It feels odd to be thinking of ashes and death (signifying the beginning of Lent) and at the same time be celebrating love and loved ones. But for most of us the two do connect….
Read MoreEnjoy this preview of one of our devotions in our manuscript, Glory in Disguise: Experiencing God in Our Every Day by Jan Loyd & Penny Mandeville.
Dust to Glory: Honoring a Sanctuary
… for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.
Genesis 3:19 ESV
These words, spoken every Ash Wednesday in many Christian churches, has taken on a new meaning for me since my 91 year old mom passed away.
Read MoreFrom dust you have come, and to dust you shall return.
Ash Wednesday has taken on a new meaning for me in recent years, since my 91 year old mom passed away early in November 2015. There was something that arrested me right in my tracks the day of my mom's funeral. I was undone by deep sobs of realization. And the depth of it had been helped along by the incense and the reverence afforded the treatment of my dear mama's frail little body being put to rest (or so they say).
But it wasn't the finality of it all. It had already been final when she had breathed her last, days before.
No! It was the Sacredness that came crashing through!
Read MoreI grew up in a liturgical church. So from my childhood into my early adulthood, I observed the church calendar. Ash Wednesday marked a real turning point in the calendar year. It was a turn from comfort, frivolity, and enjoyment (think Mardi Gras) to a time of repentance, self-denial, and mortification called Lent. Ash Wednesday was a day when we all remembered that someday we would each die and face our Maker. The priest would put the sign of the cross on our foreheads in black ashes and say,
Remember, Man, that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return. [based on Genesis 3:19]
Read MoreFrom dust you have come, and to dust you shall return.
Ash Wednesday has taken on a new meaning for me in recent years, since my 91 year old mom passed away early in November 2015. There was something that arrested me right in my tracks the day of my mom's funeral. I was undone by deep sobs of realization. And the depth of it had been helped along by the incense and the reverence afforded the treatment of my dear mama's frail little body being put to rest (or so they say).
But it wasn't the finality of it all. It had already been final when she had breathed her last, days before.
No! It was the Sacredness that came crashing through!
Read MoreI grew up in a liturgical church. So from my childhood into my early adulthood, I observed the church calendar. Ash Wednesday marked a real turning point in the calendar year. It was a turn from comfort, frivolity, and enjoyment (think Mardi Gras) to a time of repentance, self-denial, and mortification called Lent. Ash Wednesday was a day when we all remembered that someday we would each die and face our Maker. The priest would put the sign of the cross on our foreheads in black ashes and say,
Remember, Man, that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return. [based on Genesis 3:19]
Read MoreFrom dust you have come, and to dust you shall return.
Ash Wednesday has taken on a new meaning for me in recent years, since my 91 year old mom passed away early in November 2015. There was something that arrested me right in my tracks the day of my mom's funeral. I was undone by deep sobs of realization. And the depth of it had been helped along by the incense and the reverence afforded the treatment of my dear mama's frail little body being put to rest (or so they say).
But it wasn't the finality of it all. It had already been final when she had breathed her last, days before.
No! It was the Sacredness that came crashing through!
Read MoreI grew up in a liturgical church. So from my childhood into my early adulthood, I observed the church calendar. Ash Wednesday marked a real turning point in the calendar year. It was a turn from comfort, frivolity, and enjoyment (think Mardi Gras) to a time of repentance, self-denial, and mortification called Lent. Ash Wednesday was a day when we all remembered that someday we would each die and face our Maker. The priest would put the sign of the cross on our foreheads in black ashes and say,
Remember, Man, that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return. [based on Genesis 3:19]
Read MoreFrom dust you have come, and to dust you shall return.
Ash Wednesday has taken on a new meaning for me in recent years, since my 91 year old mom passed away early in November 2015. There was something that arrested me right in my tracks the day of my mom's funeral. I was undone by deep sobs of realization. And the depth of it had been helped along by the incense and the reverence afforded the treatment of my dear mama's frail little body being put to rest (or so they say).
But it wasn't the finality of it all. It had already been final when she had breathed her last, days before.
No! It was the Sacredness that came crashing through!
Read More
I grew up in a liturgical church. So from my childhood into my early adulthood, I observed the church calendar. Ash Wednesday marked a real turning point in the calendar year. It was a turn from comfort, frivolity, and enjoyment (think Mardi Gras) to a time of repentance, self-denial, and mortification called Lent. Ash Wednesday was a day when we all remembered that someday we would each die and face our Maker. The priest would put the sign of the cross on our foreheads in black ashes and say,
Remember, Man, that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return. [based on Genesis 3:19]
A very sobering reminder...and I took it all very seriously.
