Tag Archives: danger

Stay in the light (John 12:35-36), March 19, 2017

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Today’s Podcast


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  1. Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
  2. Have you ever been in absolute, total darkness. It’s hard to find those spots today, but when you do, they can be pretty scary.
  3. Scripture
    1. John 12:35-36
    2. Jesus:  Light is among you, but very soon it will flicker out. Walk as you have the light, and then the darkness will not surround you. Those who walk in darkness don’t know where they are going.  While the light is with you, believe in the light; and you will be reborn as sons and daughters of the light.
  4. Devotional
    1. Growing up in central Tennessee or central Kentucky, you know about Mammoth Cave. It’s named after the discovery of the Mammoth skeleton found in its caverns deep under the earth.
      1. System goes on for miles
      2. Popular tourist attraction
      3. Beautiful natural sculptures from millennia of stalactite and stalagmite formation
      4. Evolution of insects, fish and frogs without sight
      5. Every tour stops deep underground to demonstrate real darkness
      6. All lights extinguished for a few moments with no light anywhere
      7. Shocked by the total absence of light
    2. Few places you can go without some light visible
      1. Light pollution from cities makes night training difficult for military
      2. Observatories find it more difficult to search the stars for the same reason
      3. Use to be able to point out many more constellations and clearly see the Milky Way
      4. Light floods our skies 24 hours a day because of the man-made devices we employ
      5. We despise darkness
    3. Darkness means
      1. Can’t navigate
      2. Can’t avoid hidden danger
      3. Can’t distinguish friend or foe visually – sense we rely on the most
      4. Fear
    4. Many live in spiritual darkness and don’t know how to escape it
      1. Swallowed in fear
      2. Know there is danger, but don’t know how to avoid it
      3. Sense the evil in the darkness but run headlong into it because there is no way to recognize the right path in the darkness
      4. Need light to show the way
    5. Jesus says He is the light
      1. He lights our way
      2. He says when we believe in Him, His spirit will live in us and we become sons and daughters of the light, His light will shine in and through us to light the path before us
      3. Might not see the whole journey,
      4. Might only be the next step
      5. But will never be in darkness if Jesus is living in you
  5. If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Upside down values (Luke 6:24-26) October 2, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Hebrews 5-7

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 6:24-26
Jesus: All you who are rich now, you are in danger
for you have received your comfort in full.
All you who are full now, you are in danger
for you shall be hungry.
All you who laugh now, you are in danger
for you shall grieve and cry.
And when everyone speaks well of you, you are in danger
for their ancestors spoke well of the false prophets too.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus’ words should scare all of us who live in the United States. We don’t think much about that because only a small percentage of us have traveled outside the country. The average American thinks of the wealthy as that bunch of billionaires that own multiple mansions and float around on their personal yachts. But the truth is, the average American is wealthy compared to the rest of the world’s population. We’re really pretty privileged. Most of us have not one, but a couple of cars in the drive, we probably have two or three televisions in the house. I would guess every adult in most households has their own cell phone. Most of us eat every day and have more than two suits of clothing in our closets.

Jesus tells us we are in danger. We have enough to be comfortable without asking for outside help. We have enough to eat without wondering if God will supply our daily bread from some unknown source. We go about life without calling on Him every day for the essentials of life. We get very comfortable with the things we have that keep us just out of the level of suffering physically in various areas of our physical life. And if Satan can keep us focus on our physical comforts, he wins.

But if we get too comfortable now and forget where the essentials of life come from, if we forget that God supplies all good things, we will lose our way and find ourselves in a place of eternal punishment instead of eternal reward. At the end of time, comfort will suddenly become a thing of the past if comfort is what we concentrate on right now. Seventy years is a pretty short time compared to eternity. Not even a breath or a blink in comparison. So Jesus warns us that if we focus on wealth and comfort, we are focusing on the wrong thing.

How about hunger? Isn’t it important to eat well in order to stay fit and healthy so we can carry out the mission Jesus gave us? Sure it is, but do we focus more on food or on getting the message out? Having been to a lot of church dinners, I sometimes ask myself the question, “Do we have those big fellowship dinners to stay at church or do we stay at church to have those big fellowship dinners?” There is a big difference to God in how you answer that question. But once again, satiating ourselves with earths pleasures, whether food, or money, or job, or fame, or anything else isn’t the right answer. When we start looking for satisfaction from anything other than the joy that comes from God’s spirit in us, we are in danger.

Jesus told those on the hillside that day that those who laugh are in danger. Does that mean we should be somber all the time and not enjoy life? No. I think Jesus’ life was filled with laughter. He would not have attracted children to Him the way He did if He didn’t laugh. But I think when we seek solely to find happiness instead of joy, we are in trouble. God cursed this world because sin entered into it through our disobedience. It will never be the kind of place we should fully enjoy because of the flawed nature we gave it. We can find and experience moments of happiness, but we should not be content to stay in this world. We should not be content with this place. He tells us when we get to the point that we find all our happiness here, we are in danger. There is a better place. We can have joy because of His spirit in us, but His spirit assures us that we are not citizens of this world, but gives us hope for a better tomorrow.

Jesus also tells us to beware of the praise of men. When we seek the approval of those whose values are driven by the world instead of seeking God’s approval, we are in grave danger. The world’s values are upside down. Satan is the father of lies and traps us with his lies. He betrays us and pulls us into his schemes by luring us with the physical things of this world and through the false praise of others. When we get trapped into seeking the praise of others, we are in danger of losing our way on the narrow path that Jesus urges us to follow.

We live in a minefield on this planet called earth. It’s values tell us to be comfortable, satisfy your deepest desires, find happiness wherever you can, gain the praise of others. But when we pursue those values, we pursue them in opposition to the will and obedience of our heavenly Father. It is far better to suffer a short time here than to suffer eternally, don’t you think? 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.