Way More

In Ephesians 1:18 there is a verse that begins, “May the eyes of your heart be enlightened…” I have loved this passage for a long time because I like to picture my heart, letting Jesus, the Light of the world – come in.  The passage goes on to talk about hope, and riches, and glory– some of the things my life could use a big strong dose of.

I am not alone in this need.  So when I found this article about Jesus being the Light of the world, it touched me right away.

The message of Jesus is called “Good News” (Gospel). From the beginning of time, the contrast between light and darkness has been noted. God’s first creative act upon a world clothed in darkness, was to bring light into existence (Gen. 1:1-4). While, in this passage, darkness is not called bad, it was light that God declared to be “good!”

Darkness has no power to destroy light. Have you ever thought about that?  Darkness cannot be brought into a light room so that darkness may be cast about.  Yet, darkness does have power over people.  It is the darkness within a person which keeps him from seeing the light (John 9:1-8, 2 Cor. 4:3-4).

Light has the power to overcome darkness. Even the smallest light in the deepest darkness is visible from a great distance.  Light travels at the speed of 186,281 miles per second. Darkness can only fill in the absence of light. This is true of a room and it is true of a person. If light is missing in a person, the darkness can fill the void. This is why Jesus reminds us, “A city set upon a hill cannot be hidden.”

Darkness is, however, the place where evil lies. How many of us remember our fear of the dark when we were small children? It was there that monsters came out of hiding. How many of us as little children became so frightened of these monsters that we ran to climb in bed with our parents? Jesus said that evil people love the darkness because it hides their evil deeds (John 3:19-20).

Note the prominence of light in God’s creative order.

• Material light was created on the first day.
• Spiritual light was created on the first day of the week when Christ was raised from the dead (Luke 24:1-8).
• Pentecost, the feast day on which Peter and the Apostles first presented the light of the Gospel, came on the first day of the week (Lev. 23:15ff).
• Later Peter speaks of the process of salvation consisting in Christ calling us out of darkness into “His marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9).
• Thereafter, Christians met together on the first day of the week to worship (Acts 20:7), a day that came to be called “the Lord’s day” (Rev. 1:10).

The very birth of Jesus was announced by the light of the star which guided the Magi from the East to Bethlehem (Matt. 2:1-12), and the glory of the Lord which shone about the shepherds in the field (Luke 2:8-10).

Three of the four gospels feature “light” as the characteristic of Jesus’ mission to the earth (Matt. 4:12-17, Luke 2:32, John 1:1-9). And, it is the gospel of John which most prominently relates Christ’s person and ministry to light (1:1-9, 3:19-24, 8:12, 9:4-5, l2:35-36, 46). Light is also central to the book of 1 John (1:5-7, 2:8-11).

At the death of Jesus, there was darkness from the 6th Hour (12 noon) until the 9th hour (3 PM) over the whole land (Mark 15:33). What seemed to signify the triumph of sin and of evil, was only temporary, and soon dispelled by the resurrection of Christ.

Satan is the king of darkness and the enemy of light (2 Cor. 4:3-4, John 13:21-30, Luke 22:52-53). His reward (and not only his but that of all who follow him) is to live eternally in darkness where there is no light at all (Matt. 8:11-12, 22:1-13, 25:24-30, 2 Peter 2:17, Jude 12-13).

Let us all praise God for the light that Jesus has brought into the world and into our lives. What a wonderful future we have awaiting us in that place where there is no night and where eternal light exists because of the presence of the Lord (Rev. 22:5). In the meantime let us walk in the light, and let us allow the light of Christ to shine through us for the world to see!

~ Carl Mitchell and Kit Mullins

4 – Have a Steady heart. Seek God. Be sold out to Him.  Surrender to Him.  These 3 ways of interacting with God lead us to the 4th way to let God’s word grow – have a steady heart.  Keep going. Don’t give up.

How do you keep going when struggles can make you want to quit?  Sometimes it’s hard. In fact, you may be facing something really tough right now.  Problems are inescapable.  Paul, an early evangelist, encouraged the followers of Jesus to stay steady:

“strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God’.  (Acts 14:22)”

Sometime or other, everyone has a heartache that sucks the breath right out of you.

It gets us all.
In the last 5 weeks,  my daughter and I have known 5 families who have lost a young person in their lives.   One family lost their 2-year old son to a rare liver disease.   Another lost their 16-year old daughter to a form of cancer.  And yet another family lost their daughter in a freak car accident in a parking lot. Another family lost their son when he died of an accidental overdose.  And then Saturday, a fifth family lost their 12-year old son in a boating accident.

