Latest / Teachings On This Day On FerventWord / On Apr 09, 2006: Ephesians 5:8-14
Transcript
- You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2006. Paul begins this portion of scripture with some very straightforward and specific commands. Now it's important for us to notice the tenses that Paul uses here. For those of you who are especially gifted in the area of grammar, I'm going to ask for your help at this time. When Paul says, for you were once darkness, what tense is he using there? Past tense. Okay, that's very insightful. Thank you. Past tense. You were once darkness, which means it was in the past, that it should no longer be currently, but that it's something of the past. But he goes on to say, but now. And what tense is that, please? Present tense. That means now at this point, right at this moment, you are light in the Lord, Paul says. And so he commands us then to walk as children of light. This command to walk literally means to start walking now and then to keep on walking. It's to be repeated and continued until we meet the Lord in the air. This command to us, since we are children of light, is whether you've been walking in darkness or not, to walk as children of light. In fact, if you've been walking in darkness, Paul's command is stop walking in darkness. That's supposed to be past tense, past life, not current, not present. And start walking as children of light. But if you are a children of light and you have been walking, Paul's command to us is to continue to walk in that light and not allow darkness to be a part of our lives. He says you were once darkness. Now, something I'm not too sure it's wise for me to share it with you because you might use it against me at some point and really scare me to death. But just to let you know that I am afraid of the dark. I'm not really fond of the dark. I think it all started back at my grandmother's house. Now, she had a house where you would drive up this long driveway, and it's this big house with, you know, you could get to each part of the house without, you know, using the same way twice. It was just, had all these rooms and halls and everything. All around the house, my grandfather had planted orange trees and apple trees and different kinds of fruit trees. And it was on a wide open plot. And so there was not much around you, but it was in the area of Norwalk. And so every 10 minutes, you know, there's police cars screaming by with their sirens blaring and everything. And so kind of a scary neighborhood. But, you know, I would go there often and spend time. And at night, man, it was the worst place to be. They had these huge windows. And sliding glass doors, but you know, the blinds would never be closed and a lot of them didn't have blinds. And so you'd be there watching, you know, maybe some scary TV or something late at night. And, and you look at the window and all you can see is your own reflection, but you know, there's somebody there. He's watching you waiting to pounce, waiting for you to fall asleep so that he can come and steal your money or food or whatever, you know, what it just started then. And it's been downhill ever since my wife hates it because every night I have to have some type of light on in the house. In fact, when she's gone, I have all the lights on in the house. Tom's house is kind of scary that way too. We go to a hotel, I always have the bathroom light on and just some kind of light in the room. Oftentimes, being here at church, you know, we have to lock up late at night. Someone has to be the last person out and usually it's us. And so, you know, we're here, we're locking up in this place. I don't know if you've been around here at night, but it can be very spooky, very scary, especially when farmer boys, their lights go off at about 11 o'clock and then, you know, it's just, it's dark and there's nothing to see. There was one time Mario was here and I was here, we were late, we were working on sound and I had to do something in the youth house. And I was like, And that's just another thing, too. Just walking into a dark house just freaks me out. But I had to go in. And so I opened the door and I go in and I think I was making some copies. And I go back to set the alarm. And the alarm shows that a different door than I opened is now open. And man, my heart started to pound. I ran over here. Mario, come here. You've got to come check this out with me because I was freaked out. Well, it turned out the door wasn't closed all the way and the wind just kind of blew it when I opened the other door. And so it caused the door to be open. But I'm afraid of the dark. It really spooks me out. Darkness represents to us evil and wickedness. And that's what Paul is referring to here. This darkness, it's a spiritual darkness, but there's a practical and very real application because most crimes are committed at night. It takes place under the cover of darkness. Darkness. Darkness, it is the power of Satan. The power of sin is in darkness. And darkness blinds us so that we cannot see our way or know how to please God. Now Paul says, this is how you once were, in darkness, covered in this cloud, covered in blindness, under the power of sin and under the power of Satan. But Jesus came into the world to change that. In John chapter 1, you don't have to turn there, I'll read it to you. Familiar portion of scripture, it says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word is speaking of Jesus Christ to us. