Nigel shared with us on the foundational sin of pride and the freedom that humility brings. It is not that God is proud so is offended by our pride and wants our humility (because of His bad self esteem) but God wants us to know him & our pride gets in the way – one of the words for pride literally means overshine - making ourselves seems superior to others : he wants us to take off the glitzy fancy dress of our own pretensions and put on the new clothes he gives us, clothes that will shine His glory and bring out the best in others.
The daily devotional pattern that we are providing as part of the Lent Experience is an opportunity to create space for God to get your Inside Straight. It’s a simple rhythm with the same basic activity set for each day. If you miss one, don’t stress – leave it and move on or try it another day – the most important thing is that we seek God’s presence this day (rather than beat ourselves up for yesterday’s omissions). Keeping a journal in hard copy or on the media device of your choice is a great way of keeping track of your Lent Experience.
REFLECT|MONDAY
REFLECT offers an opportunity to process and decide what this week will look like following on from our time together on Sunday and the week that has been. Take some time to reflect on where pride is a part of your life - Nigel suggested that forms of pride are a part of all of our lives - thinking we are better than others, massaging our social media image, false humility, being judgemental...what will it mean for you to "catch yourself" in these and practice humility instead?
READ|TUESDAY
READ is a chance to engage with the scriptures. Take the scripture into your day. Maybe a key phrase or print it out and reflect on it when you have some down time at the lights, in a queue, feeding the baby etc. This week’s scripture is Psalm 10...it's a fairly unfiltered rant detailing the wrongs of the prideful wicked man - but pause for a moment - do you see yourself here? And how might we respond to God as essentially helpless people?
RESTRAIN|WEDNESDAY
RESTRAIN is a day of fasting. Today we're fasting from performance management. We're holding back sharing stories of our own achievements, posting FB status updates that are designed to draw attention to ourselves, dropping the false humility act, not gossiping about other people so we look better, we're learning to fail publicly without covering up...pretty sure you can come up with few more! The key here is to catch yourself in the behaviour and ask God for His humility - that you might be freed tp be who he created you to be.
RESPOND|THURSDAY
RESPOND is taking up the challenge to notice the needs of another and to respond with action. This week’s RESPOND is to serve others particularly service that requires us to sacrifice something of our own agenda and time or even dignity. We allow servanthood to do its work in us as we love others and learn humility. See if you can become the best at humility this week...
RECALL|FRIDAY
RECALL FRIDAY is a call to pray the events, experiences and emotions of the past week. To recall and to offer them to God. Being real about the disappointments and thankful for the positives. Setting aside 5-10 minutes of quiet for this special TGIF will likely help you make this happen.
RESTORE|SATURDAY
Take some time out to do something that is personally refreshing to you. It doesn’t have to be long or expensive. But treat yourself to the gift of a little personal down time or attention. Allow the moment to RESTORE you.