Looking Unto the Cross..... A devotional for day 4 of LENT Saturday, March 11

Psalm 30; Zechariah 7:1-10 Psalm 30:5b reminds us that "weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning." How well the Israelites knew this! Exiled for their sins, but always reclaimed... and with so much joy!!! Just as we love our children in discipline, even so, God never stopped loving His chosen People. In Zechariah 7:3, the priests came and asked of God if they should continue with their usual fasts as they had done ritually for years. (These fasts were in memory of disasters in the history of the Israelites.) God's answer is significant for us who are practicing denial during these days of Lent in memory of Christ's great sacrifice for us and who are spending time in introspection on our own lives. Verse 5 carries God's reply, "Ask all the people of the land and the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?..." Why do we deny ourselves and make ourselves humble during these precious forty days of Lent? Is it that the pastor asked me to? Or does it make for good conversation when we sit down at a restaurant with friends and have to pass on that coffee or that soft, warm dinner roll (that we are denying ourselves)? What is it that we are looking to "get out of" this time of denial? Just as the people of Israel needed a "time out", so do we. May this time of Lent remind us of where we have come from and of where we are going. I pray that God will not have to send any of us into exile to get us to remember Him and how very jealous He is for His people and their love. We owe Him everything! Our very lives are because He ordained them to be. This is what God wanted most... Zech. 7:9:10: "This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.' " Holiness of heart and life. May God bless you this day!!! Lynda Kuhn Ripley, WV USA Father, Spending time with you is the joy of my life. Thank you for being there, even when I let the concerns of life seem to overwhelm me. Help me to set my sights on things above the shallow level of where I usually let my focus fasten. May I sing with the psalmist: "In Thee, O Lord, I put my trust." Amen Suggested Daily Scripture Reading [Psalms 30,32] [Eze. 39:21-29] [Phil. 4:10-20] [John 17:20-26] Visit: 1999 Advent/Christmas Series Epiphany Series You may send e-mail comments or suggestions toYvonne Edwards. Edited: Mar. 13, 6:45 a.m. Page designed by: Joe Hittle The background set is provided by Heavens Designs Cross button courtesy of The Christian Graphics Gallery Copyright © 2000 NazNet All rights reserved. International copyright secured.