Blog: “Discovering His Living Hope”

2 Corinthians 4:7-15 Amplified Bible

⁷ But we have this precious treasure [the good news about salvation] in [unworthy] earthen vessels [of human frailty], so that the grandeur and surpassing greatness of the power will be [shown to be] from God [His sufficiency] and not from ourselves. ⁸ We are pressured in every way [hedged in], but not crushed; perplexed [unsure of finding a way out], but not driven to despair; ⁹ hunted down and persecuted, but not deserted [to stand alone]; struck down, but never destroyed; ¹⁰ always carrying around in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the [resurrection] life of Jesus also may be shown in our body. ¹¹ For we who live are constantly [experiencing the threat of] being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the [resurrection] life of Jesus also may be evidenced in our mortal body [which is subject to death]. ¹² So physical death is [actively] at work in us, but [spiritual] life [is actively at work] in you.

¹³ Yet we have the same spirit of faith as he had, who wrote in Scripture, “I believed, therefore I spoke.” We also believe, therefore we also speak, ¹⁴  knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and will present us [along] with you in His presence. ¹⁵ For all [these] things are for your sake, so that as [God’s remarkable, undeserved] grace reaches to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of [our great] God.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

2 Corinthians 4:11-12 Easy-to-Read Version

¹¹ We are alive, but for Jesus we are always in danger of death, so that the life of Jesus can be seen in our bodies that die. ¹² So death is working in us, but the result is that life is working in you.

2 Corinthians 4:11-12New International Version

¹¹ For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. ¹² So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

Are we being so changed by our relationship with Christ that others who are in our lives see the glory of His character? How can we share in the dying of Jesus?

What we all want in this life as baptized Christians, of course, is to be like Him.

But the power of God is the miracle of others seeing in us, in the midst of our pressures and trials, our life which reveals the character and the life of Jesus.

I have always been taken aback and challenged by the verse in Colossians 1, where Paul prays that his friends in Colossae may be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might (Colossians 1:11a).

¹¹ [we pray that you may be] strengthened and invigorated with all power, according to His glorious might, to attain every kind of endurance and patience with joy;

What are they going to use all this power for?

It sounds as though Paul ought to say, So that you can go about doing great miracles; so that you can astonish people with the tremendous magnetism of your preaching and teaching and be followed by great crowds. 

But that is not what he says. He says, I pray that you may be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience (Colossians 1:11).

That is what takes power; that is where the life, the power of God is manifest.

That is the life of Jesus.

As you read through the gospels, the Spirit of God brings to your mind’s eye a far more beautiful and wonderful picture, perhaps, of Jesus’ character and life.

What you see His compassion of heart, His moral beauty that attracted people everywhere He went.

You see the serenity of His spirit, how He moves through every scene of anger and unrest with calmness and quietness.

You see His disciplined will and His obvious joy in living.

That is the life of Jesus, and that is what we want, isn’t it?

How do you get it?

The secret, Paul says, is our consent to share in the dying of Jesus.

What does he mean by the dying of Jesus?

You know he does not mean that we have to get ourselves nailed to a cross.

But that cross is a symbol of something very real in our experience.

What was Jesus like on the cross?

He was not powerful and impressive and significant anymore; now a criminal, He was not being applauded by the multitudes that listened to His every word.

No. The cross was a place of great physical weakness, of ultimate humiliation, of ultimate rejection by the scornful, proud and arrogant world around Him.

It was a place of lethal obscurity, a place where He was choosing, willing to lose everything He had built and to trust God to bring it back and make it significant.

We are only human, but we each want to live a life which matters

Pride before the Fall? Have you been in those circumstances recently, where no matter what you do you just cannot seem to get any glory or credit for yourself?

That is exactly where God wants you, because out of those times of inordinate pressure, times of hurt and despair and heartache and a sense of a Christian life being wasted and not used, God is working His will.

Others, perhaps, are being given life because of the death we are going through.

In our Scripture Lesson for this day, apostle Paul says that God has decided to put the most urgent and essential message of all time—the greatest treasure in the world—the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ inside of “jars of clay.”

Clay jars were used to carry water and other goods during Paul’s day.

And clay is a common substance that is available almost everywhere, and potters mastered the art of forming clay jars on their pottery wheels.

While some clay jars were beautifully decorated, most were humble vessels.

But whether they were plain or beautiful, they had a life-giving function—that of the gathering, preserving, and transporting of food, water to thirsty people.

Clay jars are also remarkably fragile—breaking if dropped or hit by a stone.

Not many clay jars survived a person’s lifetime—and even fewer survived to be passed down through several generations.

And Paul here uses the metaphor of jars of clay to represent us Christians who by our baptisms now carry God’s message of salvation by grace through faith in Christ Jesus—that is the treasure!!!

I think jars of clay are an outstanding metaphor for our brief lives.

We have but a few “short” decades to proclaim and share the Gospel at best.

I also love this metaphor of clay jars because it reminds me of my calling to proclaim the Gospel, but I am also conscious of my inadequacy to do just that.

But notice again what Paul writes in verse 7: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”

Why is this important?

Well, for one thing, it gives us a good reason for practicing our humility daily.

Humility is 100% essential for anyone of us who seek to be vessels who carry the message of God’s love to other people who are thirsting to hear and see it.

When we forget that Christianity is not about us, is not about our opinions, is not about our rights and privileges—that is when we start to veer off track and cause the Gospel—which is really no Gospel at all—to look like a bad thing to the rest of society, like a judgmental and “I’m always better than you” thing.

