I first heard of DriveCam when my nephew got his driver's license a few years back, and his mom's insurance company offered reduced rates for its use. This camera is installed on a vehicle's rearview mirror and records both interior and exterior activity whenever the engine is on. If triggered by a sudden or extreme movement, the camera forwards video of the preceding and following ten seconds to the DriveCam center for evaluation. Parents and teens then receive an email report, with recommendations for improved driving habits (and the occasional commendation for an accident avoided).
But those reports aren't needed as often as expected. Testimonials from novice drivers say that simply being shadowed by the camera helped them develop better driving habits, more than email reports did. Statistical data shows that use of DriveCam reduces accidents so significantly that some parents were inclined to buy nicer cars and cover cost of insurance for teens using a DriveCam. What's more, teens not at fault for an accident were absolved by the camera in situations where their word alone might not have stood against that of a more mature, at-fault driver.
There's no doubt that few teens initially welcomed such complete coverage of their driving. But in the long term, that camera's shadow provided more blessing than correction.
"[The inhabitants of this land] have heard that You, LORD, are among these people; that You, LORD, are seen face to face and Your cloud stands above them, and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night."
~ Numbers 14:14 (NKJV)
After 430 years in Egypt, the children of Israel walked out into the desert toward the Promised Land under a visible shadow (Exodus 40:34-38). In those initial forty years of walking with God, the Lord's clear presence assured His people of His provision, protection, and oversight. Disobedience received immediate rebuke, and one might surmise that few Israelites welcomed being shadowed at such times. But blessing far and away outweighed correction. In moments of greatest danger, that shadow of Light stood over them, covering them from harm.
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"
~ Matthew 23:37 (NKJV)
When we first realize, as Adam and Eve did, that our sin makes us naked before God, our shame compels us to cover ourselves—and our attempts are as futile as fig leaves. God alone provides complete coverage for sin, through the blood of His Son. When we allow Him to clothe us (as Adam and Eve did), only then are we safe from exposure (Isaiah 61:10).
The shadow of God's presence does not merely throw a veil over sin and pass on, without truly covering us. This shadow of Light, rather, draws in ever more closely, "as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings."
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – use @gmail.com *after* buildingHisbody
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Showing posts with label Light of God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Light of God. Show all posts
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Friday, December 9, 2011
Light, Part III: Truth & Blindness
"I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness."
~ John 12:46 (NKJV)
My mother has been blind since birth, with the ability to only see light, distinguish colors, and visually detect movement. She has sometimes expressed the desire to see an object or activity, particularly when a sighted person describes something to her. But my mother hasn't considered blindness a particular burden in life—it is all she's ever known. She's always said that she feels worse for people who once had sight and then lost it.
Several years ago, my mother collided with a sharp object she didn't detect and lost her remaining vision. She now lives in an unfamiliar and colorless world of perpetual darkness. She laments often that losing the sight she once had is far more difficult than it was to never see at all.
She remains grateful that she is only physically blind. She loves the Bible's truth, and has good spiritual vision.
"There is no truth or mercy
Or knowledge of God in the land...
Therefore you shall stumble in the day ...
My people perish for lack of knowledge."
~ Hosea 4:1,5-6
To live without truth and mercy is the result of not knowing God—of being spiritually blind. Spiritual blindness doesn't start out as complete, for the Bible says there's no such thing as a atheist (Romans 1:18-20). Truth and God's existence are known through (among other things) conscience, creation, and the place in every human soul that only God can satisfy.
When we don't know God, we grope about as spiritually blind. We feel around in the darkness for something to fill the God-shaped void in our lives. We expect to be soothed and satisfied by things like:
Food, Caffeine, Tobacco
Alcohol, Drugs (whether illegal or prescription)
Career, Achievement, Status
Sports, Hobbies, Recreation
Entertainment, Amusement, Media
Sex, Relationships
Money, Power
Justice, Revenge
Some of these things are plain evil. Many are only bad if used in excess or the wrong context. Every one of them is bad on the occasions when they displace God.
Therefore He says:
"Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light."
~ Ephesians 5:6-14 (NKJV)
I don't know a single person (including yours truly) who never falls back on one of God's provisions in a moment when they instead need only Him. Any one of us can have those moments, come to ourselves, and turn back to God—in prayer, in reading His Word, in seeking out His Light in others. (Woe to us if we do not!)
