John Phillips
Stay Out of The Dark!

I can still hear Valerie laughing as I told her how startled I was when I went out to our garage the other night. Valerie had washed a favorite ball cap of mine and hung it to dry on the handle of an exercise machine. Now I had gone to retrieve something from the car that evening and when I saw that cap hanging there in the darkness, it looked just like a man standing in the corner of our garage! Hey, I’ll admit it, I was frightened; that is until I turned on the light and saw things as they really were!
You know it got me to thinking about how frightening life must be to those who are in spiritual darkness! That’s what’s going on for lots of people who don’t allow the light from the Word of God to illuminate their lives. You should realize that if you are a Christian, you represent God’s light in whatever spiritually dark place that you may find yourself! The apostle John wrote to believers in the 1st century saying, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (I John 1:7) We live in a world where Satan wants to put out the lights so that we will stumble around in darkness. John was encouraging Christians then and now, to let our lights shine for the glory of the Lord!
If it's dark where you work, remember you're God’s light in that place. Maybe it's dark in your school, or even in your family but God’s light can shine there too – if you will let it shine through you! Satan will try to keep people in the dark by putting out your light, but God may be preparing you to spread the light to an even larger circle of people by how you live. So don't be surprised if you're facing difficulties or going through tough times; the enemy's only hope is to try to keep people fearful, frightened and stumbling in the dark! But we can keep that from happening if we continue to let our lights shine for Christ.
While Satan may desire to keep us in darkness, remember what the bible says, "… we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” It’s frightening and dangerous stumbling in the dark like I was that evening, but it’s reassuring and encouraging to know that Jesus is the light and we don’t have to walk alone! Let’s continue to “walk in the light as He is in the light” by staying close to our power source which is the Lord Jesus Christ.
