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GLEANINGS FROM THE WORD Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life

  

Issue #1,192 September 30,2004 Late Sunrise   The sun is finally peeking over the horizon. As winter draw nearer, the sun rises later and sets earlier. It won't be long before it will be dark when most people go to work and before they come home. Personally, I find the shortage of sunlight depressing. With the depression caused by my head injuries, I'm also prone to a little seasonally affective disorder. I'm blessed however to have one of those lamps which simulate sunshine and if I use it for a while first thing in the morning, it makes a huge difference. It's interesting to me that people are designed to be creatures of the light. Living in darkness is an unnatural state and can affect our physical and emotional well being. We can adapt to living in darkness or with less light, but it does take a toll on us. People are designed to need light. The spiritual parallel is obvious. We live in a dark and hurting world, yet that is not where we were designed to live. We were designed to walk in freedom and walk in fellowship with God. When Adam and Eve fell at the Garden of Eden we were knocked out of that fellowship with God and began to know darkness. The state of our world today testifies with all it's agony that we were not created to be that way. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time Romans 8:22 NIV Perhaps you think that creation groaning is a metaphor. I'm not so certain. I look at the floods, the fires, the volcanoes and the storms and I can almost hear the world groan. I listen in the silence to the toxic waste dumps, the strip mines, the pulp mills and I feel foreboding as we destroy the very fabric of our world. A walk along a country road, a hike up a mountain or a walk on a deserted beach soon turns up the garbage of those who went before us. Lakes die, rivers silt up and wetland dry. Surely their must be groaning even if it isn't audible to us. I could carry on and on with examples. Now I'm not a tree hugger. I believe God provided creation to be of benefit to man. Resources are to be used. Yet we're also called to be good stewards. Our lack of even modest attempts at good stewardship is a telling statement as to the darkness of our hearts. On the flip side of the coin, many worship the creation not the creator and that's just as dark. Yet there is hope. That hope is Jesus Christ. He's paid the price for us and He will redeem us and restore us. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:18-23 NIV The darkness will be followed by day. The true light is shining. Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. 1 John 2:7-8 NIV When the darkness gets too much to bear, remember the day has dawned and hang your hopes on Jesus. Until next time, rejoice, we are children of the Light and He will take us home. Hallelu Yah (Praise God) Be blessed Kevin

Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. You have value in the eyes of God so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that heaven will not be complete without you.

 

HELP FOR THE HURTING Are you tired of living in the oppressive bondage of the darkness? You don't have to remain there. Jesus came so that we could be restored to the light, The choice is ours. We can stay in the dark or we can walk in the light. All it takes to move to the light is bringing Jesus into your life. Will you do that? If you want to know how to do that simply email us and we'll send you some Bible verses that will explain it to you. You can simply begin the relationship by honestly and completely opening your heart; admitting you need God's help; turning away from your sin and saying a prayer along the lines of the one below. There isn't any "magic" in the prayer; it's simply a way to open up to the gift that Jesus already bought for you with His very life. You can't earn it. You don't deserve it. He freely offers it to all who will accept it. Jesus: I have made many mistakes in my life and done things I am not proud of. I have sinned. I need your love and forgiveness. I believe that you came into this world and gave your life on a cross to pay for my sins and that you defeated death and rose again. Please forgive me, and be the Lord of my life. I give my life to you Lord. Amen If you pray this prayer for the first time let me know so I can rejoice with you. It's not the end of the process. It is the beginning of a wonderful journey to become more like Jesus. It's your starting point.

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