The Light

My first post of 2019 will be an encouragement, I hope, and a challenge.

After the busy-ness of the Christmas season and settling back into familiar routines, these first few weeks of the new year sometimes need a little boost to keep us on track. Our church usually kicks things off with a 21-day fast, in whatever form that takes for each individual. This year, however, we’ve changed things up a bit. We’re fasting for a week and meeting together at the church for a prayer time every evening.

Wow.

And I say “wow” for several reasons. First, the turnout has been nothing short of stunning. People want to pray! Second, the Holy Spirit has been moving in His gentle way, touching deeply the hearts of those who step out of their busy schedules to be there in that room. Third, God has downloaded so much into my own spirit that I feel as though I will be sorting through those files for a good long while, basking in His love for me.

Wow.

Call them visions or whatever, but I sometimes see things in my spirit when I am praying. I have learned to pay attention when these pictures come. During the prayer times at the church this week, I’ve seen the same thing twice, but in different ways.

The first was a window, much like the one I inserted at the top of this post. There was a bright Light shining through – brighter anything could ever be. All I could think was GLORY! This is GOD’S GLORY! It was a good thing I was sitting at the time, because I would have fallen to the ground at the magnitude of what I saw.

The following evening, I saw the same Light at the very core of me. Actually IN me! The Light was spinning and growing and expanding and spreading, filling every single part of me. I knew without a doubt that the Light was Jesus, who lives in me – His GLORY! To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27 (NKJV)

But what does all of this mean? Glad you asked, because I asked the same thing.

Think about a dark room. A really dark room. If you light a match in a corner of that room, it’s amazing how much light there is. Just like that, the Light of Jesus penetrates the darkness, shedding Light on every situation, every problem. There are no shadows. The Light reveals every issue and sin, enhances every joy, and everything becomes clear.

The Light draws you to Him. He holds you, surrounds you with love you can’t explain, infuses you with peace that you’ll never understand, washes you with His living, purifying water of life.

The Light inside you pulls you in and keeps you close. His Spirit speaks wisdom to you. He teaches you and motivates you and encourages you. He gives you the ability to see the next step to take.

And the fire! The fire of the Holy Spirit burns hot and never goes out. The fire spreads and sparks, bursting outward with power and love.

It’s real.

It’s the only real there is.

Seek the Light – the Light who is Jesus Christ.

For you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9 (NLT)