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Jesus, Light of the World

In John 8:12, Jesus spoke and said that He was the “Light of the World” which He expands upon in John 12:46; (AMPC), “I have come as a light into the darkness, so that whoever believes in Me (whoever cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me) may not continue to live in darkness.” (See also, John 8:12 and John 9:5).
Thinking in natural terms, what does light do? It shows us the way clearly (Psalm 119:105) and it dispels darkness (John 1:5). This is exactly what Jesus did and what He is still doing. He guides us one step at a time so we won’t stumble or take the wrong path.
Not only did Jesus say He was the light of the world but He also said that we are the light of the world! (Matt 5:14). Also, in Eph 4:8 we learn that we must, “walk as children of Light (lead the lives of those native-born to the Light)” (AMPC). The very next verse tells us how to do that, “in every form of kindly goodness, uprightness of heart and trueness of Life” (Eph 4:9; AMPC). In other words, we need to let our light shine so non-Christians can see Jesus in us. “In the same way let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matt 5:16; CSB).
As you meditate on these verses bear in mind that the light in Jesus is so bright that in the New Jerusalem, “The city has no need of sun nor of the moon to give light to it, for the splendour and radiance (glory) of God illuminate it, and the Lamb is its lamp” (Rev 21:23; AMPC). Hallelujah!

Delight in the Lord

“Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart. Commit your way unto the Lord (roll and repose each care of your load on Him); trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.” (Ps 37:4,5; AMPC). In verse 4 we have an “if then” promise; if we do our part (delight ourselves in God) then He will do His part (give us our heart’s desires). I’m sure we all want to receive that promise, so how do we go about delighting ourselves in Him? I believe one of the major ways we do it is by spending time with Him – through reading the word, worship and prayer. The more we do this the more we will want to. Once we spend more time delighting in God and less time focused on all the needs, we want Him to meet, it often happens that our needs get taken care of in the process, without our even asking. David put it like this, “As the hart pants and longs for the water brooks, so I pant and long for You, O God.” (Ps 42:1; AMPC).
In verse 5 of Psalm 37 there are 2 things that we have to do. Firstly, we have to put our future into God’s hands; in other words, we have to stop trying to work out everything for ourselves. Secondly, we have to put our trust in Him. We can put our trust in God because He is good and faithful; He has a good track record and it is found all through the Bible! Nothing is impossible for Him (Luke 1:37, Matt 19:26).

Surrender to the Holy Spirit

As Christians the Holy Spirit lives in us (2 Cor 1:22). In the Bible we read that God has given us the Holy Spirit (Gal 4:6) and that we are the temple of His Spirit, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you” (1 Cor 6:19; NKJV). As we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives He can develop His fruit in us, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22-23; NKJV). As the Holy Spirit interacts with our born-again spirit (Rom 8:16) we become more and more like Jesus (2 Cor 3:18b). Our flesh, which is our body, mind, will and emotions, was not born again when we asked Jesus into our lives and needs to be disciplined and renewed from its sinful ways (1 Cor 9:27; Rom 12:2). We need to allow the Holy Spirit through our spirit, to dominate our thoughts, speech and actions (Gal 5:16-17). In the Bible we are taught not to “resist the Holy Spirit” (Acts 7:51; NKJV) and not to “grieve the Holy Spirit” (Eph 4:30; NKJV) and not to quench, extinguish or stop the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives (1 Thess 5:19). The apostle Paul wrote about his tussle between the Holy Spirit and his flesh (Rom 7:13-25). However, he went on to assure us that as our walk is directed by the Holy Spirit, we can bring our flesh under control and live a Christ-like life (Rom 8:1-2). It’s a growing process so don’t get condemned, stay focused and keep on, cooperating with the Holy Spirit. We promise you that the growth and changes will be amazing.

Love and Unity

Jesus prayed for unity in John 17:20-23 but did you know that love and unity go hand in hand? “Beyond all these things put on and wrap yourselves in (unselfish) love, which is the perfect bond of unity (for everything is bound together in agreement when each one seeks the best for others)” (Col 3:14; AMP). This verse shows us that love and unity go hand in hand. We spend so much time praying for unity but maybe we should be focusing more on love? Phil 2:2 (NLT) reads, “Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.” Here again love and unity are closely tied together; if we work together in love and unity as these verses describe then much will be accomplished. Finally, in Ephesians 4:2,3 Paul again encourages us to patiently and lovingly bear with each other, staying united in the Spirit.
Basically, you can’t have unity without love and you can’t have true fellowship in the body of Christ without unity and therefore without love. It would seem from these 3 sections of scripture above that if we put others before ourselves, show them unselfish love and overlook their weaknesses, then unity in the body of Christ will result and, “How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity” (Psalm 133:1; NLT).

God’s promises never change

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Cor 1:20; NIV). As Christians we can walk in all of God’s promises found in His word, but sometimes questions may creep in to our minds. Are those promise still for today or just when Jesus was on the earth? Were they just for the early disciples or just for the early church?
How does scripture answer these worrisome questions that may come up? Well, to start with, in many places in the Old Testament, God tells us that He won’t leave us or forsake us (e.g. Deut 31:6). This verse is also quoted by the writer of Hebrews (Heb 13:5). The apostle Matthew quoted Jesus saying, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20; NKJV). In Malachi 13:8 we read, “For I am the Lord, I do not change” and of Jesus it was written, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb 13:8; NKJV). James, the brother of Jesus, wrote that with our heavenly Father there is “no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17; NKJV). Now let’s look at a couple of scriptures that refer specifically to God’s word. “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8; NKJV) and 1 Peter 1:25: “But the word of the Lord endures forever”. We could certainly conclude that all God’s promises in His word are “Yes” and certainly ours now and forever! Don’t let your mind, anyone or anything talk you out of all God has for you.