Light makes a difference, especially if you are looking for something in a dark, closet, dark room or in the darkest of night.
As a child, we never had "a night light". Never heard of one till I was almost grown. Not sure if they just were not available till then or if no one in our household needed one.
We make sure we have one in a couple of places for our grand-child when she comes to visit. Not readily acquainted with every wall and door, one might bump into them at a quick pace for the bathroom. We desire our loved one not to be bruised by running into a wall in the middle of the night. But many people today walk in darkness. They walk during the day but have no "light" that will lead them in safety. Safety is important, whether it is noonday or the midnight hour, right?
A friend of mine gave me painting about 10 years ago. It is a painting of a lighthouse on the rocks. Located next to the dangerous rocks on a hill, the Lighthouse looks like a beacon to welcome one in, yet it is there to "warn" there is danger ahead. In this painting, the "light keeper" lives in the house next door to the great light.
John 8:12
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have
the light of life." NKJV
Ephesians 5:8-14
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10) finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11) And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12) For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13) But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14) Therefore He says:
"Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light." NKJV
In John we see the light in the Lord. And in walking as His child of light we have the fruit of the Spirit that is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. We are also told not to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. But we are to expose them.
Awakening into His Light is to our benefit. As our grand-child has the help of a needed night light to give her surroundings light, so too, God's word will light our way.
It will give us the foundation of walking in truth and pulling the mask off anything that tries to pretend to be truth but is error. The world teaches one thing, God teaches another. We should always keep watch on going astray. That going astray is staying away from any doctrine that teaches against God's Word. And that going astray can that of being led away with what is considered immoral.
I went on a trip once into Puget Sound and out toward the San Juan Islands. We stayed at the Rosario Hotel and was going out to the see the "whales". Well, you know those whales were there "just yesterday" and of course, last week, "no one could count the multitude of whales along those islands." Still we took a whaling boat and tour to seek them out. And I got more of a download on those "lighthouses" along those islands. Each somehow appeared so lonely to me, and yet, I saw their importance. Still to this day, I think of those I saw and how they keep boaters and those in bigger vessels off the rocks of tragedy.
When we follow Jesus, we stay off the rocks of tragedy in our lives. Oh yes, a storm can appear, or even some kind of sickness may be reported, but our faith must be based on the foundation of Light in Jesus Christ the Word that directs us into God's love, God's power, and live by a faith that God has given us to live by.
In this group of believer's....they received the Salvation Message.......they believed in Jesus, confessed it and walked out in faith. Read below:
1 Thessalonians 1:4-10….NIV…4 For we know, brothers loved by
God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with
words, but also with power, with the
Holy Spirit & with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you
for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe
suffering, you welcomed the message
with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
7 And so you became a model to all the believers
in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord's message rang out from you not only in
Macedonia and Achaia-your faith in God
has become known everywhere.
(8) Therefore
we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind
of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve
the living & true God, 10 & to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he
raised from the dead-Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
1.
They
saw the power of the Holy Spirit and recognized a deep conviction of where they
needed a Savior
2.
They
“welcomed the message”….accepted THAT Truth
3.
They
became disciples to say who would be their LORD
4.
They
became a model to all “believer’s” everywhere
5.
Their
faith was known .… They
spoke……..they gave Voice…PEOPLE OF FAITH GIVE TESTIMONY…..as the maturing
believer. A transformation was evident.
I heard a teaching today very similar in the importance of giving our testimony. And in doing that we stay in the producing season. We do not venture into winter. For those who remain "silent" about Jesus become the rut bound person. When one remains silent about the goodness of God, those become the dust-covered, passed by, but giving praise and glory to God brings us to the life and light of God. It is in Him we are to live, move and have our being. It is not to remain silent, in a deep rut on the side of the roadway. We are to be the "unstoppable" ever moving with the strength of the fastest freight train with our focus on God who is ever leading by His Light into all that He purposed.
As those who believe, we stay off the rocks of adversity with others, we learn to stay in His council and heeding His wisdom for our decisions made daily. We become the active, not the complacent. We become the learned in Him, and not of the teachings of the world. We learn to recognize His truth, and remain in that which strengthens, keeps us peaceful and with a joy the world cannot duplicate or take from us.
John 14:27 Amplified Bible speaks this way: 27 Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled].
Closing with this thought for today: Too many times, and too many of our days are spent by our speaking......."well if the kids would settle down, I would have my peace." " Well, if my boss would let me have a longer lunch break, I could do better work in the afternoon hours." "Well, if my husband made more money, I would feel more secure with our finances." "Well if my kids, made better grades, I would never be concerned about their high school years and college." "Well, if I could lose that 5 pounds, I could focus better on my relationship with others." "Well, if I had a college degree in__________________, I would be moving forward in life."
Blaming others, only sets us up, to stumble over those things tomorrow, and the next day and the next day. It is like bagging up a big trash bag with back pain and instead of throwing it out you throw it out in front of yourself for tomorrow. It is like bagging up a big trash bag with all the complaints of why you cannot lose that last 5 pounds of weight and throwing in front of you to face again tomorrow. Or how about bagging up some noise kids for tomorrow after your trip to the dentist for that root canal? Yikes!
What we say today and believe will come to pass tomorrow!
Jesus said...........that "our hearts are not to be troubled" that means in anything. AND He said that we are to NOT BE FEARFUL, INTIMATED AND COWARDLY, UNSETTLED.
WHEN we make Jesus our Lord, the Lord of our lives, and He is that Light before us and in us, we see what needs to be changed. And it starts with us. It is not changing others, but having our heart changed to THE things of God.
Jesus bequeathed to us His PEACE. He made the transfer to our account. It is our "inheritance". He gave to us that which He operated in. Passed it on to us. It is time to "ditch" those voices of the world. Leave them in the rut for which they were intended.
Stay off the rocks that others are "speaking" for they know not your life or even you. But God knows you and has a plan for you, just like the expectant parents wait for the arrival of the baby of the their love and union as one voice. Let your life today become that which God spoke out of His love and out of the union with Jesus becomes that which keeps you in His peace, and well-able to walk on smooth paths, staying off the rocks of other's words that only bring defeat and despair. Keep in the light and stay where He places you and you will see victory after victory come to you and yours as you allow the Holy Spirit to give you the details the Father speaks of your life. In Jesus' Name, we expect His Words to go forth and be planted in hearts around the world and see His kingdom come where we walk in faith and not by sight. We believe we give the testimony of that others will hear and know that we have been with HIM! Amen.
