"LIT UP" FOR GOD'S PATH!

Light for me brings assurance. I like being able to physically see where I am gong.....and even where I have been. Maybe the need for security is why I leave the porch light on so often. Flashlights are in every room.

What's the best way to have true light in our lives? Pick up your Bible. Know God's Word. Truth from Scripture is our lamp!

May His Word be a light for me and all who read this today as we seek the path that He has for each of us!

Such info will probably light up our faces! Think "All Lit up!"

TIMELY REMINDER TO 🙏

When one’s heart is discouraged, usually more light is needed as her insides have darkened. What could be more timely than looking up yesterday at the “pray” sign on the light post at the Cafe Rel parking lot.

PRAY 

So……prayer was put in along with our lunch order!

CHOICE TO REJOICE!

Sometimes it's in the depth of our suffering that we can truly find the light of the One who is the light. Lately, it's been seeing the deep suffering of dear ones that has stolen my joy. Severe mercy can be difficult to witness. 

SNIPPETS of joy that have come to mind..........

• Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.
• Surrender and trust.
• Use fertilizer on my joyful heart, NOT round up.
• Give up performance-based living and people pleasing.
• After repentance comes refreshment.
• Refresh my spirit O Lord & renew my joy as I serve others!

Click here Hum along with Zach Williams.

"There ain't nothing gonna still my joy."

Rejoice.....it's the right choice.

"Positivi-TEA"

I create the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times. I, the LORD, am the one who does these things. (Isaiah 45:7, NLT)

Positivi-TEA. Sounds like a made up word to me. But....I knew that I had spent enough time on the negativi-TEA of darkness so a check with Merriam Webster showed that positivity is indeed a word.

Actually, it was an email last night from my son-in-law which reminded me of Corey's surety that God uses darkness. He began with his memories of night-watch comfort words from his dad and then went "fast forward" to the memory of hearing a radio pastor speaking on WCRV/Bott Radio about darkness being a result of the absence of light. Then Corey concluded with some physical "uses" of the dark.

"I am sure The Lord has alot of reasons for darkness,...rest, cooling the earth and vegetation or to see His heavenly handy work." Corey even ended his email with Isaiah 60:20, and this comment, "a great verse that speaks about the two great lights, greater and lesser and how they won't be needed anymore because He is sufficient."

Those "dark affirming" reminders had me thinking of the importance of embracing darkness as from God's hand and to look for it in a more positive light. Certainly the darkness of the night sky provides the perfect backdrop to showcase the splendor of His "starry" creation.

Then, a scripture search offered a little more light on darkness....and I loved it!

And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. (Exodus 20:21)

עֲרָפֶל, the Hebrew word for that thick darkness is araphel: cloud, heavy cloud. But it was there in that dark cloud that the Presence of God dwelt. God in the darkness!

Darkness is as sure a sign of God's Presence as is the brilliance of His glory.

My cuppa positivi-TEA was all the sweeter when combined with "collects" (prayers) from my Common Book of Prayer and night prayer, compline 133, " Look down, O Lord, from your heavenly throne and illumine this night with your celestial brightness,"

My cuppa didn't allow much light but I appreciated the rich darkness of both the tea and its translucent container. A step toward positivi-TEA.

"luminosi-TEA"

even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:12, NIV)

Don’t be fooled by the luminosi-TEA title. This entry is really about darkness.

Mother would always tell us that we had to be home by dark. That meant we were virtually free to roam the neighborhood until then---an activity unheard of these days. But…because of her admonition, it was easy to assume that bad things loomed and lurked in darkness.

Even as an adult, the darkness that sometimes penetrates my insides seems to get worse as darkness falls outside. Fears become like giants in a kid’s book, attracting and growing more darkness. Like a large shadowy magnet.

Lately I’ve needed words for friends who are in dark places where I’ve never been. So dark, that just quoting scripture would sound platitudinous, if there’s such a word.

