as i am known to do on occation, this particular article will be a little different from the usual verse and explanation. instead, it’s something of a chain article. once that i’ve been meaning and trying to write for sometime. it ties into alot of what i’ve been studying lately, so much so that many of the verses and explinations may seem a little dé já vú-ish. and maybe expect some more detailed explorations into these verses soon as well.

You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD turns my darkness into light.
-2Sam. 22:29

there’s so much of the new testament that is based in that of the old. thus, this little wandering starts here. in a very simple, yet powerful truth. the Lord is the light unto darkness. nothing else. one cannot manuver the path of riteousness without a light, and if we can’t provide that light who can? the Lord God can. all the darkness that is around you will melt away when the Lord shines His light on it.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
-John 1:1
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
-John 1:14

just having a little light to light out pathes isn’t all that fun. a big flood light, or something like that would be nice wouldn’t it? well, it would seem that God agrees. He sent his Son to be that light.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light
-Eph. 5:8

again with the flashlight. live like you have a flashlight!

Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
-1John 2:8

now that you have a huge floodlight with you, the darkness is getting smaller and smaller. so live like it is. this ties in with the verse above (Eph. 5:8) about living like you have a light. when you’re at home and you need to go somewhere in the middle of the night, what do you do? you turn the light on so you can see where you’re going! well, when you’re living and there’s darkness around you so the same thing.

one of the other things that light does is it gives off warmth. when you walk in the light be encouraged to know that it’s not the light that makes you feel cold, it’s the darkness around you. the light is what makes you feel warm, and good. so, be encouraged to be warm in the light.

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
-Matthew 6:6-7

personal one-on-one communication, that’s what is needed. praying just so that other people hear you is prayer to yourself, which goes no where. but prayer to the Lord God, now that’s what you’re going for! how do you learn to pray? there’s books on prayer, you can ask a friend, you can do lots of things. bot none are as successfull as finding out what Jesus says about prayer, and just doing it, and letting the Holy Spirit guide you on what to be saying, asking for, doing.

verse seven goes a little bit on what not to do durring prayer. pagan rituals typically contain a few words that the person says over, and over, and over, and over again. at times i swear the theory is to just annoy the deamon untill it has no other choice than to do what they’re asking. but that’s not what God wants us to do. come to God and just ask, in plain language, for whatever it is you need to be askingn for. and if it’s just to sit down and have a conversation, then go ahead and do it. whatever it is that the Spirit has laid on you to pray about, for, or with, just do it (oh the cliches!).

along to same lines as the repetions, it the condition of the heart. something that’s been eluded to, but never quite said in this article. it’s where you are with God that matters. it is your relationship with God, not someone elses, not the relationship that you have with so-an-so. it’s you and God. go to God for what you need to do. if He send you off to get a book on prayer, then go get the book! if all He wants is fifteen minutes a day with you, then get those fifteen minutes in. on that note, which ties into devotions, i’ve commented on here as well. as i’ve already linking, some of the other prayer centered aticles can be found here as well.

Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
-2nd Corinthians 4:2

much of what this is just living in the truth of the here and now. modern society likes to take verses like this and show oppressive christianity can be. but there’s more freedom contained in this verse than all political correctness combined. the trick is to see ourselves from God’s perspective. and that’s hard to do! but once we can see ourselves from the other side so to speak, we can start living in the will of the Father. the will that only wants what is best for us, and for us to be free from sin. not seeing the oppressed people thing there.

the hard part is truly renouncing anything is that the enemy will always try to bring it back. just to weight you down and take your freedom from you. secret and hidden ways are lies to ourselves that no one sees what we’re doing. but that’s distorting the word of God. by being true to ourselves we can avoid the distorting. not just ourselves, but to those that we know and love. being honest to the world around you is one of the things that helps to keep you honest to God. and being honest with yourself and God is one of the things that help keeps you honest to the world. so, if truth sets you free, then following the steps outlined here in the second book of corinthians, you are free indeed.

For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light
-Ephesians 5:8

God the Son (aka Jesus) could only do that which was in accord with the Fathers will. nof for a theological proof: if we’re supposed to be turning into little Christs (which is what Christian essentially means), we should be emulating all that Jesus did. Jesus only did what God the Father wanted. that fact is bigger than i think anyone i know can really comprehend. it’s easy on one level, but really think about it.

which bring us to something interesting that’s going on in the church: people not wanted to compare themselves to Christ. as we basically proved above (without all the other theological stuff that it needs) is that we’re trying to become more like God. if we are, should we not be trying to mimic and imitate the life of Jesus as the Father sees fit for us to? which also includes drawing parallels from what Jesus went through to what we go through in our own lives. Jesus was tempted in the desert, when we get in the desert we should do what He did: pray! and use the word of God as our defence.

in becoming more like the Father we notice that the only way to do that is to let Him do His thing. we’re like candles in that respect. candles do marvelous good once they’re lit. but they can’t light themselves, they need someone else to do it.

and lastly, remember, you are a child of God. live with the Lord in His ways. don’t let the darkness of this world blind you. please be encouraged that there is hope. no matter where you are, there’s hope in the Light.