AND GOD SAID “LET THERE BE LIGHT”
2 Chronicles 21:7 “Howbeit the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give
a light to him and to his sons for ever.”
In February of 1979 my husband, Nelson, and I took
a trip to the land of the Light,
I had dreamed of this trip for many years, and to have Nelson go too was almost beyond my wildest dreams.
I didn’t sleep at all the night before we left on this trip. We arrived at the airport a whole hour before anyone else from our group.
We had a long wait at
Nelson and I both were so excited about the tour,
we were up early the next morning, eager to see the
Our first stop was at Cesarea by the Sea, where Paul was imprisoned for so many years. Recently a stone had been found with Pontias Pilate’s name carved on it. This proved to the unbelieving world that he had been in this area when Jesus was crucified.
We saw a giant ampitheater there, also. This could hold several hundred people.
It was made of stone. Someone stood on the ground below and spoke softly and all of us, even on the higher seats, could hear clearly what he said. I still do not understand the principal behind this.
We traveled on to the valley near
At
Weary but excited souls got out of the bus that first night. The next morning we were all up early again, and our group was the first on the bus.
This day was one of the most exciting of my life.
We went to the
When the guide pointed out the mountainside where Jesus preached the sermon on the mount, we all broke out into singing “Hallelujah”.
Off to the right of the boat, we saw the
When we arrived in
I saw a huge rock which looked like a giant bowl
that had been hewn out in the middle and a fairly large stone rolling around in
the hewn rock. I asked our guide what it was. He told me it was a
Our next stop was at a little church built on the spot where Jesus fed the multitude
(5000 men) the women and children could have made it over 10000. He had only five loaves and two fishes, but He prayed and fed them all. In the floor of this church was a very old painting with some sort of tile that pictured the five loaves and two fishes.
On our way back to Tel Aviv, we saw
We briefly saw
It seemed everywhere we went in this land of our Saviour, we could feel the presence of His Light. Nelson had noticed when he was taking pictures, that there was an unusual glow that affected the camera lens.
The sun was bright every day. The LORD provided beautiful weather for us.
The day we went to Masada , the Dead Sea, and
looked out over the ruins of the area where
We loaded our luggage and headed for
If this had been all that I had seen, this alone would have been worth the trip. The gold dome mosque was gleaming in the sunshine. When I saw it , I could only think that under this mosque is the very rock that Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on. God stayed his hand and provided an animal sacrifice as a substitute.
On this very same mountain, king Solomon built the temple. The only thing remaining today of the temple is a portion of the wall . The Jewish people call it the wailing wall, and they go there to worship God.
On the trip over to
We ate at a beautiful modern hilltop restaurant overlooking the city. I could not believe how tall the wall is around the city and how beautiful the gates are.
There was very little sleep that night for me. I stood on our balcony and prayed and thanked God for this wonderful trip. I stayed there most of the night soaking in the presence of God that I was feeling.
The next day we were up early shopping and going
into the old walled city. We walked to the sheep gate where Jesus had healed the
man who had been lame for 38 years. We saw the area where Jesus was condemned to
be crucified. We walked up the narrow street where Jesus walked on His way to
Golgatha. We entered the garden at
the foot of Golgatha. I looked up and saw the shape of a scull on the side of
the mountain, the place of
“Thank you Jesus for dying for me. Thank you Jesus for hanging on that tree.
I know dear Jesus it should have been me. Thank you Jesus for dying for me.
You came from your home up in heaven above. You came to show God’s undying love. And you shed your blood to set me free, Thank you Jesus for dying for me. When the cares of this world seem too heavy to bear I’ll look up and see Jesus and know that He cares. He has built us a home for eternity. Thank you Jesus for dying for me. When the trump of the LORD shall sound from on high, I will go to meet my LORD in the sky and I will reign with Him for eternity, Thank you Jesus for dying for me.”
He had taken the punishment for my sins on this very hill on a cross.
We saw the empty tomb where they had laid Jesus’ body. It was carved out of the mountain side. I know that since He rose from the grave, so will I rise from death to live with Him eternally.
Can you believe there was a place more wonderful
than this? The
We visited the upper room where everyone received the Holy Ghost and fire on the day of Pentecost. This is also the place where Jesus ate the last supper with His disciples. The steps going up to the room were worn down in the middle about three inches more than the outside of the steps. So many people climbing these steps caused this. One of the people from our group had been told she would have to have her foot removed when she got home from this trip. She had a terrible growth on the bottom of her foot. She was a very shy person and none of us knew of this. She promised God that if He would heal her foot, she would tell everyone what happened. Her foot was miraculously healed on her way to the upper room. We all rejoiced greatly with her.
From here, we went to
I could not get over how close everything was. You could actually walk through this whole area.
