ARE YOU LIVING IN LIGHT OR DARKNESS?

"God is light and there is no darkness in Him at all. We are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness. We are not living in the truth. But if we are living in the light of God's presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from every sin. If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong." 1 John 1:5-9

This 1st letter from John begins by addressing the concept of light and darkness as it applies to our lifestyle and relationship to God. The matter is really as simple as this: If you are living in sin (i.e. living in spiritual darkness), you are not in fellowship with God for the scripture tells us that "there is no darkness in Him at all". For God is light and He wishes for us to walk in the light (i.e. living a life void of sin). We can only do this when we draw closer to Him more than we do sin.

I can tell you from personal experience that the times I am failing most in my life are when I am furthest away from God. This usually comes when I have allowed life to distract me from my prayer life and bible study, two elements critical to being in fellowship with God and thus walking in the light. Disconnected from His word, both written and shared via the Spirit in prayer, I am easy prey for Satan to enter in and have His way with me. You may remember an earlier scripture passage we looked at which warned about Satan roaming around like a hungry lion waiting to devour. He has had more than a few bites out of me, enough to know I hate living anywhere where he (Satan) ends up with more influence over me than God. In other words, I hate the dark. It scares me for I know I have allowed myself to drift away from the Father and have failed in pleasing Him in the way I have lived (i.e sin has entered in and led me to fail). Maybe you can relate.

Thank goodness there is some good news for us, even as we fail miserably sometimes at living in the light and sharing complete fellowship with our Heavenly Father. The good news comes also from our scripture today for our Heavenly Father, our Heavenly Parent, forgives us when we come before Him and confess our sins. Just as a father forgives his children for the mistakes they have made and goes on to try and teach them how to live good lives, so too does our Heavely Father forgive us, cleanse us and try to lead us more and more into the light...into a lifestyle of godliness...a place where there is no darkness. He wants only the best for us.

Question: What kind of life are you living: in light or darkness? If you're in the light, remain close to God and you will remain in the light. If you're in the darkness, stop right now, confess your sins before God and ask for His forgiveness and cleansing, then receive His pardon and mercy, entering back into the realm of light where you can carry on your life's journey with Him illuminating your path.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone who needs a bit of God's guidance today. I pray it will be a blessing for them.

http://www.faithhopeandlove.info