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SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #155 ---- 12/25/00

#1 · December 24, 2000, 10:54 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on December 24, 2000, 10:54 pm
Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>

Standing Shoulder To Shoulder With You In The Trenches
As We fight The Good Fight

SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #155 ---- 12/25/00

Title: "The Light Has Come!" (part three of three)

My Dear Friend and Ministry coworker:

Merry Christmas! If I had the capacity, I'd drop by for a few moments
just to greet you, bless you, and wish you the most incredible Christmas
experience you've ever had ---- one that would put a bigger spring in
your step, greater praise in your heart, and a louder shout on your lips.
God is indeed a great God, and greatly to be praised!

I'm sending this to you earlier today than usual. I've always liked the
phrase, "Resurrection Sunday and Resignation Monday" as a good reason to
send my letters late at night so you get them at that time or the next
morning. You'll see the reason for my early transmission a few
paragraphs down. Next week I'll probably send my letter from Kansas City
where Jo Ann and I will be spending the night before we leave on a four
week journey to Kiev, Ukraine.

But, now ---- it's Christmas!

What if Christ had not come incarnate?

Have you ever wondered?

While the Incarnation of Christ did not pay the price, it is His birth
that paved the way. Paul discusses in I Corinthians what would have
happened if Christ had not risen from the dead. However, if He had not
come in the first place, all else would be moot.

The virgin birth of our Savior is paramount to the very essence of our
redemption. Isn't it interesting that this fact continues to be
increasingly under attack ---- not just by misguided theologs, but by
society in general, and even by human nature itself. Everything natural
rails out in ridicule and denial against the virgin sinless holy birth of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet it takes full advantage of the occasion to
generate a secular and humanistic approach to celebrating life and
pleasure.

A HISTORY CHANGING MINISTRY OPPORTUNITY:

One week from today Jo Ann and I take a team of nine university students
and return to the beginning place of our ever expanding ministry to the
people of eastern Europe ---- St. James Bible College in Kiev, Ukraine.
We will do a variety of ministry projects with the orphaned and homeless,
work with fellow believers in some evangelistic projects, and I will
teach again a class of about 46 seniors for two weeks.

This school is deeply planted in our hearts. When we see how God has
raised us this institution, meeting in a cultural center from which
Communism was once proclaimed but now young men and women are being
prepared to proclaim the Gospel, we are awed that He would allow us to be
even a minute part of what He is doing.

I have a passion to see good teachers spend two weeks of their lives
pouring sound doctrine, life's experiences, and practical training into
the hearts and souls of believers born and raised in countries formerly
under the Communist regime.

Would you be one of those teachers? St. James needs men and women,
trained and experienced in Christian ministry, who have a heart to invest
in a new generation for a new day, helping to change the course of
history.

If that appeals to you, drop me a note.

VIRUS WARNINGS:

Well, here we are again with more virus warnings. I've received warnings
on three this past week. One has even made national news. One is
supposed to strike only on Christmas day, so the news media has warned us
that we shouldn't go on line on December 25th. Just to play it safe, I
suppose I'll follow their advice. That's also why I'm sending this issue
of "Shoulder to Shoulder" out early evening the 24th so you can get it
safely.

Whether or not they're true, the other two warnings are: "PRETTY PARK"
and "An Internet Flower For You". In the back of my mind I'm thinking
that "Pretty Park" is a very old hoax, but can't be certain. The other
is new to me. At any rate, they are probably hoaxes, but at least you
can be alert to such possibilities.

THE LIGHT HAS COME!

Concluding my thoughts on the birth of Jesus Christ out of Isaiah's
prophecies concerning the Light, I want to focus on Isaiah 60:1-22 along
with Luke 2:1-33.

Thus far we examined Isaiah 9:2-7 where God declared that "the people who
walk in darkness will see a great light". We discussed the tragedy of
living in darkness, the terror who created the darkness, and the triumph
of the coming Deliverer.

Last week we looked at Isaiah 42:1-13 where God announced to His Son that
He had been appointed as a light to the nations. That prophecy is
repeated in Isaiah 49:5-7.