The
We woke up on our last day in
We went to a beautiful restaurant overlooking the
city of
Remembering back, I think of the blind girl on the trip with us. Every place we went she exclaimed how beautiful a site would be before any of us with open eyes could see. Her spiritual eyes were working better than our physical eyes.
This trip to this wonderful land, that I had just read about before this trip, inspired me to write this book about Jesus Christ ( The Light Of The World). His Light illuminates our minds and spirits and helps us to be better people.
FANTASTIC MYSTERIES OF LIGHT
Light is a mystery to man. We know a few things about light and these things almost boggle the mind.
The fastest possible speed known to man is the speed of light. It travels at 186,284 miles per second. If the sun were to stop shining, we on earth would not be aware of it for 8 minutes.
The North Star is a great distance from the earth,
and if it exploded, we would not be aware of it until 460 years later. There are
many stars that are further away than that from the earth. Rigel is a star that
is a little further away than the North Star. If we were on Rigel with a very
powerful telescope looking at the
I wonder and am amazed at God with greatness of this magnitude.
There are so many different lights and all of them are a mystery. Light governs our time, heats and cools the earth, affects the tides, brings the seasons, and actually causes all matter to live.
Through light we can tell the different atoms apart and discover many of the inner secrets of matter. Light also reveals the motion of plants, stars, and universes.
Light is not the absence of colors, but is a combination of many colors such as violet, blue, green, yellow, orange and red. If you were to measure the length of colors in light, red would be the longest and violet the shortest. These colors were discovered in light when light shone through a prism and separated the colors.
When light is in one particular substance, it travels in a straight line. When the substance changes, the light will bend for its speed is slightly changed.
Light is a natural power given to men by God for use in our daily lives.
There are many different uses for light, and many different forms of light. All the elements of the universe seem to operate with the cooperation of light. Time is governed by light, magnetic pull is closely associated with light. Electricity is useless without the power of light . Even the atom bomb would not work without light.
Radios depend on the electromagnetic energy of certain wave lengths. We turn the knob on the radio and receive our favorite program.
Our eyes , like our radio set, are sensitive to the electromagnetic waves that are set off when light touches matter. The part of the light our eyes can perceive is called visible radiant energy. Our eyes are sensitive to only 3 percent of the electromagnetic waves.
Light becomes visible to our eyes when it touches matter of some kind and sends these little wave signals to the optic nerve in our eye. Technically speaking, if you were in a room with no matter, not even dust in the air, and you turned on a flashlight, you would be in total darkness. Light must touch matter for our eyes to pick up the signal of light.
Visible light is just one form of electromagnetic energy. Some of the others are cosmic rays and gamma x-rays, ultra violet rays, infrared or heat waves, and electric waves.
By observing the behavior of light, we have learned to make optical instruments, magnifiers, search lights, telescopes, and many helps for mankind.
Light can be reflected without scattering it, such as shining it on a mirror. Snow, on the other hand, will spread or separate light. White paper reflects 85% of the light that strikes it. Dark colors only reflect 5%.
If the sun was shining directly on a white and a black car at the same temperature, and you put your hands on both cars at once, the black car would be much hotter than the white car.
A very strange thing, to me, is what there is about the light that makes a plant grow. The light acts upon the green coloring in the plant, which is chlorophyll and separates the carbon from the carbon dioxide from water, making carbohydrates which make the plant grow.
Vitamin D can be added to our bodies through sunlight also. When I was born, snow was on the ground for 6 weeks, and I took the rickets because of lack of sunshine exposure.
Light, like heat and cold, affects our bodies, too. Our body temperature cannot
stand a 10 degree change up or down. Such a change will cause instant death.
Light, you can easily see, is very important to the physical part of man. In the next few chapters, I will attempt to show the necessity of the spiritual Light (Jesus) in our lives.
LIGHT OF GOD
1 Timothy 6:16 “ Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen.”
Jesus is the Light. We know that the things of God are a mystery to man. Light also is a mystery. We know it is there and necessary to our lives, but we do not understand fully.
God has planned and prepared this world (for the use of man) so perfect that we cannot comprehend anyone with this perfection of ability.
The Bible tells us that we cannot even understand what we read without the Holy Spirit as our teacher, and even then we only understand in part.
When the secret of God is revealed when the Lord returns, only then will we truly understand. The Word says in 1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
Mothers know what it is like to anticipate the birth of a child and can hardly wait to see him and have him with her. This is the way the Christians are anxiously awaiting the return of our Lord and the beginning of our new eternal life with Him.
We will not be trapped by time for we shall live forever with Him. We will not be caught by the trappings of this earth. For we will be like Jesus free to be and go as He does. We will have no fear, no sorrow, no pain, nothing negative at all, for He is the greatest positive in the universe.
