Tag: light

Breaking the Silence

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed- John, John 3:19-20.

I titled this blog as breaking the silence, but wanted to consider also a subtitle: light in the darkness. I realized just how long of a pause there has been between my posts and I owe my faithful subscribers an apology as I have been stuck in processing my thoughts and overwhelmed with anxiety. Yes, Christians can have full blown anxiety, and get the feeling of being overwhelmed even as we trust God in all things. The spiritual battlefield is most often in the mind and sometimes it seems like the wrong side is winning, attacking believers with fear.

It is probably obvious to many of you that my country ( the US) is facing many struggles with the new administration. It may appear to be (and is in some ways) divided with some supporting what is being termed as “MAGA Christians” and their representations in leadership with those who oppose and protest against the actions of the leadership. It is not a position that I would ever have dreamed would happen as the country was founded by immigrants who left their home countries to leave behind religious tyranny and find opportunities to live and worship as they pleased while upholding the teaching from the Bible. My relatives among these groups to leave their homelands for religious freedom.

The history of this country has been checkered and not without sinning against the teachings found in the Bible, but overall, over the years solid individuals and groups put forth laws that sought to give freedoms to individuals and by doing so reflected the teachings of Christ , the two main commandments to love God and love neighbor as found in the Gospels.

But now, I have recently found out that many who claim to take back America, have no intention on upholding the teachings of Jesus. They claim to forward and promote Christian values, but in fact never really share the teachings of the Bible, but misquote and twist the Bible to suit their own agendas of hate, division, crime, abuse and evil. These individuals do not reflect Christians, only a form of false Christianity.

To be honest, I don’t really like talking about politics, but as I have heard from other leaders from solid Christian ministries speaking out and mentioning this division of Christians within the United States, I couldn’t remain silent. Sowing seeds of hate, racism, greed, indifference to the poor, oppressed, the immigrant, and the female leaders, while fueling their own bank accounts and using bribery to effect the outcomes of foreign elections has no place and is incongruent with Jesus. These Christians have “A form of godliness”, but their hearts are far from God, and they are in denial of the power (The Holy Spirit) and do not produce fruit in agreement with the Spirit.

If you are feeling this same sense of anxiousness about the current state of Christianity in the United States, know you are not alone. We cannot stand by and allow ourselves to go with the flow. To be sure, I believe God is in control and there’s no need to allow ourselves to fear, but as I heard from another Christian recently, what we need to focus on now is reading the Bible to know it fully so that we will not be deceived as some have been by their failures to realize the misquotes of the Bible and not be flattered by the sound bite comments that attempt to appease the Christian voting base. Many of the financial support for these groups has come from false preachers who have grown massive followers and amassed huge amounts of money that they give to the MAGA efforts. Believers have been used by these politicians by claiming they promote the Bible and Christian values when they do not, to gain their rise to power.

Now is the time for Christians to shine the light of Christ brighter, share the Gospel, disciple others, teach from the Bible, refuse to honor mere men as idols and worship God only, trust God, not in money and wealth, help others who are all created in the image of God. As the verse above mentions light exposes the darkness, “But whoever lives by the truth, comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God” Jn. 3:21. And also, “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it” Jn. 1:4. Keep shining the light of Christ against the darkness that masks as angels of light, and show the world who Jesus really is. -God Bless, Nancy

The Longest Night

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. (Isaiah 9:2, NIV)

December 21 is the longest night for the Northern Hemisphere. It is a time when the hours of darkness will exceed the hours of daylight. It is also happens in one of the coldest months of the year; December. It is also right before Christmas, a time to celebrate the birth of Christ. A time of lights and decorations here in the United States. My neighbors each try to outshine each other with lights of many colors; some white, some multi color, some LED, and some traditional incandescent. It is a pleasant surprise to turn the corner into our neighborhood in the dark of evening and be met with the lit up houses, trees and bushes. The lights pierce through the darkness of the night. It is both beautiful and cheerful.

But, before the lights are strung, there is a time of darkness that overtakes the neighborhood. The weather is cooler, the days shorter, the leaves have fallen off of the trees and the flowers are long gone. There is a quiet loneliness that descends upon us, until the lights are put up and the celebrating begins. We wait all year for this moment to light up the neighborhood.

