17/2/21 Day 1

TODAY'S VERSE:  17/2/21 Day 1

“To all who mourn … he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,
a joyous blessing instead of mourning,
festive praise instead of despair.” Isaiah 61:3

TODAY'S DEVOTION:

Oh, Snow!
You charmed us with fresh beauty upon arrival
but so quickly became a beast better suited for departure
thanks for stopping by now please go ...
we’re done with you even as you choose to stay with your
record-setting mountains lining our sidewalks accompanied by
whipping winds
bone-chilling cold
short gray days and
long dark nights   
tempting us to hibernate and cancel life for a season.

Oh, Spring!
How our collective soul longs for the Creator to make all things new.
Surround us again with signs of new life –  
songbirds, blooming trees and a full palette of lost color –
promised changes that will fill our hearts with hope!  
Our weary world waits for warmer days, and a Sabbath
to praise our Savior again,  
a family reunited.
The body of Christ
in worship as one,
a holy mystery as essential for full life as breath itself.

Oh, Ashes!
Marked by a cross upon our brows for this holy-day,
a reminder of winter’s reality and mortality’s eventuality,  
for we are dust, and to dust we shall return.
Our Lenten journey starts with ashes but ends
forty days from now with a sweet surprise of final victory o’er the grave
O, Death,
where is your sting?
O, Life,
come get your crown,
for Christ gives eternal beauty for ashes, spring for winter, life for death!

Pastor Mike

TODAY'S PRAYER:

Oh, Spirit! Oh, Savior! Oh, God!
Find us this Lent as we follow you and
fill us with new life forever by your grace, in Jesus’ name. Amen.




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