Today it is with great joy that I echo the prophet's declaration:
"Arise! Shine! For your Light has come!"

Praise God!

Today I want to share some thoughts regarding the fulfillment of that
prophecy ---- not just for Israel, but for us all. We will briefly
examine 1) The Light Prophesied, 2) The Light Personified, and 3) The
Light Propagated.

1. The Light Prophesied:

Picture yourself in the setting of Isaiah. He was part of a nation that
had lost its moral and spiritual moorings, and part of a religious system
that had abandoned its power and vitality.

It was a time of both national and personal sorrow for him. His friend
Ussiah was dead, his friends had alienated him because he had made such a
fool of himself preaching the prophetic message God had instructed him to
give. And, he was getting no reinforcing support from his family, his
political acquaintances, and certainly none from his religious
brotherhood.

He was alone. He was without support ---- save one person. His God.

He lived in a time of bondage, hopeless, and futility coming out of
mundane religious repetition and social sameness.

Early in his prophecies, Isaiah admonishes the people, "Let us walk in
the light of the Lord . . . " (2:5), but goes on to lament that they have
changed " . . . darkness for light, and light for darkness . . . "
(5:20). He sadly declares " . . . . there is no light in them . . . "
(8:20).

However, in that setting we find on numerous occasions Divine prophecy
breaking through into his heart and subsequently out of his mouth for the
world to hear ---- and, for the most part, reject.

But at least it was being prophesied.

1) Isaiah 9:2 ---- "The people who walk in darkness will see a great
light." They Will. They WILL!

"The light will shine upon them." It Will. It WILL!

Hundreds of years later Zacharias, the father of John the baptizer, says
it again ---- " . . . the Sunrise from on high shall visit us, to shine
upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death . . . " (Lk
1:78-79).

2) Isaiah 10:17 ---- If there is no repentance, that " . . . . light
of Israel will become a fire and His Holy One a flame, . . . "

3) Isaiah 42:6 ---- " . . . I will appoint you as a covenant to the
people, as a light to the nations, . . . "

4) Isaiah 42:16 ---- One of my favorite prophecies when it seems all
hope is gone, it says, " . . . I will lead the blind by a way they do not
know, in paths they do not know I will guide them. I will make darkness
into light before them and rugged places into plains."

5) Isaiah 49:6 ---- "It is too small a thing that You should [just]
be my Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to [just] restore the
preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a Light of the nations so
that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

6) For those who have lost their way and have no hope, He declares,
"Who is among you that fears the Lord, that obeys the word of His
servant, that walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the
Name of the Lord and rely on his God!"

7) Isaiah 58:8 ---- The prophet, addressing the futility of religious
exercises says that after they've tried it all and found it to be futile,
" . . . Then your light will break out like the dawn, and your recovery
will speedily spring forth, and your righteousness will go before you;
the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard."

He continues, "Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will
cry, and He will say, 'Here I am!' (58:9).

8) Isaiah 60:1 ---- Finally, with emphatic persuasion, Isaiah looks
into the future and shouts, "Arise! Shine! For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!"

Continuing he says, "For behold darkness will [indeed] cover the earth
and deep darkness the peoples; . . . BUT the Lord will rise upon you,
and His glory will appear upon you. {Not only that, but] nations will
come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising" (60:2).

9) Isaiah 60:20. Obviously referring prophetically to the nation
Israel, there is also a personal spiritual application to the one who
chooses to follow The Light and walk in His Light. "Your sun will set no
more, neither will your moon wane; for you will have the Lord for an
everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be finished."

It is obvious there is the prophetic promise of light to those who walk
in darkness. It is for that reason Paul was able to declare centuries
later, "You were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord;
walk as children of light" (Eph 5:8). John picked up that them when he
said, "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin"
(I John 1:7).

There is a clear promise that, even though people love darkness rather
than light, Jesus is the promised Light of the World.

2. The Light Personified:

Now, if you picture yourself in the setting of Luke, you'll discover it
is basically the same as what Isaiah experienced in his day, some 600
years or so earlier.

But now there's a difference . . . . .

What Isaiah prophesied, Luke declares as fulfilled reality. That which
was promised in Isaiah has now been personified. Hallelujah!

