Give Us the Light

ALL of us who have been baptized in Christ and have “put on Christ” as a new identity are bound to be holy as he is holy.  We are bound to live worthy lives, and our actions should bear witness to our union with him.  He should manifest his presence in us and through us …

We are supposed to be the light of the world.  We are supposed to be a light to ourselves and to others.  That may well be what accounts for the fact that the world is in darkness!

What then is meant by the light of Christ in our lives?  What is “holiness”?  What is divine son-ship?  Are we really seriously supposed to be saints?  Can a man even desire such a thing without making a complete fool of himself in the eyes of everyone else?  Is it not presumptuous?  Is such a thing even possible at all?  To tell the truth,  many laypeople and even a good many religious do not believe,  in practice,  that sanctity is possible for them.  Is this just plain common sense?  Is it perhaps humility?  Or is it defection,  defeatism and despair?

If we are are called by God to holiness of life and if holiness is beyond our natural power to achieve  (which it certainly is)  then it follows that God himself must give us the light,  the strength and the courage to fulfill the task he requires of us.

He will certainly give us the grace we need.  If we do not become saints it is because we so not avail ourselves of his gift.

AUTHOR:  Thomas Merton from LIFE AND HOLINESS.  Copyright 1963 by the Abbey of Gethsemani, Inc..  Taken from Men’s Devotional Bible New International Version Page 1014. Copyright 1993 by Zondervan Publishing House.

On The Road To Damascus – Acts 9

The story of Saul’s conversion on the Road To Damascus from a man possessed with a burning desire to persecute the early Christians to one of the greatest evangelists for Christ the world has ever known, has never ceased to both inspire me and amaze me.

Saul (Paul as he became to be known) began as the bitterest enemy the gospel had at the time.  “McCartney – Diles (1990) writes that He was a murderer, a bigot, he hated Christianity and everything about it and he almost single-handedly drove the church out of Jerusalem. He was on his way to Damascus to do the same thing there – to find Christians and bind them and bring them back to a kangaroo court and put them to death. Then, at the doorway of Damascus, the LORD JESUS CHRIST appeared to him IN PERSON and struck him down and transformed his life. From then on, Paul was a completely changed man. All his old war buddies, his cronies, were amazed. They couldn’t understand what had happened to him. But Paul stayed true all the rest of his days.

In 2 Corinthians, there’s a list as long as a tall man’s arm relating all the things Paul endured. He was beaten, stoned, ship-wrecked three times, imprisoned, and there were many attempts on his life before he was finally killed, beheaded in Rome because of his love for the gospel. And just before the end of his life, he was able to write to Timothy: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day -and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Timothy 4: 7-8).”

The inspiration and amazement for me is derived from the fact that if a man like Paul with all his prior history and sinful acts against God, can be forgiven and even more powerful; used in the manner that Paul was to teach and spread the word of God and salvation by way of Jesus Christ, who cannot be accepted into the everlasting Kingdom of God through profession of belief in Jesus Christ as their personal savior? It is awe-inspiring.

If you wish to accept Jesus as your personal savior please see our salvation guidance on the Salvation page of this blog.

*McCartney , Bill with Dave Diles 1990. FROM ASHES TO GLORY. Thomas Nelson Publishers.