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The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.  John 1:5

Our enemy knows that God is Light.  He was once an archangel in heaven and saw the brilliance of the glory of the Godhead.  For much of eternity, he trembled and led the angels in worship.  Was God’s light so bright that he often had to look away?  We don’t know but one thing is for sure ~ he bowed in worship and led others to do the same before his appetite for power and autonomy corrupted him.  

Since Satan has seen God’s brilliance, and since he knows that Light overcomes darkness, why does he wage all-out war to wear out the saints?   And he shall speak great words against the most High and shall wear out the saints of the most High.  Daniel 7:25

Doesn’t he know that God’s children will tap into the ‘surpassing power of God’s greatness to all who believe?” (Ephesians 1:19) 

Doesn’t he know that we are well aware that victory over him was declared at Calvary?  (Hebrews 12:14)

Doesn’t he know that we have read the scriptures and we celebrate that he was paraded in defeat and humiliation before the whole spirit world?  (Colossians 2:15) 

Doesn’t he know that we take notice of the gift of God’s armor and put it on?  (Ephesians 6) 

Isn’t he aware that Paul calls it the ‘armor of Light’?  (Romans 13:12) 

Hasn’t he learned that we are aware of both our powerlessness in the flesh and our invincibility in the power of the name of Jesus?

Yes, he knows!  But he counts on the fact that, in times of distress, we will not stop to take stock of what is true about God, about His provisions and His promises.  Today is a day for our family to lean into God’s grace, asking Him for the courage to continue to trust His providence and promises. This is the second year anniversary of our son’s suicide. At 3:00 a.m. on this day two years ago, we answered a knock at the door that brought traumatic news the likes of which we’d never experienced. Ron heard the news first, then came and sat on the couch with me. He said, “This is the worst night of our lives.” And it was.

The feelings were both numbing and overwhelming. And on days like today, Satan counts on us caving into our overwhelming feelings.  He knows how hard it is to exercise faith in the throes of pain and distress.  He knows that our instinctive reactions to the memories of traumatic events involve emotions first, then thoughts.  He knows that by wearying us with battle after battle, we just might succumb to disillusionment and distrust of our Father.  What is the alternative?  

Oh, we can choose to believe that hardship is an opportunity to flex new faith muscles.  We can know that it’s possible to sing through our tears.  When drowning under the sea of trouble, we can rely on the surpassing power of God’s greatness.  We can don our armor and put-on Christ.  We can take the Light of the world into our fears, into the darkness of unbelief, into the chasm of sleeplessness, and into the worst of our ‘what ifs’ to discover that a foundation in Christ is solid as a Rock.  In the darkest moments of today, there is still light. Our son is worshipping at the feet of Jesus.

The world shakes but You, Lord, are unshakeable.  Amen

Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn.  Isaiah 51:1

When Jesus talked with the woman at the well in Samaria, He took intentional steps to prepare her to receive Truth.  They began by talking of the mundane; water, thirst, and drinking.  He made a segueway to its spiritual counterpart; spiritual water, spiritual thirst, and the possibility of a drink that would forever quench thirst.  Jesus conversed about all of this because it needed to precede the revelation of Himself.  Thirst needed to overtake her and wake up her heart ~ for she had stopped dreaming of a Savior long ago.

She came alive as Jesus talked. She rose to engage Him in animated conversation.  Thirsty, she finally voiced a desire to what He was offering.  “Give me this drink,” she said.  But Jesus didn’t answer…. “I’m speaking of myself and this is how you drink of me.”  He immediately brought up the subject of her husband which unearthed the most painful of any possible admissions she might have to make.  She had been married five times and lived with a sixth man.  I often wondered why Jesus’ strategy was to change the subject. Perhaps it was to put His finger on the most painful place in her life.  By doing so, the message was this ~ If you want the most profound encounter possible with Me, you must drink of Me where you need Me the most.  Because she didn’t shy away, she received new life.

