Common sense, even our faith.

 Many months ago, I ordered a few things online that I thought might help us if the need arises. My expectations were crushed as when I received them, the instructions were more than I could digest. I thought I could work them manually and not from my “smartphone.” Although I must be among the lower percent today, that still has not given into the tide of smartphones. I decided to send all the items back. Early one morning,  I loaded them up in a torrential downpour of rain and when I ran into the UPS station, two strong young men offered to help me unload the products. They assured me not to worry and that they would take care of the packages. Wet and tired I drove away. While I was driving, my thoughts messaged me to get the receipts from the returns, but I kept driving. The little voice kept telling me to, “turn around and take the time to get those receipts.” Instead, I ignored the little voice and kept driving. In the past, I always took the time to get a receipt. I knew I was doing the wrong thing and I should have turned around. Instead, I drove all the way home. After two days passed, I could not deal with the practical advice my conscience was giving to me and jumped in the car and went back to the UPS station to see if I could get the receipts. Nope. As she looked on their computer there was no record and no way to track them. The kind lady said, “I can assure you, they are out of this building!”  Well, that was of little consolation and right then I knew this was going to be a test of my faith. Driving home, my imagination started to turn into fearful thoughts: “Anyone could have taken out those returns as they could not be traced.” Then, another thought: “I had refused to listen to God’s voice and we could stand to lose quite a bit, because of my disobedience in not wanting to drive back in the pouring rain that morning and follow through on the legalities.”  After I got home, I asked for forgiveness and repented and prayed. Time passed. I called the place where I purchased them and emailed the company who sold the products and received no encouragement. Only, “You will get your refund, when we receive the products.”  Many months passed. I continued to pray, telling God I had learned my selfish and reckless lesson. I resigned to reaping what I had sown. Finally, I came to the area in my faith, to just let it all go. I had prayed in faith believing and knowing my Father had forgiven me and had asked once again to be rescued. I did everything I could think of doing. Then, one day I opened up my account and there it was, all the money I had spent, completely returned to us! 

I was reminded of: 

“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him.” Psalm 103:10, 11. niv

Oh the JOY! 

This is how we learn to stop being so foolish and selfish. We do not learn completely from our studies, but also from the experiences we receive in our trials. God’s Holy Spirit reveals what still needs to be cleaned up inside of us. We are still in school. The closer we draw to our Father, the stronger our faith will be, because He keeps drawing nearer to us. Everything has to do with love and faith in Jesus Christ and His word in our life. In fact, Paul said, 

“The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Ga.5:6b niv

Take a minute and think about that small verse. How can we express our faith through love?  By obedience in and through our Counselor, The Holy Spirit. That day He was Counseling me, but I did things my way, instead of His way. 

The full verse in the amp, “For [if we are] in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but only faith activated and expressed and working through love.”

I love those words, “faith activated and expressed through love.”   Sometimes, we love in faith, don't we?

We choose to be obedient by faith because God first loved us first. 

Our faith and love is the only thing that gets our Father’s attention and we cannot have His eye and ear, unless we first humble ourselves and think of the consequences of not walking in His Covenant of Love. I wasn’t walking in the Spirit that morning, I was walking in selfishness. I wanted to get out of the pouring rain. I had gotten out of the will of God, only to be reminded; that if I live by the Spirit, I will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.  I learned my lesson well.

The fiery trials we go through will strengthen our hope, if we respond in Love. Our faith is watered and then, turns into joy! Can you receive this? Yes, I think you can.

Let’s pray:

Heavenly Father,

You care about how we respond in our daily events. Your eyes see all the motives in our hearts, our intents and deepest desires. You created us in love and in Your image and Your Son gave us Your Holy Spirit to speak to us and for us to abide by every word He has given to us. You have reassured us that He is standing along side of the You making intercession for us. Thank You Father. We are a blessed people, and today we give You heartfelt thanks for all the training and experiences we go through that increases our faith and conforms us into Your Son’s likeness. Forgive us for any unthinking fretting, any fears or doubts that we entertain when we walk through our testings. We will declare,Your word abides inside of us and through Your Holy Spirit we are the victors and overcomers you have called us to be. In Jesus we declare, amen. 

Darkness vs Light

                                               A lighthouse beacon can be seen 60 miles away

 King David prayed,

 “Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and loving devotion, for they are from age to age. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my rebellious acts; remember me according to your loving devotion, because of Your goodness, O Lord. Good and upright is the LORD; therefore He shows sinners the way.” Psalm 25:6-8 bsb 

Young David was a lighthouse when he bravely slew the giant Goliath.  Later, when he became King, the Prophet Nathan was sent by God to stir up David’s conscience about his sins. One sin had led to another. the Prophet Nathan was like a lighthouse keeper. David chose to listen to the Prophet Nathan and his eyes were opened to the truth and he repented. David was a godly man, but he still fell into sin. Darkness has a way of taking away our perceptions. 

God’s Holy Spirit [love] uses His people [lighthouses] to open men’s hearts to change. When God’s Spirit offers His light of truth into your heart, you will be faced with the most important decision in your life. 

