BEFORE TIME BEGAN

BEFORE TIME BEGAN

Before time began,

Our merciful holy God gave;

He gave us His beautiful Son:

The Truth, the Life, the Way.

He has saved us and called us 

with a holy calling, not according 

to our works, but according to his 

own purpose and grace, which 

was given to us in Christ Jesus 

before time began.

2 Timothy 1:9

INCREASE THE LIGHT

In the physical world, there is no measurable quantity which
defines darkness; dark is simply the absence of light.  Therefore,
the measure of darkness can only be in reference to the measure
of light: less darkness isonly achieved through more light.

In the spiritual world, darkness represents the evil of the enemy
and light represents the holiness of God.  Though neither can be
truly measured, the concept is the same: darkness only exists
when there is an absence of light.  Light and dark cannot exist
at the same time; when light is increased, darkness must fade.

1 John 1:5-6
"This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you:
God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.  If we claim to
have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and
do not live by the truth." Salvation is by the grace of God
through faith in Jesus and not through anything we do
(Ephesians 2:8-9).  But the purpose of Salvation is to
bring glory to God as we walk in intimate fellowship with
Jesus - the true and eternal Light.  It is not possible to have
fellowship with the Light of Christ and still live a life filled
with the darkness of sin.  Jesus purifies us from all sin
(past, present, and future) in the sense of judgment before
the Father, but He also illuminates the dark sin in our
life and gives us the strength to gradually push it aside.

A life without the Light is in darkness and cannot even
recognize true sin.  If we attempt to remove sin without
first shining the Light, we simply clean the outside but
leave a heart which is dark and dead.  Some outsides are
dirtier than others; but no matter how filthy an outside
may appear, we ALL need the Light of Christ in our heart
before we can be clean; "First clean the inside of the cup
and dish, and then the outside also will be clean"
(Matthew 23:26).  In an instant the grace of His Light is
able to do what no amount of self effort can ever accomplish.

When our own spiritual life becomes "dim," it usually
means our time with the  Light has begun to suffer - our
discipline of prayer and reading His Word has been
replaced with competing distractions.  Where we once
walked with clear vision, we now bump into walls and
continually stub our toes.  But God desires to light our
path once again.  He has "saved us and called us to a
holy life" (2 Timothy 1:9), to a life filled with Light - a
life of bold clarity in Him.

Let's share the true and eternal Light of Jesus Christ
at every opportunity and refocus our priorities on the
only  sure way to restore our vision.  Let's commune
with Him in prayer and immerse ourselves in His
Word.  His path will once again be made clear and
darkness will surely fade as we increase the Light.

Have a Christ Centered Day!
Steve Troxel
God's Daily Word Ministries

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Archive of previous devotions : 
http://www.gdwm.org/archive08.htm