In our reading, Paul doesn’t mince words, nor does he lie when he rightly points out that the honor of our being a bearer of the Gospel in this world is complex.

And this is because we are all human.

We all live with sin, temptations, limitations, the stark reality and the fragility of being easily broken, taken down a peg or two, at any given point in our lives.

Even the extraordinarily well educated Master Pharisee Paul freely admits to moments being perplexed, hard-pressed, persecuted, and often struck down.

But he says that even though this is the case, we are not left in despair, we are not abandoned, we are not left without any hope and we are not destroyed.

And this is all because of our Savior Jesus and our Savior Jesus only!

Isaiah 53:4-6 Amplified Bible

⁴ 
But [in fact] He has borne our griefs,
And He has carried our sorrows and pains;
Yet we [ignorantly] assumed that He was stricken,
Struck down by God and degraded and humiliated [by Him].
⁵ 
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing];
The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him,
And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed.
⁶ 
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
We have turned, each one, to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the wickedness of us all [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]
To fall on Him [instead of us].

Even when we fulfill prophesy, like sheep we go astray, get off course and our eyes lose sight of the Shepherd, let go of God’s hand, God never lets go of ours.

Even when we prophetically mess up and prophetically do really dumb things, God is with us and God’s Holy Spirit leads us to repentance and reconciliation.

In spite of these self fulfilling prophesies, If we are willing vessels, God can accomplish some very good things through us even when we make mistakes…

…because…

…it’s NEVER GOING TO BE ABOUT US—it’s always about the treasure of Jesus Christ and Him Crucified and Risen that is the “surpassing power from God.”

I hope this enables us to be honest about our frailty, our human-ness—not only with God and others but with ourselves.

Phariseeism, or trying to be perfect according to the Law according to our own strength, can and will cause us all kinds of connectional, relational problems, such as isolation and low self-esteem, frustration, and possibly mental illness.

But when we finally achieve a place in our baptism, accept that God accepts us—even as imperfect jars of clay- we can accept ourselves and others and enjoy the fruitful journey of being one of Jesus Christ’s very fragile human disciples.

And that is the healthy way to live.

And that is attractive to other people.

Because no one is perfect.

Because no one should ever expect to be perfect or made perfect in this life.

Because no one is going to be perfect in this life.

And if we try and pretend we are perfect, we will find ourselves in a lonely place, an anonymous place, a darkened secretive and a broken place walking on eggs.

John 3:28-31 Amplified Bible

²⁸ You yourselves are my witnesses that I stated, ‘I am not the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed),’ but, ‘I have [only] been sent ahead of Him [as His appointed forerunner and messenger to announce and proclaim His coming].’ ²⁹ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this pleasure and joy of mine is now complete. ³⁰ He must increase [in prominence], but I must decrease.

³¹ “He who comes from [heaven] above is above all others; he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks [about things] of the earth [his viewpoint and experience are earthly]. He who comes from heaven is above all.

The power of God’s living Word makes God’s light shine in our hearts, for “we [dare not] preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord….” (2 Corinthians 3:1-3)

Ministers of a New Covenant

3 Are we starting to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some [false teachers], letters of recommendation to you or from you? [No!] ² You are our letter [of recommendation], written in our hearts, recognized and read by everyone. ³ You show that you are a letter from Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

If the message of God is going to be robustly revealed throughout our lives, we must absolutely get out of the way.

And what a relief that is.

It is a relief to know we don’t have to try and save the world—we are not expected to save the world.

Only the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ can and will save the world.

So, we are free to be humble.

We are free to be ourselves.

We are free to be wholly and fully human.

We no longer have to live with the pressure of fighting for all the attention or demanding our rights, our way, and so forth.

We don’t have to judge the world and tell the world it is wrong and we are right.

We are to allow God’s light to shine through our lives simply and humbly.

The life of a humble servant of Christ may not be easy, but it should be a stress reducer.

Paul says, “For we who are alive are being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.”

We are to die to self and live for Christ.

We are to die to our wants and live for what Christ wants.

We are to die to selfishness, envy and the like and live lives of humble transparency and love.

The world talks a whole lot about human power, but the real characteristic of a human being is not our power but our weakness, what God can and will achieve through that weakness.

There is a story about a water carrier in India who had two large clay jars, and each jar hung on either end of a pole that she carried across her shoulders.

One of the jars had a crack in it, and the other did not.

After the long walk from the source of water, the cracked jar always arrived at its destination half full.

And this caused the jar with no crack to become proud of its own accomplishments.

But the cracked jar was ashamed of its imperfection and was miserable that it could only accomplish half of what it was created to do.

One day, the cracked jar spoke to the water carrier, “I am ashamed of myself,” it said.

“You need not be ashamed of yourself,” replied the water carrier who had an appreciation for the old cracked jar.

She said, “As we return to our destination, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.”

And sure enough, as they went down the path, the old cracked jar saw the sun warming the beautiful flowers on the side of the path.

But at the end of the trail, the cracked jar felt bad again because it had leaked half its load.

The water carrier asked, “Did you notice that there were flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other side?

That is because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it.

I planted flower seeds on your side of the path and every day while we walk back from the stream, you’ve watered them.

For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master’s table.

Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty in his house.”

Each of us have our own unique flaws.

We are all cracked jars.

