Tag: darkness

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11.15.24. The LIGHT!

John 12 The LIGHT!~

The mornings are dark now with the changes in the time. As I walk about the darkness of my home, I sense the uncertainties of where I put each step and that is why we have night lights burning to guide us. But, soon the sun is rising and with it a new day with the brightness that the sun brings and then the dust bunnies and things that are not in their right places is seen. My neighbors outside lights were brightly shining but now they are extinguished. So it is with the souls of men. Some are walking in darkness because their deeds are evil and they love darkness rather than light. Others hear and rejoice for the LIGHT has come into the world and they submit to its brilliance. 

Eighteen times in this book Jesus refers to Himself as the LIGHT. Light is one of our most precious gifts for it reveals what our souls need to be saved. We once were in darkness of sin, but then the LIGHT came and we submitted to it. The book of Revelation reveals the brilliance of that LIGHT in all of His glory. Ezekiel saw that same LIGHT and was used to tell the people of Israel that He is coming for His own to transform them…if they will yield to them.

Where are you today precious reader? Are you walking in the darkness or has the LIGHT of the world removed it so you can see and praise Him who is the LIGHT? 

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10.7.24.Holiness

Holiness is like a puzzle ..

2 Cor 6 Beware Brethren 

Today we received the news of another leader who has fallen from grace by having an inappropriate relationship with one of the opposite sex. It saddens me for this man has had an influence in the church as he taught the scriptures with accuracy. But, it is one thing to know the scriptures and another to live the scriptures. Perhaps that is one reason Paul wrote these words to the church in Corinth whose one failing was immorality. “Do not become partners with those who do not believe, for what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship does light have with darkness?” [2 Cor 6:14] 

Those who are in darkness are those who do not walk with Christ or do not obey His Word and His commandments. Today, as then. we must be on guard against the wiles of the devil who will use sex as a tool to draw men and women from the appointed goal of purity. The Apostle John wrote clearly about this and we should take his advice. 

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Character

Eph 5 The character of the believer

How often have you encountered someone who takes the name of the Lord in vain? Do we also fall victim to this behavior? Do we dishonor the Lord by what we say?  Paul reminds the Ephesians, who lived amongst unbelievers such as us, to live a holy life in all conversations and actions. He reminds us that those who are unbelievers are living in darkness but we are to be light bearers. The Apostle John wrote that those who  are unbelievers walk in darkness for they loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil, but it must not be so for the believer. 

Instead, Paul lists the traits of those who are Christ followers: for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth— trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Again in Galatians 5 Paul lists the Fruit of the Spirit which all believers are to demonstrate to the unbelieving world. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control”[Gal 5:22-23] 

Today be a light bearer. Live holy lives before a dark world. 

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Welcome to Bible Reading 2020

Geneis 1 2 from dark to light2aWelcome to 2020! We begin again at the beginning, Genesis 1 -2. I am thrilled you have chosen to follow my page and to read along with me. Let’s get started: Please take your Bible and read the first two chapters of Genesis 1 & 2.

Stop and ask: What stands out to you? What is God saying as He speaks through the Holy Spirit? What lessons does He want us to learn?

Know this; the purpose of Bible reading is to guide us into all truth so we can be mature discerning truth from error. As a base premise for this year memorize 2Tim 3:16 “Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work.”

Genesis 1-2: The earth was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep BUT the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water. Isn’t that just like the heart of the unbeliever? They are without spiritual shape and their heart is empty, void of the Holy Spirit and without the Light of God. It takes the movement of the Holy Spirit to bring light into the soul.  The light was good in the beginning and it is good for the unbeliever because it illumines deficiencies and illumines understanding when we yield. “If then your whole body is full of light, with no part in the dark, it will be as full of light as when the light of a lamp shines on you.” [Luke 11]  When that happens you no longer are in darkness but now you are light in the Lord.  Therefore, live like children of light” [Eph 5 author paraphrase]

This leaves us with a challenge for 2020 and a question: Where are we spiritually and are we living as children of light?