God is Light, God is the Alpha and Omega or the beginning and the end. The Light which is Jesus Christ is eternal. John 8:12 “ Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
Let us look at what Jesus said in Revelation 22:13 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” So, Jesus, from these two Scriptures above, is Light Eternal.
Electricity has always been in the air, and for thousands of years, we had no idea
how to use it. We were not even aware that it was
there. Benjamin Franklin found this energy we call electricity and
We can certainly relate this to Jesus from the description. He has always been there for us. We just have to find Him and apply His teachings to our lives in order to have the unlimited power of Jesus working in us. His power is greater than any other power known to man.
When we receive the Light of Jesus, it casts out all darkness of spirit, as well as physical. I saw an illustration in church one time. The preacher turned out all of the lights and it was totally dark. The minute he turned on one light brightness came into the room and illuminated it. Darkness cannot do away with light, but light can and does do away with darkness. Darkness is the absence of light.
We are so fearful of the devil and we should not be. God’s light does away with him. The Bible says we should resist the devil, and he will flee from us. The only power he has over a Christian is what the Lord Jesus allows him to have. He lets him harass us from the outside, but he cannot possess us. We belong to Jesus. Christians have the Light of Jesus dwelling in them. His light does away with darkness.
If you could think of all different names for Satan, such as liar (absence of truth), evil (absence of good), hate (absence of love) you find that he is the absence of everything that stands for Jesus. If we could understand the bad things that happen to us and apply Jesus to each circumstance, it would turn into something good. As I demonstrated overcoming darkness with light.
When someone does you wrong, the Bible says to love the one who has done you wrong. In other words, overcome bad with good. If you are overly nice to someone who has been ugly to you, that person would suddenly feel differently toward you. God’s principles always work. We must not love the bad deed, but love the sinner.
God is goodness in everything, but we also must have a Fatherly fear of Him.
We cannot continue to sin after we have received Jesus as our Saviour. We must use His goodness in the right way, or we might feel His anger. The same thing is true of electricity. It is a helpful thing if used correctly, but if you get into electricity the wrong way, you might be electrocuted,
Christians should realize that there are only two types of people, children of light and children of darkness. Petty differences between Christians should be overlooked and all work toward becoming one in Christ. As electricity is stronger when it is gathered and concentrated in one place, so are Christians stronger when we are all pulling together, rather than against each other.
Light in the physical sense can take on many forms; as a candle, a fireplace, fluorescent light, light bulb, and so forth. So light in a Christian shows up differently too. Some proclaim the gospel on the housetop, some sing about their precious Light, and some live a quit life with a gentle glow. All are showing the Light that lives within them.
Light is an unexplainable energy that makes our lives possible. Too much light and we burn up. Too little light and we die from disease or cold. God has prepared our bodies as well as our spirits to handle just the right amount. We must have this light on a regular basis to survive. Not all at once and then none.
It is very interesting to me that without the thin
ozone layer around the earth, we would burn up. The Bible says that God cannot
look upon sin (He will burn it up with a consuming fire). The only way we,
Christians, are saved from the consuming fire, is a thin layer of the blood of
Jesus the Christ covering us. God sees the shed blood of His Son instead of our
sin when He looks at us. Jesus did away with our sin at
A few years ago we took a motor trip to
For the Bible says there will be no night there. Revelation 22:5 “ And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”
Several people I know have had a close encounter with death. Each one of them tells me they saw a very bright light. Some said this light seemed to be at the end of a long tunnel. Could this be what we read about (the valley of the shadow of death) in the 23rd Psalm? Others said they saw this Light in heaven and colors were so vivid that there is nothing on this earth to compare with the beauty they saw.
My husband has recently bought a color movie camera. If he does not have enough light, the picture is dim and everything is difficult to see. If he gets too much light, it distorts the picture just as badly. When he gets the correct amount of light, the picture comes into perfect focus and the colors can be just right.
Light is an element difficult to explain, but one we must have to function properly. We need light to show us the way. Without it we would stumble and fall. We know that truth can stand up in the light, but a lie needs the cover of darkness. Life, also, as we have discussed, must have light to sustain it. Jesus said in John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” This is a perfect description of light.
Sometimes we tell someone to turn on the light, and they flip a switch on the wall and darkness is gone. What we should say is turn the switch on and let the light shine through the fixture. Light is power, not matter. Matter is what we see light in. The sun and the moon are fixtures that we see light in , they are not light.
We read in Genesis 1:3 “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”
We know that this was not Jesus (Light) because Jesus was not created. He always was. This then, is an application of the Light of Jesus being applied to this earth to give everything the power to be. We know, also, that this is not the sun or moon, because they were created on the fourth day. Genesis 1:14 “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night: and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: “
God would not create the same thing on two different days. He is perfect and does not make mistakes, so these applications were different.
