Walking in the deception of darkness is a dangerous place to be. Paul gives us insight into the deception of spiritual darkness. 2 Corinthians 4:4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t …
This week’s story begins with Nicodemus seeking the Light in the dark of night. We don’t know why Nicodemus came to inquire of Jesus at night. Jesus was controversial, and Nicodemus was part of the establishment. Perhaps Nicodemus was curious but did not want to be seen by his peers. Jesus was also very popular …
Jesus told Nicodemus that he can’t see the kingdom of God without being reborn. But what is the Kingdom of God? Nicodemus would have been a student of what we call the Old Testament. While those Scriptures don’t specifically use kingdom terminology, they tell us that God is king. Samuel was upset when the people …
I have experienced how accountability makes me better. When we are accountable to someone, we can hear the proper counsel and encouragement when we are honest about our faults. Doing this helps us fulfill the plans the Lord has for us. If we need to correct or be corrected, it should be done with love …
Genuine faith bears fruit. I could see this as the fantastic result of a school friend who came to faith as an older adult. Through coming to faith, he went out of the darkness of sin into God’s marvelous light and became a kinder, happier, and gentler person. If he was a fruit tree, he …
Have you ever been touched by God’s grace, His undeserved love? If you have, how did that change your life? How did that change how you viewed God, who brings light into our darkness? My mother had an expression, “You get a lot further with honey than vinegar.” Romans 2:4 Don’t you see how wonderfully …
Has God broken into your life? I know someone who experienced God breaking into their life during a terminal illness. He was far from God until the Lord broke into his dark world and drew him to Himself. The Lord showed him what was important in life during his illness. In his illness, the Lord …
Praising God during persecution is difficult, but we can with the Lord’s help. Praise is like turning on a light in a dark room. Have you ever noticed that praising God changes the spiritual atmosphere? Instead of complaining when your day isn’t going well, praise God and see how that can change things. As I …
The enemy wants to silence believers, which has happened since the first person gave their life to the Lord. I remember meeting a pastor in Russia a few years ago who spent time in prison for passing out Christian tracks as he brought the Light of Jesus into a dark community. The enemy wanted to …
The spiritual battle is real; I experienced it personally on my first foreign mission trip to Mexico. Our mission team was building a small home next to a house where a young family with three children lived. At lunch, the interpreter told us the woman next door had previously been living with a man involved …