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of the world. Then later in chapter 3 verse 19, John says, that we do not continue and persist in darkness. He invites us now to come to him that he might give us the light of life. Now, notice again, just remember the tenses. You were once darkness, you used to be in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. And so Paul's command to us is walk that way, act like it. You're a child of God. Continue in the light and not in darkness. In other words, Paul is saying, stop walking in darkness, child of God, and start walking in the light. As I shared at the beginning, my prayer is that we would allow the Spirit to probe and to search our hearts. And so I would ask you at this point, are there areas of darkness in your life? Are there areas and things that you must keep secret and that you must keep hidden? Things that you maybe don't want your parents to know and to find out about. Or maybe your spouse. There's areas of darkness that you don't want your spouse to understand or to know. Or maybe it's your boss or your co-workers or others that you know. Is there areas that you demand be kept secret and hidden under the cloud of darkness? It's a good indication that we are not watching as children of light. We need to examine our hearts and let God do the work that he wants to do in us to bring us out into the open, out into the light where we can stand uprightly before him, enjoying perfect relationship with him. Paul's encouragement to us this morning is to step out of the dark alley, to stop practicing sin and deceitfulness and to step into the light, to walk uprightly with integrity because you are a child of God. Verse 9, he says, for the fruit of the Spirit is all goodness, righteousness, and truth. He inserts now a side note, kind of a parenthetical thought, and he says, listen, if you were walking in the light, then here's what would happen. There's going to be an automatic result or a fruit of you walking in the light because the Spirit is going to be at work, and what the Spirit will produce as you walk in the light is are these three things, goodness, righteousness, and truth. Now this is important because as Paul is talking about walking in the light and not in darkness, we understand the picture. It's something we can understand very clearly as we think about the difference between light and darkness. And Paul is saying this, you never have to be ashamed, you never have to hide in darkness about the things the Spirit is leading you to do. You never have to be ashamed when the Spirit is prompting you and leading you and directing you to live certain ways and to perform certain things. But if the Spirit is not prompting you and there's areas that you have to hide and keep in darkness, then it's a good indication that the Spirit is not leading and guiding in those ways because the fruit of the Spirit is all goodness, righteousness, and truth. Goodness, it means uprightness of heart and life, and it speaks to us about our relationship with others, with men and women, that we're able to have relationship with others, that we step into the light. And as the spirit is leading us and speaking to us and directing our hearts, that we're able to have relationship. Goodness in our hearts and good relationships with others that we're able to walk uprightly and not have things that we have to hide between each other, not have those things of secrecy and the deceitfulness of sin. Righteousness, on the other hand, it means virtue. It means purity of life. And it speaks to us of our relationship with God, that we are righteous and pure, holy before God, that we're able to have and enjoy intimacy and fellowship with him. And then finally, in truth means that we live according to the truth, the word of God, that we live by it, that it's the natural results of our lives. Number one, we tell the truth. There's not the need for the deceitfulness and lying within our hearts and within our lives, but that also we receive the truth, that we receive God's word. Paul is asking us here, are there areas where you are not walking uprightly? There are areas where before men, you are not experiencing goodness. Are there areas where you are not virtuous or there's not a purity of heart that you're not able to stand before God in the light, in the open, in complete honesty and enjoy relationship with him? Are there areas where you're not receiving or practicing the truth? Very challenging what Paul is sharing with us here. It's a call, it's a demand to walk in the light. These areas that he shares, goodness, righteousness, and truth, they're good indicators to us. Whether we are walking in darkness or whether we are walking in the light. And Paul is saying, come into the light. Start walking in the light. You may have walked in darkness up to this point, but it's not too late. You can start now. In fact, he commands us, start now. Walk in the light. Verse 10, he goes on to say, finding out what is acceptable to you. Now this is the continuation of verse 8. So let me read it for you. So the command is to walk as children of light and to find out what is acceptable to the Lord. Darkness will keep you from being able to see where you are going. Just as in our real life. In our physical life, darkness will keep us from being able to see where we are going. But if you walk in the light, you will be able to find out what is acceptable to the Lord. Acceptable, another word for that is well-pleasing. Now on Wednesday, John Bonner from the Bible College in Peru was sharing with us and encouraging us, but he was sharing with us about his fervent desire to stand before God and for God to say, well done, my good and faithful servant. He was sharing with us his desire to please God. And if that's your desire, if you're serious about it, you will find out how to please him as you walk in the light. You won't find it in darkness. Darkness will blind your way. But we're commanded to walk in the light and find out how to please God and what is pleasing to God. This word finding out, it means to accept as genuine after examination. Now, if I was to give you a thousand dollar bill, would you take it into a dark