Ash Wednesday

~ 40 Days Before Easter ~

 

Important Notes 

 

1) For many “Ash Wednesday” marks the beginning of the Easter season.

 

2) Ash Wednesday occurs 40 days before Easter (not counting Sundays) which makes Ash Wednesday in 2023 to be this past February 22^nd. 

 

3) Some churches observe the season of Lent which begins on Ash Wednesday by fasting (giving up) something. For some it may be certain foods. For others it may be a variety of other things.

 

4) Some churches use the symbolism of marking the foreheads of those participating with ashes in the form of a cross. In the Old Testament ashes were sometimes used as a symbol of humility.

 

5) History. Many believe the tradition goes back to the eleventh century. Some believe the practice to go back to Pope Gregory I in the late 500s. In reality we find ashes being placed on foreheads in the Old Testament (for example 2 Samuel 13:19).

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

 

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Ability > Failure > Progress > Success

~ Four States of Mankind Regarding Sin ~

Innocent Man (before The Fall)  ~  “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.  And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’” (Genesis 2:15-17).  God gave man clear instructions of what to do and what not to do. 

Adam had the ability to sin, but more importantly the ability not to sin!

Natural Man (after The Fall)  ~  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  The Apostle Paul explained it this way, “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.  For what I am doing, I do not understand.  For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.  If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.  But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.  For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.  Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me” (Romans 7:14-20).  Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden we are not able to not sin!  Fortunately, the believer who is experiencing normal (not average) spiritual growth is sinning less and less as they are in the process of becoming transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. 

Regenerated Man  ~  “Put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him” (Colossians 3:9b-10).  “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).  The Christian is a “new creation” in Christ – not a “makeover.”  As a believer with the indwelling Holy Spirit we are able to not sin!

Glorified Man  ~  “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!  Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.  Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.  And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:1-3).  Our final stage will be when we are transformed and no longer able to sin!

Comment  ~  These four categorizations are from Augustine of Hippo in “The Bondage of the Will.” 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

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Question – Jesus, 179of179

 ~ Regarding “How Long” (3X) ~

 

Introduction  ~  This series is about questions involving Jesus.  Some were asked by individuals involved with Jesus Christ while He walked on earth.  Others are questions that Jesus Christ asked others.  We will look at questions on over 160 topics (some may split into two or more posts).  Even so, it is far from an exhaustive list. 

 

Remark  ~  The last two weeks posts in this series and this final post are by far the most important posts in the entire series! 

 

Scripture  ~  “And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, ‘What are you discussing with them?’ …

 

“He answered him and said, ‘O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me.’ 

 

Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.

 

“So He asked his father, ‘How long has this been happening to him?’

 

“And he said, ‘From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.  But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.’

 

“Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.’ 

 

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!’ …

 

“So He said to them, ‘This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting’ (Mark 9:14-29).

 

Comment  ~  “How long” is repeated three times in this passage. 

The key question and most important question for you to answer during your life on earth is “How long will it be before you accept the forgiveness of your sins offered to you by your Creator?”  He is patiently waiting you.  The Spirit of God may well be tugging at your heart.  What will you do with Christ?  If you need assistance I suggest that you check out https://three-two-one.org/

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

 

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In Jesus We Have… , 13

~ In Jesus We Have Righteousness: Luke’s Gospel ~

 

Introduction  ~  In this series we look at a few of the verses which state what we have when we are “in Christ.”  Consider our series theme verse: 

 

“God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:4-10).

 

Scripture  ~  “To grant us that we being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life” (Luke 1:74-75).

 

Additional Scripture  ~  “And behold, the word of the Lord came to him [Abram], saying, ‘This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.’  Then He brought him outside and said, ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.’  And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’  And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:4-6),

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

 

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Fool Characteristics, #2

~ Fools Hate Knowledge (Truth) ~

 

Series Note  ~  In this series we look at some of the passages in the Book of Proverbs – wise sayings that are generally true – that describe a fool from God’s perspective.  Some may surprise you. 

 

Scripture  ~  “Wisdom calls aloud outside; she raises her voice in the open squares.  ‘She cries out in the chief concourses, at the openings of the gates in the city she speaks her words: “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?  For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge.  Turn at my rebuke; surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.  Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, because you disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, when your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you” (Proverbs 1:20-27).

