Walking in the Light of His Amazing Love

"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. If we claim to have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another..." 1 John 1:5-7

As Christians we are called to walk in the light. To live a life of transparency. This does not mean that we have to share each and every detail of our lives with everyone we meet. However, we are to live in such a way as to be shining examples of the God we serve and the Holy Spirit alive in us. The God we serve is light and to enjoy fellowship with him and one another, we must flee the darkness of the world around us (v 5,7). Not only must we flee the darkness of this world, but the darkness of sin which dwells in each of us. "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23       

Sounds like a hefty task doesn't it? Certainly it is, one that we as humans would never be able to accomplish on our own. That is why, especially at this time of the year, we must be grateful to God for the salvation he afforded each of us through the sacrifice of his son, Jesus. "...and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (v.7)

When I was a child, Easter meant a new dress, pretty new shoes and a basket filled with chocolate eggs, jelly beans and other treats. It was the one day of the year I knew for sure were going to church and that all my family would be there as well. After church service we would all gather at my grandmother or great aunt's house for Ham, mac & cheese, greens and homemade corn bread, baked in grandma's cast iron skillet.

Those are wonderful memories, but they do not begin to touch on the real wonder of why we celebrate Resurrection Sunday. To think that God thought so much of us that he would send his son to die in our place, for our sins, blows me away. That is truly an amazing love. I don't know about you, but I feel so unworthy. Yet, God made us worthy, just by creating us and loving us that much. "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour." Psalm 8:4-6 Wow!!!!

If you wonder what you have done to deserve such love, the answer is nothing! If you are wondering what you can do to repay such love, the answer again is nothing!

However we do have a small part to play in this drama. 1 John 1:9 tells us "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  Also, in the book of Acts when Paul and Silas were asked "what must I do to be saved?" they answered, "...believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved..." Acts 16:30-31

Now that I am a mother, I want to be sure that my children have wonderful memories of Easter to carry with them into the future. But before we go shopping for the Easter outfits and baskets of candy, we sit and review the story of Good Friday, when Christ bled and died for our sins. And we rejoice in the story of Resurrection Sunday, when God conquered death and rose from the grave, so that we too could have everlasting life.

Before you get all dressed up and go to the party, it's important to know the who and why of what your celebrating. Confess your sins to God. Believe in the resurrecting power of Jesus Christ. Then you can get dressed up, go out and let your light SHINE!!!

Building Blocks

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind,forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins." (2 Peter 1:5-9)

Remember the building blocks we had as kids? Mine were solid wood, painted in bright primary colors and stored in a round container with a plastic lid and tin bottom. I LOVED those blocks. 

I spent hours coming up with architectural creations. The taller and more elaborate the better. One Christmas I even requested a second set so I could expand my vision and create an entire town, all centered around one "skyscraper" at the center. 

The verse I came across in my reading today, reminded me of those blocks. 

Our growth in Christ is just like building with those blocks. It's a gradual process which takes time and patience. As we study our Lord and His word and become more familiar with His will for our lives, we stack one building block upon the other, moving higher and higher, closer and closer to God.

So I remember once when I got my little town built, with my skyscraper at the center, I was so proud! But before I could drag my mom in to see my masterpiece, my cousin Embry, who had been hiding behind the door, walked through and knock it all down!!! He destroyed everything I worked so hard to build, in just a matter of seconds. I was devastated!

That is exactly what sin does to us. We can be moving along through life, doing all the right things, then WHAM!!! Sin creeps in when we least expect it and destroys all our hard work, leaving us devastated. We are left in the midst of a mess wondering why this happened and how can we ever start all over again.

But as Christians we have hope. Sin is a sickness we all suffer from. But as with Lazarus upon his deathbed, Jesus says "This sickness is not unto death, but to the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." (John 11:4)

That is why when sin knocks us down, we must get up. With Gods help we can right ourselves, dust ourselves off and begin again. We stand on faith, add goodness, knowledge, self control. We persevere, striving in godliness, mutual affection and love and through it all To God Be The Glory!!!