Hid in the Light of Christ

I was reading and praying last night and I think I made an interesting little connection between light and being "hid with Christ in God."

I prayed that the light of God, Christ, would come upon you and asked that the darkness be driven away. Then I remembered how God shielded Moses and the Hebrews from the darkness during the 9th plague by shining the light on them. It then occurred to me that the light is God's way of hiding us.

We usually think of darkness or shadow when we think of hiding - as kids we hid in the closet or under the bed, somewhere dark where no one could see us. We hear people talk about evil hiding in the shadows and that we need to shine the light on the darkness to expose wicked deeds. But what if God hides us in the light?

I've heard darkness defined as the absence of light - darkness is nothing itself, but rather it's the absence of light. If God were to shield us - to hide us - from darkness, where would the best place be? In the shadows? Under a rock? No! It'd be in the light - in the radiance of His glorious love where "there is no darkness" and where "there is no night."

I'll pray that God hide you in His light, in His love, in His grace. I'll pray that the light of Christ be not hid from you. I'll pray that you feel that light on you - filling your thoughts and your body. I'll pray that His light pass not from you. I'll pray that His light radiate throughout your day and throughout your life. I'll pray that you see His light and that you will know no absence of light - know no darkness. I'll pray that your faith in Christ expand and grow deeper.

And I'll pray that Paul's words be fulfilled in your life - "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord." You do live as a child of the light - and "for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth."

Dear God - the Father of us all.

Fill our hearts and lives with your love. Purify our hearts so that we may know You better. Purify our lives so that we see only You. Let us hear your angels each moment of each day. Let us see the unabated light and love that you send to us each moment. Let us know of your omnipotence and your presence. Let no darkness come between You and us, your image. And if darkness seems to encompass round about us, let us turn our gaze to heaven - to the light - as Daniel did when surrounded by evil in the pit. Establish us in your grace, in your love - and in the most holy faith. Plant our feet on your rock - the "new doctrine" that your Son taught, the "substance of things hoped for."

“Sorry, I don’t love you enough…”

“Sorry, I don’t love you enough…”

by Laura King

Sorry, I don’t love you enough
To ask you to do your chores.
Who needs self-respect from working hard,
When you can have a sense of entitlement instead?

Sorry, I don’t love you enough
To tell you that you can’t have everything that you want.
I’ll make myself feel less guilty by giving in,
And set you up for financial difficulties later on.

Sorry, I don’t love you enough
To teach you not to be selfish.
When your relationships fail,
You’ll find out that it’s not all about you.

Sorry, I don’t love you enough
To give you the love and affection that you crave.
Instead you can go from relationship to relationship
Without ever finding what you’re looking for.

Sorry, I don’t love you enough
To insist that you treat me with respect.
When you can’t figure out why you keep losing jobs,
You’ll learn the importance of respecting those in authority.

Sorry, I don’t love you enough
To punish you for your bad behavior.
I’ll let the police give you the consequences
That I was too lazy to dispense.

Sorry, I don’t love you enough
To show you what a good relationship with God is like.
A strong sense of morality is overrated.
Who wants to feel guilty about their lives anyway

You may love me now, but
You won’t even like me later.
Instead of what is best for you,
I’ll do what is easier for me at the time.
I won’t think about the fact that I’m making
A miserable life for both of us in the end.

All because… I don’t love you enough.

Copyright 2009 Laura King. Used with permission.

God runs my life smoothly.

My household does not require me to run smoothly. If God is in charge of me and my family, then God makes my household run smoothly. It doesn't require me to make it work. In the same way, the world runs smoothly and is ordered because God runs smoothly and is ordered. Whether it's their housing, diet, or affection, it is all in place and operates according to God's principle, love.

A LIttle Prayer for Today

And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you. - Phil 1:6

God is working in/through you to bring your thought and consciousness closer to Him. The work that He is doing through you is bringing you closer to Him. The changes that He is working, the love that He is causing, the goodness that He fills you up with, the light that He shines on you, is all leading you closer to Him. He causes that perfect work to be done in you - He is causes you to come closer to Him. Your life changes with that change of heart that He is causing. This change shows you that He is the only cause in your life.

God is Still God

I was reading the fourth chapter of Amos this morning and came across some woe prophecies - "The Lord will bring disasters upon you..." The entire chapter was dedicated to outlining what stupid things the Israelites could do - making sacrifices to pagan gods, worshiping the earth/matter, etc. Then at the end it says, "The Lord is the one who shaped the mountains, stirs up the winds, and reveals His thoughts to mankind."

Reading the entire chapter, I came away with the impression that Amos was telling the Israelites that could do whatever stupid thing they wanted, but God was still God - He still controls all things and is still revealing His thoughts to each of us.

Then I took it a step further - to mat'l sense it may appear that we can, and may have already, really messed things up. But to spiritual sense, which tells us what reality it, God is in complete control and we are never outside His care and His heaven. Never!

So, let's ignore mat'l sense - the swirling winds, the cloudy days, the burdensome thoughts - and pay attention to spiritual sense - get a sense of reality as it really is. Matter can have it's false gods and false fears, but we'll stick with reality. Nothing can make us fear!

Learning Spirit

In order to learn Spirit, like Job did, we must first unlearn what our material senses are telling us. They cannot communicate the Truth of Spirit, so they cannot be trusted. Spirit is the only sense we need - the only knowledge we need for true living.