Darkness is Absence of Light Reflectors

[S] 1 John 1:5 --
5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

[O] A simplicity of this verse grabbed me.  The light and darkness cannot co-exist so if I am in the light then that is the way to eliminate darkness without trying to find ways to "remove" darkness.  Finding ways to be in and staying in the light is the best way to staying away from the darkness of this world such as sin and falling away from God.  That is to say that walking with Christ is proactively seeking ways to stay in the Light, not seeking ways to not do bad things.  A byproduct of being in the light is that I will reflect the light and thus brightening up the surrounding.

[A] When I read the Bible, ask the question:  How is this passage teaching me how to seek and stay in His Light?

[P] Dear Father, Your name is above all, and I want to learn ways to stay in Your presence which is the Light. I know that by doing this I will thwart the darkness of this world trying to overpower me.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Eventually Have to Return to the Dark Reality

[S] Mark 9:14-15 --
14  When they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. 15  Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were amazed and began running up to greet Him.

[O] Jesus took Peter, James and John to a high mountain where they experienced the transfiguration of Jesus while hearing God's voice affirming Jesus' validity as His Son.  When they came back down, they were injected immediately into the problems of this world.  No matter how powerful or how long-lasting my spiritual high may be, I am bound to face the reality of this world because that's where God expects me to shine His light.  In the midst of the arguing, they immediately recognized Jesus and began to run after Him in amazement.  If the arguing were like the darkness of this world, Jesus was like the shining star and people were drawn to it.  This is the model Jesus wants me to follow -- be the shining star that will attract the people lost in the darkness of this world we live in full of arguing with one another without any clear guidance.

[A] I'm re-thinking about my commitment to the workplace ministry.  This is not easy, but as today's passage encourages me to think about how the workplace is so dark and constantly seeking some light to shine.  I need to re-strategize my approach to becoming the light in the workplace.

[P] Dear Father, how I want to be the light in the workplace and yet I seem to be the one putting the lamp under the basket.  Please forgive me for being so passive and give me the new strategy to move forward in the workplace ministry arena.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Pay Attention As To A Lamp

[S] 2 Peter 1:19 --
 ¹⁹So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.  (Similar message found in John 1:5)

[O] God's Word is like a lamp (note the singular form) shining in this dark place we live in now until Jesus returns.  Even though His Word is powerful and is the true promise from Him, He uses it as a lamp not a search light, or bunch of lamps to shine away the whole darkness.  He chose to leave it as the single point of hope to the darkened world.  In theory, a single light in darkness should pretty much stand out and draw everyone to it, but unfortunately that is not so because there are many false lights drowning out the true lamp.  However, when the morning comes, the darkness will be completely cast away with the bright morning sunrise and there won't be any false lights leading anyone astray but the true bright sunlight will be declared.  Until then, those paying attention to a lamp will have to realize it's gonna be a challenge trying to light the darkness but stay firm faithfully waiting for the rising of the morning sun.

[A] There are many challenges in ministry of God and it is almost by design that is the case.  God wants to let His light shine as a lamp in the dark place and that means only those who seek after will find it and treasure it.  This means it's an uphill battle to partake in His ministry which is to let people know about this true light.  I need to align my expectations as I partake in His ministry here on earth so I won't be weary seeing how difficult it is.

[P] Dear God, Your ministry is Yours and I need to be a true follower of You rather than trying to make Your ministry into mine by trying so hard on my own efforts.  Trying to light the dark place with a lamp is not a trivial task and I must adhere to Your design of spreading the truth -- one soul at a time with dedicated care and love.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Places God Doesn't Avoid

[S] Genesis 1:2 --
²The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

[O] Given a choice of visiting a river flowing with crystal-clear water through the mountain valleys or a smelly sewage drain, I would certainly pick the river, wouldn't you? However, God chose the place of formless, void, and darkness in order to let His Spirit move there and because of His such desire, He allowed this world to have life which we're all enjoying today. If I think about that some more, it's really an awesome thing because the formless place could've stayed that way until now. God's power overcomes such condition to create this quite a livable place. I am reflecting on two thoughts here: 1) God does not leave us alone in the void; 2) God wants me to go to the dark places as conduit of His Spirit to move in those places.

[A] Whenever I feel like staying away from formless/void/dark-filled places, think back to this verse where God didn't ignore such a place but provided His life to dwell there and find a way to channel such a power there.

[P] Dear God, please use me as your conduit of channeling Your wonderful and powerful Spirit to the "formless" place around me. As I start the year of 2010, I pray that You would use me this year to touch the lives still trapped in the darkness. Thank You for using a person like me who without You are truly unworthy of doing anything worthwhile. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Do You Feel Like Groping in the Darkness?

[S] John 8:12 --
¹²Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."

[O] As simple as this statement looks, why do I feel like I'm mostly in the dark? Spiritually speaking, I know I am with Jesus as I invited Him into my heart to lead and guide my life but every day seems like a struggle to see where I am going. This is not to say I'm discouraged or lost but just feel like things should be better & clearer than this. So, reading this passage actually turned on a light bulb today not because it showed me a silver bullet to resolve what I described earlier but as a great reminder that I need to shadow Jesus at all times in order to be in His light. I begin to meditate on the word "follows" because unraveling that into some practical steps in my life is going to make me closer to the source of light and even though I may never feel like I'm out of the darkness, I would be seeing more clearly as I get closer to the light source.

[A] Instead of just aimlessly following Jesus, I should ask for His light to guide my path because without His light, I'm doomed with disasters in darkness.

[P] Dear God, I don't know why Jesus as my Light jumped out at me today through this passage but I'm so thankful for providing me Your light. I want to hold on to this for the rest of my life such that I won't be groping around the darkness but to see what You desire me to see carrying out Your ministry. In Jesus' name. Amen.