A Light in the Darkness

  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden…” Matthew 5:14 ESV             As we are in the world there are some things of this world, we must deal with it cannot be entirely avoided. This does not mean that we have to do as they do, or think as they think. Indeed, there are things the world would encourage us to do and to think that are entirely forbidden to us, and which ought to be entirely foreign to us. To the worldlings lies may be useful, but to those who are indwelled by the Spirit of Truth they are evil. To the world conspiring in secret is prudent, but for those who walk in the light nothing good can be done in the dark.             Yes, we are in this world, and we will interact with it, and we will do things that the worldlings also do; but we will do them as children of the King, according to His precepts and in light of the t...

  “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. Deuteronomy 29:29 ESV                 We love to know secret things, knowledge is power after all, and we have sought power since Genesis 3. This is why Gnosticism proved such a threat to the early Church, and still threatens her today. The Serpent still whispers from many branches promises knowledge and power to elevate. The temptation carries a double danger of distraction and dissatisfaction. Both harm us by drawing us away from God.             It is His to reveal, and He has revealed much. Indeed, He has revealed enough to save us from sin and death, and to direct our lives down the best path. He has given much more than Moses here delights in, things which that man could only wis...

  Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, “Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 2 Samuel 7:18 ESV                 It is a very fitting question for humble hearts to ask, and what a wonderful answer it receives in simple reflection upon how far our God has brought us. It is a question and reflection to be repeated.             Consider that David had been first a shepherd, then an armor bearer of Saul, and leader of the army, then a fugitive, before he finally came to the throne. He travelled a path that seems strange to earthly eyes, but God ordained it all to good. He often failed, and was disciplined; but even so he progressed. Why should it be so for this man, or any other?             To that the answer is grace, it by grace thro...