The Secret Garden Chronicles ~ A Lenten Devotion - Updated for 2023

UPDATE:  In my last post HERE a couple of days ago, I asked the question "Do you practice Lent? What does it mean to you? Do you "give up something for Lent", or do you try to do something meaningful to observe the preparation for the Easter season?"  I got several varied and interesting responses to this question.  My thought was that perhaps there is a bit of a misconception out there about what "Lent" really means.   According to "Wikipedia", (a surprising resource for something in the religious realm), this is what it means: 

"Lent is the solemn Christian religious observance in the liturgical year commemorating the 40 days Jesus Christ spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, before beginning his public ministry. Wikipedia"

 Traditionally, Lent is the 40 days prior to Easter, beginning with Ash Wednesday and ending on "Maundy Thursday", when we remember the 'Last Supper',  the night before Good Friday, the day we remember the great sacrifice of Christ for our sins on the cross.  I know that in some church traditions the season of Lent is a time of fasting and/or "giving up something for Lent"...and also the giving of "alms" for the needy.   Perhaps some have had negative experiences with Lent, when they were forced to give up something special for that time period without truly understanding the significance of why they should do so.  To me, if a person really doesn't understand the "why", then most likely the desired results of growing closer in their relationship with Christ probably won't happen. They will become resentful and possibly angry for having to give up something when they really didn't want to. 

I was not brought up in a tradition of "giving up something for Lent".  I really don't recall understanding anything about Lent at all as a child and even as a young adult.  But in recent years I have found that setting aside this time, much like the season of Advent in preparation for the birth of Christ and its deep significance, Lent is a time to prepare our hearts for a better understanding of the great sacrifice Christ made for me on the cross...when His precious blood was shed for me and for my sins...so that I could enjoy the great joy of being set free from my sins, and because of Christ's resurrection from the dead...I can also look forward to eternal life in heaven, forever with my Lord and those who also have died in faith believing in Him.  Certainly, I can do this anytime. I don't need to wait for "Lent", but so often we get caught up in the busyness of this life and world and we begin to get a bit off kilter...we need a "reset" and a time of reflection and renewal in our spiritual life.  This is a wonderful time to do that.  

Here is what I wrote a couple of years ago...interestingly these first couple of pictures were in February of 2020, and our bluebirds are here again now at the same time, and I think they are already pretty well settled in their house/nest.  

(February 17, 2021) The Bluebirds came back again to their home on Still Waters Pond. I hope they will stay this time. They keep coming and going and can't seem to make  up their minds if they like it here or not. 

This post was originally written in 2017 on the first day of Lent from my Secret Garden at our old house in Salt Springs. I then revisited it in 2019.  I wanted to write something fresh and new today, but as I re-read this I decided I couldn't really improve on this...and as it is too chilly this morning to go sit in our new "The Secret Garden" beside Still Waters Pond,  these thoughts and moments from the past experience will have to do for now.  I pray that your Lenten experience will be filled with moments of peace and "quietude", as you contemplate the riches of God's amazing grace and love for you.

Original Post 3/1/2017:

Today is the beginning of the season of Lent... click HERE for more information about the meaning of Lent (according to Wikipedia).   

And then click HERE for one of my previous posts regarding this topic.

As I have stated in my previous post linked above,

 "My approach to Lent is that it is not so much about making a "sacrifice", as it is about moving forward in the right direction, a new beginning; a clear resolve to obey rather than sacrifice."

So today as I sat in the Secret Garden

(This was in "The Secret Garden" at our previous home in Salt Springs)

contemplating how the Lord would have me approach this Lenten season this year, I was directed to look at a few different scriptures:

Joel 2

12.  "Now, therefore, says the Lord, 

Turn to Me with all your heart,

with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.

13.  So rend your heart, and not your garments;

Return to the Lord your God,

For He is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger, and of great kindness;

And He relents from doing harm.

Romans 12:1-2

1.  "I beseech you therefore brethren,

by the mercies of God,

that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,

HOLY, Acceptable to God,

which is your reasonable service.

2.  And do not be conformed to this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,

that you may prove what is that good and acceptable

will of God."

And then in verse 6 it says:

"Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us,

let us use them..."

