2/16/17
The earliest Christians followed a Jewish tradition of pausing to pray, preferably together, first thing in the morning, about mid morning, at noon, about mid afternoon, and in the evening. “Just a Note” posts are brief observations made from Scripture readings not related to a lectionary. If I have one to post, it normally appears about 9:00 in the morning, at “the hour of prayer.”
How do we count on the Holy Spirit to guide us? John 14:25-26 speaks of the Holy Spirit teaching the disciples “everything” and reminding them “everything.” Or does it? Verse 26 says that the Holy Spirit “will remind you all things which I told you” (personal translation). This is a little bit different.
What is the Christian’s role in all this? Rather than sitting like a bump on a log and hoping that God will zap us with wisdom, we try to be aware of the things that Jesus has told us. We read the Scriptures. We consider what God has said. And then we trust that the Lord will bring to our minds what we need in a timely manner.
In the final analysis, yes, we don’t count on ourselves. We count on the Holy Spirit. But along the way we engage in study, meditation, prayer, and careful analysis. Then, when the going gets rough, we trust that we will recognize what is at the root of our discussion, the heart of our need, the center of our trouble. And we trust that what God has said will make sense and apply to it.
We think carefully. And the Holy Spirit turns on the lights so that we can actually find what we need to find. That’s why he was sent in the first place.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
The earliest Christians followed a Jewish tradition of pausing to pray, preferably together, first thing in the morning, about mid morning, at noon, about mid afternoon, and in the evening. “Just a Note” posts are brief observations made from Scripture readings not related to a lectionary. If I have one to post, it normally appears about 9:00 in the morning, at “the hour of prayer.”
How do we count on the Holy Spirit to guide us? John 14:25-26 speaks of the Holy Spirit teaching the disciples “everything” and reminding them “everything.” Or does it? Verse 26 says that the Holy Spirit “will remind you all things which I told you” (personal translation). This is a little bit different.
What is the Christian’s role in all this? Rather than sitting like a bump on a log and hoping that God will zap us with wisdom, we try to be aware of the things that Jesus has told us. We read the Scriptures. We consider what God has said. And then we trust that the Lord will bring to our minds what we need in a timely manner.
In the final analysis, yes, we don’t count on ourselves. We count on the Holy Spirit. But along the way we engage in study, meditation, prayer, and careful analysis. Then, when the going gets rough, we trust that we will recognize what is at the root of our discussion, the heart of our need, the center of our trouble. And we trust that what God has said will make sense and apply to it.
We think carefully. And the Holy Spirit turns on the lights so that we can actually find what we need to find. That’s why he was sent in the first place.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
RSS Feed