“When Jesus spoke again to the people he said, “I am the light of the world. Who ever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”
(John 8: 12)
Here in Canada we are going into winter and the days rapidly become shorter and the dark nights longer. As the darkness comes, I feel my own darkness stronger and almost overpowering me. One of my daughters gave me a set of three large battery, operated candles. They look exactly like real candles and when they light up one cannot tell the difference. Last week another daughter set the timer for the batteries to automatically come on as dusk begins to turn to darkness and a day later, I was once again overcome with my own darkness when suddenly the candles turned on and light flooded the room. Then Jesus’ words also flooded the room and I remembered his promise to light up any darkness that threatened us and comfort also flooded my heart as I realised that he was with me.
Our Heavenly Father has offered that light to all his people and when he was leading them out of Egypt to the promised land, he gave them an amazing example of his power over darkness. To thwart the Egyptian army who were close behind them, he led them through the desert with a cloud and at night a pillar of light
“The Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night a pillar of fire to give them light so that they could travel by day or night.” (Exodus 13: 21)
When John the Baptist, was heralding the coming of the Saviour, the long, awaited Messiah, he described him as the true light that will give light to everyone.
“He came as a witness to testify concerning that light so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to that light. The true light that that gives light to every man was coming into the world.” (John 1: 7 – 9)
These words bring such promise to all of us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. We don’t have to struggle alone when all sorts of darkness envelopes us, sometimes, grief feels like a blanket of darkness, and we need those gentle hands to lift it from us and bring back light. Sometimes hard times fall upon us, loss of a job, financial problems, sometimes family discord can darken our days, a cancer diagnosis, sick children, sometimes major decisions bewilder us as to the right one and darkness clouds our minds What a tremendous relief it is to remember that Jesus will shine light on whatever it is that darkens our days.
I love what Micah, the prophet, said what he did when he felt he was surrounded by darkness;
“…Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.” (Micah 7: 8)
We had an interesting question in our recent Bible study recently that asked:
Belonging to somebody gives one a sense of love and acceptance, a feeling of safety, a sense of having somebody to lean on, a feeling of comfort during tough times, a sense of peace.
the family. I belong to God’s family, I am accepted just as I am, I have a loving Father who cares for me and protects me, and I have a huge family of believers who are my brothers and sisters. Learning to live in this family is a growing experience and as Paul points out we need to be clothed in humility and patience and most of all forgiveness, so the world observes how differently the family of God behaves, because of the bond that holds them together is their love for the Jesus Christ.
We have just celebrated Thanksgiving here in Canada. Families gathered for dinners of roast turkey and pumpkin pie. Stopping to give thanks to our Heavenly Father was the original meaning of this celebration, but too often lots of food and family fun become the main attraction. Many years ago, my husband, who was a dentist, received a letter in the mail form one of his patients at Thanksgiving. His patient was a Christian and he was writing to thank my husband for his kind and careful treatment. He added at the bottom of the letter that this Thanksgiving he was going to remember those people in his life he wanted to thank. My husband and I were very touched by the letter, a good reminder for us to stop and thank people in our lives.
I was thinking of Paul’s words as I was preparing for this Thanksgiving and was prompted to stop whatever I was doing, and think seriously of all the friends I had and realised I wasn’t thanking Our Heavenly Father for them and then I thought of people that were not actually friends, but who I came across and thought of my husband’s patient. Have I thanked my family Doctor lately? What about the person who delivers my paper, have I left a note of thanks? We have a janitor in our building, do I thank him for cleaning so well?
We sing a beautiful song at our church, “Open The Eyes Of My Heart, Lord”, which is taken from Paul’s expression in his letter to the Ephesians. It is very thought, provoking if we start to think deeply about it. In our present society, outward appearances assume the upmost focus in our Western world. Constantly the media blasts us with messages of how we look to the outside community in which we live, what clothes we should wear to impress others, not only clothes signs of how successful we are need to be shown by lovely homes, and expensive cars. We must display happiness, even if we are breaking up inside. We are reluctant to show the world our true selves and constantly pretend so we fit into what society expects.
problems of the day, but she has a short prayer to God and then spends time listening to him.