• I know nothing about the darkness of living in a war zone as Liza described in her morning email. 
• I can only imagine how scary the place is for a friend whose spouse has had not only a sudden and alarming diagnosis but a gloomy prognosis as well.
• Darkness of job-related worries of several friends; concerns that I can't fathom. 
• I have not experienced the day in and day out darkness of living with chronic pain as the situation of blog friend in AR. 
• Nor have I lived with the fears induced by physical blindness as has a friend just around the corner.
• My heart aches for a dear friend dealing with a BIG potential problem---the fear of it has left me without words.

These are dark places being experienced this very day in the hearts of believers whom I know.

I know that the Light of the Lord is there in all these situations….but that doesn’t negate the existence of those dark places.

……. in your light we see light. (Psalm 36:9)

As Dolly explained to P.J---"the sun is there, it's just behind all the dark."
(Commercial Appeal Comics 8/16/14), 

I want to serve them a cuppa luminosi-TEA so that they have strength and hope in the midst of fear and trouble----knowing that they are not alone, as God's all seeing eyes can penetrate even the darkness! 

"electrici-TEA"

"I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, 
but will have the Light of life.” (John 8:12, NASB) 

An e-mail from son-in-law, Corey, warmed my heart. (No pun intended, or was it??) Sweet Corey who reads my blog, says that lately he's had "tea" words whirring in his head. His subject line for the recent message was,  "I have tea every day, its my job."  As an electrician at FedEX, that certainly rings true.

Electrici-TEA!!! Hahaha! It just hit me this morning reading about the "power" of God's love. Just a thought. Light, power....

John 1:3-5--English Standard Version (ESV)

3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome. 

A cuppa, surrounded by the light--brewing in daylight, under the artificial light, & even documented with a flash of light. In the spiritual realm there is no such thing as too much "light" from the One who is Light.

Thanks, "Corey Gene"---a family "joke" name. Isn't God good! When in-laws are true family, we are all blessed.

"LIGHT." "Camera." "SMILE."

10/22/13

Armed with only a Canon point and shoot, I take a picture that makes me smile.

Yet, photographer Molly, searches out the light because “Light in photography" is everything, according to her. Always embrace the light. She uses her eye to do that but her “eye” is supported by her textbooks and course manuals that taught her “light meters read and photographers interpret.” Light can actually stir the soul.

Philosophically, all of that photography jargon seems analogous with the theology of those who see Jesus Christ as the Light of the World. (John 8:12) The important Light. The Light that gave definition to creation (Genesis 1:3) and stirs the soul. Knowing the One who is Light is everything to a Christian.

Sometimes just seeing light captured in creation reminds me of the One who created that light... 

…..and I simply smile.

Sunlight + Sonlight = Warmth

3/9/10 Morning light is coming sooner these days. Oh, I still dress in the dark but when I arrive at work at 5:45 there is that hint of sunrise. It can just warm me all over. It gives me that glimmer of hope.

In the early morning darkness, it helps if someone else is there to walk alongside or to lead especially if they’ve walked this way many times in the past. During these past dark, dreary winter months, especially when our lone parking lot light wasn’t working, I've had to fumble for my belongings (you know what bag ladies teachers can be!) and stumble toward the entry.

Have you ever stumbled in the dark? What is it about darkness?

Maybe a better question would be, “What is it about the light?” It exposes all those bumps on our path and clearly shows the way to our destination. Sometimes just a small light can help---that’s why I keep a flashlight in my purse and by my bed. All “just in case” kind of gals do that, I think. Light helps to determine direction while waiting for the sunrise.

God’s word continues to be a “lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” as it says in Psalm 119: 105. That lamp shines for the steps I need to take today---those that are right in front of me. That light illuminates the entire path that is before me---my spiritual journey. It’s the light that keeps me from stumbling in the darkness of self. It’s the Sonlight that warms me and gives me hope.