But the person who is spiritually blind, to whom Light is unfamiliar, knows nothing else. They continue to grope in the Darkness. They may even become so accustomed to Darkness, and embrace it so fully, that they deny the existence of Light—and lose the little Light they have.
"For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away."
~ Matthew 25:29 (NKJV)
We are children of Light. When we encounter a child of Darkness, we may be inclined to condemn their spiritual blindness and abandon them. (Woe to us if we do so!)
We also have the opportunity to shine upon them with truth and draw them into the Light. They may choose to come with us, and be healed of their blindness. Or they may cling to Darkness, their blindness growing.
Their decision cannot be excuse for Light in us to dim. To be a Christian is to be a little Christ, anointed with His Light, and bring it to every person around us.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
~ Luke 4:18-19 (NKJV)
Comments are welcome and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
~ John 12:46 (NKJV)
My mother has been blind since birth, with the ability to only see light, distinguish colors, and visually detect movement. She has sometimes expressed the desire to see an object or activity, particularly when a sighted person describes something to her. But my mother hasn't considered blindness a particular burden in life—it is all she's ever known. She's always said that she feels worse for people who once had sight and then lost it.
Several years ago, my mother collided with a sharp object she didn't detect and lost her remaining vision. She now lives in an unfamiliar and colorless world of perpetual darkness. She laments often that losing the sight she once had is far more difficult than it was to never see at all.
She remains grateful that she is only physically blind. She loves the Bible's truth, and has good spiritual vision.
"There is no truth or mercy
Or knowledge of God in the land...
Therefore you shall stumble in the day ...
My people perish for lack of knowledge."
~ Hosea 4:1,5-6
To live without truth and mercy is the result of not knowing God—of being spiritually blind. Spiritual blindness doesn't start out as complete, for the Bible says there's no such thing as a atheist (Romans 1:18-20). Truth and God's existence are known through (among other things) conscience, creation, and the place in every human soul that only God can satisfy.
When we don't know God, we grope about as spiritually blind. We feel around in the darkness for something to fill the God-shaped void in our lives. We expect to be soothed and satisfied by things like:
Food, Caffeine, Tobacco
Alcohol, Drugs (whether illegal or prescription)
Career, Achievement, Status
Sports, Hobbies, Recreation
Entertainment, Amusement, Media
Sex, Relationships
Money, Power
Justice, Revenge
Some of these things are plain evil. Many are only bad if used in excess or the wrong context. Every one of them is bad on the occasions when they displace God.
Therefore He says:
"Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light."
~ Ephesians 5:6-14 (NKJV)
I don't know a single person (including yours truly) who never falls back on one of God's provisions in a moment when they instead need only Him. Any one of us can have those moments, come to ourselves, and turn back to God—in prayer, in reading His Word, in seeking out His Light in others. (Woe to us if we do not!)
But the person who is spiritually blind, to whom Light is unfamiliar, knows nothing else. They continue to grope in the Darkness. They may even become so accustomed to Darkness, and embrace it so fully, that they deny the existence of Light—and lose the little Light they have.
"For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away."
~ Matthew 25:29 (NKJV)
We are children of Light. When we encounter a child of Darkness, we may be inclined to condemn their spiritual blindness and abandon them. (Woe to us if we do so!)
We also have the opportunity to shine upon them with truth and draw them into the Light. They may choose to come with us, and be healed of their blindness. Or they may cling to Darkness, their blindness growing.
Their decision cannot be excuse for Light in us to dim. To be a Christian is to be a little Christ, anointed with His Light, and bring it to every person around us.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
~ Luke 4:18-19 (NKJV)
Comments are welcome and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Light, Part II: Good vs. Evil
Seventy years ago today, a foreign country attacked our homeland and decisively engaged the U.S. in World War II—no longer permitting us to watch "them vs. them" from a distance. When war became "us vs. them" (no pun intended), one of the measures our nation took was incarcerating U.S. citizens of Japanese descent, lest we be infiltrated by our enemy.
War brings us to redefine whom we call good and whom we call evil, in order to separate ourselves from the "them" we must battle.
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 all that night.
