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Jesus the light of the world

by Mike Vandermause on July 01, 2019

Jesus proclaimed in John 8:12: I am light of the world.

In this modern era we have access to light everywhere, so we don’t appreciate or grasp fully the reference to light.

In Pastor Troy Murphy’s message on Sunday, June 30, he said it’s in moments of darkness that we receive clarity and understand the power of Jesus and his light.

The darkness we encounter can produce a great sense of fear and uncertainty. But there is hope in knowing we are not alone in the darkness and that God can use darkness to transform our hearts. 

Troy talked about three types of darkness we encounter:

Dark heart & mind

All men and women have evil in their hearts (Romans 3:23; Mark 7:21; Jeremiah 17:9; Ecclesiastes 7:20).

Even Christ followers can drift away from God (Romans 1.21) and and are blinded by the darkness (1 John 2:11).

One way to stop drifting is by plugging into the body of Christ, the church, which points to the light of Christ. Left to ourselves we are more prone to drift, but other believers can keep us accountable and speak truth into our lives.

Dark season

Difficult circumstances occur in our lives — the loss of a job or relationship, or someone hurts us. Throughout the Bible we see examples of Godly men and women who went through dark seasons.

The story of Joseph in the book of Genesis is a prime example. He was sold into slavery and imprisoned unjustly. Joseph could have become bitter, but instead he embraced his circumstances and allowed God to refine him and prepare him to be used in a mighty way.

Sometimes we must sit in a dark season and wait for God to refine and use us. Sometimes God allows those hard circumstances as a way to bring clarity so we can see who is able to get us out of the darkness.

In good and prosperous times it’s easier to forget where our strength and provision comes from. Embrace difficult times and allow God to work in your life.

Dark path

Sometimes we only get enough light to see one step in front of us. God wants us to trust him for the next step (Psalm 119:105).

The darkness makes us focus on where our light comes from, and we can trust in the promise that we will not be alone (Psalm 23:4).

Jesus is our light and he calls us into the light so that we might shine for others.