light

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Walk in the Light

…God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:5-7, KJV)

I’d like to revisit an area I blogged on last November in light of some things I learned just last week. I attended a meeting in which Billye Brim was teaching on a Jewish concept called halacha. Billye Brim learned the Hebrew language and Jewish customs in the land of Israel among the Israeli people.

She said that the term halacha is a term that means, “how to walk it out”. She took us through the Book of Ephesians and showed us the glorious things that the first few chapters say about us, the church, in Him. And then she showed us that beginning in the fourth chapter of Ephesians, Paul begins to give us the halacha, or the instructions on how to walk it out.

It reminded me of what the Lord said to me concerning the commandment of love. I blogged on this in depth on November 25, 2008 in a post entitled “Walking in the Light”.

I had asked the Lord to teach me about the commandment of love. I asked Him late one evening as I was drifting off to sleep. As I awakened the next morning, I heard Him say, “I am teaching you how to walk in the light”.

First John 1:7 tells us that we are to walk in the light as He is in the light. To be quite honest, I don’t know what all that means yet, but I do know that just a few verses before we are told that “God is light.” Walking in the Light would be walking in Him. It’s in Him that we are more than conquerors. It is in Him that we are seated in heavenly places far above all principalities and powers. It is in Him where the impossible becomes possible. But how do we walk it out?

For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light… (Proverbs 6:23, KJV)

The commandment of Love: “I’m teaching you how to walk in the light”.

We walk in the light when we walk in love. We walk in the Spirit when we walk in love. We walk in Him when we walk in love. We walk in victory when we walk in love. We walk it all out when we walk in love!

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Clothed with Light

The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light… Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh… (Romans 13:12, 14; KJV)

…God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5, KJV)

He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. (1 John 2:10, KJV)

As I read Romans 13:12 today from the King James I thought to myself, “That sounds so poetic. The night is far spent, that day is at hand…”

But this is not just poetry, it is reality. I read this scripture in the New Living Translation as well. This is what it said.

The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. (Romans 13:12, NLT)

…Clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 13:14, NLT)

How do you clothe yourself with His Presence? By putting on the armor of right living.

You may be thinking, “Now wait a minute, what about grace?”

If it wasn’t for grace we wouldn’t be able to live righteously. But thank God we have His grace living in us, because we have His Spirit living in us.

But He gives us more and more grace (power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully)… (James 4:6, Amplified)

Pastor Terri Pearsons, one of my Pastors, once said, that in the Old Testament they did the works to become righteous. In the New Testament, we have been made righteous so we could do the works. And when we do those works, we release the power of righteousness, God’s righteousness that makes everything right.

So here we have this power in us. Christ in you the hope of Glory. Christ being the Anointed One and His Anointing. We see reference to this power in many other scriptures as well.

By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints… [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead… (Ephesians 1:18-20, Amplified)

But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. (Romans 8:11, KJV)

He who believes on Me… as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow… rivers of living water… He was speaking here of the Spirit, Whom those who believed… in Him were afterward to receive. For the [Holy] Spirit had not yet been given… (John 7:38, Amplified)

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages… (Ephesians 3:20-21, KJV)

By the power that works in us. To Him be Glory in the church. How do you release the power? By walking righteously by the power of His Holy Spirit at work in us. (See Galatians 5:22-25, the fruit of the Spirit).

…[the work which His presence within accomplishes]…. (Galatians 5:22, Amplified)

What is righteous living? Doing what God says is right. Remember God is love. Righteous living is doing what Love says is right.

…for he who loves his neighbor… has fulfilled the Law… (Romans 13:8, Amplified)

The commandments, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet… and any other commandment, are summed up in the single command, You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself. (Romans 13:9, Amplified)

…love meets all the requirements and is the fulfilling of the Law. (Romans 13:10, Amplified)

Walking in light releases God’s glory in the church for this age.

…God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5, KJV)

He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. (1 John 2:10, KJV)

The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. (Romans 13:12, NLT)

Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ… (Romans 13:14, KJV)

“Clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ” by walking in love.

…For I consider that the sufferings of this present time (this present life) are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us and conferred on us! (Romans 8:18, Amplified)

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Walking in the Light

One day I asked the Father to teach me about the commandment of love. I fell asleep with that question on my heart. I awoke the next morning to these words, “I am teaching you how to walk in the light.”

First John 1:5 tells us that God is Light. Walking in His commandment to love will cause you to walk in Him, vitally united to Him, to walk in His Light, to walk in the Light that is Him. What does that mean?

When you wander around in the dark, you bump into things. You make mistakes. You stumble and fall. You don’t see the full picture and make decisions based on half-truths or lies, because it’s all the truth you could see in the dark.

However, when you walk in the light, you see with His eyes, you know His truths and they will lead you into His ways with His results. Walking in His commands will lead you to walk in the light, even when you don’t realize it.

I like this example from history. The Jewish people have very strict dietary and hygiene laws that they’ve kept simply because the LORD commanded them to. The keeping of these laws was credited with keeping the Jews free of infection during the Bubonic Plague. Many people at this time didn’t wash their hands before eating. Many didn’t care where their water or food came from and due to this many became ill and died. But not the Jews. The commands God had given them kept them safe.

First John 1:10 (Amplified) says, “Whoever loves his brother [believer] abides (lives) in the Light, and in It or in him there is no occasion for stumbling or cause for error or sin.” Can you imagine a life without stumbling, error or sin?

Verse 11 (Amplified) goes on to say, “But he who hates (detests, despises) his brother [in Christ] is in darkness and walking (living) in the dark; he is straying and does not perceive or know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” Are you walking around in the light or with blinded eyes?

I’ve mentioned earlier that God’s commands to us are for our benefit. He was showing us how to walk in life, in health, in joy and peace. In Romans 13:9-10 (Amplified) tells us that when we walk in love we fulfill them all.

The commandments, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet (have an evil desire) and any other commandment, are summed up in the single command, You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself.

Love does no wrong to one’s neighbor [it never hurts anybody]. Therefore love meets all the requirements and is the fulfilling of the Law.

Jesus walked this out perfectly for us and at the end of our days, we will walk into the fullness of the Light of God’s love. But even now, because of our receiving Jesus as our Savior, His love now lives in our hearts and we can walk in this light that leads to life, health, peace and joy here and now in this life on this earth.

My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother; Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life… (Proverbs 6:20-23, KJV).

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A Lamp Unto My Feet

Today I just want to make a recommendation. I highly recommend reading 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 everyday.

In Psalm 119:105 David said, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (KJV). In Proverbs 6:22 it says, “When you go, they [the words of your parents’ God] shall lead you; when you sleep, they shall keep you; and when you waken, they shall talk with you. For the commandment is a lamp…” (Amplified).

As you daily read the words of love found in 1 Corinthians 13 you will find that those words will begin to speak to you in your heart throughout the day and night. When you are tempted to be impatient or unkind, the word of God in your heart will remind you that love is patient and love is kind. His words will show the path to take that will keep you walking His way… the high way of love.