Day 1 | 40-Day Lenten Fast & Devotional

Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the Lord called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it. Ezekiel 9:3-4

Good morning the last 10 minutes, if you will, on this morning of Ash Wednesday, I'm Pastor Powell, and I'm excited as we begin this Lenten journey, Facebook, family and friends, this has been an incredible opportunity for us to reconnect during this season for Ash Wednesday service that we have tonight kicks off our Lenten experience.

It's interesting during the time and period of Lent it's a time where Christian community has set aside to recalibrate, if you will, by way of fasting and praying. I don't know about you, but if you've been in touch at all with anything that's been happening in the current world we live in today, there's never been a more pertinent and more applicable time for the church to band together, and the people and the saints of God to band together to really seek God's face for wisdom in this season.

It's no mystery that from the onset of last, last year and unto this year, we've been couched into the book of Ezekiel. So today, as we kick off, Lent, I want to go back to a chapter in Ezekiel that we looked at in our Bible study not too long ago. And I encourage you definitely to check out the former broadcast as well Ezekiel, chapter nine. And I'm only going to read two verses out of the third and the fourth verse. It says, "Now, the glory of God of Israel went up from above the cherubim where it been and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the Lord God called to the man clothed in linen who had writing kit at his side, and said to him, go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.

As God was exacting what was considered to be justice or judgment for the people of Israel, by nature of allowing their adversaries to actually have them exiled and enslaved. It was during this period that they realized that some of the trauma and drama and things that they were going through, some of the areas of pain, heartache and despair, were brought on by their own levels of indiscretion, places where they missed the mark, places where they'd allowed themselves to be caught up with the things they outside, so much so that it blended in a place that God did not find himself there.

It's a strange place when we can get so caught up with our own understanding of success, life, things that are great, that we miss what it means to really serve God. We can get caught up in our own ideals, our own understandings, our own moments and places things happen, and it takes a moment for us to recalibrate. That's what Lent is all about. It says, Listen, I want you to place a mark on the foreheads of those who recognize the places where they miss them, those who see the detestable things that are going on.

I don't know about you, but I'm looking and I know for a fact there are some areas and places where God is just not pleased. But I'm encouraged with the fact that during the Lenten period, as I fast, as I pray, as I seek God's face for wisdom, in this season, I know that ultimately it will allow me an opportunity to not only draw closer to Him, but also to find myself recalibrated back.