dailywalkinthelight

A Daily a Walk in the Light of God's Word

In God’s Time and His Way

Darkness Cannot Overcome the Light

I woke this morning and for the first time in some time, I was a bit overwhelmed by the darkness of the world around me.  It may have been the video I saw of Irma hitting an Island in the Caribbean or the fires out west or Houston, or the anarchist that hate everything, or the word nihilistic I learned this week that is just dark, but whatever it was I had a very heavy heart.  This heavy and dark feeling led me to the Word.

My first stop was the book of Daniel.  I went to His prayer in Chapter 9.  Then John 17 and Jesus prayer.  After the Holy Spirit compelled me to pick up this new book I have, “The Book of Secrets” by Jonathan Cahn, and I closed out my time with a little Tozer.  Let me take you through it.

Daniel 9

Daniel was pondering all that lied ahead of Israel.  The time that they had left of the desolation of Israel and all that the Jewish people had done and he just turned his face to the Lord seeking Him by prayer.  When I read this prayer, I can feel the ache in his heart.

Daniel 9:3-6 (ESV)

3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

Daniel prayed a prayer of repentance defining the differences between God and rebellious men.  In the end of his prayer he pleaded for God’s forgiveness not because the people deserved it but because of His great Mercy.

Daniel 9:18-19 (ESV)

18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”

I think of this prayer and I cannot help but look around at all the calamity in our nation.  There is so much division and so many religions trying to push Christianity out using the lie of fairness.  This prayer took me to John 17; The High Priestly Prayer.

John 17:8-10

Jesus opens that prayer defining His destiny.  Then He asks for the Father to be with those believers he will leave behind.

John 17:8-10 (ESV)

8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.

Jesus speaks of their need in verses 12-19

John 17:12-19

Jesus speaks of the disciples need for protection and growth.  He does not want to take them out of the world but He asks that they are

protected from the evil one.

John 17:12-19 (ESV)

12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

But his request does not stop there He prays for those to come, that might be saved by the teaching of the disciples.

 

John 17:20-26

Christ Jesus is about to be arrested and He is including me in a prayer to protect me against the evil one.

John 17:20-26 (ESV)

20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

He prayed for the salvation of all who might believe in God’s Word as taught by the Apostles. And as I pondered these two prayers the darkness was still there but it could no longer invade the light that the Word of God had filled me with.  It was about now that I felt compelled to pick up Jonathan Cahn’s book.

The Serpent’s Blood

The secret for today was the Serpents Blood and it kind of gave me goose bumps because of Jesus’ prayer asking for protection for us against the evil one, who is often depicted by a serpent. But as I begin reading it the author speaks of the how cold-blooded creatures have no lasting power.  They run out of steam.  But warm-blooded creators can outlast them. I liked this passage.

“Evil is cold-blooded.  What that means is this:  Though evil may have its day, its victories, it time to move and strike – it remains cold-blooded… All evil is cold-blood.  And so the power of evil is only of the short-term and the momentary.  Its days are always numbered. And in the long run, it always fails”… “So, in the end, the good will always outlast the evil.  Therefore persevere in the good, keep going in what is true, keep standing for what is right and you will overcome and prevail in the end.” “The Serpents Blood” from “Book of Secrets” by Jonathan Cahn.  

I read that and thought about the circumstances we face and how we have a choice in dealing with them.

Reflections

With all the darkness that we see, and the hardship that we and others face We really must decide what we will do.  Do we stop and let the serpent regain his strength or we can continue to cling to Christ Jesus and “persevere in good”?  It really is our choice.  We can pray like Daniel and hold fast or surrender.

I look at these two prayers and Daniel prayed for Israel despite the evil they had done.  He pleaded with God.  Christ Jesus prayed that we may know Him as He knows the Father and that we may learn this through the Word.  The decision is ours to make.

Closing Thoughts

My decision is to hold fast to the Lord and persevere in doing good.  My hope and salvation rests in Him.  God promises that if we will endure with Him and believe we will be saved.  I am thankful and I trust in His Word.

Matthew 24:13 (ESV) 1

3 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

 

John 1:5 (ESV)

5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Why would I not trust in Him.? He has shown me so many times that I can and I will continue in that trust and love even in the smallest things, and I will pray and respond in obedience to what he leads me to do.

