Jesus Said: Come Out of The Darkness
Come Out of The Darkness (12.30.07)
"Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness." (John 12:42-46)
Many people are living in darkness, even those who believe in Christ. They are more focused on the world and others than on God. When we live for the world rather than God we become depressed, lost, alone, and empty inside. No matter how many people or things are in our lives we are always searching and longing for something that will shed some light on us and bring us out of that darkness.
Here Jesus is explaining to His disciples how important it is to confess Him and live for God and not the world. He tells us that when we live for the world we do not believe in God and cause ourselves to live in darkness. When we live for the world we are more focused on our needs than others, we do not repect others or ourselves, we trust no one, we are not at peace, and we can not forgive those who have hurt us, especially ourselves. No matter what we do we can not break free form the mistakes we made in the past. We dig ourselves into a tunnel of darkness and can not escape.
I can account for all of these things because I have been a witness to them. As a child I grew up knowing who Jesus was, but never really understood what that meant. Then as a teenager I began working for a youth pastor and learned how important it was to know Him. Of course I faced opposition especially from my family and instead of putting my focus on God I hid from Him. I quickly fell for the temptations that the world offered. It became like a drug to me, I would desire people and things to make me feel good about myself and forget my problems. Once I got what I wanted I was on high for a little while then quickly dug myself further into that tunnel, leaving myself dark and depressed. I was always searching for something stronger and better to make me feel that good again, often doing the unimaginable to get what I wanted. All I was doing was digging myself deeper into darkness.
Then when I was at my weakest moment God spoke to me and dragged me up out of that tunnel and for the first time in years I saw the light. I began living for God and not the world and even though I still had problems I kept my focus on Him and crawled out of the tunnel. Oh, sure I still have bad days, satan will stop at nothing to get me back to where I was, but I am stronger knowing that the Lord is with me and people see Him through me and my words as well.
Jesus brought me up into the light and He can do the same for you. He is telling you to trust Him, and believe in Him. Are you ready to come up out of the darkness?
God Bless You,
Chrisitna