I had the lovely task a few weeks ago of minding my seven-year-old grandson for the day and just like all countless grandmothers before me, I spent the day spoiling him. Firstly, we walked to McDonalds hamburger shop for lunch, then to the ice cream shop for a huge ice cream and then of course to a toy store, where we left with a present, by the time we wandered back to my place it was mid-afternoon and as a special treat he was allowed to watch cartoons on the T.V. When his mother came to pick him up he announced loudly, “I want to live with Nana.” I tried to explain to him that was not possible as I lived in an apartment and not near his school and was getting too old to look after a little boy every day. He just looked sadly at his mother and said, dramatically, “Nana has abandoned me”. How he knew that word I don’t know, but of course I consoled him by telling him that I loved him and another time we would have another fun day together.
When one of my daughters was a little girl, she was fascinated with water and I remember one incident when all my three daughters were playing in our garden, my eldest daughter ran inside to tell me that the youngest had managed to turn on the hose and was busy hosing herself with the water. When I came outside, she was laughing with delight as the water soaked her hair and of course all her clothes. She was drenched from head to foot! 
Jesus talks about this amazing love in terms of water when he is talking to the Samaritan woman at the well when he asks her for a drink of water. She is surprised by this request, as he is a Jew and Jews did not associate with Samaritans. She is more surprised when he talks about living water and asks him to explain; 
God was sending a message that his Son would allow the Father’s love to surround us and we could take delight in that incredible knowledge. 
We recently celebrated a wonderful family wedding. My granddaughter was getting married and it was to be held in a beautiful mountain side location. The site chosen was surrounded by huge mountains and as the ceremony was being held outside, the mountains provided a majestic type of cathedral created by God’s own hand It was impossible to sit there and not be awe inspired by God’s creation. Many members of the family were to be part of the ceremony and my little seven-year-old grandson and his little four-year-old sister were to be the ring bearer and flower girl. My grandson had confided in me the day before the wedding that he was frightened, about his role in the ceremony and was nervous about how he would perform, I told him I had asked God to bless the wedding. He was perfect! I was staying with them and that night after all the celebrations, I was saying a prayer for the little ones before they went to sleep, just as I finished my grandson began to pray by himself and his prayer brought tears to my eyes. This was his prayer;
Once we become adults, we tend to shake off the shackles of childhood and revel in making our own decisions and taking control of our own lives. This often becomes a barrier to trusting a loving Father to teach us his paths and walk with him allowing him to direct us. Once again Jesus speaks to the crowds and reminds them of the pitfalls of doing this and is very definite about us all returning to child like faith;
One of my darling granddaughters was married this weekend and as I looked at this beautiful woman, dressed in flowing white gown with such a sweet smile, her face covered with happiness, I started to remember this young woman as a little girl and memories flooded my mind. She had a child like faith in God and one of the stories her mother had relayed to us was about quite a serious snowstorm the family were trapped in, on their way to visit us at our cabin.
As she grew older her faith deepened and she had to remind me of the Father’s power. The family were again visiting us in our cabin and this time my daughter became ill. I was worried as we were in an isolated place and a long way from any help. My little granddaughter noticed how worried I was and said quite simply, “Nana just ask God to make her better” Simple child like faith and I prayed with her and the other children and once again God responded.
During the ceremony the pastor used these well-known words still so important today as they were when the apostle Paul wrote them;
When my youngest daughter was about 6 years old, I was giving her a big hug before she left for school and said jokingly, “Have I ever told you I love you?” She came back with a quick retort, “About a thousand times!” This story has become a favourite one in our family and told over and over with much laughter. Some of my granddaughters are now young ladies, and if they are visiting me, before they leave my home I always say, “Have I ever told you I love you?” And they always reply with much laughter. “About a thousand times!”
us. Praising him is one way to do that, while we are going through experiences where we have been so aware of feeling his love, such as
Just recently I was fitted with hearing aids as my family had insisted, I needed them, I agreed with them, but thought of them as another reminder of how old I was becoming and reluctantly, went ahead with the procedure. My daughter told her young son that I would now be able to hear all the stories he wanted to tell me about school and all the exciting things a six-year-old boy did every day. When he saw me for the first time, he ran towards me and said, “Where are they?” I think he was very disappointed that I was not wearing heavy black earphones like a helicopter pilot. I had to explain they were inside my ears so then he decided to put them to the test. His first test was a faint whisper which I had to bend down close to him to hear, next he shouted a question which made my head spin. Normal voice, his mother explained.
God decides to speak to him, himself and the story takes an unusual twist, suddenly there is a mighty wind. God does not speak. Next an earthquake. God does not speak, then a roaring fire. God does not speak. Then amazingly God speaks to Elijah in a whisper. (Wonderful story to read to get the whole picture)
I read a beautiful saying in a study I was reading