20 June 2009“In His Light… Before The Dawn”- K. Hitt © 2009 all rights reserved
Saturday morning- a new day; “This IS a day that the Lord has made, we may rejoice and be glad in it.”
Been there, done that?
Well, Yesterday brought a long list of trials and tribulations in the today. Alas too, Quiet-time was a Red Letter Day (John 17) – it brought and kept alive hope against all hope as the Word was recalled through out the day in my spirits reply to its events. By remembering Who was in control, and that He was able- made a difference.
Today’s Bible bookmark is at John 5:44-6:44
5:44”How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the Only God?”-
-Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees in “Testimonies About Jesus” passages.
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The devotion is on 5:35- of John the Baptist and how he was a shining light “a lamp that burned and gave light”
Today we live in a world filled with spiritual darkness. Personally, after living in darkness, know first hand from living there that never want to live where God can not look upon me again. From years of living in NYC and the life lived there, this perhaps the birth of one passion in this life today. Now, can say, have long had two passions in this life.
Fast forwarding to today, perhaps this is the birth of one of them. This is a work in progress to say the least, as is this life a work in progress.
This sharing is simply from today’s life- and from the life experiences a desire that the experiences are witnessed from today, to make a difference for tomorrow.
And, who am I to make a difference? Well, no John the Baptist, or Paul, or theologian, or anything. How’s that for an authority? In other words not! Am just like you- an am pressing on.
Well, was a minority in the secular art world, college world, and Greenwich Village world of NYC and had adopted that as my world. That, still a part of my world today, yet, is seen in a new light.
To bring the light to those in the dark; especially to those that don’t even know that they are in the dark, there is a passion. Why? Because, HAVE been there, done that!
A life’s passion, a poke in my side compelled to share. Yes, I no John the Baptist… but alas, have learned to blog. So there you go, today’s passion birthed perhaps this quiet-time moving in to a blog. (OK, AND the encounter with the Jehovah witnesses that knocked this Saturday morning on my door; A wonderful grandmother with her great grandson Cody. She was back after knocking before and speaking with my 18 year old son on the other side of her knock a few months before. We had a passionate discussion indeed, both we with turning to Scripture, in the Bible translations before us. She will be back next week, to discuss our passions more.)
I digress; Let’s get back to devotion of “In His Light… Before The Dawn”
John the Baptist lived a fully devoted life to spreading the Good News of Christ. Not I. Paul wrote we are “children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe” (Phil 2:15). As stars are spread out across great expanses- so are we. We all shine in a different place really. Some shine far away, some in the home, to their families, or neighborhoods, work, business, school, churches even; backyard missions, to those far off lands.
Where is your lamp?
Sometimes we are in such a dark place we think our small light can not be seen. Perhaps even thinking, we ourselves are so flawed, our being in the light as a lamp will only illuminate those messes. Or again, the messes are our own dark place, our flicker of light so small, there is no way for it to still be seen as a good… may become the thought instead.
Well, the FIRST thing to remember is “we ARE children of God” and to remember who is the source- Christ Jesus. He IS the “Light of the World.” He saves.
No matter how small the flicker or flame- when carried into the dark, darkness is overcome. Imagine this truth for a moment. Imagine yourself in the deepest darkest center section of a deep underground cave. My memory of a cave is when visiting my daughter in Missouri, and the great state parks there, some of you may have been even to Carlsberg Cavern. So you are deep underground, down this long winding path, pass drips and wet, and dark… ever winding into even darker deeper areas… and the electrical power on the path goes out. Darkness engulfs that literally consumes every sense. You can’t even tell the difference when blinking your eye. Dark is dark is dark. Then a light of one small match is lit to light one small candle. Or even the flick of a switch on one small Flashlight comes on. All of a sudden that ever so small light comes through and shines through where darkness had just blanketed all. It saved you from complete darkness!
One very small light casts away the all encompassing darkness. In this simple Truth is ALL Truth- “The Light dispels the dark” every time!
Guess what? Jesus is the Light of the world, and He shining through our lives can bring light into the darkness where He has placed us, even though we may think our light is too small.
Small or large- it is immeasurable in scale and quite simply it does make a difference between being in the dark or the light.
Yes, today, we live in a world filled with every type of spiritual darkness. Some within even. Where is your lamp?
Is it in Christ? Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb13:18) Let His Light in you shine – no matter how small you may think it to be- it remains the difference… AND the Victory. The Light dispels the dark every time… no matter how small, it remains your call. Praise be to God… no Seed in faith is too small… nor flicker. A flicker fanned into a flame the prayer- and our call- In Jesus’ Name.
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