The pillar of fire displaying God's glory was seen by the Israelites as light and by the Egyptians as darkness:
And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light ... and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other ...
~ Exodus 13:21; 14:19-20 (NKJV)
When the fragrance of God's light is in us, we should expect the conflict of contempt from the world:
For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.
~ 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 (NKJV)
The answer is not to compromise light and make peace with the world (2 Corinthians 6:14), but to walk more closely with light and thereby strengthen our bond with other believers (1 John 1:7).
Precious Paraclete, please unite Your people and make us one with one another and with You.
Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
The more I give of myself to the Lord, the more the enemy attacks. It's disheartening, but fruitful. How's that for insane mathematics?
ReplyDeleteTana ~
ReplyDeleteThe more of ourselves we give to the Lord, the stronger we are AND the more the enemy sees us as a threat to attack. That extra fruitfulness? We're seeing only a small amount of it now--(enough to keep us going I think). We're also making deposits to that treasure in Heaven. I still don't understand the concept of being rewarded in Heaven according to our works. I mean c'mon, how much better can Heaven get than seeing Jesus? Yet the Bible says there are different rewards waiting for us.
Tana ~
ReplyDeleteWeren't we recently discussing the various object lessons of Scripture? Maybe I'll start including that little gift in my replies to your comments, at least as often as I can find them. ; ) Today I'll give you a two-fer, from both OT & NT.
But the more [the Egyptians] afflicted [the Israelites], the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. (Exodus 1:12)
At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria ... As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. (Acts 8:1-4)
Oh I love those verses, they speak volumes of how the Lord usurps the enemies plans every time! Thank you Anne for your always thoughtful answers. =)
ReplyDelete