It is so easy to be deceived. I have witnessed many that have placed themselves on some sort of pedestal to be seen by all, only to be exposed and fall in grand fashion. In the world of faith, the same holds true. There have been those that claim to be of Christ and preaching of Him only to be exposed in their sin and having taken advantage of those that were not mature in Christ enough to see the deception, or enamored by the glitz and fanfare that they chose not to see it.

“¹³For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angle of light. ¹⁵So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.” – 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 (ESV)

Paul is speaking to the Corinthians here about the dangers of the false apostles. He is very forthcoming with his words and straight to the point. He warns that what you see is not always what is true and that they should be aware and not ignore when something seems out of line with Christ.

This holds true today, as I see it, even more so. With social media, there is the opportunity for many to put on a persona of one thing and in reality things are certainly 180 degrees different. I know of those that have professed one thing for the world to see, and then when the camera is off, they are contrary to what they have presented.

It is up to us to take what we see at face value only and dig to find the truth. Once we start digging, we will be enlightened to what is really going on and even the motives behind it. For me I have to even remember that when I go looking I have to be prepared for what I find.

When it comes to the Light of Christ, the study of God’s Word is the way to find the truth. I know that there are plenty of passages that when taken out of context, can appear to lift up those that are deceiving. When I truly dig into Scripture, I am able to find the truth that is God’s Word and distance myself from those that actively deceiving.

When you are in the world, have you been deceived by someone claiming to be of the light of God? When did you realize you had been deceived? What actions can you take in the future to prepare for and avoid this happening again?

This morning I was led to a passage that I had studied just a few months ago. In fact, the study was on the word “darkness” and now I study the word “light”. As I read through the passage and my study, I felt there was little if anything to add and therefore will simply post it once again, below.

I will say that you will notice the title of this study is slightly different than that of before and I do believe that they compliment each other. For we want to fellowship and only partner with those like us and not those that are against us.

Below you will find my thoughts as posted before:

Fellowship with Those in the Light, not the Darkness

“¹⁴Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? ¹⁵What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? ¹⁶What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God;” – 2 Corinthians 6:14-16 (ESV)

Notice the contrasts in the verses above. When I only look at them, I should not be engaged with those that are opposite of me. I am to fellowship with those that are like me and avoid others.

But that is not what Paul refers to in these verses. What he is referring to is that we should not be best of friends with those that are outside of our beliefs. I should continue to engage with others, but my engagement should be in the interest of service, love, care, and bringing the gospel to them. Even Jesus Himself interacted and engaged with the tax collectors and Pharisees, however His best friends were the disciples and those of like beliefs.

“¹⁶as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ¹⁷Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, ¹⁸and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.’” – 2 Corinthians 6:16-18 (ESV)

I see in the second half of verse 16 and through verse 18 above that as a member of the temple of the living God, I will be walking with Him each day. I will have the opportunity to fellowship and build my relationship with Him. I am however to commune with others in the temple and as such will have a relationship with others like me and my beliefs.

Just as oil is to water, light is to darkness, good is to evil, I am to be to those that are not like me. I can be in their presence, but until one of us becomes like the other, we are not able to commune fully. I can be friendly with them, but I should not be in continuous fellowship with them. I choose to be of the temple of the living God and fellowship with others that are there with me.

Thinking of the relationships you have around you, are they like you? Are you seeking fellowship and a relationship with those that are outside of your beliefs? Will you choose to be of the temple of the living God and fellowship with others in the light?

“³And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” – 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (ESV)

Satan is doing everything he can to keep us from seeing the light that is Christ Jesus. He is placing a veil between Christ and me, he is blinding my mind with things of this world to distract me from hearing the gospel. Paul states this for the Corinthians so they are aware of the cunning of Satan.

Even in today’s world, Satan continues to do his dirty work. He is driving the removal of Christ from this world. There are those that are in active defiance of the church, and there are those that are in subtle defiance. All of which are in defiance of God’s church and are being led by Satan as he works to hide our hearts from the light of Christ.

I am doing my level best to bring the light forward for all to see. I am only one man and whereas I may not see the impact, the light that I bring forward is seen by some and that is my task as given to me by God. I can only do the work and allow God to do His work. I am tasked to bring the light forward and God will brighten things up through His love and care for us and those around us.

Our duty is to bring the light and allow God to use the light to break through the veiled, blinded, and hardened hearts of those in the world. And when we have brought the light to one area, we move to the next and start again. God will do His work once we have completed ours.

