Walk In The Light

1^st John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

1^st John 1:6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

1^st John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Dark and light can’t occupy the same space at the same time. This isn’t even possible. Darkness is the absence of light. So since God is light, there can’t even be any darkness in Him. He is perfect and there is no evil in Him. We are lying to ourselves and to the Lord if we are walking in darkness and saying that we are in fellowship with Him. Sin separates us from God. Just like in the garden when Adam and Eve sinned. Before they sinned, they were in fellowship with the Lord and they were walking with Him. It takes one sin to separate us from the Lord. If I am in sin, I can’t be in fellowship with the Lord. If I walk in the light and believe in His Son, I am cleansed of all of my sin. Past, present and future. Jesus’ blood cleanses our sin. When we are walking in the light and not in darkness we are cleaned by the blood of Jesus and then we can have fellowship with one another. I want to be in fellowship with the Lord and now walking in darkness. I want to grow in my relationship with the Lord and be completely filled with His Spirit. I want to be in His word and I want Him to be the center of my life.

Application

Today I will spend at least an hour reading my Bible and praying to grow deeper in my relationship with the Lord. He is my everything and I can’t be in fellowship and grow in my walk with Him if I am not spending time with Him.

Agree To Meet

Amos 3:3 "Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet?

Two people have to be in one accord to walk together. They should have a goal that they are both reaching for or the same destination in mind. If two haven’t agreed to meet they will have different destinations. This will cause them to not even be able to walk together.

2^nd Corinthians 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

When two are unequally yoked they can’t walk together. We should be pushing each other to the goal. We shouldn’t be hindrances for each other in our walks with the Lord. Jesus as well came to this Earth and walked among us. He is now in Heaven and unless we have agreed to meet how can we walk together with Him. If we aren’t living a life that is with the goal of getting to heaven, we can’t walk with Jesus. Just as we should be in one accord with believers, we should be in one accord with the Lord. We should want what he wants and seek after Him.

Romans 15:5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus,

Romans 15:6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is how we as believers can walk together. When we are one in accord with Jesus. And when we are walking together we will both have the same desire. That desire should be to glorify the Lord.

Application

Today I will pray for unity in our group and that we would all be one in accord with Jesus Christ. 

Stay Awake

Luke 12:37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.

Luke 12:38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants!

Luke 12:39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into.

Luke 12:40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

As Christians we should never fall asleep in our service to the Lord. We should remain faithful in our service to the Lord and not waver or fall away. Just as the master in this parable that comes back and sees that their servant is awake. We too should be awake as servants of the Lord. Even when the master isn’t here. We should serve in the little things. The Lord sees us and he knows what we are doing at all times. He is always with us, but we should also be ready for the coming of Jesus. 1^st Thessalonians 5:2 says, “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” No one knows when the Lord is going to come again, so we should always be ready. We should be serving Him no matter what.

I’ve talked to people who say that they are going to live their lives how they want to now and then at the end of their lives they will decide to become a Christian. This way of thinking is scary to me. You could be crossing the street and get hit by a car tonight. I don’t want to live for today and give up eternity with the Lord. Living for the Lord is so much better than living for myself anyway.

Application

Today I will keep an attitude of being a servant the whole day.

He Calls Us Friends

John 15:15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

Before this Jesus called His disciples servants and now they are friends. We should have a relationship with Jesus that isn’t just that of a servant and a master, but that of friends. Friends have a closeness. More than a servant and a master. They know each other, trust each other and tell each other everything. This is the relationship that Jesus wants with us. He doesn’t want us to only look at Him as our master, but also as our friend. Jesus has made known the reasons behind what He is commanding us and he tells us all that He has heard from His Father. I want to have this closeness with Jesus, my savior and the creator of everything. He is saying that he calls us friends. I can have this relationship with Jesus. For a relationship to grow you need to spend time with that person.

Application

Today I will constantly come to the Lord in prayer and I will read my Bible for at least an hour and listen and wait on the Lord.

Called To Serve Not Be Served

Matthew 20:26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,

Matthew 20:27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,

Matthew 20:28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Jesus came into this world and turned it upside down. In society there is kind of a triangle of power and the people at the top of this triangle are the people that have the most power and they don’t expect to serve other people and they aren’t really expected to serve people. People at the bottom of the triangle are more the people that serve others. They don’t have as much power as the people higher up in the triangle. Those in authority and those that have power shouldn’t hold that over the people that are under them. Jesus came into this world serving and he left this world serving. Jesus turns this social triangle upside down. He is saying that the greatest among the people should be the of the people. Not lord it over them, but to serve them. Jesus came to be a servant to all. He died on a cross for us and he is the ransom for our sins. He died on that cross for our sins. To save us and be the ransom for us.

Application

Today I will look for every opportunity to be a servant. 

I am an Unworthy Servant

Luke 17:7 "Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and recline at table'?

Luke 17:8 Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink'?

Luke 17:9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?

Luke 17:10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'"

A servant has duties that they are supposed to perform. As Christians and followers of Jesus, we too have duties that we should do. A servant shouldn’t get any special treatment or special recognition for doing what they are supposed to do. We as Christians shouldn’t get praise for what we are supposed to do either. We should be doing what has been commanded to do and when we do this we shouldn’t then look to the people around us and expect or even want praise. We should do it humbly and only wanting God to be glorified through what is being done. I don’t want to get recognition for what I do. I want the Lord to be glorified in what I do. We just read missionary books in class and I had Samuel Morris. He came to America from Africa and had so much faith and was so filled with the Holy Spirit that when he prayed everyone was changed and looked to God. He had a childlike faith with no doubts. Whenever something would happen people would look to him and praise him kind of. Samuel hated this more than anything, because in life all he wanted was for Jesus to get praise and glory. So he would always put the attention back onto the Lord. I am an unworthy servant. As John says when he is talking about Jesus,

John 1:27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie."

I not even worthy to untie the sandal of Jesus. I’m not even worthy to be called a servant of God. I am privileged to be called a servant of God. I don’t want praise for serving the Lord and doing what we are called to do.

Application

Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” I will give thanks to the Lord in everything and glorify his name in everything. I will also pray and thank Him for allowing me to be His servant.

Follow Him

John 12:26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

To be a servant of Christ we must follow him and be his disciple. I want to follow Jesus and be an imitator of Him. He was a servant to all and I want to be the same. If I am a servant of Christ, He will be my master and I will obey him. We should die to ourselves and then we can bear fruit. If we are living for ourselves and our own desires, we can’t bear fruit. Verses 24 and 25 say,

John 12:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

John 12:25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

When we die to ourselves and live for Christ we gain our lives. We can’t gain eternal life without dying to our self, believing in Christ and living for Him. Jesus is in heaven and if we are servants of Christ we will be with Him in heaven. John 14:3 says,

John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

We will be with Jesus in Heaven and I want the Lord to say to me well done like in Matthew 25:23 “His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'” Jesus says that what we do to the least of us we do to Him. So I can serve Him by being faithful in the small things and by serving everyone Matthew 25:45 says, “Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'”

Again only through Christ can we come to the Father. By being a servant of Christ the Father will honor me. Not by serving myself or even by serving this world, but I serve Jesus. In everything I do I should be serving Jesus and glorifying His name.

Application

I will look for opportunities to serve Christ. I will show his love and glorify is name through my service to Him. I don’t want to get any glory from anything that I do. I want all of the glory to go to Him. Today I will be faithful over the small things that I see and I will do the