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
Dear Family,
I am in awe! God’s word is alive! I love it when His word connects in my head and heart as I am reading and His Spirit brings related scripture to the forefront; It sets my spirit to dancing. At other times one verse can stop me in my tracks. I know God reveals Himself in creation, but creation is not enough to convey the Truth of who He is or of His great love for us. God chose to give Himself in a most intimate and revealing way through His Son Jesus Christ. Hear the words of Jesus in John 14:9 “He that has seen me has seen the Father.”
Who would have expected Jesus to say, “I am the Light of the world?” Isn’t that comparable to saying ‘I am the sun and moon and stars? Is it early morning? perhaps the sun is just rising. The sun was a symbol of Jehovah God. (Psalm 84:11) There is only one sun for our earth. What did Jesus mean by declaring, “He is light?”
It is rich in Truth, Purity, Righteousness! His Light not only banishes the darkness that causes me to stumble; He lights the path He has marked out for me. How often I have read something amazing like this and just mundanely continued reading without even being ambushed by a question or a spirit of awe! Today it captured me. What if there were no light? We could not live! What if we had to create light? Or we were required to deserve, purchase or earn light? We are no more capable of creating or sustaining light than saving ourselves.
As a small child I remember being afraid of the dark. I was the youngest. On our way home from the skating pond (a few blocks from our house) my older siblings would take off running. I was left far behind in the dark, accompanied by their residual laughter and the frightening echo of words shouted to scare me silly.
Love so pure brought Christ into my religious darkness; bringing Light to my soul, a soul shadowed by fear and sin. When His Light shines the darkness of sin is revealed in men’s hearts; but His Light also brings hope and the promise of forgiveness. Don't you just want to kneel in wonder and thanksgiving?
God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. I John 1:5
I loved the words Jesus spoke, “he who follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the Light of life.” To walk in the Light I must follow, to follow I must take up my cross daily, counting myself dead to sin and alive to God. If I do not take up, my cross I am not following the crucified Savior. Please hear this. We have a cross.
All our religious activity does not enable us to walk in the Light of the Savior. Let Truth sink in as you meditate on this scripture in John 12:26 and Matthew 10:38
If anyone serves Me… he must follow Me if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. We have a cross.
As I walk in the Light, Jesus keeps me and protects me and comforts me. The darkness will not overcome me! To be His disciple and have fellowship with Him I must follow and walk in the Light as He is in the Light. The world, my flesh and the devil are always ready to bring darkness into my home, especially through electronics. It is much easier to fall into sin when it is served up as a sweet side-dish with every choice we make. But we have a cross.
…there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. A new cross a new philosophy. The old Cross has little place today. The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. The old Cross is a symbol of death. God saves the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life. God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. We want to be saved but insist on Christ doing all the dying. So subtle is self that scarcely anyone is conscious of its presence. awt Remember ‘we have a cross!’
As our Substitute, He went to the cross alone without us, to pay the penalty of our sins; as our Representative, He took us with Him to the cross, and there in the sight of God we all died together with Christ. We may be forgiven because He died in our stead; we may be delivered because we died with Him. mjs
He died for us hopeless incurables, to bring Light to our darkness. Hallelujah! Matthew 5:16 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. How can it be that He allows me to shine His light in my words and actions? That sets me to tremble!
He is our Light and Victory. The Cross is the secret of it all; It is what He did there that counts, and what He did becomes a force in the life of a Christian when it is appropriated by faith. We are not to just believe in Him for salvation truths but trust Him by following. This is the starting point at which all godly living is born. We will never know Christ’s victory in our lives until we are prepared to count (reckon) upon His victory at the cross as the secret of our personal victory today. mjs
Holy One, I come to You, You who are the Sacrifice Lamb, You who came to take away the sin of the world, I bow in awe of You. Light so pure I cannot comprehend it. Death and the grave could not hold You! Glory to Your Holy Name! Because You went to the Cross I am free. O Lord, keep me from living as though I do not have a cross. Teach me to humble myself and take up my cross daily and follow You. Keep me from pretending to walk in the Light, pretending to be your disciple and lead me to life that pleases You. Thank You for indwelling me. It makes all the difference; for as I count myself crucified with You and surrender for You to live in power through me. I have a cross and when I take it up and follow You I have fellowship with You! Sweetness indescribable. Lord, I love the Light! Thank You! Wow….
In the name of the Lamb of God, I pray.
az
