Sin gave us a broken Image and resulted in our being broken people, acting upon our now depraved nature (our sin nature) to varying degrees.  Sometimes people call this “Total Depravity.”  It doesn’t mean that our humanity is 100% corrupted (as bad as we could possibly be without any ability to exhibit virtue), but it does mean that if you were to sample any portion of a human being, you’ll find sin in that sample, brokenness, and yes, depravity is there too.  Depravity being that we’ve fallen and can’t get up…on our own.  It has infected every part of our being.

Sin affects our minds, and we think wrong thoughts, harbor ill will against our fellow man, and even plot evil.  Sin affects our bodies, and we experience illness and death.  Sin affects our will, and it traps us into impulses and desires that do not reflect God’s Image.

In fact, if someone were to ask me the definition of sin, I’d argue that it is exerting our will and forcing the Image of God, this beautiful relic in us, to do something that God in His true Image would never do. 

In my view, it all goes back to the Image of God.  Lies? God wouldn’t do it.  Think hateful thoughts?  Nope.  Murder, cheat, be unfaithful?  No, no, and no.  In the sexual realm, would Jesus have gone outside of the way He created us or the holiness of the marriage relationship He designed?  No and no.  So, adultery, homosexuality, lust?  You answer whether Jesus would have done these things knowing how He created us.

Focus for Lent:  Sin resides in the brokenness, not in the wholeness of man.  God’s Image resides in the wholeness.

Questions for further thought:

What areas of your life can you redirect to reside in the wholeness instead of the brokenness?

There are those who don’t want to talk about sin.  Do they want to acknowledge the Image of God in themselves?

Joseph understood the connection between sin and the Image of God.  In Genesis 39:6-9, Potiphar’s wife “took notice of Joseph and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’  But he refused. ‘With me in charge,’ he told her, ‘my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?’”

How might it change people’s attitudes about sin if they took the Image of God more seriously in their lives?  Is it scarier to know you’re sinning against God and His Image than it is to feel like you’re just sinning against another person or it’s a private sin/victimless crime?

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, please help me to take sin seriously and to know that every sin is ultimately against You.  Forgive us, Father, for all the sins we commit and times we choose to dwell in and on the brokenness. Thank You that our Lord Jesus died on a cross and paid for our sin to restore Your beautiful Image to Yourself, to redeem us, to save us, and to allow us to spend eternity with You.  We are so grateful, Lord. Amen.

===

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2023 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. 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.
• Last year’s devotionals, Revelation in 40 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.

That story from last time about Babel is a good reminder for us that we have retained a relic of the Image of God deep within us.  It’s powerful and amazing. It’s ours to use and display, and as wrong as our motivations are at times, it’s never outside of God’s control how we use or display it.  Even if it means scattering us to keep us from using it with sinful motives.

Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Focus for Lent: When we abide in Christ and keep step with the Spirit, we display God’s Image most truly.

Questions for further thought:

Oxford defines a relic as “an object surviving from an earlier time, especially one of historical or sentimental interest.”  In what way does “relic” accurately describe the Image of God in us?

In our case, the “relic” is not a whole from antiquity.  How does the term “relic” not fully describe the Image of God?

How is the “broken but not removed” a fitting picture?

Reading Colossians above, the new self is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.  What does that mean to you?

Prayer:  Father God, we praise You that in the family of faith, we have been raised with Christ. We ask, Lord, that You would direct our hearts to things above, set our minds on things above, and help us to shed all earthly things.  May we put on our new self to Your glory.  Amen.

===

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2023 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. 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.
• Last year’s devotionals, Revelation in 40 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.

We can’t look at the Image of God today without asking ourselves
why doesn’t the world look like we display the Image of God?
Disorder.  Disunity.  Disinformation. 
Almost every kind of diss you can think of
and exactly the opposite of the Image of God.

Why is that?

.

Way back in Genesis, just after the Great Flood, people gathered in unity (which we’ve talked about can be a very good thing) … except once sin entered the picture, not so much.

Genesis 11:4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

Their unity was devoted to being gods themselves—ah, yes, that same old temptation that Satan gives to mankind. They started to build a tower and God saw it and said (paraphrased) “Nope, not happening. That’s a hard no.”  Genesis 11:6 The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language, they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

Look over God’s statement and you’ll see God’s Image being illuminated: unity, relationship, endeavor, creating, inventing, ingenuity, aiming for the impossible.  God saw His Image displayed, but with the wrong motivation.  Just like Adam and Eve wanting to be “like God” so much they wanted to be gods.

