Living in the Light

Have you ever been in a restaurant when the lights suddenly dimmed and the softer, more ambient light began to glow, cluing you in to the fact that it was no longer day time, but evening had arrived? In fact, the restaurant may have even changed menus at about this same point, transitioning from smaller portions and reasonable prices to the larger entrees and equally enormous price tags.

My husband and I were recently at an Outback Steakhouse when this happened. We noticed the transition, felt it. But then it passed and our eyes adjusted and we moved on with our conversation. We had been in the light of day, but suddenly we were in the shadows of the evening. No big deal.

But while we may actually enjoy the shift from light to candlelight in a restaurant, the same transition sometimes occurs in our lives and we best take notice when it does.

Today I read in 1 John 1:5-7:

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

These few verses are packed full of truth, but I just found myself asking one simple question in light of this passage this morning:

Are you living in the light or sneaking about in the darkness?

I know the answer to that question without much self-examination. We may grow accustomed to the dark, but if pushed to acknowledge whether or not we're operating in it, most of us know the truth pretty quickly. 

I've had times in my past when I was indeed living in the dark. What did that kind of life look like?

• I had secrets.
• I didn't disclose all the facts at times.
• I insisted on privacy and resisted situations where I would need to be transparent.
• I balked at other people's questions -- simple questions like, "Where were you?" or "Who was on the phone?" or "When did you get that dress?"
• I kept my relationships shallow and surfacey.
• I lived in a shroud of guilt and secrecy and shame, but it was my normal so I didn't try to remove it.

And when I lived in the dark, this one thing I knew: I was still under the watchful and omniscient gaze of my God, but I was not in fellowship with Him. And I wasn't in fellowship with other believers either...not true, intimate fellowship.

But the darkness felt like a warm and comfortable blanket, heavy as it may have been. And if someone, even God, tried to lift it from me and pull me out of that dark cocoon, I would become angry, resentful, self-protective.

In time, however, I did, by the grace of God, step out into the glaring, blinding light again. It was a shock to my senses, uncomfortable and very exposing. But there I stood...until my eyes adjusted and I saw what I'd been missing.

In the light there is:

• freedom
• fresh air
• fellowship with other believers...healthy people who are alive and living genuine, authentic lives
• peace with God
• relief
• wisdom, real wisdom, not that shady, mysterious, twisted stuff we call wisdom but which is in fact nothing but worldly foolishness, vanity and arrogance
• perspective, the big picture
• integrity
• authenticity
• grace for others

The truth is, life in the light is so much better. But somehow, in the shroud of dimly lit darkness we are fooled into believing that the life we are living is in fact superior to those in the simplicity of the light. I've lived in both. The light is where true life is.

And when you walk in transparency with others and humility with the one true God, you will walk in the light. He is in the light. And it's good here, really it is.

I've found that I have to make a conscious effort to walk in the light. Here's how I stay in the light:

• I keep in constant contact with Christ. I have a daily quiet time in which I read His Word and share with Him from my heart.
• I go to church. I engage with a body of believers and call them my family.
• I confess my sins as quickly as I'm convicted of them. I try my best (and it is difficult) to own them as "my sins" and not brush them off as anything else.
• I work really hard to tell the truth about every little thing. Once again, this is not always easy for me.
• I don't allow myself to hide anything. When I catch myself hiding away some money, stashing away a favorite candy bar, tucking away a little memento even, I stop myself and ask why I'm doing that. If my reasons aren't completely honorable (for instance, I think it's fine to stash away $40 to buy my husband a birthday gift), I don't let myself follow through. I can keep things; I just don't let myself hide them. Once again, I'm sort of a bury-the-bone-in-the-backyard kind of dog, so this one's hard for me. But it's worth it to live in the light.
• I stay accountable about where I'm going. I tell someone when I'm going to the mall, for instance. 
• I don't have passwords on my phone, my computer, my television, etc. My family can see what I'm doing in those places. No secrets here.
• I enlist an accountability partner when I find myself struggling with a particular hang-up, e.g. watching too much television, over-eating, spending too much money on clothes, etc.

How about you? How do you stay in the light instead of drifting into the darkness? This is one of those areas where I can always use another helpful tip. In fact, I think we all could use an occasional shining from a fellow believer's flashlight, helping to point the way back to the wide open spaces of living in the light. So, do share. After all, that's what living in the light is largely about...keeping each other in the corner of our eye, so we're less prone to get into something we never meant to get into.

Let's live in the light!

An "Out of this World" Tip for Meditating on Scripture

I've mentioned a handy, dandy little tool for meditating on scripture most every time I've talked about it this past year, and yet I've neglected to ever really provide all the how to's for this particular tip. So today we're going out of this world with an extraterrestrial sort of meditation method.

