What light will it take to reveal what is hidden in darkness?
My grandkids love Christmas lights, but the biggest light lover in my family is my daughter. She loves to cover her house in white lights and lives in a pristine white house with lots of windows. Her goal is to brighten everything and shed light on the darkness. Conversely, it is understandable that a person who lives without enough light in the winter months with their long periods of dark might get down a bit.
In our respective homes, my daughter and I constantly talk about light and its warmth, and aspire to gathering and sharing more of it, which leads me to the most important source of light.
Friends will tell you, I’ve never been much of a Bible thumper, mostly because I thought I wasn’t good at it. I tend to reject someone trying to talk me into something, so I don’t enjoy the opposite role of persuader myself. Without question, I don’t enjoy verbal debate, never want to try to convince anyone that they might be wrong about spiritual things. However, I believe in prayer, and if someone asks me how I got through something or what is the secret to being happy in the face of trouble? I have a lot to say. In fact, I am a proponent of He who seeks me will find Me.
The Me in the sentence refers to God.
If you are looking for and seek God with all your heart, God said you will find him (Jeremiah 29:13). So, I am overjoyed to help any person find peace in God or a real relationship with Jesus.
In fact, I keep my eyes open for the searchers looking for the light.
People don’t know that they (like the wise men in the story of the birth of Jesus) are searching for something wondrous. Searchers don’t know that a baby born in a manger has anything to do with them.
With the searchers in mind, I don’t see how anyone can cope with this crazy messed up world without Jesus.
Hear me out if you are a non believer, but also if you at some point consider(ed) yourself a believer.
Can we triumph over the world’s evil and distortion with just human understanding and determination?? My answer is a definitive, “No, we cannot.”
Healers, the spiritual community, and doctors can help people learn to cope somewhat, to grow emotionally, or to respond better to triggers and pain, but there is real truth and miraculous healing of the heart that needs to take place in order for us to leave the darkness behind.
Where is the light in this evil world? Jesus. He is the light I found when I was swimming in the deep end.
Jesus is where the light is. He is the truth we need.
Clearly we need the light, something tangible and bigger than us to heal the scars the world makes. With that in mind over the past year, and with concern for our current political climate, I went back to the word of God with a renewed sense of purpose.
Here is what I have found. First, we all need a personal relationship with Jesus. Something real, inside.
Even if you know him already, you probably need a bigger dose, a definitive-tangible-beautiful one on one.
Maybe you don’t believe all that, but still need something. It is because you have a hole in your heart that only God can fill.
God made his son Jesus to fit that place. It is love beyond comprehension, a lift of every weight if you can let him and let the weights go. To have a relationship with Jesus, first you have to ask forgiveness for every wrong, every sin, every corrupt moment of our human lives. Ask him to clean up your heart and your life and trust that he will do it. Then, invite him in.
Ask Jesus to come in and be Lord of your life. Maybe you don’t know all of the jargon and the ins and outs of Christianity, but there is nothing like the reality of a personal connection with Jesus. His unconditional love and acceptance is a balm to the soul. Invite him to be Lord and pray for wisdom and Godly counsel to help you navigate.
When you give your life over to Jesus and ask him to come in and be your Lord and Savior, you start a journey that will change you and other people in your life.
If we have his arsenal of truth at our disposal, when something arises or a rough season comes, we are prepared. We are still fighting some things unseen though, so we need more help than we can understand.
In reality, we need more than the words themselves. When faced with great evil, we need the Light of the world inside us to combat and expose what is hidden in the darkness.
Beyond an understanding of our need for truth, we also need the most powerful weapon against lies and evil.
I am just one woman, but Jesus is the Light of the world, and we aren’t fighting flesh and blood.
12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world?s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.? (Ephesians 6:12)
I can’t say this strongly enough. Just saying his name dispels darkness.?Declaring Jesus Christ is Lord out loud sends evil running. If you know nothing else, that is a great start.
Your greatest weapon is that Jesus Christ is Lord. Should you choose to take him into your life and declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, you will move mountains.
Jesus is the one sent to free the world. He reveals what is hidden, roots out what is evil, opens doors, and defeats lies and deceit. Undeniably, his name is the greatest weapon against the evil any of us has to face. There is nothing that can stand against him. He is God’s word made manifest, the living Word.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.?2 He was with God in the beginning.?3Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.??4 In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.?5The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.?
“The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
In all seriousness, how effective is a tank without gas, a gun without bullets in war? The Bible, the Word of God is where the promises are. It is both a weapon and a source of strength to sustain us, but it is up to us to use it.
It is up to us to know it, to fill our tanks and our arsenal with the truth, his words, and his light. If we are to expose what is hidden in darkness, we need Jesus and to speak his words.
John 8:12
Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Jesus answered, ” I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father, but through me.”
Time to wake up sleepers. Wake up and let the Light of the world shine in you this season. Let the truth fill you with its peace and joy.
Ephesians 5:13-16
13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that is illuminated becomes a light itself.?14 so it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. ?15Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil?
Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand.? (Ephesians 6:13)
Wake up, O sleeper. and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus Chris is Lord.
Barefoot and writing,
Kim
2 Comments
This is a keeper. Thank you.
Kathy,
Thank you for reading and commenting on Barefoot Inspiration. This post is one of my favorites. My prayer is that God will lead and guide each of us toward better things and shine light into the darkness.