Night Light part 2
Sometimes you can feel the darkness creeping in. But you have to remember that there's a light in your house. You ARE the light of the world. The light is in you, and the light IS you. And when the light shines, the darkness flees. Let me say it like this: "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). So let's track this: God is light. There is no darkness in Him at all. He lives in you. The light is in you, and the light is you. As He is, so are we in this world. So... using Logan logic... there is no darkness in you at all! This idea that we're constantly trying to defeat sin, or struggling with our sin nature... guys! A sinner saved by grace is not a sinner anymore. God arose and His enemies were scattered. The cross changed everything. It was the dawning of a new day. Look at 2 Peter 1:19, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts." And I'm not going to touch the commonly held idea that the day star is Lucifer, or Satan, or whatever with a ten foot pole. I'm simply here to say that the day star arose in our hearts 2,000 years ago on an old rugged cross. Or, I guess, to be perfectly accuracte, three days later when Jesus rose again. (Or, you know, from the foundation of the world.) That was the fulness of the new day dawning. This sure word of prophecy, this light shining into the dark place of our sorrow, or our "sin" (unbelief), is the light from that day star shining to reveal what is true! That's how Jesus took away the sin (unbelief) of the world. He showed us who we really are. By showing us who God really is. Creator and creation. Love and loved ones. That's why God created us in the first place: He wanted to express Himself to us, and in us, and through us, and as us. He--the God who IS love--wanted someone TO love. That's all He's ever done. That's all He could, can, or will, ever do. What else could the God who is love do but love? What else could the God who is light do but shine? So I guess what I'm trying to say... remember yesterday I told you all that this Rant Series was inspired by Logan's flickering night light and him impressing upon me how important that night light is (yes, I went right out and got him a new one, don't worry about that)... so I guess what I'm trying to say is: It doesn't matter how dark it gets as long as you've got a night light. You don't have to be afraid. Perfect love casts out fear. We have a rock that we can stand on, and we will not be shaken. We make things brighter when we let what's inside come out. When we let the light--or the love--inside come out. I can't think of one situation out there in which adding love would make things worse. And, of course, you have to use wisdom when you're figuring out HOW to love, because people love in different ways, and people receive love in different ways. But I've hit that note pretty hard recently. For today all I want to say is: This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. And I'm going to watch that darkness flee. And I'm going to see things as they really, truly are!