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- Feb 9, 2004
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- 17,078
Live in the Light! - April 05, 2006
1 John 1:5-7 – 5 "This is the message HE has given to us to announce to you: GOD is light and there is no darkness in HIM at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with GOD but go on living in spiritual darkness. We are not living in the truth. 7 But if we are living in the light of GOD'S presence, just as CHRIST is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of JESUS, HIS SON, cleanses us from every sin." (NLT)
Have you ever walked into a dark room in your house and turned on the light, but as soon as you did, you saw something run from one side of the room to the other? I bet this definitely caught you off guard. I'm sure you overexerted your mental faculties trying to figure out what happened. Well, the "living thing" you saw obviously felt comfortable doing whatever it was doing in the dark, but as soon as you turned on the light, it ran as fast as it could. Let's say the "living thing" was a rat. Oh, I hate rats! I know we do everything we possibly can to keep them away from us, but somehow, someway they manage to find their way into our homes and while "in the dark", rob us of every edible thing we possess. These small and hairy creatures must be stopped!
Have you ever noticed that the enemy of our souls is very much like these "living things" called rats? He somehow manages to find his way into our "homes" and while in the dark, he robs us of the good things we possess. The enemy refuses to do his work in the light. He always retreats to the dark in order to pull off his best stunts, so that no one is fully aware of what he's doing. I'm pretty sure you've encountered the terms "public life" and "private life"; well, GOD desires that the two be identical. That is, the things we do that others can see should be the exact same things that we do when no one is watching. However, the enemy seeks to have us operate under a cloud of deception such that our "public lives" differ from our "private lives".
Is your life that others see identical to the life that they can't see?
Friend, if they are not synonymous, let me suggest that you quickly run to the light! Don't allow the enemy to hold you captive in the dark. GOD desires that you bring whatever it is that you do in the dark into the light, so that HE can forgive you and cleanse you. (1 John 1:9) Friend, the longer you remain in the dark, the longer the enemy can rob you of the abundant life GOD desires to give you. Just like those rats, as long as they stay in the dark, they'll eat up every ounce of your food, but as soon as you catch them in the light, you can destroy them. Now with the enemy of our souls, if we bring our deeds into the light, GOD will catch the enemy and will destroy him, so that we can live freely in the light as HE is in the light.
Today, "take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, rebuke and expose them." (Ephesians 5:11, NLT) Live in the light as GOD is in the light!
Contributed by Earl D. Shaw
earlshaw@gmail.com
1 John 1:5-7 – 5 "This is the message HE has given to us to announce to you: GOD is light and there is no darkness in HIM at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with GOD but go on living in spiritual darkness. We are not living in the truth. 7 But if we are living in the light of GOD'S presence, just as CHRIST is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of JESUS, HIS SON, cleanses us from every sin." (NLT)
Have you ever walked into a dark room in your house and turned on the light, but as soon as you did, you saw something run from one side of the room to the other? I bet this definitely caught you off guard. I'm sure you overexerted your mental faculties trying to figure out what happened. Well, the "living thing" you saw obviously felt comfortable doing whatever it was doing in the dark, but as soon as you turned on the light, it ran as fast as it could. Let's say the "living thing" was a rat. Oh, I hate rats! I know we do everything we possibly can to keep them away from us, but somehow, someway they manage to find their way into our homes and while "in the dark", rob us of every edible thing we possess. These small and hairy creatures must be stopped!
Have you ever noticed that the enemy of our souls is very much like these "living things" called rats? He somehow manages to find his way into our "homes" and while in the dark, he robs us of the good things we possess. The enemy refuses to do his work in the light. He always retreats to the dark in order to pull off his best stunts, so that no one is fully aware of what he's doing. I'm pretty sure you've encountered the terms "public life" and "private life"; well, GOD desires that the two be identical. That is, the things we do that others can see should be the exact same things that we do when no one is watching. However, the enemy seeks to have us operate under a cloud of deception such that our "public lives" differ from our "private lives".
Is your life that others see identical to the life that they can't see?
Friend, if they are not synonymous, let me suggest that you quickly run to the light! Don't allow the enemy to hold you captive in the dark. GOD desires that you bring whatever it is that you do in the dark into the light, so that HE can forgive you and cleanse you. (1 John 1:9) Friend, the longer you remain in the dark, the longer the enemy can rob you of the abundant life GOD desires to give you. Just like those rats, as long as they stay in the dark, they'll eat up every ounce of your food, but as soon as you catch them in the light, you can destroy them. Now with the enemy of our souls, if we bring our deeds into the light, GOD will catch the enemy and will destroy him, so that we can live freely in the light as HE is in the light.
Today, "take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, rebuke and expose them." (Ephesians 5:11, NLT) Live in the light as GOD is in the light!
Contributed by Earl D. Shaw
earlshaw@gmail.com
