Day 8 includes personal revelation for your discernment to grow in your relationship with the Lord during this liturgical season of Lent.
Welcome to Truth of the Spirit. I am your host, Patti Brunner. This is day 8 of our series “Daily Meditations for Lent – Lenten Logos, it’s the Wednesday of first week of Lent. It’s been a whole week since Ash Wednesday. How are you doing? Each day during Lent we will share personal revelation and meditation from those logos, those words from the Lord.
Audio and video:
The Lord said, “Dear child, you do not look to the right or the left, but at times you do step back—not to worry. You are well guarded on my path. Look towards the heavens as you stumble rather than staring at the stumbling stone. Look at the goal and not the diversions that cause you to pause. Pausing is ok but the goal is what really matters. My goodness awaits the faithful servant. Continue to seek righteousness,” the Lord says. “My Glory abounds as honor is given where honor is due. Seek my kingdom with all your heart and you will see God. My face will not be hidden from you and the keys will not be taken away from you. Send your praise to the Lord every day. Send praises in joy for that which you already have and that which is to come. My child, your help is in the Lord who heaven and earth. Trust Me with your whole heart and soul and you will know Me, truly.”
The Lord said, “My child, when out of the depths you call to Me, I shall always reach down and draw you to myself. In my arms you shall find your peace that passes all understanding, all “comprehension”. For in my arms you shall enter the “zone” that goes beyond the torment of the accuser, the evil one. Let go of his torment, dear child, know my love for you and rest deeply in my arms—if only for a while—and you shall be refreshed.
“The difference is life; the difference is grace entering in and resting within your heart instead of “bouncing” off the exterior, hardened by lack of trust in My Goodness and Mercy. I love you. As you “return” to that truth you will find all sorts of pathways cleared of the stumbling stones placed there by your enemies.” The Lord continues, “As I caution you to trust my Word and avoid the occasion of sin—including the sin of self-pity—remember to advance the Kingdom in all that you do.”
The Lord said, “My daughter, do not fear the clock keeper. Time is created to have order in this world that was in chaos.”
This time of year, we are drawn to watch the Mel Gibson’s movie “The Passion of Christ”. There are touching scenes of Mother Mary as she accepted the Cross and then at the end when she looked directly at us as she stood at the foot of the cross. When the cross was stood up at Calvary, I kept hearing the Lord’s voice through Moses telling the people to look upon that thing which they feared as he raised the snake on the pole and telling them they would be set free from the fear and their problem overcome. I then heard the Lord telling me, over and over, to “Look at the cross. Look at the cross; see the death and the suffering. No longer be afraid of either.” I began to realize that in my accepting the cross, in Jesus accepting the cross, death and suffering are overcome; they can no longer affect us, no longer have ‘power’ over us. We are set free. It is a time to hear once again the words, “Fear Not!”
In scripture, Philippians 2:5, Paul writes, “Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, 6 Who, though he was in the form of God did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. 7 Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, 8 he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 602 “Consequently, St. Peter can formulate the apostolic faith in the divine plan of salvation in this way: “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers . . . with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake.” Man’s sins, following on original sin, are punishable by death. By sending his own Son in the form of a slave, in the form of a fallen humanity, on account of sin, God “made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
When Adam and Eve chose to sin it broke the spiritual connection between God and man and caused limitations on man’s understanding and knowledge of God.
We see how Adam’s sin directly affected the next generation by distorting Cain’s view of God. Trying to reconnect to God, sacrifices were offered by Adam’s sons. Cain’s sacrifice did not please God as Abel’s faith offering did. Cain reacted in resentment and depression and turned to murder instead of trying to improve his relationship with God. Like Cain, we have inherited the effect of the first sin; we are separated from knowing and trusting God. We seek self-sufficiency and live for this world rather than for the Kingdom of God.
Twenty generations later, Isaac was chosen to be a sacrifice. Abraham, who fully accepted the gift of faith, obeyed God. Now, Abraham’s world revolved around Isaac, the child given in his old age. God tested Abraham by asking him to offer his son in sacrifice. The blood sacrifice was a sign of the covenant. God wants us, too, to be willing to trust Him enough that we would set aside that which we love or desire most to deepen our relationship with Him. He wants us to trust Him whatever the sacrifice. Abraham was obedient. Isaac carried the wood up the hill on his shoulder just as Jesus carried the wood up Calvary. God stopped the hand of Abraham and provided an alternate animal sacrifice, a ram. By covenant, since Abraham was willing to give the life of his only son, God was willing to sacrifice his son, Jesus.
In the time of Moses, the Passover lamb foreshadowed the Lamb of God. The Israelites were instructed to take the blood of an unblemished lamb and apply it to the doorposts and lintel, to the cross-beam, to allow the angel of death to pass over the household when the 10th and final plague struck the Egyptians. The first Passover meal took place in each household. God instructed them to consume the entire lamb to complete the covenant act of sacrifice. Sharing the sacrifice brought relationship with God. Just as the Israelites were set free from slavery and death by the Passover sacrifice, Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, sets all mankind free from the slavery of sin and eternal death.
It was during the celebration of the Passover anniversary feast that Jesus became the sacrificial Lamb of God, perfect and unblemished. He was a true blood sacrifice of obedience as He freely chose to lay down his life on the cross.
We ask you to click like, subscribe for free and join us each day for Daily Meditations for Lent – Lenten Logos with Patti Brunner. “The event of the Cross and Resurrection abides and draws everything toward life.”[i] “Prepare for it, ready your heart.” The transcript of this episode is available at PatriarchMinistries.com. Come back tomorrow for more. With the Holy Spirit there’s always more. Amen
[i] Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraph 1085
