God’s Light

Morning on the Back Porch

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

Dawn would be too nice of a description for the gray morning light gradually brightening today’s cloudy sky. But one dove welcomes our morning, sunny or not, with her gentle cooing. Then a mockingbird wipes sleep from his eyes and begins running through his seemingly limitless repertoire of borrowed songs. Not to be outdone one far less glamorous crow, perches on the crown of our roof and loudly proclaims that morning is here: it’s time to wake up and get going for the day! All these members of God’s choir know something about rejoicing in the moment that I too easily forget.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night, Psalm 92:1-2 NKJV

I confess that with the multiplying of aches and pains, the complications of family issues and the sadness of unfulfilled dreams, that mornings often come with their own chilly spiritual fog. But God has not left Himself without a witness, and when I sit quietly and listen, He sends messengers to wake my heart up again and hope in Him. In the words of the carol, by Longfellow:

“Then pealed the bells
More rich and deep
God is not dead nor doth He sleep,”
Christmas Bells

There is a hope we may find far better than doves, mockingbirds, and crows. A song deeper still than church bells and a dawn that breaks behind any gray sky, because though the darkness of the cross lies ahead, Easter is coming. Jesus watches us through our night seasons, and the depth of His love brightens our grayest morning and shines through even our darkest night!

Three Steps to Knowing God – Grace – Grace – Grace

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For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6 NLT

Back in 1976 one church organization launched a media campaign called, “I Found It.”, that included, T-shirts, buttons, and bumper stickers (I know we had one). Though well-intentioned, it missed the point that in fact according to the Bible, we don’t find God – He finds us. The prodigal son wasn’t lost. He knew exactly where his father lived, and when he came home, and the father commented, “He was lost but now is found,” meant that the father had restored the relationship by grace when the boy returned.

In today’s verse when Paul refers to the first words which God spoke at creation, “Let there be light!”, he didn’t mean that the darkness was searching for the light. In the same way, the Apostle Paul hadn’t come to Christ because he was searching for God, rather he was persecuting Christians. But then God shone a light so bright around him, that he fell to the ground and his life, and our world was forever changed. If we know Christ as Lord and Savior, it all began with God: not us. Yes, of course we had to respond. The prodigal had to repent and return; Paul had to humble himself and ask what to do next and we have had to take steps to obey Jesus. But before any of these things, God had to first speak a word, shine His light, and graciously welcome us home. All of this can feel immensely intimidating, because it takes things out of our control and confesses that it all began with God. But when troubles come, we fail or wander far from home, the love of God still shines in the distance. We have hope, to return to Father’s house, an action plan to follow and a glory to be found as we follow the light of the star of grace all the way to the feet of Jesus Christ!

This Little Light

/ pastorpete51 / 8 Comments 
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:15 KJV

One of my favorite old-time songs from church is “This Little Light of Mine. It reminds me of when our boys were small, and we lived in a tiny second floor apartment. One night my wife thought she heard a sound coming from the children’s room, and since our flashlight was buried somewhere in a kitchen drawer, she carefully worked her way through the dark in that direction. I half woke up as she got out of bed, but when I heard her voice suddenly pierce the night with “Oh! Oh!” she had my undivided attention.

“What’s going on?” I shouted sitting bolt upright, ready to rush to her rescue. By this time though the startled little scream had been replaced by peals of laughter. “You wouldn’t believe it!” Nancy said as she quickly slipped back into our bedroom. “I was standing in the middle of the kitchen, when a firefly lit up no more than an inch in front of by nose!” That tiny bug had everyone’s attention, not because of how impressive the candlepower of his light was, but because he chose the darkest place to shine it. With all the problems going on in the world around us we can easily get discouraged and feel like our little light won’t make much of a difference. But it just may be that God has called you to give just a little flash of His love to someone on the darkest night of their life!