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A Beam of Light

 





"Darkness cannot drive out darkness.  
Only light can do that." 
~ Martin Luther King Jr.


The divisiveness.  The lies and accusations.  The insults hurled.  Just another day of news and politics and online social media conversations.  So much darkness.

It leaves us with daily decisions of if, how and when to participate in these interactions.  It can bog us down, or we can look at it as an opportunity to bring some light into the dark.

But we can't manufacture the light - as Christ followers we already have "it" inside of us.  Jesus specifically left us with a gift that sheds light in a world that doesn't see Him or know Him.  It is so inviting and comes completely out of love.

"And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to 
help you and be with you forever-the Spirit of truth.  The world cannot 
accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.  But you know 
Him, for He lives with you and will be in you."  John 14:15-31

What a welcome interjection into this broken world!  Frantic, worried people have constant fret on their face as they try to navigate the meanness.  They don't know truth, and they are not set free; rather the chains of this world keep them in captivity to self.  The god of this world, Satan, smirks in satisfaction, congratulating himself, in what appears as victory.

But Satan knows his time is limited and he knows a fate of great fire and hell awaits him when Christ returns.  So he is shooting arrows of doubt, despair, hatred, fear and disunity everywhere, and he's amping it up.

We, as carriers of the light of Good News, can counter these arrows of attack and introduce people to the truth - Jesus -  and the freedom He offers us.  

"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32


Truth:  God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.  
Lie:      He can't love me, He doesn't know who I am.
Lie:      Is He really paying attention?  How could a loving God let all this sadness  
            happen?


Truth:  We are sinful, and separated from God.
Lie:      I'm not that bad.  I'm a pretty good person - I haven't committed murder or anything that 
           bad.  I try to be good so I'll go to heaven.  
Lie:     God doesn't need to do anything for me.  I can do it myself.  Is it really that bad?


Truth:  Jesus is the only provision for that sin.  He sacrificed Himself once for all.
Lie:     If I do enough good things it will be good enough.  There's a lot of ways to get to  
            heaven.  He's not going to condemn people who do good things.
Lie:     Jesus isn't angry about sin; He understands.  When He lived on earth, He never got                      angry when people didn't obey God.



Truth:  We have to put our faith in Jesus and receive what He's done for us to have eternal life.
Lie:     Jesus was just a good guy, a wise teacher that isn't God's son.
Lie:     I can just be self-sufficient and earn my way to heaven.  It's not something that demands 
           my immediate attention.

God's Spirit in us can attract those searching for meaning and acceptance.  Don't be afraid to show it to others.  Yes, it can be spooky to those who are tricked by the spirit of this world.  But that's not on you.  Don't forget the spiritual battle that is going on all around us.

Don't be fooled.  Your light, if it's not from the Spirit of God, will fizzle out.  


✙ Lord, we desperately need You.  Thank You for providing a way for us to battle the evils and suffering in this world.  You gave us Your Spirit, that we can be encouraged and equipped to fight for Your truth.  Thank You for not leaving it up to us; we are weak and lost.  But because of you we have been found and made strong.  Amen!
   

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