Tarry for the Light
We have learnt that it is the desire of our Father in heaven that we are the light of this world. We have also learnt that if our mind is good- that is if God is writing his laws on our minds, then our whole body will be full of light. This also means that we will become enlightened in our inner man: and once this occurs the scripture below becomes our reality.
Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being
enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the
riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his
power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty
power,
Eph 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised
him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and
might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but
also in that which is to come:
Eph 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and
gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that
filleth all in all.
In summary we will:
Know the hope of God’s calling … This hope is knowing that in
Christ we have eternal life and on the last day, we will go to heaven. Truly
knowing this hope cures the feelings of hopelessness, depression, anxiety and
the likes.
What the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the
saints are …. You will know that like Abraham you are a carrier of ‘The
Blessing’ of God. This will increase your faith and give you a ‘victory’
attitude and mentality. You will also understand that your inheritance on earth
includes Comfort. This is important because it repeals forever the curse on
Adam in Genesis 3: 17 – 19. God is speaking comfort comfort comfort to His
saints today.
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward
who believe, according to the working of his mighty power… We begin to experience
the immeasurable greatness of God’s power, first within our lives – to break
the hold of Sin and Satan on our lives and then Second, in the lives of others
as the Spirit desires.
But we cannot allow these blessings inflate our ego in
anyway.
I am learning however, that God also intends that we know
the mind of the Spirit in every situation we find ourselves in. For the mind of
the Spirit is the will of God. The power of God always follows the will of God
to confirm it. This is especially important even as we face certain challenges
in this world. The Apostle Paul said in Romans 8: 35 that who will separate us
from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword? We must realise that even though we are full
of light, we may have experienced or are experiencing one or more of the
challenges listed above. We must understand that we are in good company if we
do experience them. Hebrews 11: 32 – 38, lists some faith heroes and summarizes
some of the experiences they had to go through.
Heb 11:32 And what shall I more say? for the time
would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of
David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
Heb 11:33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought
righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
Heb 11:34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the
edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight,
turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Heb 11:35 Women received their dead raised to life
again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might
obtain a better resurrection:
Heb 11:36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and
scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
Heb 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder,
were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and
goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
Heb 11:38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they
wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the
earth.
However, God is also saying that:
1Co_10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such
as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted
above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape,
that ye may be able to bear it.
When trials and temptations come our way, if we fail to
recognize the mind of the Spirit in that trial, by which we are able to
overcome; then it graduates into hardships. In the new covenant, The Holy
Spirit speaks victory and comfort. We must never romanticize hardships.
When we face trials, we are in good company. Jesus, full of
the power of the Holy Spirit, having turned water to wine, cleansed the temple
of unscrupulous elements, taught, heals an impotent man on the Sabbath, feeds
five thousand and walks on water – was practically afraid – yes afraid, to go
to Judea for the Jewish Festival of Booths because the Jews were looking for an
opportunity to kill him.
Joh 7:1 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee:
for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.
Even his brothers (same mother) tried to convince him to go
to Judea:
John 7: 3
So his brothers said to him, “leave here and go to Judea so
that your disciples also may see the works you are doing; for no one who wants
to be widely known acts in secret…
Sidebar: The brothers believed Jesus was just seeking fame
and glory for himself.
… If you do these things, show yourself to the world”. (For
not even his brothers believed in him.) Jesus said to them, “My time has not
yet come, but your time is always here.
Sidebar: What did Jesus mean by saying “My time has not yet
come, but your time is always here?' This fallen world is in darkness since the
time satan outmaneuvered Adam. And the children of this world are referred to
as the children of darkness or children of the night. While the children of God
are the Children of light.
There is a rule that Jesus later mentioned:
Joh 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me,
while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
Joh 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light
of the world.
Later he also expands on this and says
Joh 11:9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in
the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the
light of this world.
Joh 11:10 But if a man walk in the night, he
stumbleth, because there is no light in him.
The psalmist let’s us know what we mean by walking in the
day or light:
Psa_119:105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and
a light unto my path.
Knowledge of God’s word and God’s will in any situation
means we have received light that we can walk and work with – it means we are
walking in the light. When the word of God or the mind of the Spirit is unknown
to us, then we are in the night season. In the night season, we tarry until we
hear from God.
So this is why Jesus said to His brothers
John 7:7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I
testify against it that its works are evil.
He said further
Verse 8: Go to the festival yourselves. I am not going to
this festival, for my time has not yet fully come.
Sidebar: His time has not yet fully come, meaning he heard
not yet received the word from God on what to do.
Verse 9: After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
Sidebar: He waited! Patience and walking with God go hand in
hand. It is easy for Jesus to say, I know who I am, I am going to enter into
Judea and perform many signs and wonders – deceiving himself. He said it
earlier in John 5: 30 “ I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my
judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who
sent me.
In verse 10, Jesus had heard from God and went to Judea. But
the wisdom God gave him was to go disguised. Disguised not because He was afraid,
but because he now had understanding of the strategy to take as it is written: Psa_119:130
The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the
simple. Disguised, Jesus would be able to enter into the temple, un-accosted and
unhindered by the Jews who wanted to kill him and preach the good news. See
Joh 7:10 But when his brethren were gone up, then went
he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.
Joh 7:12 And there was much murmuring among the people
concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he
deceiveth the people.
Joh 7:13 Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear
of the Jews.
Joh 7:14 Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went
up into the temple, and taught.
Joh 7:15 And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth
this man letters, having never learned?
I imagine it like how Gandalf the white wanted to deliver
the King of Rohan from the possession of Saruman the white and his minion.
So, he disguised himself as Gandalf the grey (In the lore, the grey is less in
power and authority than the white), knowing that Saruman will be confident of
defeating Gandalf the grey, having already done that earlier. The wisdom worked
and Saruman's henchman named Wormtongue, allowed the disguised Gandalf into the throne room to see the possessed
King. Upon seeing the King, Gandalf took off his disguise and revealed himself
as Gandalf the white (Saruman not knowing when Gandalf got the promotion) and
casted out Saruman’s possession of the King destroying his hold on the King. (Oops…Lord
of the Rings fans will quickly get this analogy).
Without that wisdom to disguise, through sheer use of power
alone, Jesus will not have made it in to the temple. But he entered in with the disguise and even preached the gospel
with such skill, that the Jews who wanted to kill him marveled and were
wondering who taught Jesus. Jesus answered:
Verses 16 -18
Then Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine but His
who sent me. Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the
teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. Those who speak on
their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent
him is true and there is nothing false in him”.
His brothers told him to go to Judea to seek his own glory,
but He waited on the word, wisdom and understanding of God and delivered a
message that made the Jews marvel. I wish I can travel back in time and listen
to that message. It doesn’t end there, the Pharisees got jealous when they
heard that many in the crowd believed in him and were saying, “When the Messiah
comes, will he do more signs than this man has done?” They sent the temple
police to go and arrest him but they couldn’t. Why? Verse 46 The police
answered, “Never has anyone spoken like this!” I say again, I wish I could go
back and hear that message that Jesus preached. Even when a faction in verse
30, tried to arrest him, it says “no one laid hands on him, because his hour
had not yet come.” The power of God at work. The will of God in Jesus’ hour was for Jesus to die upon the
cross for humanity.
We are full of light, still we must work only when it is
light/day and not when it is night. If it is night – if we have not heard from
God, we must tarry, till we receive is Word – then we can work the works of
God, giving all the glory to his name.
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