ARE YOU LIVING IN LIGHT OR DARKNESS?

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

1 John 1:5-10

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s message, we saw a connection between the opening verses of this first letter and the beginning of the Gospel also written by John. You’ll recall how we were reminded of how Jesus was existent in the very beginning, with God and one with Him at the very dawn of creation. He was, is, and will always be the Word of life, the only One who can bring someone eternal life and the promise of heaven to dwell with Him and God forever.

As we continue in chapter 1, we find John shift his instruction to the concept of light and darkness as it applies to our lifestyle and relationship to God. Look again at these words here:

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. Vv.5-10

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". He is light and He wishes for us to walk in His light (i.e. living a life anchored in righteousness and void of sin). We can only do this when we draw closer to Him more than we do the world and our enemy, Satan.

I can tell you from personal experience that the times I am failing most in my life are when I decide to pursue my own desires or the desires of the world, the times I’m furthest away from God. This usually comes when I have allowed the enemy to distract me from my prayer life and bible study, two elements critical to being in fellowship with God and thus walking in His light. You see, when we become disconnected from communicating with Him and giving attention to His word, both written and enlightened by the Holy Spirit, we become easy prey for Satan to enter in and have His way with us. You may remember an earlier scripture passage we looked at which warned about Satan roaming around like a hungry lion waiting to devour (1 Peter 5:8-9). I can tell you that he has tried to take 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 being in the spiritual dark. It scares me for when I am there, I know I have allowed myself to drift away from the Father and have failed in pleasing Him through my behavior (i.e. sin has entered in and led me to fail).

Maybe you can relate.

Well, thank goodness there is some good news for us, even as we fail miserably sometimes at living in the light of the Lord and sharing complete fellowship with our Heavenly Father. This good news comes also from our scripture passage for today as we read how our Heavenly Father, our Heavenly Parent, forgives us when we come before Him and simply confess our sins with sincerity. Just as a father forgives his children for the mistakes they have made and then goes on to try and teach them how to live good lives, so too does our Heavenly Father forgive us, cleansing us while trying to lead us more and more into His light...into a lifestyle of godliness...into a place where there is no darkness.

Indeed, He wants only the best for us as Christians for we are His children (Romans 8:14-17).

Question: What kind of life are you living: one that is in God’s light or darkness?

If you're in the light, remain close to God and you will remain in His light. He will illuminate the steps you’re to take as you walk the narrow path to life eternal (Matthew 7:13-14).

If you're living in the darkness, please stop right now and confess your sins before God, asking for His forgiveness and cleansing, so to receive His pardon and mercy as you enter back into the realm of His glorious light, committed to fulfill His will and way.

In Christ,

Mark

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com