light of the world – Roberta Writes

Sounds like home

I remember as a child holding a big conch shell up to my ear. Some adult urging me to try it. If I held it to my ear, I’d be able to hear the sea.

I held it up to my ear, it sounded breezy and muffled. I was skeptical. I cupped my hand and placed it over my ear. The sound was different. Had I thought to try it with a coffee mug my skepticism would have been founded, as the sound is similar, but I didn’t.

This seashell was plucked from the sea, but if you listen close it whispers of its home. You could bring home a vial of sea water. It would look no different from slightly murky salted water. Or you could bring a jar of sand. Neither the water nor the sand will tell you where they came from. But the shell will, if you care to listen.

This is like humans. If we watch and listen, we can know where people are from. Not identifying their country by their accents, but rather to whom their loyalties lie. We can hear where they belong. I hope our lives whisper to those around us and let them know that we have a home with God.

Matthew 7: 16 – 20 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

The sweetness of memory

I am sometimes overwhelmed by the cares of the world. We live in dark days. The last thing I need to do when my own struggles are great is to add the world’s issues to the pile.

Old hymns, from my childhood, come to mind. One particular hymn is rolling around in my head today. I found this lovely version of it and thought I’d share.

What I truly wish I could share is the version that plays in my mind. The song sung by a congregation on a Sunday morning. My grandma humming softly and nodding. Her beautiful clear blue eyes looking down as she smiles with assurance of a person who has walked with God through her life. Just the other side of her is the voice of my grandpa, booming out the baseline; more oompaapaa than opera. But his voice has the strong confidence of singing what he believes.

This is the most beautiful version of this song. My heart warms as I play it over in my mind. Not only are the words a comfort, but so is the connection with a faith that goes back years into my history. The memory of these two people who changed my life and gave me a gift I can never repay. I count their memory among my greatest joys.

So today, let this song play in your mind. I am sure that you also have rich memories. Let these thoughts speak peace and joy into your life. Together we can remember that God is greater than all the trouble in the world.

Family ties

When I was in University, I got a call from my Grandpa one evening. He said, “You have to come over and see these people we have here.” I questioned him as it was already getting late. “No, you need to come. These are relatives. You need to meet them.” He hung up without even saying goodbye. Something he would often forget to do. I got in my car and drove through the dark city, lit up by strings of streetlights, and made my way to their apartment.

It was a nice evening. I left not sure why I needed to know these people. All I knew is that my presence was important to my Grandpa. It wasn’t life changing. But it showed me how my Grandpa valued his kin.

A long time ago, God spoke to His Son. Maybe he said something like, “You need to go meet these people. You need to go see them, so they can understand me and know more about me.” I know, It’s silly to imagine what God and Jesus would have said to each other, as I am sure they communicate far more fully than we can comprehend.

Jesus came down to meet us. To show us our heritage and lineage, to explain our family connections. He did this because God cares about us. He wants us to know we are part of his family and loved by him.

There can be no greater honour than being called to meet and see God, through his own Son. A meeting with the Son of God is indeed life changing.

John 17: 25-26 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

His sheep

I heard an analogy this weekend that was thought-provoking. I was watching a program about people who have left the Amish faith. This particular family did so as they studied the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. They came to the conclusion that the principals of Jesus were more important than the rules of their faith.

A friend came to her and explained that the rules were there as a fence to keep the sheep safe within the confines of the pasture. The fence protected them from the dangerous world. This woman’s response was so beautiful. She said, “If you are with the Shepard and following where he leads, then no harm can befall you.” Or something of that nature – it’s a rough paraphrase.

The hardest thing to do is live by principles. We favour rules and laws. They give us security. We feel less afraid when we have a physical barrier or fence. The problem is that we are limiting our influence. We are limiting our experiences and our knowledge. As scary as it may be to leave the safety of the pasture, if we are following Jesus, then we can do so with confidence.

Read about Jesus. Know about Jesus. Give your life to Jesus and see where he leads.

Fear has no place in our hearts. Is it there? YES. We are human. But we must fight fear. Jesus overcame evil. The biggest battle the world has ever known has already been fought and won. We may struggle and suffer, but Jesus has already paid the price for our sin.

Our Shepard will not lead us astray. He has gone before and fought the fight. We must keep our eyes on him.

1 Peter 2: 21 – 25 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you,
leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to Him who judges justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd
and Overseer of your souls.

The light of men

The other night I had to go to the bathroom. I normally walk around with the lights off, but I had something stuck in my throat, so I turned the light on to take a look. It took me a few seconds before my eyes adjusted to the light. I took a look, couldn’t see anything, had a drink of water and turned to go back to bed. I now staggered in what was complete darkness. By the time I got back to my bed my eyes were starting to adjust again and I could see a little.

As I crawled back into bed, I thought about Jesus calling himself the light. What does this mean? How often do we consider how we interact with light.

Sometimes light is unbearably bright. We all know not to look directly at the sun – it’s intensity will blind us. And when we move from a bright sunny day into a dark space we feel blinded by the darkness. Light isn’t always gentle or unobtrusive. Light can be shocking, both in its brightness and in its absence. It is a basic human need, but we still need to protect our eyes from it.

When Jesus came to earth as a human, He came in a form that we can see and understand. He came as a lantern that lights a path. But His true nature would shock us. We wouldn’t be able to gaze on him directly. His light is what defies the forces of darkness. His light is a weapon.