Your trials and troubles may seem less in comparison. Or, they may not.  Suffering takes its toll. Through the pain, we have a choice.  We can chose to run to God or run away.

“The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. (Luke 8:14)”

Two Choices
In the book of Hebrews, we read about Christians who, just like us, had lots of struggles.  Their troubles came from the same sources that our troubles come from - the sin that rules in this world or the sin that wants to rule our lives.

Some of the people in Hebrews chose to give up.  They quit God.  They stopped believing the promises, and traded them for things they could see. They sought relief from temporary solutions and sin masked as pleasure.

Others in Hebrews held on.  They would not let go of  the light and shrink back into darkness.  They made the decision to stick with it until the end – no matter what.

How to stay steady.
How do you keep your heart steady and endure?  Trust God and He will save your soul. Take your eyes off of what you can see and focus them on what is unseen.

1- Read your Bible. As you read God’s promises, hold on to them. They are an unbreakable spiritual lifeline.  His promises reach past everything you can see with your eyes and lead right to the very presence of God. Your faith will grow.  You will learn what is real and true – even though you cannot experience it with your senses.

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)”

2 – Pray for God’s help. Continue to pray.  Watch for ways He brings you help.  His help will always be consistent with what you read in Scripture. If your sin has caused your troubles, confess your sins. Then, stop the sin.

3 – Find a Christian friend. A Christian friend will share your struggle. A true Christian friend will encourage you to keep a steady heart – to hold on to your faith, turn away from sin, and believe.  God did not intend for His people to struggle through this life independent of one another.  He designed us to need help and to be helpers.

Do you want the word of God to grow in your heart? A seeking heart. A strong heart. A soft heart. A steady heart.  These are some of the qualities that make your heart the place where His word can grow. May your Bible studies strengthen you, enlighten you, and bring fruit to maturity in you.

In Part 1 of “A Hearty Response,” I shared two ways to seek God so His word will grow in us. These came from the part of me that is idealistic.  It is the voice of me that is strong and focused and intentional. Is there a part of you that desires to purposefully travel the “high road” as you seek God?

Part 2 comes from a different part of me. This is the part that nobly starts down the path to God and falters along the way.  Welcome to the world of a person who seeks after God with a soft heart.

3 – Have a Soft heart.  A soft heart is one that is tender and pliable. It can be shaped by our emotions, environment or anything we choose.  Without God, the greatest shaper of our hearts is sin.  The Bible personifies sin in the book of Genesis as God warns a man about the power of sin:

“If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it (Genesis 4:7).”

Sin works hard to assert its influence over us, and take control. Sin desires us. Sin deceives us.  It captivates us with fleeting pleasures or promises of relief from pain.  Do you ever just want some relief from pain in your life?

Sin deludes us.  It wants me to believe that I can somehow be the exception -  that sin will not control me.  Sin encourages me to conceal it, and nurture it, making excuses and justifying it, renaming it to remove it appearance of evil.

And so sin begins to work its deceiving ways that put chains of bondage around my heart, slowly destroying faith in God, until I look back and all I see is a path marked by disappointment and disillusionment. When I look ahead, I see the same.

“Those [seeds of God's word] beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.” Luke 8:12

Sin leaves us robbed by the devil, without faith or hope, and hardens our hearts until we no longer want to move toward God.  Yet we all have a choice. Hebrews 3:12-13 reminds us to choose – today,

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.  But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”

When I acknowledge that sin is a conqueror, and it has conquered me,  I can turn to God so He can break sin’s hold, relieving my pain, restoring my tender heart. God knows it is difficult for me or you to stand alone and fight the trickery of sin.  He made our hearts to be soft, and wants to help us keep them that way.

So, He puts us in His family where we can surrounded by influence to hold on to God and the things of God.

In the beginning God created us “in His image”.  But we have chosen to let sin distort and disfigure us until we no longer look like Him.

When we come to God with a soft heart, He can once again shape us into His likeness.  He will shape us into the image of Christ.

What in your life needs to be reshaped? What needs to be re-formed into the image of Christ.  The study of God’s word will hold a light up to your life so you can see the sins you have covered and protected.  It will help you know where you are trapped and guide you until you are released and transformed into a child of God, with His word growing in your heart.

Continue on your studies with my blessings along The Way.

