Tag Archives: Light

Moment of Obedience

Posted on February 5, 2023 | Leave a comment

I think I must have subconsciously remembered that the Feast of Dedication was also known as the Feast of Lights.  That got my attention. Don’t miss that timing here because I don’t  think Jesus did. The Feast of Lights is observed during the Winter solstice when the day with the least hours of light happens. The Light of the World choosing to be at the Feast of Lights during the darkest time of year to celebrate enduring light. Do you see where this is heading?

The Jews had been through a terrible time in their history when this feast first began. They’d endured nearly 200 years of wars, massacres, their faith being outlawed, the Temple in Jerusalem being desecrated and no new prophets raised to reveal new truths about God to them.  They were blinded by that loss until the Temple was recaptured and they were called to rebuild it and refocus themselves on the worship of the One true God, as instructed by Moses. The first Feast began as a commemoration to rededicate the Temple and themselves to God and to relight the menorah that was meant to provide light every day and night in the Temple.  The Jews knew they only had oil for one day but they chose to give that one day to God out of obedience.  And in that moment of obedience God gave them the miracle of enduring light that lasted eight days that they continued to celebrate each of the following 200 years.

Jesus is the new moment of obedience for them at this feast.  The same Lord they’ve honored every year since that first beginning has come into their midst.  Jesus, the Light of the World, has chosen to reveal the bold declaration of His identity: “I and the Father are one” and then later in verse 38 “the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”  At this point in time they’ve lived through a nearly 400-year period between the Old Testament ending with Malachi’s speaking of a new coming of the Lord and the New Testament’s beginning with John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus as the Messiah. Now God has proven His silence is over…and they’ve missed the moment.  

Reading John’s scripture passage is like reading a familiar pattern of daily life. The recorded wisdom of history and the reality of life are all rolled into the two Testaments of His Word. The Bible doesn’t put a pretty face on every experience of life.  Sometimes it includes the reality of how easy it is to miss the moment of obedience.  And then it speaks of a new moment of hope in Galatians 2:19 TLB…for it was through reading the Scripture that I came to realize that I could never find God’s favor by trying—and failing—to obey the laws. I came to realize that acceptance with God comes by believing in Christ.

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Posted in Galatians, John, Light, New Testament, Sunday

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Wednesday with John – The Beginning

Posted on January 19, 2022 | Leave a comment

This week I begin two new group studies, one that includes the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy and a second less formal one using the book of John. “Cherry picking” taught me more than I’d anticipated. It was hard to pick fruit based on a word search without forcing the issue. The Message passage from Matthew is still going to be my guide.  Instead of a word, these four questions will be my jumpstarters to read and ponder for Wednesday posts from John and Sunday posts from those Old Testament books.

  1. What’s the general theme of the passage?
  2. What does it say about God [or Jesus or the Holy Spirit]?
  3. What does it say about people?
  4. Is there truth here for me?

Excerpts from John 1:1-18 RSV
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God; 3 all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life [Or was not anything made. That which has been made was life in him], and the life was the light of men…14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father…17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.

This is the beginning of the relationship between God, Jesus and us. “In the beginning was [God], and the Word [Jesus] was with God.  God was first!  God did not create Himself and Jesus was not a product of God’s creation.  “And the Word [Jesus] was God.” God offered Himself as God-man so we might see “In him was life, and the life [of His own perfect image, Jesus] was the light of men” that darkness could not overcome. 

John’s witness is to show us we are like those people he speaks of; often content to NOT know more, because we think we already know.  That’s the darkness Jesus has come to shed His light on. The good news is “but to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.”

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.”  The truth is the “light” we beheld is now the light held within usa because Jesus has become part of our flesh.

“No one has ever seen God;
the only Son, who is in the bosom [heart] of the Father.”
“He has made him known” to us.

a Matthew 5:14

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Posted in John, Matthew, New Testament, Wednesday

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Purpose

Posted on June 20, 2021 | Leave a comment

John 9:1 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” 3 “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work.5 But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.” NLT

Real life is less than a perfect display place but
The purpose of Jesus was not limited by “dis-ability”
“so the power of God could be seen.”
“But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world”
[And Now]
“You are the light of the world.
—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden…
 so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”a

aMatthew 5:14

 

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Posted in John, New Testament, Sunday

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Prism

Posted on January 15, 2020 | Leave a comment

John 15:23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 

>§§§>

The Word doesn’t get any more plain-spoken than Jesus having to speak such a dark truth about himself.  It’s stunning.  Jesus was the perfect re-creation of God on earth.  He was the prism that would bring the light of renewal to our relationship with…well…Himself.  Light is the only way to combat hatred.