Let us look at Genesis 1:1 “ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:2 “ And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
Here was God’s earth with no life and full of darkness. We discussed before that nothing can live without the power of light, so there was no life on the earth at this time. Jesus (the Light) already existed, but this power was not present on the earth then. The power of Jesus Light had to be applied to the earth (matter)
For anything to live. I believe this first creation was actually the power of the Light (Jesus) applied to the earth. This was not Jesus who always existed from the foundation of the world, and was not created, but His power applied to the earth.
I have no argument with those who believe in a civilization before Adam and Eve.
(For our purpose here it does not matter). The thing that does matter is that the power of the Light was not present on the earth in this second verse of Genesis.
(If it had been here before, it had been removed, for there was no light present before verse 3. When God created (applied it to the earth) He said that it was good. This Light had done away with what caused this earth to be without form and void. Light does away with physical and spiritual darkness.
When God created the grass and the herb yielding seed, it just further indicates the necessity or light to be on the earth to make them grow. The seed spoken of here must be energized by the light to spring forth and grow.
In recent years, astronauts went to the moon and discovered that it is a reflector of light and not light itself. If we look at the sun we know it is a giant bonfire. It is like a gas range in your home, if you turn off the fuel the fire goes out. So would the sun, if its fuel were shut off.
These are objects used of light to help in our daily lives., but they are not the source of light. Jesus is the source of all energy and light. That power comes from Jesus who is the source of all energy. His power generates all matter and makes it usable. The sun and moon would be of no use to us, if they stopped giving off light. This is similar to a light bulb that we throw away, because it does no longer give off light.
We are told over and over to let our light shine so that all can see our light or it will be of no use. God has a perfect plan for each of us. We must tap into the power that God has provided . This power (talent) that God has given to each of us must be used, or He will take it away from us. He will give our talent to someone who is willing to use His power in them to accomplish good for all.
God is eternal. Light is eternal also. Light has a time element only when applied to this earth. This first creation of light was actually God’s energy applied to our world giving us the power to be.
Shakespeare once coined the phrase “to be or not to be, that is the question” We
choose to be with God for eternal life when we choose to accept Jesus as our Saviour. We must choose of our own free will to be or not to be. The offer is there, but we have to choose.
A good example of this is the relationship with a man and woman. When they start a serious relationship, the man will propose marriage. The woman has to decide to be or not to be his wife.
It seems as though this question arises all through life. When we decide to choose to follow the Light of Jesus, it opens many doors and furnishes us with the power to be all the good things in life. We want to be faithful, be honest, be helpful, be hopeful, and so on. Someday in our eternal life with Him, we will be perfect for we will have the perfection of Jesus Christ our Lord working in us and through us.
THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IS IN THE LIGHT
We know that Jesus said He was the Light of the world. John 8:12 ”Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me
Shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
Let me give a few more verses on the fact that Jesus is the Light of the world.
John 1:4 “ In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” John 1:5 “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” John 1:7 “The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.” John the Baptist was the witness to the Light (Jesus) here. In the next Scriptures, we will see that John is not the Light, but is proclaiming Jesus as the Light. John 1:8 “ He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. John 1:9 “ That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” Again we read Jesus saying He is the Light in John 9:5 “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Chapter 12 of John from verse 35 on is about Jesus being the Light. Read it from the Bible.
In the book of Acts, Paul is on the road to
In the next few verses we will recognize that this Light, Jesus, is also Life eternal.
1 Thessalonians 4:15 “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” 1Thessalonians 4:16
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:”
1 Thessalonians 4:17 “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
Our spirit is eternal. It is only our bodies that are temporary. When Adam and Eve were created, and put into the garden of Eden, they were made to live forever as rulers of this earth. It was only when sin entered the picture that our physical bodies became doomed to dust. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, God in His mercy saw that man should not live in his sinful nature for all of eternity. God drove them out of the garden so they could not eat of the Tree of Life and live forever, in the pain and suffering and all the fleshly troubles brought on by their sin. Genesis 3:22 “ And the LORD God said, Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: Genesis 3:23 “Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.” Genesis 3:24 “ So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”
God provided a much better plan where we can put all of our fleshly problems behind, and have a new (sinless) body and keep our spirit which has no end. Jesus purchased our eternal life for us, when He gave His body on the cross in full payment for all of our sins. His shed blood wiped out all of our sin and He clothed us in His righteousness. I love the following Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15:51
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, “ 1 Corinthians 15:52 “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:53 “For this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” ! Corinthians 15:54 “ So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” Praise God! We have been cleansed of all our unrighteousness by the precious blood of the Lamb (Jesus Christ- the Light).
