The Light That Has Lighted The World.7

"Are there not at least twelve hours of daylight? If you walk by day you do not stumble, because of the natural light around you. If, however, you walk by night, you will fall, because there is no daylight to guide you. Believe in the light that you may become "children of the light." 

--Jesus

No Daylight to Guide

The riots breaking out across the USA in response to police shootings have this in common: they are being guided by something that looks a lot like darkness!

Walking in the Light

If we could only harness the passion and anger against the "skin" problem and use it against the "sin" problem, as NFL football player and follower of Jesus, Benjamin Watson accurately describes! As for me, I have been initiated into the company of those whose work is to send sin out of the world...beginning with myself. Lord, make me child-like, not childish wanting only for myself or snatching what others have.  Let me in every nuance of gesture, word and deed demonstrate you abiding love for every human being I encounter.

"When we receive the child in the name of Christ, the very childhood that we receive to our arms is humanity. We love its humanity in its childhood, for childhood is the deepest heart of humanity--its divine heart;... If there is in heaven a picture of that wonderful teaching, doubtless we shall see represented in it a dim childhood shining from the faces of all that group of disciples of which the center is the Son of God with a child in his arms. The childhood, dim in the faces of the men, must be shining trustfully clear in the face of the child. But in the face of the Lord himself, the childhood will be triumphant--all his wisdom, all his truth upholding that radiant serenity of faith in his father. Verily, O Lord, this childhood is life. Verily, O Lord, when thy tenderness shall have made the world great, then, children like thee, will all men smile in the face of the great God."

MacDonald, George. Unspoken Sermons Series I., II., and II. 

(Kindle Locations 124-126). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

"While much of America seems to be getting more and more divisive, I'm going to be holding doors for strangers, letting people cut in front of me in traffic, greeting all I meet, exercising patience with others, and smiling at strangers.  I'll do this as often as I have the opportunity.  I will not stand idly by and let children live in a world where unconditional love is invisible and being rude is acceptable.  Join me in showing love and respect to others.
Find your way to swing the pendulum in the direction of love. Because today, sadly, hate is gaining ground. Love must begin somewhere and love will overcome hate. Imagine the difference if we all love a little more." 

--Author anonymous, Posted to Facebook, September 25, 2016

The Light That Has Lighted The World.6

The lamp of the body is the eye: if your eye is sound, your whole life will be filled with light, but if your eye be preoccupied with evil, your whole life will be obscured with darkness. 

If what illuminates your life is darkness, how great and terrible is that darkness! 

--Jesus

A recent episode of a popular network television show opens with the cast dressed in formal attire at a beautifully elaborate gathering.  There is a sense of great anticipation when the camera turns to reveal a very attractive woman dressed in a wedding gown walking down the aisle toward...another attractive woman dressed in a wedding gown!  The two women say their vows to one another, kiss and wave gloriously to the approval of their supportive well-wishers. The celebration continues at the reception where the two "brides" glow in the revelry encouraging their bold entrance into the new world!

In a stroke of artistic brilliance CBS uses a popular tv series with respected characters to intersect the old and new world meaning of the word gay! Dictionary.com actually makes a generational distinction of meaning:

• of, relating to, or exhibiting sexual desire or behavior directed toward a person or persons of one's own sex; homosexual: a gay couple.
• of, indicating, or supporting homosexual interests or issues: a gay organization.
• Older Use. having or showing a merry, lively mood: gay spirits; gay music.
• Older Use. bright or showy: gay colors; gay ornaments.
• Older Use. given to or abounding in social or other pleasures: a gay social season; the Gay Nineties.

Unbeknownst, most certainly, to the writers of this episode, they would be illustrating exactly what Jesus, Lord of Light, meant when He said: If what illuminates your life

image from www.gettyimages.com

is darkness, how great and terrible is that darkness! 

Preoccupied with evil, the purveyors of social change are attempting to use noble and time-honored social constructs, like marriage and family, to gain wide spread acceptance of what have been seen, historically, as vile practices. By "illuminating" vileness, casting it in the glow of heartwarming shared experience, they hope to bypass the natural filters protecting the conscience of a nation.  Any protest against the practice is met with accusations of intolerance, discrimination and phobia.