Are you like me? Is there a hunger in your heart that nothing else can fill but a connection to God?  No purchase, no person, nor any amount of prestige can satisfy the longing that compels me to pursue God. Something in life is missing without Him.  I believe this hunger for Him is indicative of what the Scripture calls “a good (honest) heart”.

Jesus likened God’s word to a seed that grows in “a good (honest) heart” (Luke 8:15).

How does our longing for God bring us to a place where His word will grow in our hearts? For simplicity’s sake, let’s focus on four things you and I can do.

1 – Have a Seeking Heart. I communicate with lots of people around the world who are searching for a deep relationship with God.  The number is in the tens of thousands.  It doesn’t seem to matter if you are attending church regularly, or if you are just beginning to look into Christianity.  There is a longing for spiritual depth and integrity to fill a void.  Even good things don’t satisfy.  So, you open the Bible and read. The more you read, the more you want to understand.  Your heart seeks meaning, purpose, and fulfillment in knowing God and knowing God’s will. The first thing you must do is have a seeking heart.

2 – Have a Strong Heart. In this technological age, things change fast. Real fast. So what you seek is something stable and solid to anchor your soul.  You seek the unchanging God through His unchanging word.   It requires you to set your mind – like a heat-seeking missile – on knowing Him by knowing what pleases Him.  Therefore, we must be deliberate and and have a strong heart that desires the take a firm stand on God’s word.  It takes inner strength and commitment to seek something wholeheartedly.

I seek You with all my heart;  do not let me stray from Your commands. I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You. (Psalm 119:10-11)

And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10).

Ahh.  Knowing God must be connected with knowing and doing His word.  It is a love relationship that grows as we come to know Him more, our hearts long to please Him more.  So, choose to make it a priority to know God through His word..  Don’t just hope to find time for study of God’s word, make time.  I have rarely had a moment in life where I found time just waiting to be filled. And, if I did, I did not fill it with something of substance.

As you consider these first two things we can do to get to a place where God’s word can grow in us, which is more difficult for you?  For me, it is the second – it is having the resolve to follow God with my whole heart, and soul, and mind.  Is it more difficult for you to have a seeking heart or a strong one?  I look forward to reading your thoughts.

To be continued…

Every year as the spring sun starts to warm up the air, I get eager to work in the yard. I have a little house with a little yard and a big desire to dig in the dirt. I love to pull weeds and plant flowers.  But, I admit I’m a fair weather gardener.  Summers in my area often bring temperatures that hover around the 100 degree mark for days on end. Gardening quickly loses its appeal on those days.

On mornings like this one, I look past my monitor to see the glowing sun illuminate the buildings downtown with the contrast of shadows on the streets.  The light strikes the tops of the trees as the breeze causes the limbs to sway, beckoning me to join the dance.

My desire to turn the soil, plant flowers, and witness the birth and growth that are spring pale in comparison to my desire to know God.  For me, gardening is seasonal, but my desire to connect with God is not.  Regardless of which season of life I may currently be experiencing, I am drawn to learn of Him.

I long for spiritual depth – to know God so deeply that my life changed. I’ve lived through enough seasons to know that apart from Him, my life is unproductive and not satisfying. As I read the lesson “The Way”, I saw the verse from 2nd Timothy 3:16-17.  It reminds me where to find that connection with God I seek:

There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.

May this season help you renew your intensity for seeking God. And, as you work your way through this first study of World Bible School, may you find yourself seeking Him with your whole heart.

Last night I went to the airport to pick up my daughter who was flying in from college for Spring Break.  Our city airport is pretty small, and there were only about 20 people in the waiting area.  I watched 2 little preschool boys pass the time before the plane arrived by riding on the escalators.

In their little adventure, sometimes they rode together. They were good buddies on the same journey. Then, one would make the choice to go in a different direction. One would ride down while the other rode up.  They would wave and laugh as they passed in the middle but they were no longer companions on the same journey.

Then, one got really adventurous.  He decided he would walk up the down escalator.  Walking was not enough. So he tried to run, but his little legs just weren’t quick enough.  After making it only a few steps, he just stood there, looking upward in defeat, as he was passively carried to the bottom once again.

How often has my life been such an adventure? Sometimes I head in the right direction. I’m pretty sure I’m on my way to the place I want to be. Only to find out that I make another decision which winds up to turn me around and head back down the same old worn path? I have repeated the same mistakes, expecting different results, more times that I care to acknowledge.