God had breathed the breath of life into the body of Adam (made from the dust of the earth). His promise to us is for this breath of life, from Jesus, which does not die to be put into a sinless house which does not age. We will be in heaven eternally with the life giving Light of Jesus Christ our Saviour and LORD. Revelation 22:5 “And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”
Our eternal life with Him is dependent totally upon our relationship with the Lord Jesus who is Light eternal.
WHEN DID LIGHT BEGIN?
Light had no beginning. Light, like God, is. It began on the earth when God applied the power of light to this planet in Genesis, the first chapter.
The spiritual Light (Jesus) is. Jesus and His Light had no beginning and has no end. The Light of Jesus begins for us when we accept Him as our Saviour and apply His Light to our lives.
The Israelites were spoken of as children of the Light. They had been enlightened when they received the law of God by Moses through the faith in their God through Abraham.
Moses had received these laws (ten commandments) for them on the way to their promised land. When Moses came down from the mountain, after receiving the ten commandments, he glowed. His head had to be covered to keep from blinding the people he came into contact with. The Bible tells us that he had been in the presence of the Light. He was reflecting this great Light when the people saw him.
The Gentiles were children of darkness, until Saul
(Paul) met the Lord as he journeyed to persecute the Christians . Acts 9:3 “And
as he journeyed, he came near
Acts 9:4 “ And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” Acts 9:5 “And he said, Who art thou Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”
Saul is blinded by this light and cannot see for
three days. Jesus tells Ananias to accept Saul (Paul) for He has called him to
show Jesus’ Light to the Gentiles and to offer salvation to them. The Scripture
on this is in Acts 9:15 “But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a
chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the
children of
When God touches you with His Light, the power is so great that you can do anything He asks you to do. Paul wrote most of the New Testament after he was touched by this great Light, Jesus. He received the power to be all things to all people that by all means he might save some.
Oh! To have this Light begin for us , and give us the power to become more than anything we could imagine or even wish for.
LIGHT IN THE FORM OF FIRE
Hebrews 12:29 “For our God is a consuming fire.” Nearly every time we encounter God in any way, we see a fire or the smoke from the fire. We see Moses’ first encounter with God in Exodus 3:2 “And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.”
God spoke to Moses on
Another time the fire of God was present was on
their trip to the promised land. The glory of the LORD was in the tabernacle
when the children of
Fire is a fearful form of light, but gives out a warmth and is a very useful thing for mankind. We heat our homes, cook our meals and use for a thousand other things.
Elijah challenged the followers of Baal to show the power of their god and then Elijah would show the power of the true God. The followers of Baal could not get their god to come down with fire and consume the offering . Elijah’s God (the true God) sent His fire and consumed the offering. You should read all of chapter 18 of 1 Kings. I will give a few verses here that tell what our God did when Elijah prayed. 1 Kings 18:36 “And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.”
1 Kings 18:37 “Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. “
1 Kings 18:38 “Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.” 1 Kings 18 39 “And when all the people saw it , they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God, the LORD, he is the God.”
Another instance when God appeared as a fire is when Elisha asked for a double portion of what Elijah had with God. Elisha was told that if he saw Elijah taken up to God, he would get what he had asked for. 2 Kings 2:10 “And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.” 2 Kings 2:11 “And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” And Elisha got his double portion. Even here, this light in the form of fire, had great power. The fire did not harm either man, but the fire escorted Elijah to heaven.
There is an interesting Scripture that indicates
that the fire of God purges us from sin. Isaiah 4:4 “ When the Lord shall have
washed away the filth of the daughters of
After judgment, God makes a way of safety for us.
We read in Isaiah 4:5 “And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of
mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and a smoke by day, and the shining
of a flaming fire by night: for
upon all the glory shall be a defence.”
The spiritual meaning of
When John the Baptist was proclaiming Jesus, the Light, to everyone he came in contact with, he tells all, that he is unworthy to even bear the shoes of this great Jesus. John said this in Matthew 3:11 “ I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.”
We read in the following Scripture why it is important to be baptized in the Holy Ghost and fire. This is in red in the Bible which means Jesus spoke these words.
Acts 1:8 “But ye shall receive power, after that
the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in
Our prayer should be: Lord give us your baptism of the Holy Ghost which brings this power.
THE LIGHT WITHIN US
Have you ever passed by a house at night when there was no light outside, and seen through a crack in the drapes a little light showing through? You can see it from a great distance. It reminds me of ourselves. Our eyes are like that crack in the window drapes, if the Light of Jesus is in us, it shows through our eyes. They seem to be a window to peep into the soul. Matthew 6:22 “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.”
We see the other side of what people see in our eyes in the following Scripture. Matthew 6:23 “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.”
