Today's focus - verses 12-15:
We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
You will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place... Imagine waking up in a strange place, an unfamiliar room, a cave, deep in a forest, in the middle of the night, and with no light whatsoever. Suddenly, you see a light, the only source of light anywhere. You will do well to pay attention to it. Even though our eyes can see the physical things of this world, spiritually we are in the darkness, and that is no metaphor. The dark nature of this world is very real. We move about in this world spiritually as well as physically. And, unless we seek the Light of the World, we are blind to realities greater that what our physical eyes show us.
Matthew 4:16 says; The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. You must not be fooled by what your eyes show you; you must recognize that yoiu live in spiritual darkness. Then you need only recognize that Christ is, indeed, the Light of the world, and that you will do well to pay attention to it.
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Questions:
1. Do you sense the darkness around you?
2. Have you seen His Light?
3. How did you respond?
THOUGHTS ON LIGHT AND DARKNESS
"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him
than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling 'darkness' on the wall of his cell..."
than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling 'darkness' on the wall of his cell..."
C.S. Lewis
"The Christian religion made its way through Paganism....
unassisted by the force of human power,
"The Christian religion made its way through Paganism....
unassisted by the force of human power,
and as gentle as the triumphs of light over darkness."
Joseph Addison
"I have come across black men and women who remembered the only white man they ever saw before--
"I have come across black men and women who remembered the only white man they ever saw before--
--David Livingstone; and as you cross his footsteps in that dark continent, men's faces light up as they
speak of the kind Doctor who passed there years ago. They could not understand him; but they felt the
Love that beat in his heart.
"Henry Drummond
"Though the light shines on things unclean, yet it is not thereby defiled."
"Though the light shines on things unclean, yet it is not thereby defiled."
Augustine
"How many are quite unworthy to see the light, and yet the day dawns."
"How many are quite unworthy to see the light, and yet the day dawns."
Seneca
"As the sun can be seen only by its own light, so Christ can be known only by His own Spirit."
"As the sun can be seen only by its own light, so Christ can be known only by His own Spirit."
Robert Leighton
"God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life, that I may burn for Thee.
Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like You, Lord Jesus."
Jim Elliot
"It is not darkness you are going to, for God is Light. It is not lonely,
for Christ is with you. It is not unknown country, for Christ is there."
"It is not darkness you are going to, for God is Light. It is not lonely,
for Christ is with you. It is not unknown country, for Christ is there."
Charles Kingsley
"The issue is now clear. It is between light and darkness and everyone must choose his side."
"The issue is now clear. It is between light and darkness and everyone must choose his side."
G.K. Chesterton
"As in the candle I know there is both light and heat, but put out the candle, and they are both gone."
"As in the candle I know there is both light and heat, but put out the candle, and they are both gone."
John Selden
"Virtue---even attempted virtue---brings light; indulgence brings fog."
"Virtue---even attempted virtue---brings light; indulgence brings fog."
C.S. Lewis
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