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Day 40: After a Little While

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Read: 1 Peter 5:6-10   1 Peter 5 | NIV Bible | YouVersion Jesus warns us that the Christian life is not a bed of roses.  In fact, He prepares us by saying, if He suffered, how much more will His followers suffer.  He knows the enemy Satan is alive and well, and looking for his next victim.  Peter describes him as a roaring lion seeking out his next prey.  So, of course, sooner or later, he’s going to come after you. But Jesus also promises us, “After you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation.”  If we look at our season of suffering as time spent in the desert, we must realize that the purpose of the desert is not to get through it as quickly as possible, although when we’re in the desert, that’s exactly what we’re thinking.  “Let me out of here, and fast!” When we moved to our home in Kapolei, on the Ewa Plain, we were surprised to see desert plants, cacti and succulents growing on the roadside.  W
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Day 39: Victory is Ours!

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Read: Romans 8:18-39   Romans 8 | NIV Bible | YouVersion Romans 8 reminds us that our suffering is only for a season.   The time spent in the desert will be worth it all for the glory that will be revealed. It is in these times of suffering, these desert seasons, that the Holy Spirit steps up to help us.   At times, our suffering may be so great that we don’t even know how to pray.   Ever been there?   I have.   I can remember a few specific times when I agonized over how I should pray.   I just didn’t know what God would want in that specific situation.   Maybe I knew what I wanted.   But I really wanted to pray in accordance with God’s will, and I just didn’t know what to say.   All I could do was cry. Should we ask God to take our suffering away?   Do we ask Him to help us to bear it?   Or should we be praying something else altogether? This is when the Holy Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.   And yet, because He is God, His prayers are in
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Day 38: Thirsty?

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Read: John 7:37-39   John 7 | NIV Bible | YouVersion Jesus invites anyone who is thirsty to come to Him.   And even more, anyone who believes in Him may come and drink, promising, “Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.” What a promise!   Even in the desert seasons of our lives, we can be an oasis, a spring of living water.   As believers, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside each one of us, comforting us, teaching us, filling us, empowering us.   We need never run dry because the Holy Spirit lives in us! Perhaps some of those desert days are meant to renew our thirst, to remind us of our utter dependence on the Holy Spirit for His life-giving water, not just to survive, but to thrive! Are you feeling dry?   Are you thirsty?   Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you anew and to refresh you with his presence.   He longs to not only live in you, but to fill you to overflowing so that His abundance in you flows out to water and refresh everyone around you.   Spend time at H
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Day 37: The Solitary Place

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Read: Mark 1:35   Mark 1 | NIV Bible | YouVersion Throughout His ministry, we see that Jesus consistently and intentionally sought out the desolated desert places for times of prayer and communion with the Father.   Perhaps He already realized what many of us have yet to learn: that desert places hold fewer distractions. How often we want to avoid the desert places because they’re hard.   But Jesus intentionally looked for those times of solitude for uninterrupted time in spent in communion with His Father.     Do you seek out solitude?   Do you intentionally look for places free from distraction so that you can commune with the Father? Ask Him to help you create space in your journey for consistent times spent in the solitary place where few things can distract you from your purpose.   Ask God to help you go deep in your relationship with Him.   Listen:  Cody Carnes - Nothing Else (Official Lyric Video) - YouTube
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Day 36: No Place To Lay His Head

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Read: Matthew 8:20 Matthew 8 | NIV Bible | YouVersion Think of it!  God in human flesh had no home to go to for rest and refreshment during His earthly ministry!  I can’t imagine it!  When I am tired and weary from giving out in ministry, I look forward to the quiet oasis of my comfortable home, knowing that there I can be refreshed and revived.  But Jesus wandered from town to town with no place to call His own. If He suffered such things, I should expect some level of suffering for following Him.  There is a cost to following Christ.  Am I prepared to pay the price?  Are you? Jesus said, “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.  The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world.  I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.  Do you remember wheat I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you.” (John 15:16-20) Sounds pretty sc
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Day 35: One Thing

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Read: Matthew 6:33   Matthew 6 | NIV Bible | YouVersion In her devotional, “Desert Journey”, Ingrid Blixt says, “The spiritual desert will push you until you realize, ‘But God first.   God’s kingdom first.’ A singular wish, a singular mission.   The truth is, from the garden of our comfort zone, we can only see the tame blooms of self-sufficiency. but when we step into the desert, we sometimes see the wild blooms of the cactus.” In the desert, my focus is sharpened to that single mission: more of God.   God’s kingdom first.   I want—no, I NEED one thing and one thing only: God.   That unquenched thirst becomes finely tuned to the one thing I really need, which is God and God alone.   When I am moving happily along in pleasant places, there is much to distract me from what I really need.   Distractions abound on every side.   The desert is where I begin to recognize what is really important, and my desperation to get it intensifies.   All the pretty little novelties that call for
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Day 34: A Way Out

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Read: Matthew 4:1-11   Matthew 4 | NIV Bible | YouVersion Lent is actually a 40-day season of the Church Calendar intended to reflect Jesus’ 40 days in the desert that we read about in today’s Scripture passage.   It was during this time of extended prayer and fasting that Jesus faced temptation from the devil. Note that Satan did not tempt Jesus at His baptism or in the Temple.   He tempted Him in the desert, when he was alone, hungry, and tired.   Satan often tries to tempt us when we are vulnerable.   He knows it’s easier to get to us when we are under stress. Satan tempted Jesus in 3 areas in which we all are commonly tempted: physical needs and desires; power and possessions; and pride.   But Jesus came through every temptation as an overcomer. Why did Jesus have to be tempted?   It was a challenge to His humanity.   Yes, Jesus was fully God, but He was also fully human.   These temptations were very real and challenged Jesus at the core of who He was.   And because He f
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