We are all only human, weak and fragile.

But God is able to do great things, even through our weakness if we allow Him.

And that is an ample reason to greatly rejoice in whom God has created us to be.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You that Jesus died and was raised from the dead for my sake. Thank You for the ministry of Paul whose life was a little reflection of Christ’s deep love for us… as he selflessly shared the gospel of grace to lost souls and was willing to be delivered over to suffering and death for love of the Lord Jesus so that the life of Christ might be manifest through him. I pray that I would be willing to die to my own self-interest for the love of Christ Jesus so that I may also be used by You to spread the good news of the gospel of grace and the life of Jesus might be manifest in my mortal body too. This I ask in Jesus’ precious name, Alleluia, Alleluia, AMEN.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

https://translate.google.com/

1 Corinthians 15:45-49 Amplified Bible

⁴⁵ So it is written [in Scripture], “The first man, Adam, became a living soul (an individual);” the last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving spirit [restoring the dead to life]. ⁴⁶ However, the spiritual [the immortal life] is not first, but the physical [the mortal life]; then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man [Adam] is from the earth, earthy [made of dust]; the second Man [Christ, the Lord] is from heaven.  ⁴⁸ As is the earthly man [the man of dust], so are those who are of earth; and as is the heavenly [Man], so are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ Just as we have borne the image of the earthly [the man of dust], ^[a]we will also bear the image of the heavenly [the Man of heaven].

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen, Amen.

Since my sudden need for my Triple Bypass Open Heart surgery this past July 17, when they sawed open my sternum and stopped my heart for 80 minutes, two words have been implanted indelibly on my soul – mortality and eternity.

Not just my own mortality and eternity, but the mortality and eternity of all of my family and indeed, to a far more reaching extent, the whole of humanity.

What will become of the future generations of those “clouds of witnesses” talked about in Hebrews 12:1-2 who will set aside their sins and burdens, in an effort to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to whatever is left of the world?

Even if we could muster all our imaginative powers, it’s utterly impossible for us fully to conceive of the world as it ought to be—and, indeed, as it will be.

Can you imagine a world where earthquakes, storms, and tornadoes no longer wreak havoc and destruction?

A world in which the word cancer and Alzheimer’s and heart disease and diabetes, so many other serious life threatening diseases strikes fear into nobody’s heart?

A body without weakness, a body without infection, a body without sickness, a body without sadness, a body without death?

The fact is, none of us can begin to hope to raise our imaginations to that level.

However, we do have an image of our hope for resurrection life in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In being raised from the dead, Jesus Christ has become the first fruits of all who place their steadfast and immovable faith, hope and love and trust fully in Him.

What we see in Him is what we are someday to become.

By nature, we are all “in Adam” and destined for death; but to any who are in Christ, God promises renewed hope (1 Corinthians 15:21-28).

1 Corinthians 15:21-28 GOD’S WORD Translation

²¹ Since a man brought death, a man also brought life back from death. ²² As everyone dies because of Adam, so also everyone will be made alive because of Christ. ²³ This will happen to each person in his own turn. Christ is the first, then at his coming, those who belong to him ⌞will be made alive⌟. ²⁴ Then the end will come. Christ will hand over the kingdom to God the Father as he destroys every ruler, authority, and power.

²⁵ Christ must rule until God has put every enemy under his control. ²⁶ The last enemy he will destroy is death. ²⁷ Clearly, God has put everything under Christ’s authority. When God says that everything has been put under Christ’s authority, this clearly excludes God, since God has put everything under Christ’s authority. ²⁸ But when God puts everything under Christ’s authority, the Son will put himself under God’s authority, since God had put everything under the Son’s authority. Then God will be in control of everything.

By triumphing over death, Christ, “the last Adam” (⁴⁵ This is what Scripture says: “The first man, Adam, became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. v 45), has set us on the path to indestructible life in heaven.

Once we each walked the path of “the man of dust,” but now all who are in Jesus Christ “bear the image of the man of heaven.”

That lingering question which rolls and rolls through my soul; “What will life be like when that man of heaven returns to earth and brings heaven with Him?”

Scripture does not lay out all the details so we can order our lives accordingly.

God and God alone give order to our lives and the lives of all God hath created.

And that all God created order is the greatest unsolvable mystery of all eternity.

But we do know this, and is that instead of our bodies being perishable, our bodies will then be imperishable.

As we live and breath, and walk and talk, we currently have a limited shelf life, but we have the promise and hope of an eternal life with no expiration date.

We will live forever (1 Corinthians 15:42 That is how it will be when the dead come back to life. When the body is planted, it decays. When it comes back to life, it cannot decay.), and every day in that great forever will be glorious, for nothing will ever perish, spoil, or fade (1 Peter 1:4-5 ⁴ We have been born into a new life which has an inheritance that can’t be destroyed or corrupted and can’t fade away. That inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ since you are guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of time.)

We also know that God will transform us from a condition of dishonor and weakness to a renewed state of power and glory (1 Corinthians 15:43 ⁴³ When the body is planted, it doesn’t have any splendor and is weak. When it comes back to life, it has splendor and is strong.).

Neither you nor I have the categories to fathom such a resurrection life.

Whatever you and I try would ever try to imagine, reality will be 100% better!

But of this you and I can be 100% sure: that life does await you, awaits me, for our risen Lord Jesus Christ has 100% trampled death underfoot once and for all.

