The Lighthouse

Pride, it's a huge stumbling block for a lot of Christians. I would tend to think that is that way because it is a sin that is easy to let creep in. I mean, we are all for self preservation. Why wouldn't thinking that we are good be, well good!

Lately, I have been feeling really close to God, and well, I have to admit I let a little bit of pride slip in with that. Not that I think that this is new. I think I have always had a small seed of it in the back of my head. But, I mean, I'm tons better than all those people who sin a lot, right? ....O wait, I DO sin a lot. Crap, guess that takes me off the "righteous" list.

Over the past weekend I noticed a gap in my relationship with God. It just didn't feel "full strength". I think that was God's way of letting me know about my pride. And it cost me something, as sin often does. It cost me closeness with my amazing God. Which I am starting to believe, is one of the worst punishments we could receive. I can't imagine the feeling of complete separation from God in Hell *shivers*. Anyways that is not always the punishment, but it is one.

Luckily, God showed me my folly, and I'm working on getting that taken care of right now. I now remember that I am not perfect. I will always try to live righteously, but now when I start to think that I am getting better than you. I'll think back to this moment and remember that I am not perfect. I will always be prone to falling down. I just have to remember that I am not holding myself up. But rather, it is my
Savior's love and grace that holds me up and keeps me moving forwards towards His will. I hope I never have to forget that again.

Personal Devotional times. These words may either remind you of the private time you spend daily with the Lord, or they may stir up a sense of regret because of your lack of them. Or you may not be a Christian and they simply mean nothing to you.

In all honestly I have never been very good at keeping up a time of personal devotions. I mean we live in the 21st century, it's not like we have time to actually, you know, sit around(unless, of course, your sitting around at your computer)! I have done them on and off for the past several years with a, regrettably, blase attitude about them. I would try to do them, but it was half-heartedly. I would rather have been starting on school or reading a book other than the Bible. Then I got sucked into the phrase "It only takes 5 minutes a day!" which for some people it does. But if I'm only going to give God 5 minutes; He must not be very important. I give some people I don't like 5 minutes of my time just to shut them up.

The year 2007 was my first major attempt at keeping a constant devotional time, and it went fairly smoothly. I read the Bible in a little over a year, but it was in an unfamiliar translation and while it helped me grow some. I think I could have went about it better than I did because I was doing the devotional time more in duty to God then to prosper myself in Him.

During 2008 I continued the time to an extent using a devotional book that I had picked up the previous year and I would read random selections of the Bible. My devotional time was primarily at night, and I regret to inform you that most of the time I did not take more then a moment to pray. It got better as I grew in Christ during 2008; the times became longer and I even spent a few evenings praying for 30mins+ when I committed to a prayer journal. But I did not keep them as consistently as I should have, and eventually I stopped with the prayer journal all together. But during the latter half of '08 I did keep a fairly consistant time of reading the Bible to grow in Christ during the evening.

So here I am in 2009. What's changed from '08 you ask? Well a lot more than I'd like to admit :P. During the first week of February I committed to doing a week of media fasting, but I set it up weird so in the end it was more like a laziness fast :P.(Meaning I scheduled things out more-so and allowed for some internet/tv time). During that fast I wanted to connect to the Lord better so I scheduled 3 times of personal devotions.

The first was as soon as I woke up. It tends to take me a few minutes to wake up. So I usually just sit there on the floor in front of my heater for 10mins or so and once I wake up, I pray(tends to last 15 mins or so depending on how well my attention stays, lol.) Then I read a chapter of the Bible. My passages of choice started with Hebrews and I read onto Jude(stopped at Revelation because I did a class on it for school.) And then I also started Exodus(which the first half was awesome, and now I'm onto some harder reading).

The second is right after I finish school because I have noticed my tendency to forsake thinking about that time and just sit on the computer. So I thought this would be a good time to put what I want to do aside and give some time to God. This one tends to be a little shorter, about 20 minutes, but it helps me to remember that God is with me throughout the day and not just when I wake up and go to sleep(For this time I read a chapter from one of my two selections after praying).

