For those who are physically near, yet distant in so many other ways, believing that the bad choices they’ve made have locked the door against them.
Don’t be afraid because there is good news! Never be afraid.
Why?
Because tonight is the night when the lost lambs are found.” (John Kass)
There is certainly hope inaugurated at Christmastime as John Kass wrote in his column “O Holy Night” that we’re using for prayerful introspection at Lent. That hope promised with the birth of Messiah wasn’t fulfilled until Christ was risen from the grave.
It’s Day 16 of our Lenten series proclaiming, “Lord Have Mercy,” and this promised hope is now a fulfilled hope and our true hope for all eternity.
It’s not just hope for those who have made a ton of bad choices
and are in dire need of forgiveness,
but also, for those of us who tried to be good and appear good
but have our own baggage of hidden sin to bring to the foot of the Cross.
Lent is a time for us to consider the grace God gives us, how He freely forgives us, if we’re willing to agree with Him that we need Him and His mercy. He doesn’t weigh our sins before deciding whether to forgive us, as if some level of sin is simply too much for the blood of His precious Son, Jesus Christ, to cover. For the big sinner and the little sinner, He nailed our sins to the Cross, and we can be forgiven!
Psalm 65:1 For the director of music. A psalm of David. A song. Praise awaits You, O God, in Zion; to You our vows will be fulfilled. 2 O You who hear prayer, to You all men will come. 3 When we were overwhelmed by sins, You forgave our transgressions. 4 Blessed are those You choose and bring near to live in Your courts! We are filled with the good things of Your house, of Your holy temple.
Lord, Have Mercy!
Prayer Focus: Lord God, we thank You that all forgiveness for repentant sinners was paid in full by Your Son Jesus Christ, the author of forgiveness so we would not be estranged from You!
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You can find these “Κύριε, ἐλέησον, ‘Lord, have mercy” devotionals here or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter!
Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:
Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
Revelation in 40 devotionals for 2022 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.
“Created to Display His Image” explored what it truly means to be made in God’s Image and the profound significance of that fact. They are archived beginning February 22, 2023.
“Seeing His Love with New Eyes” was the topic for 2024 and it explored looking at God’s love beyond the superficial and trite notions of love. They are archived beginning February 14, 2024.
“The Way it Had to Be” explored the conversation in Luke 24 by the men on the Road to Emmaus as they walked with Jesus. They discovered their assumption “This is not how it was supposed to be” was precisely what had to happen and had been predicted throughout the Old Testament and fulfilled in Jesus’ ministry. These devotionals are archived beginning March 5, 2025.