-

 Shine “The Light” (April 26, 2024)

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1)

In an immoral culture shrouded in the shadows of evil, Christians are called to walk in the light of Jesus Christ and to reflect His beams of hope into lives lost in the darkness of sin. Each day we need to be guided by the lamp that lights our paths, God’s Word. Applying biblical principles and moral standards to our lives, we are enabled to avoid the pitfalls concealed by the darkness and deceit of a fallen world that is temporarily Satan’s domain. We must allow to shine through us rays of divine light that attract unbelievers to Jesus like moths to a flame.

Lurking in the darkness of the world, Satan aims to deceive and destroy those of us who seek to walk in the light of God’s glory. Scripture teaches that devoid of truth, the devil is the father of lies. “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” (John 8:44) The master of deception, Satan seeks to falsely portray himself as an “angel of light” (1 Corinthians 11:14) to lead us into the deadly darkness of sin.

To resist Satan’s demonic deception and avoid falling victim to his falsehoods, we must live by the truth of God’s illuminating Word and walk daily with “the Father of lights,” the heavenly source of “every good and every perfect gift” (James 1:17). God the Father lovingly gave humanity the perfect gift, a Savior in His Son Jesus Christ who declared, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12) Be a beacon for Christ so that others may be drawn out of darkness into the everlasting light!

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.” (Ephesians 5:8)



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

-
Image
  A Rightly Motivated Heart ( October 25, 2023) “ Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the  Lord  weighs the hearts. ” (Proverbs 21:2) When a serious crime is committed and a suspect is arrested, investigators search to identify a motive in the case. All human behavior is driven by motives that underlie our actions. The real reasons that we do what we do can be obvious or obscure. The Bible says that the human heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. So those of us seeking spiritual maturity need to frequently examine our hearts to make sure that our motivations are pure and pleasing to an all-knowing God who weighs our intentions. We must seek to please God, rather than man! “I, the  Lord , search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” (Jeremiah 17:10) Many people are motivated by selfishness and pride that prompt them to pursue fleeting worldly gain, self-gratification,
Read more
-
Image
  Simply Believe! ( November 2, 2023) “ Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) Unfortunately, our Christian faith can fluctuate with the changing circumstances of our lives? We are flawed like all human beings, and our trust in God often ebbs or flows depending upon whether or not we’re experiencing happy times or life’s trials. Satan constantly attempts to deceive us, draw us astray in our walk by faith with God, and bring about our ultimate downfall and defeat. However, we must remember that He who is in us—Jesus Christ living in our hearts through the Holy Spirit— “is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) Simply believe! When doubt and fear cloud our well-placed trust in Christ, we can allay our apprehension and anxiety by focusing on our unchanging and ever-faithful L ORD rather than dwelling on our shifting circumstances. We must recall God’s past faithfulness to deliver us from our woes according to His will and perfect timing. As difficult as they
Read more
-
Image
  An Eternally Secure Identity in Christ ( October 24, 2023)   “ By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) When voters go to the polls in the general election in two weeks, we will have to present to the poll worker our driver’s license or other acceptable identification in order to cast a ballot. In today’s increasingly impersonal, technology-based society, we are known and identified in the realms of government, business, and the world at large by our Social Security and account numbers, ID cards, and other similar documentation. As we all know, we have to guard this personal information very carefully in light of the fact that identity theft is among the fastest-growing crimes in the world. While our earthly identities—the digital or physical sources of personal information that distinguish us from everyone else—may be at risk of theft, believers are securely identified as holy and set apart from the world through our rel
Read more