Christ

Living in the Light of Jesus

“You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light” (Psalm 18:28 NIV).

When God lights up your life, He lights up your spirit with His glory. When you were outside of Christ you lived in spiritual darkness. God was a person you did not know, He had a voice you did not hear, and He worked in ways you could not see. Your spirit was like a candle in need of the flame of God’s love.

But when God places His light within you everything changes. The voice of God becomes discernible, the ways of God become understandable, the presence of God becomes enjoyable, the will of God becomes desirable, and the fellowship of God becomes delightful.

The beauty of being in the light and living in the light of God is that you can live in unhindered communion with Him.

In the darkest of the night,
when it’s most difficult to see,
I follow the light of Jesus . . .
It’s the only path for me.

He shines His light of goodness,
upon the narrow way.
He gives me Hope eternal,
at the break of each new day.

Whenever I’m lost and stumble,
without direction, and in despair.
I follow the light of Jesus,
knowing He’s the One Who truly cares.

Whenever afflictions strike me,
and I’m sick and feeling defeated;
I call upon His strength,
when mine is depleted.

Whenever trials and tribulations
seem to oppress and blind, so that I can’t see,
I follow the light of Jesus,
the only light which sets us free.

—-Sandra Lewis Pringle

A Prayer of Blessing

English: Don Moen

Image via Wikipedia

Scripture say there is a time for everything under heaven (see Ecclesiastes 3:1-8), that is the reason I am dedicating this prayer to all the good people who read this blog. Thanks a lot for your support.

“The Lord bless thee, and comfort thee: the Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace” (Numbers 6:24-26).

May God‘s richest blessings be yours today. May His grace abound toward you, may His love cascade over you, and may the rivers of His goodness flow abundantly through you.

May He bless you with health in your body, joy in your soul, and peace in your heart. May He grant you strength for your daily tasks, wisdom in your decisions, favor in your labors and provision for your daily needs.

May God’s great outstretched hand of protection be over you and each family member. May He keep you throughout the day and bring you home safely from every journey.

Above all, may He bless you with His presence, keep your faith strong, cause your hope to remain steadfast, and keep your heart forever faithful.

Greater love hath no man than the love of Jesus,

Jesus Christ Crucifix

Image via Wikipedia

There is no greater demonstration of devotion, no greater sacrifice of love, than to lay down your life for another. John 15:13 says, “Greater love hath no one than this, that a man Jesus) lay down his life for his friends.” (KJV) The Christian faith is built upon this kind of love. Jesus gave his life for us: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 KJV).

God gave man eternal life but our fore-parents forfeited their responsibilities. Their punishment, separation from God and eternal damnation. We inherited death and  destruction even before we were born, but God, through His loving kindness and His tender mercies gave us another chance, and pulled us back from the brink. John 3:16 says, “For Go so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”

The death of Jesus Christ on Calvary‘s has bridge the gap between us and God. Since there is no more gap between us and God, we have the privilege to renew our relationship with Him, so that we can experience lasting joy and peace. 1 Peter 1:8-9 says, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (NIV)

When we experience God’s love and forgiveness, Christ becomes the center of our joy. It doesn’t seem possible, but even in the midst of great trials, the joy of the Lord bubbles deep within us and his peace settles over us: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7 NIV)

But none of this would have been possible if were not for God’s unfailing love. He sent His only Son to take my place on Calvary. I am fully aware that: “It should have been me who was crucified, It should have been me who bled and died but Jesus took all for me and you.

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Love your neighbor as yourself

Bible Study (12) (1280x850)

Image by D G Butcher via Flickr

Who is my neighbor?

The command: “Love your neighbor as yourself” appeared eight times in the Bible. And according to (Mark 12:28-31 KJV), It is part of an answer to a question that a member of the scribes asked Jesus at one of His Bible studies: The big question however, is– Who is my neighbor? The answer to this question can be found in (Luke 10:29-37), where Jesus used the story of the good Samaritan to answer the question.

“And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him [Jesus], Which is the first commandment of all?

And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:28-31)

Who is this neighbor Jesus is telling me to love as I love myself?

Jesus answer this question in (Luke 10:29-37), where a lawyer tried to show Jesus up. “But he, willing to prove himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,

And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise”

It is safe to say that my neighbor is any person I come in contact with on a daily basis, irrespective of place.

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Jesus will calm the storm if you ask him to

Becoming a Christian does not insulate our lives from trials and tribulation. The Christian life is not an easy feel good road. And it sure does not come with a benefit package guaranteed to fix all of our problems.

But you can rest assured that if the ship of your life is tossing on that sea of strife and tribulation, Jesus will calm the storm if you ask Him.

Mark 4:35-40 proves my point: “On that day, when evening had come, Jesus said to His disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.  And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.  But he was in the stern, asleep on a cushion; and they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?”  And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?”

There are two other accounts of this story in the Bible, (Matthew 8:23-27 and Luke 8:22-25). Each author has a slightly different account of what had happened. However, the gist of the story remains the same in all three accounts: “Jesus will calm the storm if you ask Him to.”