WATCHWORD:
19 I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference. 20 “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Revelation 3:19-20
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. John 8:12
The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1
Meditation:
The Light Within
Thomas Kelly, in his book A Testament of Devotion, has a chapter entitled “The Light Within.” Kelly writes that deep within us all there is an amazing ‘inner sanctuary of the soul’, a Holy Place, what he calls a Divine Center. In that Divine Center, there resides a voice. It is that voice, that we sometimes call conscience, which we turn to, continuously, whether we are aware of it or not.
Kelly goes on to say that the Light Within is what “illumines the face of God and casts new shadows and new glories upon the face of man”. It is that Light Within that allows us to see the good in others. It is the Light Within that allows us to sense the needs of others and urges us to respond.
In this day and age, I wonder if the believer in Christ, too often, sees an almost cause and effect relationship with God. We suppose that man is the initiator and God is the responder. But if we believe, as I think most of us do, that the Light Within is the spirit of Christ. Then that living Christ within us is the initiator and we are the responders. Consider, ‘Look, I stand at the door and knock’? That is Jesus knocking, and all of our apparent initiative is already a response, a testimonial to His Presence and His working within us.
In our prayer life, don’t we have a sense that we are being heard? And often we have an almost freeing awareness of his presence.
I had a recent conversation with a friend of mine who was looking over a bit of my writing and she pointed out that my use of the word ‘magic’, in relation to spirit-driven activities in my story, did not fit. God’s word is not magic. When we pray with sincerity and our focus is on our Lord, here are graces, most of which we can feel and understand, but many are beyond us, for now. It’s not magic that we cannot explain, it is the measure of faith — confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
That Light Within, according to Kelly, can fade, and can weaken, when we surrender to the humdrum of what we’ve referred to in the past as the old normal. This we must guard against. The Light Within is our true life. The Light Within is our Lord and Savior, God within.
Related to this topic is this bit of insight from our friend Maury – “God is all powerful. He arranges all things for His glory and to achieve His divine end. He is never random or absent from His creation. When He acts, He acts with the end in mind. God will achieve His divine purpose. Amen.
Closing Prayer:
Dear Lord, I don’t know who or what will cross my path today. But I do know that You are my rock and my fortress. You are my shield and my strong tower. Help me to anchor myself to You today. Teach me how to stand strong in You and choose only Your way today. Help me walk by Your truth and not my feelings. Help me to embrace anything that comes my way as an opportunity to see You at work and as opportunity to point others to You. Amen.
