Hello, my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Have you ever been in a place so dark that you could not see your hand in front of your face? Was that a frightening experience for you? As you look around our world, do you sense a growing darkness? A moral darkness, an integrity darkness? Does it seem to you that more and more leaders in the world are living in darkness so that their words, their actions, their leadership seems confused, illogical and is even leading their followers into the darkness?
God has spoken frequently and to every generation, warning humanity about the great danger of spiritual and moral darkness that is pervasive in our world because every person has a sin nature which gravitates toward the darkness.
Today, let’s listen and learn from Mr. Isaiah as he writes this message from God in Isaiah 50:10 “Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of His servant? Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on their God.”
Can you raise up your hand and say, “That’s Me!“? Are you a person who lives in awe of God and His majesty, His holiness, His unlimited knowledge and power? Are you a person who, to the best of your ability, consistently seeks to obey what God has communicated in His Word through His servants?
If YES, then it probably comes natural for you to TRUST the LORD your God when you find yourself in very dark places! What kind of dark places? How about times when you’ve received very bad news which awakened fear such as a bad medical report, or you’ve lost your job, or you are in financial trouble, or you are being sued by an unscrupulous person? Or how about conversations when a person is trying to convince you that what you believe is very wrong, this person sees as right! Or what you know to be a lie someone else believes is actually true. Or times you are being deluged with dishonesty and moral wickedness.
On the other hand, if you are NOT a person who lives in awe of God and respects God’s Word, then probably your mind and heart are quite easily swayed by friends or social media or popular public opinion or slick marketing or even political claims and promises.
So, which is it for you my friends when you find yourself in those dark places… confusion or confidence / fear or faith / strength or weakness? And how many of your friends and family turn to you for wisdom when they find themselves in those dark places?
Do you remember Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm? Every verse focuses on this matter of the power of discerning and following the LIGHT of God’s Truth and developing the courage to discern when you are drifting away from God’s LIGHT! I urge you to read Psalm 119 often, my friends!
Isaiah’s next statement calls every person to examine the light source they follow especially in the dark times of life! “But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from My hand: you will lie down in torment.” (Is. 50:11)
Do we understand? Increasingly people are skeptical of almost everything and everyone, have you noticed that? So, people are creating their own light, following their own instincts, charting their own path in life and through social media calling others to join with them. That is what God means by people who define their own truth and live their lives following their own light. Do you see God’s warning that those who fabricate their own light (truth) and follow it will end up in torment? Why? It’s because doing so disregards the LIGHT God has provided, specifically His WORD of truth and His Holy Spirit, and the lessons learned by Spirit filled people who fear and follow God!
Now my friends, you know I often seek to link New & Old Testament truth together, because both are given to us from God. Do you remember Jesus dealt with this very same issue of darkness in John 8? Jesus proclaimed: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows ME will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life!” (John 8:12)
Now that’s very clear, isn’t it? But Jesus didn’t stop there because He knew the skeptical, prideful hearts of people. So, Jesus continued: “If you hold to My teachings, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the Truth and the truth will set you free…So if the Son of God sets you free, you will be free indeed…” (John 8:31,32,36)
Do we understand that Jesus is not only promising He and God’s Truth, which He proclaimed, will guide us on the right paths in life, Jesus is declaring that His Truth has power enough to set us FREE from anything that deceives us, anything that enslaves us, anything that causes us fear. That’s anything of the darkness! And then in that same chapter, Jesus describes the source of the darkness that is all around us: “…the devil was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is NO truth in him! When the devil lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies…” (John 8:44) At this every person of every generation has to make a decision. Trust Jesus and His truth or turn away from God and His truth, as Adam and Eve did, and trust the liar Satan and the world of darkness he is building?
Now that’s important because all and each of us is walking our own path of life every day and that path is leading us somewhere. Isaiah’s message was clear: those who fabricate and follow their own light end up in despair! God describes that dead end ally of despair this way: “This is what you shall receive from My hand: you will lie down in torment.” Do you see this is God’s judgment coming from God Himself upon people who have rejected His light and fabricated their own false light and followed it deeper into the darkness of despair?
So, I think we need to pause and ponder right here my friends. Several questions come to my mind:
1. Do you and I live in awe, reverence, deep respect for God and His Word? If not, why not?
2. Do you and I seek to live our lives every day FOLLOWING God and His Word; Jesus and HIS LIGHT of Truth? If not, why not?
3. Are we fabricating, even a little bit, our own light and are we following it, disregarding God’s light? If so, WHY?
4. Will we be honest and assume responsibility for the disaster that awaits us if we reject God’s light, insisting we have a better light, while we pursue our own path in life following ANY light other than God’s light?
As you and I pray about those questions I wonder what we’ll hear from God, today…and what we’ll do about what God tells us? So, here’s a song to help us in our reflection, my friends…
Today’s Scriptures: Is. 50:10,11 & John 8.
Choose below to read or listen.
Is. 50:10,11
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John 8
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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