1) John 1:4 ---- After declaring His eternality and identification
with God in verses one through three, John, divinely inspired, declares,
"In His was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light
shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overpower it!"

What great news! Christ is the Word. Life is in the Word. Therefore,
Life is in Christ alone. That Life in Christ is so powerful it creates
the Light of men needed for living. And the Light shines only where it
can be best seen ---- in the darkness. And, the darkness cannot overcome
it!

There is hope for mankind!

2) John 8:12 ---- Jesus reiterates that great truth. "I am the Light
of the World. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall
have the light of life." In 9:5 He goes on, "While I am in the world, I
am the Light of the world."

That reality ---- that Christ is the Light, the Only Light ---- is
demonstrated in . . . .

A. His Birth (Luke 2:6-7). To Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and
others, the pronouncement of His birth was accompanied by the testifying
presence of God's glory ---- in the form of light. Just Gods way of
affirming what He has promised.

B. His Life. There are many illustrations of how Jesus brought light
into people's lives ---- blind Bartammaeus, the woman at the well, even
Saul of Tarsus (see Acts 9:3 and 26:18) who was blinded by the light of
the glorious Gospel, and then went on later to describe the work of the
god of this age as trying to create blindness and darkness against such
light (I Cor 4:4).

Or, consider Simon Peter in the dark dungeon of prison: "And behold, an
angel of the Lord suddenly appeared, and a light shone in the cell; . . .
" (Acts 12:7)

C. His Death. Notice the absence of Light pertaining to His
crucifixion. At the time of His death, God gave testimony to His
lifelessness by the presence of darkness for several hours.

When Jesus is dead, there is no light. Why? Because Light emanates from
Life. No life, no light.

That might explain why unbelievers have such a hard time believing ----
which also explains the importance of the role of the Holy Spirit to
bring revelatory light on the subject, whereas intellectual knowledge or
human assent is inadequate.

D. His Resurrection. Note this ---- " . . . dazzling apparel . . . "
(Luke 24:4).

And then the probing question ---- "Why do you seek the living One among
the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to
you . . . " (Luke 24:5-6).

E. His Ascension. Even as He ascended into the heavens, we can
assume by the description that light was present when " . . . . He was
lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of
their sight" (Acts 1:9).

F. His Return. That passage continues, "This same Jesus, who has
been taken up from you into heaven will come in just the same way . . . "
(Acts 1:11). Then in the final chapters of God's Word we read, " . . .
the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the
glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb! And the nations
shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their
glory into it. And in the daytime (for there shall be no night there)
its gates shall never be closed. . . " (Rev 21:23-24).

Friend!

Not only was the Light prophesied, but it was also personified! Over and
over again every day and in every region of the world, someone is coming
into the Light of the World through the wonderful work of the Holy
Spirit. It may not be happening where you live today, but it is
happening somewhere.

Why is that true?

For two reasons: First, it is God's intent that the whole world be
filled with His glory and the whole world see the Light and have an
opportunity to accept Him. Second, it is because of . . . .

3. The Light Propagated:

The Light cannot be kept hid under a basket; it has to be shone. It is
shone first . . .

1) IN Us. "For God, Who said, 'Light shall shine out of darkness' is
the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God
and not from ourselves" (II Cor 4:6-7).

Then, finally, . . . .

2) THROUGH Us. "You are the light of the world. . . . 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" (Mt 5:14, 16).

That's the bottom line, my friend. The Christmas story of Isaiah is
nothing but fable and delirious dreaming unless it is propagated through
us.

"And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well
to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day
dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts" (I Peter 1:19).

Otherwise, the event was wasted, and the story is a sham.

The Light Has indeed come!

Now the ball is in our court.

In His Bond of Compassion and Power of His Spirit,

Bob Tolliver ---- (Rom 1:11-12)
Copyright December, 2000. All rights reserved.

--------------

We'd love to hear from you. Drop us a note with reports, observations,
prayer requests, etc.

If this letter has blessed you and you know of someone else who needs to
be encouraged, feel free to forward it in its entirety to all such people
you know.

