Episode #153 Plenty of Light for You to Live In – Cultivate Wonder

Hey friends, it's Jen and I am loving the series that we're going through cultivating wonder and taking a fresh look at some of the greater reality that we have in God. Our very last episode, we looked at this mind-boggling reality that God is light.

And we're continuing to talk about that today, looking at Christ and what Christ says about us when he says that we are the light of the world. Now, one of the things I found can sometimes impede our wonder is we just get too familiar with a concept.

Sometimes these incredible truths about our faith can start to feel mundane or worn out or like old news. We've heard it before, we've learned about it, Shoot, we've probably even taught other people about it.

And when we're asking God to bring fresh excitement or fresh revelation, we tend to want him to talk about something new that we've never heard about before. When oftentimes what he wants to bring us is greater depth of insight or revelation about something that we know a little bit in part already.

And so my encouragement for you is as I read a couple of verses for us today. Don't gloss over them. Don't let them come in one ear and out the other because they might sound familiar. I'm actually even going to read them from The Message Translation to try and help us not fall into old patterns and just check the box of something we've already learned.

But instead, we get to draw near to God and ask for him to give us fresh revelation on a familiar topic. And we're starting with how Jesus is the light of the world.

I'm going to start reading for us from John 8:12, again, from the message.

“Jesus once again addressed them: ‘I am the world’s Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in.’ The Pharisees objected, ‘All we have is your word on this. We need more than this to go on.’” (John 8:12-13, MSG)

Now, I want to pause here for a second, because in the last episode, we talked about how God is the literal light that illuminated the first day on earth in creation. So check out that episode if you haven't yet, but today we're talking about how Jesus is the light of the world.

And here, he's not talking about him physically lighting up the places that he was in as he was teaching or talking to the Pharisees. He is the light that illuminates who God is, God's character and nature, and the way that we can receive a salvation through him to connect with God, the Father.

And I hate when I relate to the Pharisees, but I can kind of relate to them here because they're saying, Hey, we need more than just your word to go on about this. And sometimes I want more than just God's word to go on too.

And so we're going to pick it up in verse 14 as Jesus responds to them. It says,

“Jesus replied, ‘You’re right that you only have my word. But you can depend on it being true. I know where I’ve come from and where I go next. You don’t know where I’m from or where I’m headed. You decide according to what you can see and touch. I don’t make judgments like that. But even if I did, my judgment would be true because I wouldn’t make it out of the narrowness of my experience but in the largeness of the One who sent me, the Father. That fulfills the conditions set down in God’s Law: that you can count on the testimony of two witnesses. And that is what you have: You have my word and you have the word of the Father who sent me.’” (John 8:14-18, MSG)

So all of God is the light. And Jesus himself says, I am the light, and you can trust my word because it's true. And it agrees with what the father has said about me.

And we're going to jump over to Matthew 5, starting in verse 14, again, in the message translation. This is still talking about light, but it's talking about us as light.

“’Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.’” (Matthew 5:14-16, MSG)

These are verses we've all probably heard, maybe even memorized before. And also, I believe that because the word of God is living and active, and because our good God is living and active too, there are things that he wants to show us in a fresh way today.

Maybe he wants to talk with you about Jesus being the light and what that means for you.

Maybe he wants to talk with you about how you are the light and a way that you can experience that or receive more of that from him.

I'll read one more passage for us from 2 Corinthians 4 starting in verse 6, again, from the message.

“It started when God said, ‘Light up the darkness!’ and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful. If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that.” (2 Corinthians 4:6-8, MSG)

See, you and I get to be the light set on the lampstands. The light that's a city on a hill. Not because we have to produce light in and of ourselves, but because we get to know God through the face of Christ and his light is deposited in our hearts through Jesus.

The wonder that we can walk in today is that we get to see his light on display and be his light on display in the world. And so we're going to ask God to talk with us more about that. And here's our question:

Jesus, you're the light of the world. And because of you, I am the light of the world too. How can I experience more of your light and be a light as I go about my day today?

Have a good talk.

And if you've been encouraged by this content, please share it with a friend and help them grow in their conversational relationship with God too!

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