Week 3 Lenten Devotions
Lent Day 18: Tuesday March 9
Theme for the Week: The Apostles’ Creed as a Statement of our Faith
Passage for the Day: John 14:15-17
Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.”
Reflection: In the third Article of the Apostles Creed, we confess “I believe in the Holy Spirit…” What does it look like to believe in the Holy Spirit? Is it to acknowledge that I believe in the promise that Jesus made to send an Advocate (the paraclete), who will be with me for ever. In this passage from John, Jesus describes the Advocate as the “Spirit of truth.” Jesus also tells me that this “Spirit of truth” will dwell with me and be in me. Can I accept that there is a Spirit who dwells with me, advocates for me, counsels me, and guides me? How do I know the Spirit is there? I can’t see the Spirit, but I know, because Jesus promised, and because I can sense the presence of the Spirit, even if I can’t see the Spirit. The Spirit is the one who sort of sits on my shoulder giving advice. You know that kind of advice—the advice that says “maybe that isn’t the best idea,” or who says “even though it’s difficult, this is the direction you should really go.” It is the Spirit who brings me to faith, and keeps me from lapsing. When I confess that I believe in the Holy Spirit, I am saying that I trust Jesus’ promise of a Holy Guide and Advocate. A summary of the third article of the Apostles’ Creed is “God makes me holy”!! (I am made holy through the actions of the Spirit or Advocate.)
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