Focus for Lent:  The motivations of our hearts need alignment with God’s will.

Questions for further thought:

God scattered them and gave them confused language.  How has this proven an effective strategy to keep mankind from being a one-minded group to rule in godless ways? 

On one hand, scattering and confusing seems cruel, but one-minded godless rule may help us to see that it’s not cruel at all. In fact, Revelation 13:4-8, Scripture says, the beast had “authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.  All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast”.  How is unity here like Babel, making a name for itself with godless rule, “Who is like the beast?”

Does God want a unified, one-minded group ruling in godless ways?  Does God want us to have a “one-world government” or globalism with one rule that is not under Christ on whose shoulders the government is supposed to rest? Do attempts at one-world unity love Christianity or want to squash it?

In Revelation 13:15-18, it continues, “The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.  It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom.”

Read again, all, all. When sin creates the unity, it does so by force…mandate…intimidation.  Can you think of recent incidents where something is attempting to create unity by mandate or governmental decree? At what point does the mandate become striving for unity in worship of other gods: government, nature/climate, science, etc.?

Prayer: Lord God, preserve us from trying to make a name for ourselves, from trying to have a one-world government to rule over all of us. In the beginning when You gave mankind the stewardship of all of creation and ruling over all the animals, the point was not to rule over each other, or worse, choosing a supreme being from among men. So, we ask Lord that You would help us to resist that. A focus on unity rooted in sin brings no glory to you. Instead, may we pursue a unity rooted in You. We thank You, Lord, that You said that you wanted us to be one as You and the Father are one and that’s how the world will know that we are Your disciples. Help us, Lord, to resist the world and instead, respond to Your will and Your governance. We are grateful, Lord, for Your goodness to us. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

===

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2023 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. 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.
• Last year’s devotionals, Revelation in 40 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.

.

I’d be hard pressed to find anything–any topic of contemporary significance, any issue historical or current, any future-directed thought, or ethical dilemma that doesn’t point back ultimately to the Image of God.

When you start to look at mankind through the lens of the Image of God it’s easy to see that all human ethics flow from it.  “Be holy because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). Everything that we do that is right or wrong flows from our having been made uniquely in the Image of God.  For indeed, how do we know what is right or wrong, anyway?  Stay tuned on that one…

Focus for Lent: Consider how the Image of God is related to every ethical question.

Questions for further thought:

What other creatures have an enforceable ethical standard?

Do they have standards based upon power or goodness/truth?

Helene Guldberg writes in Psychology Today,
“Human beings have something that no other animal has: an ability to participate in a collective cognition. Because we, as individuals, are able to draw on the collective knowledge of humanity, in a way no animal can, our individual abilities go way beyond what evolution has endowed us with. Our species is no longer constrained by our biology.

Many scientists reject any notion that human beings have abilities that are profoundly different from other animals. To do so, they fear, will give ammunition to creationists and spiritualists. But we do not need spiritual or “magical” explanations to grasp that the difference between human beings and other animals is fundamental rather than one of degrees.”

While it’s possible to source other explanations, how does the Image of God provide an obvious and fundamental basis to understanding humanity?

That is not to say that animals have no intrinsic worth or that our moral responsibility towards animals doesn’t exist.  Read about man’s responsibility and relationship to other animals in Scripture (see Genesis 1:28)?

Prayer: Father God, may we never take for granted the blessing of ruling over the creation You gave us. May we never forget that this is a benevolent rulership, a stewardship given to mankind. Forgive us for the ways we have abused this privilege. Forgive us for acting as if we are owners, not stewards. Forgive us for ignoring what being Your Image-bearers means. Thank You for this high privilege. Remind us to consider all ethics flow from You in our daily lives. We love You, Lord. Amen.

===

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2023 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. 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.
• Last year’s devotionals, Revelation in 40 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.

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This year’s Lent Devotional Series “Created to Display His Image” resumes tomorrow after today’s Sabbath rest to meditate and worship. Today, reflect on what it means to abide in Him.

.

Think about it: The evolutionist would say that humans “descended” from other primates.  The Bible says that all animals were created on the sixth day…God proclaims it “good” (kind of like closing the book or rebooting the computer) but then He chooses to do something more: creation with His Image, an exception for mankind.  We were a totally separate creative effort on the sixth day.  And to prove it, only humans display the Image of God. 

This is important: It didn’t suddenly get evolved into mankind
where the mother and father didn’t have it, but the child does.
Imagine how ridiculous this is.
Parents with no God-given Image, moral code, or imperative to worship
raising a child who does?
No, we’ve had it from the start.  It is the gift that makes humans human.