If there is wide-spread social acceptance (even that is debatable) for these things, then surely our "eye" is no longer sound.  Understanding what Jesus meant is, of course, the business of Life. Let us refer once again to the idea of soundness:

• free from injury, damage, defect, disease, etc.; 
• in good condition; healthy; robust: a sound heart; a sound mind.
• financially strong, secure, or reliable: a sound business; sound investments.
• competent, sensible, or valid: sound judgment.
• having no defect as to truth, justice, wisdom, or reason: sound advice.
• of substantial or enduring character: sound moral values.
• following in a systematic pattern without any apparent defect in logic: sound reasoning.
• uninterrupted and untroubled; deep: sound sleep.
• vigorous, thorough, or severe: a sound thrashing.
• free from moral defect or weakness; upright,honest, or good; honorable; loyal.
• having no legal defect: a sound title to property.
• theologically correct or orthodox, as doctrines or a theologian.

The daunting question of our day is: What can the righteous do when the foundations are being destroyed, when there is no soundness in what we can depend on in our social institutions?  Let me suggest these things:

• Be sound in yourself.  Put into practice the words of Jesus.  Ask yourself each day, "what one thing have I done or not done because Jesus said to do it or not do it?" Let the wisdom of God be evident in your speech, conduct, love, faith and purity.
• Insist on soundness in others.  Don't get caught up in foolish arguments over trivial things. Be active, not in social media sites, but in places like school boards, and other local, county, state and national governance.  Let the wisdom of God be evident in your speech, conduct, love, faith and purity.
• Point others to the light of the Word of God -- Jesus, the perfect revelation of all that is good and true.  Never apologize for or waiver in your commitment to timeless truth. Let the wisdom of God be evident in your speech, conduct, love, faith and purity!
• Let the wisdom of God be evident in your speech, conduct, love, faith and purity.

The Light That Has Lighted The World.5

"I must do the work of him who sent me while it is day: because the night is fast approaching when no one will be able to work." 

--Jesus

Image from www.icresource.com

"Every morning when he went out ere it was day, every evening when he lingered on the night-lapt mountain after his friends were gone, he was offering himself to his Father in the communion

       of loving words,

       of high thoughts,

       of speechless feelings;

and, between, he turned to do the same thing in deed, namely,

      in loving word,

      in helping thought,

      in healing action towards his fellows;

for the way to worship God while the daylight lasts is to work; the service of God, the only "divine service," is the helping of our fellows."

--George MacDonald. 

In a recent sermon the speaker admonished the flock to remember that what we are doing and why we are here is a reflection of the purpose God created into us. Today let us show the world what Jesus would look like cutting hair, harvesting crops, building houses, teaching children, driving school bus, crunching numbers, arresting criminals, reporting the news, caring for the infirm, repairing cars, sewing clothes, playing sports, selling goods, cleaning homes, handling money, watching children, and blessing others with the life we've been blessed to give!
For a troubled world let us be more like Jesus!

The Light That Has Lighted The World.4

"If I do not the works of my Father, then you are free to turn away. But, if I do his works, even if you don't believe in me, believe in the works that I do; 

that you may 
know and believe
that the Father is in me and I in him."

--Jesus

When twelve year old Jesus told his frantic parents that "I

must be about my Father's things," little could they know that of all the fears for his safety, from the violent to the beastly, the greatest threat to his life would eventually be from the very men he engaged in the temple!

The kind of men who, to this day, elevate Intellect over Spirit, Self-Will over Perfect Will, Hypocrisy over Purity, Power over Poverty, Ambition over Aspiration, Doctrine over Doing, Mammon over Ministry, Status over Service, and Politics over Propriety.

The Power Worshipers of Jesus' day tried in vain to engage Him on doctrinal grounds.  Jesus' response was to point to the works He performed giving all the evidence they needed to explain His origin and center.  His entire life was a testament to this fact: faith is obedience to the Perfect Will.  Our own proof of discipleship is not in what we believe about God or Jesus, it is the works born of loving trust and obedience that show we believe. 

• Can the Love of God be expressed in any other way than by connecting to His heart through obedience to the things He says?
• How is it that supposed "cultural leaders" cannot or will not recognize true works that demonstrate the love of God? 
• What monstrous darkness that responds to genuine compassion with violent intent to put out the light that exposes falseness?
• What happens to a society when its foundational institutions (historical, educational, spiritual, political and commercial), designed to emulate and encourage true faith, become the instruments of destruction?
• Which is the greater power: those who use death as a weapon of intimidation or the One who conquered death?

