When Darkness Seems To Prevail

No matter how small a light seems, it is powerful.

I hate a little, tiny blue light in my bedroom. It comes from some electronics on the other side of the room from our bed, and it is ridiculously bright. You know what I mean, how research shows we need total blackout darkness to get a good night sleep? And then there's this tiny, blue but so-bright-light that interrupts great sleep. We try to cover it up, but inevitably something happens and there it is again, persistent, shining.

When it seems like darkness is winning....

GOD-IS-LIGHT.

Like that little blue light, He pierces the darkness. He's persistent, present, powerful, forever. Just as natural light travels forever, never ending, His light never fails, 

The revelator, John, tells us that "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5)

Occasionally we buy into the thought that we can hide, or that the darkness in our life wins, and it's kind of like our trying to cover this blue light - LIGHT ALWAYS WINS. If there is light, darkness flees from it. Our hiding is impossible, darkness is banished.

GOD-IS-LIGHT

At times we focus on the darkness and it appears imposing - we may feel threatened, afraid, angry even. We look at it so much that it becomes our focus and we begin to become swallowed up in it. What are we doing? Light kills the darkness.

We don't have to fight the dark, we have to let the light shine.
Let God shine in your dark places.
Let God shine through you to others.
You don't have to be the light - He is.
Get connected, stay connected, to Him.

Give up the idea that darkness wins.

Light wins. God wins

Eternal.Present.Powerful.God

 

Some of The Greatest Fruit & Legacy You Can Have

I was blessed, challenged and comforted by a message passionately delivered by Christine Caine last week at the Catalyst West conference (can she be other than passionate?). She is a fruitful minister, author, advocate for justice, a "doer" for the Kingdom of God. These are her words, her perspective:

 

“I think some of the greatest fruit and legacy I will leave the next generation is not all my accomplishments for God but the fact that after all these years in ministry (21 years full-time):

Ø  I am still passionately in love with Jesus

Ø  I am fully committed t building His Church
Ø  I am still in awe of so great a salvation
Ø  I am not bitter, offended or cynical
Ø  I am still pursuing His plan for my life
Ø  I still believe the best is yet to come
Ø  I still love my pastors and my local church (same pastors this whole time)
Ø  I still believe it is a privilege to do what I do
Ø  I adore my husband
Ø  I delight in my daughters
Ø  I don’t see a conflict between family and ministry
Ø  I love God, life and people
Ø  I am bruised and have taken some serious knocks, but I am still going
Ø  I didn’t slow down at 40 but ramped up to another level.”

Do you feel challenged by any of these in your own journey?

What’s getting in the way?

What made you squirm as you read it?

Perhaps these are areas where we need healing. Repentance. Restoration.

“In all of our doing we must continually evaluate our lives to determine whether we are in fact becoming more like Christ.

 
Ø  Is our faith growing?
Ø  Are we developing the fruit of the Spirit?
Ø  Are we enjoying the journey?
Ø  Do we love God and His church more or less?
Ø  Are we still filled with awe and wonder or are we getting cynical, disillusioned, disappointed or discouraged?
Ø  Are we more committed to building His kingdom rather than our own empires [lives]?
Ø  Do we still value things like commitment, faithfulness, loyalty, submission, honour and respect?”

My prayer is that we'll be honest; that we'll find the healing, courage, grace and re-kindled love that we need, which only truly comes from Him.

Are you challenged? I am.
Is there hope? Yes.

"For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7:8

The ball is in your court.
Will you ask? Seek? Knock?
Will you receive? Find? Enter?

Blessings, friend. Blessings, grace and courage.

What Commends You?

That's a Scary question (at least to me): what commends you? If someone were to write you a letter of recommendation, what would that be based on?

Commend: to present, mention, to praise as worthy of confidence, notice, kindness, etc; recommend

Often we expect commendation for our feats of excellence - performing well at what we do. The Apostle Paul offers another measure of commendability, one that challenges at a whole other level. In 2 Corinthians 3:1-3 he writes,

"Are we beginning to praise ourselves again? Are we like others, who need to bring you letters of recommendation, or who ask you to write such letters on their behalf? Surely not! The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good works among you. Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This "letter" is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts."

Clearly. You. Your lives.

PEOPLE are the measure of commendation.

How are the relationships in your life?
Your family and neighbors?
Your employees?
Those you serve?
Those you minister to?
Those you help?
What impact have you had?

Our letter of recommendation is all the good we have sowed into people, the quality of time, effort and content. Their lives reflect that and commend us. Or not. Makes me think.

I also draw comfort from the fact that the Corinthians were FAR from a perfect bunch (read 1 & 2 Corinthians for more on that), yet their lives are a testament of Paul's labor. There is hope for all of us!

And people are worth it!