Light and Dark

Light and Dark

Luke 11:34-36

The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when [thine eye] is evil, thy body also [is] full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness If thy whole body therefore [be] full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

              Throughout the Word darkness is often symbolic of ignorance, or a place where God’s truth and light is not active and working.  This is the state we were all in before we came to the knowledge of Christ and He illuminated our spirits with His Truth.  2 Corinthians 4:6 says, “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”  It is in this place of darkness that sin and unrighteousness can work.  The devil is like a cockroach; he loves the darkness because there he can work his deception and wickedness.  The light is a difficult area for the devil to work in because it exposes lies, deceptions and wickedness.  It takes issues out of the place of ignorance and deception and exposes them to the light of God’s Word.  Light and darkness are issues that don’t just concern the world and the unsaved.  They are issues that concern us as Christians on an ongoing basis.  This is why we keep dealing with these issues of light and darkness.  This area of darkness is one we still struggle with in our own lives everyday.  The purpose God sent His Son was to deliver us out of darkness and spiritual ignorance.  The nature of the flesh is that it likes the darkness, because there it doesn’t have to be accountable to God.  John 3:19, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” 

              Many of us are struggling with issues of sin in our lives because there are areas of our lives we still want to keep in darkness.  These are the dark closets of our soul where we have kept the hidden desires and passions of our hearts.  If we never did anything that we would be ashamed for others to see and know about then there is no darkness.  Darkness is the breeding ground for sin to work in our lives and it is why it is so important for us to have accountability to one another, because it helps us to keep ourselves in the light.  The light is our protection and defense against the sin and destruction that wants to perpetrate our lives.  The deception of darkness is that what we do in secret may start rather small and insignificant, but it continues to grow little by little.  We become dull and desensitized because as it grows it is warping and blinding our judgement and discernment.  We become more tolerant and justifying of our actions, thoughts and attitudes.  Then, one day, the light exposes the darkness in our lives and we find that what was once insignificant has become a monster.   It is now threatening to destroy us, our loved ones and all that we hold dear; not to mention what it has done to our testimony and witness for Christ.   Romans 12:13 says, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.”   The light of God’s Word is our protection and fortress against the works and destructive nature of darkness.   As we put on Christ we are putting on the armor of light and truth that sets us apart and causes us to stand out as light-bearers and not darkness dwellers.

              Are there areas of darkness at work in your life today?  Are there hidden things in our lives, areas where we are not allowing the Holy Spirit into and we may think no one sees?  What is done in secret will be shouted on the rooftops.  God will bring our darkness to light, and even if it weren’t, we still must give account before Him one day for nothing is hidden from Him. 

              God is giving many of us a warning and exhortation today to get all of our lives out into the light, to forsake the hidden works of darkness and to repent and be accountable to one another.  Sure we all deal with areas of weakness in our lives, but let us find others whom we can confide in and who can pray with us and help us in our struggles.  We need each other to strengthen and fortify one another against the ravaging effects that unchecked sin can have in our lives.  Don’t isolate yourself, because then you become like the sheep separated from the flock which is easy prey for the wolves.  Find unity, strength and wholeness in the body of Christ.  We are a body that should not function to condemn or pass judgement on one another, but build up, encourage and help one another.  We are all the products of God’s grace and not our own goodness so let His grace work through us to help and minister to one another.  1 Corinthians 10:12-13 exhorts us, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God [is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear [it].”  Let us give diligence that the light of God and His Truth fills our lives so that darkness has no place in us.  “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness (John 12:46).”

Blessings,

#kent

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What is keeping You in the Dark?

1 John 2:8-11
Anyone who claims to live in God’s light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark. It’s the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in God’s light and doesn’t block the light from others. But whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn’t know which end is up, blinded by the darkness.

What is keeping You in the Dark?