room to find out if it was real to examine it? No, you would take it to the light and make sure where Jay get a thousand dollars. I mean, I got to make sure this is real. It's not fake. Well, we were in Israel. You know, you probably heard they lost our luggage on the flight there. And so we got there and we're going the first day of tour wearing the same clothes that we had been wearing for the previous 30 hours on the plane flights. And at the end of the day, they took us to go purchase some new clothes or at least one set of clothes until our luggage arrived the next day. And so they take us to the shopping center and we go and it was really great. You know, I got to find this shirt and it was really cheap. And at first glance, it was a Nike shirt. But at the second glance, it was a hikey shirt, a little bit different. As I examined it, I proved that it's not genuine. It's not really Nike. It's hikey. Actually, my wife did that for me. I'm thankful for her. But this is what we're to do in finding out what's pleasing to God. We're to examine the situation that we're in, the circumstances before us, in light of the Word of God, which Psalm 119, 105 says, Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path. And so we're to take this lamp and this light, and we're to examine our path, and examine our situation, our circumstances, in the light, and not in darkness, that we may find out what's pleasing to God. We may live pleasing to Him. Do you want to know What God's will is for your life. Do you want to know if you really are supposed to call to change jobs or move to this area or perform this or do that? Now, if you walk in darkness, that's going to be very difficult to find out the will of the Lord. If you walk in the light, you can properly examine your situation. And find out and prove, oh, this is the way to please Him. If I go this way, He's going to be well pleased with me. And what a joy that is to walk well pleasing to God. Verse 11. Paul now tells us, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. He says, have no fellowship. Or more literally, stop having fellowship. And that if you are having fellowship and there's areas of darkness where you're participating and practicing and partaking of darkness, Paul says, now's the time to stop. Have no part in it. Have no share in the works of darkness. Nothing to do with it. Now, as Paul is encouraging us here to walk in the light, There is another portion of scripture that's similar that is shared with us by the Apostle John. It's found in 1 John chapter 1. I won't have you turn there yet, but I would like to read to you verse 5 and 6 of 1 John chapter 1. He tells us there, this is the message which we have heard from him and declared to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. John tells us God is light. There's no darkness in him. As you can understand, again, from practical things, light and darkness are mutually exclusive. They cannot dwell together. Where you have light, there is no darkness. And where there's darkness, there is absence of light. And so John says, God is light, there's no darkness in Him, and therefore we cannot say that we are in God and have fellowship with God and yet continue to walk in darkness. John tells us very clearly, again it's important, are you awake? Are you paying attention? Because John tells us, if we say that we have fellowship and relationship with God yet continue in darkness, he says, we are lying. That it's not true. That the opposite is the case. We do not have fellowship with God or relationship with God. Now, oftentimes, we justify in our hearts and in our minds. You know, oh, I do this. I do that. I'm involved in that. But, you know, God understands. He knows, you know, my parents were this way or this and this happened or whatever other thing that we can come up with to excuse and to explain the reason why we are still involved in darkness. But John says, it's a lie. Or maybe in our hearts we say, you know, I do this, I do that. But God knows I really love him and I have a sincere and genuine love for him. John says, listen, that's all well and good. But if you have fellowship with darkness, you don't have fellowship with God. Because he is light and in him is no darkness. Are you awake? Yeah? Yeah. We need to wake up. We need to pay attention to what God is saying. Again, he is wanting to examine and to search our hearts. Does God have free reign in every part of your life? Do you allow him to shine the light of his word and his truth on every aspect of your heart? Or are there areas that you still walk in darkness? Are you able to walk openly and honestly before God and man? We must give every aspect of our hearts to him and let his light shine upon us. Now, I'll take this moment to also point out something that Paul says here. He calls the works of darkness unfruitful. And I think it's important for us to note that and to take a moment to believe that. Romans chapter 6, verse 21, Paul asks a very good question. He says, What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. In talking about sin and the things of darkness, Paul asks, what fruit did you have of those things? Now you're ashamed of them. And what did it benefit you? Nothing. The end of those things is death. And so those things that you're ashamed of that brought death, brought nothing good into your life. Now, it's important that we believe God at his word. The world tells us the opposite. The works of darkness, oh man, they're pleasurable, they're fun, they're exciting, they keep you in the in crowd. It's what everybody else is doing. But the end is death, the Bible says. And they bring no fruit. It's unfruitful, it's worthless, it's pointless. God is not asking you to give up the wonderful things that really bless you and will be good in your life. He's asking you