We are living in a time of change. Really. Usually if you look for Ash Wednesday, you are going to find grasshoppers and the chirp of crickets.
Typically, ignored, as if Ash Wednesday is something from another dimension. This year, Facebook and the news are filled with Ash Wednesday.
God is thrilled to find so many people wanting to participate in Ash Wednesday. Can't you picture the Almighty being as pleased as the day the Prodigal Son returned!
People who are distressed, have a hard time being talked to about ashes and dying. I hope if this is the first time, or the first time in a long time, to attend Ash Wednesday, you didn't feel left out and heart sore.
Probably those in the most distress wanted this:
Psalm 131
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore.
The next thing a distressed person does, is their mind wanders away from what surrounds them,
and have guilt to ignore the message of God in a time we want God's favor.
Jesus is the one Who said, He would not break a bruised reed. Jesus is the Manifest Word of God saying, Heaven is like a gracious tree, where all the birds of the forest may sit and be invited into the branches.
Jesus had to invite some. He said, "Let the children come unto me." Some stayed back. Some were pushed down. Jesus wanted them for Himself. Jesus wasn't picking for the baseball game, Jesus was taking souls with Him to Live forever.
Jesus Christ said, come unto Me, you who are weary, burdened, and I will give you rest. Home. The place the Father and the Prodigal Son run to meet one another.
If you are bothered by the ashes, think about this:
Isaiah 61:3
To grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise
instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord
that
He may be glorified.
Abraham and Sarah lived
in the Oaks of Mamre, in Hebron, Israel.
The tree has seedlings now, but the tree itself is long past ashes.
Abraham and Sarah live on.
The goodness of God has made a place for them.
Yet all their words and lives are alive, in the Word of God.
Jesus Christ.
The point of the ashes is profound. The season of rest before the glory of spring. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Being nurtured to bloom. To be fruitful in God. To be encouraged, even when worried to death and gone like Lazarus. Nurtured and made strong enough to believe.
The Good News. Believed by Daniel in 500 B.C. where we can find the Second Exodus in beautiful cuneiform found in the British Museum, word for word. 500 B.C., Believed by Ezekiel, taken in the second round up by Nebuchadnezzar II. Even as his wife died from the thousand-mile journey. Suddenly called by Nebuchadnezzar to be High Priest. And in his profound sorrow, to see the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. To understand the most profound and unforgettable sights and believe and know and live the Kingdom Message to the Glory of God.
The reason for the ashes. The Glory of God.
Ezekiel in the Thirty-Seventh Chapter
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.
And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.
And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you,
and you shall live,
and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
Even on Ash Wednesday, Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
In the years, seasons, we are profoundly moved toward Ash Wednesday, Jesus is Lord.
In the years, seasons, we want to go home and not think about ashes, Jesus is Lord.
In the years, seasons, we understand and become part of the rites, Jesus is Lord.
Ash Wednesday glorifies God, We find the aspect of God's Nature, to reach out and hold to our heart, we are filled and find the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God helps us fulfill God's plan for our lives.
And in His Presence, we are Comforted. And in this Love, our souls give God the glory.
Filled with the Wonder of God.
Abba, Father,
We do not know all You know.
We do not have the omnipotence for a complete prayer.
We can't surround every person
or every issue
to bring the healing we know Jesus does.
You are the Light of Heaven.
Jesus, You are the Light of Nations.
Jesus Christ,
Only Son of the Most High God,
You are the Light of mankind.
We have a heart for the difficulties
facing
our own lives,
the lives of those we love,
This Nation,
and Ukraine
and the plight of the Russians.
And in the hearts of mankind
You have delighted in,
we ask Jesus Christ
to be our Blessing,
Teacher,
Healer,
Lord of us all.
God of Love.
God of Encouragement.
We Thank You
for the Blessings
You give us daily.
And ask for You
to dwell in us
and provide
Grace and Mercy
for our trespasses.
Dwell in us
and we will see Jesus
Your Help to seek Your first
and we will finish well
In Jesus Christ
To heal us,
the Heal our Loved Ones,
to Heal the Nation,
To Bless Ukraine and Russians
with Peace.
Love.
Joy.
Jesus.
Amen in Your Son,
the Highest Name of Jesus,
Amen.
God reminds us
Blessing us with prayers for more Heaven on earth,
His Good Will be done.
To You, our Father, be the Glory
Our God is an Awesome God! Amen
and Alleluia
in Jesus Christ and His Glory!
Matthew 13:31,32
Jesus put before them another parable: “The Kingdom of Heaven
is like a mustard seed that a man planted in his field.
Although it is the smallest of all seeds,
yet it grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree,
so that the birds of the air come
and
nest in its branches.”
♔ LORD JESUS SAVES †
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