Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Walking in the Light 

“Walk in the Light as I am in the Light.” I woke up with these words in my head one morning, almost as part of a dream as I was waking. I pondered them all morning, and they kept coming to mind randomly throughout the day and the next. I sensed that they reminded me of a scripture but didn’t know which one, intending to look it up later. Two days later, as I was lying in bed and Tom was on the computer, it came to me again. I asked him if there was a scripture like that, and he looked it up—1 John 1:7. It was so encouraging to read it in the Word and see it in context:

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”

I prayed that I am not walking in the darkness in any area of my heart, mind, or soul—that I am striving toward Him with everything in me.

During our last Saturday group, we discussed all the scriptures about casting out demons. Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, cleansed lepers, and drove out demons, and He sent His disciples to do the same (Matthew 10:8). Why is this not happening more now? If “Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), then He still has the power to do these things. A friend mentioned that she believed her husband might be afflicted by a demon or two. I felt inadequate to act on it, but Jesus reminded me that it is not about what I can do—it is about what He does through me. I prayed for focus, to trust Him fully, and to walk in obedience so that He can work through me.

Tom and I finished reading So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore by Wayne Jacobsen. It helped me realize why we haven’t started a house church yet: we aren’t supposed to start anything ourselves. God wants us to join what He is already doing. Trying to force it ourselves would have limited what He could do in us. God is bigger than any label, place, or program. He is doing so much more, and I want to follow Him wherever that leads—into a church building, a house, a shelter, or another country. My desire is simply to abide in Him and watch Him work through us (John 15).

During my Daniel study, I had a revelation about the temporal nature of this world. All of our efforts to maintain or pursue worldly things are fleeting (Matthew 24:35). All pain and suffering here are light and momentary compared to eternity (2 Corinthians 4:17). God reminds us that we are like grass, here today and gone tomorrow (1 Peter 1:24). Why do we invest so much time in things that do not last?

Father, I pray for a true revelation for Your Church Body, that we may see clearly what we are investing in. Help us let go of fleshly desires and hold fast to You and Your eternal purposes each day. In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.