To put it on our level of understanding, if we flip off the switch to the light in the house, we can no longer see anything in the house for it is full of darkness. When darkness prevails, we do not see anything. Darkness is the absence of light. We can turn on one small light and do away with that darkness.
When Satan is in control of our lives, our eyes are dull because we are filled with nothing. All is negative, no hope, no future, no faith, no joy, To rid ourselves of this nothingness, we just apply the Light of Jesus. Light does away with darkness. Belief in the Lord Jesus, reverses all of these negative things and gives us a positive outlook on life. I love the following Scripture which tells us how to be filled with Light. 2 Peter 1:19 “ We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:” This day star is Jesus. When this Light “Day Star” arises and shines in our hearts, it totally does away with this darkness within.. The Light Jesus lights within us is so great we are no longer the same. We are new creatures in Christ Jesus.
LIGHT IN THE FORM OF A CANDLE
In the Jewish Passover celebration, the women do not participate in the actual blessing and eating of the Passover. The only part the woman plays in this is the fact that she brings the candle (light) to the table. This light shows the world that Jesus was brought into this world by the woman and the Spirit of God. Jesus is seed of the woman and not of the man. Jesus said He was the Light of the world.
In the following Scripture, God is speaking to the serpent. Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed;
It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” This Light, then, is speaking of the virgin birth of Jesus.
We read in Matthew 5:15 “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.”
Jesus put his Light on a candlestick in all the churches so the family of God could look, and see, and believe in Him. We, as Christians, should let that Light of Jesus in us shine forth so that all may see and believe. We read about this very thing in Jesus’ own words in Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
We read in Luke 11;36 “If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.”
When we have this candle burning inside of us, we have no need to fear the
darkness of the world around us. This candle we have lighted in our hearts is the spirit of the living God.
We read of Babylon and the absence of this Light there in Revelation 18:23 “ And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.”
In this Scripture, the Spirit of Light, who is Jesus Christ, the bridegroom, is no more in this evil city. The bride, who is the host of Christian believers, is no longer there either. Thus, no light is present, it is total spiritual darkness.
A great contrast to this describing the great city of God (New Jerusalem) is found in Revelation 22:5 “And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. “
Satan, the devil, Lucifer, that old dragon, whatever you want to call him, is defeated. The perfect Light of Jesus Christ our Lord is sufficient for all our needs. There will be no shortages there.
SPIRITUAL DARKNESS
Acts 26:18 “ To open their eyes, and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them, which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”
Satan is real and can just devastate our lives, if we let him get a hold on us. His power is subject to God though. Satan has no power except the power that God allows him. We know this is true because Satan had to get God’s permission to torment Job. God put the limits on how far Satan was allowed to go. Most problems that God allows Satan to bring to us, God allows to make us stronger in our power to overcome the specific area of the problem.
Darkness is created by removing the light. If we remain full of the Light of Jesus, Satan can not cause us to be overcome by darkness. We are told to resist the devil (Satan) and he will flee from us.
When we are walking around in sin and darkness, it is of our own choosing. Satan cannot enter us, unless we open the door.
Sin and darkness will vanish when we apply the Light of Jesus to whatever situation we are facing. You might ask, what happened to the sin I had committed before? It no longer exists. It was washed away in the blood of Jesus, and you became white as snow.
One more time, Light does away with darkness when it is applied to any situation.
Not any of Satan’s strongholds can stand up against the Light of Jesus.
Someone asked if I thought a Christian could be possessed by a demon. My answer was no. A person who is a Christian can be oppressed, but not possessed. Demon possession requires darkness. Christians have Jesus dwelling within them. His Light does away with darkness. The darkness of Satan, or a demon, and the Light of Jesus cannot live in the same place.
When a Christian with the Light of Jesus within them enters a room of worldly people, the worldly people get uncomfortable and suddenly clean up their language. It is not because the Christian is uncomfortable, but because the Spirit of Jesus within the Christian convicts the spirit of darkness in the worldly. The Christian does not have to say or do anything. It is the Spirit of Jesus interrupting the spirit of darkness. If the Light remains , all will become light, because Light does away with darkness.
SONGS ABOUT LIGHT
We hear that music is the universal language. It is certainly a way for all of us to express our innermost feelings.
Song writers seem to have a special gift from God for understanding, and they are able to convey the meaning in very simple words that we can all understand. Yet they make it musical as well.
One such writer is P.P. Bliss in his song “THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD IS JESUS”. He tells how the world was caught up in darkness and sin, until the light of Jesus came in. When we wash in the blood of the Lamb (Jesus), His Light will come and live within us. We are told that in heaven there is no need for the sun or moon because the Lamb provides the Light in the city of gold. You see, he has carried us from our unbelief to babyhood in Christ Jesus, to living in Jesus, and even after death with Jesus in just a few lines in the song.