~ Exodus 14:20 (NKJV)
The Lord YHWH would soon call and train His people to cooperate with Him in waging war against the various enemies of YHWH and His people. But in this passage, He chooses to instead segregate the Israelites from the Egyptians, while YHWH wages a battle reserved to Himself. At the Red Sea, YHWH delivers His people in parting the waters to permit escape, and seals that escape in the returning waters which destroy their enemies.
The Red Sea incident is the Lord's vivid picture of spiritual deliverance and destruction accomplished some 1475 years later at Calvary, a battle God reserves to Himself. In Jesus' blood sacrifice and death, He destroys mankind's greatest enemy of Death, sealing our escape penalty for sin.
Having been delivered from our greatest enemy, we are now called and trained to cooperate with the Lord in waging war against the various powers that would cause us harm. Our enmity is not with people, but with sin and its influence. Just as the Israelites of old were instructed to be ruthless in destroying their surrounding enemies, in order to escape the infiltration and influence of other nations, we are to be ruthless in fighting against sin's strongholds in our lives, to escape the infiltration and power of sin.
The Bible defines our war not in the sometimes nebulous terms of good & evil, but instead uses definitions such as Spirit & flesh (or sinful nature [NIV]), truth and lies, light and darkness. Because of the kind of influence they both have, the Bible also calls us to have separate kinds of relationships with people of light than with people of Darkness:
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
"I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
[and]
"Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you."
~ 2 Corinthians 6:14-17 (NIV)
The above passage is usually applied to marriage. While marriage is the most important relationship to apply this principle, it is not the only one. The context of these verses is recognizing that we have become a completely new person, and should no longer rely upon the world's definitions for segregation.
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
~ 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 (NIV)
In being reconciled to God and His Light of life, we also recognize that while we keep company with people of Darkness, we need to remain separate from close relationship with them—even as we, who are God's light, minister His reconciliation to them (the very next verse):
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
~ 2 Corinthians 5:18 (NIV)
Comments are welcome and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
War brings us to redefine whom we call good and whom we call evil, in order to separate ourselves from the "them" we must battle.
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 all that night.
~ Exodus 14:20 (NKJV)
The Lord YHWH would soon call and train His people to cooperate with Him in waging war against the various enemies of YHWH and His people. But in this passage, He chooses to instead segregate the Israelites from the Egyptians, while YHWH wages a battle reserved to Himself. At the Red Sea, YHWH delivers His people in parting the waters to permit escape, and seals that escape in the returning waters which destroy their enemies.
The Red Sea incident is the Lord's vivid picture of spiritual deliverance and destruction accomplished some 1475 years later at Calvary, a battle God reserves to Himself. In Jesus' blood sacrifice and death, He destroys mankind's greatest enemy of Death, sealing our escape penalty for sin.
Having been delivered from our greatest enemy, we are now called and trained to cooperate with the Lord in waging war against the various powers that would cause us harm. Our enmity is not with people, but with sin and its influence. Just as the Israelites of old were instructed to be ruthless in destroying their surrounding enemies, in order to escape the infiltration and influence of other nations, we are to be ruthless in fighting against sin's strongholds in our lives, to escape the infiltration and power of sin.
The Bible defines our war not in the sometimes nebulous terms of good & evil, but instead uses definitions such as Spirit & flesh (or sinful nature [NIV]), truth and lies, light and darkness. Because of the kind of influence they both have, the Bible also calls us to have separate kinds of relationships with people of light than with people of Darkness:
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
"I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
[and]
"Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you."
~ 2 Corinthians 6:14-17 (NIV)
The above passage is usually applied to marriage. While marriage is the most important relationship to apply this principle, it is not the only one. The context of these verses is recognizing that we have become a completely new person, and should no longer rely upon the world's definitions for segregation.
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
~ 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 (NIV)
In being reconciled to God and His Light of life, we also recognize that while we keep company with people of Darkness, we need to remain separate from close relationship with them—even as we, who are God's light, minister His reconciliation to them (the very next verse):
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
~ 2 Corinthians 5:18 (NIV)
Comments are welcome and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Light, Part I: Choose Life
My current Bible study on light is certainly the proverbial drink from a fire hydrant. If just one thing stands out, it is God's use of light for separation.