The third and last, is right before I go to sleep. As long as I start going to bed by 10:00 or 10:30 this one is easy to keep, but I have to admit that the later it gets in the evening, the harder this one is to keep. But it is a good time to ponder over the day and pray, and then read a chapter before I go to sleep. This is the slot that fluctuates the most on time. It could be anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes.

I have continued to keep these 3 times of devotions over the past several weeks and the blessings have been tremendous. I have never felt so close to God. In fact last weekend I did some small thing out of selfishness and the sense of loss was incredible. Not loss of anything earthly, but I did not feel close to my Heavenly Father, and that was a truly horrible feeling. I hated myself so much for that and it was such a little thing.

I guess the point I am trying to get across is not that I am pious or that God needs you to do devotions for Him. Because as much as He wants you to, you will get little out of it when it's done out of duty. No, you have to want to do it, but when you do, do it and you truly try to hear his voice and follow His commands: The blessings are so much more than you could ever hope for.

It is not always easy, it is not always comfortable, but it is always amazing. And if you aren't a Christian I just want to tell you that you're missing out on one amazing God.

Written by The Lighthouse Admin

Jude is one of those odd books that gets looked over a lot because it is small and a quick read, so it could be easily skimmed and forgotten. Tonight during my personal devotional time I read Jude and I thought it was very interesting. I'm going to post the entire book, but give my thoughts as I go through it...(As I was writing I decided to segment this into two blogs, so look forward to the second half of this devotional within the next week!)

Jude 1:1-4
1Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,  To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ:  2Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

The sin and doom of Godless men 
3Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. 4For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

My commentary on these verses:
I think this part is interesting, because what could be a book about the our salvation isn't. Because Jude felt led to write about our faith that was entrusted to us rather than what he wanted to. He then proceeds to talk about how ungodly people have slipped in among us. I personally feel this is a very relevant topic.
(I feel that I sometimes give the church too hard of a time, but please hear me out here.)
In this day and age our culture is very worldly, and I feel that sometimes people slip into churches and think they have it all together, but in the end they do not. They believe in Jesus, but as one verse in the Bible points out; so do demons, and they shudder. They have no hope.
According to the verses above, the ungodly people have used their "faith" Christ as a license to do whatever they wish, some even deny Christ, but they are still among us.


Jude 1:5-11
5Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
8In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. 9But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" 10Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them. 11Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion.


My commentary on these verses:
Several interesting points made about beings who reject God. Then God compares those beings to the people among us. So here we can see God's judgment made completely clear. God judges those who use Christianity as a "Get out of Hell free" pass while denying Christ, the same as the sexual immorality of the men of Sodom and Gomorrah--one of the most recognized examples of God's hatred towards sinners in the Bible.
The second half of these verses, I admit, I'm more reluctant to comment on since I am not learned. But I think one interesting point to make about them is the fact that Michael did not say any slander against Satan, who is considered to be basically the manifestation of pure evil in many people's eyes. He just told him "The Lord rebuke you!"

Hope you enjoyed part one! Hoping part two is just as good, but we'll see.

Written by The Lighthouse Admin

"This, is why we're doing this!" As I peered through a little window on the outside of the Auditorium this was the only thought my mind could muster. I saw many people raising their hands in response to the speaker asking how many of them had just accepted Christ. There were dozens in the packed auditorium, many more than I could see. But I was not interested in counting them. I was just prayerful and over-joyed that today I had seen many brothers and sisters enter the kingdom. Not just seen, but been a part of. You see, I was working a local event. I have to admit when I signed up to help, the band that was playing and getting into the event free were far higher up on my list of reasons why I was working that day than the scores that came to Christ. But as I stood there, that was the only thought that mattered. And slowly I realized. My mind doesn't want to just apply this to this event, but also being a Christian!