Charles H. Gabriel in his song “SEND THE LIGHT” has touched a totally different feeling of the Light. His song is all about the Spirit of Light that frees us from all our sins. In his song about the “BLESSED GOSPEL LIGHT”, he is asking us to send missionaries to win souls for the Lord.
“STEPPING IN THE LIGHT” by Eliza E. Hewitt and William J. Kirkpatrick encourages us to stay in the path that is lighted by Jesus. That path leads to righteousness.
In Phillip P. Bliss’ song “LET THE LOWER LIGHTS BE BURNING”, he is encouraging Christians to let the Light of Jesus that lives within them shine so brightly that others might see and be saved.
John S. B. Monsell and Lawrence W. Watson, in their sing, “LIGHT OF THE WORLD, WE HAIL THEE” have brought a whole new feeling with their song of simple praise for the Light.
“SOFTLY NOW THE LIGHT OF DAY” by George W. Doane and Carl M. Von Weber, is really a prayer asking for forgiveness of sins from the Light and asking for eternal life.
In the song “WALK IN THE LIGHT” by Bernard Barton and Henry W. Greatorex, Satan is defeated by the Light. The song tells us not to fear, but know that God Himself is Light and He has defeated Satan.
“THE MORNING LIGHT IS BREAKING” by Samuel F. Smith and George J. Webb, tells of
Matilda B. Betham-Edwards wrote “GOD MAKE MY LIFE A LITTLE LIGHT”.
Her song about Light is a prayer asking to be a servant to mankind. She asks for Light to give joy to all, to comfort the sad, and lonely. She wants to be used of God. Oh! If we too could all pray this prayer with her earnestly, how wonderful life could be.
One of my favorite songs about Light, simply because it makes me feel good, is
“PRAISE THE LORD I SAW THE LIGHT” by Hank Williams.
You can imagine my surprise checking out the songs on Light to discover there was a song written by John Efferton and Johann M. Spiess about the creation of Light on the first day. I believe this is the power for all things to exist or be.
The title of the song they wrote is “THIS IS THE LIGHT” The first verse says, This is the day of Light: let there be Light today. We jump to the fifth verse and read, This is the first of days, send forth thy quickening breath,
Jesus, the Light, is all of these things to us who are Christians.
LIGHT ENERGY
Coal, at first glance, looks like a big black or brown rock. If you look at it with a strong magnifier, you can see greens and reds in the rock. The colors were made by the plants and animal life that decayed and formed into rock. The plants, which became coal, took from the carbon they needed for their growth, and were processed by sunlight. After many years of compressing and making units of energy. These elements of energy were created when the element of light was trapped in matter, and then stored.
We have learned to use coal for all types of energy such as heat and in generating electricity.
Fuel oil, gasoline, and kerosene are produced in much the same manner as coal. When oil comes from the ground, it is a mixture of many different hydrocarbons. These hydrocarbons were formed in the same manner as coal, by trapping the light energy and then storing it. These hydrocarbons at the refinery are separated into all sorts of energy, producing many kinds of fuel, including gasoline.
In this very complex world we live in today, we are using up all of these stored up supplies of energy. Man, even now, is trying to find new sources of energy.
I heard on television of a man with a giant magnifier built to create great heat (a form of energy) when the rays of the sun hit the magnifier. This focuses the light on a small concentrated area.
Other people are trying to store in batteries the energy produced by the rays of the sun. Both of these methods are good, and will possibly be in practical use soon.
Some day we will not be dependent on oil and coal, which are expendable as energy. We will be able to tap into the source of all energy that has no end, the
energy of the Light of Jesus.
Every living thing animal and vegetable, no matter how small, or large has a portion of this energy within them that is created by the Light of the world (Jesus). Our very existence is because of Him.
LIGHT IN MEDICINE
Natural light from God has healing elements. Vitamin D is produced by sunlight.
Many scientists, who have made great finds, have found hidden secrets in light.
Madam Curie was instrumental in starting the use of Radium as a healing element for cancer. Radium is a source of light useful in medicine, burning the cancer out.
The laser beam, in recent times, has been used by many prominent surgeons, This beam of light is used instead of a knife to operate with, particularly in brain surgery.
Lenses for eyeglasses are made by focusing more light in one area, making it easier to see.
Jesus Christ (the Light) was the greatest Healer who ever lived. He healed the blind, made the lame to walk, healed the leper, and even raised Lazarus from the dead. His healing power for our spirit and soul is even greater than His power to heal the body. We were all lost and headed for hell, until He made us whole in our spirit.
When we are sick in any area of our lives, body, mind, or soul, and spirit, we should do as the following Scripture tells us to do. Jeremiah 17:14 “ Heal me,
O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.”
