L.Y.F.E. is………
Blessings and greetings L.Y.F.E. family!
Welcome to another edition of “L.Y.F.E. is…”!
We hope and pray that your hearts are encouraged and that you are blessed by this devotional!
Title: How To Be An Ambassador for Christ During The Lenten Season
Scripture: “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV)
It’s the Lenten Season!
This year, Lent begins on Wednesday, March 2nd” “Ash Wednesday” and ends on Saturday, April 16th, the day before Easter or Resurrection Sunday. Lent is 40 days long, not including Sundays and is connected to and symbolic of the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness. It is a time of reflection, meditation, repentance, and forgiveness in which some people typically “give up” something for the 40 days as a sign of self-sacrifice. Some people might even “take up” something as a symbol of self-discipline to represent Jesus Christ’s sacrifice when He went to the desert to pray and fast for the 40 days on His journey to the Cross.
Our devotional this month is taken in part from the book entitled, Messages of Finding Purposes for Lent 2022, 3-Minute Devotionals[1] by Michael White and Tom Corcoran. Here, the authors tell us that our purpose in life is to be Christ’s presence in the world.
Our sacred text written by Paul, substantiates this by declaring and reminding us that we are all “ambassadors of Christ.”
Every Christian is an ambassador for Christ and through us God is appealing to others to be reconciled to God. As ambassadors for Christ, we are called to speak truth to power and shine the light of Christ in a dark and deceitful world on a path of hope and liberation. As ambassadors for Christ, we stand up for social justice and against oppression and the “isms” of the world that would otherwise hold us back and down.
The Bible teaches us that we are the salt and the light of the earth. (Matt. 5:13-16) In short, this means that we should be aware and mindful of how we live our lives so that we make a clear positive impact on those whom we come in contact with. This is because we are representing Christ everywhere we go and not ourselves.
In our respective workplaces and amongst family and friends we can be ambassadors for Christ by giving witness of our testimony of what God has done for us and just how good God has been to us, in spite of and because of ourselves. We should tell somebody how God has healed us; how God has provided for us; how God protected us; how God made a way for us; and yes, how God sustained us, even now.
So when we forgive each other-we are good ambassadors for Christ; when we love our neighbors as ourselves-we are good ambassadors for Christ; when we pray for others more than ourselves-we are ambassadors for Christ; when we treat the foreigner and stranger like family-we are good ambassadors; when we show mercy and love to one another-we are good ambassadors of Christ.
During this Lenten Season, we must remember the “left out”; the “left behind”; the “lonely”; the “lowly”; the “locked out”; the “low down”; and the “locked down.” As we journey to the Cross with Christ, we pray for our sisters and brothers in the Ukraine. We even pray for Russia. We lift up prayers for Black and Brown people who persistently and consistently seek impartiality and equality in the face of injustice. Our prayers go out to those who may have experienced a loss during the pandemic.
Moreover, when we are ambassadors for Christ; we strengthen our connection with God, each other, and the world. HALLELUJAH!
During this Lenten Season, think of some possible ways in which, you too, can be good ambassadors for Christ as we journey to the Cross with Jesus. This is how we will “Strengthen Our Connection with God, with others, and with the world.”
Let us pray.
Lenten Prayer: O LORD, today we pray for the strength, wisdom, courage, and boldness to be an ambassador for Christ. O God, help us to model Christ’s love so that we draw others to You. May we represent You well so that others may be led to the Cross, where they will come to know Your Son, Jesus for themselves. Merciful One, we ask that You show and teach us O God how we should be. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
GOD bless and love you all!
[1] Corcoran, Tom and White, Michael. Messages of Finding Purposes for Lent 2022, 3-Minute Devotionals. Ave Maria Press, Inc. Notre Dame, IN. 2021