Instead of sacrificing some thing for Lent, my prayer is that I would turn to the Lord with ALL My heart...truly "rend" (tear open, look inside) my heart, and  be that "living sacrifice, HOLY, ACCEPTABLE TO THE LORD; and that I would be more fully committed to using the gifts that God has given me for His honor and glory.  I pray also that the Lord would transform me, renew my mind, and create a clean heart within me.  (Psalm 51:10)

In the past few days I have been contemplating the word "Quietude".  Click HERE for a previous post about that.   I truly didn't realize that this was a real word that we use in our vocabulary. I thought it was a Latin word for quiet, and actually I believe that is where it originated.  But here is the definition of the word according to Dictionary.com"

qui·e·tude

ˈkwīəˌt(y)o͞od/

noun

1. 
   

   1.
   

   the state of being quiet; tranquility; calmness; stillness; quiet.

My "One Word" for 2017 is "REST".  It would appear that "quietude" and "rest" go together quite nicely.    I'm wondering how the Lord is going to dovetail these two words as I approach His throne during this season of opening my heart before Him...

"For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:

'In returning and REST you shall be saved;

In QUIETNESS and confidence

shall be your strength.'"

Isaiah 30:15

"The work of righteousness will be peace,

and the effect of righteousness,

quietness and assurance forever."

Isaiah 32:17

"You will keep him in perfect peace,

whose mind is stayed on You,

because he trusts in You."

Isaiah 26:3

I believe that God is leading me into a place of "perfect peace", as I REST and TRUST in His Word, and in "quietness and confidence" be assured of God giving me the strength I need to face whatever challenges may lie ahead.

I look forward to experiencing what the Lord is going to show me during this time of "quietude", as He prepares my heart to remember Christ's great sacrifice for my sins...and the 

gift of eternal life that He gave to all of us who would believe, on His Resurrection Day!

Hold on friends, 

Easter is coming!

(All photos were taken as I sat in the Secret Garden today (in 2017) contemplating these thoughts and passages. I found it to be a very tranquil and serene setting watching the Cardinal and the Chickadees...as they watched me as well.  God is so good! Amen?!)

Back to the Present (2023).  I hope you enjoyed this journey back in time and that it was a quiet respite for your soul. May we truly appreciate this time of reflection and renewal during these next 40 days, on our journey to the cross and then thankfully, to the empty tomb!  Praise God!  Many of you may have already commented on this post in previous years. Sometimes it is interesting to go back and see where we were in our thoughts at that time.  May we continue in our growth in our relationship with Jesus. Amen.

Pots of Clay-EXTREME MAKEOVER EDITION!

Jeremiah 18: 3-4  "Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something at the wheel.  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make."

Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and said, "I wish I could have an 'extreme make-over?'" I know I probably think that every day!  My hair is getting gray, my face is getting wrinkled, and my body, well, we just won't go there.  You get the picture.  As our bodies age we begin to sag and droop, or worse yet, we become flabby and lumpy in all the wrong places. No matter what we do to eat properly and exercise, some things just can't be changed.  Oh, I know they could be changed if one has enough money for surgery, face lifts, or frequent applications of hair dye, but even those extreme measures are only temporary.  Sooner or later we must all accept the fact that our bodies are literally dying and all the face creams, body lotions and health spas in the world cannot change that.

However, today I am thinking about the internal body of clay; my inner soul and spirit.  Every day I look into the mirror of my heart and realize that I need a makeover.  I see parts of my spirit that are sagging and drooping.  My soul has become flabby and lumpy with the cares of this world and the anxieties and fears lurking in the recesses of my mind. I keep trying to cover up these flaws by pretending they don't exist or by applying the world's ointments of working harder to make them go away.
Dear Lord, Master Potter, Take this clay pot that is my heart, soul, and spirit.  Break it down and reshape it into the vessel that is most useful for the work that You desire me to do. As the Psalmist pleads in Psalm 51:10 ~

Isaiah 64:8 says: 'But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; and all we are the work of Your hand."

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."  Amen.

How about you?  Do you need an "extreme makeover?"  Why not ask the Master Potter to reshape your clay pot into a vessel of beauty today. I know you'll love the results!