In the world, are you bringing the light of Christ? When bringing the light, are you trying to do more than what you are tasked with by God? Will you simply bring the light with you everywhere to the veiled, blinded, and hardened hearts of the world?

I am taken this morning to Alaska and the periods when the sun does not set. During that time, the light of day is always there. No darkness, jut light 24 hrs a day.

“¹¹Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. ¹²The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.” – Romans 13:11-13 (ESV)

As a child of God, I have the same period of light always on me. Not the sunlight, but the light of God. As such I am always in the light. I am visible for all to see. I am not hidden from view. I have a responsibility to walk in the light for all to see with the Christ as the focus of my every day.

It is easy to stay in the darkness, and frankly there have been days that I have not felt much like walking in the light. I felt like finding a dark place to just settle in and hide from everyone and everything.

That however is not the possible, as God always knows right where we are and will shine His light on us. He will allow us the opportunity to relax for a moment, but hiding is not in the cards. We are children of God and therefore will be in the light always.

Do you imagine yourself always being in the light? When you have wanted to hide in the darkness, have you found it difficult as God seems to always be shining the light on you? Will you be prepared to always walk in the light?

In the business world, as in society, there is a tendency to keep things to ourselves in an effort to get ahead. And sharing the “secrets to success” are limited, despite the number of periodicals produced on the subject. There is a feeling that if I share my secret, then I lose my advantage.

This is not the way to live the life as a follower of Christ. Our goal should be to share with everyone, although that is not always the case.

“⁴⁴The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. ⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.” – Acts 13:44-45 (ESV)

The Jews had asked Paul and Barnabas to preach to them on this day so they would have the opportunity to be in the know about salvation. What a great ask and it should be commended for them to seek the Lord and His Word.

It was made clear however that they were in it for just themselves when the city showed up to learn and the Jews got territorial and turned against Paul in an effort to paint themselves higher in the pecking order than everyone else. They were losing their advantage over everyone else and as such, took the approach to discredit the advantage to again gain the upper hand.

“⁴⁶And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, ‘It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “’I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”’ ⁴⁸And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.” – Acts 13:46-48 (ESV)

Paul and Barnabas took the approach that if the Jews were not interested, we will go to those who are and turned their attention to the Gentiles that they might hear the gospel and be saved. What a turn of events. I am sure that is not what the Jews were expecting and they showed it as they drove them from the city.

God’s Word is not just for me. It is my duty to share with all who will hear, not just those that are in the right standing. I cannot keep the light to myself so that I will be able to see and travel the path God has for me. I am to share the light with all so they have the same opportunity to see and travel the path God has for them.

As you have heard and learned the Word of God, what has been your approach to sharing? Have you been willing to share the advantage you have as a follower of Christ, or have you been keeping Him to yourself to lord over others? What do you think would be when you start sharing the light with others?

We tend to think that we have an unlimited amount of time to follow Christ and act as though, I can follow Christ tomorrow. We take Christ and what He has for us for granted that He will always be there.

“³⁵So Jesus said to them, ‘The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.’” – John 12:35 (ESV)

Jesus clearly states here that He will only be in the world for a short time longer and that the people should take the opportunity now to believe. He was speaking to us here in this time as well. We only have a short time in this world to believe and follow Christ. Every day that passes we are closer to the end, whether that be the end of our time here in this world, or the end times when Christ comes again. Either way, it would then be too late.

“³⁶While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of the light.” – John 12:36 (ESV)

In the time I have left if makes sense for me to take advantage of the light while I still have it. There is no daylight savings time to extend the light of the day for the harvest when it comes to living the life that Christ has in store for me. When the light is gone, it is gone and it will be too late.

Thankfully, I have chosen to follow the light. I admit, that I have and will venture into the darkness from time to time as a sinner. But, I have the light of Christ to light the path I am to be on and I will find my way back to Him and that path as Christ waits for me with open arms to welcome me back.

We have the light of Christ for only a short while and therefore we should be taking advantage of the light to guide our daily walk as we believe.

Are you walking in the light? What timeline do you believe you have to still find and walk in the light? Did you know that the light of Christ will only be here for a little while longer?

“¹²Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” – John 8:12 (ESV)

I have been studying the word “light” for a few weeks now and this morning what stood out was the “again” part of the verse. Jesus comes back to the theme of His coming which is to be “the light of the world”.

How much of that have I missed? I have focused on what else do I need to know and have studied and studied. I have even been studying this for the past few weeks and have not really made the connection that the theme and mission of the gospel is that Jesus came to be “the light of the world” through His death and resurrection as He brings salvation.

