Image courtesy of: Lawrence OP

Did you recently become a Christian or have you been following the Lord for a while?  Regardless you will find helpful truths in An Open Letter to the New Christian

The first one is never grow tired of the cross.

Salvation is a free gift…But you will struggle to believe it. In the years ahead, you may find yourself tempted to believe that even though you were saved by grace, you need to maintain God’s love by your performance.

Another is commit to the church.

But God, in his kindness, does not want you to walk this road alone. The gospel may have given you a personal relationship with God, but it is not a private one. Jesus Christ created local churches of men and women who profess the same faith and follow him as Lord to encourage you to persevere in love for Christ

To find more about these truths and others, read the full article here:

www.crossway.org

Image courtesy of: Emil9497 Photography & Art

We've all seen the ashes marking the cross on someone's forehead. But what do they really mean and signify?  The ashes are meant to symbolize both death and repentance in order to begin Lent in a solemn, humble way. This is said to allow people to reflect on their sins throughout Lent before Easter, when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

blog.youversion.com says:

The basic purpose of Lent: to create space in the middle of life’s responsibilities to appreciate what’s always been there: God’s presence.

The author of the article goes on to give 4 different practices you can do during Lent.  Here are the first two:

1. Memorize the Verse of the Day

Our outlook on life changes when we get God’s Word inside of us. If you’ve always wanted to memorize Scripture but were never sure where to start, commit to memorizing the Verse of the Day for 40 days!

If you start today, you’ll know 40 passages by Resurrection Sunday, and you’ll be well on your way to establishing a lifelong habit.

View Verse of the Day

2. Create a Prayer List

Prayer is simply an honest conversation between you and God. And, it’s a great discipline to begin during Lent. Becoming a person who prays confidently may take some practice, but you can get started by committing at least 10 minutes a day to prayer.

I really like getting the Verse of the Day on my iphone.  I especially like the NIrV version.  It takes a sentence made up of 4 phrases and makes it into 4 sentences.  It is much easier to read and remember.

If you would like to see the other 2 practices, check out the full article here:

blog.youversion.com

Having recently celebrated the beginning of a new year and a new decade, fresh on my mind are goals and habits.  Something that has been helpful to me is to have larger goals for the year; and smaller focal points twice a month, that I track as habits throughout the week.  

My number one goal for the last two years is to spend my first waking hours meeting with Jesus. It has become a habit at this point; when after breakfast, I head out to my sun porch.

Darilynn Keith in her article, :5 ways to Shift Your Focus in 2020″ supports this by writing:

Carve out time for Him. The only way to really know Jesus (or anyone, for that matter) is to spend time with Him. Talk to Him. Listen to Him. Read His Word. This is crucial to having a relationship with Jesus. Because it’s so important the enemy will work doubly hard to keep us from it. Don’t let him. Time with God will look differently for everyone, but it has to include two things: praying and reading His Word. If it doesn’t, you might as well call it self-reflection. You will never know what God’s plans are for you if you don’t leave room to hear from Him. Spend time with Jesus daily. Let Him dictate how you go about your day instead of telling Him your plans.

Because it is easy to make new year's resolutions and give up on them when faced with failure, Darilynn cautions:

Real lasting change only happens from the inside out, and that’s the work of Jesus. The change comes when we realize that our puny efforts to change aren’t enough unless they are coupled with the power of an Almighty God. As we focus more on Him, He works in us to bring out the person He so carefully created us to be. Ephesians 2:10 reads, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do” (CSB). What if, instead of focusing so much on ourselves trying to be better people, in 2020, we poured all our efforts into getting to know the Creator who holds the blueprints of our lives in His hands?

Last year my husband and I participated in Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God study and found it very helpful in keeping our focus on God.  

In her last way to shift our focus, Darilynn concludes:

Take advantage of everyday moments to glorify God. These moments come more often than you probably think, and we miss out more than you probably want to know. When you’re walking closely with Jesus, you become so much more aware of what God is doing around you. He puts us in situations every day where we have the opportunity to glorify Him. Stay alert. Be aware of your surroundings and ask Him how you can be a part of what He’s already doing. Henry Blackaby, in his Bible study, Experiencing God, says we should look out for where God is already working and join Him

To read her other 3 ways to shift our focus, read her full article here:

https://blog.lifeway.com/womenallaccess/2020/01/13/in-any-event-5-ways-to-shift-your-focus-in-2020/

Photo By Etolane