Death has been swallowed up in His irreversible victory (1 Corinthians 15:53-54 ⁵³ For this perishable [part of us] must put on the imperishable [nature], and this mortal [part of us that is capable of dying] must put on immortality [which is freedom from death]. ⁵⁴ And when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the Scripture will be fulfilled that says, “Death is swallowed up in victory (vanquished forever).).

Today, we will all still see the forces of death at work around us—even in us.

Perhaps we are very aware of that in one way or another as we read these words.

But be assured that the kingdom of light has already prevailed over the domain of darkness.

In fact, our citizenship already belongs to the kingdom of resurrection life.

At times you and I may still feel the decay and the dust, but you can yet find hope, knowing that the man of heaven will one day transform our “lowly body to be like His eternally glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21 ²⁰ But [we are different, because] our citizenship is in heaven. And from there we eagerly await [the coming of] the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; ²¹ who, by exerting that power which enables Him even to subject everything to Himself, will [not only] transform [but completely refashion] our earthly bodies so that they will be like His glorious resurrected body. )—forever and ever Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Thank You, Lord God, that You purposed from the foundation of the world You created to save mankind from sin. Thank You that by grace through faith in Christ, I have been transferred from the old creation in Adam to the new creation in Christ. Thank You that my spirit has been regenerated and I have been given a new nature in Christ. I pray that I may keep the old sin nature nailed to the Cross. I praise and thank You that one day, this mortal body will be clothed with immortality, because I now bear the image of the heavenly Lord Jesus. In His name I pray, AMEN.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen, Amen.

https://translate.google.com/

James 2:8-9 Amplified Bible

⁸ If, however, you are [really] fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, if you have an unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit]” you are doing well. ⁹ But if you show partiality [prejudice, favoritism], you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as offenders.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning; is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

Par·ti·al·i·ty – unfair bias in favor of one thing or person compared with another; favoritism.

Are you, am I, showing partiality to people?

If so, are we even aware that we’re sinning?

Most of us might be quick to respond with, “No, I don’t show favoritism.”

But think about it very carefully.

When given the singular or habitual opportunity to choose, do we give gifts to people we believe deserve them over others who seem less deserving?

Are we more willing to help those people who we believe are “worthy” of being helped over those we, by some worldly standard of measure, deem less worthy?

Digging deeper, do we give our offerings to those we like better than others rather than asking God where to give, following His leading over our own?

Likewise, how do we decide whether to donate to someone’s mission trip or not?

What standard of criteria do we base our generosity on?

Even deeper, when it comes to prayer, do we pray more for people we believe deserve our prayer time and our efforts over those who seem beyond hope?

How might God react to that business of “partiality?”

Does God show favoritism?

Is God a “partial or impartial” God?

Does God’s love discriminate based on human standards – race, ethnicity, skin color, national origin, young or old, male or female and etcetera? (JOHN 3:16)

Although many believers may not consider favoritism a serious issue or even something to be dealt with, God makes it abundantly clear that our showing any partiality towards people is absolutely not okay. (read also Galatians 3:23-29)

It might be a hard concept for us to grasp because, as believers, we may think He does because of various passages in the Bible where God gives favor.  

But God clearly distinguishes between His giving favor and His showing favoritism, so quickly setting this misconception aside, His word tells us,

“For God does not show favoritism” (Romans 2:11).

It’s enormously challenging, too, trying to convince some Christians it’s not a good thing because some do not even minimally consider showing partiality sinful or view it as doing anything particularly divisive, or harmful or wrong.

There are likewise believers, too, who, by some rationale, will even think and believe it’s a wise and discerning practice, justifying favoring some individuals over others, seeing those certain persons as more deserving and responsible for receiving their kindness, generosity, helpfulness, and more. (read Acts 6:1-6)

Churches who play favorites: Acceptance With No Favoritism

Who hasn’t seen favoritism?

Sadly, partiality is widespread not only out in the world but in many churches.

James 2:1-4 addresses it within the Church, revealing the sinfulness behind it.

James 2:1-4 Amplified Bible

The Sin of Partiality

2 My fellow believers, do not practice your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of partiality [toward people—show no favoritism, no prejudice, no snobbery]. ² For if a man comes into your ^[a]meeting place ^[b] wearing a gold ring and ^[c]fine clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes also comes in, ³ and you pay special attention to the one who wears the ^[d]fine clothes, and say to him, “You sit here in this good seat,” and you tell the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down [on the floor] by my footstool,” ⁴ have you not discriminated among yourselves, and become judges with wrong motives?

The Bible makes clear that believers in Christ, enjoying the gift of God’s acceptance by grace, may not show favoritism, treating some people as better or more worthy than others.

This follows from God’s own practice of accepting all who call on his name (read also Acts 10:34-35; Romans 10:9-13).

James gives a specific example about favoritism in action, showing that there is no room for discrimination in God’s kingdom.

He adds, “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right.”

We must not miss this: “Loving our neighbors” means ­accepting one another!

We accept others when we make room at our table or in our circle of friends for someone we may not know.

It’s more than being friendly.

Jesus said, “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me” (Matthew 10:40).

Jesus identified with people who were poor, hungry, strangers, sick, and in prison. (read also Matthew 25:34-40)

We must do this too.

Loving one another means getting involved in the lives of others—as messy or as unwelcome as that may be.

It could involve inviting someone to join a Bible study at your home.

It could even be uncomfortable.

But you can do so, remembering that few are offended by Jesus.

