The BRIGHTEST OF LIGHTS

Why seek Wisdom?

Heartache and sorrow

"...But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him."

2 Samuel 14

Though your heart breaks with sorrow and hurt, please know that God does not take away life; the world, (sickness and disease), does.  Our God is the giver of life, and when our loved one is taken away from us, we must hold tight to this:  God takes our loved ones out of this fallen world, brings them to himself, and gives them a life full of light, full of health, full of joy, peace, and gladness.  Yes, God takes our loved ones from us for right now, but one day we will be together with them in a heaven that gives true LIFE and true LOVE; a heaven that wipes away all of our tears and all of our sorrows.

Surrender the sin

"Now surrender those wicked men of Gibeah so that we may put them to death and purge evil from Israel."

Judges 20:13

Surrender (purge) the sin amongst you, and within you, over to God and let him refill your life and soul with his goodness, mercy, love, peace, grace, and favor. 
Your life truly depends on it. 

It’s time to make a choice and stick with it.

”Now then”, said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

Joshua 24:23

It is time to get serious, it is time to get real.  Either worship the gods of the world or worship the one and only true God, Christ Almighty - stop teetering between the two - make a choice! Yes, one choice equals death and one equals life, but at least you’ve made a choice and now you can move forward and experience the victories and/or defeats that your choice will bring you.

The Lord God is your life

“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.  Now choose life so that you and your children may live, and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.  For the Lord is your life...”

Deuteronomy 30:19-20

If you want to live, then you must choose life; hence, you must choose God.  

However, if you want to live, yet decide to ignore God and not listen to him at all, then you will not live.  Instead, you will be a walking zombie, wandering lost in the world, aimlessly looking for a life - a life in which you will never find.

Choose life.

If where you are right now is causing you to live in darkness and defeat, no matter how hard you try for it to be different, then maybe it is time to go.  

My friend, if you aren’t living in joy and peace then walk away.  

Choose life!  Choose love, joy, and peace!  Choose Christ !!

“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.“

Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV

A new light dawns

"...the people living in the darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."

Matthew 4:16

God placed this verse on my heart this morning, and the more I read it, the more this makes sense:  Those of us that have been living in darkness (weary, down, depressed, hopeless, sad, lonely, fearful, etc.) need to look up, step out, lift our heads, open our hearts, and breath in the Word of God.  It is our time to make some choices by turning onto a new path, grasping hold of Jesus, and begin to live again.  There is no more time for darkness, dark people, dark hearts, or dark minds.  Our time is now!  Yes, our time is right now!!  

So get a grip, take a chance, and do something with this life - something like this:

LIVE!!!!!

You are beautiful when you let God glorify your body - inside and out

"My eager expectation and hope is that i will not be ashamed about anything, but that now and always with all boldness, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or death."

Philippians 1:20 HCSB

Beauty doesn't come from trying so hard to stay lean, fit, young, etc.  No, beauty comes from God, beauty comes from God within you.  So stop trying so hard, you are only wasting your time and your mental and physical energy.  

MY FRIEND, JUST BE 

YOU!!

TODAY

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things become new.”

2 Corinthians 5:17

TODAY:

A fresh start to a new life;

life begins – death ends;

alive you are – eternity awaits;

God is so good!

Boundaries

"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to."

Luke 13:24

God-given boundaries are a must when it comes to living a God-blessed life.  Without them the world will snatch you up and take you through the open doors that only lead to darkness and destruction.  

Therefore, set boundaries around your life, ignore the comments and thoughts of the world, and know that when all is said and done, you will glory in greatness, you will stand tall and glide through the doorway to Heaven, waving good-bye to all those that chose to go in the God-opposing directions.

Freedom and light: LIFE

“… He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness.”

-Titus 2:14

Freedom and light – LIFE – comes when you accept Jesus and all of his glory.  
However, on the flip side, deceit, darkness - DEATH – comes when you accept the world and all its hideousness.

Life ~ Death

LIFE

“He who has the Son has life…”

DEATH

“… he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

(1 John 5:12)

To LIVE is to believe in Christ.

To DIE is to believe in anything or anyone but Christ.

PERIOD!!!

Are you living?

“… Anyone who does not love, remains in death.”

1 John 3:14

If you aren’t loving, then you aren’t living.

Who do you hear and listen to?

"... Whoever belongs to God hears what God says.  The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."

John 8:47

If you listen to the world, darkness,  (death), lives within you.  If you listen to God, (Life), light lives within you.

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Making the most of every minute

“Live wisely… make the most of every opportunity.”

Colossians 4:5 NIV

Redeem the time for which you are living for each minute of our lives are a matter of life or death: each minute is our choice – we choose to live or die.

Fear-filled of our Lord and Christ, Jesus

http://gretnabc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Fear-God-Not-Man.jpg

Be fearless of the world, yet be fear-filled of our Christ our Lord.  Why you ask?  Because fear of the world equals living a dead-filled, floundering life, yet fear-filled of Christ equals living a life-fulfilling, truly-living, life; one filled with wonder, and awe, and beauty for all the days of your life.

Nothing but the TRUTH

“ ‘Do not steal. “ ‘Do not lie. “ ‘Do not deceive one another."

Leviticus 19:11 

There is no such thing as an 'OK-white-lie'.  A lie is a lie, and whether small or big, a lie is as sinful as  murder

Truth

The choice is yours: Life or death?

Accept Jesus - Accept Life

Reject Jesus - Reject Life

Simply put: 
Without accepting Jesus, you are dead (spiritually, and soon, physically)... yuck!

Not a good way to be living!  

Advice:  ACCEPT JESUS!

graciously copied from https://www.alpinebible.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/1-john-5-11-12.png

Through the experience of death

“Jesus, through the experience of death, he fully experienced death in every persons place.”

-Adapted from Hebrews 2:5-9 MSG

So, why did Jesus go through so much pain?

Here’s why:  In order that you and I might LIVE, LOVE, and LAUGH.

Therefore, let’s make sure that we are living in accordance with His death, (which equals LIFE),  and stop living in accordance with the world, (which equals DEATH).  Yes, let’s start living like we are truly, truly living ~ friends, Jesus died so we could do so.