Colossians 2:2 ” My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ…”

You may have been like me…your parents took you to Church every Sunday, you participated in activities at Church, and you even memorized Bible verses.  You had lots of head knowledge about God…but it never migrated south to your heart.  It wasn’t until years later when I had a very personal encounter with Jesus, that my life was changed forever.  So what happened?  We can go through life knowing “about” something, but it’s not until we come to the full comprehension and experience it for ourselves that it’s made real.  When God reveals the spiritual truth of just who Jesus Christ is to us and that He died for our sins…there is no longer any confusion.  For the spotlight of truth shines brightly onto our wretched lives, and we see ourselves for what we really are…a sinner needing salvation.

II John 2 ” Because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever.”

Truth comes from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in you.  We are to be firmly established in that truth, which is ultimate, absolute, and divinely revealed, but at the same time difficult to distinguish from all the world’s noise.  That still small voice is a whisper against the clamber of everything around us.  Oh how wonderful it would be if the Holy Spirit had a blow-horn poised by my ear to direct me!  But instead I must listen…and listen acutely for His voice.  Do you want to know the truth?  Then you must train your ears to listen carefully, blocking out the din around you and disciplining your mind .  As this verse says, the truth lives within you…you just need to listen.

II Timothy 4:3-4 ” For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

There’s nothing more uncomfortable than the conviction of the Lord as He shines the light of truth onto our sinful lives.  Conscience-stricken, we nervously look for a way to escape the situation and the guilty feelings that are overwhelming us.  Humans don’t like feeling convicted…instead, we’d rather hear  lovely, benign  platitudes and feel-good stories that don’t offend.  Over history, mankind has fabricated falsehoods in their minds…lying, deceiving fables and myths that go against the teachings of the Bible…but help to make them feel less guilty about their own forbidden and unrighteous desires. These fables and myths gloss-over doctrinal truth…rejecting the Gospel and deceiving the listener.

Isaiah 49:6 ” I will also make You a light for the Gentiles, that You may bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus told His Disciples, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19)   And for Believers, the Great Commission holds true for us today.  The Lord is the God of salvation and the Gospel message, the Good News of Jesus, is to be brought to the scattered children of God. (John 11:52)  We are to take this light – this truth –  to every man (John 1:9)…for it gives revelation. (Luke 2:32)   God’s plan and purpose is for the Gospel message to be brought to the ends of the earth by the feet of His Believers…for as the truth of His light is spread abroad, darkness must flee.

Isaiah 42:6-7 ” I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness; I will take hold of Your hand. I will keep You and will make You to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.”

God’s plan was to save the nations through the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ.  In this Scripture, Isaiah foretells of this plan and purpose…or what we call the New Covenant.  Jesus explained this plan and purpose to Paul on that fateful road to Damascus in Acts 26:18 when He said, “I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.”  And God has faithfully maintaining that covenant with all mankind…offering salvation and life… and the chance to break free of the chains of bondage that hold us prisoner.

Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”

I can’t stress too much the need for you to be in the Bible…to be reading for yourself…learning for yourself what is said within  the book covers.  Devotionals and commentaries are good…but they’re telling you about God.  To have a full, complete, and enlightened instruction of what’s in the Bible, you must read it for yourself…allowing the light of truth to illuminate the areas of your life that need change.  So I ask you…are you brave enough to have the word of God shine a light into the dark places of your soul?

John 17:17 ” Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.”

In this chaotic and deceptive world today, how do we know what’s true and what’s false?  With fake news and questionable anonymous sources spewing misleading information…where are we to find balance and  authenticity?  So I ask you this,  how can we not search for the truth from the Creator of all truths?  God’s words are trustworthy, (II Samuel 7:28).   The truth found in the Bible is absolute, transcendent, and divinely revealed to you…if you but open the book.  When you are armed with God’s truth,  you will not be easily swayed or deceived…for when God’s word is your bedrock,  you will be able to look past confusion and see God’s hand at work.

Matthew 10:27 ” What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.”

In those times of darkness… when unhappiness and  turmoil have you crouched down in the valley of despair…God will speak truths softly to you.  Precious truths that will encourage, exhort, and sustain  you during that critical time…but it doesn’t stop there.  God wants you to share with others these precious truths when the light of day finally shines again in your life.  For after you have passed through the valley of the shadow of death,  the truths God whispered to you then,  become the lifelines for others who still remain in darkness.

Acts 26:18 ” I am sending you to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.”

In this verse the Apostle Paul, (then called Saul) was describing his conversion on the road to Damascus.  The Lord’s commission to Paul then was simple…Go, uncover the truth, and open blinded eyes.  The Lord commissioned him as a servant, (a bringer of light and confirmation) and a witness, (a minister of the Word of Christ) to both Jew and Gentile.  But if we think about it, as Believers, this commission applies to us also.  We are all called to tell others about the Good News of Jesus.  The easiest way to do that is to share your testimony…your personal story of how Jesus came into your life and how now your life has been changed forever by Him.

Revelation 22:5 ” There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.”

The OT prophet Isaiah spoke of this illuminating glory to come in Isaiah 60:19, ” The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.”   There is coming a day when God’s Kingdom will be set up here on earth…His truth and glory will pierce through all darkness, bringing into the light all sin and deception.  On that day, the Lord Himself will become our light, and all evil will have to flee.