The Darkness Hates The Light
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light,
lest his works should be exposed.
John 3:19-20
A friend of mine texted me one evening that she and her husband had noticed that the city had put up a light on a post to the entry of each beach access point from the ocean side. Up until now, it was very difficult to know where you were when walking on the shore at night because there were no lights. We would have to know the silhouettes of the houses to guess where we were, that is if there was a moon that night. She said that it reminded her of God’s light in the darkness.
No one reading this newsletter would feel that he or she aligns themselves with the darkness, but I believe that each of us would do well to examine our motives. After years of being the outcast for standing up, alone, against the culture and the systematic perversion of our youth, I am finally finding my tribe; bold believers in Christ who are taking back ground from the enemy, one inch at a time. It is difficult and time-consuming work, it is not convenient for any of us. I am greatly troubled by professing Christians who remain in the shadows, too afraid to speak up, and too scared to take a stand for TRUTH, no matter how many children are being abused. Far too many hide in the dark when the light reveals the nakedness of sin. They look the other way. In other words, instead of taking a good hard look at the reality of the sin all around us, in all of its forms as the light exposes it, they prefer to look back at the darkness and convince themselves that it cannot really be all that bad. They step back into the darkness to hide and in so doing they align themselves with the forces of evil. Even though they have access to the light, they continue to stumble in the darkness and by doing so, they make it comfortable for others to do the same.
The letter of James reminds his listeners that faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26). Where is your faith? Understand full well that faith will ultimately require you to trust God and to step out to be the light in an ever darkening world. Jesus said that he was the light of the world and I believe that he was. But the world could not comprehend the light and did not like it. Nothing has changed. The world goes apoplectic when we proclaim Jesus is not only LORD, but he is the only way. Our standard should always be the Word of God. In a world that claims that there are no real genders and sexual diversity is fine with the Creator, one need only to look as far as the Bible to see that this far from the truth. Fortunately, scientific evidence only makes the case for God’s word even stronger as it backs up what the Bible claims, (he made them male and female (Gen. 1:27, 2:24). God has a reason for everything that is written in his word.
God’s Word is like the sun, it gives off the full spectrum of light. In a world ruled by the enemy and grey area, it is necessary to glean from the full spectrum of light that only God can provide in order for us to be the light to this world. Far too many people are looking only for the outline that the shadow provides, but the full picture is only seen when the light of Jesus spotlights the truth and we then see the depravity that consumes the defiant, the hesitant, and the lost. Shinning the light will require action. We are called to be strong and courageous because Jesus made it possible for us to take back what rightfully belonged to humanity in the first place.
How will you make a difference this week? How will you trust God today?