Many of us wonder why we are struggling with so many issues in our lives and in our relationships. I believe the Lord is speaking to us to go and clean out the closets of our past, because they are defiling and polluting our present and our future.
Many of us have hurts and wounds, perhaps from those that we loved and trusted, that we are still carrying into today’s life and experience. Hate, resentments, unforgiveness and bitterness are all walls that shut out the light of God’s love and truth to our soul. Think about when you have gotten angry with someone and you ran into your room, shut and locked the door. Symbolically, as well as literally you were shutting off your soul and your love to them. You were putting them out into darkness and cutting yourself off from them. In most cases, we eventually open up the door, get over our anger or hurt, reconcile with the person and restore the relationship. There are still a lot of cases we have not done this. The door is still shut in our hearts. Hatred, unforgiveness, bitterness still remains, keeping us in the darkness. These elements shut out the light of God’s love and forgiveness.
There may be very good reasons you have not reconciled with certain individuals and there may be very good reasons that you shouldn’t be physically around them any longer, but what we carry from our past can destroy our future.
There is a tremendous amount of emotional healing that needs to take place in the body of Christ. We can’t always control how we feel toward another, but we can begin to release forgiveness in faith toward them. When Jesus hung on the cross, He prayed and said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” That act of forgiveness on the part of Jesus opened the door for the light of God to come in and reconcile the very ones that crucified Christ back to Him. Our unforgiveness can hold both ourselves and the ones we refuse to forgive in spiritual bondage. In Matthew 6:14-15 Jesus says it this way, “”In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.”
Are you struggling today in your relationships with God and man? Maybe we need to take some time and find out if there are past issues that haven’t been dealt with and forgiven. If you want to walk in the light of God you need to go back and deal with the issues that may be keeping you in darkness. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything that you are still holding on too and haven’t released to Him. As you repent, ask God to forgive those you may have not truly forgiven. Release forgiveness to all of those who have offended you and come into the light and the true fellowship of Christ. Don’t allow your past to be an anchor that hinders your glorious future in Christ.
“Father forgive us as we forgive those who have sinned and trespassed against us. Amen”

Blessings,
#kent

Take Hold of Life

Take Hold of Life
Poverbs 2:6-19
For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. 9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. 10 For wisdom will enter your heart,and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. 11 Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse 13 who leave the straight paths to walk in dark was 14 who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, 15 whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways. 16 It will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words, 17 who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. 18 For her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. 19 None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.
The questions this morning is why do we embrace death when the Lord has proclaimed and laid before us the path and way of Life? Blindly and ignorantly we accept whatever the world tells us and follow its mandates like it has the answers to Life. There is one source and fountain of Life. It is contained between the covers of your Bible and the Spirit of Life that quickens it to our understanding. Wisdom is spiritual life and understanding. Wisdom is not in us embracing every device and ad campaign of man that promises so much and delivers so little.
Where are we at today concerning our health, our life, our future and our finances? Are we walking in faith searching out and embracing by faith the Word and promises of God or are we listening to a spirit of death that tells us how we are dying? The Word of God has a good report; who are we going to believe. Do we find ourselves dependent upon the ways of man? Are our lives now ruled and in bondage to medications, prescription drugs, loans and debt, materialism and the philosophies of the world’s success? Are we moving in the realm of liberty and freedom of the Spirit, embracing God’s Words of life or are we giving ourselves self-appointed doom and defeat, because we embrace and profess with our mouths words contrary to the Life God wants to give us. We are a Kingdom of God people that should live in a kingdom culture and way of thinking. You see we have been conditioned by the lies of the enemy and our temptation is to believe that we have to go the way of the world and death. What we fail to realize is that what we are saying is man is true and God is a liar. I don’t think many of us come out and say it verbally, but our lives, habits and behavior are saying it.
Listen to what the today’s passage is saying. Do we really believe and embrace that? My wife has a wonderful habit. Almost daily she is putting on CDs of the Bible and playing them. Constantly she is putting the Word in her mind and heart, awake or sleeping, rather consciously or subconsciously it is feeding her spirit. The exhortation for today is for us to examine our lives and let go of the death and wrong thinking that we are embracing that is ministering death to us and not life. Feed upon the Life, embrace the Word of God and let it be your standard for every aspect of your life. The adulteress of this world’s system will lead you into death, “None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.” God has purposed us for Life, lay hold of it with all that is within you and hold fast to it that it might deliver you out of this life’s destruction and death. We are called unto life and godliness. If you lose you vision, you will lose your way.