So often in life we are content to live in our own bubbles and we forget what we have been called to do. I know that I struggle with it sometimes. But our real duty is to make disciples, both within the church and outside of the church. But we are comfortable and don't always live out God's commission for us to be his witnesses...

Acts 1:8(NIV)
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

We need to remember the first place God has called us to be witnesses is Jerusalem. Also read as, where you live, it could be New York, London, San Diego, Miami, Moscow, Tokyo, some small town who no one has ever heard of with 50 people, or somewhere inbetween. But we are first called to be witnesses to the one's around us. If we fail there then why are we spending thousands of dollars taking short term mission trips out of the country? I don't mean to knock short-term mission trips. I know people who have made great impact on them. But why are we continually failing to be witnesses to the people around us and not making an impact on them? The popular opinion of our country is to respect each others view points and not press matters. But I think this philosophy is from Satan. We have the redeemed, the Holy one of God and yet we do not want to share him because it might make someone uncomfortable. Well if they are sinners then they should be uncomfortable for a reason; and if I remember right, we're all sinners.

I want to caution you though. If you go out and try to make disciples and you are doing it for selfish motives or because you feel pressured to. Then that is not right. We are called to do this to bring honor to God because we want to. For He is the only thing worth living for.

So whether your living life on a daily basis, volunteering for something, committing something to God, or whatever else it may be. Remember, bringing glory to God is why we're doing this.

Written by The Lighthouse Admin

Hey everyone. Sorry for the second Hiatus. I hope I can keep this site going again. I really do miss it, but sometimes with school, church, and friends I get busy and it gets pushed to the back of my plate. But I am back and hopefully I can keep it going. Even if it's just one or two things a week. I recently wrote a new article so I hope you enjoy it. It's Titled "Never Enough". Kinda short, but I like it(but then again I'm biased since I wrote it...) Here it is...


Never Enough
Today as I was reading a book on relationships(When God Writes Your Love Story) and I came across this passage that made me think. The passage was talking about Singleness strengthening inward qualities. The passage started off with a quote from a movie called Cool Runnings. For a quick plot summary it's about some Jamaican guys that aspire to go to the Olympics and when they fail to get to the Summer Olympics they have a crazy idea to try out for the Bobsledding category in the Winter Olympics. Well they somehow make it there and before they are about to compete their coach gives one of them a piece of advice "Listen, kid. A Gold Medal is a wonderful thing. But if you aren't enough without it. Then you'll never be enough with it."

That statement got my brain going. I have never equated it with spiritual things with how-many-ever times I'd seen that movie and heard that quote. But it's a great truth! How often do we put a future spouse, money, job, basically any possession, or anything at all as our Idol and we expect that thing to give us satisfaction. We think it will be enough, and when we finally get it, when we finally arrive. It isn't enough.

The latest gadget, video game, CD, etc. "O, if I get this video game it will make me so happy and I won't want another one EVER, mom!" Haha, that's a lie. It's just our basic human nature to desire more and more and more. But it will never satisfy.

Matthew 6:19-23
"19Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

This whole process reminded me of the popular worship song called "Enough". I know many of you have heard it. Dozens of worship albums have included it.

"And all of you
Is more than enough for all of me
For every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with your love
And all I have in you is more than enough"

How true is that? So many times I put myself up on the throne and walk away from my King of Kings. Then I come back to Him thinking how stupid I am. I deserve punishment, but he gracefully rebukes me when he should scold and punish me. It makes me wonder how I could ever forget His love for us. How I could ever forget how he is more than enough for my wants and needs.

But the things of this world...well, they're never enough...

     Once upon a modern time, there was an Atheist. This Atheist was once a Christian and desired to hear his voice once more. So one day the atheist knelt and did something he hadn't done in many years. He prayed, not a prayer of new life but this: "O God, if you are there show me you are God. Let me hear you."