Whenever I teach or speak, working in threes has consistently proven to make things more manageable. Posts for today, Wednesday, and Friday will cover the three most prominent separations evident to me between light and darkness:
Life & Death
Good & Evil
Understanding of Truth & Spiritual Blindness
☼ ~ ☼ ~ ☼
Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
~ Genesis 1:3-4 (NKJV)
Genesis tells of God first creating the heavens and the earth as waters, and then describes six days of giving them separation, definition, and life by the power of His Word. Days one and two separate light from darkness and heavens from the earth. Day three defines the earth with terrestrial land (and botanical life) before the heavens are defined by their celestial bodies on day four. Day five fills the waters of sky and sea with animal life, while God's last workday is spent filling the land with creatures. God finally presents to creation His magnum opus—humans made in His image.
If Genesis gives a creation account from Earth's perspective, perhaps John's Gospel provides the creation account from Heaven's perspective.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend [apprehend, seize, take] it... That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
~ John 1:1-5; 9-10 (NKJV)
God is Spirit (see Genesis 1:2; John 1:18; John 4:24). Note that John says of Jesus, God's Word:
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Also note that before God separated light from darkness, He first created light. It seems to me that light didn't originally coexist with God, until God's Word (Jesus) spoke light into existence.
John's Gospel makes clear that life is inherent to God, and his words equate that life to light.
If—(HUGE "if" here)—God was invisible as Spirit and Word, perhaps He chose to make Himself visible as light as the means to impart life.
I'm no biologist, but my understanding is that in the physical world, there is no life apart from light. Even those life forms which exist in darkness are dependent upon light for the photosynthesis and other chemical reactions which provide their food. In simpler terms, mold might be growing in the utter darkness of my refrigerator, but it was the light of the sun that first enabled the food to grow that feeds the mold.
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
~ 1 John 1:5 (NKJV)
In the spiritual world, there is no life apart from God's light.
Wherever God is absent, our souls are either dead or dying in the spiritual darkness. If we would choose life for our souls, we must cling to God and turn our faces toward His light.
"I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life ..."
~ Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NKJV)
Comments are welcome and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Whenever I teach or speak, working in threes has consistently proven to make things more manageable. Posts for today, Wednesday, and Friday will cover the three most prominent separations evident to me between light and darkness:
Life & Death
Good & Evil
Understanding of Truth & Spiritual Blindness
☼ ~ ☼ ~ ☼
Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
~ Genesis 1:3-4 (NKJV)
Genesis tells of God first creating the heavens and the earth as waters, and then describes six days of giving them separation, definition, and life by the power of His Word. Days one and two separate light from darkness and heavens from the earth. Day three defines the earth with terrestrial land (and botanical life) before the heavens are defined by their celestial bodies on day four. Day five fills the waters of sky and sea with animal life, while God's last workday is spent filling the land with creatures. God finally presents to creation His magnum opus—humans made in His image.
If Genesis gives a creation account from Earth's perspective, perhaps John's Gospel provides the creation account from Heaven's perspective.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend [apprehend, seize, take] it... That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
~ John 1:1-5; 9-10 (NKJV)
God is Spirit (see Genesis 1:2; John 1:18; John 4:24). Note that John says of Jesus, God's Word:
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Also note that before God separated light from darkness, He first created light. It seems to me that light didn't originally coexist with God, until God's Word (Jesus) spoke light into existence.
John's Gospel makes clear that life is inherent to God, and his words equate that life to light.
If—(HUGE "if" here)—God was invisible as Spirit and Word, perhaps He chose to make Himself visible as light as the means to impart life.
I'm no biologist, but my understanding is that in the physical world, there is no life apart from light. Even those life forms which exist in darkness are dependent upon light for the photosynthesis and other chemical reactions which provide their food. In simpler terms, mold might be growing in the utter darkness of my refrigerator, but it was the light of the sun that first enabled the food to grow that feeds the mold.
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
~ 1 John 1:5 (NKJV)
In the spiritual world, there is no life apart from God's light.
Wherever God is absent, our souls are either dead or dying in the spiritual darkness. If we would choose life for our souls, we must cling to God and turn our faces toward His light.
"I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life ..."
~ Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NKJV)
Comments are welcome and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Go Toward the Light
Here are some random observations and verses from my study of light.
The entrance of Your words gives light;
It gives understanding to the simple.
~ Psalm 119:130 (NKJV)
Of the Bible's ~370 references to light (contrasting 220+ mentions of darkness), 13 are in the very first chapter.