Waiting for the light to come was also something people experienced in Isaiah’s day. They longed for freedom from their oppressors. A time when their anointed Messiah would come and deliver them. Isaiah prophesied this day, when the people would see the light. But would they recognize Him?

The answer is of course, mixed. Some did recognize Jesus entrance as a baby in a manger, namely the wise men and the shepherds. Later, as Jesus began His public ministry, some would choose to follow, while others rejected Him, As John writes in his gospel; “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” (John 1: 9-11, NIV).

We read both the passage from Isaiah and from John’s gospel, and we shake our heads in wonder (and in judgment) of the people back in those time periods. We might wonder why they didn’t understand the words the prophet spoke. Why they couldn’t figure it out. We too easily forget that they did not have the perspective we have after the fact of Jesus’ birth nor the New Testament scriptures.

But, maybe the reality is that they did not like the light. It exposed their own darkness. The darkness in their own hearts. A messy house looks tidy, as long as you don’t turn on the lights. The darkness provides cover for those seeking to hide.

Most people prefer the light rather than stumble around in the dark. The dark can be scary because you cannot see where you are going or what dangers lie on your path. I know this all too well as one Christmas, I tried to walk back into my living room in the dark to retrieve an item. I chose not to turn on the lights and I broke my toe on a piece of furniture I did not see in the dark. It was painful.

Sometimes the darkness is not physical at all, but darkness that saddens us. We feel like we lack a guiding light to help us get out of the dark times in our lives. We wait in hope and anticipation of a time when help will come. When we too, will be delivered from darkness. It can feel like the longest night of the year. We don’t recognize the light that has already come into the world. We try to make our way, but fail to look to Jesus for our help. Our darkness seems to overshadow us and blind us to see.

The Bible is referred to as a lamp and a light. It is for a reason. We can lose our perspective, just like those in people in Isaiah or John’s time. But, we have a decided advantage; the entire Bible. We can read the promises and prophesies and see how God accomplished them. We can read the Gospels. We can see the future God has for this world laid out for us the Book of Revelation. Our deliverer has come and we can have confidence that He will return. He promises us a hope and a future.

Although it is bleak now, light has come and is coming to deliver this world once for from the darkness. God comforts us and gives us hope. Let us put our confidence in that. – God Bless – Nancy

Night Light

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

– Psalm 119:105 (NIV)

I really enjoy driving around the neighborhood looking at all the Christmas lights. Some people seem to have gone all out and bought every light strand and inflatable Santa available. It amazes me how some people will even risk life and limb to put lights on their roofs. But I’m glad they do. Christmas lights on the houses and the tree reminds us of the light of the world that came into a dark world. It certainly brightens up what would ordinarily be a dark season of the year, at least here in the northern hemisphere.

Without the lights, it would be pretty dim around the neighborhood except for a few streetlights. I grew up in the country, which means no streetlights and it was in a valley and surrounded by trees. What this means is that it got really dark, really fast in the winter months as the sun went down. If you didn’t have a flashlight in hand to walk between the house and the barn/garage it could be kinda scary for a little kid.  You couldn’t see where you were going, much less where you were stepping.

But the years since then have made me braver, if not wiser and I don’t fear the dark as much. I live in a neighborhood with streetlights and porch lights to guide my walks out at night. The light is great for walks, but not for sleeping, so we have blinds to block the light coming into our house. This is great for sleeping , but not walking around inside the house. I still need light inside for that. But, sometimes I try to risk it and walk around without turning on a light. Yay for me! I have overcome my fear of the dark. Yes! I have conquered it! Watch out world, I now believe I can do anything! I don’t need a light!

Yeah right! I wish I hadn’t been so brave and bold the other night as my foot became entangled with a chair leg. Who put that chair there, anyway? Oh yeah it was me. My second thought was why? As I looked down at my foot which was in pain, I noticed that my pinky toe was no longer where it should be. It looked like it was trying to run away from my foot. Seeing my broken toe was disturbing. But I also felt a tremendous amount of regret for not turning on a light before I ventured into the living room. I thought I knew where everything was. I thought there was a clear path ahead. But, I was wrong. I needed light to see where I was going. I had walked into the living room and through it so many times, that I was certain I could make it safely without needing light. But, reality is often different then what we think it is. We need light to safely travel on our paths. We need clarity, direction and safety. Things can change, obstacles shift and if we are trying to navigate by memory or trust the things are the same in the dark, we’re going to stumble and fall.