If you would like a list of past issues which you could receive upon
request, just let us know.

^
/ |
(_/____)
/ ^ ^
{ (O) (O) }
------oOOOo--------U-------oOOOo------

Hang in there! I'm with you!

--------ooooO----------------Ooooo--------
( ) /
| | /
(_) (_)

Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>

Standing Shoulder To Shoulder With You In The Trenches
As We fight The Good Fight

SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #155 ---- 12/25/00

Title: "The Light Has Come!" (part three of three)

My Dear Friend and Ministry coworker:

Merry Christmas! If I had the capacity, I'd drop by for a few moments
just to greet you, bless you, and wish you the most incredible Christmas
experience you've ever had ---- one that would put a bigger spring in
your step, greater praise in your heart, and a louder shout on your lips.
God is indeed a great God, and greatly to be praised!

I'm sending this to you earlier today than usual. I've always liked the
phrase, "Resurrection Sunday and Resignation Monday" as a good reason to
send my letters late at night so you get them at that time or the next
morning. You'll see the reason for my early transmission a few
paragraphs down. Next week I'll probably send my letter from Kansas City
where Jo Ann and I will be spending the night before we leave on a four
week journey to Kiev, Ukraine.

But, now ---- it's Christmas!

What if Christ had not come incarnate?

Have you ever wondered?

While the Incarnation of Christ did not pay the price, it is His birth
that paved the way. Paul discusses in I Corinthians what would have
happened if Christ had not risen from the dead. However, if He had not
come in the first place, all else would be moot.

The virgin birth of our Savior is paramount to the very essence of our
redemption. Isn't it interesting that this fact continues to be
increasingly under attack ---- not just by misguided theologs, but by
society in general, and even by human nature itself. Everything natural
rails out in ridicule and denial against the virgin sinless holy birth of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet it takes full advantage of the occasion to
generate a secular and humanistic approach to celebrating life and
pleasure.

A HISTORY CHANGING MINISTRY OPPORTUNITY:

One week from today Jo Ann and I take a team of nine university students
and return to the beginning place of our ever expanding ministry to the
people of eastern Europe ---- St. James Bible College in Kiev, Ukraine.
We will do a variety of ministry projects with the orphaned and homeless,
work with fellow believers in some evangelistic projects, and I will
teach again a class of about 46 seniors for two weeks.

This school is deeply planted in our hearts. When we see how God has
raised us this institution, meeting in a cultural center from which
Communism was once proclaimed but now young men and women are being
prepared to proclaim the Gospel, we are awed that He would allow us to be
even a minute part of what He is doing.

I have a passion to see good teachers spend two weeks of their lives
pouring sound doctrine, life's experiences, and practical training into
the hearts and souls of believers born and raised in countries formerly
under the Communist regime.

Would you be one of those teachers? St. James needs men and women,
trained and experienced in Christian ministry, who have a heart to invest
in a new generation for a new day, helping to change the course of
history.

If that appeals to you, drop me a note.

VIRUS WARNINGS:

Well, here we are again with more virus warnings. I've received warnings
on three this past week. One has even made national news. One is
supposed to strike only on Christmas day, so the news media has warned us
that we shouldn't go on line on December 25th. Just to play it safe, I
suppose I'll follow their advice. That's also why I'm sending this issue
of "Shoulder to Shoulder" out early evening the 24th so you can get it
safely.

Whether or not they're true, the other two warnings are: "PRETTY PARK"
and "An Internet Flower For You". In the back of my mind I'm thinking
that "Pretty Park" is a very old hoax, but can't be certain. The other
is new to me. At any rate, they are probably hoaxes, but at least you
can be alert to such possibilities.

THE LIGHT HAS COME!

Concluding my thoughts on the birth of Jesus Christ out of Isaiah's
prophecies concerning the Light, I want to focus on Isaiah 60:1-22 along
with Luke 2:1-33.

Thus far we examined Isaiah 9:2-7 where God declared that "the people who
walk in darkness will see a great light". We discussed the tragedy of
living in darkness, the terror who created the darkness, and the triumph
of the coming Deliverer.