Accepting one another as Jesus did ­honors God and brings rejoicing in heaven.

To whom can you show God’s love today?

Christians in Authority Who Play Favorites

God emphasizes in Ephesians 6:7-9 how He looks at showing partiality between people, especially in situations where some may believe they’re justified in treating individuals differently because of their various positions in life.

Sadly there are Christian leaders, bosses, parents who leave their Christianity at the door, believing they are in the right to play favorites at home or work.

But God calls us all to serve one another, regardless of rank or position in life. 

Ephesians 6:7-9 New International Version

⁷ Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, ⁸ because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.

⁹ And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

Unfortunately, many humans, including Christians, struggle with wanting to feel more important than others.

Rooted in sin, Philippians 2:3 urges us to “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.”

Overcoming Partiality

So how do we live a life free from partiality?

Scripture provides direction on how to overcome the tendency to play favorites.

1. Ask God for Direction

When tempted, look to God for help.

Proverbs 3:5-8 Amplified Bible

⁵ 
Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
^6 
[a]In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].
⁷ 
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord [with reverent awe and obedience] and turn [entirely] away from evil.
⁸ 
It will be health to your body [your marrow, your nerves, your sinews, your muscles—all your inner parts]
And refreshment (physical well-being) to your bones.

2. Freely Received, Freely Give what was Freely Given

Freely give because God has freely given us all things (Romans 8:32), not based on who someone is or isn’t, but because it pleases God. 

Proverbs 3:27 encourages, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.”

3. Sacrificial Transformation, Spiritual Renewal of our Thoughts

Romans 12:1-5 Amplified Bible

Dedicated Service

12 ^[a]Therefore I urge you, ^[b]brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship. ² And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be ^[c]transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].

³ For by the grace [of God] given to me I say to everyone of you not to think more highly of himself [and of his importance and ability] than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has apportioned to each a degree of faith [and a purpose designed for service]. ⁴ For just as in one [physical] body we have many parts, and these parts do not all have the same function or special use, ⁵ so we, who are many, are [nevertheless just] one body in Christ, and individually [we are] parts one of another [mutually dependent on each other].

Paul’s urging of each of us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices is based on Christ’s ultimate act of service and ultimate act of sacrifice for all of our sake.

Baptized believers, transformed and renewed, living sacrifices serve because they’re steadfast immovable followers of Jesus, who served by giving his life.

Yet, as one pessimist I know put it, “The problem with living sacrifices is that they’re always crawling off the altar.”

Being a living sacrifice, with Christ as our supreme example, calls for sincere commitment to serve faithfully, selflessly and no matter what, to not give up.

Healthy worship and prayer life, Healthy family life, healthy church family life, means serving the all members of the family by doing whatever it is we do best.

Healthy church family life means freely serving fellow members of the body of believers with the gifts God has entrusted to us.

It means sacrificing biases, prejudices, valuing to the utmost, service to one another because together we form a body belonging to God and to each other.

Paul put it simply: “As Christ’s body, each member belongs to all the others.”

Intersecting Faith and Life: 

Hebrews 13:1-2 English Standard Version

Sacrifices Pleasing to God

13 Let brotherly love continue. ² Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Ask God today to reveal to you opportunities how to be genuinely Christ-like impartial and to reveal to other neighbors any ways you’ve been practicing it.

When confronting an un-neighborly situation where you can choose how you respond to people, ask God to lead you and to transform you and to renew your thoughts towards heavenly things, lean on His understanding over your own.

You simply never know what difference you would make in another’s journey.

But believe that God already knows what difference you absolutely did make!

In the name of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Oh, Lord, we often fall into determining someone’s value based on their wealth. Their wealth tells us nothing of their heart or their love for you. Help us not to insult the poor and elevate the rich. We pray that you will help us reach out to others without selfish motives like James addresses here. Help us not to disregard those in humble circumstances in order to try and elevate ourselves with those who show their disdain for you and treat others badly. You have called us to honor you with whatever you have blessed us with, and at the same time you call us not to play favorites. Help us to have humble hearts, to follow your example of loving all and not judging a person by their economic status or what they can do for us. In the One who is the richest of all and yet humbled himself on the cross for our sake – Amen!

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning; is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

https://translate.google.com/

Isaiah 12 THE Message

My Strength and Song

12 And you will say in that day,
    “I thank you, God.
You were angry
    but your anger wasn’t forever.
You withdrew your anger
    and moved in and comforted me.

² “Yes, indeed—God is my salvation.
    I trust, I won’t be afraid.
God—yes God!—is my strength and song,
    best of all, my salvation!”

^3-4 Joyfully you’ll pull up buckets of water
    from the wells of salvation.
And as you do it, you’ll say,
    “Give thanks to God.
Call out his name.
    Ask him anything!
Shout to the nations, tell them what he’s done,
    spread the news of his great reputation!

^5-6 “Sing praise-songs to God. He’s done it all!
    Let the whole earth know what he’s done!
Raise the roof! Sing your hearts out, O Zion!
    The Greatest lives among you: The Holy of Israel.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

Surely God is My Salvation

It is great to be reminded that we have salvation through Jesus.

In Isaiah 12, the promised Messiah, Jesus, had not yet come to earth.

However, the people of God believed Him at His Word.

The Lord used many prophets to speak truth into hard situations and to share about the coming Savior.

Isaiah was one of these prophets.