Even though I'm not a part of a liturgical congregation now, I think it's a good thing to remember that death is up ahead for each of us.
But why death? The Bible says,
The wages of sin is death... Romans 6:23a
But the good news is
...the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23b
Pastor and Bible teacher, Chuck Swindoll, takes the symbolism of the ashen cross a step further. He says,
The mark is a sign of Christ's ownership of the person and a symbol of sorrow for sins...We are His possessions and a true appreciation for the cost of our salvation begins with an understanding of the seriousness of sin.
So while Ash Wednesday reminds us of our sin and our mortality, we can look ahead to Good Friday and Easter Sunday because we are His possession. We know the end of the story, and (as someone has said) "We win"...because HE won!
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 1Peter 2:24
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Hebrews 2:14-15
“Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” ...thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor 15:54-57
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For more about Lent and Ash Wednesday, visit the Voice blog.
Coming soon:
Lenten meditations: Jesus' Last Words from the Cross
Subscribe via email (right)
I grew up in a liturgical church. So from my childhood into my early adulthood, I observed the church calendar. Ash Wednesday marked a real turning point in the calendar year. It was a turn from comfort, frivolity, and enjoyment (think Mardi Gras) to a time of repentance, self-denial, and mortification called Lent.
Ash Wednesday was a day when we all remembered that someday we would each die and face our Maker. The priest would put the sign of the cross on our foreheads in black ashes and say,
Remember, Man, that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return. [based on Genesis 3:19]
A very sobering reminder...and I took it all very seriously.
Even though I'm not a part of a liturgical congregation now, I think it's a good thing to remember that death is up ahead for each of us.
But why death? The Bible says,
The wages of sin is death... Romans 6:23a
But the good news is
...the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23b
Pastor and Bible teacher, Chuck Swindoll, takes the symbolism of the ashen cross a step further. He says,
The mark is a sign of Christ's ownership of the person and a symbol of sorrow for sins...We are His possessions and a true appreciation for the cost of our salvation begins with an understanding of the seriousness of sin.
So while Ash Wednesday reminds us of our sin and our mortality, we can look ahead to Good Friday and Easter Sunday because we are His possession. We know the end of the story, and (as someone has said) "We win"...because HE won!
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 1Peter 2:24
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Hebrews 2:14-15
“Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” ...thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor 15:54-57
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For more about Lent and Ash Wednesday, visit the Voice blog.
A "must view" by the author of Almost Amish
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Coming soon: Lenten meditations: Jesus' Last Words from the Cross
Subscribe via email (right) or RSS (top right)
I grew up in a liturgical church. So from my childhood into my early adulthood, I observed the church calendar. Ash Wednesday marked a real turning point in the calendar year. It was a turn from comfort, frivolity, and enjoyment (think Mardi Gras) to a time of repentance, self-denial, and mortification called Lent.
Ash Wednesday was a day when we all remembered that someday we would each die and face our Maker. The priest would put the sign of the cross
on our foreheads in black ashes and say,
Remember, Man, that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return. [based on Genesis 3:19]
A very sobering reminder...and I took it all very seriously.
Even though I'm not a part of a liturgical congregation now, I think it's a good thing to remember that death is up ahead for each of us.
But why death? The Bible says,
The wages of sin is death... Romans 6:23a
But the good news is
...the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23b
Pastor and Bible teacher, Chuck Swindoll, takes the symbolism of the ashen cross a step further. He says,
The mark is a sign of Christ's ownership of the person and a symbol of sorrow for sins...We are His possessions and a true appreciation for the cost of our salvation begins with an understanding of the seriousness of sin.
So while Ash Wednesday reminds us of our sin and our mortality, we can look ahead to Good Friday and Easter Sunday because we are His possession. We know the end of the story, and (as someone has said) "We win"...because HE won!
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 1Peter 2:24
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Hebrews 2:14-15
“Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” ...thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor 15:54-57
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
More Lenten meditations to come: Jesus' last words from the Cross Subscribe via email (right) or RSS (top right)
Janet Renner Loyd has been a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ most of her life. Her formal education includes a degree in education from the University of Arizona and also a degree in Bible & Theology from Moody Bible Institute. For more than thirty years, she has been involved in teaching and leading women’s Bible studies, retreats, and meetings…most notably Precept upon Precept and various studies that she has personally developed. Professionally, Jan recently retired from teaching language and writing to GED and adult ESOL students.
About her life, Jan says, “The most important thing about me is my relationship with my Father God through my Lord Jesus Christ. I am forever grateful to Him for His love, mercy, and grace to me and my family and friends...and the world.”
Jan has been happily married to John Loyd for more than forty years. They have two adult, married children and five lively young grandsons.
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