Last week we looked at Isaiah 42:1-13 where God announced to His Son that
He had been appointed as a light to the nations. That prophecy is
repeated in Isaiah 49:5-7.

Today it is with great joy that I echo the prophet's declaration:
"Arise! Shine! For your Light has come!"

Praise God!

Today I want to share some thoughts regarding the fulfillment of that
prophecy ---- not just for Israel, but for us all. We will briefly
examine 1) The Light Prophesied, 2) The Light Personified, and 3) The
Light Propagated.

1. The Light Prophesied:

Picture yourself in the setting of Isaiah. He was part of a nation that
had lost its moral and spiritual moorings, and part of a religious system
that had abandoned its power and vitality.

It was a time of both national and personal sorrow for him. His friend
Ussiah was dead, his friends had alienated him because he had made such a
fool of himself preaching the prophetic message God had instructed him to
give. And, he was getting no reinforcing support from his family, his
political acquaintances, and certainly none from his religious
brotherhood.

He was alone. He was without support ---- save one person. His God.

He lived in a time of bondage, hopeless, and futility coming out of
mundane religious repetition and social sameness.

Early in his prophecies, Isaiah admonishes the people, "Let us walk in
the light of the Lord . . . " (2:5), but goes on to lament that they have
changed " . . . darkness for light, and light for darkness . . . "
(5:20). He sadly declares " . . . . there is no light in them . . . "
(8:20).

However, in that setting we find on numerous occasions Divine prophecy
breaking through into his heart and subsequently out of his mouth for the
world to hear ---- and, for the most part, reject.

But at least it was being prophesied.

1) Isaiah 9:2 ---- "The people who walk in darkness will see a great
light." They Will. They WILL!

"The light will shine upon them." It Will. It WILL!

Hundreds of years later Zacharias, the father of John the baptizer, says
it again ---- " . . . the Sunrise from on high shall visit us, to shine
upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death . . . " (Lk
1:78-79).

2) Isaiah 10:17 ---- If there is no repentance, that " . . . . light
of Israel will become a fire and His Holy One a flame, . . . "

3) Isaiah 42:6 ---- " . . . I will appoint you as a covenant to the
people, as a light to the nations, . . . "

4) Isaiah 42:16 ---- One of my favorite prophecies when it seems all
hope is gone, it says, " . . . I will lead the blind by a way they do not
know, in paths they do not know I will guide them. I will make darkness
into light before them and rugged places into plains."

5) Isaiah 49:6 ---- "It is too small a thing that You should [just]
be my Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to [just] restore the
preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a Light of the nations so
that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

6) For those who have lost their way and have no hope, He declares,
"Who is among you that fears the Lord, that obeys the word of His
servant, that walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the
Name of the Lord and rely on his God!"

7) Isaiah 58:8 ---- The prophet, addressing the futility of religious
exercises says that after they've tried it all and found it to be futile,
" . . . Then your light will break out like the dawn, and your recovery
will speedily spring forth, and your righteousness will go before you;
the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard."

He continues, "Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will
cry, and He will say, 'Here I am!' (58:9).

8) Isaiah 60:1 ---- Finally, with emphatic persuasion, Isaiah looks
into the future and shouts, "Arise! Shine! For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!"

Continuing he says, "For behold darkness will [indeed] cover the earth
and deep darkness the peoples; . . . BUT the Lord will rise upon you,
and His glory will appear upon you. {Not only that, but] nations will
come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising" (60:2).

9) Isaiah 60:20. Obviously referring prophetically to the nation
Israel, there is also a personal spiritual application to the one who
chooses to follow The Light and walk in His Light. "Your sun will set no
more, neither will your moon wane; for you will have the Lord for an
everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be finished."

It is obvious there is the prophetic promise of light to those who walk
in darkness. It is for that reason Paul was able to declare centuries
later, "You were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord;
walk as children of light" (Eph 5:8). John picked up that them when he
said, "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin"
(I John 1:7).

There is a clear promise that, even though people love darkness rather
than light, Jesus is the promised Light of the World.

2. The Light Personified:

Now, if you picture yourself in the setting of Luke, you'll discover it
is basically the same as what Isaiah experienced in his day, some 600
years or so earlier.