Focus for Lent: The Image of God is what separates mankind from every other flesh on the planet.

Questions for further thought:

How does an exalted view of the Image of God make it clear that humans and other primates—for all their superficial similarities—are distinct and evolution didn’t cause mankind? How is original causation/creation different from ongoing adaptation? If man and other primates do not arise from a common ancestor, will adaptations of each (evolution) ever truly bridge that gap?

What does it say about God that no other animal bears His Image?

To try to wrap our minds around God’s Image, what are some things humans do, display, or can accomplish that no animal can?

Did Jesus explicitly die for any other part of His creation?  Can any other part of Creation respond to the Gospel?

Why might Satan want us to believe we’re nothing special, indeed, not any different than any other animal with animal impulses?

Prayer: Thank You Lord Jesus that we are your precious Image bearers. Thank You for dying on the Cross and being our Salvation.  In Christ we pray, for His glory. Amen.

===

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2023 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. 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.
• Last year’s devotionals, Revelation in 40 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.

.

We often hear that “They will know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” 
While Christians are one in the Spirit and one in the Lord,
Jesus says that they’ll know we are Christians by
…wait for it…
our unity.

Not a superficial unity like the silent types of Beth Moore, Timothy Keller, and so-called Christian conservative journalist David French might proffer in recent scolding by Tucker Carlson.  To them, drag queen story hours for children are no biggie.  No need to say a word.  Transgenderism?  Jesus died for them too.  Oh yes, they admit (if only by their silence), surely Jesus would approve of being inclusive by the world’s standards.

Far from it.  If you wonder why Jesus returns with Judgment, our silence is our accuser.

Where did we go so wrong as a nation?  Jesus said in John 17:20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one– 23 I in them and you in me– so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. “

A Christian’s message should not be about
diversity, inclusion, transgenderism or anything else. 
It should be about sinners in need of a Savior. 
There’s only one Savior and His Name is Jesus.

Focus for Lent: It’s time for Christians to stop and repent of being silent about (or worse, vocal spokespeople for) the culture and start talking about sin again.

Questions for further thought:

When Jesus created man and woman in His Image, male and female (just two, ahem), did He dream happily of a day in which mankind improved upon His work with 71 other genders, complete with mandatory pronouns, and they would greet Him in their multiplicity at His return?  Or is He appalled at our lack of moral judgment?

Why are so few Christian leaders able to stand up for the Bible and they meander about in ambiguities to avoid being offensive? The pastor in Canada whose segment Tucker Carlson featured, was arrested for having the audacity to peacefully interrupt a drag queen event … for children.  The pastor was thrown to the ground that night and the next morning was thrown behind bars for mischief and disturbing the peace.  As he was being hauled away, he said through the bars on the vehicle door window, “This is what happens when you go against the grain.”  So, how many so-called Christian leaders rose to his defense?  How many are simply too comfortable with their book sales and speaking engagements, upscale wardrobes and popular pulpits…or their paycheck…to protect kids and stand with those persecuted for speaking God’s Truth? 

Prayer: Lord God help us to be like Jesus who came to serve and give His life as a ransom for many. May we serve one another and to do so sacrificially, even if it costs us something we hold dear. Lord, empower us, embolden us, encourage us to do what is right in Your eyes. We ask Lord, that You would protect the children of this nation, in this world, from the evils that come against them. Shield our most vulnerable from evils that could kill them or harm them or abuse them. We ask Lord that your Holy Spirit would guard and protect children from what the devil has planned. If Christians cannot bring themselves to stand up for kids and to protect them with the truth of Your Word, Oh Lord, who will we be willing to protect? Children are our most innocent and vulnerable among people. We ask Lord that You would empower us–even admonish us–to do what is right, to seek Your face always, and to serve one another with an attitude like that we see in our Lord Christ Jesus. Amen.

===

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2023 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. 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.
• Last year’s devotionals, Revelation in 40 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.

It’s perhaps easy to see
how walking with God before the fall of man was simpler. 
For Adam there were fewer temptations…
just the one big one. 

But Adam heard God’s voice with his own ears so perhaps that insulated him for who knows how much time post-creation?  Scripture is silent.  It may not have been so quick as Eve shows up and it all goes downhill from there.

Yet, even after the fall and sin’s result in our broken Image, there were people recorded for us in Scripture who walked with God.  Abraham was friends with God,and David had a heart after God’s own heart.

Were they perfect?  Absolutely not! 
But what qualities did God see?  Scripture says it is faith:

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for…5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Focus for Lent: Repent of unbelief and clothe yourself with faith.