 

Important Truth  ~  “The fool has said in his heart, ‘there is no God’” (Psalm 53:1a).

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

 

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Readiness

~ Are You Prepared and Ready In 7 Critical Areas? ~

 

Ready To Hear (discipleship)  ~  “Keep thy foot when thou go into the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil” (Ecclesiastes 5:1).

 

Ready To Do (service)  ~  “And the king’s servants said to the king, ‘We are your servants, ready to do whatever my lord the king commands’” (2 Samuel 15:15).

 

Ready To Witness (evangelization)  ~  “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed” (1 Peter 3:15-16). 

 

Ready To Give (stewardship)  ~  “Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation” (2 Corinthians 9:5).

 

Ready To Preach (instruction)  ~   “I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise.  So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also” (Romans 1:14-15).

 

Ready To Suffer or Die (commitment)  ~  “Paul answered, ‘What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart?  For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus’” (Acts 21:13).

 

Ready For The Rapture (eternal joy)  ~  Jesus said, “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Mathew 24:44).

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

 

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Contrast, 18

~ Contrast: Conflict or Victory ~

 

Series Comment ~ The Scripture contains many contrasts.  In this series we look briefly at some of them.  Just like in our “Binary” series many of these contrasts represent a choice of this or that.

 

Scripture 1 (a life of conflict) ~ “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Galatians 5:17).

 

“For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.  O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:22-25).

 

Scripture 2 (the way of victory) ~ “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.  So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

 

“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.  Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.  And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

 

“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors — not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.  For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:2-13).

 

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.  For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.  …

 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control.  Against such there is no law.  And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16-18, 22-25).

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW 

 

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God Attribute, 62

~ Christ Is The Lord Of All ~

 

This Series  ~  This series of posts looks at some of the many attributes of God.  Generally, we move in alphabetical order.

 

Introduction  ~  Christ is the Lord of all because of both His eternal deity and His creation of this world.  The resulting issue is whether individuals understand, accept, and live according to this reality. 

 

Scripture  ~  “This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown.  For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:4-7).

 

“Then Peter opened his mouth and said: ‘In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.  But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.  The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ — He is Lord of all” (Acts 10:34-36).

 

Comment  ~  He is Lord!  That is a fact, whether you accept it or not!  The resulting question which follows “are you willing to make Him the Lord of your life?” That’s a tremendously large subject but one which each of us should consider carefully. 

 

Quote  ~  “Christ will be Lord or He will be Judge.  Every man must decide whether he will take Him as Lord now, or face Him as Judge then!”  A.W. Tozer 

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

 

Why Trust God? 47

~ God Returned The Ark ~

 

Introduction  ~  “Abundant Life Now” previously provided a list of Biblical of examples of fearing / reverencing God (217 posts).  In this current series we look at Biblical accounts that demonstrate that we can fully trust God.  Initially we posted seven general reasons for trusting God.  We are currently looking at passages from all 66 books of Scripture which demonstrate a reason for trusting our Creator. 

 

Scripture  ~  “Now the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months.  And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, ‘What shall we do with the ark of the Lord?  Tell us how we should send it to its place’” (1 Samuel 6:1-2).

 

“Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord.  He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter.  And the men of Beth Shemesh said, ‘Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God?  And to whom shall it go up from us?’  So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath Jearim, saying, ‘The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord; come down and take it up with you’” (1 Samuel 6:19-21).

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

 

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Question – Jesus, 178

~ Regarding “How Long” ~

 

Introduction  ~  This series is about questions involving Jesus.  Some were asked by individuals involved with Jesus Christ while He walked on earth.  Others are questions that Jesus Christ asked others.  We will look at questions on over 160 topics (some may split into two or more posts).  Even so, it is far from an exhaustive list. 

 

Scripture  ~  “And He said, ‘Go, and tell this people: “Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.  Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed’.”    

 

“Then I said, ‘Lord, how long?’

 

“And He answered: ‘Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, the houses are without a man, the land is utterly desolate, the Lord has removed men far away and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.  But yet a tenth will be in it, and will return and be for consuming, as a terebinth tree or as an oak, whose stump remains when it is cut down.  So the holy seed shall be its stump’” (Isaiah 6:9-13).

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

 

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