Lighting Experience – Day 5

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Welcome to another beautiful day and exciting reflection, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us always. Amen!

I begin by asking a question. At what point does our innocence gets lost or stolen away? I mean, we are born as innocent infants then grow up becoming interestingly difficult adults, so how did we transform from such innocence to the stage where we tear at one another. How did it happen and who is responsible? I won’t try to be spiritual or theological about this point; your guess is as good as mine. Send in your comments please!

Again, we would look at Psalm 36 and we notice the lamentation of the Psalmist. Who is expressing God’s concern for the human heart; he expresses how the human heart gradually fails God and slips into darkness. After sin speaks to us and make us reject God and his will, then we think highly of ourselves! And the usual saying that “Pride goes before a fall” is firmly established in that statement.

You can click below to read the Psalm 36.

21 Day Lighting Experience – Psalm 36 (GNT)

36
Human Wickedness
Sin speaks to the wicked deep in their hearts; they reject God and do not have reverence for him. 2 Because they think so highly of themselves, they think that God will not discover their sin and condemn it. 3 Their speech is wicked and full of lies; they no longer do what is wise and good. 4 They make evil plans as they lie in bed; nothing they do is good, and they never reject anything evil.

The Goodness of God
5 Lord, your constant love reaches the heavens; your faithfulness extends to the skies. 6 Your righteousness is towering like the mountains; your justice is like the depths of the sea. People and animals are in your care. 7 How precious, O God, is your constant love! We find[b] protection under the shadow of your wings. 8 We feast on the abundant food you provide; you let us drink from the river of your goodness. 9 You are the source of all life, and because of your light we see the light. 10 Continue to love those who know you and to do good to those who are righteous. 11 Do not let proud people attack me or the wicked make me run away. 12 See where evil people have fallen. There they lie, unable to rise.

Verse 11 expresses the just man’s prayer: Do not let proud people attack me or the wicked make me run away. Can’t we say then that a proud man is a wicked man, and a wicked man is a proud man? The proud heart sees nothing good in others; they only see good in themselves. They close their heart to general good or the good of others; they breed wickedness. Now that you know this… ask yourself, do you have a proud heart? Are you fostering wickedness? Let some light shine in your heart today; please repent – be humble. Even Jesus was humble.

We now extend our reflection to John Chapter 5, where we actually picked today’s theme. Jesus is attacked by proud people. Pride blinds the heart and darkness sets in the heart and evil plans emanate. Please if you are overridden by any form of false and useless pride, repent today. It would destroy you.

You can click below to read John Chapter 5

21 Day Lighting Experience – John Chapter 5

5 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda[a] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. [4] [b] 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” 8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” 11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ” 12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?” 13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. 14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. 19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him. 24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. 28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. 31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is true. 33 “You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. 35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. 36 “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39 You study[c] the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life. 41 “I do not accept glory from human beings, 42 but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God[d]? 45 “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”

Jesus asks us today; “Do you want to get well?” Yes Lord, I want to get well, from my pride, tribulations, self-deceit, from darkness and from all kinds of illnesses physical, spiritual, social or financial, please heal me Lord. I want to get well from my unbelief and my inability or unwillingness to do your will. I want to get well from sin. So you my reader, do you want to get well?

This man who had been ill for 38 years was obviously over 38 years old. He had a belief and mindset of how he could get well. He believed in a system and waited for the system to favour him. No, we can’t fault him for hoping or waiting. He did what he understood and believed in, but it was not enough. Many of us find ourselves in such a dilemma, All we know and expect is in a process, system or set beliefs and because we are not well positioned, we remain under the bondage of the system and our challenges.

[Divine Cooperation]

Are you willing to cooperate with God?

Many scholars have asked this question, where were his relatives for 38 years to help him into the pool. I also join in that question, where were the Pharisees and other temple officials for 38 years, and why didn’t they help him? The only answer I can give is that, this story reminds us that at the end of the day our salvation is personal. Our parents, siblings, relatives, friends and religious leaders have their limitation. We must work out our salvation personally as our judgement is also personal.

This leads us to our sub-theme for today: “Do you want to get well: Divine Cooperation”. For the umpteen time, do you want to get well? This expression reminds me of the leper in Matthew Chapter 8. The leper came to Jesus and said, “Sir, if you want to, you can make me clean.” Jesus responded,“I do want to… Be clean!” What plays out in both scenario is the willingness of the master to save us, but he requires our cooperation. I have tagged this as Divine cooperation. Your willingness must align with the willingness of God – period!

Unlike the Leper’s story above, the ill man in John chapter 5 did not know Jesus and never heard of him nor know what Jesus could do for him. However, he was willing to be healed. Do you know Jesus? Do you want to get well? Are you willing to cooperate with the divine? God is willing to heal you and God wants you to repent.

In verse 14, Jesus remind the ill man that he needed to repent: stop sinning or something worse may happen to you. God is more interested in our salvation than in our sins. In other words, Jesus reminds us that sin can take us away from God’s salvation. Hence, stop sinning! Another way we can attain divine cooperation is by keeping away from sin. Verse 10 of Psalm 36 says; “Continue to love those who know you and do good to those who are righteous.”

“Do You Want To Get Well?”

Finally, Jesus calls our attention to the fact that John was like a lamp burning and shining and witnessed to the truth. John was humble and desired the will of God. Unlike the Pharisees, who were blinded by their pride, they refuse to witness to the healing of the ill man. They refused to see the good in the action of Jesus and were more concerned in the burden of carrying a mat for one Sabbath than the burden of an illness for 38 years. The Pharisees where proud, bore wickedness and sought to Kill Jesus. Unlike John the Baptist, they allowed darkness take over their heart. John drew attention to Jesus, the light; while the Pharisees sought to take the attention away from Jesus, they preferred darkness.

Before we complain about our society, our family and relationship, we must ask ourselves, are we bringing light and hope into our environment or are we causing darkness? Is our greed, pride, deceit, lie, envy and judgment of a situation or of others for the growth of the society or impeding its growth? In our homes, do we see the little good in others or seek to judge other alone? What happened to your innocence? Are you sharing a lighting experience?

Join us tomorrow, 6th February for Lighting Experience – Day 6

Speechlesswaters

PS

Were the pharisees truly interested in the work of God?

If the Pharisees were truly interested in the power Jesus had and the healing he could bring the people, what do you think could have been the logical case for God’s work to be promoted in his temple. Won’t it have been wiser for them bring out all the seek and ask/beg Jesus to heal them.

When we see people who do good in our family or society, do we give them opportunity to do more good or do we try to kill their shine? Do we help them achieve the positive change they can bring or do we criticize them and try to eliminate them?

Are we increasing the light in our environment or killing the light?

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