Victory! (Chapter 8) (Wednesday in the third week of Lent)

PAUSE
As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly to recenter my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

(pause)
I pray Psalm 22: 10-11, repeating the words slowly, several times:
“From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.”

REFLECT
Bible: “Where, 0 death, is your victory? Where, 0 death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Cor. 15:55-58)

Book passage: “This is not the worst thing to ever happen!” wrote my friend Margaret Lee as she lay dying of cancer. “Cancer is so limited. It cannot cripple love, shatter hope, corrode faith, eat away peace, destroy confidence, kill friendship, shut out memories, silence courage, quench the Spirit, or lessen the power of Jesus.” (p. 107)

ASK
Ask myself: As Christians, we believe in life after death, but also life before death, and even line in the midst of death (as we see in saints like Margaret Lee). What might the resurrection power of Jesus look like in the midst ofmy struggle today? Ask the Lord: Lord, fill me afresh with Your Holy Spirit. Let my life be marked by defiant love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control

YIELD
The well-loved hymn of surrender, “All to Jesus I surrender,” by Judson W. Van De Venter:

All to Jesus I surrender
All to Him I freely give
I will ever love and trust Him In His presence daily live
I surrender all, I surrender all All to Thee, my blessed Savior I surrender all
Amen.