Advent Readings for Week Two:
Sun. Is. 11:1-10
Mon. Zech. 6:12-13
Tue. Mic. 5:2-4
Wed. Mal. 3:1-6
Thu. John 1:1-8
Fri. John 1:9-18
Sat. Mark 1:1-3
Isaiah 9:2-“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” The prophesied light was and is Jesus Christ. Are you walking in the light with Him today? Answering these three questions can help you determine if you are.
1. Have you agreed with God about your sin?-1 John 1:5-10
Three times in this I John passage John talks about darkness and lying and self-deception, and he alternates between those descriptions and the truth of what God wants to do for us if we will walk in the Light. Verse 7 says if we want to walk in the Light by allowing our sin to be out in the open, we can be cleansed of it by the blood of Jesus. Verse nine tells us if we will agree with God about our sin, God will forgive us and purify us. It is crazy that we would choose to walk in darkness because we don’t want our sin to be seen in the light when it is in the light that our sin is not just seen, but gets removed forever?
2. Do you live a forgiving life?-1 John 2:9-10
Verse 9 tells us when we harbor an unforgiving, unloving spirit we will harm ourselves first. Verse 10 tells us that believers who hold grudges and carry bitterness and anger in their heart toward others can actually become a stumbling block to others. So, un-forgiveness isn’t good for the believer (vs 9) because it puts him on a path of darkness, and it isn’t good for others in our lives because our bad attitude becomes a stumbling block to them.
Extending forgiveness is part of receiving healing. When people hurt us, we have a wound whether in our heart or mind. Part of the healing process for wounds like that involves forgiveness. When we take steps toward forgiveness, we take steps toward healing. Un-forgiveness doesn’t take away the hurt you have suffered, and it will only cause you to have a second wound that is self-inflicted. Why be hurt twice when you can be healed once?
3. Do you live a life of integrity and truth?
John 8:44 tells us the devil is the Father of Lies. To lie and deceive is to walk in the darkness with the devil. Walking in the light means we must avoid the shadows. We must stay away from the gray areas. We must stand so far from the line of compromise that it is obvious whose side we are on.
When we walk in darkness we add to the darkness of the world and betray our calling not only to walk in the light, but to be as Jesus was, the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). But if we walk in the light, light transforms the darkness into light. Darkness adds to darkness making things darker, but light added to darkness transforms things and makes them better and brighter. Perhaps what is happening isn’t so much that the world on its own is getting darker. Perhaps what has happened, even over the course of my lifetime, is that the church, the Christians have grown darker and rather than transform the darkness of our culture we have contributed to the increasing darkness.
Agreeing with God about our sin, forgiving those who hurt us, and living a life of integrity and truth, these are some of the ways we can walk in the light.
Let’s walk in the LIGHT this week!
Pastor Melissa