What is the worst part of your story? Have you dared unearth the need associated with the memory?  Where does it feel risky to trust God?  What would Jesus say if He sat on the edge of the well with you.  “I saw you at twenty four when you wanted to give up.”  Or, “When you were little, scared and hiding, thinking no one cared, did you know that I was there?”  In these crises of faith, in the darkest places of unbelief, Jesus calls us to a new awareness that there is such a thing as Living Water.  If we drink of Him, we will never need look again to fickle sources to give us what we think we need to feel whole.  We will find Him to be enough.

The Christian life begins when I learn the truth about God, when I learn the truth about myself, and apply the truth about God to the truth about me.  The Gospel is life changing only when it starts with great spiritual need.

Lord, I want to know the hope to which You have called me and Your incomparably great power for me if Ibelieve in You.  Amen

And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not. Malachi 3:18

God tells His people that when they are in heaven, they will ‘again’ see the distinction between righteous and the wicked. “Far be it from me”, God says way back in Genesis, “that I should treat the righteous and unrighteous alike.” We expect to see such distinctions when God judges the peoples of the earth and separates believers from unbelievers. But, can we tell a difference today?

After all, everyone lives with the effects of the fall. We suffer unjustly at the hands of ungodly men and women. We are all vulnerable to COVID. The many hurricanes which have plagued our southern states have devastated Christians and non-Christians alike. Yet, God says that we can tell the difference how we handle adversity.

• A child of God experiences peace in dark times. The unbeliever flounders without a compass.
• A child of God exerts his authority over the dark forces at work. The unbeliever is captive to them.
• A child of God is able to hear the voice of His Father, the voice that comforts him. The unbeliever is desperate for consolation.
• A child of God has his eyes set on home. The unbeliever lives with a nagging fear of death.
• A child of God knows the power of prayer to affect his life. The unbeliever is limited by his own problem solving skills.
• A child of God looks for the supernatural redemption of his pain. The unbeliever finds pain senseless.

Which one are you? Oh, if you don’t yet know the a luxury of being a child of God, I pray that, even now, God is setting your heart, mind, and will free to hear the Spirit of God calling you to faith so that you, too, may find your home in Christ.

Thank You for taking up residence in me. There begins the distinction. Oh, how great is Your love. Amen

Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes. Nehemiah 4:14

I was thinking this morning about Lot’s family in the book of Genesis. They didn’t appear to have a deep and abiding relationship with God.  Yet, when it was time for God’s judgment to come upon Sodom, the angels asked Lot to gather all members of his family for salvation.  God is invested in families because of the faith of one of its member.  If you’re the only one who feels heavy hearted over the spiritual condition of your loved ones, you’re not the only one who cares.  God does.  Why?

1. He loves you.  He cares about who you love.  He sees every tear you have cried over a son or daughter.  He feels the stress you feel over the fractures in your marriage.  When your heart aches, His heart aches.   Do you feel alone when you bear the burden of carrying your family to God in prayer?  You are not shouldering this by yourself.  Jesus rose again and lives to intercede for every person you love. Perhaps you often despair and think you are the only one praying for them.  You are not doing this by yourself. Jesus is praying!
2. God made families and He is invested in what He creates.  Families didn’t come out of nowhere.  God made Adam, then Eve, and invented the marital relationship.  Children were born because God made a way for family life to continue throughout time.  The first outcry that reached heaven’s ears came when the first two brothers fought and one killed the other.  So broken was the heart of God!

Every single one of us thinks about eternity but for anyone who has unbelieving family members, it is a bittersweet experience.  There is a piercing thought about those who might not be there.  God knows.  Just as He told Lot to go gather each member of his family, giving them the opportunity to hear of impending doom and to make the choice to leave Sodom, He will hear our prayers about those we love.  He is giving each one (though we may not know about it) many opportunities to be aware of Him and His Son, Jesus.  Every seed we have planted is not dormant.  It is active and working – stirred by the Spirit in their consciences and in their memories.

You invite me to bring my burdens to You and leave them.  Jesus, I will bring each person in my family, place them in Your lap, and pray while You work!  Thank you.  Amen

By faith, after Moses was born, he was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn’t fear the king’s edict. Hebrews 11:23

Fear is Satan’s biggest tactic to destroy the children of God.  Since we were never created to encounter evil nor to be able to fully understand the depths of depravity, evil scares us.  We can’t figure out the maze and the minefields of it.  “Don’t be afraid” is a frequent message from God throughout the old testament. In the Gospels, Jesus continued to encourage faith and told many people, on many occasions, not to fear.  I think I’m finally getting the message that I should be able to encounter evil and not be moved with terror.

