Sunlight

This morning as my husband was reading his Bible I decided to take a shower. I love that our bathroom has at least a small window to bring in the sunlight even though it wasn't much on this cold, gray day, so I had the light turned on. After jumping into the warm water, I closed my eyes tightly to scrub my face and then rinsed off. When my eyes opened back up, I jumped- the shower was bright white! It took me a second to realize the sun was actually shining straight in the window and hitting our white shower curtains,  illuminating them amazingly. Laughing, I realized just how dark it had been in there earlier, but had never noticed. Within a few moments, the sun was gone once again and we were back to a cloudy day. Funny how much darker it seemed to me, and that I didn't remembered how deeply I longed for it till I saw it shine...

After coming out of the shower, Kevin told me that while reading in the Psalms, a sudden beam of sunlight came just as he was reading a promise God had made to His people. He loved that God was backing that promise up and comforting him through the sunbeam which broke through at just the right moment.

Isn't our God amazing how He can use a ray of sunlight, which started over eight minutes before and traveled 93,000,000 miles to peak through a break in some thickly condensed evaporated water to comfort Kevin with a promise, and remind me how dark this life would be without His presence?

What promise is He comforting you with today through the glory of His creation?

From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, 

His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood 

through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse. 

Romans 1:20

Who can you share the light of Jesus Christ with today- Someone who has never realized just how "bright" He can be?

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, 

but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12

Always Learning, But...

The apostle Paul says something to his child in the faith, Timothy that is very interesting. The Spirit had him warn us that in the last days of something to be aware of:
 ¹ But know this: difficult times will come in the last days. ² For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, ⁴ traitors,reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ holding to the form of religion but denying its power. Avoid these people!
    ⁶ For among them are those who worm their way into households and capture idle women burdened down with sins, led along by a variety of passions, ⁷ always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. ⁸ Just as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so these also resist the truth, men who are corrupt in mind, worthless in regard to the faith. ⁹ But they will not make further progress, for their lack of understanding will be clear to all, as theirs was also. (Emphasis mine)

2 Timothy 3:1-9


This is the information age. We can learn just about anything we want within a few moments of internet searching. There is also a Bible study, or Christian "self-help" book for just about every topic you could imagine and several in the popular topics. Are all of these things bad? No! But be aware that some of them can be.

Are you coming to a knowledge of the Truth? In other words, are you coming to a deeper knowledge, understanding, and relationship with Jesus Christ? "Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6 As you learn more and more about the Truth, there will not be the heavy burden of restrictions and duties (law), but there will be a deep love, passion, and devotion to Him. You will be freed! "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32


Are you free?

Back Up A Verse Or Two

There are so many wonderful verses in the Bible that Christians know and quote. They are great encouragement, reminders, and comfort to us. They only problem is that sometimes, when we haven't read the text around them in a while, we start taking them out of context. The majority don't do it intentionally, but it is still doing it.

While reading today, I came across one of these verses which will help to end that vicious cycle. We all have hear John 8:32 "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." That's a great verse. Christians tend to look at this as a cry of freedom for those who chose to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and that's true. But - there is an IF right before Jesus says this. Let's back up and start at verse 30. Pay close attention to whom Jesus is speaking to and what the "if" declares:

As He was saying these things, many believed in Him. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him, "If you continue in My word, you really are My disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
John 8:30-32


Jesus was not talking to the masses in general here. He was speaking directly to those who had declared that He was the Messiah. So why did He feel the need to add, "If you continue in My word, you are really My disciples"? Emphasis Mine Isn't just believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and came to die for our sins enough? No. It really isn't. How can I say this? Let's look at the book of James. I will use several verses to show you the context, but pay special attention to the verse 19, which I highlighted.


James 2:14-20
 ¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? Can his faith save him?
    ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well," but you don't give them what the body needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ In the same way faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead by itself.
    ¹⁸ But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith from my works. ¹⁹ You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe—and they shudder.
    ²⁰ Foolish man! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? 
(See also Matthew 8:29 and Luke 4:34)


Even the demons believe and know He is the Son of God, but that does nothing for them. They had made their choice when they sided with Satan, and their works deceived them. I'm not saying that we should base everything on works, for then we try to earn our way into heaven. "For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift—" Ephesians 2:8


So what do we do with these two seemingly opposing truths? 


1. We believe, by faith, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to pay the price for our sins cleansing us by His blood sacrifice so that we can enter into the presence of our Holy God for eternity.
2. We humble ourselves, knowing there is nothing we can do to earn the gift which is freely given to us by Jesus the Messiah.
3. We prove our faith by submitting ourselves to His will daily and produce much fruit through the studying and living out of His Word. (John 15:8)


The root of where we fall short as Christians is in choosing which few verses of Scripture we will cling on to. 


I'm putting out a challenge for you today: Think of one of your favorite Scriptures which you quote to yourself quite often. Go look it up, and read the entire chapter in which it is placed. If it is one of the very first verses, read the chapter before it as well. If it is one of the last, read the chapter after. 


Now, take some time to ponder whether you have been quoting the context correctly.