I Confess!

LENT—DAY 3

SCRIPTURE

Acts 7:35-42 (NRSV)
The people complain to Moses

"It was this Moses whom they rejected when they said, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge?' and whom God now sent as both ruler and liberator through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He led them out, having performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from your own people as he raised me up.' He is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living oracles to give to us. Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him; instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, saying to Aaron, 'Make gods for us who will lead the way for us; as for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' At that time they made a calf, offered a sacrifice to the idol, and reveled in the works of their hands. But God turned away from them and handed them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:
'Did you offer to me slain victims and sacrifices
forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?


DEVOTION

Today is Day 3 of our Lenten Journey. One of the spiritual disciplines of Lent is confession and repentance.

As I read Acts 7, I was struck by how many times I may have sounded like the ungrateful and unfaithful Israelites who were wondering in the wilderness.

I confess that there have been times that I have not respected the people that God has placed in authority over me. I confess that there have been times that I doubted God’s chosen path for my life. I confess that there have been times that I have wished to return to the old that I know, rather than trust God to lead me into an uncertain future.

It has been at times like these that I have had to cry out to God, “I believe, help Thou my unbelief!”

During this Lenten Journey, I am working hard to hold on to God’s unchanging hand. I do not want to turn to the left or to the right, unless God says so. I want to follow hard after God, no matter where God may lead me.

Lent is about following Jesus into the Valley of the Shadow of Death. We must go boldly and without fear knowing that when we are with God, no shadow can harm us!

Today, I want to invite all of us to take an inventory of the times we have been ungrateful and/or unfaithful. Let’s confess our sin to God who is faithful and just to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness!


Won’t you pray with me?:

Holy God, I confess that I have sinned and fallen short of your glory! I have cried out against you demonstrating a lack of faith and trust in you. Please forgive me of my sin and fill me with the Holy Spirit so that I will boldly follow you wherever you may lead me. Please help me to be faithful to your good news message that Love gave Jesus to die on the cross to save me from my sin and gift me with eternal life! Please help me to share the good news that Jesus did not stay dead, but was resurrected on the third day just as he promised. I love you and I promise to share our love with others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.


INVITATION

If you have questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, “Come to Jesus” @ http://bit.ly/JVhaL


SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

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