This short verse about baby Moses and his parents is one that has escaped me all the times I’ve read this chapter.  How did I miss something so shocking!  Pharaoh decreed that all baby boys should be drowned.  Yocheved, Moses mother, hid him for a while after he was born.  When he was too big to conceal any longer, she conceived a plan that would culminate in him being raised in the palace.  The astounding thing is that his mother, though pregnant with a son, did not fear the king’s edict.  I can understand now why she would be mentioned for her faith.

Threats by someone powerful can be crippling.  Those with the muscles to exert force over others, including politicians and governments, can send the powerless into a perpetual state of fear and dread.  Yocheved, a Hebrew, a woman, in an Egyptian culture could teach us a lot about an unshakeable trust in God.  Was her lack of fear a form of denial?  No. She made plans to hide her baby. Was her lack of fear due to the fact that  Pharaoh’s power had been over-exaggerated?  No. He had the midwives murder thousands upon thousands of infants.  Her lack of fear was due to the fact that she saw this pivotal moment in history, saw the beauty of her son, and perceived the possibility of him winning the heart of some Egyptian mother.  I also believe she knew the risks and trusted God with the outcome.

The powerful still make threats ~ inspired by their father, their devil.  We never know which ones are empty threats either.  But trust in God’s sovereignty, a firm knowing that no one can erase my destiny and cut my life short because my Father oversees my comings and goings, means that I can rest.  Some people are bolder than others.  I’ve always been prone to fear and worry but there will always be something that makes even the robust shake and tremble.  At that point, whether we have faith in God will be our lifeline!  Our ability to trust Him will have been determined by how much I fed my faith; how much, or how little, I invested in our relationship.  The time to prepare for the dark is when I’m in the light.  You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.  I Corinthians 5:5

I refuse to finish my life with fear winning.  Keep training me.  Amen

Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn.  Isaiah 51:1

When Jesus talked with the woman at the well in Samaria, He took intentional steps to prepare her to receive Truth.  They began by talking of the mundane; water, thirst, and drinking.  He made a segueway to its spiritual counterpart; spiritual water, spiritual thirst, and the possibility of a drink that would forever quench thirst.  Jesus conversed about all of this because it needed to precede the revelation of Himself.  Thirst needed to overtake her and wake up her heart ~ for she had stopped dreaming of a Savior long ago.

She came alive as Jesus talked. She rose to engage Him in animated conversation.  Thirsty, she finally voiced a desire to what He was offering.  “Give me this drink,” she said.  But Jesus didn’t answer this way…. “I’m speaking of myself and this is how you drink of me.”  Instead, He immediately brought up the subject of her husband which unearthed the most painful of any possible admissions she might have to make.  She had been married five times and lived with a sixth man.  I often wondered why Jesus’ strategy was to change the subject. Perhaps it was to put His finger on the most painful place in her life.  By doing so, the message was this ~ If you want the most profound encounter possible with Me, you must drink of Me where you need Me the most.  Because she didn’t shy away, she received new life.

What is the worst part of your story? Have you dared unearth the need associated with the memory?  Where does it feel risky to trust God?  What would Jesus say if He sat on the edge of the well with you.  “I saw you at twenty four when you wanted to give up.”  Or, “When you were little, scared and hiding, thinking no one cared, did you know that I was there?”  In these crises of faith, in the darkest places of unbelief, Jesus calls us to a new awareness that there is such a thing as Living Water.  If we drink of Him, we will never need look again to fickle sources to give us what we think we need to feel whole.  We will find Him to be enough.

The Christian life begins when I learn the truth about God, when I learn the truth about myself, and apply the truth about God to the truth about me.  The Gospel is life changing only when it starts with great spiritual need.

Lord, I want to know the hope to which You have called me and Your incomparably great power for me if I believe in You.  Amen