Wednesday, August 18, 2010

in the light.

i've been captivated//haunted by 1 john recently...

now this is the gospel message we have heard from him and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. if we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth. but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. if we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. if we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. 1john1:5-10

"no darkness at all"
((our God is not a God of shifting shadows, hidden corners, clouded secrets))
((indeed, you are my lamp, Lord. the Lord illumines the darkness around me - 2sam22:29))
((light enables the eyes to see clearly, to perceive shape, color, form, dimension))
((darkness veils, light reveals truth))

"if we say we have not sinned...his word is not in us."
((how backwards from the way i often think, embracing the delusion that i can hide my sin and try to fix it myself. yet refusing to acknowledge my sin as sin means his word is not in me...))
 
"walk in the light"

((imagine: the room of my heart - dark, several light switches on the wall. reading the Word - a light switch flickers on. embracing community - a second follows suit. praying, aligning my heart with God's - a third switch suddenly points upward. serving, loving, hoping, kingdom living...light cannot help but fill the room. sin can hardly find a dark corner or crack in the wall to enter by, and should it somehow break through, it is quickly overwhelmed by the light.))

walk in the light. have fellowship. confess. 
for He is faithful and righteous to forgive.