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Some Scripture pertaining to Lent...

Joel 2:12-17

"Yet even now," declares the LORD,
   "return to me with all your heart,
 with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
   and rend your hearts and not your garments.
Return to the LORD your God,
   for he is gracious and merciful,
 slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
   and he relents over disaster.
 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
   and leave a blessing behind him,
 a grain offering and a drink offering
   for the LORD your God?

Blow the trumpet in Zion;
   consecrate a fast;
 call a solemn assembly;
   gather the people.
Consecrate the congregation;
   assemble the elders;
 gather the children,
   even nursing infants.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
   and the bride her chamber.

Between the vestibule and the altar
   let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep
 and say, "Spare your people, O LORD,
   and make not your heritage a reproach,
   a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
   'Where is their God?'
                        
Matthew 6:16-21

"And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Remember... we are sojourners in this land. It is our temporary home.

1 John 2:15-17

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Here's to Freedom.

What is this monotony? This going-through-the-motions every day without feeling anything? This unfulfilling, unsatisfying life that I have allowed myself to fall into? I know there is more to life than this.

I. feel. stuck.

-stuck in my daily routine. Get up, get dressed, drive to work, sit at work all day waiting for the "freedom" to go home, drive home, eat dinner, watch tv, maybe exercise, go to bed, do it all again. What is the purpose of this?
-stuck in this apartment. Even on the weekends when I am "free" to do whatever I want, I feel trapped in the walls of our apartment. And I have a feeling I wouldn't feel any less trapped in something bigger. It's not the size. It's the stuff. It's the familiarity. It's the isolation from the world.
-stuck at my job. It's not exciting most days. I really love what I do, but most days I'm not happy. It's my attitude. It's the environment telling me the way I need to act and feel and be.
-stuck in my neverending to-do lists. There is always a list - or two or three - going of the things I need to do. Or that I want to do. They are always going in my head. Sometimes I can write them down and cross things off of them, but most of the time they just get longer and longer, hanging over my head and trapping me in stress.
-stuck in my own expectations. The need to be great. To do great. To be my best. I have this idea of how my life should be and the goals and dreams that I have for myself. And they just mock me everytime I don't live up to them or take a step toward them.
-stuck in others expectations. Of how I should look. Of how I should dress. Of how much I should exercise. Of how I should spend my time. Of how I should spend my money. Of how much money I should make. Of what my home should look like. Of what kind of car I should drive. Of what I should like. Of what I should sound like. AHHHH!

I am a slave to this world. 

I am a slave to others. To my unnecessary expectations. To my "should be"s. I am trapped, caught, suffocating, imprisoned, stuck. SLAVE.

As Beth Moore puts it, "We become immediate slaves to the person(s) from whom we seek approval."

BUT, Christ came to set me free from slavery. "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourself be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." -Galatians 5:1

I cannot continue to try to balance the Spirit and the flesh. They cannot work together. "For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law." -Galatians 5:17-18 God has freed me from the law. From the world. From the expectations of myself and of others.

He has SET ME FREE. 

To experience this sweet freedom that God is trying to show me, I must keep in step with the Spirit. I must not be conformed to the pattern of this world. I must yield to the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to guide me through my routine, my job, my life. Every day I must make that choice. It does not come naturally. But it is so much better!

Here's to freedom.

Listen to this song: Better Way to Live - by Jason Gray

• Better Way To Live by Jason Gray

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