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The Time is Now!!!

ImageClara Scott authored the hymn “Open my eyes that I May See”. The first stanza reads as : “Open my eyes, that I may see, glimpses of truth thou hast for me…” As we read Revelation 6 more than ever we need to see with spiritual eyes for the truth within is almost more than one can digest. In reading this chapter one verse keeps coming back to mind: John 3:16 “For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” It is when we view God’s love in sharp contrast to the hate of Satan, which is sovereignly allowed upon men in this chapter, that we bow the knee and are overwhelmed with gratitude of God’s gift of His Son’s sacrifice on the cross and our salvation.

John 3:16 says that the gift God has for those who will bow the knee is eternal life. However, in this chapter we find that just as the Israel and the religious leaders during the time of Jesus rejected the evidence: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have good news proclaimed to them, so too men in the last stages of the clock of time, men will not cry out to God for His peace, love and salvation but will continue to reject.  That is a frightening thought which should drive us to share the good news of salvation to everyone who is divinely brought across our path that they may not have to face the judgment of God. 

In Chapter 6, John shows us what God revealed. It will not be His grace but horror upon horror to show men the power of evil and hate in the form of war, famine, death, disease. They respond by calling out  to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?” In reading this another verse came flooding back to this author: Rom  1:32 “Although they fully know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die..” Isn’t it ironic that these men fully understand God’s judgment and his wrath but choose mountains and rocks to  the path of goodness, love and peace which only God can provide? We stop and ask “why?” Why do men reject God? Again we turn to the words of John: John 3:19 “people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.”

Beloved, if you have not done so I implore you now to open your eyes and allow the Holy Spirit to illumine you and bring God’s love and peace to your heart. It is not too late—but do not delay, we do not know when God will choose to allow the events of chapter 6 to unfold in all of their reality. Keep in mind God’s clock is running down; have you called upon Him?

 

 

 

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God is LIGHT!!! (1John 1)

ImageEach morning it seems that the darkness wants to claim this world but God’s clock and His timing say “sun arise!” There really is something marvelous about that initial sunrise with its glimmer of light that dispels the darkness. First the birds begin to chirp welcoming us to a new day, then the first rays, then the beauty of the clouds emerge as the stars slip into the sky to wait for their later appearance. Finally the sun itself touches our world. As the sun creeps up over the horizon more of God’s creation is revealed and it is marvelous to behold. What  must it have been like for the Apostle John as he heard, saw, beheld, and touched the very Light of God in Jesus? A sunrise can never compare to the beauty of our Savior but each day as we experience the welcoming light of day we are using the same adjectives John used in his painting his picture for us: hear, see, behold, touch. John is so emphatic that he paints this picture three times! And this is why he is writing to us, that we may not miss this marvelous image.

From that image John moves to his message which he has heard from Jesus himself: God is light and in Him there is no darkness. This reminds us of the verse in Rev 22:5 “Night will be no more, and they will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever.” Even in the northern most part of our globe where there are places with many hours of light in the summer months, there is at least a portion of darkness, but here in Revelation John tells us that there will never be darkness! NEVER! 

From that beautiful image, John paints three contrasting statements beginning with “if.”

  1. If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in darkness we lie to ourselves. BUT, if we walk in the light as He is in the light we have fellowship. That must be what heaven must be like, full of illuminating light 24/7. Not one drop of darkness for darkness represents sin and sin and God cannot co-exist.
  2. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves; the truth is not in us. BUT, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. If we had no sin there would be no need for the sacrifice of Christ but since there is sin within us we need cleansing and it is His blood that is the cleansing agent.
  3. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar. Did you notice that first we lie to ourselves and then to God? What does God say about lying? He hates it! Prov 6 says God hates a lying tongue and a false witness. This is one of those “OUCH!” statements.

God’s light has shined in our hearts, are we allowing it to shine forth as a new sunrise?  [2Cor 4]  Even though we live and move in darkness, is the Lord our light? [Micah 7:8]  

 

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