“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” (Isaiah 9:2 KJV).

When we awaken from sleep in the middle of the night in our darkened bedroom the first thing most of us do is reach for a light to help us see. Some of us may keep a night light on so that we are not groping in the dark to find a flashlight. For we know that to try and navigate the room without the light can be painful! We might stub a toe on the edge of a chair. Or we might stumble over another piece of furniture in the room.

Likewise, to try and navigate life in this world without the Light of Christ can be equally painful and devastating. In John 8:12 Jesus declared that He was the light of the world. That declaration was a direct fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 9:2. Most people are completely in the dark when it comes to knowing Who God is and what He is like! Most are completely in the dark when it comes to knowing how to have a living, personal relationship with Him!

But the good news of the Gospel is that Jesus, who is the Light of the World, has come to reveal God to us; to show us exactly who He is and what He is like (John 14:9). And not only did He come to reveal God to us, He also came to show us how we can know Him and be with Him forever (John 14:6, Rom. 10: 9-10).

Because Christ has come we no longer have to stumble around in the darkness of life! We no longer have to walk in the darkness of sin or be plagued by the fear of death! Because the Light has come we can see clearly how to live and we can know the real meaning and purpose of life. We can truly know who we are, why we are here and where we are going! There is no other light anywhere that can give us such illumination!

Let us embrace that Light and walk in it (1 John 1: 6-7). It makes a huge difference in our world.

Rev. James W. Black

“So, I sent messengers to them saying, ‘I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you.” (Nehemiah 6:3 NKJ).

Nehemiah had been sent by the Lord to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem which had been destroyed 70 years earlier. It was part of God’s plan for returning His people to their homeland in Israel. It was a huge task. And many of Israel’s neighbors opposed the idea of Jerusalem’s walls being rebuilt.

At first they mocked and ridiculed them (Neh. 4:1). When that failed they threatened them (Neh. 4:7-11). Their last attempt was to try and distract them by getting them to focus on something totally unrelated to what they were called to do (Neh. 6: 1-3). Because Nehemiah and his people refused to be intimidated or distracted the work was finally completed.

That is a small picture of our walk with the Lord! In our walk with Him, some people will mock and ridicule us. Some will threaten us with disapproval and say unkind, untrue, and hateful things about us to discourage us and disrupt our walk with the Lord. When neither of those is successful the adversary will then seek to distract us by enticing us to become involved in things (even good things) that take away from our continued growth in the Lord. We must be wise and careful to not allow our adversary to distract us from our walk and purpose in the Lord!

Rev. James W. Black