to give up the things that you'll only be ashamed of later. The things that will bring death and destruction into your life. And so Paul says, stop partaking in darkness. Stop fellowshipping in darkness. Have no part in it. Instead, but rather, he says, expose them. Rather than partaking in those works of darkness, expose them. Now, Let me make sure to share this, that exposing the deeds of darkness and this command by Paul does not mean that he's telling us to become the ultimate tattletaler, that we go around and tell on everybody about everything they do, all the works of darkness, and just expose everybody's sin. That's not what Paul is talking about here. This word expose, it means to reprove and to correct with conviction upon the offender. This is dealing with the person who Who is in the works of darkness. It's not about revealing it to everybody else. But about going to the person, applying Matthew 18 and saying, look, this is wrong. This is sin. And not being ashamed to call it what it is. Now, it's not our job to convict. The Holy Spirit does that. But it is important that we speak with conviction. You understand the difference? I could say, hey, that's wrong. Or I could say, hey, that's wrong. You better stop. That's not right. Look at the light of God's word and allow it to penetrate. I can't convict anybody, but I must speak with conviction about the things that God's word says. He's telling us here to stop partaking in the works of darkness and instead reprove and correct them. It's standing up and saying, this is sin instead of participating in it. Now, because we are children of light, Often, we don't even have to say anything at all. But there's an automatic conviction upon those around us. You may have experienced that. When you walk into a room and there might be some story that's going on and they see that you come in and the voices become hushed. Well, because light has entered the room and is exposing their darkness and they're ashamed. And so those voices become hushed. Or maybe you've experienced where someone will really begin to watch their language as soon as they find out that you're a Christian. And then they apologize as things occasionally slip out. Now, maybe you've never even said anything, but the light of God shines through you. And so there's conviction that takes place, and it's important, and it's good. That being said, we also need to be ready to be proclaiming light. That we're not ashamed to call sin as it is. Not ashamed to say, I want no part of that. Because that is sin. It's not of God. It's an unfruitful work of darkness. We need to make sure that we believe that. That the things that the Bible calls sin are unfruitful works of darkness. That we don't entertain them or participate in them. Moving on to verse 12. Paul says, for it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. They're done in secret. Why? Darkness hides sinful activities. So they're done in secret. And we're not to participate in them. Even to the point, Paul says, we're not even to talk about them because it's shameful to speak of those things. The sinful activities of darkness are not to be a part of our conversations, Paul says. We should be ashamed to talk about such things. Now, to the world, to those who do not believe in God and have not received Jesus Christ, this makes no sense. And it's not understood. And it can't be because men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. Sin is not considered a thing to be ashamed of, but rather it's glorified. Because men love darkness rather than light. In the world, we boast and brag about our sin. What we've done, gotten away with, the crazy things that we do or that we've done. But as Christians, we are to remove the filth from our lives and our hearts. Even to the point, Paul says, not even speaking about the things of darkness. Now, that being said, let me ask a question. As Christians, how can we... In regards to the things that are shameful even for us to talk about, how can we fill our minds and our eyes with such things? With what is on TV and what is playing at the movies. How can we fill our hearts with such things? You know, in the world, it should be expected. Movies, sitcoms, talk shows, radio programs, they're all about shameful things. Not saying they're all about, but many of them are all about shameful things. Many of them are full of the things that we should be ashamed of to talk about. The sin is glorified. And we need to be careful. We need to ask ourselves. And we need to walk in the light. That we do not participate, glorify, talk about the things of darkness. It should be expected from the world that they would do such a thing. But as we walk in the light, let's learn to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Verse 13 says, This word exposed, it's the same word he uses a few verses earlier. It means to reprove and correct with conviction upon the offender. And this is important because Paul is telling us this. Whatever brings conviction upon our own hearts, we need to understand that it is the light. Because whatever makes manifest, whatever makes known and brings conviction is light. Now that's important because whenever there is conviction upon our hearts, maybe about something that we're doing, and it might be that the Bible doesn't speak directly against something that we're doing and involved in. But there might be conviction upon our hearts. There might be an impression that's given to us by the Lord. And we need to know that that is light. That it's not Satan who is trying to get us to... Stop watching that movie or having that conversation or listening to those things. It's not the enemy that's doing that, but that conviction is light. And so we need to walk in the light and receive it and allow it to shine in our hearts. Conviction only happens