Day 2: Reflections at Kure Beach

Just down the road from our house is Fort Fisher and the Armed Forces Recreation Area, a place that holds precious memories for me. The spring after my mother passed, Dad rented a house, (the Lazy Lime, Megan called it) and we gathered for a short family vacation. It was definitely different without Mom, but her jovial presence still made itself felt as we spent time with our loved ones. Time, that most precious commodity, was shared, not it memorable adventures or actions but in short, small installments of life. The long weekend passed to quickly but it culminated with the most wonderful  Easter morning I can recall. We went to the local beach to take in the sunrise and a near by church had set up a cross on the beach as centerpiece for their sunrise services. God meet us there! The rising sun warmed us as we reflected on God's goodness and his assurance that Mom was with Him, worshipping a manner we will never be able to understand on this side of glory. Jane captured the moment with a picture of the cross backdropped by the rising sun. It hangs in our house as a beautiful reminder that though we all must endure storms, God promises await those that remain faithful in spite of our moments of doubt and fear. 

Day 12: Lent 2024

Lord thank You for the Easter Holidays of my past. I am blessed to have Godly parents that knew You and Your salvation. I am filled with joy as I remember Easter baskets, new suits and dresses, fancy hats and the excitement of joining others in chapel worship services. Beyond the Easter egg hunts, I am grateful for the time with family and the story of the resurrection that would be shared throughout the day. Thank You Lord that Christmas isn’t the only story that needs to be shared, it is only tells about when You came to earth. I am also glad that Easter isn’t the end of Your Son’s story. As certain as Your victory over death, You will come again Jesus. Help me Lord, to share that story with as much excitement as my grandchildren have in a backyard Easter egg hunt. In Jesus name.

Day 10: Lent 2024

“When morning gilds the skies, my heart awakening cries, may Jesus Christ be praised!” is the first line of an old song that calls us to worship first thing in the morning. I confess, Lord, my heart isn’t always praising you as I should when you give me another day, another opportunity to serve You. You are worthy because of Good Friday and Easter. You are worthy because of the 33 years you lowered Yourself to being a man and yet still God. You are worthy because You still sit at the Father’s side petitioning on our behalf when we don’t even know what or how to pray. You are worthy because you have all power, all authority both in heaven and here on earth. You are worthy because of Your great love, mercy and grace made a way for us as created beings to come before our creator and commune with You. Thank You, Jesus for the blood, the way and the life You lived to reconcile us to Yourself and the Father. In Your great name I pray.  

Day 2: Lent 2024

Lord God, the beauty of this season of this season displays a tiny bit of your handiwork. The warm breezes, the increasing sun, the budding flowers and blooming trees remind me that all life and everything that supports it comes from You. In Your eternal nature, death is only a phase, a temporal period, that one day You will remove completely. I know that death is real and was so hard especially for Your Son, Christ, who bore it on Calvary’s cross. His death carried the weight and curse of mankind’s sin, my sin, as well as Your righteous wrath against that sin. Thank You for His sacrifice and Your willingness to accept His perfect life as a once and forever atonement for sin. Thank You for the visible reminders of Spring that return faithfully every year that point to life, resurrection and You. In Jesus name, I pray.

Day 1: Lent 2024

Oh God, thank you for this season of Lent, a time to celebrate and contemplate. I celebrate You, Your Goodness, Your Greatness and the overwhelming majesty that surrounds Your Holiness. Your Ways and Thoughts are so much higher than I can conceive or imagine. How could You stoop to become a man like me is far beyond my comprehension. Thank You for Your willingness and faithfulness to humble Yourself to all that awaited You. Forgive me when I trample on such perfect and costly grace that was purchase by Your life, death and resurrection. Remind me to consider You more in my daily walk. Embolden me to point others to Christ as You provide divine appointments throughout my day. Keep my mind and heart filled with prayer so that I may hear Your Holy Spirit speaking. God grant me your eyes, heart and mind as I have another opportunity this year to come to grips once again with this Lent season. It is in Your name and for Your sake I pray Jesus.

Ash Wednesday

 Beginning this Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, I will be posting daily a series of prayers to coincide with the season of Lent. I pray that this season God will refresh all of us with the presence of His Holy Spirit as we consider the power of Jesus's life, death and resurrection. These posting have no spiritual magic to them, just heartfelt thoughts and prayers as we join together with all the saints over the world and time itself in preparing for Easter. Those of us that are believers, I challenge to step deeper into our walk of faith as He call us. For others that are still seeking to fill a void in your life that only His Son can rightly fill, I invite you to trust Him so He can rescue you from a life without meaning and eternal death.