Woodmont Students

Lenten Reflections – Ethan Harris

Text: Mark 6:4-6
Then Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honor, except in their home town, and among their own kin, and in their own house.’ And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Reflection:
I, like many others, have probably read this text with the mindset that this is a story to show how miracles can only be displayed to those who believe, and this story certainly delivers that message candidly. Earlier in the chapter it even states that the people of the town were “offended” by Jesus’s actions. What would cause people to be offended by the miracles of Jesus? Don’t miracles help other people?

I think it is very similar to the observance of the Lenten season. I remember when I was a very young child, and I first heard about Lent. I thought it was weird, and in fact, I was upset when my mother told little old me to give up something for 40 days. I mean, when you are a young boy, 40 days might as well be 40 years. At first I didn’t see any point, and I must admit, that I even cheated a little when I would sneak a cookie I knew I shouldn’t eat (Since I had given up desserts for Lent). But as I got older, I learned more about the purpose of Lent, and it began to hold a special meaning, and now I look forward to Lent.

But to hearken back to my earlier days, the whole idea of Lent was silly and annoying; much in the same way Jesus probably was received for his miracles in his hometown. I mean, I was a good little Christian boy, and why would Lent be something I should do when I already knew all about this “Jesus stuff”. So I didn’t understand why it was important. I feel like one of the problems the people of the city had, was not that they didn’t believe in God, but that they thought they already knew Jesus, and so they couldn’t, in their minds, understand his miracles. In the same way, I felt like I knew Jesus enough, so there was no need to understand him more by giving up stuff I enjoyed. So I hope over this Lent season that I don’t allow what “I think I know” about Jesus, get in the way of really believing in him. Because as soon I as I think I know the answer to the question, I have already missed the point.

-Ethan Harris

Prayer: 
God, I pray that you grant us the insight to put away what we think we know, and to focus what you wish for us to understand.

Lenten Reflections – David Williams

Galatians 5: 19, 22-23
It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; [and] all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants … But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard-things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity.

Reflection:
Prayer is at the center of Christian life. Because it is our way of communicating with God, Christians have a duty to pray much and often. The form is simple and very familiar to most Christians: We lift up to God our concerns, our desires, our questions, and our praise, and God answers us as only he can. This is the way it has been since the pre-Davidic era. The only trouble is the space between our prayer and God’s response. Sometimes, it seems that we wait forever for an answer that isn’t coming. We can get so caught up in getting what we want that we miss out on what God wants to do in us.

Much of the time, Christians celebrate the season of Lent by giving up something enjoyable until Easter. One person might give up chocolate, another might forgo watching primetime television. But the spirit of Lent is not so much that we should stop doing the things we like, but rather that we should reorient our lives around God and give him room to work in us by relinquishing something relatively unimportant in our lives.

Lent is good spiritual training because it teaches us that God’s plans and desires should come before ours. God’s will for us doesn’t change depending on our satisfaction, and we shouldn’t live so that we need to be pleased before we listen to God. And more often than not, Lent teaches us that when we put God first in our lives, we don’t have trouble finding joy in our everyday lives-even if we don’t have everything we want.

Practice:
Today, let this Lenten attitude spill over into your prayer life. Draw your focus away from what God can do for you, and spend time listening for what you can do for God. Maybe God is waiting for you. Maybe he wants you to take the next big step in your relationship with him so that he can finally bless you with his plans for the next part of your life. Don’t stop asking God for good things, and don’t stop expecting God to answer your prayers, because he will. But don’t get so caught up in getting what you want from him that you miss what he wants you to have in the here and now. Put God first, and everything else will fall into place.

Lenten Reflections – Courtney Carpenter

Text: Genesis 50: 15-26
When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.  His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.  But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.   Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father’s family. He lived a hundred and ten years and saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph’s knees. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.”  So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Reflection:
In this passage the father, Jacob, left it to Joseph to forgive the sins of his brothers. While Joseph did forgive them, he asked “Am I in the place of God?” He knew they must ask God to forgive them. Joseph brought the focus back to God. He made the evil work for good, He will forgive, He will provide. Joseph only focused on God while the brothers were seemingly still focused only on their own saftey.

In our world, we tend to focus on ourselves. What we want and what we need is the focal point. We focus on what God can do for us. I’m not very old but my generation is very self-centered. We are like the brothers, only searching for things that will make us feel better. What if we practiced and strove to be like Joseph? What would it look like if we turned the focal point back to God? What if instead of complaining and being victims in bad situations, people realized that there is growth and goodness in pain and brokenness. What if instead of people trying so hard to please other people, they tried that hard to please God. What if instead of harsh words, anger and revenge you said to your enemy, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, don’t be afraid.” This world is not our home. Heaven is home, because Jesus died and rose. What if we lived in a way that showed how much Jesus loves us? Simply, let go of our human selfishness and put on love.

-Courtney Carpenter

Prayer:
Lord, open my eyes. I want to see you in everything. I want to see you in my life and I want to be a reflection of you to those around me. Lord, give me strength to focus on you and not myself. Guide me Lord, to let go of my selfish nature and put on love.