by the light, which is the presence of God and the word of God. The light shines in our hearts because God's presence is with us. And as his word is being lived out by us, we become light to the world. Only then are we able to bring conviction upon those in darkness around us. Paul is giving us a great self-evaluation tool here. Just as there is a stark contrast between darkness and light, he says that same contrast is to exist between one who follows Jesus Christ and one who does not. So are you walking in light? And are you that light? Is there a stark contrast as light versus darkness in your life as compared to the rest of the world? We're children of light. God says, walk as children of light. Are you that light to your family, to your friends, to your co-workers, to your community? Are you that light? Do you make known the deeds of darkness rather than participating in them, talking about them, And glorifying them. He closes with verse 14 saying, Therefore, he says, awake you who sleep. Arise from the dead and Christ will give you light. Here again is our call to wake up. Are you awake? Paul says, wake up. If you're asleep, wake up. He calls us out of our slumber so that Christ may give us light. He calls us out of the darkness because darkness is the power of Satan and it's the power of sin. You know, if you're struggling with something, sin has great power in your life. If you keep it in darkness, it will continue to have that same power. But if you bring it to the light, if you bring it to God, then the power of sin is broken at the cross where our old nature, our sinful nature was crucified with Jesus Christ. We need to bring it to the light. We need to bring it to Jesus Christ. We need to bring it to the presence of God, to the word of God, and learn to walk as children of light. Darkness is the power of sin and Satan. Darkness blinds you and hides the truth from you. And if that's you, Paul says, arise, wake up and arise from the dead. This word arise, it means to stand up again. And so maybe you've Then knock down. Maybe you used to walk with the Lord. You used to have sweet fellowship with God, walking in the light. But for the moment or recently, you found yourself walking in darkness. Paul says, stand up again. Get up, arise and come into the light. And Christ will give you the light of life. In that sense, every one of us should be afraid of the dark. That we keep ourselves from walking in darkness, from participating in the things, the unfruitful works of darkness. Now again, the problem is that men love darkness rather than light. And that's the problem with your heart and my heart. And that's why I must continually come to Jesus Christ and give him my heart and ask him to change me because my heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. I need the power of God in my life. I need the light of God in my life. That's why it's important for me to spend time in his word, which is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. That's why it's important for me to spend time in his presence and worship and hearing from him because I need the light of God in my life. But not only that, I need to walk in that light and that I include him in every part of my life, that he has access and authority over every aspect of of my actions, my thoughts, that he has authority and access to every room of my house and every click of my mouse. Everything I do, I want it to be in the light of God, in his presence, with his character, in obedience to his word. Are you living in darkness? Are the unfruitful works of darkness present in your life? This is a wake-up call. This is a call to you. To come to the light. If you're walking in the light, praise the Lord. Paul says, keep walking in the light. Keep yourself from sin. Keep yourself from idols. Keep yourself from the things of darkness. But if you've been walking in darkness, Paul says, especially you, stop it. Have no part, no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. but rather come to the light and expose those things in your life. Allow God to do the work that he wants to do. You know there is such a relief when you come to the light. The burden is lifted. Some years ago, I went for a long time driving without a valid license. My license was suspended because I was trying to get out of all kinds of tickets and things that I deserved. And so every time, having a suspended license, plus my tags were expired, all kinds of problems, So every time I saw a police officer, man, my heart would be pounding. My mouth would be dry. I'd be all nervous. Man, are they going to notice? Are they going to pull me? What's going to happen? I knew I was in trouble. And it was such a burden. Every time I drove, every time I got in my truck to go anywhere, it was a burden. When I finally came to the light and allowed the system to take care of everything, now I can drive without that burden. And the same thing is true. There's burdens in your life because of the darkness that you're practicing and participating in. And God wants to relieve you of that burden, the burden of the guilt, the burden of keeping those things in secrecy and in darkness, the burden of carrying those weights. God says, come to me, come to the light. Let me take those things off of your back. And you'll find such tremendous relief that you cannot believe. And you'll ask yourself, why didn't I do this earlier? So how do we do this? How do we come to the light? How do we come to this place where God is able to lift those burdens off of us? Turn with me now to 1 John chapter 1. 1 John chapter 1. It's there towards the end of the New Testament, right before 2 and 3 John. A couple books back from Revelation. 1 John chapter 1. I'll read to you again starting from verse 5. 