John 1:5 ESV “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Divine Comfort
I am comforted as a believer knowing that Jesus, The Light, is never overcome by darkness.
Are you tired of living under a dark cloud? Are you desperate for hope and deliverance from the bondage brought on by the wrong decisions that you have made?
The Sin Dilemma
When humans are born we are born into sin. We walk in darkness as long as we are walking life without Jesus as our Savior. Jesus is the light who shows us that we are sinners in need of salvation. We need redemption from a life and existence in darkness.
Sin is present and constant in our world. The good news is Jesus prevents believers from walking through the darkness brought on by sin. Jesus, the Light is truth. He purifies our thoughts so that we can be aware of right from wrong. Jesus shows us how to live based on the example he left for us in the Gospels.
When we become saved, the darkness of sin no longer has a hold over our lives. We are redeemed from the curse of sin (death) and are free to walk in the light. We see the presence of God when we no longer walk in darkness but in light. Knowing God’s presence brings us hope, strengthens our faith, and shows us His gifts of grace and mercy over our lives.
His Sacrifice Matters
Jesus was persecuted and crucified by enemies who were of darkness. But, as John 1:5 says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” In His death, Jesus was glorified and victorious in His resurrection.
This selfless sacrifice provided us a way out of darkness through salvation.
Here’s Why You Should Become A Believer In Jesus
Becoming a believer today will free you from sin’s darkness. You can begin to walk in the light as your life is transformed by the renewing of your mind. Life may not always be easy, but you will have the hope found in your savior moving forward.
Becoming a believer today gives you the knowledge of God’s presence through the Holy Spirit living inside of you.
And you also have the promise of eternity with God according to John 3:16 which says,
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
15 “That is why they stand in front of God’s throne and serve him day and night in his Temple. And he who sits on the throne will give them shelter. 16 They will never again be hungry or thirsty; they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun. 17 For the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
3 “I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.””
Choose this day, the light or the darkness.
Read the Gospel Message according to the scriptures thoroughly and a prayer of salvation here!
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May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
As you look at the world that we live in, do you see the lack of love for one another? The lack of joy and peace? The absence of empathy and support for one another is a realistic description of our world. Many of us walk around saddened, embittered, and in torment because of this.
Jesus came with a great example of how we should live and treat one another. True unity comes about when we stand as one together with God’s desires. God chose to send His Son Jesus to redeem us from sin. His desire is for us all to be purified of sin and never separate from Him. Jesus did not please himself, but He carried the weight of our sins on Him as he journeyed to the cross. He fulfilled the Father’s mission for him!
Do you find that you are void of joy and peace at times? If yes, this could have a large part to do with a lack of God’s hope. As humans we look for security, especially in the world. Security can be found in others on a physical level to an extent, but more importantly security in God always restores us. Without God, we have no hope of living in unity with God’s desires, finding joy and peace.
Do not be saddened or worrisome because Romans 15:13 describes our God as one of hope. This hope fills us with joy and peace by the power of the Holy Spirit. Only through the Holy Spirit do we abound in hope.
God gives us loads and loads of hope when we trust in Him.
If you are doing life alone, you should acquaint yourself with the God of hope. God has showered you with His grace to do so. He is the God of hope for every Jew and Gentile. By the power of the Holy Spirit, receive God’s hope and live in joy and peace.
As we all believe, receive God’s hope, selflessly stand in support of each other and with God’s desires, we will strengthen one another instead of taring one another down.
Let us pray for hope, joy, peace and unity with one another concerning God’s will.
Dear God, Strengthen me to walk in your desires and support others around me. Thank you for Jesus, my example. Help me trust in you so that I may experience your hope. I want to live in joy and peace, experience a life of love and support for others. I pray for us as a world to turn our desires away and live in your godly desires. You alone are our only hope for joy and peace. Help us become more like your Son Jesus everyday. In Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen.
Before you go, name your greatest takeaway from this devotional in the comments.
Have an amazing week!
P.S. – Do you want to become a believer today? I’ll show you how here.
Do you ever have an attack of condemnation that causes you to doubt God’s grace and His forgiveness of your sins? This is a normal area of doubt, but it’s not the truth to believe that if you have repented you have not been forgiven. Will the Holy Spirit help me understand God better? Let’s explore this.
“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (Crossway Bibles 2008).
Before any of us become saved, we are wicked and will live a life separated from God for eternity. But when we turn from wickedness and unrighteous thoughts through repentance, God has compassion for us. With His compassion, He forgives our sins instantly just as He did for the wicked in Isaiah.
Coming from a sinful nature, it may be hard for many of us to understand the power of grace initially. God created grace and by His thought pattern, way, and through Jesus’ sacrifice, it causes grace to be enough for the forgiveness of sins.
Remember that repentant believers are under grace. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand God’s love and purpose for grace. When you understand how much God loves you, you will rest assured that the free gift of grace through faith is sufficient for the forgiveness of your sins and you personally.
Just as we have little understanding of the heavens, we have minimal understanding of God’s ways and thoughts. But, when we find ourselves in confusion, we can rely on the Holy Spirit, whom Christ sent to show us love, give us spiritual understanding, and peace.
Pray Today:
Dear Lord,
Please help me never underestimate your gift of grace. Lead me Holy Spirit to understand the Father’s thoughts and ways better. Lead Holy Spirit to find peace in God’s love.