There are many Lighthouses walking around and being used by God today. Lighthouses come in various shapes and colors, each unique in their own way. Some stretch upon the shore, some on islands while others are entrenched deep within a battery of rocks.  I think I could live in one! Have you ever thought how solid lighthouses are? How can they remain undisturbed and unmoved when the breakers continually batter their sides? Throughout such storms, their beacons of light are faithful and ever blinking in all directions for vessels that are blocked with the fog. Lighthouses communicate with their light. When a crew finally sees a small glimpse of light from afar, hope springs up in their hearts. I believe then, the Captain of the ship smiles.

This is a prime example of what God’s light does in our hearts! It is His light that shines in our lives, even in our conscience; that gives us hope. David reacted to Nathan’s word through his conscience. Because of his obedience to repent and get right with God, he was set free.

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12

The love of Christ is the opposite of fear.  The stronghold of fear will deceive you just enough, to keep you in darkness, and unable to think right or see the lighthouse that rescues. 

Darkness will keep lying and say, “I can’t”

Light will always say, “You can, in Christ!”

Light vs Darkness

Strongs says about Light: 

 

5457 phṓs (a neuter noun) – properly, light (especially in terms of its results, what it manifests); in the NT, the manifestation of God's self-existent life; divine illumination to reveal and impart life, through Christ.

Light:

God’s Light imparts LIFE, and is a holy illumination inside of our hearts through Christ.  Only through The Holy Spirit can we receive this understanding, because He is the Lightbearer and lives within us.  It is through believing and accepting by faith that Jesus Christ is, the Son of God that you are set free. 

This is God’s hand stretching out personally to you and presenting you with His gift of Grace. None of us deserve it and we cannot work for it, as it is His free gift to you. 

Strongs says about darkness:

Cognate: 4653 skotía (a feminine noun) – darkness, a brand of moral, spiritual obscurity (i.e. which blocks the light of God when faith is lacking). See also 4655 /skótos ("darkness").

Darkness:

Darkness [or sin] blocks God’s light because of moral, spiritual obscurity. God’s truth can be hidden from you, because living in darkness causes blindness; where there is no faith.

The soul can lose its perceptive power.

Living in darkness [or sin] can be a blind denial to express a sophisticated barbaric form of simply destroying yourself. Most of the time, prideful thoughts will etch away inside of the lies that darkness binds.

There is a big difference between Light and Darkness. Perhaps you have been searching for the truth all your life and in all directions and still have not found the answer. 

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”  John 3:19

Ask yourself, what is the one thing you are holding onto, that you have refused to let go?

This light was and still is The Son of God, Jesus Christ. He was sent by God the Father to  do His will. His earthly father taught him to be a Carpenter, He was tempted in every way just like we are and overcame every temptation, later His first miracle was at a wedding when he turned the water into wine, He taught in many ways, by example, through parables and others in direct commands and He quoted the Old Testament continually.     Jesus casted out demons, healed the crippled, the blind, deaf and every kind of sickness imaginable. In fact, at one time he said, “what is easier to say, your sins are forgiven or get up and walk? Mt. 9:5” [sin can make you sick] The religious people of that day were furious! After all, “Now He has the power to forgive sins?” Jesus had feelings and emotions just like we do, as He wept with his friends. He raised the dead! He miraculously fed hungry multitudes! Yes, He forgave sins!

Did you know that when you are forgiven, you are healed? Old things are passed away and everything becomes new! 

God’s Light offers forgiveness from every single thing you have done in your past. 

Darkness does not have the ability to forgive or heal, but continues to keep you chained in bondage from truth.  The only change darkness offers is to move you into a deeper realm of blindness where your very conscience could be seared. 

If you are reading this, I ask; “why take the chance?”

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. What he did yesterday, he still does today and tomorrow. It is impossible to please God without faith. Every believer [lighthouse] that you see have all walked through this same door, you are going to walk through right this minute. 

After Jesus was crucified, three days later, He was resurrected and seen by over 600 witnesses, He walked upon the earth for 40 days and continued to teach His followers.  He spoke in love and in truth. He told us not to fret, not to worry and that He would give us a Comforter that would teach us all things. The Comforter and our Counselor is the Holy Spirit.

 He told us to:

What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your strength and with all of your mind and Love your neighbor as yourself.”“You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.” Luke 10:26-28

Jesus said, “Do this and you will live.”  He is talking about being set free [from darkness] and having eternal life with Him. Darkness cannot love.

Lighthouses love through the light that is within them. God’s light is their strength.  They love through their heart, their very soul and through their mind. 

Jesus told us about the times we are living in today. You do not have to be full of fear or doubt. Perhaps, He is calling you out of darkness and into the light, to surrender your heart, your life, your doubts, your fears and reasonings into His truth. It is time to lay them all down. Humble yourself and pray with me. 

Heavenly Father,

I believe that your Son Jesus Christ was a sacrifice for me so I could be set free from all my sins. I need You Lord. I cannot go on like I have been living. I ask that You would forgive me Father, I have sinned so deeply: [name your sins]_____.  I regret all those wrongs and ask that you would take them away. I accept your gift of grace by faith and ask that You would give me your promised new life. I want to be a Lighthouse, Lord. Change me in every way. Work in me from the inside out. Clean my life up.  I ask that your Holy Spirit would be my guide, directing me and teaching me in all hours. I want to hear your voice.  Thank You Lord. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

If you have prayed that prayer of surrender by faith, you have been born-again. Now, you must buy a good Bible and begin reading it everyday. Learn how to study and pray. Find a good Bible believing church and connect to small groups that will pray for you and help you grow. Congratulations and welcome into the family of God!