MONDAY, MARCH 26

Matthew 4:1-2 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness … He fasted forty days and forty nights.

IDEAL FAST for LENT

(anonymous)

Fast from criticism, feast on praise.

Fast from self-pity, feast on joy.

Fast from ill-temper, feast on peace.

Fast from resentment, feast on contentment.

Fast from jealously, feast on love.

Fast from pride, feast on humility.

Fast from selfishness, feast on service.

Fast from fear, feast on faith.

Gracious, loving God, may Your Spirit, lead me into my own wilderness where I will be inspired, motivated to keep an IDEAL FEAST throughout these forty days of Lent. This I pray in the name of Your Son, Jesus, the Risen Christ. Amen.

Patricia Lindroth

2 Corinthians 1:8,9 We do not want you to be uninformed about the hardships we suffered … but this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God

I got up too fast from the floor and hit my head on the bed frame. I said, “Thank you God for the pain because pain helps us to be aware.” I will remember next time not to get up so quickly. I checked to see if I had a dent in my head. Pain leaves a dent in our lives for good. When we look at our desk or our stack of bills, we may say, “I have hardly made a dent in it” –or– “I have not removed any of the papers and made this pile any different than when I started it seems.” But when we suffer, God promises to use that pain to turn to Him, to trust Him and not ourselves, and to be changed by Him for good.

Dear Father, Thank you for Jesus whose dents in His palms are a permanent reminder of the pain he suffered for us on the cross. Thank you that you don’t leave us in our pain and suffering alone. I pray that we might turn to you, to trust you in all our sufferings. Amen.

Melinda Smith