Armour of Light

Romans 13:11-14

11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

Point to ponder: I don't think there was ever a better time to read and ponder this scripture.  We are in a time in history where darkness is getting darker than ever before.  We dare not fall asleep in the spirit, we need to ask Holy Spirit to wake us up in every possible way.  We need to put on the Light of God in our spirit.  The night is indeed far spent, we need to make sure that we change our ways and walk properly in the day, casting off every sin however 'small' we might perceive it to be.  Just a little bit of darkness is enough to escalate into unimaginable darkness.  Putting on the armour of light means that we can make NO provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.  

Help us Abba to walk in the light, to stay in the light and to put on the armour of light as You designed it to be before the foundation of the earth.  

Lauren Daigle Light of the World 

Darkness does not comprehend Light

John 1:1-5

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 nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Point to ponder:  After contemplating last week's scripture about men loving darkness rather than Light - I was reminded about this scripture in John.  Not only do men love darkness, but darkness does not comprehend light.  Think about that statement - comprehend on the one hand means to mentally understand or grasp, but it also means to include, comprise or to encompass. In the original Greek of the New Testament, comprehend includes to 'take possession of" or 'make one's own', "To take into oneself".   Darkness, therefore, does not understand light, but it also does not include, comprise or encompass light.  Darkness does not take possession of light, nor does it make light its own.   Darkness does not take light into itself! What a picture of evil is that not!  Evil does not take light into itself because it would mean that darkness has to encompass Him Who is The Light... it will mean to take possession of Him who is The Light, to make his own Him who is The Light. 

"In him was life, and the life was the light of men". Darkness is an absence of light.  It is an absence of Him who IS Light - and if He is absent so would life be absent, for "In Him was life and the life was the light of men" As simple as that.  The absence of light in our spirits means the absence of life.  

How dark would our spirits not be if there were no light from God shining?  Why does man love darkness rather than light?  Let us ask Holy Spirit - He Who is the fire that was poured out on Pentecost, to come put on the lights in our spirits.  

Let the Light in - Kari Jobe

 

Love The One who is Light

2 Peter 3:9

8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

John 3:16-17

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

Point to ponder:  

The last week's happenings in world history are probably on all of our minds. I have no real words for the unspeakable suffering of people under the ruthless rule of pure evil leadership.  But then God reminded me of the above verses.  God is so much bigger than us, somehow He manages to get all the principles together and weave them into a tapestry of perfection.  He spells it out that He is righteous and will not let evil run rampart unpunished, and at the same time God makes no secret of the fact that He is a God of love who does not condemn anyone who believes in Him.  He is longsuffering and does not want anyone to perish, but wants to bring us to repentance precisely so that we will not perish forever.  He did not come to condemn us, but if we do not believe we are condemned already, simply because we do not make use of our only way to safety, the only way by which we can get out of the trap the enemy sets for us.  He spells out so beautifully exactly what condemnation is - it is the rejection of God's light.  Even though light has come into the world - they loved darkness rather than light and therefore their deeds are evil.  Everyone - yes EVERYONE - no matter your political affiliation, or which team you support, if you practice evil, you hate the light and do not come to the light, simply because light will expose all your sinful evil deeds.  

However, if we love the truth, we will gladly come to the light so that our deeds will be clearly seen that they are of the light - done in God.  And this is the issue of the heart - what is in our hearts?  Is God's light there?  Then there is no place for evil deeds, the only time there is place in our hearts for evil deeds is when we love darkness more than God's light. Evil is the absence of light - the absence of He who is The Light.   

Let There be Light - Hillsong

Mortality swallowed up by life

2 Corinthians 5: 1-5

For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

Point to ponder

Today it is good to know that this earth with all its brokenness, failures and heartache, is temporary.  We but live in a tent - a temporary dwelling - our eternal house, our permanent dwelling is in heaven.  While we are longing for our eternal home, desiring to be clothed with the splendor of God's glory, once again let us be encouraged by knowing that ultimately mortality is swallowed up by life.  God prepares us for that life, by giving us His Spirit as a guarantee - to be with us.  He is Emmanuel, God with us in this temporary tent abode!  Heaven came to our earthly house so that mortality is swallowed up in life and we can be united with Him forever.

Emmanuel - God with us - Chris Tomlin 

Open our eyes Lord

 1 Thessalonians 1:1-4 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, 3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, 4 knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.

Paul addresses and greets the congregation in Thessaloniki with a blessing to receive the grace and peace of the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and then He continues by writing somewhat of a testimonial of this congregation.  He remembers their work of faith, love and their patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ - and this is what he thanks God for producing in this congregation's life.  

Point to ponder:  How about we take an inventory of the good things we see in someone's life, start thanking God for producing it in that person's life and then give them some positive feedback by bringing it to their attention? We all need some positive feedback from time to time.  What if we do this for 1 person this week?  Maybe the person who least expects us to do so? 

So let's ask the Lord to open our eyes to see who He is and what He is doing in those around us.

Open by eyes Lord - Stephany Gretzinger 

Speak and behave wisely

Colossians 4:5-6 AMPC

5 Behave yourselves wisely [living prudently and with discretion] in your relations with those of the outside world (the non-Christians), making the very most of the time and seizing (buying up) the opportunity.  6 Let your speech at all times be gracious (pleasant and winsome), seasoned [as it were] with salt, [so that you may never be at a loss] to know how you ought to answer anyone [who puts a question to you].

