THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD REVEALED

“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.’” (John‬ ‭8:12‬‬)

The purpose of light is to reveal—to shine out and to show up a thing.  This revelation is the outshining of God’s very glory.

Christ shines out the person of God.  When He claims to be the Light, He claims to be God.  Is He a liar, lunatic, or Lord?  Those are the only options.  He is either a deceiver, delusional, or Deity.  John was an eyewitness to His glory revealed on the Mountain of Transfiguration and testified, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John‬ ‭1:14‬).  Paul saw that Light and said Jesus is “the image of the invisible God” (Col.1:15). Hebrews 1:3 speaks of, “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person….”

Christ shows up the path to God.  The Lord had just attended the Feast of Tabernacles (7:2). This feast celebrated the pilgrimage of the Jews through the wilderness. You may recall the glory cloud—a pillar of cloud that directed them by day and a pillar of fire by night. This glory cloud rested above the tabernacle. When it moved, they moved. As the glory cloud led the Israelites through the wilderness, so Christ is the Light of the world to guide us to God and in the path of His will day by day until we reach the eternal light of glory.

“For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor.4:6).

GOD THE FATHER: The Leader of His Household

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. ... “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor detest His correction; For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.” (Proverbs 3:5-6,11-12)

God has designated me to be the leader of my household.  That’s a father’s job.  Too many men fail in that role.

I assure you, God the Father, never fails.  He leads His dear children along (Prov.3:5-6).  It doesn’t mean the path will always be easy.  It will always be best.  We may not understand the ways God leads us—but we are told not to lean on our own understanding.  What are we to do when we don’t understand with our head?  Trust Him with all our heart!

The Father’s leadership isn’t just in direction, but in discipline (Prov.3:11-12).  He is not a permissive parent.  The man who decides to be his son’s friend rather than his father, allowing him to pursue his own path, may think that he is being loving, but is actually being cruel.  Children need discipline. God the Father sets the pattern. He corrects us with compassion and disciplines us because He delights in us.  Our response determines whether the pain makes us better or bitter.

A BOOK LIKE NO OTHER

Blessed are the undefiled in the way,

Who walk in the law of the LORD!  (Psalm 119:1)

The Bible is a Book like no other.  There are other books that are inspiring, but no other book is inspired like this Book—for God is the source, as well as the subject, of its message.  No other book has affected history like His story contained in its pages.  To read and heed the Scripture is to have the blessing of God in this world and in the world to come.

Psalm 119 is at the heart of this best of books.  It is no accident that in this Divine library of 66 books, that this longest chapter in the Bible extols the veracity and virtue of the Word of God.

The Bible is the best of books in the direction it furnishes (v.1-8).  Throughout these opening verses, the writer stresses how our walk in life is directed by the Word of God.  The Psalm begins with this:

Blessed are the undefiled in the way,

Who walk in the law of the LORD!  (v.1)

 

God’s Word gives us solid footing for our steps.  The world’s constantly shifting opinions and philosophies are quicksand, but God’s truth marks out a stable path for us to navigate safely our journey from earth to heaven.  The Scriptures are a roadmap to guide us home.

The Bible is the best of books in the delight it brings (v.9-24).  The author of this Psalm does not come to God’s Word with an attitude of obligation, but a spirit of anticipation.  He doesn’t see reading the text as a mere duty, but as a delight.  For instance, he exults:

I will delight myself in Your statutes;

I will not forget Your word.  (v.16)

 

The Word of God is a fountain of joy from whence flows rivers of pleasure.

The Bible is the best of books in the dedication it inspires (v.25-40).  Being devoted to grasp the meaning of Scripture will cause that message to grasp us and bring out devotion to obey it.  For example:

Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law;

Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart.  (v.34)

 

Our culture has moved away from objective truth to subjective experience.  The church has been impacted by this, and too often prefers entertainment in songs rather than exposition of Scripture.  They want a little pop psychology with a verse or two of Scripture thrown in—a sermonette that produces Christianettes. 

David Wells speaks to this troublesome trend by noting: “Sustaining orthodoxy and framing Christian belief in doctrinal terms requires habits of reflection and judgment that are simply out of place in our culture and increasingly disappearing from evangelicalism as well.” 

Devotion to studying and meditating deeply on the truth of the text will lead to dedication and submission to those truths—and a shallow, superficial understanding will yield that kind of faith, as well—if it is any faith at all.

I am far from being all God wants me to be.  There has been come progress, however, in that direction.  Without question, the most significant factor in my spiritual growth has been a consistent pattern of daily study of God’s Word.  There is no substitute for the proper nutrition of feeding your soul on the best of books.

 

 

HOW TO PRAY FOR OTHER CHRISTIANS

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you….   (Col.1:9a)

Often we pray wholesale when we should pray retail.  General prayers are generally pointless!  We pray, “Lord bless so and so…” and how would we know if He did?  Prayer needs to be specific.  Blind Bartimaeus cried, “Son of David have mercy on me.”  Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”  When he asked for sight, Jesus opened his blind eyes (Mark 10:46-52).  It is also true that prayer must align with God’s will if we are to expect an answer.  The will of God is in the Word of God, so prayers grounded in Scripture unleash the faith that moves the hand of God.  Paul’s prayer in Colossians 1:9-11 is one that we can confidently pray for other Christians.

