A Nugget from New Life Network
Scripture for the Day (January 20, 2017)
But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. (Acts 26:16-18)
I was talking to a young man recently that had been hired as an Associate Pastor in a large church. He was facing some opposition from a few staff members that had been there for years. The Senior Pastor gave this young man some very good insight into the situation. He told the young man that some people (even church people) are in the light, some are in a gray area, and some are still in darkness. The light hurts the eyes of those in darkness and they will always, at least initially, fight against it.
And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants. (John 3:19-21, NLT)
I see a similar situation in our country and in our cities today. We can water down the way we look at our present social and political status and say it’s just differences of opinion, or just political party platform differences, but it’s much more than that. The root of all the hate and anger that is boiling up has nothing to do with political platforms or personalities. It is the age old fight between light and darkness.
He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. (1 John 2:9-11)
We have no one to blame but ourselves. We have stood by and let our Christian values, the Bible, and prayer be removed from our public schools and colleges. We have forsaken the ways of the Lord in many of our laws and principles. As a result, we have a large and growing group of people that have no moral compass and have no concept of light versus darkness. They have no knowledge of the Word of God or the Christian values that this country was built on. They therefore by default buy into the enemy’s camp of darkness which involves condemnation, hate, anger, and the tactics of bullies. They have become the accusers of the brethren. If I were the enemy, I would be excited that my plans of destruction and darkness were succeeding.
Now, you might be saying, “but that doesn’t describe me.” I am born-again. I go to church. I study the Bible. That’s all good, but how many people have you personally led to the Lord? How many people are being saved and baptized in your church? When is the last time you witnessed a miracle? When is the last time you or your church did anything that impacted your city spiritually? We are the ones with the light! We are the ones with the vaccine! What are we doing? We are supposed to be pushing back the darkness!
My wife and I were part of two separate churches (one in Memphis, TN for ten years and one in Jacksonville, FL for ten years) that changed those cities. As an example, we saw 1500 people baptized in one night in Jacksonville. One of those baptized was our youngest son, who is now a minister. We long for those days again!! It’s not impossible! It just takes a group of people that are full of God to be willing to share the light and fight the fight. It takes some people that are strong and courageous. It takes some people that are willing to walk away from dead religious traditions that makes the Word of God of no effect. Are you that person?
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; (1 Peter 2:9)