Sometimes I have looked at other people.  They were headed in the right direction.  We would wave and smile as we passed one another. I wanted to be going in the direction they were headed.  It never dawned on me to ask them how they got there.  I would feel a little bad, knowing I was sinking lower, as the distance grew greater between us.  Why didn’t I just think to ask for help? For direction?

Then, there are the times when I have deliberately chosen a path and worked and tried and committed to success, only to be overwhelmed by my own lack of ability and given up.

I believe you are different.  Regardless of where you are on the path, I think you are the kind of person who is going to ask. Isn’t that the reason you are taking the World Bible School courses?  And, until you do, I am going to offer what I have learned.

Maybe you have had something similar happen to you. I was on my way to the store yesterday – a gorgeous spring day. The sun was bright and the air was warm. A few blocks in front of me I saw the flashing red and blue lights. It had to be an accident because not only was the police car there, but so was an ambulance and a firetruck.

As I got closer, the traffic slowed to a crawl. The police officer directed us through the intersection one car at a time. First a car traveling north-and-south passed by. Then a car traveling east-and-west got its turn.

As I approached I could see a blue pick-up truck had jumped the curb and was halfway into the yard of the house on the corner. A man – who was probably the truck’s driver – was standing near, on the phone, looking down.

Behind the truck, on the ground, there was a huddle of paramedics and officers around a girl – probably in her 20s – strapped to a stretcher. The red helmet she was still wearing not only matched her red bike which lay on its side 30 feet away, but it also matched the considerable blood down her left side.

I couldn’t help but wonder, as she was immobilized on that stretcher, where had she been going? What was the last communication with her friends and family? Would she be ok?

What about the man from the truck? What had been his thoughts just seconds before the accident? What were his actions toward those he cared about the most and his peers?

Then I thought about that Bible verse mentioned in this lesson “The Way”,

“You do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14).

My grandmother used to say it this way, “What a difference a day makes.” Through the years, I have said this truism.  Sometimes the difference has been good; sometimes it’s been tragic.

I am sure the girl in the accident never imaged when she stepped out of her house in shorts and hopped on her bike that she would be in a accident a few minutes later.  I am sure the man in the truck had his mind on many things as he drove down Barrow Street, none of which included a car wreck where a young girl would be injured.  Both of these people were probably just like me and you in thinking, “those things happen – but to somebody else.”

For a few minutes as I sat in my car awaiting my turn, I remembered that one day , I might be that somebody else.  James was right when he wrote the Scripture that says “life is a mist” – it is here, and then in an instant, it’s not here – even on a day when the sun is shining and the spring air is warm.

Whatever you face today, may the choices you make shape up to make a difference in your life that is eternally good.

By now, I guess it’s been over 25 years since the journey began.  I was a young married woman about to move to a new city where my husband could complete his graduate degree in the university.  His hours spent schooling and studying left me the opportunity to explore interests on my own.  So, I began to read the Bible. I had a hunger to know God.

From a young age, I had an unrealized desire to know more about God.   Now, I not only had the time to seek Him, and I was living in unfamiliar circumstances. And, like the boy in the World Bible School lesson, I knew I needed direction.

I picked up “The Book” and began to read.  Much of what I read, I didn’t really understand but I kept on reading because I wanted to know God.  I wanted God to know me.  I wanted God to like me.

Questions kept turning in my mind, ”Can I really know God? If I seek His direction, can I know His will?”  I began to ask the people around me. Their answers came back. “Yes, just trust your heart to lead you to God.” “Yes, you will know God’s will if you spend more time in prayer.” Or, “He’s all around us. Everyone senses God in a different way. You’ll find your way to God if you are patient.”

None of those answers satisfied me because I knew myself.  I knew how changeable I can be.  I didn’t trust myself to find the way to God from within. There had to be more.  So I read, and read.

One day, Susie, an old friend came to see me. I asked the question, “Can we really know God’s will?” With a smile on her face, she replied, “Sure. In fact, God wants us to know His will. Do you have a Bible? I’ll show you.”

For the first time, someone went to Scripture to help me understand “The Way” – God’s way. I believed I could trust God’s Word and His promises more than I could trust my changing thoughts and feelings.

It’s been a lot of years since we first sat down with the open Book.  Susie answered my questions that night, and for several nights after that, until I reached the point where I could say, “I believe. I understand. I want to obey!”

If you are like me, and wondering about God’s will for your life, World Bible School can serve as your trusted friend that helps you open the Bible and answer your questions.  I look forward to hearing from you along the journey.