But now there's a difference . . . . .

What Isaiah prophesied, Luke declares as fulfilled reality. That which
was promised in Isaiah has now been personified. Hallelujah!

1) John 1:4 ---- After declaring His eternality and identification
with God in verses one through three, John, divinely inspired, declares,
"In His was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light
shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overpower it!"

What great news! Christ is the Word. Life is in the Word. Therefore,
Life is in Christ alone. That Life in Christ is so powerful it creates
the Light of men needed for living. And the Light shines only where it
can be best seen ---- in the darkness. And, the darkness cannot overcome
it!

There is hope for mankind!

2) John 8:12 ---- Jesus reiterates that great truth. "I am the Light
of the World. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall
have the light of life." In 9:5 He goes on, "While I am in the world, I
am the Light of the world."

That reality ---- that Christ is the Light, the Only Light ---- is
demonstrated in . . . .

A. His Birth (Luke 2:6-7). To Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and
others, the pronouncement of His birth was accompanied by the testifying
presence of God's glory ---- in the form of light. Just Gods way of
affirming what He has promised.

B. His Life. There are many illustrations of how Jesus brought light
into people's lives ---- blind Bartammaeus, the woman at the well, even
Saul of Tarsus (see Acts 9:3 and 26:18) who was blinded by the light of
the glorious Gospel, and then went on later to describe the work of the
god of this age as trying to create blindness and darkness against such
light (I Cor 4:4).

Or, consider Simon Peter in the dark dungeon of prison: "And behold, an
angel of the Lord suddenly appeared, and a light shone in the cell; . . .
" (Acts 12:7)

C. His Death. Notice the absence of Light pertaining to His
crucifixion. At the time of His death, God gave testimony to His
lifelessness by the presence of darkness for several hours.

When Jesus is dead, there is no light. Why? Because Light emanates from
Life. No life, no light.

That might explain why unbelievers have such a hard time believing ----
which also explains the importance of the role of the Holy Spirit to
bring revelatory light on the subject, whereas intellectual knowledge or
human assent is inadequate.

D. His Resurrection. Note this ---- " . . . dazzling apparel . . . "
(Luke 24:4).

And then the probing question ---- "Why do you seek the living One among
the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to
you . . . " (Luke 24:5-6).

E. His Ascension. Even as He ascended into the heavens, we can
assume by the description that light was present when " . . . . He was
lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of
their sight" (Acts 1:9).

F. His Return. That passage continues, "This same Jesus, who has
been taken up from you into heaven will come in just the same way . . . "
(Acts 1:11). Then in the final chapters of God's Word we read, " . . .
the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the
glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb! And the nations
shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their
glory into it. And in the daytime (for there shall be no night there)
its gates shall never be closed. . . " (Rev 21:23-24).

Friend!

Not only was the Light prophesied, but it was also personified! Over and
over again every day and in every region of the world, someone is coming
into the Light of the World through the wonderful work of the Holy
Spirit. It may not be happening where you live today, but it is
happening somewhere.

Why is that true?

For two reasons: First, it is God's intent that the whole world be
filled with His glory and the whole world see the Light and have an
opportunity to accept Him. Second, it is because of . . . .

3. The Light Propagated:

The Light cannot be kept hid under a basket; it has to be shone. It is
shone first . . .

1) IN Us. "For God, Who said, 'Light shall shine out of darkness' is
the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God
and not from ourselves" (II Cor 4:6-7).

Then, finally, . . . .

2) THROUGH Us. "You are the light of the world. . . . 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" (Mt 5:14, 16).

That's the bottom line, my friend. The Christmas story of Isaiah is
nothing but fable and delirious dreaming unless it is propagated through
us.

"And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well
to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day
dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts" (I Peter 1:19).

Otherwise, the event was wasted, and the story is a sham.

The Light Has indeed come!

Now the ball is in our court.

In His Bond of Compassion and Power of His Spirit,

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prayer requests, etc.

If this letter has blessed you and you know of someone else who needs to
be encouraged, feel free to forward it in its entirety to all such people
you know.

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request, just let us know.

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Hang in there! I'm with you!

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