Light is the Creator's first work.
Light drives back darkness with no more than light's existence.
"The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness."
~ Luke 11:34 (NKJV)
The oil used by lamps for light is also used for healing, anointing, and to show favor.
The Oxford Dictionary's entry for "light" includes this sub-entry:
SEE THE LIGHT : 2 undergo religious conversion
"Light" is a word stemming from Old English leōght, while "delight" has its origin in the Latin delectare for "to charm." Despite the lack of an etymological connection, I can't help but see a strong connection between the two.
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
~ 1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV)
In the above verse, the Greek word translated "marvelous" ("wonderful" in the NIV) is thaumastos, rooted in a verb describing the act of looking at something deliberately, intently, carefully, contemplatively, attentively—with admiration—in the effort to interpret it.
Another post on light is planned for Monday.
Comments are welcome and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
The entrance of Your words gives light;
It gives understanding to the simple.
~ Psalm 119:130 (NKJV)
Of the Bible's ~370 references to light (contrasting 220+ mentions of darkness), 13 are in the very first chapter.
Light is the Creator's first work.
Light drives back darkness with no more than light's existence.
"The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness."
~ Luke 11:34 (NKJV)
The oil used by lamps for light is also used for healing, anointing, and to show favor.
The Oxford Dictionary's entry for "light" includes this sub-entry:
SEE THE LIGHT : 2 undergo religious conversion
"Light" is a word stemming from Old English leōght, while "delight" has its origin in the Latin delectare for "to charm." Despite the lack of an etymological connection, I can't help but see a strong connection between the two.
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
~ 1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV)
In the above verse, the Greek word translated "marvelous" ("wonderful" in the NIV) is thaumastos, rooted in a verb describing the act of looking at something deliberately, intently, carefully, contemplatively, attentively—with admiration—in the effort to interpret it.
Another post on light is planned for Monday.
Comments are welcome and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Marvelous Light
Photo credit: Elizabeth BundyHonestly, I avoid whining or ranting, so I'll try to be good here today as I tell you that I am NO fan of Daylight Savings Time, which saves neither time nor daylight in my book.
I wish Michigan, like Arizona, gave DST the cold shoulder. Indiana had the good sense to stay on standard time until 2005, but they evidently grew tired of being asked why they were on Eastern time for winter months and not for summer. Michigan and Indiana are so far west that we ought to be in the Central Time zone anyway. And Michigan is also so far north that the last vestiges of summer daylight don't disappear from our sky until 11 p.m. EDT.
Although I'd prefer Michigan use CDT, what I'd really like is no 'D' at all. Give me more sunshine in the morning, please. Because regardless of what I'm doing in the evening, I'll keep on doing it after sundown, whether by electric light, firelight, or in the dark. Dark doesn't slow me down in the evening, but it can sure make it hard to get going in the morning.
I can think of liitle in creation more sacred than a sunrise. Watching the emergence of golden light push back the dark is worth losing sleep over. I am at peace with dark of night. But I also loathe Darkness.
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
~ 1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV)
I've spent way too much time in Darkness. I spent twenty-six years walking in Darkness before 1988, when I surrendered my life to Jesus and more fully experienced the "marvelous light" I'd discovered in 1985. Darkness obtained permission to attack again throughout 2010, and even now it licks at my heels and tries to bite. And of all the times I've engaged in spiritual warfare, there was just one occasion when I encountered Darkness face to face. I'm grateful that the blood of Jesus protects me from an eternity of that Hell.
Image source: Religion-Cults.com
" 'And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' "
~ Matthew 25:30 (NKJV)
In sunrises and the Son is marvelous light. That pesky DST makes me wait longer for a sunrise. The Lord tarries and delays the Sonrise of King Jesus reigning on the earth. But in all the other times that my soul is parched for marvelous light, I never fail to be satisfied by cracking open His Word.
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
~ 1 John 1:5 (NKJV)
Image source: The Scriptorium
Comments are welcome and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
When the Light is Darkness
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.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Necessity of Light
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you,
that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
~ 1 John 1:5 (NKJV)
that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
~ 1 John 1:5 (NKJV)
We need light for not only our bodies [see Monday's post, "Fatality of Darkness"], but for our minds—the light of God's Word is knowledge for the intellect (lest we stumble in ignorance, Psalm 119:105), and the light of His Spirit is sanity, or soundness of mind (2 Timothy 1:7).