Blessings,
#kent

Trickles of Truth: Do We Change the Atmosphere?

Matthew 5:14-16
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

Do We Change the Atmosphere?

When light comes into a dark place it brings a change in the atmosphere. It brings illumination. Suddenly we see things more clearly than we did before. Suddenly we see a quality that contrasts with the darkness, but its qualities are so much higher and better. If that were not so we would sit in our dark houses at night rather than turn on the light.
Jesus says we are that light. We are the people that change the atmosphere of our world and our sphere of influence. We are often the only illumination of what people see and perceive to be God. How are we doing with that? Many in the world have looked upon the church and said, “If that is God, I’ll keep my darkness. They may talk different, but their lives are no different.” We, as the body of Christ, can only produce and bring forth what we ourselves are walking in and saturated with. Our lives have so often become shallow muddy wells rather than the artesian rivers of living water that flow from the throne. What we are producing in our atmosphere is a commentary to us on what is, or is not filling our lives. It is not about what we can produce of our own making or our own goodness, it is simply being in such a love relationship with Jesus that the abundance of that love and joy spills out on all who are around us. We want people that are around us to sense and know there is something different about us even before they speak to us. The world is hungry for the reality of Jesus not the facade of it. How sad that we, the people of God, are often God’s own worst enemies when it comes to being His ambassadors to this world. If we are ambassadors then we have to fully represent the values, culture and dynamics of the kingdom that we stand for.
It is sad that many of God’s people are living in defeat and discouragement. That is not God’s will or His best for you. Yes, you may be going through hard times. Even when King David, before he became king, was being pursued by King Saul to take his life, he found his joy in the Lord. In Psalm 103:1-6 David declares, “Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 6 The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.” The secret that David learned was that no matter how dark it looked outside the Son was always shinning in heaven. It was the praise and acknowledgement of God’s goodness, even in the bleakest of times that brought back the joy and confidence of faith to David. He had to encourage his soul to bless the Lord with his spirit man. It wasn’t because he felt like it, but he knew that praise, worship, thanksgiving and the remembrance of God’s Word and promises are what would restore the oil of joy and bring the light of gladness.
Saturate yourself in the oil of the Holy Spirit. Become ignited with the love of God. Change the atmosphere around you by the power of His love and life in and through you. You are the light of the world because He is the light within you. Live out of light!

Blessings,
#kent

Walking in the Light

Walking in the Light

John I: 4-5

In him was life and the life was the light of men.  And the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness apprehended it not.

The light is Christ who is the light that has come to dispel the darkness of ignorance and sin.  Does darkness want to lay hold of light?  No.  Where light is the darkness can no longer remain.  The secret to overcoming sin, ignorance and the darkness that filled our hearts as a result is to let Christ fill every part; every nook and cranny and closet of our hearts.  Where He is, darkness has no place.  

God’s Word and Holy Spirit are the guardians of our mind, heart, soul and spirit.  As we openly, minute by minute invite the Holy Spirit of God to abide in us and search us for any unclean or “dark” place He illuminates us with His grace and begins the process of unseating the strongholds of darkness that don’t want to be expelled.  It is my will submitted to His that is my strength.  I can not do it without Him.  Roman 8:13 “If you live after the flesh you must die: but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, we shall live.”  Life is Christ.  “In Him we live and move and have our being” Acts 17:28a

 

Blessings,

kent