Day 318: Light Up My World

2 Peter 1:18-21

18 We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, 21 or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.

We all have that one thing or that one person that just lights our world up. Making us feel good and cozy on the inside, we all have that one thing that makes us feel like no matter what it going on everything will be alright. No matter how I’m feeling when I come in contact with this person or this thing everything is fine. There’s something for all of us that just lights our world up, you might not be able to point it out now, but you know what it is when it comes up. That’s how the word of God lights up our life. It’s a light to our path, there’s something about walking with God and knowing that no matter what He’s always with you that lights up our world. He comes and turns everything upside down in the best way possible. God is just so amazing He lights up our world. Sometimes I can’t help but be taken away with how great He is. I can’t help but fall into His presence and worship Him, because He brings so much into my little world and life. God improves our lives so much, and improves who we are as people. No one can light up our life the way God can, He provides a light brighter than every light on the earth. He provides a joy that we can get nowhere else. The word of God is what will lead us to eternity. We listen to the words of the prophets and we still have faith in this beautiful book written thousands of years ago because it never failed. This word came straight from God, He used people to show us a way that was and is better than ours. His word gives us the opportunity to have a relationship with Him and live a life lit up by Him. He lights everything up in our life. God is the one person that no matter what is going on in our lives we know that as long as we have faith in Him we are alright and the proof is in His word. The beauty of this cannot be described in words.

His word is like a lamp to our path, as the scripture says. God’s word is direction for our feet. He lights up every step that we take, He directs us and leads us where we need to go. Everything we could ever need, the answer is in His word, if we are looking for direction it can be found in His word. If we are looking for a way out of darkness the answer is in His word. The beauty of God’s word is that it gives us so much, a while ago I heard someone say the acronym for the Bible was, Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. The word of God has the tools that we need to survive, and by survive I mean so much more than just getting by day-to-day.

All this to say, the word of God has provided us with a way to sustain while here on earth, it has instructed us to live while we are still here but to look forward to what is to come. When we read the word we see the countless wonders of God. We come to know the magnitude of God’s love for us, knowing that someone loves me enough to continuously pursue my heart and send His son as a sacrifice lights up my world. None of this will be known without the word of God. That is why it is so important for us to read Gods word and dive into it, because it is through His word that we gain an understanding of who He is. It is through God’s word that He is able to light up our lives.

Reflection/Prayer Time

Has God lit up you life? How? Take the time to thank God for His word and thank Him that in the midst of darkness He brings light, and that He is constantly lighting up our life with His love and goodness. Take the time to praise God for all He’s done and more than that just who He is.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for day 319!

Day 269: Exposing Darkness

Ephesians 5:11-14

For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.  It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret.  But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible…

This statement might be familiar to some of us, but I remember when I was younger, a way my mom scared the truth out of us or stopped us from doing things we knew we weren’t supposed to do was by saying, “What’s done in the dark will come to light.” Every time she said this to us I would freak out, like I would have a few mini heart attacks. Thinking about all the things she would find out, I started freaking out about things I hadn’t even done, but I was convinced that I would get in trouble no matter what. This was a life lesson, it kept me an honest person, and someone who was willing to clean my closet before all the skeletons fell out. God knows what we are doing when no one else is looking. He sees the things we do in the dark that we try to hide from everyone else. The difference between God and my mom is that I could hide things from her, there’s nothing i can hide from God because He is all knowing. He. Sees. Everything.  

God is calling us to live an honest life before Him. He’s calling us out of darkness and telling us to take no part in it, as a matter of fact shine a light on it and expose it. Here’s the  thing about darkness is, it is only the absence of light. That’s literally the definition. So simple yet so profound. Seeing that Jesus is the light, He is telling us to only take part in things that are of Him. Taking part in darkness or living in darkness means we are living outside of the will of God. We are trying to navigate through life without our Savior. When we shine a light on the darkness that was once our lives, we begin to see clearly. Christ can now clean up the mess that was our lives. There’s no use of trying to walk through darkness because we will never get to where we are trying to go. In darkness we have no direction, no vision, nothing. There’s too much in front of us that we cannot see causing us to fall and stumble. Christ wants us to expose that, all of it. Now I know when we think about our sin being exposed our minds go to humiliation, but Christ is not in the business of humiliating us, in fact He would rather be humiliated so we wouldn’t have to. He was humiliated for us. He wants us to bring our sin to Him so He can clean us off.

The scripture says, once we were filled with darkness but now we have light from the Lord. What that means is God gave us direction. He gave us salvation, He sent His son so that we would no longer have to navigate in the dark. When Jesus came He did not come pointing at people and embarrassing them for their sin, but He offered forgiveness, He gave us a way out. He turned us away from a life that was leading to death and gave us an eternity. But here’s the catch, the people had to be willing to accept Him, the had to be willing to accept His forgiveness and walk in this light that He has given us.

