Light Cannot Be Overcome By Darkness

Light Cannot Be Overcome By Darkness

Matthew 3: 14-16

14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Last week at my church, our pastor Tadd Grandstaff began our summer series titled, “Summer on the Mount”. We will be journeying through Matthew.

During his message, he shared the relevance of salt and light (Matthew 5: 13-16). Salt represents our influence in the world and light represents our testimony in this world.

For this post, I will focus on the relevance of “light”.

God’s word will be my guide for I still have much to learn. Over the past year, I began a journey embracing God’s word.

I grew up Episcopalian and stepped away from my faith over twenty years ago and back in October 2017 I accepted Jesus into my heart (I’ll be honest I did not know what this meant or understood people’s commitment to Jesus until this past fall).

God is always with me and He is patient.

I am currently part of a women’s community group and for our bible study, we are using Jen Wilkin’s, “Sermon on the Mount” workbook as a guide for our nine week journey through Matthew 5-7. During that journey, we are to avoid reading commentaries regarding the meaning of each verse. We are encouraged first to attempt to gain comprehension and interpretation on our own.

During the early years, some of the messaging I received about God began to turn me away from actually having any faith at all. One of the first occurrences I remember was in seventh grade at a sleep over with one of my friends who attended Trinity Episcopal with me.

During the sleep over, we had a couple friends who attended a different church begin to guilt trip us into why we had not accepted Jesus into our heart and told us that we were going to hell. Many of my experiences came from a place of not feeling welcome or worthy.

This year was the first time I realized that my relationship with God is our relationship and no one else’s, for God is the only one who truly knows my heart. I have no right to judge others and no one has the right to judge me.

God is love and God wants us to love one another, Amen!

I have learned that God did not intend to use guilt as a pathway to the kingdom of heaven. God encourages us to use our brokenness to let our light shine through our very cracks to maximize His effectiveness. God’s goal for us is to start living worthy of our purpose and our calling.

On this journey, I have come to find that as a disciple of Jesus Christ, I must admit that there are things I don’t know or understand. I acknowledge that I still have much to learn.

Admitting to not knowing is growing and it takes patience. Mark 4: 24 – 29 illustrates the growth that needs to take place.

Mark 4: 24 – 29
24 Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. 25For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” 26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

Pastor Steve Furtick in his message, Let the Dirt do its Work, discusses the importance of God knowing the order of how things happen in our lives. We must trust in God, that there is an order to things. The result will come, but we must be patient for the harvest. We must learn, understand and act.

God is Love and human laws do not always align.

Our light is our testimony in the world, our injunction of moral conduct,

Our light must shine in the darkest places of our world. Doing this, we maximize our effectiveness and speak up for injustices in our communities and the world. It is more important to do what is right than to do something wrong just because you are told, especially when it brings harm to someone else.
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Light Cannot Be Overcome By Darkness

1. Light grows and expands in the darkness.
2. Light is a source of grace and hope.
   
3. Light lives worthy through purpose and calling.
4. Light creates solutions.

John 1:5
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.