Uri Brito

On March 22, 2019 By Uri Brito In Wisdom Like

Lenten Journey, Day 15; Confessing before pointing fingers

Genesis 3:12: The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

The first duty of a Christian is to confess his own sins before pointing the finger. All of us bring something destructive into our relationships—our sin. And if we think blaming others or our circumstance is the answer, we have deceived ourselves. Maybe we are the problem. Maybe we don’t see ourselves with clarity. Maybe we love ourselves more than our spouses. Maybe we love our little kingdoms more than God’s cosmic kingdom. That’s the level of honesty that God expects from us. The other person may be guilty. He/she may be the cause of your pain, but at some time you must realize that shifting the blame on others is not the solution to your own problems.

The Gospel imperatives are clear: Admit. Confess. Renew. Restore. You cannot help others unless you have been helped by the Gospel truths. Do not allow the pain inflicted upon you by others to keep you from doing and living the way God intends you to live; to know and to love those God calls you to know and love. Do not allow the sin of others to paralyze you from living your Christian confession.

On March 21, 2019 By Uri Brito In Counseling/Piety, Scribblings Like

Lenten Journey, Day 14; What does it mean to be anxious for nothing?

On March 20, 2019 By Uri Brito In Family and Children, Scribblings 1

Lenten Journey, Day 13; Lenting by Walking

Psalm 26:1: “Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity…”

There is a phrase I learned recently in Latin, “Solvitur Ambulando,” which means “It is solved by walking.” While we run our lives sitting in front of a screen, Lent is a season to slow our pace and think more deeply about our problems; by walking? Why not?

It is worth reflecting that “sitting” in the Psalms are almost always associated with evil practices (see Ps. 26:5). Whereas, walking is generally associated with righteousness (see Ps. 26:3). Some of the writers we most cherish like C.S. Lewis and Tolkien were men who treasured their daily walks. The Dessert Fathers emphasized walking and meditating. Apart from the physical benefits, it also allows us to contemplate creation, to meditate on our lives, to think through our day, etc.

Lent can provide us opportunities for greater reflection. Perhaps a walk with your family, or even a solitary walk to remember the journey of Jesus to the cross. Lent is a walk of faith. Perhaps we can begin practicing that faith by literally walking.

On March 19, 2019 By Uri Brito In Wisdom 1

Lenten Meditation, Day 12; Biting and Devouring One Another

Galatians 5:15 “If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”

It is interesting that the law of mutual destruction is a consistent biblical doctrine. Sometimes we think we gain by devouring others with our words. After all, we certainly don’t want others to escape true justice. Of course, we happen to be the devout judges in this affair.

The “biting” can be a reference to offensive language, false accusations, slander, etc. To “devour” someone is to consume their well-being leaving them defenseless and ashamed. These methods vary significantly from the biblical remedy of speaking the truth in love. Love protects one another. Yet, according to Paul, when church members engage in such activities, they are digging for themselves their own graves.

The end of devouring someone is that you are consumed by your own appetite. It is a profound idea to remember this Lenten Season that Jesus could have easily devoured those nearest to him, but yet, he fulfilled the commandments (Gal. 5:14) and loved them even to the point of death.

As the Lenten Season carries its blow to our pride, let us repent of biting and devouring one another. May we rightly repent and turn from the addiction of destroying others for that addiction leads to death.

On March 18, 2019 By Uri Brito In Family and Children Like

Lenten Journey, Day 11

Proverbs 22:6: Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

As parents, training our children is always a challenge. We may succeed here or there, but the consistency suffers throughout the year. Lent is a great way to practice training consistently. What we want to do is provide patterns that they will carry throughout life. Training is more than memorizing things or learning new things, training is catechizing our children in the way of truth.

Lent gives us the perfect training theme: the cross of Jesus. The cross instructs us and our children that there is no glory before crown; no victory before war and no feast before fast. The cross teaches that in serving one another we are truly free.

Our children need habits more than facts. They need to see the cross of Jesus as the center of their formation. They need the crucified Lord as their Savior. Once the cross becomes the great marker in their journey they will not depart from it. They will live their lives feasting in the empty tomb. Blessed Lent!

On March 16, 2019 By Uri Brito In Scribblings Like

Lenten Journey, Day 10

Jonah 2:10: “And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.”

The story of Jonah is very familiar to our ears. Our famous prophet is brought through this journey of death in the belly of the beast and through repentance is spat out of the fish after three days. This is meant to parallel Jesus’ three days in death after the crucifixion.