For followers of Jesus, the cross and empty tomb remind us that not believing in Jesus is the most dangerous thing!  Rather than seeing human struggle as an opportunity to score political points, faith in Jesus calls us to act in mercy to help, heal and save! Let us then in these troubling times, when credentials, permits and titles supplant genuine service and accomplishment, continue to do the things He did, the things the Father always does, demonstrating to a dark world the light in us.

The Light That Has Lighted The World.3

"Once, you journeyed into the wilderness to listen to John, the prophet you called, the Baptiser. He spoke to you of the truth. 

He was a burning and shining light: and you were willing, at least for a while, to follow him. 

Now, one has come with a greater demonstration of power than John, for the work that my Father has given me to accomplish, the very acts which I perform now in your presence, prove that I am sent from God." 

--Jesus

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the Government and I'm here to help.'"

-Ronald Reagan  

One of my fondest memories of interacting with the government was having to obtain sign permits from the kind people at the District of Columbia licensing bureau.  Since one could count on using up all the available hours in a work day it was always wise to take a picnic lunch and some good reading material!  No matter what kind of sign to be installed I was required to stand in line at all nine stations

image from cartoonstock.com

for the approval and signature of the official on duty.  Soil and erosion, environmental impact, city beautification, mayor's vacation fund... If you happened in on a day when all nine officials were in a relatively good mood things went swimmingly...at least that's what I was told, I'm pretty sure I was never there on one of those days.  Rather, the closer you got to your turn for the coveted signature, the longer you held your breath that it wasn't approaching some scheduled break (or non-scheduled, it all paid the same) or that you failed to dot an "i" or cross a "t" properly and would be sent back to the end of the line to pay penance.  On one successful occasion managing the maze I asked the cashier if "they" got a bonus for reducing citizens to weeping infants lying helplessly on the floor?!  She wasn't amused...

Oops, remembered another remarkable encounter with government.  A son, living in LA, had his car impounded, due to a registration failure on the part of the lending institution through which he bought the car.  It took three months to get the proper information on how to get the car out of impound!  I called everyone from the State DMV office in Sacramento to the impound city's mayor's office to try to figure out what we had to do to get his car back.  My wife and I flew out there with $3,000 in hand to pay the accumulated fees and fines only to find out that the local DMV didn't know what we were talking about.  It was only the grace of God that we found a person --who also had teenagers-- and took us under her wings to work us through the "system."

Life is hard.  There are problems that are so complicated and difficult they appear overwhelming and are far beyond our own ability to solve. The struggles we face as individuals are, in fact, common to man. We form societies to address and solve many of them.  But too often the societies end up becoming as much a part of the problem as the original issue. Those who advocate for government to be the primary caregiver and solve all our problems forget that government is made up of people with their own

struggles. (I do have to admit, though, that government people seem to think and behave so differently than the rest of the population its tempting to think they are a different species altogether!)

Much of Jesus' time on earth, of course, was spent solving people's problems.  We refer to the work he did in restoring individuals eyesight, healing lame, diseased and demon-infested people, feeding thousands with a few fish and bread, even raising dead relatives, as "miracles" because the time span in which the healing, feeding, or raising occurred was nearly instantaneous.

But the truth of the matter is that Jesus did what God the Father is doing all the time!  The real miracle is in igniting faith and love for his Father-God by letting people experience the intensity of His loving touch in a moment of time!

Rather than letting the intensity and pain of the problem steal all our hope and joy, Jesus' message to humanity is: There is a God who loves you vigorously! I'm your proof that there is nothing more powerful than the Love of God in overcoming life and reaching your potential!

Jesus is everything I want my God to be!

"he is simply and altogether our friend, our father— our more than friend, father, and mother— our infinite love-perfect God. Grand and strong beyond all that human imagination can conceive of poet-thinking and kingly action, he is delicate beyond all

that human tenderness can conceive of husband or wife, homely beyond all that human heart can conceive of father or mother. He has not two thoughts about us. With him all is simplicity of purpose and meaning and effort and end— namely, that we should be as he is, think the same thoughts, mean the same things, possess the same blessedness. It is so plain that any one may see it, every one ought to see it, every one shall see it. It must be so. He is utterly true and good to us, nor shall anything withstand his will.

How terribly, then, have the theologians misrepresented God in the measures of the low and showy, not the lofty and simple humanities! Nearly all of them represent him as a great King on a grand throne, thinking how grand he is, and making it the business of his being and the end of his universe to keep up his glory, wielding the bolts of a Jupiter against them that take his name in vain...