If human spirit is life force and human soul is personality and psyche, then spirit needs light to have fellowship with its Maker (Psalms 36:9; 1 John 1:7), and soul needs light to be free of anguish and distress (Psalms 27:1; John 14:27).
If light is needed by the heart—by the emotion, in feeling—I think it must be the heart's assurance of knowing fulfilled purpose through another (Song 8:10). That is, the heart knows contentment in its union with God when we are one with His Spirit and His light shines in us (Matthew 5:14-16).
Whichever part of us lacks light, that part of us will surely taste death.
"Put your trust in the light while you have the light,
so that you may become children of light."
~ John 12:36 (TNIV)
so that you may become children of light."
~ John 12:36 (TNIV)
Beloved Lord, we can only begin to comprehend the beauty of the light that You are. Please give us hunger for Your light—and satisfy us.
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.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
God Wants Your Body
"We've just established the excellence of God's knowledge and wisdom concerning His plan for the whole world. So now, please, I'm begging you, act as a rational person and give God your body. Not only will He take great pleasure in having you all to Himself, but in getting a break from the world you'll also get a fresh perspective on the stunning perfection and wisdom of His excellent plan for you."
~ Paul, Romans 12:1-2 (author's paraphrase)
~ Paul, Romans 12:1-2 (author's paraphrase)
Romans 12:1 is usually translated with the words "offer your bodies as living sacrifices." In the Old Testament method, a sacrifice that meant the body of an animal died. For us, it means that our souls are more alive when we give our bodies to God.
As regular readers know, I've recently come out of a time when I struggled to bring myself to God. It's not that I didn't want to crawl up on the altar and give myself up. Rather, I was aware that the Lord asks for an unblemished sacrifice—the best we have to offer—and awareness of my sinful failings made me feel completely out of place as anything worthy to offer Him.
Silly, mistaken me.
Our Father in Heaven sees as unblemished those who have the protection of Jesus' blood. We're not going to become more worthy of God on our own. Christ's blood has already made us perfect in His Father's eyes.
There's a very good reason God wants your body and mine. God is Light, and any light needs something to hold it or reflect it, at least in our physical world. (Even daylight is held by the sun and reflected off the moon and planets at nighttime.) Although God is evident in other parts of creation, humans crown creation as God's image, and He most wants to be manifest in us—in our bodies.
He wants freedom to transform us from plain clay pots into magnificent vessels of His Light ...
... in our eyes as we take note of others.
... in our ears as we listen to others.
... in our hands as we serve others.
... in our words as we encourage others and praise Him.
... in our feet as we persevere with Him.
... in our faces as we shine with His countenance.
... in our hearts as we give His love to others—and return His love to Him.
Pick any body part. God's got a way to make it beautiful with His Light when it's offered to Him.
"Don't be afraid to give up the good for the great."
~ Kenny Rogers
~ Kenny Rogers
This post is part of a blog carnival hosted by Peter Pollock. You're invited to visit his site and see what others are saying about today's theme: Sacrifice
"God Wants Your Body" is also the title of a message by Christian comedian and preacher Ken Davis on Romans 12:1. His materials are available at KenDavis.com.
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.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Fatality of Darkness
The Bible calls God "Light," and we often consider it a metaphor without taking into account the fatality of darkness.
Without physical light, photosynthesis would not occur, plants would not grow, and we would starve.
Light is an necessity for us to function in life for any length of time. (Visually-impaired people who see no light rely on people with sight to perform many vital tasks, as I've observed during a lifetime of personal experience.)
When the Lord sent ten progressively worse plagues upon Egypt (Exodus 7-12), the second worst plague of utter darkness, which immobilized the Egyptians, was exceeded only by death.
God provided their necessities to the children of Israel during forty years in the desert: water, bread, meat, clothing, and light. The light provided in pillar of cloud and pillar of fire not only guided them on their way, but assured them of God's presence and continued provision—exactly as He does for us today.
More on the Necessity of Light is planned for Wednesday.
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.
Without physical light, photosynthesis would not occur, plants would not grow, and we would starve.
Light is an necessity for us to function in life for any length of time. (Visually-impaired people who see no light rely on people with sight to perform many vital tasks, as I've observed during a lifetime of personal experience.)