THE RESURRECTED LIGHT
When Jesus was crucified on the cross at
So many of us would have been like Peter, who denied the Lord, when it appeared He was defeated by this world and Satan. We would have denied Him too. When Jesus died on the cross, even His mother, Mary, thought He was defeated. No one realized that this was the greatest victory this world had ever known.
His shed blood did away with sin for the believers, and purchased our salvation for us.
Through that one sacrifice, He defeated Satan and sin, for all time for every one who would believe. That was His free gift to us.
The disciples had scattered, not remembering that He had told them that He would rise again.
Mary Magdalene and another Mary came to the
sepulcher and saw an angel, who told her that Jesus had risen from the dead. She
was so filled with joy and good news that she ran to tell the others. Matthew
28:5 “And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know
that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.” Matthew 28:6 “He is not hear: for he
is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” Matthew 28:7 “And
go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold,
he goeth before you into
them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him
by the feet, and worshipped him.”
Matthew 28:10 “Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my
brethren that they go into
Her hope had been rekindled. She had seen the blessed Light (Jesus).
Jesus’ message to the disciples when He met them is found in Matthew 28:18
“And Jesus came and spake unto them saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Matthew 28:19 “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
Matthew 28:20 “ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
His power is not just in heaven, but is also the resurrected power of Jesus, here on the earth. On His second return to earth, we read where He will come with power and much Glory. He will be King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus will give us all the power we need for all eternity to be alive in Him in our new life.
LIGHT TO BE
In reviewing this book on light, it seems to me that until we find Jesus (the LIGHT) we are nothing.
He gave us the power to be alive when He breathed the breath of life in us in Genesis. Even when we fell to Satan’s temptation, He gave us the power to hope,
when He promised the seed of the woman would trample the serpent (Satan) in Genesis 3:15.
Jesus gave us the power to love as no one else had loved when He set the example and loved us so much that He gave His life for us. John 15:13 “ Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
His power to heal was given to believers when he died on the cross. The Bible says by His stripes we are healed. He gave us power of attorney to use His name to heal in the following Scriptures. John 14:12 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me , the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” John 14:13 “ And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name , that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
John 14:14 “ If ye shall ask anything in my name , I will do it.”
Jesus (the Light) also gives us power to be peaceful in a confused world. The Bible calls this peace, the peace that passes all understanding. A few years ago,
when we were going through some terrible troubles, the Lord gave me a song.. The third verse of the song speaks of this peace and how we get it. “When the cares of this world seem too heavy to bear, just look up and see Jesus and know that he cares. He has built us a home for eternity. Thank you Jesus for dying for me. “ When I realized that Jesus cared, this peace came upon me, and problems of this world did not seem so great any more.
The power to be joyful is another power the Lord gave us. A song we sing at our church says this so well. The joy of the Lord is my strength. Joy is not subject to circumstance, We have a friend who is in pain a great deal of the time. Every time we see him, he has a big smile on his face. His joy comes from within from God.
The power to be patient is certainly not one of my virtues. The Bible tells us to be still and know that He is God. I know a judge, whom I greatly admire. I asked him, in difficult cases that he had to decide, how he handled it. He said he would call a recess until the next day and go home and swing in a swing in his backyard by himself until the answer came. We have to get still and listen, for the Lord to talk to us.
He wants us to be prepared This is the motto of the boy scouts. I think this might be one of the most important instructions for success at anytime. We love company and we entertain quite a lot. Some of our friends are amazed at how quickly I can get dinner ready for a large group. The secret is simple, be prepared.
Jesus was kind to everyone and through example, He taught us to be kind. Where ever He preached He took time to be kind to everyone, even little children. When the disciples wanted Him not to take time with the children, He answered them in Mark 10:14 “But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
He wants us to be holy even as He is holy. 1 Peter 1:15 “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.”
1 Peter 1:16 “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” The only chance for this is through the Light of Jesus Christ (for we within our own rights are not holy). We are only holy in Him.
Jesus wants us to be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove. We read in Proverbs that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A wise man follows the teachings of Jesus and prospers accordingly.
Faith is hard to measure. The Bible says we all have a portion of faith. Faith like light is difficult to explain, but when we apply it in our lives, it works for us. If I had to define it, I would say in means to believe in God and His Son Jesus Christ.
God wants us to be faithful to ourselves, to others and especially to Him.
God has provided the Light (creative power) to help us be all these things. There is a beautiful song that says; I will be what you want me to be O Lord, I will do what you want me to do, I will go where you want me to go dear Lord. He provides the power. We furnish the clump of matter we call ourselves.
Lord, bring this power of the Light and transform me into the person you would have me to be.
Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts with you, your friend in Jesus,
Louise