The 14th February is traditionally known as Saint Valentine’s Day. Right across the world there will be expressions of love, given in many different ways. Who Saint Valentine actually was is debated in many circles, but how did his name become associated with ‘love’? One is that in the 3rd century AD it is said that Valentine, who was a priest, defied the order of the emperor Claudius and secretly married couples so that the husbands wouldn't have to go to war. The legend claims that soldiers were sparse at this time so this was a big inconvenience to the emperor.
This year Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of Lent, falls on 14th February. Lent is the season which is designed to help us prepare for the events of Holy Week and Easter, where Christians all over the World remember and celebrate how God showed his Love for us.
As couples exchange gifts and cards on Valentine’s Day with messages of love, let us stop and ponder the gift that has been given to all of us. The gift of Love in the form of the Lord Jesus.
During Lent we remember how Jesus fasted and prayed for 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness. We also reflect on how that even though Jesus is fully God, He became fully man and experienced temptation as we do. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, we read the accounts of Jesus in the wilderness and how he was tempted by the devil. One of the things which strike me in Matthew and Luke’s account is how the devil used what he saw as a weak point for Jesus at that time. As Jesus had fasted for so long, He must have been really hungry, and the devil used this hunger to try and trip Him.
I am sure like me, in your own life, the devil often uses the same tactics and does pry on our weakest points. The joys of being a Christian is that even when we are weak, God can make us strong. However, for us to receive this strength we need to fully rely on God. We need to place our full faith and trust in the Lord Jesus and he will give us all that we need to overcome the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil.
Ask the Saviour to help you,
comfort, strengthen and keep you;
He is willing to aid you,
He will carry you through!
CH#641
This year Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of Lent, falls on 14th February. Lent is the season which is designed to help us prepare for the events of Holy Week and Easter, where Christians all over the World remember and celebrate how God showed his Love for us.
As couples exchange gifts and cards on Valentine’s Day with messages of love, let us stop and ponder the gift that has been given to all of us. The gift of Love in the form of the Lord Jesus.
During Lent we remember how Jesus fasted and prayed for 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness. We also reflect on how that even though Jesus is fully God, He became fully man and experienced temptation as we do. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, we read the accounts of Jesus in the wilderness and how he was tempted by the devil. One of the things which strike me in Matthew and Luke’s account is how the devil used what he saw as a weak point for Jesus at that time. As Jesus had fasted for so long, He must have been really hungry, and the devil used this hunger to try and trip Him.
I am sure like me, in your own life, the devil often uses the same tactics and does pry on our weakest points. The joys of being a Christian is that even when we are weak, God can make us strong. However, for us to receive this strength we need to fully rely on God. We need to place our full faith and trust in the Lord Jesus and he will give us all that we need to overcome the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil.
Ask the Saviour to help you,
comfort, strengthen and keep you;
He is willing to aid you,
He will carry you through!
CH#641
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