1 John 1 says, We have fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. The command is to us to walk in the light and to stop taking part in the unfruitful works of darkness. Will you do that this morning? Will you step into the light? Will you allow God to have full access to your heart, to shine His light? Will you step out of the darkness and now walk in obedience to what the Bible says? How does it start? John tells us here it starts with confession. You confess and you come into the light again. And those things are exposed and God forgives you and cleanses you from all unrighteousness. This idea of confession, it's not that you have to come and tell a pastor or a priest or someone else about all the things that you've ever done. But this idea of confession is to come to God and to agree with God about the works of darkness in your life. To agree with him that it's sin and to turn from it. to repent, to change your direction, and to stop living in that same way. Confess your sins to God. Repent, and Christ will give you light. As he gives you light, and you walk in the light, four things you'll find. Number one, you'll find that you have relationship with God. Intimacy and closeness with the almighty living God, who loves you more than you can imagine. This relationship with God, it's the best thing that could ever happen to us. He is what we need to be close to him. And you know that. And your heart desires that. But the problem is we love darkness rather than light. Are you willing to step out of the darkness into the light? The second thing you find as you walk in the light, John tells us, you find forgiveness and mercy. Where God doesn't give you the punishment and the penalty that you deserve or I deserve as we come to him confessing our sins. But instead we find forgiveness that he cleanses us from all unrighteousness and he makes us to have right standing before him. As if we had never sinned ever. The third thing we find as we walk in the light is fellowship with others. That's what 1 John tells us. If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. You may think that you don't have any friends or you don't have people that you can trust or rely upon. But God says, come to the light and I'll give you a whole church full of them. Brothers and sisters in the Lord, you'll have fellowship with one another. People that love you, that will encourage you, that will teach you the word of God and share with you the things of God as we walk in the light. We don't have to be ashamed and worried about what the person next to us is thinking about us. But we can have honest fellowship with one another. And God can use us as iron sharpens iron to direct and mold and shape each other. And then finally, the fourth thing that we find as we walk in light is we find direction. We can see now what's well-pleasing and acceptable to God. We can prove and find out, what is this your will? Is this your way? We're able now to discover the future, the hope, the plan that God has for us. The question is, are you willing? Will you step out of the darkness and will you step into the light? Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we are before you now and your word speaks powerfully to our hearts. God, I pray for us that you would help us to be obedient to your word this morning and to stop having fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Lord, that you would keep us from sin and those things that bind us and destroy our lives. God, we ask that you would help us to be obedient and to walk in the light. Lord, search our hearts and know us. Just let God search your heart for a moment. Let's just spend a few moments in silence. As God brings things into your heart, agree with him about those things and confess them to him and repent. Lord, we agree with you about these things that you're putting upon our hearts. And so, Lord, we turn from them now. And we come to you, God, and ask that you would shine your light upon us. Lord, as Peter said, we ask, Lord, that you would call us out of darkness into your glorious light. That we might discover and know the wonderful relationship we can have with you. As we come before you honestly, openly, being fully exposed by your word and by your spirit. Lord, the relief that it is to have the burden of guilt removed. and the burden of sin lifted off our shoulders. We ask, Lord, that you would nail those things to the cross, that we would not be bound by our sinful nature any longer. Lord, that we would not love darkness rather than light, but Lord, that you would help us to walk as your children, as children of light. Set us free as we come to your cross, where you paid the price for us, so that we can find mercy and forgiveness. And as we stand at the foot of the cross, Lord, we ask that you would Grant us fellowship with one another. Lord, that we would have a fervent love for each other and a desire to see your best in our lives. Lord, we ask that you would give us direction as we walk in the light. Lord, because we want to be pleasing to you. Lord, it's amazing that you give us this opportunity to please you and to make you happy and blessed. So God, we want to take advantage of it. We want to find out what pleases you and we want to do it as much as we can. So Lord, as we draw close to you, I pray that your word would light our path, that we might know how we may please you, bring smiles to your face, that we may appear before you at the end, and that you would share with us. Well done, my good and faithful servant. Lord, we want to walk with you. We are weak and we do stumble into the darkness. But God, we ask that you would wrap your arms of mercy and grace around us, that you would keep us in your light. Obedient to your word and your spirit. You're an amazing God and we love you. It's in your son's name we pray. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.