PRAYER PRACTICE
Lectio –
Read today’s passage through once. Then spend some time praying and asking God
to show you what you need to pay attention to in the text. Read it again. Now
ask God to help you see what this text, and the part that has stood out, may
mean for you. Don’t expect to get a clear word every time but always be ready
to really hear from God through His Word.
DAILY READING
REFLECTION
The Spirit-Empowered Life
by Katie Borden
Let’s
talk for a moment about pride and shame. (I promise it eventually connects to today’s
passage!)
Pride and shame are two sides of the same coin—both tend
to focus us on ourselves. These are imperfect definitions, but go with me here
for a moment: pride tells me that “I’m good, and I’m entitled to respect
and adoration”; shame tells me that “I’m bad, and I’m worthless and
unlovable”. Either way, the focus is on myself.
When I read what Jesus says in this passage, I am
often tempted to read his words as simply variations on a theme of moral list-keeping
that I then assess if I’ve lived up to (in which case I pridefully pat myself
on the back) or failed to live up to (which spirals me into a fit of
shame). But what I forget so often is that, in either case, in my mind and
heart I have put the onus on myself to accomplish all that Jesus is
commanding here. And that’s just not going to turn out well, because apart from
Jesus I am a very broken and sinful human.
What if, instead, we saw Jesus’ words here as a vision
for the Spirit-empowered life? It is freeing to remember that though we are
incapable of living this good, true, and beautiful life when left to our own
broken and sinful devices, we know the One who can! The Holy Spirit empowers us
to move our gaze off of our own selves (and the pride and shame that comes with
that self-focus) and instead find our life and identity in Jesus. His invitation
is one to a life of dependence on him and obedience to him, a life empowered by
his Spirit. This is good news: that Jesus is not just giving us a list of
spiritual “to-dos”, he is inviting us into a life with him!
Holy Spirit, help us to turn our eyes to Jesus and receive,
again today, the gift of life with him. Amen.
3 comments:
Good morning, Katie.
You hit the nail on the head as you show the solution to living the joy-filled life. It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us that we could even conceive of living out the principles Jesus is commanding. Love enemies? Forgive regardless of the offense? Lend without requiring repayment? Say what? Do I even begin to believe I could possibly live out what this section of Luke's gospel suggests? Not happening.
Jesus promised another Counselor, the Spirit of Truth to guide and direct us. You are right in saying He is the One who demolishes our cell phone selfies and points the camera to those who need to know they are forgiven and loved. Looking through the lease of Scripture reveals the kind of worshipers He is seeking--you know the Spirit and Truth crowd. Only His presence in our lives can give us real hearts of flesh, real joy in forgiving the offender, courage to turn the cheek and lend freely.
I have such a long way to go, but He is guiding me and working in me to allow the Holy Spirit more room to change my heart to seek His kingdom and His righteousness.
Thank you for your blog. It helps me today to put the focus on being"other-centered" and to count my blessings.
Robin Lorms
Amen, Robin! I am so grateful for your presence and contribution to our community.
Have a wonderful Wednesday,
Katie
Katie:
Cant wait to return for in person service.
Robin
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