James 1:5 AMPC

5 If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him.

 In Colossians 5:5-6 Paul encourages us to behave wisely - especially in our relationships with unbelievers, so that we can make good use of every opportunity to be a testimony of God's grace and wisdom to a world that does not know Him.  He specifically mentions our words and the answers we give when someone asks us about our faith.  However, when I read these few verses, I thought but I do not always know what the right answer is to give.  Sometimes we are faced with situations that are beyond our understanding and we simply do not have the best wise answers.  And then Holy Spirit reminded me that the Word of God says - if we do not know, are deficient in wisdom - then simply ASK.  When we ask for God's Wisdom for a situation, the Word says He is a giving God Who will liberally give us Wisdom.  

1 Corinthians 12:8

8 To one is given in and through the [Holy] Spirit [the power to speak] a message of wisdom...

In 1 Cor 12:8 Wisdom is introduced to us as a gift of the Holy Spirit, thus we never need to feel out of our depth facing life, questions and unfamiliar situations without Wisdom, we simply need to ask for the Holy Spirit to come and give us His Wisdom for every situation.  

Point to ponder:  Ask the Holy Spirit - who is the Spirit of Wisdom (Is 11:2) to come and give us His wisdom for every situation that we find challenging.  

I Speak Jesus - Charity Gale

An intentional prayer life

Colossians 4:2-3 AMPC

2 Be earnest and unwearied and steadfast in your prayer [life], being [both] alert and intent in [your praying] with thanksgiving.  3 And at the same time pray for us also, that God may open a door to us for the Word (the Gospel), to proclaim the mystery concerning Christ (the Messiah) on account of which I am in prison;

Paul admonishes us to pray and keep on praying.  To develop the discipline of a continuous prayer life.  

Point to ponder:  So this week's point to ponder is simply - what does your and my prayer life look like?  Are we intentional with our prayers?  Take this week to focus on this question and maybe to make some changes to become more intentional with our prayer life?  

Our Father

Serve well

 Colossians 4:1

Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

This is such a sobering verse. In modern-day everyday life, Paul's admonishment would probably be something along these lines: Most of us work for an employer, we are bound by an employment contract. Some of us are employers, who have employees working for us. We should serve well if we are employed, and employers should treat their employees justly and fairly. However, in God's Kingdom there is a great equalizing principle. Whether employers or employees on earth, reality is that in heaven we all have a Master that we are going to serve for an eternity. Our Master in heaven is a just and fair King who is perfect in character and cannot treat anyone serving Him in an unjust or unfair manner - so the crux of this verse is that ultimately, we are all servants.

Point to ponder:  The kind of servant we are willing to be in the natural probably gives an indication of what kind of servant we are to God in the spirit.  Are we serving well, or do we need to make some changes as to how we serve Jesus, and those at work, in church or in our families, or our friends?  What kind of servant are we choosing to be in His Kingdom?  

Here be Lions:  For me and my house we will serve the Lord

The power of gratitude

Deuteronomy 29:10-18

10 “All of you are standing today before the Lord your God—your leaders, tribes, elders, officials, all the men of Israel, 11 your children, your wives, and the foreigners in your camps who cut your wood and draw your water— 12 so that you may enter into the covenant of the Lord your God, which He is making with you today, so that you may enter into His oath 13 and so that He may establish you today as His people and He may be your God as He promised you and as He swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 14 I am making this covenant and this oath not only with you, 15 but also with those who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God and with those who are not here today.  16 “Indeed, you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and passed through the nations where you traveled. 17 You saw their detestable images and idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them. 18 Be sure there is no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit.  HCSB

 Colossians 3:16-17

16 Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.  HCSB

In the book of Deuteronomy, when the people were at the brink of moving into the promised land, God reminded them of the covenant He had made with them.  At the same time, He also warned or admonished the people to make sure that their hearts do not turn away from their God and go and worship other gods.  and then he added the last sentence in verse 18 by saying "Be sure there is no root among you bearing POISONOUS and BITTER fruit" .

 

Point to ponder:  When there is bitterness growing in our hearts, we need to be keenly aware of the fact that that poison will kill us long before it kills the person to whom we are directing our bitterness, and it seems to me that this poisonous root of bitterness is a core open door that God is warning the people against - because it opens the door to the worship of idols and false gods.  So how do we come into the opposite spirit?  In Colossians 3:16-18 I think God gives us an idea.  If we come with wisdom, singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs WITH GRATITUDE in our hearts to God, giving thanks to Him for all things, there will be no place, no chance for a poisonous root of bitterness to grow and bear fruit in our hearts.  Gratitude uproots any root of bitterness and protects our hearts against worshipping idols.  Gratitude permeates our beings with songs of praise for our creator-God Who sent His Son Jesus to take all our poisonous bitterness upon Him and give us His joy.  Let us rejoice in Him this week, replacing our bitterness with thankfulness and gratitude.

Gratitude -Brandon Lake

Let peace control our hearts

Colossians 3:12-15

12 Therefore, God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13 accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. 14 Above all, put on love—the perfect bond of unity. 15 And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful.

Point to ponder:  Let us just take some time this week to intentionally put Paul's advice in these verses to practice.  Ask yourself how, where, to whom can I intentionally show compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience?  Who do I need to forgive and accept as a brother in Christ?  How can I 'put on the love of Christ and where and in which situations should I let the peace of Messiah control my heart?  How about thankfulness?  What can I be thankful for - let's be intentional about these things and make it a lifestyle, not an isolated event.  

Peace be still - Hope Darst