John 1: 4-5 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

When will we understand?

Jesus was in a boat with his closest followers. He was talking with them, warning them to be wary of the “yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”

I love this story. Jesus is taking a moment of calm to teach these men. He gives them a piece of advice which they don’t understand. In fact, they start mumbling to each other about what he could mean. They settle on the fact that he’s upset because they didn’t bring enough bread, focusing on his use of the word yeast.

Jesus response shows his disappointment, and he asks them how they could still be missing the point. In modern language his response would be, “Bread! You think I am worried about bread?” He reminds them he just made food materialize for thousands of people, not once but twice. Even after that, they think he’s concerned about the bread.

These men are not prepared for what is about to happen. They are limited in their understanding by what they have already experienced. Nothing that they will soon see can be predicted by the world as they understand it.

We also are trapped by our own view point, by our experiences. It can be hard to fathom what might happen next, or how the events that are ongoing could shape our understanding.

We are very much like these disciples. If Jesus came and spoke to me today I think his words would be the same. He’d likely point out all the miracles he has preformed in my life, that I accepted without question. He’d be disappointed in my lack of understanding also.

Mark 8: 21 He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

True north

I have heard the phrase, “we have lost our moral compass.” You have probably also heard this phrase. It is a great visual. It connotates being lost and unable to chart a course out of the confusion.

What I see in the world around me today is perhaps even deeper. I don’t think our society has lost its moral compass. I think we have lost true north. We have all the gadgets and technology necessary to find our way out, but we don’t have an agreed upon core of truth. What good is a compass if it isn’t drawn to the north (magnetic – I know but that doesn’t sound as good as true – sorry)?

We can’t possibly all head the same direction if we won’t agree on a basic concept of truth. We have lost our way, because we have lost a sense of God. We have removed the ability for our compasses to seek and point us to God.

The good news is, we aren’t powerful enough to remove God. We are vain and arrogant to think he disappears because we won’t see him. He is there, still calling. We need to give our compasses a good whack and jiggle out the dust and we can correct our course.

That is the only answer. The only way to move forward. Find God and begin to walk toward him.

John 14: 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.

Galvanize your heart

I have a little galvanized steel pitcher. It doesn’t look like other steel. It isn’t shiny or brushed looking. It has little shapes, jagged and erratic and dull. This finish is called “spangle.”

They make galvanized steel through a process of coating the steel in zinc. There are several types methods used. They dip the metal in hot zinc or subject it to electric charges. Regardless of the technique used the dirt, grease and rust must first be removed. The steel must be completely clean. The zinc adheres to the metal and creates the spangle pattern.

What does this zinc coating do for the metal? It protects it from corrosion. It makes it resist rust and the natural degradation to which it would be susceptible.

This is how troubles and struggles work in our own lives. First the dirt and grime of life have to be cleaned off. Then we need to go through a fortifying process, and then we are resistant to corruption and degradation.

How do we do this? Keeping our eyes on God. Reading his word. Doing as he would want us to do.

2 Peter 1: 3-4 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that
through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped
the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

The light of the moon

God is like the sun; blazing, bright and overpowering. Moses hid his face when he approached the burning bush. Our humanity, our sin, keeps us from being able to understand God. Just as the heat and furious power of the sun prevents us from fully understanding it. Yet we live by His light. Everything we have is because of the sun and its warm rays.

He sent His own son to earth as a man. Jesus crossed the bridge between man and God. He showed us, in terms we can understand, what God is. He was the human example, a reflection of God. In the same way the moon reflects the sun. The moon does not have its own light, but rather that of the sun. But we can stare at the moon in a way that we can’t look directly at the sun.

Like the moon, Jesus was a reflection of God. The light belongs to God, but in taking a lesser, human form he gave us a version of the light that we can examine and study and understand.

John 14: 6 – 7 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.
From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

One step at a time

If you are like me (and the odds are you might be) at the first sign of trouble you start to look for an exit. Fight or flight instincts are strong. I am a fighter, but only after I can’t find a way out. My instinct is to try to avoid problems. But… some problems are unavoidable. We can pray and beg for a way out, but it has been my hard-fought experience that the only way through most situations is straight down the middle.

Straight into the mud, muck, and ugliness, that is the only way out. If you try to skirt the problem, you can end up in a worse situation. Go forward into the darkness and pray for God to light your feet. That is the only solution I have found. At some point the journey will end, and the light of God will grow ever greater.

It sounds like it takes courage and perseverance to do this but, it only takes enough courage to take the first step. Then the next day a tiny bit of courage to take another step. By the time you are in the thick of it your tiny bits of courage have brought you that far. The by-product of these daily choices is perseverance. It is not something you have at the beginning of a journey, but it is built in you by the end.

In this way we can get through some very dark days, just one step at a time. The rewards of hardship are not always great material blessings, sometimes it is simply perseverance and wisdom.

In our saviour we have an example of ultimate suffering. God so loved us that he not only acknowledges our sorrows, but he came and participated in them. How rich an idea that is! Just let your mind dwell on that.

The next time you feel overwhelmed by your path reach to Jesus, our saviour. He truly does understand and will give you comfort.

Psalm 119: 104-105 I gain understanding from your precepts;
therefore I hate every wrong path.
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.