Prayer

Father, thank you for reminding me of your mercy and grace this morning.  Thank you for shining your light in my heart when I had allowed the darkness of the world circumstances to envelope me.  Father thank you for calling me again to prayer and showing me the path.  Thank you for your wisdom and love in all things.  This I pray in Jesus name.  Amen!

 

Triumph in Christ

Triumph in the Light of the Son!

I think this morning I could go on and on about the Lord and the triumph that we have in Jesus Christ.    Pat is not feeling well, and that has concerned me and made it a bit tough to focus, but I have been praying for her while she is resting on the couch and looking at His Word in old Journal entries.

How wonderful is the truth in God’s Word?  What wonderful peace is found simply letting go and putting focus into seeking him. Pat encouraged me just to let her rest and focus on my normal routine, so that is what I have done.

I continue to pray for Pat this morning and also for guidance and focus; turning from worry to trust in Jesus.   I went through some old journal entries and stopped on one that I had done a year or so ago.

This entry was almost all in 2 Corinthians.  It covers chapters 2:15-5:9, but as I read I also thought of K-Love’s verses for today from Jeremiah 29:13 (ESV)

13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

What comfort there is in these words.  What peace I find in them.  In Christ are my peace and comfort.  In Him rests my hope.

2 Corinthians 2:15-3:3

Let me start with Chapter 2 verse 15 through Chapter 3 verse 3.  Paul defines who we are in Jesus, and it is great comfort this morning.

15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. 

Ministers of the New Covenant

​1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

Self-Examination

I read this passage over and over again.  And I thought about it and meditated on it.  As I reflected on what Paul was saying and I thought;  is my life a letter from Christ written with the Spirit, for those who testified to me.  The ones who prayed for me and delivered the Gospel to me.  Do I show that I am “a letter of Christ” delivered them?  Am I sharing the message of Christ with others as they did for me in confident hope?

I continued with verses 4-6, and I remember that what Paul is saying has nothing to do with pride but with hope and love and confidence in Jesus.  Do I dare to be this bold?  Do I have that same confidence in Christ Jesus?

4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

I know that I am not sufficient in myself.  I know that my strength comes from the Lord.  Paul is writing this to the entire Church at Corinth, not just the leaders; not just the “preachers,” but everyone.  As I reflect on this, I am convicted.

He goes on to discuss the Hope we have in Christ and the boldness we have because of that and the difference in who we are.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18

17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

I get caught up in thinking how much God has changed me from the inside out.  How He has begun this great work in Pat and me and the freedom it has brought.  My trust is in the Lord, and I am filled with thanksgiving.

And that sets up the “Therefore” in Chapter 4:1-6

The, “Therefore” –  2 Corinthians 4:1-6

1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

And my favorite part…

5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

That is my desire.  I do not want to be a preacher like Paul.  What I want is to carry in my heart the wonderful message Paul shares.  I want to carry the truth of Christ Jesus in my heart inside this fragile “Jar of Clay.”

To never forget the gifts given us regardless of our circumstances and remember the words of verse 7.

“7But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”

And Paul closes the chapter with these words that are my testimony.   They lift me up on the darkest days. 4:16-18

Fragile Jars of Clay

16So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

I cannot put into words what comfort this passage brings to me… other than to say how I know it’s truth is unwavering.  For every time I have a challenge God reminds me that it is fleeting.  That does not mean it does not hurt.  Sometimes the pain is intense;  it can be physical or emotional, but I am never alone.  God is there to see me through.  He uses the people around me, especially my wonderful wife, Pat.

The thing is, the Gospel of Jesus Christ fills us with a freedom that exists nowhere else.  I look at Paul’s example of humility, and I pray that when I share the Gospel with others, it may be in like spirit, filled with love and patience.  The Gospel is not a burden that we carry.  It is a gift that the Holy Spirit shares with us if we are willing and through us, He shares it with others.

Closing Thoughts

I will close with this last passage out of chapter 5 verses 6-10

 6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

I give thanks to God for His Holy Word.  I praise Jesus for His willingness to pay my debt and the Holy Spirit to guide my heart.  What a plan God laid out for us.  How awesome is He?

Prayer

Heavenly Father thank you for your Holy Word and the comfort that comes with it in all circumstances.  Help me that I might share your Word with boldness and confidence, not in my strength, but in the strength, that you give through your Holy Spirit.  

Father, I pray for healing for my wife Pat and all those that are struggling with illness or loss.  I pray that you restore them and comfort them.

In Jesus name, I pray, Amen

 

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