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January 2023

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Be Guided By His Light

Be Guided By His Light

One day last week I was talking with a lady who was telling me, that the night before our conversation,  there was a terrible storm in her city. The storm was so bad that they lost their power.  Although her children are approximately sixteen to over twenty years old, they came straight to her bedroom when the lights went out.  She told me, that she finally told them,” just go get your blankets and sleep in here tonight”.

My first thought was that we simply are not created to be comfortable living in the darkness of any kind.  Living in darkness should make us just as uncomfortable, as my friend’s children were when the lights went out due to the storm..   

There are times when Satan tries to lure us away from the Light,  and drag us into his sin-filled dark world.  Those are the times that we should turn, and run back to God, just as these young people ran to their mom and dad’s bedroom for comfort and safety.

The more time that we spend in God’s presence and in His word, the more we will realize the truth of Psalm 119:105 Your word is like a lamp that shows me the way.  It is like a light that guides me.  Psalm !!9:114 You are my place of safety.  You are like a shield that keeps me safe.  I have put my hope in your word.

We should never have a reason to worry or fret because, when our hope is in God, even the darkest moments in our lives will be guided by His light.  Praise God, that the God that we serve is the Light Of The World!

John 8:12
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Acts 26:17-18
17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
1 John 1:5
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
John 12:35-36
35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. 36 Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.
John 12:44-46
44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
John 3:19-20
19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.
1 John 1:7
7 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[a] sin.
Revelation 21:23
23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

My Words For The Year

My Words For The Year

As we are now deep into the month of January, I am sure that many of you have already made your New Year’s resolutions by now.  Although I have made a few resolutions, I plan to do something that has really become popular in the last few years, and that is selecting a word for the year. 

However, instead of one word, I have selected two words for this year.  I have selected Obedience for my spiritual word, and the word Growth for my business.  As I am writing this, I just had the thought that maybe my words should be, Grow In Obedience.

 If I can be totally transparent with you, I don’t always obey God’s voice instantly, which to me is the same as disobedience.  Sometimes I wrestle with God.   And although I never win, it seems that my sinful nature always wants to have its own selfish way before I am willing to surrender to God’s will.

 I am writing about this today, because there may be others of you, who struggle with immediate obedience.  It’s not that I am willfully disobedient, it’s that I don’t say yes Lord immediately, and I don’t always respond to His promptings immediately.   My goal this year, is to say yes Lord more, and not to question Him, but to simply obey.  I know in my heart of hearts, that He always knows what is best for me, and I will trust that.

My goal this year is to joyfully serve God in whatever capacity that he asks of me.

 I am starting to notice that the more time that I spend in God’s word and in prayer and journaling, the easier obedience seems to be for me.  So,” Yes, Lord” is my new goal for the New Year.   If this is something that you struggle with also, I encourage you to join me in this goal. 

You may want to write yourself a note and keep it in your Bible regarding your new commitment to obedience.  As a reminder, I have written the word Obedience with a bold black marker on a bright orange notecard to keep in my Bible.   It will be a constant reminder throughout the year that my goal is not to question God, but to simply trust and obey Him.   Every time I open my Bible it will be right there to help me stay focused on the goal of obedience.

Prayerfully at the end of 2023, we will be much better in the area of obedience than ever before, and in the process, we will grow closer to God.  If we do this, I am convinced that we will see some incredible things unfold in our lives just because we were willing to say, Yes Lord!    Have a very Happy and very Obedient New Year!

60 I will hurry, without delay,  to obey your commands.

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.

23 This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’

46 “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?