PRAY FOR THEIR WISDOM, “that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (v.9b).  How valuable this is!  When Solomon was given a blank check from God, and could ask for anything he wanted, the young king requested wisdom—and God was so pleased with that He threw in everything else along with it!  No wonder Solomon would later write in Proverbs that it is worth more than gold!  Every day brings a multitude of choices.  It is not always a matter of choosing between right and wrong—which is more readily apparent—but can be a choice between the good and the best—and that is more difficult.  God will enable us to see what lies ahead—“wisdom”—and to see what lies behind things—“spiritual understanding.” 

PRAY FOR THEIR WALK, “that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him” (v.10a).  Discerning the will of God should direct our walk with God.  Convictions should set our course.  Some folks just get a big head from what they know, when what is needed is a burning heart for what we should do!  Our walk is to be worthy of the precious name that we bear—the name of Christ.  Peter tells us we “should follow His steps” (1 Pet.2:21).  Our prayer is for a life that is fully pleasing to God.  We pray for our brothers and sisters to have a passion for His pleasure as did Paul when he wrote, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”  (Phil.3:14) 

PRAY FOR THEIR WORK, “being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy” (v.10b-11).   Our head—discerning God’s will—our heart—directing our walk—and our hands—doing God’s work—leads us to fruitfulness, forcefulness, and faithfulness.  Our prayer for the saints is that as they abide in Christ they will bear much fruit for the glory of God (see John 15).  This connection to Christ causes His very life to flow in force—a divine energizing—for supernatural service.  Satanic opposition is guaranteed, but God gives endurance that is greater still, so we do not give out, give in, or give up!  We can even smile in the struggle and sweat—full of joy!  This doesn’t arise from self-reliance, but spiritual dependence.

Pray this for your fellow Christians.  I know I want you to pray this for me!  By the way, it would be good to seek this for yourself also.  Just a thought.

LEARNING TO LEAN

 

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.  (Proverbs 3:5-6)

I recall a chorus that we used to sing in church years ago that said,

I'm learning to lean, learning to lean,
Learning to lean on Jesus.
Finding more power than I'd ever dreamed,
I'm learning to lean on Jesus.  (John Stallings)

That is a lifestyle aligned with the truth of Proverbs 3:5-6 and one that demands to be adopted by all those who claim to follow Christ.

It is a call for DEPENDENCE on God, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart” (v.5a).  Upon whom or what are you leaning right now?  God is the only subject worthy of our dependence.  He is invincible in His power, indescribable in His knowledge, immeasurable in His love, and immutable in His character—and so infinitely trustworthy.  That cannot be said of any other person—even the best of people. 

There is also the call for DENIAL of self-reliance, “And lean not on your own understanding” (v.5b).  How foolish it is to lean on our limited understanding when we can look to a limitless Lord who knows all things and understands the outcome of every course of action that might be taken.  This warning is needed because we are prone to self-reliance.  It is at the rotten core of the forbidden fruit of sin—a drive to be our own god and follow our own guidance.  We have received that default setting from our forefather Adam.  That folly leads only to futility.  Recognize that the Bible gives a prohibition of self-reliance.  This fence God puts up, marking self-reliance as “off-limits,” is for our protection.  The Old Testament character Jacob is the poster child of self-reliance.  He repeatedly leaned on his own understanding, and that brought him difficulty after difficulty, finally requiring God to break Him and bring him to desperation so that he would learn to lean (Gen.32:22-32).

Ultimately, this is a call for DEVOTION to God, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”  (v.6)  We are to be devoted in looking to God.  Let reliance on self be supplanted by resting in the Savior.  The demand is not to just look to Him in a moment of crisis, but as a matter of course.  We will be directed in looking to God.  That is the promise.  As the old hymn affirms, “He leadeth me! O blessed thought!”

The Spirit of God speaks by the Word of God.  Open the Book, and entreat Him to show you His way!  God responds to such a humble desire with heavenly direction.  Let us learn to lean on Jesus!

DAWN OF A NEW DAY

 

But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.  (Proverbs 4:18)

God gives us light for our next step.  If we take it in faith and obedience, He gives more light.  As we mature spiritually, by walking in His light with Him, the path becomes brighter and the way clearer.  We come to recognize God’s leading—the path clearly distinguishable by our familiarity with it.  Best of all, we know that it ends in eternal Day—the brightness of God’s radiant glory, enveloping us in Heaven!

Today is the dawn of a new day of opportunity.  Did I take a detour into darkness yesterday and stumble in unbelief and rebellion?  God will forgive—if I repent—and set me on the right path today.  In a time of such darkness that befell a nation in rebellion against God, the Lord gave His prophet this shaft of light breaking through the clouds:

Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not. 

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.  (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Even if I have been unfaithful, I find God is faithful still.  His mercies are as a dam restraining the flood of His wrath that I merit.  This new day I am awake and alive with opportunity for a fresh start.  God is great and nowhere is this more evident than in the infinite glory of His grace toward me!

I can join with the Psalmist in affirming, “This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.”  (Ps.118:24)  Here I have a gift unwrapped—this special day, uniquely designed by God.  It is a day unlike any other day and will never be exactly replicated again.  I choose to begin this day with God!  In this day, I rejoice and am glad!

The hymn has been sung countless times, but let its message stir your soul again:

I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses,
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.  (Charles A. Miles)