light
Posted by: pastor <pastor@...>
Light
It was a very dark time.
The unfaithfulness, the coldness, the greed, the pride, the self centeredness, and yes, the religiosity of the people had pushed God far away.
He had removed His Spirit from the temple when it became a place that lifted up men more than He.
There had been no loud prophetic voice for over 400 years.
Only a few still read the Word of God, although many, many were simply "going through the motions" of religion.
Darkness ruled over the Creation of God. Lonely, painful darkness.
Then God, in His Grace and Mercy, broke the darkness. Not with a pillar of fire or a blazing Heavenly Light, but with the cry of a newborn Baby.
Read Luke 2:1-15
The Light of God had come to the world.
John 1:1-5 "In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it."
The darkness and the deliver had been foretold long ago by the Prophet Isaiah, and many others. It was this prophecy that led the children of Israel to sing the song "My deliver is coming"
Isaiah 9:1-7 "Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor's rod just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian. The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire. For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven's Armies will make this happen!"
I guess one question we should be asking ourselves today is, "Are we that much better than they were in the years before the birth of Christ?
Are we truly faithful and obedient? Or are we simply going through the "motions of religion?"
While I was flying to Dallas EARLY Monday morning I was blessed by a wonderful, devotional sight. We were flying over a particularly desolate are where there was absolutely no light. Total darkness filled the small window of the plane, it was really quite depressing. Where was the light? Any light?
Then, suddenly, there was one, single solitary light shining brightly in the middle of all the darkness. One light driving away the dark, making a huge difference in the area around it, reaching even to me in a plane miles and miles away.
Christians should be like that light. We live in a world full of darkness, darkness that, most times, doesn't even realize how dark their world really is today. They don't even understand their need for light, so they do not seek it.
Christians are not the light, Jesus is the light. But we are transmitters of His light into the dark world around us. When we fail to shine His light the darkness remains and spreads. We can make a huge difference in the life of a person, a family or a community, maybe even the world, if we would just let His light shine through us.
As we flew closer and closer to civilization more lights began to appear. Two or three here and there at first, then dozens, then hundreds and, as we entered the metroplex, millions of lights shined brightly making a HUGE difference driving out the darkness almost completely thorough the night, staying on until the sun arises.
Christians should be like that as well: Multiplying into great numbers, building His light until most of the darkness of sin and fear is driven back, making a huge difference, making more and more lights to shine brightly until THE Son comes back.
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