend would betray Him. All His followers would abandon Him.
But now, in the face of all this, one woman poured herself out to Him in a single act of lavish, unselfish love. How moved and refreshed He must have been!
The critics were insensitive to what had happened. They didn’t see love, though they masked their response in concern for the poor. They saw only materialism.
Money and material goods are not at the center of life. They are not at the center of the church. Love is at the very heart of God. God is love. He calls us to be love as well.
Jesus, You have done more for me than I can ever express or repay. Help me to be more lavish and less calculating, less selfish in my love for You.
Listen…and sing if you want:
I Love You, Jesus, Savior, Lord
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