In Isaiah 12, Isaiah writes a song of praise after Isaiah 11 just shares about the coming Messiah.

The Israelites were well aware that they were sinful and rebellious people.

This start to Isaiah 12:2 “Surely” is a confidence that the promised Messiah would be coming and their faith in the Lord who had a redemption plan to cover their sins once and for all.

I Will Trust and Not Be Afraid

The Israelites were a fearful people.

Soon after their release, many of them wanted to go back to slavery in Egypt in the difficulty of escape, many of them did not trust in God and took matters into their own hands, and many of them lived out of fear and not faith in the Lord.

In this time, Isaiah is reminding the people of their anchor in the Lord.

The Prophet Isaiah now encourages us still today to place our trust in the Lord because He is our Peace, we do not have to be afraid when we are resting in Him.

Our momentary trials and hardships might be extremely painful and difficult, but we can get through knowing that the Lord is with us and we have eternal security in Heaven because of Jesus.

We can each declare this in our own lives today, “I will trust and not be afraid.”

The LORD, the LORD Himself Is My Strength and My Defense

When LORD is mentioned in all caps, it is referring to the proper name of God, YHWH.

We as believers agree with Isaiah’s statement that God, our God Himself, is our strength and our defense.

He helps us to move forward but also protects us from the attacks of the enemy.

He is the perfect sacrifice from eternal separation from the Lord.

When we undergo spiritual attacks from the enemy, His Spirit within us strengthens and empowers us to stand steadfast and firm not in our own strength but in leaning on God’s strength and God’s immovable promises.

In what ways do we need to be reminded God is our strength and our defense?

He is fighting for us, and He is guarding us.

I love how we know that it is the Lord who holds the victory, and we are His beloved children.

Even when the war seems to tarry, our Savior reminds us of His everlasting presence and His power in the midst of the battle.

We can have eternal mindsets with the help of His Spirit.

He Has Become My Salvation 

More valuable than a temporary victory is the fact that when we place our faith in Jesus, He has become our forever salvation.

This is eternal security.

This is forever hope and confidence of life with Him in heaven.

I love how Isaiah begins and ends this verse with this truth.

He is reminding us twice that our story, our lives, begin and end with God.

He is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, Beginning and the End.

Intersecting Faith and Life

Is Jesus your salvation?

If you have never accepted this gift through His death and resurrection, ask Him into your heart today.

When He is our salvation, we have full victory in Christ.

In what ways has it been difficult for your trust to mature in God right now?

How can this verse remind you not to be afraid and to fully rely on Him?

How does this verse remind you not to be afraid and to fully rely on Him?

How has the Lord been a strength and defense on your behalf in the past?

How does this ancient passage give you encouragement that He is fighting for you now and in the future?

If you were to sit down and write a song of who Jesus Christ is in your life ….?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 16 The Message

16 ^1-2 Keep me safe, O God,
    I’ve run for dear life to you.
I say to God, “Be my Lord!”
    Without you, nothing makes sense.

³ And these God-chosen lives all around—
    what splendid friends they make!

⁴ Don’t just go shopping for a god.
    Gods are not for sale.
I swear I’ll never treat god-names
    like brand-names.

^5-6 My choice is you, God, first and only.
    And now I find I’m your choice!
You set me up with a house and yard.
    And then you made me your heir!

^7-8 The wise counsel God gives when I’m awake
    is confirmed by my sleeping heart.
Day and night I’ll stick with God;
    I’ve got a good thing going and I’m not letting go.

^9-10 I’m happy from the inside out,
    and from the outside in, I’m firmly formed.
You canceled my ticket to hell—
    that’s not my destination!

¹¹ Now you’ve got my feet on the life path,
    all radiant from the shining of your face.
Ever since you took my hand,
    I’m on the right way.

Heavenly Father, you are the Author of our Salvation. It is by your Hand that we have received deliverance and to you, dear God should be all praise and glory, for it is your divine plan for mankind that rescued us from terrible peril and made us co-heirs of your Heavenly Kingdom, alongside our Messiah Jesus Christ in Whom we repose complete faith and trust. Jesus has promised eternal life and a place in heaven which he will prepare, for all who are beneficiaries of your grace, by their faith in Christ.

We find rest for our soul when we live by your Holy Word, Lord, for only you can offer us refuge and sanctuary. With you, nothing is impossible When the going gets too tough, we turn to you for peace and protection, comfort and assurance, and we find it, for your promises to us are unshakable and all we ask for in Jesus’ Name, is readily granted to those who believe.

Our trust is in you Lord, for you are unchangeable and omniscient, the very foundation of our strength, for you have uplifted us, filled us with your Holy Spirit, and we are fortified and unafraid of evil machinations. For with you as our Father, we need have no fear and can worship, offer songs of praise for being in the ranks of the righteous. We surrender to you, consecrating our lives to you, in Jesus’ Name.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

https://translate.google.com/

John 3:19-21 The Message

^19-21 “This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

Christians in Crisis – Preferences for Running to the Darkness?

English cleric William Farrar wrote, “I am only one, but I am one; I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I ought to do. And what I ought to do, by the grace of God, I will do.”

Reverend John Wesley founder of Methodism famously wrote: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

What amount of “everything possible whenever possible” can one person do?

Biblically, A whole lot.

The Bible tells the story of one woman who was determined to save a nation.

Esther may not have been the first woman people would have imagined for this assignment – but for such a time as it was, a mounting darkness was coming.