Several weeks passed after this time and the man went on his annual hike in the mountains alone. When he reached a spot in the mountain roughly halfway up he stopped for a moment to catch his breath watching the beautiful horizon. It was at this time that a great wind began. It howled through the woods below like a wolf in the night. Rocks were riven in two and several rock slides occurred on the mountain. He had to brace himself in a hallow until it died down.

When the wind had subsided. The atheist came out from his hallow and said "Wow, that was truly a great wind." and continued on his hike.

As he continued his hike he came to an impassable portion of the path because the wind had knocked a rock from above below into the path. As he looked out into the horizon he saw a mighty storm approaching, probably pushed in by the wind. He knew that this storm was not something to be trifled with so he went into a cave he had just passed decided to spend the night there. He started a fire and set up supplies inside of the humble cave.

As he was getting into his sleeping bag he heard a faint trickle, followed by a thunderous roar of heaven pouring it's contents to earth. He then knew, this would not be a restful night.

Somehow he managed to get to sleep. And sleep he did. Through the better part of the night. He was awakened by a light. At first he assumed it was the light of dawn, but it was not so.

The storm had produced great cracks of lightning, of which he was surprised he had slept through. They had alighted the forest below. Before him laid a great valley a fire, none like he had ever seen. It was as if the belly of hell laid before him, and it persisted even with the mighty torrent coming from above.

This greatly troubled the man, but as it was, he was safe in his cave and that was all that mattered. So he headed back to his sleeping bag to try and catch a few winks before morning.

When he awoke the torrent was still falling, but the fire had burnt itself out. A great column of smoke rose from the wasteland that was once a forest he had loved dearly. He rekindled the fire in his cave and made himself a meager breakfast from what he had.

Around noon the torrent died down and the wasteland had cooled to a point safe for walking (not without the occasional hidden ember, of course). So the man left his cave and headed down the mount. Once he reached the bottom of the mountain he heard a still small voice calling his name. It was at this time he remembered his plea to God. He had dismissed it short afterward because he felt it was a silly thing he had done in a moment of weakness.

But nevertheless he stopped there and pondered a moment, but decided hastily it could not be him. It sounded nothing like God, it was probably a reporter or fireman checking out the aftermath and calling to his friends.

He then started across the field of ash which lay before him. It was not easy to traverse, but it became easier as he went. Once more he heard the voice, but again he dismissed it.

As he was exiting the field he heard the voice one last time. At this he shouted "God?" But immediately he blushed and felt stupid because he could see reporters across the way looking towards him inquisitively, some even laughing.

At this he stormed to the nearby bus stop and sat down. At this he heard the voice again, but this time it said not only his name, but it asked him this, "Why do you run from me?"

The man humbly replied, "Who said I was running?"

"I did."

"Oh..."

"I am not pleased with you Elijah. You asked for me to speak to you; and then you turn from every sign and voice. I was not in the wind, storm, or fire. But you should have seen me through them. And then the voice, I spoke it not once, not twice, but three times to you. On the third you acknowledged me, but quickly turned away because of your pride. You are a part of an adulterous generation who does not acknowledge me even. You ask for signs, but even when I present them you turn away from them and deny me. It has been said 'Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.' Let it be known. I have let you see me and yet you still have turned away and not believed. What you say?"

The man sat there speechless before God. A word, not even a syllable could he produce off his lips. He sat there as a mute, crying before God in his holy shame. At that very moment, he keeled over dead. For he could not bear to be in the presence of God any longer.

Some say the man accepted Christ at that fateful moment. Others say he had not the chance, but who are we to decide his fate. He is standing before God right now. Let Him decide the fate of this man.

Therefore I declare unto you, let it be known to all the tale of the Atheist on the Mount. For God gave a sign when asked and was ignored. God spoke when asked and was not heard. So be watchful, be listening.