I am not the light, I carry the light. I do not shine, it is God in me that shines and my job is to be in the places where He can shine.

Again and again, God has led me to the passages in His Word to explain to me this and until today it really had not hit me. Jesus is “the light of the world. Whoever follows” him takes the Light with them.

What realizations about Jesus’ mission are you learning? Was this as revealing to you as it was to me? Are you catching the theme of Jesus as “the light of the world”?

“¹⁹And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” – John 3:19 (ESV)

“and the people loved the darkness”. What a thought. I am so glad that Jesus came and brought with Him salvation.

I was just speaking about not having to hide if you are telling the truth. When you speak the truth there is nothing to hide from. There is no making up more to cover what lie was told. There is no more mental work to determine if it is needed to be careful how and what is said so as not to let on that there is something not quite right.

Yes, there may be initial sting with the truth, and there may be negative consequences. But, once it is done, it is done and there is no more lingering with the extra work needed to continue covering up.

Jesus came and brought the light to the world and you can see in the verse above that people rejected the light as they preferred the hiding and working in the dark so as to continue avoiding consequences of their actions. Staying out of the light seemed like the thing to do in order to not be exposed for the transgressions.

The truth lives in the light. When true everything is taken care of. There are, as I mentioned earlier, consequences for the choice and actions, however those consequences are far less damaging. And, as will likely be realized, when exposed early, the “mistake” is more readily understood as an accident and not something done out of malice. When understood as a mistake the consequence is so much less drastic and is something that is prepared for.

I choose to come to the light. I choose Jesus. I choose to be up front with all so as to avoid the compounding consequences of the darkness.

When you are in the world and you see the light of Christ, where are you gravitating? Are you content with remaining in the darkness to try and maintain the lies and actions you have taken? What if you were to come clean and come to the light of Christ, accepting the consequences of all your actions?

When I read the verses in John 1, without diving into and studying, I can get the sense that I am somehow the one that would be providing salvation to those that I come in contact with, “I am the light”.

“⁴IN him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” – John 1:4-5 (ESV)

But I have to read and study further to truly understand as John the Baptist understood, that he was simply to be the one to “bear witness about the light” and to make clear that it was the Messiah that would be providing the salvation.

“⁶There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all believe through him. ⁸He was not the light, but cam to bear witness about the light.” – John 1:6-8 (ESV)

We, as John are hear only to bring the name of Jesus to everyone. We are not here to soak up any glory or reward here in this world, as we are only here for a short while as we pass through to heaven. We are to be the one holding the candle that is the light, not to be the light ourselves.

“⁹The true light, which enlightens everyone was coming into the world.” – John 1:9 (ESV)

Jesus is coming again and it is my duty to let His light shine so that all can see and have the opportunity to accept the salvation he provides so they too will find glory in heaven.

When you think about your role for Christ here in this world, do you think somehow that you are the light? What if you were to realize that you are only holding the candle that is the light so all could see? What if you were, as John the Baptist did, proclaim that you are only here to bear witness of the light?

Responsibility is something that can weigh heavy on someone. Knowing that it is my job or I am “in charge” of a task and its completion can be overwhelming and seem almost insurmountable.

“³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” – Matthew 11:30 & 29 (ESV)

Jesus declares to get along, we should look to Him for our approach. And when we do, we will be granted rest in the work. I will say that it is a difficult concept to grasp. We are doing work, yet the work is restful?

As I look at the concept, I can only compare it to what some may refer to as being “in the zone” or in a “state of flow”. I watch a lot of sport and witness regularly, an athlete that seems to effortlessly excel. They go on a 10 for 10 hitting streak in baseball or softball, run for 300 yards in a football game, or card a 65 in golf. My youngest son scored 21 points in a basketball game and his highest total to that point was 11. Each of these seemed to complete these easily and when asked, they simply say they were “in the zone”. My son even told me that he wasn’t even getting great easy shots, they were just somehow going in.

As I continue to study and reach for what I know, they were able to complete those feats based on the work they did to prepare and the comfort and love of the work. They admit that when it was all over, they were tired physically and mentally, but the sort of tired that they were eager to do it again. The work was not a burden at all.

When I am doing the work of Christ, I should find comfort and love of the work, and where I may be tired physically and mentally, that tired should make me eager to do it again. That is what is meant, as I see it, when Jesus says “my burden is light”.

When you are working for Jesus, are you tired both physically and mentally? What is your experience with that work and your comfort and love of the work? Are you able to think of the burden of the work being “light”?