Month: March 2025

“Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.” Psalms 146:5 NIV

The psalmist in this verse is encouraging everyone who reads this verse or hears it to put their trust and hope in God. We often put our hope in other people, whether they are people we know or people we look up to. The challenge with this is that they are people, human and as people and humans we are not perfect. We let others down, others let us down. By placing our hope in others and not God, we are setting ourselves up to be disappointed, hurt and discouraged.

When we place our hope in God, we are placing it with the only perfect being. We could argue that even when we place our hope in God, we can be disappointed or discouraged. However, if we are willing to look at what is going on, what we are disappointed or discouraged about, we usually find that our disappointment or discouragement is occurring because we wanted a certain outcome and we didn’t get what we wanted.

Since God is perfect, not us, He knows what we need and what is the perfect outcome for each one of us. The result we are looking for may not be the best result for us and since God knows that, He gives us what we need, what is best for us. Those who place their lives, their decisions, their hopes in God are blessed and they will tell you they are blessed, if asked.

Where do you place your hope, who do you want help from, others or God?

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 NIV

When we first look at this verse, many people focus on the ‘light of the world’ part of it. I want to focus on the ‘I am’ part of the verse to begin with. When God was speaking to Moses on the mountain at the burning bush, He told him to tell the Israelites that I AM sent him. That’s because I AM was the explanation of Who God was and still is. God is and has just always been. Jesus is using I AM in the same way here, He is and has always been.

When He added ‘the light of the world’, He was conveying that He was the way to salvation. The Jewish people considered light to be goodness, intellect and salvation. He is in essence saying ‘I am and have always been and I am the salvation you need.’

For the Gentiles that may not have had the idea of goodness connected to light, it is important to acknowledge that when Jesus spoke these sentences into existence, it was during a festival. Festivals, back then and even today, are known for the different lights that are present throughout them. Most people like going to festivals at night because the lights create a welcoming environment. There were not as many different styles of lights in Jesus’s time as there are now, but still the idea of light is welcoming. You can see everything that is lit, there are no surprises because you know what is in front of you.

When the Israelites were in the desert, God provided a pillar of fire to lead them during the night as they were walking. Jesus wants everyone to know that as ‘the Light of the world’, He illuminates everything and is the One we should follow. He is telling us that He is not just any light but the light.

Jesus illuminates the darkness that is present everywhere in our world. By following Jesus we will not walk in darkness any longer. If we choose to step away from Jesus we will return to the darkness, but as long as we choose to follow Him, remain close to Him, we will walk in light.

The question then is, do you choose light or darkness, Jesus or the world?

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:8-9 NIV

We are officially in the Lenten season. This is the time when we as Christians can take the opportunity to focus more intently on what Christ gave up during those 40 days in the wilderness at the beginning of His ministry and then ultimately on the cross. Lent ends on Maundy Thursday, when we remember the last meal that Jesus had with His disciples. The next day, Good Friday, we remember the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made for each and every one of us.

At the moment that Jesus breathed His last breath on the cross and ended His time here on earth, His mother and all those who believed in Him and loved Him, grieved. They believed that they would never see Him again, talk with Him again, spend time with Him. They were surprised on the 3rd day when He appeared to them alive. They were struggling to believe that He was going to rise after His death even after He told them Himself. They completely believed and trusted Him once they saw Him in His resurrected body.

Peter was one of them, he had walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus, shared meals with Jesus, had listened and believed in Jesus for 3 years. So as he wrote this letter, he knew those he was writing to had not had that privilege. If they chose to believe in Christ they would be doing it without having ever seen Him. That is what faith is. John recorded in John 20:29, Jesus saying that “…Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”.

Even though you don’t see Him in person here on earth, do you believe? I pray that you do.

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” Isaiah 9:2 NIV

Isaiah is talking about the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Even though he wrote this centuries before Jesus came to earth, Isaiah was telling the Israelites that a wonderful Light was coming. A light that was going to shine in the darkness, even the darkness where light has not been for a long time. There is nowhere that this light cannot shine.

It will be up to the people walking in darkness then to decide if they are going to choose to follow the light or remain in darkness. From the teachings that are provided throughout the New Testament, it is evident that not everyone chooses to follow the light when they see it. The important question for each one of us today, knowing that the Light has dawned, is have you chosen to follow the Light or to continue to walk in darkness?

Only you can answer that for yourself, and when you do, remember to be honest with yourself. No one else on earth may know what is in your heart but God knows. He wants you to choose the Light, but He won’t drag you to Himself kicking and screaming, it has to be a voluntary choice to have a relationship with Him.

The Light has dawned, which do you choose……Light or darkness?