God works in mysterious ways. I'm not going to go into detail, but recently my love and passion for God has increased. I think that is a challenge of our modern day world. We live in such busyness we get caught up in the things of the world, they may not even be bad things, but we lose track of God. We put off small things that show our devotion even. Things like reading His word and prayer. We may even have these things in our life, but we do them in appeasement. We say "God, here is 30mins, let me have the rest of the day for myself." We put off witnessing thinking that the person does not want to be bothered or that we are embarrassed. We do things for God in duty rather than in Love. This has been a challenge in my life, but I think my heart finally understands. I have been striving to honor God, but have been pushing aside the greatest commandment...

Matthew 22:34-38
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:  "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment.
(emphasis added by me)

But how often to we give God that much power in our lives. We may try to honor him, but honoring him pales in comparison to truly loving him. When we truly love Him then it will be easier to do His will in our lives, rather than being a struggle.

1 John 5:3
This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,

I am in no way perfect. My passion has increased, but I know it will still be a tough road. But I feel like I am on a better road than where I was previously. Care to join me?

Hey, what's up everyone? I'm going to warn you right now: I'm on my second wind so I am really really really hyper...


I'm going to do a weird combo post, this will be a more general life experience post, but I'm also -planning- on it being a sort of devotional.

Ok, so lately I've been on a spiritual low. You probably could tell that by my lack of working here.(don't assume that I'm on a low just because of not working on this in the future though :P). It hasn't been that I've been doing things wrong. It's been more what I've been avoiding doing. I'm not going into depth, but there are things that I've needed to do in my life and have avoided because of laziness. I am slowing trying to get where I don't avoid these things, but I'm not perfect and haven't been moving as fast as I'd like with it. A big part of my laziness is being selfish. I am not overtly selfish, but sometimes an underlying attitude of selfishness is at my core. It's hard to avoid that in America I believe. We think we deserve things. Time for ourselves. A prosperous life. Our general Desires, etc. When we don't deserve any of this and we are very lucky to have what things we have.

Today was an awesome day though, my town has an annual festival and my church decided to have a revival tonight so they had a bunch of youth help with passing fliers out. And on top of that I pledged to help with the transfer of sound equipment for some of our church to sing at the "main stage" :P. So between those two things I was running around from 7:30AM till 4PM serving, but I wasn't doing it with a serving heart. I mean I believe I was still an example on the outside, but my heart wasn't truly devoted to doing it for my God. There was no passion behind it. BTW, this is for a later article maybe, but I love to serve in my church. I think it's a great opportunity when you can serve in your church(in any way, from teaching Sunday school, to stacking chairs, to helping a ministry, to loading sound equipment into a van
:P). And I believe God has called us to help in those areas when we are able.

ok, done with that tangent. Back on track.

So after hanging out with my friends between the festival and the revival we all went to the revival. We had some special music(A dove award winning song-writer) and a special speaker (Richard Coss if you've ever heard of him). Richard has an awesome testimony. He was saved at the age of 25 after being in prison over 30 times. He and his wife were both presidentially pardoned and he lost two grandsons in the Oklahoma city Bombings. So needless to say a lot has happened to him in his life. Tonight he didn't talk about his testimony much though, he focused on one major factor. Living out your faith. I think his sermon really hit me where I needed to be hit.

Richard talked about superstition and religion mixing very well, he particularly mentioned the story of Paul and the Athenians and the unknown God, and Friday the 13th means nothing to us. He then told us a story about a church getting a new PO box number, and the next number in line was 666. How would you like to go into your auditorium and ask for a charity offering sending it to PO box 666 :P.

Richards wife is used to sell condo's for a living so he used that as his next example. He talked about them being superstitious enough that they don't have a 13th floor even because people don't like to stay on it.

He then challenged us to be the Christian that is on the 13th floor where no one else wants to be. Living out our faith on the Balcony on the edge. A lot of us are content to stay on the 2nd, or 5th, maybe we're even close to it on the 12th, but we need to be truly committed and live in the spots where no one else wants to lead, the 13th floor.

There was a lot more to the sermon, but for awhile I've been feeling called to do something more with my life and just talk to friends on the internet, as much as I love you all. I need to do something worth doing. So here you are on The Lighthouse, but as much as this was a step out for me I still need to live out my faith in my personal life.

