Skip to main content

Habits

              I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. (John 17:11-12)

             Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. (Ephesians 6:10-11)

             According to the study notes, “protect them by the power” may also be translated as “keep them faithful to” and “protected them and kept them safe by” can be translated “kept them faithful to.”  When we think about being protected, we tend to think in terms of God’s faithfulness in preventing danger or difficulty to us. Jesus seems to be talking about God’s maintaining our faith, which may involve facing many dangers and difficulties.

            But the comforting thing about what Jesus says is that God will protect our faith. We will not be lost, just as the disciples were not lost even though Peter tried to behead someone, all of the disciples ran away, and Peter denied Jesus three times. It’s easy to think that we’ve screwed up so badly that God can’t possibly let it slide this time, but Jesus showed full confidence in the protection He and the Father gave the disciples.

            There’s a meme I tend to enjoy that might be my partial rejection of this. Instead of saying, “God is going to protect me. God is going to bring me through…” I say something along the lines of “God is going to protect me and bring me through, but I have to be dramatic first.” Why do I have to be dramatic first? Is it that I don’t have faith? Is it that I must submit to my emotions?

            As I contemplate this, it comes to mind that it’s a reaction v. response thing, and a flesh v. spirit thing. They are habits, and habits can be changed. And the first step is recognizing when we’re reacting, when the flesh is dominating, and when we’re maintaining a habit we don’t actually want. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more