Aug. 7, 2014 YOU ARE LIGHT
Ephesians 5:8: “for you were formally darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light….” We may need to be reminded on occasion that Christians and non-Christians are totally different. When one is adopted into the family of God, he gets a make-over; he becomes a new creation and he is no longer who he used to be-the old has passed away. We have no doubt heard the admonition to “walk in the light” and that is certainly good advice. However, we need to understand that we don’t just walk in the light, but we are light. As I often say, it is possible for the Christian not to walk in his or her new identity for whatever the reason, but that is not God’s plan because He made provision for us to walk and live as new creations. We see in the above verse that we are light and then we are given the instruction to walk as children of light- in other words, be true to who we really are. Every person alive can be put into one of two groups; either in darkness or in light-no in between. According to 1 Peter 2:9, the one who belongs to God has been transferred from darkness to light and that transfer is the greatest transfer we could ever get! On the contrary, those that do not know God walk in the futility of their mind and lack understanding and are in darkness due to the hardness of their heart. See Ephesians 4:17-19. Non-Christians can appear to be well adjusted, educated, successful according to the world standard and may hold respectable positions in the community, however, they still live in darkness even though they would disagree with this fact. Christians, on the other hand have been called into His marvelous light as I Peter 2:9 reveals. When one experiences this “marvelous” light he then knows that all else is darkness. Because we are now light, we are to let the light shine and not “put it under a bushel” so that all may see and glorify God. Most of the New Testament is actually instructions having to do with what walking in the light looks like. The constant theme we see in the New Testament writers is that of instructing and encouraging believers to live, or walk, in their new identity. What does it take for a believer to avoid getting to a point where he or she is not being light or what is required of us to be light? Our part is to choose to be renewed in our mind and this is done primarily by reading the word on a consistent basis with the view of getting to know our Father. Another important requirement of being light is to be obedient to what we hear God saying to us. Also important is being an active part of the Body of Christ-the Church, where we build healthy relationships. Finally, we must guard what we allow into our mind-what we look at and what we listen too. There are lots of other disciplines that will keep us being light, but you get the idea. So, let us purpose today to be “children of the light and let our light shine in such a way that our Father will be glorified. By the way, a great place to start being light is in our homes and with those we know the best. May God bless as you go about being light-I know He will.
John8: 12 “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
Blessings,
Buddy
Ephesians 5:8: “for you were formally darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light….” We may need to be reminded on occasion that Christians and non-Christians are totally different. When one is adopted into the family of God, he gets a make-over; he becomes a new creation and he is no longer who he used to be-the old has passed away. We have no doubt heard the admonition to “walk in the light” and that is certainly good advice. However, we need to understand that we don’t just walk in the light, but we are light. As I often say, it is possible for the Christian not to walk in his or her new identity for whatever the reason, but that is not God’s plan because He made provision for us to walk and live as new creations. We see in the above verse that we are light and then we are given the instruction to walk as children of light- in other words, be true to who we really are. Every person alive can be put into one of two groups; either in darkness or in light-no in between. According to 1 Peter 2:9, the one who belongs to God has been transferred from darkness to light and that transfer is the greatest transfer we could ever get! On the contrary, those that do not know God walk in the futility of their mind and lack understanding and are in darkness due to the hardness of their heart. See Ephesians 4:17-19. Non-Christians can appear to be well adjusted, educated, successful according to the world standard and may hold respectable positions in the community, however, they still live in darkness even though they would disagree with this fact. Christians, on the other hand have been called into His marvelous light as I Peter 2:9 reveals. When one experiences this “marvelous” light he then knows that all else is darkness. Because we are now light, we are to let the light shine and not “put it under a bushel” so that all may see and glorify God. Most of the New Testament is actually instructions having to do with what walking in the light looks like. The constant theme we see in the New Testament writers is that of instructing and encouraging believers to live, or walk, in their new identity. What does it take for a believer to avoid getting to a point where he or she is not being light or what is required of us to be light? Our part is to choose to be renewed in our mind and this is done primarily by reading the word on a consistent basis with the view of getting to know our Father. Another important requirement of being light is to be obedient to what we hear God saying to us. Also important is being an active part of the Body of Christ-the Church, where we build healthy relationships. Finally, we must guard what we allow into our mind-what we look at and what we listen too. There are lots of other disciplines that will keep us being light, but you get the idea. So, let us purpose today to be “children of the light and let our light shine in such a way that our Father will be glorified. By the way, a great place to start being light is in our homes and with those we know the best. May God bless as you go about being light-I know He will.
John8: 12 “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
Blessings,
Buddy
RSS Feed