en kratos

Often, I forget to remember the trees

Are for me. 

All of creation is active; it 

Roars the mighty chorus, singing

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord!"

Even in the stillness,

I still fail to be still. 

Sit down again with me, Lord

These green pastures are Yours. 

--

"Jesus started a revolution when he said the word 'Abba'. By starting a prayer with the word 'Father', He changed everything." - Jonathan David Helser

There are times when I wonder: what if I got pregnant? How would my father react? I live in a sex-saturated world, and I am often influenced and tempted. But I've been warned, and I don't trust condoms, just saying. 

This is me thinking from the standpoint of an adult. I'm old enough to know what not to do; I'm responsible to myself, my own body and the people around me. 

But when I start thinking of myself as a child in the presence of God, everything changes. The 'what if' fades. To know that he loves me much more than my deepest failures is enough for me. 

This is probably one of the reasons why we, as Christians, can relate to the children of Narnia. They are called to be kings and queens even in their youth and again and again as they return, older, because Aslan's, or in this case, Jesus' reign, is everlasting to everlasting. 

"And that's our position in warfare; to sit with him in heavenly places, and go and breathe on an army that's sleeping and see the sons and daughters wake up." (J.D.H.)

But before this happens, there must be discipline, or a sort of perseverance. Before soldiers go to war, they don't enter without having prepared first.

Without discipline, there is no self-control. The last fruit of the Spirit is self-control, something that jumps out at me every time I read the passage in Galatians. Perhaps it's because I don't see the ability in myself to practice it, and it's also because I'm being self-reliant. But I'm only beginning to see that it's not a virtue or a state I can immediately achieve. It's a fruit. It takes time to grow; it manifests and is produced to reflect His glory. And everything that is projected back onto the Father also comes from Him. Think of ourselves as vessels, but also as people who serve with delight, with joy. This is something I've been struggling with after my baptism: to delight in him. I've gone back to things that are afraid of being exposed by the light, and I'm addressing them now in this reflection. Gotta catch myself, yknow?

From John 15:5-6:

Jesus said "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." (NIV)

The word 'self-control' or 'egkrateia' [Greek] is derived from two other Greek words— 'en' and 'kratos'. 

'En' means "in" and 'kratos' means "strength" or "power." (www.ucg.org) 

"In power." The rhetorical question that pops into my head next is: Whose power?

Well duh, in God's, of God's. The word 'self' stands out as well, and is rooted in identity. For the Christian, it always goes back to who he/she is in Christ. I wrote a post on the lyric 'I' that was taught in CW2030 Poetry - with every 'I', there is an implied 'you'. 

Self.

What if I started thinking of the word self in relation to others, or rather, the other? That One Other. The One I Already Know, the One Who Gets the Glory (despite my failure), that Perfect Love who drives out all fear. 

The Father. 

Daughter (I) <---> Father (You, from whom 'I' come from, in whom 'I' am loved.)

Doesn't that change everything?

And ladies, it's better to know that you're a daughter of the King who values you so much more than to go out on a date with someone who preferred it if you weren't "so Christian". He ain't worth your time, ain't worth spending that #flawless heart on him.