After she won a beauty contest, she became queen in the Medo-Persian Empire.

And in that position of influence, Esther, who was Jewish, discovered that her people faced a serious threat.

Because Mordecai would not bow to him, a wicked and self serving man named Haman had devised a plot to exterminate every Jewish person in the empire.

Queen Esther considered appealing to King Xerxes on behalf of her people.

But by doing so, she would be risking her own life.

The king could have her executed for approaching him without his invitation.

But her cousin Mordecai sent her a message, which said,

“Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” (Esther 4:13-14 NLT).

In other words,

“Esther, God doesn’t depend solely on you. But He can use you in a powerful way. Will you step up?”

Esther did, and as a result, the Jewish people survived.

One person stepped forward at great risk to their lives, made a difference.

John 3:16-18 The Message

^16-18 “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

Some weeks ago I was reading a lengthy devotional from Genesis 3 (about Adam and Eve’s fall into sin).

In it, a little girl, while picking noisily at her dinner plate with her fork, had whispered to her mother, “Mommy, can’t Adam and Eve go to heaven now?”

She understood that something very serious had happened, and she wondered if anything or anyone could undo the damage the darkness had done on that day.

Though as young as she was, she wisely asked her mother the right question:

Could anyone pick up the pieces of a creation threatened by growing darkness?

Were we too accustomed to being helpless, accepting our helplessness, in the towering presence, greater power and overwhelming strength of the darkness?

Or are we faced with the dilemma of an old nursery rhyme:

“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall;/ Humpty Dumpty had a great fall./ All the king’s horses and all the king’s men/ couldn’t put Humpty together again.”

What no one else could do against the brokenness and darkness ushered in by sin, in one matchless moment, God did by sending his Son, the Lord Jesus.

Through his coming, his birth, life, death and resurrection Jesus ushered in the kingdom of heaven, and by fully believing in him we can enter that kingdom.

But IF we WILL walk in the Light as He is in the Light …

1 John 1:6-7 The Message

^6-7 If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.

There is a great contrast between a life that is being lived in the darkness and one that is being lived in the light, a point that John expounds upon in his text.

As life in the darkness is not indicative of Him, it can also be said that the life in the light is one that is lived in Him.

John continues with his imagery of walking, indicating that living with the light, who is God, is a chosen lifestyle.

Because it is a lifestyle that is founded in Him, it is a life that reflects Him.

It shines light outward into the lives of others, confronting, challenging the darkness by exposing truth to those who come in contact with a Christian.

John further reveals that the lifestyle is also characterized by something more.

It is a lifestyle of continuous fellowship, one of worship, one of diligent study and prayer, one of John’s major emphases in these first verses of his writing.

John also further extends the idea that connection and fellowship with others is related to connection and fellowship with God.

Apart from Him, no true fellowship can exist.

As light is necessary for the nourishment and growth of all things, God is necessary for the nourishment and growth of people.

Any connectional relationship absent this light will not ever blossom into any relationship that is founded in true Christ like love, including not only kindness and companionship, but also true accountability, responsibility, and discipline.

And thus, because there is no blossoming, no fruit will be produced, something evident in the life of a true Christian (cf. John 15:1-8).

The Vine and the Branches

15 ^1-3 “I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.

⁴ “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.

^5-8 “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.

Finally, because one who walks in the light is defined as one who is a child of God, they can experience the cleansing power of the blood of Christ.

In the Old Testament, blood was connected to purification, and thus is seen often in the sacrifices (Leviticus 16:30; Hebrews 9:21-22).

Now, in the New Testament sense, the blood is connected with Christ’s atoning sacrifice, which fulfills God’s requirements for the punishment of sin allowing for believers to be declared ‘acquitted’ of charges.

This does not mean that one does not still battle with sin.

Currently we still live in the flesh and thus battle with it.

However, it does mean that one no longer needs to fear separation from God as a result of that sin.

Therefore, You, too, can make a difference.

So make the decision to be the godly representative that Jesus called you to be.

Removing the Buckets off from the tops of our heads

Matthew 5:14-16 The Message

^14-16 “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

We live in a dark world where people are comfortable existing in darkness.

Too many people enjoy their darkened hidden places, their secret places.

They have become PhD’s accustomed to 5 star living and being in the dark.

But take the buckets off of their existence?

After the capture of the Bastille in 1789, a story emerged about a prisoner who had been confined to a dark, dingy dungeon for years.

When he was released and led outside into the Paris sunlight, he begged to return to the darkness of his prison cell.

His eyes could not endure the sun’s brightness.

His only desire was to die in the very darkness where he had been a captive.

That is how a lot of people are today.

They live in darkness, and they are comfortable there.

Their eyes , their hearts, souls and lives are too accustomed to the darkness.

They see no purpose to trying to become accustomed to the light of the day, the light of salvation in Jesus Christ alone through whom darkness is made null and void and completely helpless and powerless.

But the Bible says that when we come to Christ, we “turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God” (Acts 26:18 NLT).

Almost certainly everyone knows somebody who is too accustomed to the dark.

Almost everyone knows someone who is just too afraid to open their eyes to the light – too much pain. no heart desire, no motivation, no empowerment either.

We need to share the light, shine the light of Jesus Christ into our dark world.

We must take it more seriously than a widow making heart attack and seek to make even a .01% difference in our culture wherever we go, whenever we can.

You make a difference.

Be a difference maker

Be the difference maker.

