Fear Not, I Am With You

Reading : Jeremiah 30 :1-10

“Fear not, O Jacob my servant… 

for behold, I will save you from far away.” 

Jeremiah 30:10

Lent reminds us that God does not stop loving us when we are fearful, wounded, or far from Him. In Jeremiah 30:1–10, God speaks to His people in a time of trouble and exile. They are shaken and distressed, but the Lord does not abandon them. Instead, He tells Jeremiah to write down His promises so His people will remember that He has not forgotten them. He says that He will save them, restore them, and bring them back. This shows us the heart of God. He is a God who seeks His people. His love is always moving toward us, even when we feel lost or burdened. As Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.” Billy Graham once said that faith points us beyond our problems to the hope we have in Christ. That is what God is doing here—lifting His people’s eyes from their fear to His saving love.

This passage also speaks to the ways we hide from God. When life is painful, we may become silent, discouraged, or inwardly closed. We may try to cover our fears and disappointments instead of bringing them honestly to Him. But God says, “Do not fear” and “Do not be dismayed.” He invites us to come as we are. Malcolm Muggeridge wrote that every happening can become a way through which God speaks to us. Even hard seasons can draw us back to Him. Lent is a time to stop pretending and to pour out our hearts before God. “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

The deepest comfort in Jeremiah 30 is God’s promise: “I am with you… to save you.” God does not only change circumstances; He restores relationship. He brings His people back to Himself. B. B. Warfield reminds us that our acceptance with God rests in Jesus Christ alone, not in our own goodness. We can come honestly, trusting the mercy of the Savior who seeks us and brings us home.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You that Your love seeks us even when we are afraid and far away. Help us not to hide from You, but to come honestly with all our fears and needs. Teach us to trust Your saving love and to rest in Christ alone. Amen.

Gift of a New Heart

Reading : Ezekiel 36:22–30

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.

Ezekiel 36:26

Lent reminds us that God’s love does not wait for us to become clean before He comes near. In Ezekiel 36:22–30, the Lord speaks to a people who have failed Him, yet His answer is not abandonment but mercy: “I will sprinkle clean water on you,” “I will cleanse you,” “I will give you a new heart,” and “I will put my Spirit within you.” God is seeking more than outward reform; He is seeking restored communion. He wants us to stop pretending, stop covering our emptiness, and come honestly into His presence. Eugene Peterson beautifully helps us here: the heart is the common ground where God and we meet. It is the place where forgiveness is cultivated, where faith first takes root, where love grows, where hope blossoms, and where mercy reaches fruition. No wonder God’s great promise in this passage is not merely better behavior, but a new heart. David prays, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10), and here God Himself answers that prayer with grace.

This makes Lent a season not merely of self-denial, but of heart-work. Peterson reminds us that the heart is God’s greatest gift to us, but also one of our greatest responsibilities, because precious gifts can be neglected, hardened, and squandered. If we are careless, indifferent, or spiritually lazy, we may lose heart—or worse, develop a hard heart. That is why Scripture says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23). Yet Ezekiel gives us hope even here: God does not simply command a hard heart to soften itself. He says, “I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Worship opens the heart to the love of God. Lent calls us to bring God our real condition—our hidden sin, weariness, resistance, and fear—and to let Him do His cleansing work.

The goal of all this mercy is communion: “You shall be my people, and I will be your God” (Ezekiel 36:28). The Holy Spirit brings new life, and that is exactly Ezekiel’s promise. God seeks us not to shame us, but to dwell with us, to make the heart alive again, and to restore fruitfulness where there has been barrenness. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us” (1 John 1:9). “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). So we need not hide from Him. We may present ourselves honestly before the God who seeks us, trusting that He will cleanse, renew, and sustain the life He has planted within us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, 

Thank You that Your love is forever seeking communion with us. Thank You for the gift of the heart, where You meet us in mercy and truth. Forgive us for the ways we have neglected or hardened it. Remove from us every heart of stone, and give us hearts of flesh. Put Your Spirit within us, cleanse us, and teach us to guard our hearts with holy care. Keep us from hiding, and help us to come honestly into Your presence, trusting Your power to make us new.

Amen

God Who Will Not Let Go

 

Reading : Matthew 18:10-14 

It is not the will of your Father who is in heaven 

that one of these little ones should perish.