Now before you think I've flipped my lid and gone all new age on you, let me explain.

When I teach gals to meditate on Scripture so that they might feed their hungry souls with the bread of life, I teach them to spend time with it, chew on it, swallow it, etc. Still, the whole meditation thing is quite foreign to most of us and we need all the practical how to's we can get in this area. A number of years ago I came across this handy little acronym that gives you some mighty creative ways to ponder the scriptures.

S.P.A.C.E. P.E.T.S.

It's not enough to simply say that we need to "spend time" with a scripture passage or verse. The common question would be, "What exactly am I going to spend time doing with it?" I need some ways to chew it--some questions to ask about it.

When you happen upon a scripture that resonates with you, jumps off the page at you, ask the following questions as you ponder the verse:

• S - Is there a Sin I need to confess?
• P - Is there a Promise to claim?
• A - Is there an Attitude to change?
• C - Is there a Command from God that I need to keep?
• E - Is there an Example in this passage that I need to follow? (e.g., Paul is rejoicing in prison, Daniel is deferring all the glory to God, Joseph is forgiving his brothers, Mary is submitting herself to God's purposes even though she can't understand them.)

• P - Is there a Prayer here that I need to pray?
• E - Do I see an Error I need to avoid? (e.g., Joseph is bragging to his brothers, Samson is fooling around with temptation, David has failed to turn away from temptation, Martha is getting distracted with the urgent.)
• T - Is there a Truth I need to accept by faith and walk in?
• S - Is there Something for which I need to thank God?

Sometimes I hear people say that there are portions of the Scriptures that just really aren't worth spending much time on. But actually, even the tabernacle design plans, the genealogies, the divvying out of the Promised Land, and the blessings and cursings of the Old Testament offer good eating...if you know how to get your fork and knife out and cut it up right. Sometimes we just have to ask the right questions.

So today as you eat from the Word of God (and I hope you're eating several hearty meals!), try eating it with some SPACE PETS. Simply take the passage you're focusing on and slowly and deliberately ask the SPACE PETS questions of it. And if the answers to any of the questions are yes, then take the time to "swallow" that scripture by confessing that sin, claiming that promise, asking God to help you change that attitude, recommitting to following that command, or heeding that example. Or maybe you'll swallow it by praying a scriptural prayer, opening your eyes wide to a potential error, accepting by faith a difficult truth, or thanking God for that special something.

Let me know what you think about this "out-of-this-world" method for meditating on Scripture. Have you ever done anything like this before? Tell us about it. We'd love to know how you go about feasting on the Word of God so that it satisfies your soul like nothing else this world has to offer!

A Little Straightening Up

I've been straightening up lately. I haven't been cleaning, just straightening.

For my Mother's Day gift, my husband is providing me with a one-time house cleaner today. So you know how that goes. I have to straighten up so she can clean up.

In fact she came over Monday to survey the house and see what I wanted to have done. I can tell she was wondering how she was going to be able to dust, mop and vacuum with all the stuff that was strewn everywhere. She looked a little concerned.

I assured my one-time heroine that things would be put in their appropriate places so she could indeed dust and wipe down and mop and vacuum and such.

So as I've been straightening up and putting things in their places and throwing things away today, I've considered how I might need to do the same thing in the deeper places of my life. You see I've been asking God to do some pretty deep cleaning in me lately as well. And while He is quite willing and able to sanctify or wash me up all by Himself, I do have to cooperate with some preliminary work.

Before God moves in with the cleansing power of His Word and His Spirit - a might duo indeed - it's a good idea for me to set the stage for His work by:

• allowing Him to search my heart and see if there are any wicked ways or sins I might need to confess and repent from. Sort of like my walk thru with my housecleaning angel on Monday, I need to give Him permission to point out any waywardness I need to deal honestly with.
• rearranging my priorities so that I take time to spend with Him each day, consistently and eagerly.
• sorting through the hindrances that have recently gotten in the way of my seeking Him more often.
• putting aside all the encumbrances that weigh me down and get in my way of running a clean race.
• and making sure He has all the cleaning tools He needs to work with, namely His Word. I may need to spend more time in the Bible, even adopt a few new ways of approaching His holy Word.

So while I was putting things away yesterday, I also took a little mental inventory of my walk with the Lord. And indeed I found some things to be out of place.

And today, while my one-time maid really scrubs and cleans my house until it sparkles, I'm going to be sitting and soaking in the Word of God, allowing Him to scrub me clean as well.

By the way, did you have a good Mother's Day, moms? I sure hope so. Mine wasn't a perfect day of bliss, but it was a sweet and pleasant day. And, hey, I got a housecleaning service out of it! What about you? Did you receive anything special for Mother's Day? I'd love to know...