You have a strategic and important part to play.

Never doubt your ability to make a difference and to actually be a difference.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 139:23-24 The Message

^23-24 Investigate my life, O God,
    find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
    get a clear picture of what I’m about;
See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—
    then guide me on the road to eternal life.

Questions to pray over: dare to ask the following questions of yourself:

• What darkness dwells in me?
• How much time and effort do I devote to embracing and loving my darkness?
• What am, how much am I sacrificing to remain in my embrace of my darkness?
• What am I afraid of God is going to find within my dark and secret places?
• What am I afraid of about God? Why am I afraid of God? Condemnation?
• Spend some time in prayer asking God to humble you so that you can accurately look at your life. Dwell a bit on things and see if there are recurring areas that may exist and add those to your list as well.
• Take an opportunity to thoroughly examine yourself and identify those areas of darkness in your life that cannot exist with God. Perhaps make a list, pray over them, confess them, and be free of them.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

https://translate.google.com/

Matthew 5:14-16 Amplified Bible

¹⁴ “You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; ¹⁵ nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds and moral excellence, and [recognize and honor and] glorify your Father who is in heaven.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

Light is quite remarkable if you think about it.

It travels at 186,000 miles per second and behaves as if it were both a solid particle and a wave of energy.

It always overcomes darkness–in fact, the darker the night, the more impressive even the slightest glow.

And it exists by constantly giving itself away.

Jesus calls us to be light in a sin-darkened world.

We are light when we live all of life in the way God calls us to live.

We are light when we treat our neighbors with integrity, and when we treat bullies with kindness (though without letting them get their way).

We live as light when we represent a cause that may not be popular but is right.

In fact, Jesus explains that it is impossible for Christians not to be light.

We are either his followers—his light—or we are not.

A candle under a bowl goes out.

A city on a hill lights the countryside.

Authentic Christians outwardly His radiate righteousness, truth, and grace.

Jesus says of us, “You are the light of the world.”

This imagery suggests that the life God’s Spirit kindles within us, while powerful and delightful, is meant not only for us to enjoy.

It’s a life that’s to be given away for others.

In fact, a candle placed under a bowl will soon suffocate and die.

Our lives, rather, should have a giving quality about them and be marked by an outward flow.

After all, this is the quality of the life of the Father within us, who so loves the world that He gives and keeps on giving. “

Of course, this light does not come from within ourselves.

We are the light of the world only to the extent that Jesus, the true light of the world, lives in us.

When we were lost in darkness, Jesus came to us, full of grace and truth, and drew us into his light.

How will you shine the light of Jesus into your world today?

Inescapable, Irresistible Light

Matthew 5:14-16 The Message

^14-16 “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

When you are living for Jesus Christ, your very presence sometimes will bother and mightily offend the darkness others because His light is shining out of you.

When in this age too many are trying too hard turn off all the lights, to take every opportunity at avoid giving any offense You may even try to hide it too.

But it shouldn’t be that way.

Just stand still in any room you are standing or sitting in

Just let His light shine for people to see.

Jesus said, “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.

No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket.

Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house” (Matthew 5:14-15 NLT).

We’ve all heard the well-worn excuses, eye rolling rationales and the so-called reasons as to why people don’t come to Christ.

But here’s the reason that most people don’t come to Him.

This, by the way, is according to Jesus Himself:

“God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil” (John 3:19 NLT).

The reason people don’t believe is they don’t want their sin exposed.

They don’t want to acknowledge their shortcomings.

They surrender to their darkness

They do not want to surrender their darkness .

But it is inevitable that the darkness will surrender because it has not the ability nor the power to overcome what it can never hope to understand. (John 1:5)

And the more godly a Christian is, the more obviously this surrender will take place just by the life they live, that believer’s great example – loving neighbors. 

1 John 1:6-7 The Message

^6-7 If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.

Jesus went on to say,

“All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants” (verses 20–21 NLT).

Few things are harder to put up with than the sudden revelation of a bright light of a Christ like life which will command an entire room with its good example.

And when you live it, it really stuns the senses, it really gets people’s attention.

Light not only exposes what the darkness hides, light also shows the way out.

John 1:1-5 The Message

The Life-Light

1 ^1-2 The Word was first,
    the Word present to God,
    God present to the Word.
The Word was God,
    in readiness for God from day one.

^3-5 Everything was created through him;
    nothing—not one thing!—
    came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
    and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
    the darkness couldn’t put it out.

And in the same way Christ came, the light that shines from us not only shows people their shortcomings and their sins, but it also shows them the way out.

The darkness must surrender.

The darkness will surrender.

Sin must surrender its power over the Children of God.

Sin will surrender its power over the Children of God.

The revealed Word of God to light the narrow way for the Children of God.

It shows them the way to the inevitability of Jesus Christ as their forever Savior.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

God of light and life and peace, I bring before You a world that is ravaged by war and suffering, disaster and distress, through the actions and attitudes of selfish men. I pray that the light of Christ would illuminate a dark world that has chosen to turn its back on the One Who is the true Light of the world and Who brings life and love to all who believe. I pray that You use me in the corner of the world where You have placed me, to bring the light, the life, and the love of Christ to a hurting world. Keep me ever mindful that without You I can do nothing, but in the strength and power of Your Holy Spirit, I am thus enabled to reveal your path to salvation and act as Your hands, Your feet, and Your heart, to those in need. In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

https://translate.google.com/