Matthew 18:14

Lent teaches us that grace begins not with our search for God, but with God’s search for us. In Matthew 18:10–14, Jesus tells of a shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine sheep and goes looking for the one that has wandered away. This shows us the heart of God. He cares deeply for every person He has made. He does not forget the one who has drifted, been hurt, or gone astray. Scripture says, “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away” (Ezekiel 34:16), and “The Lord is patient… not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). God’s love is always reaching out, always calling us back, always inviting us into close fellowship with Him.

Many of us pull away from God. We may try to cover our feelings, our sins, our disappointments, or our fears. We may act as though everything is fine, even when our hearts are troubled. But God does not seek us in order to shame us. He seeks us to bring us back. Jesus shows us that the Father is not looking for a reason to push us away; He wants to welcome us home. C. S. Lewis wrote, “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there.” We are always being invited to choose trust instead of fear. When we come to God honestly, we discover that His mercy is greater than our wandering. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us” (1 John 1:9).

This love also teaches us how to care for others, especially children and those who are spiritually vulnerable. If God values each little one, then so should we. By kindness, truth, prayer, and example, we can help point others toward Christ. Lent calls us to come to God as we truly are and to trust the Shepherd who still goes looking for every wandering sheep.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You that Your love is always reaching out to us. When we drift away, call us back. Help us not to cover up our fears and sins, but to come to You honestly. Thank You that You do not turn us away, but welcome us with mercy. Make us gentle and faithful in helping others find their way to Christ. Amen. 

Jesus Calls You By Name

No Longer Hiding

Reading : Luke 19:1–10

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

Luke 19:10

Lent reminds us that the first movement in salvation is always God’s. In Luke 19:1–10, Zacchaeus seems to be seeking Jesus, but behind that human curiosity stands the deeper reality that Jesus is already seeking him. Zacchaeus hides in a sycamore tree, separated by shame, wealth, and the disapproval of the crowd. Yet Christ stops, looks up, calls him by name, and says, “I must stay at your house today.” This is the heart of the gospel: not only that we long for God, but that God’s love is forever seeking communion with us. Through Ezekiel, the Lord declares, “As a shepherd seeks out his flock… so will I seek out my sheep” (Ezekiel 34:12), and again, “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away” (Ezekiel 34:16). Zacchaeus is one more living proof that God does not abandon the lost; He comes after them with mercy. As William Barclay observes, beneath the outward life of Zacchaeus there was a soul still reaching for God.

How often we, too, hide from the Lord. We hide behind religion, busyness, politeness, or the fear of being truly known. Yet Jesus does not seek us in order to shame us, but to save us. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17). Alexander Maclaren reminds us that Christ forces Himself on no one, yet withholds Himself from no one. His love is gentle, but it is persistent. He calls us out of concealment into honesty. Zacchaeus had to come down from the tree; in the same way, we are called during Lent to come down from our hiding places and stand before God as we truly are. The Lord who seeks the lost also welcomes the truthful heart: “A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17).

Matthew Henry says that where Christ comes, He brings salvation with Him. That is exactly what happened in the house of Zacchaeus. The man who had lived for gain now opens his hands in repentance and restitution. The one who had hidden himself now receives Jesus joyfully. This is what happens when the seeking love of God is welcomed: communion replaces distance, grace overcomes shame, and transformation begins. Lent invites us not to hide from God, but to present ourselves to Him honestly, trusting that the One who seeks us comes not to condemn, but to save, restore, and bring us home.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You that Your love is forever seeking communion with us. When we hide in fear or shame, come and call us by name. Give us grace to present ourselves to You honestly, without pretense or delay. Lord Jesus, thank You that You came not to condemn but to save. Seek us, restore us, and bring Your salvation into the house of our hearts. Amen.

Jesus Meets Us in Ordinary Places

Reading : John 4:5–26 (27–42)

“Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am he.’” — John 4:26

John reminds us that meeting God face-to-face does not always happen in dramatic or spectacular ways. Sometimes it happens in the middle of an ordinary day, beside an ordinary well, during an ordinary task. The Samaritan woman came to draw water, expecting nothing more than the routine of daily life. Instead, she found herself in conversation with Jesus. He met her in her weariness, in her isolation, and in the hidden places of her heart. This is the wonder of grace: the Lord often comes to us not when we are looking impressive or spiritually strong, but when we are simply thirsty, burdened, and aware of our need. What seemed like a chance meeting was in fact a divine appointment.