Unlike Jonah, our Lord was perfect so that he did not need to repent. Still, it is fairly certain to say that Jesus went to Sheol during those three days of bodily death and proclaimed victory from death; or, we could say, he proclaimed victory from Sheol.

The parallels are really remarkable. Jonah is swallowed up by Sheol; Jesus is swallowed up by Sheol. Jonah repents; Jesus prays right before death that his enemies would be forgiven through repentance; Jonah spends three days in Sheol; Jesus spends three days in Sheol. Jonah proclaims that salvation is of the Lord in Sheol; Jesus proclaims that salvation is of the Lord in Sheol; Jonah is spat out of Sheol after three days; Jesus is spat out of Sheol (grave) after three days.

The stories of the prophets always remind us in these remaining thirty-one days that Jesus is the greater prophet; Jesus is the greater Jonah.

On March 15, 2019 By Uri Brito In Scribblings 1

Lenten Journey, Day 9

Philippians 2:13: “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”

Sometimes we are tempted to view God as distant; uninterested, perhaps, in human affairs. Does God care about my life and works? But the Bible displays a God who treasures intrusion; who deeply cares about our affairs and the state of our godliness. As Peter Leithart observes: “God doesn’t let us be the way we would like to be.”

Lent reminds us that God does not want us to get away with sin, but he intrudes through people and means to ensure that his saints live Coram Deo, before his face. At the cross, Jesus intruded in the world’s status quo; he gave himself so that death would no longer have the last word. Blessed be the Lord’s intrusion. In these remaining thirty-two days, may our hearts desire the intrusion of God conforming us to the image of his Son.

On March 13, 2019 By Uri Brito In Scribblings Like

Lenten Journey, Day 7

“Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me.-Ruth 1:20

One of the most famous biblical names in the Bible is Naomi. Her name means “pleasant.” Yet, when she returned to Israel, she asked to be called Mara, which means “bitter.” It is an astounding thing that nowhere after this verse is she referred to as Mara. The author and the characters speak of her only as Naomi, pleasant.

While we work hard against evil during this Lenten Season, we need to remind ourselves that the one working in us will carry us to completion (Phil. 1:6). Our identity is bound up in him. Further, the Naomi story teaches us that whether we feel bitter or even choose to identify ourselves with bitterness, God continues to view us as pleasant. We are called this Lent to live the next thirty-four days according to how God sees us, not how we wish to be seen or understood.

Happy Lent! God is pleased with you.

On March 12, 2019 By Uri Brito In Scribblings 1

Lenten Journey, Day 6

One-Minute Lenten Devotional

John 16:8: And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.

Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness
and self-control.

While Lent focuses on the Jesus-story and the reality of the cross, Lent is also a season to magnify the Spirit’s work in convicting us of our sins. The Church season of Lent is only beneficial when the Spirit works within us to produce fruits and virtues. And since the Spirit is conforming us to the image of the Son through these virtues, thus we have a calling to fight in harmony with the Spirit. In short, Lent is the harmony of the Spirit’s work with Spirit-empowered saints.

Just as the Lenten journey was a road of struggle, prayer, and communion for our Lord, so too, our walk to bear and reflect such fruits will demand struggle, prayer and communion with our Lord. Our entire lives can be summed up in warfare. Lent is a reminder to take sin as the Christian’s constant battleground. These next thirty-six days accentuate that journey stressing our need to repent of not loving, having joy, being a peace-maker, and all other necessary fruits of the Third Person of the Godhead.

Lent is Spirit-centered. None of us can ever expect to gain from fasting and building godly habits apart from the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.

On March 11, 2019 By Uri Brito In Scribblings Like

Lenten Journey, Day 5

One-Minute Lenten Devotional

Matthew 4:5: Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.

In the book of Job, the LORD said to Satan: “Have you considered my servant Job?” Before Yahweh presented Job to the devil, He declared Job blameless and upright. Indeed, Job came through the temptations of Satan as a faithful servant just as God said.

In Matthew’s Gospel, God offers a new Job to be tested by Satan. Jesus overcomes the temptations of the evil one by pointing the devil to God’s authoritative Word (see. Deut. 8). Again, before Jesus went to the wilderness, God declared Jesus blameless and upright. Jesus is the greater Job.

In these remaining thirty-six days, let us daily remind ourselves that God does not allow us to be tempted without blessing and training us in righteousness. We are God’s servants: blameless and upright in His sight. May the Lenten journey prepare us to be faithful to respond to Satan’s temptations.