Walking in the Light

“Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my” Psalms 119:105

Jesus tells us in 1 John 1:5-7. “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; In him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

There are three key phrases in this scripture. Light, Darkness and Fellowship. Lets looks at the first two, since according to 1 John 1:5-7 we either walk in one or the other.

Have you ever been in a room or outside at night where it was so dark you literally could not see the next few feet in front of your path. Sara and I have a trip to Alaska that we take with another family. We stay in these small A-frame cabins that are located throughout the Southern portion of Alaska, which basically is a rainforest, very thick with trees. These A-Frames were built years ago for the forestry service to stay at when they are out testing or measuring the animal and fish populations. They have no electricity, they are heated either by heating oil, that you must bring or a wood stove that you are expected to cut from larger logs that are stored at the camp. No cells phones work, and there is no running water. And of course out houses.

Most of these cabins are accessible by a 30 to 45 minutes flight via floatplane and most are on a lake.

At night, the only light within a 45-mile radius is by flashlight or propane lights lamps we bring. And they all have an outhouse that is 50 to 100 feet or so away from the cabin. So at night if I needed to go out or if Sara went, I went out with her since bears live in this area also, black and brown bear. By the way, when it comes to bears my wife has a life saving philosophy. All I have to do is run faster than Gary.

When you go out at night, without that light, you can’t see two feet in front of you. Especially on a day when it is cloudy which being a rain forest is often. And the paths around the cabin and up to the outhouse are not smooth paved walkways, they are dirt or mud and with most steps you are walking or tripping on a root from the many trees. You could fall every step if you could not see the roots.

Often, while waiting on the trail for Sara I would stand there and turn off my flashlight just to see how dark it is. With the light out, it is a blanket of darkness. You cannot see anywhere you look. And I assure you that no matter which way I thought was the right direction to go, I would either walk into a tree, trip on a root, and if I was stubborn enough to try this journey in darkness for a extended period, I would end up failing down a ravine or worse failing into the very cold lake.

This is the way we all walk in spiritual darkness. And often times, through stubbornness and belief that we know the best path for our lives we continue walking in spiritual darkness and eventually find our own roots to trip on, trees to walk into and ravines and lakes to fall into or stumbling upon a bear out looking for food.

I often wonder why we are like this? Why I am like this? Why do I choose to go my own way even if I am walking in total spiritual darkness when there is an answer in God’s Word?

Lets again turn to Psalms 119:105. “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path.”

Let’s go back to the Alaska wilderness where I am standing in the darkness with my flashlight off. It is a uncomfortable feeling and a bit unnerving that I cannot see anything or know where to walk or what may be coming down this path towards me at that very moment. But as soon as I turn the flashlight back on, everything comes back into focus. I can see where I am again, I can walk where I need to go and see the path I need to go down.

Psalms 119:105 could easily read as “your word is a flashlight or light to my feet so I can see what I need to avoid stepping on or tripping on when I am walking and it is a flashlight for my path, so I can see the proper direction that I need to be moving forward so I am walking in God’s plan and purpose.”

We need this special time that we alone spend with God, and his Word and in prayer. It is life giving and life sustaining.

I can still remember what I first turned to Jesus. It was when I was at college, living on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, CA where I felt empty inside. I was surrounded by all manner of things I never really saw before. I knew I needed something but was not sure what it was. Yet this feeling just kept speaking to me, “I need to read the Bible.” Every time I was at my lowest, that thought kept returning. “I need to read the Bible.”

I was raised a Christian but was far from it at this time in my life. I never thought about Jesus, I never prayed. I never talking with other Christians or at that time did I even know any Christians. I was numbly walking through life. I believe at this time in my life God, in his loving mercy and through his Holy Spirit, was the one who put this strong desire to find a Bible and start reading it.

And I did start reading the Bible. And spiritually it was like having a cool glass of water. You all know that feeling. You have been working or playing for a while and forgot to drink anything and you finally have a glass of cool water and you can feel it quenching your thirst and bringing your body back to a better place. God’s Word began to renew my soul and put my life on the right path and through the years has shown me the path I need to be on.

I know that some of you are thirsting for something more than you have right now. You have been longing for something and as you are hearing this, you are sensing that “This is it, this is what I have been wanting.” That is the Holy Spirit, showing you the way. Showing a path for you.

I urge you today, to following this feeling inside. Begin reading the Bible; add prayer to your life. Join a church so you can have fellowship with other Christians. Begin to walk in the light. And for those of you who have not accepted Jesus as your Savior, the first step is asking Jesus into your life. Asking him to be your Lord and Savior. Accept that he died on the cross for you. Please don’t wait another moment!

And for those of you who are Christians, you might think that because you are a Christian you automatically walk in the light of the truth but often times that is the farthest from the true. In 1 John 2 vs 9, it reads, “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.”

God’s word says that if we are envious of the good things others have, if we let anger, lust, greed, judging rule our mind. If we boast of the goods things we have, we are walking in darkness. And most of the time when we walk in the darkness, we end up in places that can lead us completely away from God. And if we are not careful, we can lose our way home.

But if we walk in the light and anything that could lead us the wrong way comes onto our path, we will see it for what it is a divisive trick of the enemy to keep us from knowing God in the full light. A lie to keep us from strengthen our relationship with God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ and to be lead by God’s Holy Spirit.

Let’s pray that God continue to show us the path he has for us and that we will all become beacons, that the light of Christ will shine in us and from us to help encourages and build up others in their walk with the Lord

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