Brothers, have you found our king? There he is, kissing little children and saying they are like God. There he is at table with the head of a fisherman lying on his bosom, and somewhat heavy at heart that even he, the beloved disciple, cannot yet understand him well."

MacDonald, George. The Collected Works of George MacDonald: The Complete Works PergamonMedia (Highlights of World Literature) (Kindle Locations 26194-26198). PergamonMedia. Kindle Edition. 

As His followers, may we continue to demonstrate the profound power of His love in helping ignite faith and love for the Father to those He appoints us to touch!

The Light That Has Lighted the World.2

"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.

But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God." 

--Jesus

It is easy to forget, overlook, or, shockingly, to deny the

destructive nature of darkness. Darkness can't draw people together, it can only leave empty groping souls bumping, fearfully and angrily, into one another.

The world is reeling from the effects of darkness.  Its ultimate impact is in driving people away from each other!

Politicians polarize, terrorists terrorize, refugees flee, media manipulates, racists rant, militants foment, socialists demonize, bureaucrats botch, abortionists destroy, perverts prey, rich rule, poverty plunders.

It's also easy to forget OR hard to comprehend that there are those who love darkness and it's debilitating destruction. Wolves in sheep's clothing, mentored children of hell's ambition, vipers, snakes, deadly serpents seeking their own glory and power. 

How then should we - followers of Jesus - live in response to the darkness? Be true to the light!

"Every disciple of the Lord must be a preacher of righteousness.In the darkness each soul is alone; in the light the souls are a family. The lamp that the Lord kindles is a lamp that can will to shine, a soul that must shine. Its true relation to the spirits around it—to God and its fellows, is its light. Then only does it fully shine, when its love, which is its light, shows it to all the souls within its scope, and all those souls to each other, and so does its part to bring all together toward one." (MacDonald, see below)

On social media:
-provoke, not to insult and anger, but to love and good deeds.

At work:
--be excellent in speech, conduct, love and purity. Love the light you see in others, don't condemn the darkness.

In public:
--be honest & trustworthy. Lead, follow or get out of the way.

In private:
--live with a conscience as open & clear as the skies above. Be a tenderhearted considerate roommate, husband, wife, parent, son or daughter. Bear burdens, share blessings.

Always remember that the work of Light & Love in and through you is to draw all men to Jesus and the great family of God!

"Take heed to your light that it be such, that it so shine, that in you men may see the Father—may see your works so good, so plainly his, that they recognize his presence in you, and thank him for you.' 

MacDonald, George. Hope of the Gospel (p. 65). 

Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

The Light That Has Lighted The World.1

"I have come to be a light to the world, that whoever believes in me should not remain in darkness. 

I am the light that has lighted the world; they that follow me will never again walk in darkness, but live their lives in the light." 

--Jesus

On his first day of kindergarten, nephew Sam declared: 

"I'm Sam Eberhart. 

I'm a John Deere man 

and that's all you need to know!"

Imagine the Lord of all Creation introducing Himself to this dark world with little Sam's certainty: 

"I'm Jesus Christ. 

I am the Light, 

and that's all you need to know!"

Such perplexing times: living our lives by the light of televisions and computer screens we watch the world get darker! How easy to get caught up in the collective anxiety of the world's worries: Brexit, Market fluctuations, ISIS attacks, Presidential elections, Protests, Gun Control, Gas Prices, Milk Prices, Inflation, Deflation, Wild Weather, Wild Horses, Persecution, Human Trafficking, Drug Trafficking, Refugees, Regulations, 1%er's, Political Plunder, Political Correctness, Corruption, Racism, Phobias in all their Forms, Global Climate Change, and (if that weren't enough) Indian Nickname Change.

So however tempting it may be to try to explain the complexities of this world by this or that eschatology, doctrine or theology, the call is simple: 

believe in the Light! 

Hold on to the Man who Is the Light!

Light gives hope; 
Light gives meaning; 
Light shows the way; 
Light conquers darkness!

MacDonald:
"God means us to be jubilant in the fact that he is Light--that he is what his children, made in his image, mean when

image from creation7.com

they say light; that what in him is dark to them, is dark by excellent glory, by too much cause of jubilation; that, however dark it may be to their eyes, it is light even as they mean it, light for their eyes and souls and hearts to take in the moment they are enough of eyes, enough of souls, enough of hearts, to receive it in its very being.

Living Light, thou wilt not have me believe anything dark of thee!"

 MacDonald, George. Unspoken Sermons Series I., II., and III. 
(Kindle locations 5458-5461). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.