How To Love as Jesus Loves

Light Day 30: I John 2:7-11

Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.
He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

The true Light now shines! Jesus Christ is living and here within us, shining eternally through our lives!

Because of this, He gives “a new commandment,” and, once again, this new commandment centers around love.

Love and light go together. God is love; God is light. Throughout Scripture, these two concepts are often discussed together. Without light, there can be no love; and where there is no love, there is no light.

This passage is clear that hating one’s brother and walking in light cannot coexist. Yet the new commandment that Jesus gave was “Love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” Jesus laid down His life in love for us – how can we possibly love each other as Jesus loves us?

Joy in Depression

Light Day 29: Psalm 43:1-5

Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

The purpose of sending of God’s light and truth is clearly stated in this passage: to lead us to God Himself – His holy hill, His inner place. Read more

Your Mind is Your Candlestick

Light Day 28: Luke 8:11-18

Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.
For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.
Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.

Hear and bear fruit: this is the admonition that Jesus continually repeats. The essence of this charge is summed up in the final verse of this passage: “Take heed therefore how ye hear.”

It’s not enough just to hear. It’s not enough just to be a candle that is lit. How we hear – how we receive the light of the word of God – is crucially important.

Two analogies are given in this passage to explain this key point: the analogy of the seed and the analogy of the candle. Both describe how to hear.

A Single Focus

Light Day 27: Matthew 6:19-24

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

A double-minded nature corrupts and blurs the light we have within us. If we simultaneously attempt to lay up treasures both on earth and in heaven, we will do neither well. When one eye gazes one direction and the other eye gazes the other direction, confusion and misdirection results.

Similarly, if we attempt to serve two masters – God and the world’s system – we end up serving neither. As James succinctly writes:

A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Instead, Jesus Christ calls us to be single: singly-minded, singly-focused. While some might say you’re so heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good, Jesus says the opposite: Read more

Reflecting the Son

Light Day 26: Matthew 5:11-16

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

After harvest, a farmer stored his potatoes in the darkest corner of his basement. A few weeks later, he noticed that they had begun to sprout. Puzzled, he examined the cellar more closely. Read more

How to Receive Unmatched Wisdom

Light Day 25: Daniel 2:19-23

Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:
And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter.

When we have an intimate relationship with God, we begin to understand not only the very heart of God Himself but also many “deep and secret things” that He delights to reveal to His close friends. He is thrilled to give us wisdom abundantly as we ask Him – Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God who is made to us wisdom.

There are some things we simply can’t know through human wisdom. Read more

Light: Surety of Covenant

Light Day 24: Jeremiah 31:33-37

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.

God places such importance on life-giving light that He sets it as the surety of His New Covenant!

Notice first the promises of the New Covenant:

How Changing Your Mind is Receiving Light

Light Day 23: Matthew 4:10-17

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;
And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of every word of God!

Even where Jesus chose to live was a fulfillment of God’s word through Isaiah. The beginning of the dawning of the great light came upon God’s people in His time, in His place, and by His methods as Jesus began to bring the words and person of Light to Capernaum:

Read more

God: Our Everlasting Light

Light Day 22: Isaiah 60:12-22

For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.
The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.
Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness.
Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.
The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.
Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.
Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.
A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.

F.B. Meyer has a beautiful meditation upon these glorious words of God: Read more

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