Sometimes we are so consumed by our sin that it seems nearly impossible to give up. We tend to hold on to the very things that are killing us as if they could save us. We have been walking in darkness so long that the sight of light doesn’t give us hope, instead it irritates our eyes so we turn away from it. What I’m saying is that sometimes darkness feel too good to us to give up. Everything that feels good isn’t good, I think we can all agree on that. We know this, we know that the things we are doing is not okay because we are trying to hide them from God, so why do we continue to live in darkness as if it can be overlooked? It poses the question, would we rather God expose us for our sin or would we rather come to Him and confess? Lay it down at the cross and accept salvation. I don’t know about you, but the latter seems to be the easier road to take. Jesus doesn’t judge us, He died so that we wouldn’t have to live in darkness. He gave us His life to do away with darkness, why would we go back to it after we’ve been set free?

There are some things in our lives that are so hard to let go of. We all that one thing that stays creeping up on us. As I’ve stated before, that thing for me was pornography, I could go to church, read my bible everyday, pray all day, and still be struggling with pornography. Even when I thought it was gone, it came creeping up again. Sometimes us Christians are walk 95% in the light. What I mean is we sometimes have a closet with a few skeletons lying around, making appearances every now and then. We just tend to overlook them as if they’re not there. What I’m saying is, there’s corners in our lives that could use some light.

All this to say, walk in light and when I say walk in light I mean walk in Christ. Do not be consumed by sin. When we invite Christ into our lives we must allow Him into every part of our lives, so that He can drive out darkness in every corner and crevice of our lives.  There is nothing we can hide from Him no matter how hard we try, so there’s no use in trying. There is always room at the cross to lay down our sins and expose the darkness in our lives. Sin was defeated by Christ, darkness was defeated by light. So if we want to defeat the darkness in our lives we must shine a light on it. If we want to get rid of the sin in our lives we must accept Christ into our hearts and give Him every part of us. Letting go of anything and everything that is unlike Him.

Reflection

1. Are there things in your life you are overlooking because you can’t seem to let them go?
2. If so, what are they?
3. Take the time to respond to what we discussed today, in whatever way you feel led.  

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Talk to God about whatever is on your heart, if you want to confess to Him take the time and do it. This is between you and God, whatever is on your heart release it. If you want a way out, here is it. If you want God to shine a light on you so that you are no longer walking in darkness take the time to tell Him. If you want to make that decision to accept the Lord as your Savior or rededicate your life to Him, now is the time to do it.  

If you want to make that decision today, pray this prayer with me.

Jesus I declare that you are my Lord and Saviour who died for my sin and was raised three days later. I repent of my sins and I give my life to you. I believe in my heart that you are the true living God. I pray that you shine  light on me and bring me out of the dark. I love you Lord. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, Amen.

If you made the choice to follow Christ, rededicate, or to submit your life to Him fully, Go to Romans 10:9-10

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! If you made a decision to follow Christ, congratulations! Get plugged into a church and don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or prayer requests. Im praying for you on your journey. I love you, be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for day 270!

Day 210: Don't Cover your Light

Matthew 5:13-16

"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

John 8:12

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."

Galatians 2:20

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

I think the first thing to take away from the above scriptures is that Christ is the light of the world. In Him there is no darkness. Jesus is the light this world needs, and the light this world craves. He brought something that we could not attain on our own. He brought light into a world of darkness. Darkness is the absence of light, and if Christ is the light, and we are in darkness it means that we are living without Christ. However, when we submit our lives to Christ, and Christ is in us then we have that same light. So when Jesus tells us in Matthew that we are the light of the world, it’s kind of like a responsibility. If He lives in us we are lit by Him. The light we illuminate is the light of Jesus Christ. What I’m saying here is, while we are here on earth we are representatives of Christ, ambassadors. We represent the life death, and resurrection of Christ in the way we choose to live and love. There are so many people out there searching for Christ and don’t know where to look, so many people stuck in darkness that could use a little light. According to Jesus, we are that light. As disciples of Christ it is our duty to shine our light in a dark world. If we have accepted Christ into our lives and received the Holy Spirit, we have this light, Let’s not cover it up or try to dim it. Let it shine, let it shine bright. Be a beacon of light, the light that we have through Jesus Christ is a beacon of hope for someone.

All this to say, don’t cover up or try to hide your light. Let it shine so that people may see the glory of God through you. That people may find hope in Jesus Christ. Be a representative of the gospel, an ambassador of Jesus Christ. Allow your light to lead people to the cross and further more to salvation that will allow them to live a life that is eternal.

Response/Prayer Time

Respond today however you feel led. Allow the Holy Spirit to dwell within you. Talk to God about being a beacon of light. Have a conversation with God about whatever is on your heart today.

If you have not accepted Christ into your life, if you have yet to make that decision, I believe that now is the time. If you want to step out of darkness and into the light, choose today to dedicate your life to Christ and live with Him all the days of your life, for all eternal. This decision is eternal, and so worth it. If that’s you, if you want to make that decision today, pray this prayer with me.

Jesus I declare that you are my Lord and Saviour who died for my sin and was raised three days later. I repent of my sins and I give my life to you. I believe in my heart that you are the true living God. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, Amen.

If you made the choice to follow Christ, rededicate, or to submit your life to Him fully, Go to Romans 10:9-10

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

I love you, congratulations to those of you who have decided to follow or rededicate your life to Christ today. THe next step would be getting plugged into a church and a small group if possible. If you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to contact me.

I love you, and I hope have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 211!