A pause for Lent- thoughts from today.

Today, we were studying the temptation of Jesus and comparing it to Adam and talking about the nature and strategies of the devil.

I won't go into the whole thing but I thought I'd share a few thoughts I retained from it, for myself and for you to read if you are interested.

The subject of what we give up for Lent came up and I really liked the idea that 'Giving up for Lent' is merely a delaying of the thing that we have given up so we will appreciate it when we return to it and that God will fill the gap. Deliberately delaying the pleasure teaches us self-control and trains our patience levels.  It was a nice way of thinking about it especially in a culture that says, "I want it and I want it now!" and that is obsessed with the Instantaneous. For me, training myself to be more patience is super important/

There is a difference between Isolation and Solitude.  Solitude is a quiet and a place of rest, a time when you are being with God. Whereas Isolation is negative- isolation is where you deliberately are or feel separated from others, not for a good reason.

Often, distractions try to stop us from looking wholly at our lives, at all aspects.  Sometimes, we end up concentrating so much on one element of our life, that we forget about other areas and we can be attacked in those areas and things begin to fall apart.

You can go through the most wonderful Godly experience, renewing or healing and then BAM,the next day, we can be spiritually attacked and fall down. We don't expect that, but that is the time, before we make any proper good changes.

5 ways Jesus resisted the devil in the desert which I hope for this week:
1.  Holy Spirit-pray for the Holy Spirit to fill us in what we say and do.
2.  Take some time for solitude- find quiet and a place of rest to deliberately be wth God.
3.  Fasting- waiting is good, self control is never a bad thing.
4.  Truth- holding onto the Truth and learning it helps us to see the real issues and expose the lies.
5. Combat- being aware of the dangers, e.g. the Devil, and not fearing him/them.

Try not to be complacent, try not to despair- both are futile.

This is my Pause for Lent with Ang and co.