Going back a little bit. I went to a summer camp and I've felt the call for something more like I said. So I was assuming that meant pastor or youth pastor or something like that which it still may. I do not know. But I think God wants me to start small and work up. Last week at the Art * Music * Justice concert, Sara Groves was talking and there was one line I couldn't shake. She was talking about a ministry she was working with and she was talking about how they would rather you start a ministry on your own than work with theirs. And she said the line "So go out and start a ministry." I mean it fit in, but it stood out, it didn't seem to fit with what she was saying completely. And I feel like maybe it was meant for me. 

Then cut back to tonight, I was sitting there, basically zoning out. Trying to figure out what God wants from me. And then something hit me I could do. It was small, but small is still good. Just a little before, Richard had talked about a McDonald's Manager living out her faith by having Bible Studies and playing Gospel music in her restaurant(I may have to tell that one later :P), but anyways...On Wednesday's we have an hour for dinner at Burger King or else ware. What if I got a group of people who would be willing to fast and put together a Bible study. I don't know how or what I'm doing exactly, but I plan to try. This was inspired because last week I forgot money and didn't eat, but I survived fine :P. And if we have it BK some people might still get to eat something. So if this somehow works out and something happens about it I'll let you guys know.

Last thing I want to say. Richard Coss gave the invitation if anyone wanted to go to the 13th floor and live out their faith, please come up and pray. Well my friend grabbed another friend of mine and went up there. After that I started going and two other of my friends started. So by the time I was up there the whole row of youth was up there praying. It was really awesome, on top of that a lot of others came up after us. Richard was talking and the only thing I remember him saying was this..."Some people will say these youth are the leaders of tomorrw. But they're wrong. They're the leaders of today."

So I challenge you: go up to the 13th floor where no one wants to be and live on the edge for Christ.

Hello everyone, I'd like to welcome you to The Lighthouse with an article. This will be the first of many exclusive articles written by me. In coming blogs I will link to non-exclusive articles. And maybe even get some guest bloggers on here. I want to keep you growing in your faith and I also think it is a good idea to keep up with current events. Some may be totally random. Some will focus on important issues. But hopefully all will encourage you and bless you. So without further adoo, here is my first exclusive blog, Children of Light.


Recently I have been feeling a little separate from God. It has been my own fault, but since I have realized it, I have gotten back to some of the Biblical basics of spending time with God and reading His word. They both have been amazing, and I have come to the point where I look forward to this time whereas before I would forget to do it and put it off needlessly. Really the thought that made me start back was this: "Getting right with God is the most important thing right now. So what if I loose a little personal time. God should be the most important thing in my life and I need to put him there" That is a very rough paraphrase of my thoughts, but it is a summary.

One set of verses that has been a tremendous encouragement in my life, to the point where I read it practically everyday is Ephesians 4:17-24.

The first half of verses says this...

 17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

I was living as a gentile. My thinking was futile. My heart was hardened to my own ways, and I was not wanting to get back on the path. I mean my spirit wanted to, but my selfishness did not want to. And selfishness was winning. I had lost sensitivity and I was impure with a continual lust to please myself. I do not boast in my time of a discontinued walk with God, but I am saying this because I want to encourage you and help you if you are having trouble too.

Here is the last part of the passage I'm outlining...

20You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

This next part of the passage is what really hits me. I did not come to know Christ that way. I was taught and nurtured in Him. I was taught to put off myself and to ignore my desires. I have need to be my new self, not my old self. And yet I was living in opposition to that. As I said these verses still encourage me. They are a reminder of my inclination to turn and gratify my desires, and then they remind me of my savior who died and through that I was given new life to live in true Righteousness and Holiness.

Here I am to tell you to repent and live in true righteousness and Holiness if you are living apart from him. You will not be complete until you surrender to your Lord.

Live as Children of Light, not of Darkness.

In Him,
The Lighthouse