When the Lord sent ten progressively worse plagues upon Egypt (Exodus 7-12), the second worst plague of utter darkness, which immobilized the Egyptians, was exceeded only by death.
by Norbert McNulty
Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting,
and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle ...
the cloud by day, and fire was over it by night,
in the sight of all the house of Israel.
~ Exodus 40:34,38
and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle ...
the cloud by day, and fire was over it by night,
in the sight of all the house of Israel.
~ Exodus 40:34,38
God provided their necessities to the children of Israel during forty years in the desert: water, bread, meat, clothing, and light. The light provided in pillar of cloud and pillar of fire not only guided them on their way, but assured them of God's presence and continued provision—exactly as He does for us today.
More on the Necessity of Light is planned for Wednesday.
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.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Light for S.A.D.D.
Photo credit: courtesy Bud Ezekiel HitchcockThen the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked ...
~ Genesis 3:7 (NKJV)
It's been suggested that Adam and Eve were clothed with the holy Light of God before they sinned, and their physical nakedness was only manifest in the loss of such spiritual clothing.
Worse than the S.A.D.D. that may threaten with winter's dim skies and short days would be the profound sadness of having full fellowship with the Creator and be clothed with His Light—and then lose it. I sometimes have the audacity to question if the Lord really needed to make mankind’s consequences any worse.
He surely did. We have so many blessings to distract ourselves from fellowship with our Lord. If we felt no more than the loss of that fellowship—if the world was not filled with suffering, to remind us that this really isn’t the way the Lord planned for things to be—we might convince ourselves that we can get along quite nicely without Him.
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
~ John 8:12 (NKJV)
Certain light bulbs are said to relieve winter S.A.D.D. for some people. The only remedy which seems to help me is The Light—Jesus. But even The Light of the world doesn’t work for me in small doses. I need to bathe in it.
If sunbathing requires a person to strip away as many clothes as is decent and expose plenty of skin to solar light, then Sonbathing is to strip away as many thoughts as are distracting and expose plenty of soul to Holy Light.
What would we do if our God did not love us so much that He pulls back the shade of this world's darkness and beckon us to immerse ourselves in His Word, bathe in His presence by pouring out our hearts to Him, and surround ourselves with His people?
"Let your light shine before others, so that they will see the beauty of your labors and will recognize your Father in Heaven."
~ Matthew 5:16 (author)
If we do not accept His invitation to be infused with Light, what will be the condition of others in darkness, who need to know Him?
Thank You, Lord, for not leaving us in darkness. Thank You for the beauty and strength and comfort of Your Light. Please shine Your love to others through us, even if we don't notice it passing through.
Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail me ~ buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Darkness and Light
God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
~ 1 John 1:5-6 (NKJV)
Today's winter solstice brings to the northern hemisphere more hours of darkness than any other day of the year. An overnight lunar eclipse further dimmed the moonlight, and clouds obscured even starlight, plunging the sky into full darkness.
Jesus observed that some people love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil, but that lovers of truth are drawn to light—they are drawn to the Light of Jesus. (John 3:19-21)
The apostle John says much of Jesus—God Himself—as Light, and also as Life and as Love. John does not write in shadows, but draws sharp lines of separation between these definitions of Jesus, and the darkness, death, and hatred which define the devil. To choose the latter categorically excludes fellowship with the former.
Fellowship might be defined as time spent hearing and sharing what is in our hearts with one another. Fellowship with God means spending time in His presence, hearing and sharing with each other—through talking with Him and reading His Word, and through fellowship and love with His people.
Lunar Eclipse, as seen over MichiganDecember 21, 2010, 1:50 am EST
(full eclipse obscured by clouds)
He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
~ 1 John 2:9-10 (NKJV)
Darkness, death, and the devil take many forms and threaten in many ways. But they must shrink back when we have fellowship with God.
Darkness cannot prevail in the presence of Light.
Death cannot prevail in the presence of Life.
The devil cannot prevail in the presence of Love.
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
~ John 8:12 (NKJV)
Father in Heaven, thank You for the great gift of your Son, in Whom You have given us Light, Life and Love. Whatever darkness surrounds us, please draw our attention to Your prevailing Light.
Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail me ~ buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
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