"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light,
that all through him might believe.
He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
That was the true Light which gives light
to every man coming into the world."
John 1:6-9
The Lord stopped me on the words "TRUE LIGHT." If Jesus is the TRUE light, what other kind of light is there?
Notice that every light known to man is CAUSED by something. A match will give some light when it is struck. Electricity gives light when it is turned on. The sun brings light when it's on your side of the world. But all these kinds of light have to have an outside source: it has to be caused by something -a match, a bulb, the sun.
But the Scripture tells us that Jesus - is the ESSENCE of light, he IS Light. If you put out a match, the light will go out. If you shut off the switch, the light bulb will go out. If the sun is on the other side of the world for half of the day, it will be dark in your world.
Jesus is the Light that never ever goes out. Where Jesus is, there Light is. This is the Light that lightened Corrie Ten Boom's sister as she lay dying in a concentration camp. Indeed, while she was dying, when Corrie was so grieved at her sister's suffering, her sister testified of HIM, "There is no pit so deep, that he is not deeper still." The light of Christ actually dwelt within her, enabling her to make such a profound statement as she faced death.
Is your world dark? Are you facing gloom, suffering, pain or loss? Is there no light in your dark world? Then turn to the SOURCE of light, and witness the miracle of that light as it shines in your darkness in a way you've never known, in a reality one has to experience to understand. There is no quenching of this Light, it won't go out and it won't go away. It will lighten your path as long as you allow that Light to abide in you.
If your world is dark, pray with me:
Father God, only you know how dark my world is right now; the darkness is overwhelming and all-consuming. I need that Light that will never go out, that will never leave me no matter how terrible my circumstances are. Please shine the Light of your presence into my heart and teach me that as long as that Light dwells within me I will never walk in darkness. Let this become such a testimony that it will bring that Light into the world of others who are walking in darkness. Let it shine into their hearts - dispelling the darkness, shining so bright that yet more lives will be enlightened by it, bringing to you the glory that is yours alone. Turn to that Light that nothing and no one can quench, shedding abroad wherever it is taken. I receive that Light right now, the Light that brings hope into the darkness, a hope that cannot be quenched. Come, thou Light of God, come shine in my heart.
Amen
For so it was that the children of America sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of England and Europe and from all countries of the earth under the hand of despot kings. And they turned to heed other gods and walked in the ways of the nations that the Lord had delivered them from.
And they turned to wickedness and practiced it in all their cities, as the nations had done which the Lord had delivered them from, and they did wickedness to provoke the Lord to anger.
The Lord testified against America and against Washington, and against New York, and against Hollywood, by his servants and prophets, saying, "Turn from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my laws, according to all the intent which I commanded through your founding fathers. The statutes, the ordinances, and the commandments which they wrote for you, you shall be careful to observe forever; you shall not pay heed to any other gods or the ways of any other nations. The covenant that I have made with your fathers, you shall not forget, but the Lord your God you shall fear and he will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies."
Nevertheless they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their professors and their New Age counselors and their media devils who did not believe in the Lord their God nor had interest in his Word. They did not obey but they continued in their own ways and rituals and traditions so he brought upon them great calamities, hurricanes, fires, floods, storms, tornadoes, and sent fire upon their towers.
But the Americans continued to walk in all the sins of Charles Darwin, Madalyn Murray O-Hare, and of the Obamas, the Clintons, and the Bidens who made America to sin, and of the sodomists, and all their idolatries. They sacrificed their children to the god of Choice and did what all of those did and taught and they did not depart from them, until the Lord purposed to remove America out of his sight, as he had said by his servants the prophets.
But they rejected his laws and the intents that he had spoken through their founding fathers. They followed their "wise" men after their own hearts, their heroes, professors, counselors, and theatrical stars, those whom they considered the wise men of their day and they became idolaters and did like the nations throughout the earth, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them.
