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Live as Children of the Light – Love Beyond Measure · Still, Here

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: This is still here.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: A quiet moment to remember what is true.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to these words from the book of Ephesians, chapter 5, verses 8 through 10.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: For you were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Walk as children of the light,
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness in truth,
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: proving what is well-pleasing to the Lord.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Hiding can feel safe.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: If there is a part of ourselves we believe is inadequate,
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: unfinished, or unacceptable, we learn to keep it out of sight.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: We manage what people see.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: We explain more than we need to.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: We work hard to make sure no one gets close to the place we are still uncertain about.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: The small ruler says, I must hide what is unfinished in me so others will think I am doing well.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Shame depends on that kind of hiding.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: It tells us that if people could really see us, something important might be taken away.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Respect, belonging, love, maybe even our place with God.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Paul says something very different.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: You are now light in the Lord.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Light is sometimes used in religious language as a threat.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Everything will be exposed.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Every hidden thing will be uncovered.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: But light does more than expose.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Light lets us see.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: When you walk into a dark room and turn on a lamp, the light does not create what is there.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: It lets you recognize it more accurately.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: That is part of what grace does within us.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: As shame loses its power,
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: we can look honestly at our own life without immediately turning what we see into
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: a condemnation.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: We can recognize an old pattern and say, I do not need that anymore.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: We can notice an insecurity without obeying it.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: We can admit that something still needs healing without making
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: the unfinished place our identity.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: That is a very different kind of spiritual sight The spirit begins changing perception.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: The circumstances may be the same, but we do not see them through exactly the same fear.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Another person's success does not have to mean there is less room for us.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: An old disappointment does not have to predict what happens next.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: A limitation can become part of the life God works through instead of
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: a defect we spend our energy concealing.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: We are still unfinished.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Light does not require otherwise.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Paul says the fruit of light is goodness, righteousness, and truth.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Those things become visible as we live more honestly in the presence of Christ.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: We do not have to make ourselves shine.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: That phrase itself can become another burden.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: The light is Christ's.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Our work is often much simpler.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Stop hiding.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Let God show us what is actually true.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Let grace meet what we see.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: There may be things that need to change.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: There may also be things you have spent years criticizing that God never asked you to reject.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Light helps us know the difference.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: You can live honestly and still be in process.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: You can be seen and still belong.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Christ's light does not make you less human.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: It makes it possible to live your humanity without shame having to manage the room.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Take a moment for this prayer of presence.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: God of light, there are still places where I am tempted to hide because I do not feel adequate.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Your grace gives me room to see myself honestly without condemnation.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Show me what is true.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Show me what I no longer need to carry and what I do not need to be ashamed of.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Let your light make me more honest, more free, and more available to the life you are forming.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: As you leave this quiet moment, carry this prayer with you.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: I no longer need to hide.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Christ's light shines in me.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: I no longer need to hide.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Christ's light shines in me.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: I no longer need to hide.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Christ's light shines in me.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, stay steady, stay open, stay present.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: You are still here.