Questions for further thought:

Read the rest of Hebrews 11 and see how many fallen people have yet walked with God by faith and pleased Him.  Was their outcome always happy? 

Hebrews 11: 37 They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated– 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,

Do you ever feel like you stand alone when you stand with and for Christ?  What is the bigger picture that God and the angels see in the spiritual realm?

Scripture says that Enoch walked faithfully with God for 300 years but lived to 365 years. Don’t you wonder what his life was like for the first 65 years? Does it give you hope for your life?

Read Galatians 5:16-26.  What among these lists can you put off or put on?

Colossians 3 has another such list.  Colossians 3:14 “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” How does love bind them all together in perfect unity?

Prayer: Help me to walk with You, Lord, keeping step with the Spirit.  I need You. I love You.  Be glorified in my life, Lord.  Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2023 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. 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.
• Last year’s devotionals, Revelation in 40 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.

For Adam, bearing God’s Image perfectly before the fall meant that he could walk with God and talk with Him with no obstacles whatsoever to having relationship and communion. 

Genesis 2:4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.  5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground,

God’s original intent was that Adam would minister in this Eden sanctuary, working the ground (but work was not hard yet because plants simply yielded their fruit by God’s creative decree).

Genesis 2:6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed … 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

God set boundaries for relationship with Him. 
Paraphrased, “You are free,” God said. 
“But you must not take for yourself what I alone can give you.” 
Don’t you see? God had already given Adam everything good.

Focus for Lent: Repent of seeking evil when God has told you what is good.

Questions for further thought:

Why, given Adam’s knowledge of all things good as his sole experience, would he have curiosity and temptation about what was evil?

In what way does our curiosity about evil deceive us about our immunity from its consequences?

It has often been said that sin will always take you farther than you want to go, make you stay longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you’d ever want to pay.  Can you think of a sin in your life or those of someone you know that followed that maxim?

Prayer: Lord, please guide my steps each day and keep me far from sin.  Give me strength to resist temptation and the wisdom to keep short accounts with You and my fellow man.  May I live as a person who respects Your boundaries and exhibits the fragrance of Christ in my life.  Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2023 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. 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.
• Last year’s devotionals, Revelation in 40 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.

Mysterious as the Image of God is (and hard to define!) yet there are characteristics we can glean from observing Jesus and how He talked about His relationship of reflecting God’s perfect Image. 

What is reflection, but a return or display of something without absorbing it?  We do not absorb the Image of God and consume it.  We have it within us and radiate or reflect it back to God.

.

When God sees His Image displayed well in us—particularly in our unity—God is glorified. When we reflect back to God, the broken (for now) Image, Jesus intercedes for us and makes perfect what the Father sees in what the Christian has radiated back.

Focus for Lent: Repent of cowardice in wrongly exalting, accepting, and reflecting the world and its message. We have been given a better message and a perfect Savior, Jesus Christ. But when 10% of the population (at most) convinces 90% to abandon everything they know from the Bible for fear of being called names or persecuted, we have a cowardice problem and not a pursuit of godly unity.

Questions for further thought: 

Jesus has seen God face-to-face before the Incarnation and could reflect His perfect Image even in His perfect humanity.  In what way is Jesus the second or “last Adam”? 

1 Corinthians 15:45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.

When we are finally one with Him as His Church, how will that bring glory to God?

Our culture tries to force unity along secular standards through intimidation/bullying, censorship of alternate voices, power/control of media messaging, repetition (browbeating) in the form of indoctrination called advertising, and through punishment of dissenters.  Will that propaganda’s forced compliance ever achieve true unity?

Did Jesus compromise with the devil for the sake of peace and diversity?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, preserve us from our world situation with its unholiness, its adversity, its hatred of all things that You stand for, and its mission of welcoming as many people to hell as possible. In the end, the world standards are conformed only to the god of this world (Satan). May we never accept those standards of compliance! Wide is the path that leads to destruction! We pray that You will open the eyes of Your precious humanity to see the same temptation in the garden of Eden is now at work among us. It is the same temptation that Satan uses every time … to be our own gods … and to do what is pleasurable or wise in our own eyes, believing that You will not issue consequences. As Your people, we repent of any complicity we’ve had in this messaging, and ask, Father, for both Your forgiveness and Your strength to stand against Satan’s messaging in this world. May the fragrance of Christ be ours this day and always, for Your glory we pray. Amen.

===

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2023 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. 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.
• Last year’s devotionals, Revelation in 40 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.