Finally the Lord God removed his grace from America and America was given over to the hand of her enemies and America was destroyed for all her idolatries with which she sinned before the Lord. But a remnant was saved which the Lord God removed from the earth that they might not be destroyed in the terrible judgments to fall upon all who rebel against the Lord God. The remnant were taken to the Father's house where all the righteous from time immemorial dwell, to enjoy his presence forever.
"But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles,
or causes an abomination or a lie,
but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life."
Revelation 21:27
"...he who reaps receives wages,
and gathers fruit for eternal life,
that both he who sows
and he who reaps may rejoice together.
For in this the saying is true:
‘One sows and another reaps.’"
John 4:36-37
Many believers are so saddened by the worldly lives of their loved ones that they are absolutely driven to bring them to the Lord and they will work at it ceaselessly. Some nag them endlessly, not realizing that it is that very nagging that may actually turn them off. Friends, we must always keep in mind that we do not have the power to save anyone. Our wisdom and our arguments cannot win them. Salvation is the work of the Holy Spirit, and human efforts will always fail. Harm is caused by human effort causing resentment and anger in the ones we seek to save.
The work of salvation is actually a story in a person's life. It is usually a very slow process, with the Lord orchestrating all the elements of the story that will culminate in the person's salvation. If you are a believer, take a moment to think on all the events that the Lord put into motion years before you actually came to him. Here a little, there a little, an ongoing and purposeful work that no one can do but the Lord himself, and if you try to meddle in the process, be aware that you just might delay it. No one likes to be nagged. No one likes to be preached at.
The salvation story might often begin in childhood. The Lord is very patient and very methodical as he brings the story along. He will use people here and there to bring input into the person's life, but it will not be the same person throughout and will usually not be parents or spouses: the Lord will not ever share his glory with a human being. If you were the one bringing that loved one to the Lord, you would probably take the credit for it, wouldn't you? And that's exactly why it won't happen that way. The story of salvation has far-reaching and eternal ramifications and we best let the Lord conduct it.
So what do we do? Nothing?
Well, that depends. First of all, we cease our efforts and loose the loved one from our grasp. Then we use the tools the Lord has given us - prayer and more prayer. For how long? For however long it takes. If you do it backwards, if you nag and try but do not spend the time in prayer, the result will always end in failure. It has to. We're not doing it God's way, we're conducting it our own way.
Does this mean we never speak about the Lord to the unsaved? Of course not, but it DOES mean that we speak little to anyone we're emotionally involved with. We know that we are called to preach the Gospel, but we are called to preach the Gospel at the prompting of the Holy Spirit. HE and he alone will set up the circumstances that we will recognize as open doors in which we are to go ahead and speak to people, but we are NOT to try to set up circumstances ourselves. Try it. And watch it fail. And try again until you are convinced that the only success can come when it is the Lord conducting it.
If you want to succeed in bringing the Gospel to the unsaved, and especially to your loved ones, spend time before the Lord in prayer. This is where the victory is won. Skip this vital part, and your works will falter. Prayer is the most important thing we will do in our walk with the Lord. This bares repeating: Prayer is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING we will do in our walk with the Lord. If Jesus Christ spent so much time in prayer as the Scriptures reveal that he did, how much more then must we do the same? How can we have the victory if we skip the part Jesus himself had to complete?
Pray and pray some more. This is what we are called to, not only for our loved ones but for anyone the Lord places on our heart.
Pray about your calling.
And then pray some more.
You say your mind wanders when you pray? I had that problem too, as most do. One day I determined that I would finish my prayer time no matter how long it takes and in spite of every instance of having to bring my attention back to the prayer. I've done this now for many years - and I've seen the results. Just do it. Do not feel guilty about your mind wandering. The more effective you are in prayer or Bible reading, the more attacks against your mind will be, the more interruptions there will be. Just keep going until you finish. It's the most important thing in your life so be aware of the attacks trying to stop you. You must not let the wandering thoughts discourage you or stop you.
Then when you reach the glories of heaven, you will see the results of your efforts and you will rejoice for all eternity.