Do you want to become a believer today? I’ll show you how here.
'For thus said the Lord God , the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But you were unwilling, and you said, “No! We will flee upon horses”; therefore you shall flee away; and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”; therefore your pursuers shall be swift. A thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you shall flee, till you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, like a signal on a hill (Crossway Bibles, 2008).'
Do you ever feel the urge to act on temptation? You may feel the Holy Spirit say go left, but you think to ignore in rebellion and go right? Well this is how I see Israel acting in Isaiah 30:1-17. Like us, in some moments of temptation, they are making a decision to disobey.
The entire book of Isaiah speaks to the rebellion of Israel from the Lord’s covenant instructions brought through the law of Moses and their reliance on false gods and ungodly political alliances. Isaiah warns how Israel will face judgement through their exile, the admonishment of their political alliances with other nations, and those nation’s falling (The Daily Grace Co., 2017, p. 132-134).
Isaiah also speaks to hope. Hope will be found in the Lord after the exile is over. He accounts that Israel will receive their homeland back. They will also receive the promise of the coming of the Redeemer, the Messiah(The Daily Grace Co., 2017, p. 132-134).
When we don’t have a relationship with the Holy Spirit, the wrong path is easy to go down with Satan. We may actually do things that we never really believed we would. In addition we may also fall into a pattern of rebellion against God like Israel. As a result we may have to face consequences that won’t be so pleasant. They will hurt and can sometimes break us.
In verses 15-17, the Lord speaks a warning through Isaiah. He explains that “in returning to Him and rest they shall be saved” and that “in quietness and in trust they will obtain their strength.” But God knows His people very well and explains that Israel will ignore this by believing in their own strength. They will be unwilling to return to Him. They won’t find rest and strength (Crossway Bibles, 2008).
Isaiah continues on to state God’s words about what comes next. He says, “you shall flee away” and “your pursuers shall be swift.” He says, “A thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you shall flee, till you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, like a signal on a hill (Crossway Bibles, 2008).”
So military action will occur.The Lord will frustrate the battle. Let’s refer to verse 3 of Isaiah 30 when God says, the “protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame” and “the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation. Essentially this is a return to Egypt, who once oppressed them before they became free (Crossway Bibles, 2008).
Don’t reattach yourself to your oppressor as Israel did. Your oppressor is Satan, and His plan is eternal death for all people. But God the Father has said otherwise. He has sent a Savior for the world, named Jesus. Jesus ensures we have an eternal life.
So today, examine if you’ve received salvation or do you have a break in your relationship with the Holy Spirit. If you have gone astray, there is still time to return to God and build or rebuild that relationship with Him.
You will never regret choosing God. And He has so much love that he wants you to experience by following and knowing Him. Instead of finding yourself in a helpless war with your flesh and Satan, ask the Holy Spirit to search you and remove any behaviors not in alignment with His will. Ask Him to spiritually armor you up to follow Him and fight successfully amongst spiritual warfare.
Pray this week:
Dear Father,
My hearts desire is to be in alignment with you. Please forgive me for the times that I rebel or begin a pattern of disobedience. I want to honor you in how I live, get to know you more and experience your love. Open my eyes to the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life. Order my steps dear God.
In Jesus’ Mighty Name,
Amen
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Do you want to become a believer today? I’ll show you how here.
Sources Used:
Evans, Tony. The Tony Evans Bible Commentary. Holman Bible Publishers, 2019.
The Daily Grace Co., et al. “Isaiah.” The Bible Handbook, edited by Jana White and Alli Turner, Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 2017, pp. 132–134. Source used to understand the context of the book of Isaiah from the Holy Bible
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version: The ESV Study Bible. Crossway Bibles, 2008.
The fear and anxiety that we experience are not of the great God we serve. Many times our anxieties are imaginations that we think up to ourselves. We fester on them and eventually begin to believe them.
This is a snare. It’s a trap orchestrated by Satan. He doesn’t want us to trust God. He definitely wants us to believe that we are all alone. The enemy desires for us to be webbed into bondage by the thoughts and things that we are fearful of.
Have you ever thought of your anxieties this way?
Anxiety is not a God thing. It’s a tool to disable us from fulfilling God’s will for our lives.
Take Moses for instance. He was fearful of a speech difficulty that he struggled with. He actually didn’t believe he could effectively travel into Egypt and command Pharaoh to let the Lord’s people go.
Exodus 4:10But Moses said to the Lord , “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.”
Many times like Moses, all of us allow our shortcomings to disable us into fear.
But Proverbs 29:25 says, “whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.”
Do you believe that today? God’s Word is true and never lies.
The next time you are fearful or overcome by anxiety, remember this promise of God. We don’t always know how He does it, but God protects His children. He is graceful, merciful, and kind in heart.
We can trust Him over any anxiety.
I encourage you to break free of your anxiety trap today. Go forth and persevere in the things God has called you specifically to do.
Be not afraid and remember that God remembers us in our fear. We can be reminded by that in scripture when we read that Aaron was sent with Moses to be his spokesman.
Exodus 7:1
And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.
God is always for you and will not forget you. He is your safety.
Pray this week:
Dear Lord,
Please help me to overcome my fears and anxieties. Please correct my way of thinking and remind me that you are my safe place. Build my trust in you and my resistance to any snare.
In Jesus’ Mighty Name,
Amen
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