The word “prism” reminded me of this photo I’d taken. I had several small prisms placed in windows and throughout the day as sunlight would pass through them their rainbows of color would catch my eye around the house.  I’d found this empty nest, filled it with pretend eggs and set it on the mantle window sill.  I had no idea of how dramatic that ordinary nest could be until the sunlight through the prism lit it.

The primary message of my photo is pretty obvious.  When Jesus is the prism that light is filtered through there’s a dramatic change that brings to mind God’s promise of the rainbow as a sign of His covenant.  There’s an equally effective message for the dark half of the photo.  Jesus came into the world “as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”

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Posted in John, Wednesday

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The Red Thread – Into the Light

Posted on November 8, 2017 | Leave a comment

Mark 9
The Red Thread verses
1… And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”
12… “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? 13 But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.”

The Rest of the Story
V2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone…there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus…V7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

I’ve read over this scripture many times with such a casual acceptance of its truth that I totally missed the importance of the small red thread of Jesus’s words that begins the chapter. The first verse seems like it should have been attached to the end of chapter 8. The drama of the story that follows overshadowed the question I hadn’t even thought to ask; Who was Jesus talking about? All those guys are dead. Then I read the chapter in The Message version. The “some who are standing here” that would see the Kingdom of God come into power with their own eyes were Peter, James and John.

It’s one little detail of truth that’s been pulled from the recesses of casual acceptance into the light to become dramatic for me. That’s the point isn’t it?

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Light

Posted on November 20, 2016 | Leave a comment

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. נ Nun

Back on September 4 when I was in my long study of this Psalm I wrote about the eight verses of “Nun” from the point of view that we begin life pretty much in the dark,  looking like one thing but if we’re plugged into God’s plan we finally become what he’s meant us to be all along. Life in Christ is finding the path to get from that beginning to where we need to be. This verse is a reminder, the Word isn’t always a spotlight. Sometimes it’s a purposely directed flashlight beam that’s enough to light a path needed to navigate current events by.

Check out this 7-day devotional, Thriving in Babylon. [click title] It’s a story about Daniel, a man forced to live in the midst of big changes beyond his control. He faces fears about the future, concern for his safety, and the discouragement of a world that seems to be falling apart. Sound familiar?

This is a quote from Day 2.“Daniel’s humble respect was tied to his firm belief that God is in control of who is in control. It wasn’t merely a theological axiom. It was a reality he lived by. He saw Nebuchadnezzar as God’s servant, a wicked king allowed to reign for a period of time in order to fulfill God’s sovereign purpose—in this case, the discipline and judgment of Jerusalem for the sins of its people. Daniel wasn’t respectful because Nebuchadnezzar deserved it.

He was respectful because God commanded it.”

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True Light

Posted on December 6, 2015 | Leave a comment

John 1:9-14 12/7/15
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.  14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John’s Scripture got me thinking about another light source.  The first thing that came to my mind was a Flashlight.  As a kid did you ever shine your flashlight in someone’s face?  I did.  I’m sorry to admit how much fun it was to hear my victims squeal and squirm to get away from that obnoxious beam and know they couldn’t even tell who was torturing them.  That’s how my mind works.

But here’s how the Holy Spirit works in my mind.  When I typed that word, flashlight, I realized how similarly flashlight and “false light” are spelled.  I think God meant my first thought  to be an object lesson.  There’s such an obvious difference between my flashlight confession with it’s purpose to blind and conceal and the light John speaks of that’s meant to illuminate and reveal.

False light may be what happened then because “though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.”  That’s what makes this Advent journey so important.  Scripture, and thoughts, in these daily doses is light for the path.  We walk to recognize for ourself the True Light of God’s reality revealed at that cradle…”The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

 

 

 

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Posted in Advent, Birth of Jesus, Christmas Bread, Daily Faith, John

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