Originally posted 2/13/24
My husband and I recently purchased a new car. Our car has all the latest features. I receive notifications if there are potential icy road conditions. My car tells me if I am starting to drift from my lane into another lane. I have even been notified to put my hands back on the steering wheel. I have cameras on all sides of my car and red lights on both of my side mirrors when cars approach. I have an aerial view while I back up. My steering wheel vibrates and alarms sound if I put my car in reverse and something is behind me. I have my parking assist as well as adjustable cruise control. There is a voice command to operate anything inside the car. There are probably more features that I don’t know how to use than the ones I do know how to operate. If only it would tell me to stop putting food in my mouth.
I discovered yesterday that I can put my car on cruise control and completely take my hands off the steering wheel. It automatically slows down if the car in front of me slows down and keeps me in the correct lane. While it seems foreign to me, I can depend on my car to drive without me.
Imagine if we received a verbal warning when we were straying off course in other parts of our lives. What if we had some sort of system to stop us from making a mistake that would alter the course of our lives or the lives of others? What if something could stop us from saying something we shouldn’t? Imagine relinquishing control and letting someone else take over. What if we had “life assist” instead of “lane assist”?
This year, I have been working on discipline and self-control. It’s only working with the television shows I watch and the things I read. It’s not working on the big things like what goes in my mouth and what comes out of my mouth or with exercise. I’ve been doing it all wrong. I am relying on my own strength. It has only taken me a few weeks to realize that I am powerless on my own. If I could rely on my own strength, then I probably wouldn’t need to work on discipline and self-control in the first place. It’s easy to be successful with the things you are already good at.
As Christians, we do have a “life assist”. First and foremost, we have the Word of God. Everything we need to know about how to live is written on the pages of Scripture. We need to be spending time in the Word. Psalm 119:11 “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”
My current struggle is self-control and discipline. The Lord has put many things in my path to do in service to Him and to my church. I have to remain focused to get them all completed. The ESV version of the Bible has eleven verses on self-control and forty-two verses on discipline. Apparently, God thought it was a significant issue for us and it needed to be addressed. Surely there is something in those verses that might help us. The biggest thing is that we need to be hiding God’s Word in our hearts.
When we become believers, we receive the Holy Spirit as our helper and comforter. We can rely on the Holy Spirit to help us. We can turn to several passages that address this:
Luke 12:12 ESV “for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
John 15:26 ESV “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”
John 16:7 ESV “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”
John 14:26 ESV “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Romans 15:13 ESV “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. …”
If we were to hide these verses in our hearts, it would be easier to draw on the Word in times of need. I am saying this as much to myself as I am to you. It has been a goal of mine for over a year to memorize Scripture. I identified twelve verses I wanted to memorize this year. January passed and I didn’t completely memorize the first one. I didn’t add this to my schedule and make it intentional, so I didn’t do it. The other areas of discipline in my life are just the same. I need to intentionally add them to my schedule each day. A friend of mine said the other night that if we do not make a plan to make the change, we will not change.
The enemy does not want us to make changes that strengthen our relationship with the Lord. He doesn’t want us to study or pray. The enemy knows our weaknesses and will exploit them. The busier we are the less time we spend with the Lord. We can even be too busy doing good things. He wants to distract us and tempt us to do other things. However, this is also addressed in Scripture. God knew we would have this difficulty.
James 4:7 ESV “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
1 Peter 5:8-9 NET “Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour. Resist him, strong in your faith, because you know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are enduring the same kinds of suffering.”
It is so difficult to make changes. I am right in the trenches with you trying to make changes. However, we need to use our “life assist” just like we use all the assist features in our cars. We have Scripture and the Holy Spirit to guide us and help us. I ask the Lord to prompt me when I am about to eat something I shouldn’t or waste my time doing something unimportant. I’m sure you’ve read all the tips: put notes around your house, put post-it notes on the mirror, put tempting food out of sight, etc. Each of those works with varying degrees with me. Just like seeing something sweet makes me want something sweet, seeing reminders to do the appropriate thing is also effective. I would still like my cabinets and refrigerator to come with an alert that tells me I don’t need that extra snack. It pales in comparison to the power of the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:13 ESV “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,”
Ephesians 4:30 NET “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
The Word and promptings from the Holy Spirit are the best “life assists” we could have or ever need. Will you rely on the power that you received at the time of your salvation or on your own strength?
#faith, #Bible, #Scriptures, #Christian Women, #Discipleship, #womenintheBible