shadow

truth

Got to Have Light

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“Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” 
John 8:12 NASB

During the summer of 2013, I had lens replacements in both eyes due to cataracts. Because I’d worn corrective lenses of some form or fashion for almost fifty years, my husband encouraged me to get the special lens that would correct both my near and far sighted vision. I must say, it’s been great not to wear glasses or contacts anymore.

However, in order to see well and be able to read, I must have light – and good, bright light at that! Dark restaurants and rooms are not my friends. It’s like having sheer curtains pulled over my eyes, making things blurry and out of focus. But that is remedied using my trusty flashlight that I carry in my purse. One click, and the LED light brings immediate clarity. You do what you must do; the tradeoff is certainly worth it to me.

Jesus Christ proclaimed Himself to be the Light of the world. He knew without His light shining, everyone would walk in darkness, unable to see clearly where they were going or what they were doing. Decision making would be obscured; the truth would be vague and unclear. Daily life would be dim and dreary.

The book of John has much to say about Jesus being the Light. In addition to our theme verse above, we discover these truths from John:

  • Christ’s life is the Light of all mankind (1:4)
  • The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness doesn’t overcome it (1:5)
  • The true Light enlightens every person (1:9)
  • The Light has come into the world (3:19)
  • Everyone who does evil hates the Light and fears being exposed (3:20)
  • Those who practice the truth come to the Light (3:21)
  • Walk while you have the Light, so darkness won’t overtake you (12:35)
  • Trust in the Light and you will become children of the Light (12:36)
  • Jesus came as the Light so that those who believe would not remain in darkness (12:46)

Just as my eyes need light to see, so my soul needs the Light of Jesus to see my way in this world. The Bible has much to say about the Light. Take time to gaze upon and comprehend the additional verses listed below. They will brighten your day for sure!

[Digging deeper – Psalm 18:28, 27:1, 43:3, 112:4, 119:105; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Ephesians 5:8-9; 1 John 1:5,7; 1 John 2:8-10; Revelation 22:5]

Longing for the Light,

Beverly <><

 

 

 

Photo Credit: Image courtesy of kibsri at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

 

Playing Hide and Seek

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 I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.

Psalm 119:176 NIV

Do you remembers playing hide and seek as kids? The feeling of retreating to your hiding spot in hopes that you won’t get caught before you made it back to “base” or “safety”. The object of the entire game is for others to HIDE while one person is to SEEK those people out.

GOD IS OUR SEEKER

We may attempt to hide from Him, either as a lost person or a believer plagued with shame and guilt, but either way He seeks us out and He will find us.

While we may try to hide from God, to hide those ugly and messy parts, God sees and He knows. He sees us in the good, bad and the ugly (even when you lose your temper with your spouse/kids or when you backslide in a unhealthy habit)

He sees. He knows. He loves us still.

Psalm 119:176 – I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.

When we hide and we don’t feel worthy of going before him, we give the enemy an advantage. He will do anything and everything he can to steal, kill and destroy what God is doing. That tug that you feel to apologize or ask for forgiveness is Godly sorrow.

When “the seeker” finds us, we are far from put together, but when we use that tug to pull us towards God and not away from Him, we are made new in His grace.

To experience the fullness of God you must embrace the fullness of forgiveness.

Just like the actual game of hide and seek, we can be relieved when we are found, because that means that we don’t have to take matters into our own hands and try to find our way back to “base” or “safety”. When we follow the one that “seeks” us we will be found, and never have to “hide” again. Praise God!

Many blessings sweet friends,

Stephanie

 

Photo credit: image created via wordswag

WRAP AND STRAP ON TRUTH!

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EVERYDAY
REMEMBER THIS AND DO THIS
  1. GOD IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS
  2. HE CAN DO WHAT HE SAYS HE CAN DO
  3. I AM WHO HE SAYS I AM
  4. I CAN DO WHAT HE SAYS I CAN DO
  5. HIS WORD IS ACTIVE AND ALIVE IN ME
  6. I BELIEVE GOD
  1. PRAY IN THE SPIRIT AND PUT ON
  2. PUT ON GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS
  3. PUT ON PEACE BECAUSE OF THE GOOD NEWS
  4. FAITH
  5. SALVATION
  6. SWORD OF THE SPIRIT – THE WORD OF GOD

“Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth… ”
Eph. 6:14a  (NLT)

“Mr. Parker, may I go to the bathroom?” my friend asked. Walking towards the door of our 10th grade homeroom class, NJ looked sideways and grinned at me. But suddenly the grin on her face turned to a big round 0, as a loud gasp escaped from her lips. As she looked down at her feet, so did the whole class. And there, right before everybody, laid her bright red pettipants hanging around her ankles.   And in our day people just didn’t show their underwear. The class erupted in shouts of laughter as Mr. Parker stood shaking his head at another of NJ’s crazy antics. The elastic band on said underwear had snapped and down they went, and my friend whose face was as red as her peti-pants, scooted out the door looking like Tim Conway’s impression of an old man walking, pettipants sliding across the ground as she went.

That reminds me of our verse today. God tells us to put on the belt of truth. Now, I know today’s story is funny, but without the belt of Truth around our lives, we lose much more than a little bit of dignity.

I believe the analogy of a belt is used to get our attention. A belt is strapped around us to keep things in place, to keep from losing something valuable, like our pants, or our dignity in NJ’s situation. In real life, He teaches us to hold the belt of His Truth tightly around us in order to protect us from the lies that lead to broken lives. It holds us together, and allows us to maneuver the pitfalls of deceit.

As we look at our world today, we see many lives, and whole families falling apart. And it’s not funny, although some love to point fingers as they watch. God’s Belt of Truth is one weapon we have in our arsenal to help hold our life, and our family, together.

We need to learn what His truth is and then wrap it around us every single day. Because we have an enemy whose purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. He wants to steal our family, kill our purpose, and destroy our lives. His first attack always comes through deceit – by feeding us The Lie that says God isn’t real, or doesn’t care. That’s what he did to Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden, and Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Adam and Eve fell for the lie; Jesus didn’t. Satan used the lie to bring defeat to the human race, but Jesus brought Truth and victory instead. That is what He offers to us in John 10:10 when He said, Top of Form

Bottom of Form

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10 (NKJV)

So, now we have a choice. Who will you listen to today?

Until Tomorrow,

Your Traveling Companion,
Brenda