A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope,
encouragement and exhortation.
Daily
Encouragement on
Thursday, March
28, 2019
A high spot
overlooking the Mohawk Valley in upstate New York.
The Adirondack
Mountains are in the background.
(Click
on photo to enlarge)
"Loving
Darkness"
Message
summary:
Nyctophilia is a word
describing those who
love darkness. When
it comes to spiritual
things we should not
be nyctophiliacs!
Listen to our
message on your audio
player.
"This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed" (John 3:19,20). "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light" (Ephesians 5:8).
Last weekend, during my trip to the Mohawk Valley in upstate New York, I had two rather interesting lodging experiences.
The first night I stayed in a rustic non-winterized cabin with no electric or running water. The boys had started a wood stove before I arrived so I placed my sleeping bag on a couch near the stove. The wind was howling but I still managed to sleep relatively well.
I was awakened
periodically by a noise
rustling in my overnight
bag. I shook the
overnight bag and the
sound would stop for
awhile. The
next day I found a small
Ziploc bag of
candy-coated pecans
Brooksyne had sent up
with me to munch on. But
after eating a few I
noticed the plastic bag
had been chewed into!
Mystery solved, but
unfortunately the
remainder of the candy
coated pecans Brooksyne
had made were tossed as
I'm not in the habit of
sharing my sweet morsels
with a rodent!
(I'll share a bit about my second night's lodging experience below in a footnote.)
Being
way out in the country
there was very little
light "pollution" so it
was very dark.
John, who owned the
cabin, quipped, "It
gets so dark you
can't tell whether
your eyelids are
open or closed"!
Sadly some people live
in the spiritual
darkness to an extent
they can't tell whether
their eyes are opened or
closed.
Nyctophilia is a word describing those who love darkness. Now there may be some settings where we like it dark. For instance when I sleep I like the room to be dark. Even the back light on an alarm clock or other artificial source may be disruptive to my sleep, although I am not bothered by the natural light of the stars or moon coming through our window. Some people actually prefer working the night shift or traveling at night.
But when it comes to spiritual things we should not be nyctophiliacs!
However many people love the dark side spiritually speaking and readily admit that this is the condition their heart is in. Some even proudly flaunt their desire to live evil lives and shamelessly expect hell to be their final destination. You've probably heard people unabashedly say, "So what if I go to hell; that's where all my friends will be" or "Hell will be one great party!" Of course many admittedly serve the devil, the prince of darkness.
In communicating with people like this at least they recognize the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, light and darkness. They are living in darkness and proud of it.
One of the most familiar statements by Jesus was heard in the Sermon on the Mount, "Youare the light of the world" which prompted the children's song "This little light of mine" and so many other songs written for all ages.
The radiant light of God's Holy Word exposes and dispels darkness. When God's servants live as children of light, darkness is dissipated and that's a great spiritual reality to consider today. All of us, in one way or another, are exposed to darkness though some far more than others. We are called to let our light shine and, by God's grace through His might, we want to shine ours brightly to expose and then dispel the darkness!
The daily text says we were once darkness but are now light in the Lord and thus we are to live (or walk in some versions) as children of light. We are to have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. At this time when crusaders of darkness are especially applauded and given a platform, let us hear the resounding call God has placed upon our lives to "live as children of light!"
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer:
Father, as genuine
Christians we have
forsaken the darkness
and chosen to walk in
the light of Christ.
In doing so we don't
want to substitute
darkness for light or
light for darkness.
Otherwise we are
expecting You to alter
Your commands to
accommodate the errant
principles and
philosophies of every
nation, culture, and
generation. You are
the One True Supreme
God who established
Your unchanging,
inerrant truths and
commands before the
world came into being.
We choose to obey You
not because it's
popular, rather we
choose to obey You
because You created us
and made it possible
through Christ that we
would spend eternity
with You in heaven.
Though shadows
surround us they will
never conceal our
Saviour, our Guide,
and constant
companion; for He is
the light; in Him
there is no darkness
at all. Amen.
A
lodging place I will
not revisit:
The
second night my
friends lodged with
their relatives and I
stayed in a motel.
This remote part of
New York didn't have
any brand name hotels so I
used the internet to
decide on a place and
the pictures didn't
look all that bad. The
one I chose had a
fancy name so I
figured ah, it's just
one night, so I
reserved a room.
Knowing the general location of the motel I went without using GPS but I only found one called "Budget Motel" not the one I had reserved on the internet in the same location so I went to the office to ask. After walking past piles of clutter, old equipment, stacks of unopened mail and cats to get to the front desk I asked the Indian (not native American) lady if I was at the right spot in spite of the different name on the sign. She told me I was but it was just too hard to find someone to make a new sign! Well, I knew I was in a rough place when it was a step down from "Budget Motel".
The room was similar to the places I stayed in as a child when my depression-era Mom insisted on thrifty accommodations the few times we traveled and didn't stay with relatives. In fact I don't think this room had been renovated since that time. The bed did not have a fitted sheet so the bottom sheet came out revealing a yellowed, crinkly plastic mattress cover from about 1955. Oh well, I soldiered up and prepared to hunker down for the night, leaving my clothes on, including my socks and trying to see that no part of my body touched anything except my head on the presumably clean pillow.
There was a lot of noise outside and shady looking characters walking back and forth. The exterior door only had one flimsy lock so I thought about putting a chair up against it like I had seen in the movies but reasoned what good would that do against a muscular 300 pound man if he wanted to break in. I found out later the state of New York uses these motels for people getting right of prison. It was sure nice to get up early the next morning and head out of that place!!!
"This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed" (John 3:19,20). "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light" (Ephesians 5:8).
