PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
CONSIDER THIS
What does it take to make something new? First, we recognize that what it is now, is not as it once was. When we examine our lives, we must consider God’s original intention for His creation. Let’s go back to the beginning. When God created the universe and formed the heavens and the earth, there was no separation of the two. “On earth as it is in heaven” was a reality. His Spirit hovered. He created day and night, land and water, plants and animals, and His creation was good. Then He created man and woman and it was very good. God created heaven on earth and His creation was in perfect relationship with Him. It was just as He envisioned.
But as God’s creation succumbed to the temptation of sin, the earth no longer looked like heaven. The weaving of lies and the twisting of truth spoiled the creation of God. The earth we experience is not the perfect communion God originally created, but it is also not the end of the story. The earth longs for its Creator and stretches out to find the relationship it once had. Our deepest longing is, and should be, to once again experience heaven on earth.
In what some call Paul’s most personal letter, the truth we find in 2 Corinthians should be the foundation and motivation for our Lenten journey. He writes that if anyone is in Christ, they are made new, which means there is nothing in your past or present that will keep you from experiencing the transforming power of the Lord. We begin today, on Ash Wednesday, to place ourselves before Jesus, asking Him to examine our hearts and allowing us to confess the sins in our lives. We do this because being made new means being honest with what needs to be changed.
In the midst of a world filled with chaos and disappointment, pain and death, there is a promise of restoration and transformation through Jesus. And the good news is transformation isn’t found at the end of our lives, but at the end of ourselves. This is the beauty of the Lenten season. It’s a season in the church calendar where most of us, perhaps more intentionally than any other time, commit to seek transformation. We search the Scriptures and sit in stillness with God as we recognize the sin which has broken the perfect communion God created. We long to be transformed into the image of our Savior who has given His life so we can once again experience earth as it is in heaven, God’s kingdom. That is the promise of Jesus. It is the fulfillment of God’s design.
Let us seek transformation, not for the purpose of finding happiness or avoiding pain, putting on an appearance of success, or storing up treasures for our own gain. Let us seek transformation to experience an awakening of holiness within ourselves and encounter the power of our risen Savior to radically alter the way we live.
THE PRAYER
Lord, search us and draw our attention to those places in our lives which need Your forgiveness and transforming power. Don’t let us stay the way we are, but renew us, fill us, and change us so we can reflect Your grace in this world. Amen
THE QUESTION
What fear or concerns do you have as you give yourself over to the Lord to be changed? What is your hope for transformation as you embrace the promise of being made new? What do you need to confess to the Lord today?
For the Awakening,
Susan Kent
P. S. Get the Book Version of This Series
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4 Responses
I’m all in to personal as well as corporate (congregational) restoration. I love the statement: “And the good news is transformation isn’t found at the end of our lives, but rather the end of ourselves.” This is key. Nothing can be restored until a thorough examination is made to reveal the amount of deterioration that has occurred. Only then can the process of renewal to its original condition begin. This is true, whether we’re talking about vehicles, structures, the Church, or ourselves.
In 2009 I had over a dozen plaques made by a woman who does Pottery to give to friends and family that states.. “at the end of self is the beginning of Christ!” Bob, that exact same statement caught my attention as well!
Bob that exact same statement caught my attention as well! In 2009 I had over a dozen little plaques made by a woman who does Pottery that states the following..
“At the end of self is the beginning of Christ”
Being Made New
I woke up this morning thinking about Jesus moments. In Jesus moments we “encounter the power (and presence) of our risen Savior to radically alter the way we live.” Jesus moments change us “from glory to glory.”
These were my waking up thoughts this morning: “The kingdom of God is built on Jesus moments. Let Him build His reign in you throughout the day and night. Jesus said, ‘I am with you always.’ There’s no need to spend a moment without Him. Let the risen Jesus fill the moments in your life with His everlasting presence.”
“The most marvelous moments in my life are Jesus moments. I persistently pursue His presence.”