{"id":24299,"date":"2021-03-03T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/?p=24299"},"modified":"2021-03-02T14:50:22","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T19:50:22","slug":"our-lenten-journey-faith-is-the-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/our-lenten-journey-faith-is-the-key\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Lenten Journey: Faith is the Key"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wednesday in the Second Week of Lent, Year B<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

03 March 2021<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faith is the Key                                                                                                          <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading:<\/strong>Romans 4: 13-25<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scripture:<\/em> <\/strong>  \u201cFor the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith\u2026it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants. (Romans 4: 13 \u2013 16)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflection:  <\/em><\/strong>What can we give God to secure a place for ourselves and earn our way into heaven?  Matthew 7: 21 says \u201cNot everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven…\u201d Matthew 19: 24 says, \u201cAgain I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich, to enter the kingdom of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was hard for me to come to terms with the fact that a sinner and murderer, in their last living moments, could call upon the Lord and be saved; that, after living a life causing hurt and destruction and death to others, God would still welcome them with open arms. Wide open arms, as was the case of the prodigal son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It hurt to know that while I struggle to stay on the right path, doing the things God asks of me, denying myself and taking up my cross to follow Him, it was almost as if my obedience, though not perfect obedience, didn\u2019t count for much. Those, however, are not thoughts originating from love, but from a place of selfishness. The truth is, I myself am a sinner and I do fall short. So, why should I expect He would welcome me back, and not do the same for others?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can imagine Him looking down on me and thinking, \u201cOh, my child, but is DOES matter. It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. You are safe in my arms but my heart bleeds for your brothers and sisters who need to find their way to me and the safety of my care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this Lenten season, I continue to pray that the Lord will search my heart. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faith in Jesus Christ and acceptance of Him as our Lord and Saviour, is KEY. May I receive my inheritance through my righteousness of faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meditation: \u201c<\/strong>The only way you\u2019re going to reach places you\u2019ve never gone is if you trust God\u2019s direction to do things you\u2019ve never done before.\u201d (Germany Kent)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prayer:<\/em><\/strong> Dear Lord, we are so grateful that You always act out of love for us, even when we are so undeserving. Amen.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The St. Jude\u2019s Writers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. Jude\u2019s Church<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stony Hill<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anglican Diocese of Jamaica and The Cayman Islands<\/p>\n\n\n\n

03 March 2021<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wednesday in the Second Week of Lent, Year B 03 March 2021 Faith is the Key                                                                                                           Reading:Romans…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":24288,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","ctfw-has-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/610"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24299"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24300,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24299\/revisions\/24300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}