Tag: Jesus

Avoid the Darkness

Light and darkness are common ways that Hollywood symbolizes good and evil. The good guy wears white while the bad guy wears black. The criminal is always sitting in dark places until the police officer comes in and shines a light on the situation. It is something all of us understand. Jesus tells us to avoid the darkness and walk in the Light.

‭‭John‬ ‭12:35‬

So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.”

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote on a similar topic out of 1 John. The principle of light and darkness were important ones for both Jesus and John. Jesus declared in John 8:12 that He was the Light of the World. Here in chapter twelve, He tells them that “for a little while longer the Light is among you.” He refers to His time before His death and that the disciples needed to walk in that light while they had it. Judas didn’t pay attention, but the others did. Straying away from the light allows the darkness to overtake you.

From the Beginning

As I type this, it is just a few hours before the new year. Most of you have already ushered in 2021, but since I live on the West Coast of the United States, we are one of the last ones to see the calendar’s turning. There is always optimism at the beginning of a new year, and rightfully so. Part of that optimism comes from the fact that Jesus will be with us through whatever happens. He was here from the beginning.

‭‭John‬ ‭1:1

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

As the Apostle John starts his Gospel, he lays down some vital theology. Jesus is God’s revelation to humanity, which is why John calls Him the Word. Jesus was there from the beginning with God because He is God. He didn’t just appear when Mary gave birth to him. It is essential to have the mindset that Jesus was there from the beginning and part of what we call the Trinity. That consists of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Ready for Jesus to Return

I’m old enough to remember the seventies’ cheesy Christian movies called “A thief in the night” and the “Left Behind” movies of the nineties. One of them scared me to death and left me thinking the rapture had come, and I was left behind more times than once. There is a fixation on the end of the world and the rapture. Are you ready for Jesus to return? Nothing is stopping Him from coming back at any moment.

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭4:7

“The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.”

It seems like the end of the world is right around the corner with everything that has happened this year. All we need is for the trumpet to sound and Jesus to appear on the clouds, and we are heaven-bound. With that being the case, it is essential that sound judgment and spirit-filled prayer be ever-present in your life. Nothing is holding Jesus back from returning for His Bride, and 1 Corinthians 15 tells us that it will happen in the twinkling of an eye.

Poor in Spirit

How many times have you walked by someone who was down and out? Maybe they were dirty and living on the streets or so destitute they looked different than you. When the angel appeared the shepherds in the field the night of Christ’s birth, it was God’s way of showing that He came for those poor in spirit.

Luke 2:8-9

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.

Shepherds were looked down upon in the Jewish community. They were dirty from their work, gone a long time, and always ceremonially unclean so that they couldn’t worship at the temple. Any good and respectable Jew would hire a shepherd to watch their sheep. So the fact that God revealed His glory to them out in the fields and bot peculiar and powerful. Peculiar because they were so low on the social totem pole, but powerful in that God shows He comes to those who are poor in spirit.

Call His Name Jesus

Have you ever tried to picture that first Christmas? Mary, away from her family, in a town she didn’t know, giving birth to her baby boy. With all of the census’s craziness making Bethlehem swell, there wasn’t a proper place for her to give birth. She was to call his name Jesus because He would be the savior of the world.

Luke 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

Jesus was born to poor parents and in an unknown town. There was a celebration, but it happened to some unsuspecting shepherds out in the fields. How could the savior of the world be born in such humble surroundings? God wanted to tell the world that His Son came for everyone, from the poorest up. This should be a consolation to everyone who struggles. In a world that worships wealth, its savior came to the poor.