Life is full of changes and what we need is some light on our path so we won’t fall. Psalm 119 gives us the answer to that light; the Bible. It’s easy to get brave and try to rely on ourselves for our own direction. We know what we are doing and we can figure it all out on our own, or so we think. We made it work before, so we should be able to do it again. We don’t need to read the Bible or seek God’s plan, we can handle it all, until the obstacle we didn’t see ahead blocks our path. Walking through life without seeking God’s plan is like trying to walk in the dark.

As you see all the Christmas lights out there, take time to reflect on what it means. Jesus came into the dark world that was without hope to shine light and reconcile men to God. Without Jesus the world is stumbling around in the dark trying to make sense of all this. Jesus came as the light of the world and exposes the darkness of the world. He offers a clear path that leads to life. Time to stop bumping into stuff in the dark and turn on the lights. -God Bless Nancy

Brand Ambassador

So, looking for a job is tough. Sometimes it can be down right depressing and at other times it can be confusing. I have been casually looking for a job and check my inbox daily to see if anything has popped up. Sometimes I notice what sounds like an amazing job by its title, click on the link, and then find out its for something totally different than what I expected. Recently I saw a job posting for a brand ambassador. Wow, sounds impressive, right? I mean ambassador, that conjures up the idea of a dignitary from a foreign country or something. And branding, well when I hear that I think of advertising and the creative types who come up with all those catchy graphics and slogans. But, and I say a big but, what this job was involved handing out food samples at groceries stores. Yup, my big bubble of high expectations burst! Well, its a good job, don’t get me wrong, just not what I expected from the job title.

Have you ever been let down like that? When something sounded great in name, but in reality it was a big let down? A big disappointment? But, what about us? Have we ever been a disappointment to others? Were they expecting something else? I’m sure I can guess you answered yes to a few of those questions, but have you ever realized that as Christians we are brand ambassadors? We are the faces of Christ followers in the world. We are in the world as His ambassadors. Now,  have you ever thought about how you are representing the brand? When people think of the word Christian, do they think of you? And more importantly, is it in a good sense of the word?

See, the word Christian was not first used by Christians as a title or job description, but by the unbelieving world. It was a slanderous term. It is said that the first use of the word Christian was used at the church at Antioch and was a nick name created by the people of Antioch, not the Christians themselves. In fact, it was a large commercial city where persecuted Christians fled after the death of Stephen. The estimated population of the city was half a million people at the time. So, with such a large population and with fear of persecution on their minds, you would think the Christians would try to blend in, not stand out. But, they must have, for it is there where the first time the term “Christian” was mentioned. The first branding if you will. And the name has stuck since the early first century.

Why would the first believers want to stand out and get a ribbing for their nick name “Christians”? Well, that is what their job was. Not to blend in, but to stand out, to shine, not hide. In Matthew 15:14-16 Jesus tells His followers that they are the light of the world and they are to let that light shine. His exact words are: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (NIV).

We have the Good news, the light of the world to share and the hope to offer a world that is looking for hope and answers. I have to admit, I feel like I don’t always do that well. Sometimes I am not a very good brand ambassador, handing out hope and the Good news to all I meet. Sometimes I’m sure I have let others down and shown them something less than Christ, something that deserves being labeled a hypocrite or given a slanderous nick name like “Christian” as the people of Antioch did to the early believers there. But, I hope with Easter coming soon, we can all be challenged to remember who we are as Christ’s ambassadors and share the great news He is risen.As Christians we are not perfect, but that is exactly why we need a savior. Being a Christian is not about being perfect, but realizing we can never measure up to God’s standards, and must rely completely on Christ’s substitutionary death for us.We can’t earn our way to Heaven by our behavior or religious rituals or traditions,but only by putting our faith in Jesus Christ. “But because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in transgressions- it is by grace you have been saved…..For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:4-5, 8-9, NIV).

This news is for everyone, not just a select group. And if you have received Christ as your savior, then you have been given a job. You are a brand ambassador for Christ. Unsure what this job entitles? Let me assure you its not always easy, but it is everything.For a complete job description consult God’s Word. Happy Easter and  God Bless You- Nancy