Last weekend, during my trip to the Mohawk Valley in upstate New York, I had two rather interesting lodging experiences.
The first night I stayed in a rustic non-winterized cabin with no electric or running water. The boys had started a wood stove before I arrived so I placed my sleeping bag on a couch near the stove. The wind was howling but I still managed to sleep relatively well.
I was awakened
periodically by a noise
rustling in my overnight
bag. I shook the
overnight bag and the
sound would stop for
awhile. The
next day I found a small
Ziploc bag of
candy-coated pecans
Brooksyne had sent up
with me to munch on. But
after eating a few I
noticed the plastic bag
had been chewed into!
Mystery solved, but
unfortunately the
remainder of the candy
coated pecans Brooksyne
had made were tossed as
I'm not in the habit of
sharing my sweet morsels
with a rodent!(I'll share a bit about my second night's lodging experience below in a footnote.)
Being
way out in the country
there was very little
light "pollution" so it
was very dark.
John, who owned the
cabin, quipped, "It
gets so dark you
can't tell whether
your eyelids are
open or closed"!
Sadly some people live
in the spiritual
darkness to an extent
they can't tell whether
their eyes are opened or
closed.Nyctophilia is a word describing those who love darkness. Now there may be some settings where we like it dark. For instance when I sleep I like the room to be dark. Even the back light on an alarm clock or other artificial source may be disruptive to my sleep, although I am not bothered by the natural light of the stars or moon coming through our window. Some people actually prefer working the night shift or traveling at night.
But when it comes to spiritual things we should not be nyctophiliacs!
However many people love the dark side spiritually speaking and readily admit that this is the condition their heart is in. Some even proudly flaunt their desire to live evil lives and shamelessly expect hell to be their final destination. You've probably heard people unabashedly say, "So what if I go to hell; that's where all my friends will be" or "Hell will be one great party!" Of course many admittedly serve the devil, the prince of darkness.
In communicating with people like this at least they recognize the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, light and darkness. They are living in darkness and proud of it.
One of the most familiar statements by Jesus was heard in the Sermon on the Mount, "Youare the light of the world" which prompted the children's song "This little light of mine" and so many other songs written for all ages.
The radiant light of God's Holy Word exposes and dispels darkness. When God's servants live as children of light, darkness is dissipated and that's a great spiritual reality to consider today. All of us, in one way or another, are exposed to darkness though some far more than others. We are called to let our light shine and, by God's grace through His might, we want to shine ours brightly to expose and then dispel the darkness!
The daily text says we were once darkness but are now light in the Lord and thus we are to live (or walk in some versions) as children of light. We are to have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. At this time when crusaders of darkness are especially applauded and given a platform, let us hear the resounding call God has placed upon our lives to "live as children of light!"
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer:
Father, as genuine
Christians we have
forsaken the darkness
and chosen to walk in
the light of Christ.
In doing so we don't
want to substitute
darkness for light or
light for darkness.
Otherwise we are
expecting You to alter
Your commands to
accommodate the errant
principles and
philosophies of every
nation, culture, and
generation. You are
the One True Supreme
God who established
Your unchanging,
inerrant truths and
commands before the
world came into being.
We choose to obey You
not because it's
popular, rather we
choose to obey You
because You created us
and made it possible
through Christ that we
would spend eternity
with You in heaven.
Though shadows
surround us they will
never conceal our
Saviour, our Guide,
and constant
companion; for He is
the light; in Him
there is no darkness
at all. Amen.A
lodging place I will
not revisit:
The
second night my
friends lodged with
their relatives and I
stayed in a motel.
This remote part of
New York didn't have
any brand name hotels so I
used the internet to
decide on a place and
the pictures didn't
look all that bad. The
one I chose had a
fancy name so I
figured ah, it's just
one night, so I
reserved a room.Knowing the general location of the motel I went without using GPS but I only found one called "Budget Motel" not the one I had reserved on the internet in the same location so I went to the office to ask. After walking past piles of clutter, old equipment, stacks of unopened mail and cats to get to the front desk I asked the Indian (not native American) lady if I was at the right spot in spite of the different name on the sign. She told me I was but it was just too hard to find someone to make a new sign! Well, I knew I was in a rough place when it was a step down from "Budget Motel".
The room was similar to the places I stayed in as a child when my depression-era Mom insisted on thrifty accommodations the few times we traveled and didn't stay with relatives. In fact I don't think this room had been renovated since that time. The bed did not have a fitted sheet so the bottom sheet came out revealing a yellowed, crinkly plastic mattress cover from about 1955. Oh well, I soldiered up and prepared to hunker down for the night, leaving my clothes on, including my socks and trying to see that no part of my body touched anything except my head on the presumably clean pillow.
There was a lot of noise outside and shady looking characters walking back and forth. The exterior door only had one flimsy lock so I thought about putting a chair up against it like I had seen in the movies but reasoned what good would that do against a muscular 300 pound man if he wanted to break in. I found out later the state of New York uses these motels for people getting right of prison. It was sure nice to get up early the next morning and head out of that place!!!
Today's
Suggested
Music and Supplemental Resources
"Until
Then" Video
Calvary Church Choir and
Orchestra special concert.
They have not posted the concert
to YouTube but I think this will
open for any who may care to watch
the concert. It starts with
silence but the sound comes on in
about a minute and a few minutes
of introduction
are given before the singing
begins.
There are few technical
problems at times but they resolve
quickly and if you watch you may
see Brooksyne or even better you
might recognize someone in the
choir that you didn't know sings
in it, most especially if you're a
local. Unfortunately one of the
best songs is the last which is
cut off.
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
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