As the conversation unfolds, Jesus gently leads her from surface concerns to deeper truth. He speaks first of water, then of living water; first of physical thirst, then of the thirst of the soul. He sees her life completely, including the pain, brokenness, and confusion she carries, yet He does not turn away from her. He speaks truthfully, but never cruelly. He exposes her need in order to heal it, not to shame her. In this we see what it means to meet God face-to-face: to be fully known and yet still invited closer. Jesus reveals that true worship is not tied to one mountain or one religious system, but to a heart awakened by the Spirit and drawn into truth. The woman who may have expected condemnation instead finds herself standing before the Messiah, the One who alone can satisfy the deepest longing of the human heart.

That is why this passage is such a beautiful picture of personal encounter with God. Meeting Jesus face-to-face changes the woman from someone who came empty and alone into someone who leaves with joy, purpose, and testimony. She came carrying a water jar; she left carrying good news. So it is with us. When Christ meets us, He does more than answer a question or ease a momentary burden. He calls us into a new life. He takes the ordinary places of our lives and fills them with holy presence. He meets us in truth and grace, and from that meeting, our hearts are changed. The invitation of this passage is simple and searching: come honestly to Jesus with your thirst, your questions, your wounds, and your past. He already knows you fully, and yet He still says, in effect, “I am here. I am the One you need.”

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank You that You meet us in ordinary places and speak to us with truth and grace. Thank You that in Jesus we are fully known and deeply loved. Draw us to You with all our thirst, our questions, and our hidden pain, and fill our hearts with the living water only Christ can give. Teach us to worship You in spirit and in truth, and let our meeting with Jesus change us so deeply that we gladly tell others what He has done for us. Amen.

Abba, Father

Reading : Romans 8:1-17

God’s family Circle

All who follow the leading of God’s Spirit are 

God’s own children.

Romans 8:14 

Lent is a season for coming back to God with honesty, humility, and hope. Paul reminds us that we do not come as condemned people, but as those made alive in Christ. He says that “no condemnation now hangs over the head of those who are ‘in’ Jesus Christ,” because the new life of the Spirit lifts us out of the old circle of sin and death.  That is where this devotion begins: not with dread, but with grace. If we are in Christ, then Jesus is not far from us. By His Spirit He is living in us, strengthening us, and drawing us toward the Father.

Paul’s language about adoption is especially tender. We are not meant to fall back into fear, but to know that we have been brought into “the very family circle of God,” so that we can say, “Father, my Father.”  Lent invites us to let that truth sink deep into our hearts. We may not always feel secure, but the Spirit confirms inwardly that we really are God’s children. We no longer stand outside the door, wondering if we belong. In Christ, we are welcomed, loved, and led.

Yet Paul also tells us that if we share Christ’s life, we will also share His sufferings before we share fully in His glory.  The road to seeing God face to face is the road Jesus Himself walked: surrender, obedience, and costly love. But it is not a lonely road. The Spirit of Christ is with us now. He is working in us, helping us live as true sons and daughters of God. So this Lent we walk forward with courage. The Father we hope one day to see face to face is already drawing us into His family, shaping us by His Spirit, and preparing us for glory.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You that in Christ we no longer live in condemnation or fear. Thank You for bringing us into Your family and giving us Your Spirit to lead us. In this Lenten season, teach us to walk in trust, to bear the cost of following Jesus, and to live as Your beloved children, until the day when faith becomes sight and we see You face to face. Amen.

When Faith Becomes Sight

Meeting God Face to Face

Reading : 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; 

then we shall see face to face.

1 Corinthians 13:12

Lent teaches us to live in the space between what is partial and what is promised. Paul reminds us that we do not yet see clearly; we walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Much in life remains hidden, and our understanding is incomplete, yet God is leading us toward a greater fullness. Lent invites us to trust Him in the dimness, to seek Him in prayer, and to let holy longing deepen our hearts for the day when we shall see Him face to face.

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul shows that the true preparation for seeing God is not merely knowledge or outward religion, but love. Without love, even the greatest gifts are empty. The love of Christ is patient, kind, humble, and enduring, and Lent calls us to examine whether this love is growing in us. John gives us this hope: “When He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). To see Christ will be to be transformed by Him; even now, His Spirit is shaping us for that day.

Paul concludes that faith, hope, and love remain, and the greatest of these is love. Faith carries us through the present, hope points us toward God’s future, and love gives us a foretaste of heaven even now. So Lent is a season of quiet preparation, where God strips away what is false and forms Christ within us. As we walk with Him toward the cross, we learn to live for the things that last, until the day when faith becomes sight and we see Him face to face.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, teach us to walk by faith, to live in hope, and to grow in love. In this Lenten season, prepare our hearts for the day when we shall see You face to face. Make us more like Jesus, and keep us faithful until faith becomes sight. Amen.